Rohan Kishibe

Rohan Kishibe is a fictional character introduced in Part IV: Diamond is Unbreakable. He is featured as one of the main characters and is the only character of the series to star in other, standalone stories such as Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe - Mutsukabeza, Under Execution, Under Jailbreak and Rohan at the Louvre. Being a successful cartoonist by profession, it is likely that he's a self-insert of Hirohiko Araki.

Story
Rohan is a mangaka in the Jojo world and an important character to the plot overall. He first appears as an antagonist [much like half the cast] to Koichi and Toshizaku when they go to his house for an autograph. After they try to sneak a peek of the new issue of his manga he uses his stand Heaven's Door to make neither of them able to attack him. Then he reads their memories and in doing so finds out about Josuke, Okuyasu and everyone else in the story so far, but only according to how Koichi sees them. Then he decides to use them as materials for his manga. After using Koichi as his personal "inspiration" Okuyasu and Josuke find out about where Koichi has been going by following him. Josuke defeats him and leaves him in the hospital for a while.

Personality
He is very much aware of his nearly superhuman skill and his success in his profession as a mangaka, thus his attitude towards others is seen as arrogant. He doesn't socialize much as he finds most people to be "incompatible with his wavelength" (especially Josuke, who he greatly dislikes). Even the one person he does consider his friend Koichi frequently calls him overbearing and pushy, especially when Rohan successfully manipulates Koichi into assisting him in his work research several times. Rohan is said to be an expert at psychological mind tricks.

Being very successful at his job has him being very rich as a result - evident by his house worth millions or the Gucci watch he wears. But he makes it a point to Koichi that he never was interested in gaining fame and wealth. His only passion is to create manga, and he goes to great lengths for his research to make his work feel as "realistic" as possible. He is eccentric in procedure and manner and even is a little childlike. Even though he acts indifferent to the affairs of others, he does believe in the forces of good, making him a valuable ally in the chase against Kira – especially after hearing the tragic story of Reimi towards whom he feels an odd familiarity.

Stand
Heaven's Door

Rohan at the Louvre
As part of the "Le Louvre invite la bande dessinée" ("Cartoons - The Louvre Invites Comic-Strip Art") exhibition at France's famed Louvre art museum, Araki created several art pieces featuring his character Rohan Kishibe. The exhibition was January-April 2009. Along with the showcase artwork, Araki also created a short story titled "Rohan Au Louvre" (Rohan at the Louvre), which is set in the museum. The book is to be released early 2010 in French and Japanese.

Source: animenewsnetwork



Trivia

 * There are several parallels between Rohan and Hirohiko Araki – one of the most interesting one is that Hirohiko Araki himself claimed that his favorite character is Josuke, while Rohan has an unparalleled hate to him.


 * As if to signalize his occupation as a mangaka, he has a pen nib theme as a part of his fashionable identity. He wears pen nib earrings, buttons shaped like pen nibs and other pen nib shapes incorporated into his extensive wardrobe.


 * In the Japanese dialog he uses the polite type of speech usually used by young boys.
 * The magazine in which his manga "Pink Dark Boy" (Pinkdark no Shonen) is serialized in is Weekly Shounen Jump, the same magazine in which the JJBA series ran in (before moving to another).
 * When Stairway to Heaven sped up time to a one hour week he was the only mangaka to still meet his deadlines.
 * Like all authors he gets fan mail, a few showcased are:

''- Sensei's works are the best. Give your best more and more! (male, jr. high 2nd grade)'' '' - Once I read I couldn't stop anymore. Please give me your autograph! (male, elementary 5th grade)'' '' - Your pictures are gross! (21 year old student)'' '' - I read it every week at least ten times over and over. (female, high school 1st grade)'' '' - Just from looking at this manga I get pissed, I especially hate the colour spreads! (male, high school 3rd grade)'' '' - This is a letter for bad luck. You have to send 99 by tomorrow. (anon)'' '' - Aren't you showing off, asshole!? (anon)'' '' - I love you. Please marry me. (28 year old OL)''