Soft & Wet

"Soft & Wet... When my soap bubble touches something and breaks, I take something from there."

- Josuke Higashikata, JJL Chapter 4

Soft & Wet (ソフト＆ウェット (柔らかくてそして濡れている)), is the Stand of Josuke Higashikata, originally belonging to Josefumi Kujo, featured in JoJolion.

Appearance
Soft & Wet is a humanoid Stand of a streamlined, robotic form, light in color, and similar in height to Josuke.

On the top of its head is a five-pointed star bound with a circle. Horns roughly two-thirds the width of its head grow from the region of the ears, shaped as tapering pentagrammic prisms. It has round eyes, shaped as slotted screw heads; vertically dividing very small, slight, round pupils. Its face has a thick gap running from the top of the forehead past the bottom of the chin. Initially, Soft & Wet had large holes in the sides of its face, and shorter, lined "horns".

The front of two broad plates covering its torso is cut like its face in the shape of a large anchor; as well as in a line beneath both arms and between the base of its back and shoulders.

The feet and hands of Soft & Wet are covered with plating, as are the sides of its hips and shoulders, both of which are shaped like sharp hearts and bear a five-pointed star. It has fine arms and legs, with dark, exposed ball-and-socket joints supported by short exterior cables. Its pelvis is bare and mechanical. The gaps in its plating reveal a deeper surface, covered in a fine pattern of horizontal ridges. An internal structure is visible at its profile, showing blocks approximating human centers of mass.

The design was created to match up with Josuke's outfit, rather than its ability. Hirohiko Araki imagined a sailor's uniform combined with the flotation devices in a life vest. In later chapters, its torso takes on a more 'heart-like' shape. It also gains a circular jewel under its neck, and its shoulder pads become triangular, jutting out of its shoulders perpendicularly. Its ears have also grown a bit longer since it first appeared.

Soft & Wet is white and purple in the colored manga, but, is yellow and green in the video games adaptation of the series featuring it.

Josefumi's bubbles were initially featureless. After his fusion with Kira, Josuke's bubbles now bear a five-pointed star, similar to Kira's bubbles, and appear to be a sort of fusion between two bubbles of different sizes.

Personality
Soft & Wet's Stand cry is "ORA ORA ORA ORA" similar to other members of the Joestar family, however once he stand rushed Ojiro Sasame an "ORA" was switched to an "ARA". Though this no longer happened in future fights.

Abilities
Soft & Wet is a humanoid close-range Stand. It possesses enhanced strength, demonstrated first when it breaks a large portion of an apartment wall with a single back kick, and is also capable of extremely rapid hand-to-hand combat. The extent of the damage it can inflict is limited, however, as it is unable to break rocks.

Its strength in melee exchanges compared to other Stands has been further demonstrated in the brief encounter with Yotsuyu Yagiyama's Stand, I Am a Rock. Despite its volley of fast-paced strikes, Soft & Wet easily avoided and overcame it with a single 'Ora'-articulated strike.

Bubble Generation
Soft & Wet generates star-embedded floating bubbles, which must make contact with its target to work effectively. However, Josuke can control where the bubbles can fly, allowing him to send them where they are needed. The bubbles are actually comprised of tiny cords vibrating at extreme speeds, giving them the appearance of spheres.

Josuke often takes direct advantage of his bubbles and their properties. The bubbles have lifting power, allowing Josuke to envelop others like Yotsuyu Yagiyama in a giant bubble and lift them in the air, as well as help him reach vantage points. Josuke has also enveloped himself and allies with giant bubbles to take advantage of their situational protection.

After undergoing equivalent exchange with Yoshikage Kira, bubbles produced by Soft & Wet gained aspects of his own bubble-generating Stand ability. As such, Soft & Wet's bubbles are divided into a distinct "Josefumi half" and "Kira half", with a visible seam connecting the two portions.

Along with its regular stand-based bubble generation ability, Soft & Wet is able to make bubbles out of existing liquids. However, these bubbles can only be maintained briefly and lack the abilities of ones generated by the Stand itself.

As the story has progressed, Josuke has developed this ability. Early in the story, he would often use one bubble, but later on, is shown conjuring dozens upon dozens with a quick flurry of strikes.​​​​​

Plunder Bubble
Soft & Wet's signature ability is to "steal something from [an object] and take it for itself", which works in conjunction with the bubbles. Josuke can thus steal aspects or properties of inanimate and living things. Said properties seem to also be smaller objects that come from a bigger object. Examples include:
 * Temperature: While battling beetles with Jobin, Josuke took some of the temperature from his brush and from Jobin to check the amount of heat by placing that temperature in a nearby thermometer.
 * A human's sight: After bursting near Joshu's eyes, Josuke's bubble completely blinds Joshu for a few seconds, making it appear that Joshu's eyes have popped. EyesBgone.png
 * The water contained in a human's body: With one bubble, Josuke covertly punctures several ~5mm holes in a woman's body in order to quickly drain her of water and provoke thirst.
 * Sound: Josuke steals the sound from a wall or a light switch, preventing any noise that would have been caused upon breaking it or turning it off.
 * His own facial hair: Josuke uses Soft & Wet while shaving his face when Hato and Joshu are in the bathroom as well. Soft & Wet's bubbles in the shaving foam pop onto Hato and Joshu's faces, planting Josuke's hair onto their faces instead.
 * A cat's fur: Seemingly without pain, Josuke removes the majority of a live cat's fur and relocates it, in the shape of a cat, in order to obscure the view of a security camera.
 * Friction: Josuke removes the friction from a floor, creating an ice-like slippery surface.
 * Smell: Josuke traps an odor and various into a bubble and has it attached to his foe Born This Way. When the bubble bursts, he can track down the Stand's user by smell and sound.
 * Small objects: Josuke when fighting the A. Phex Brothers filled his bubbles with screws and nuts to fire out upon bursting.

The stolen objects can stay in the bubble and are still able to bust later (as shown with the bubble with the sound of the light switch). The exact quantity and type of object Josuke may steal, how long he may keep them, and how it is redistributed is undefined. According to Josuke, Soft & Wet's ability cannot be applied to himself.

While used by Josefumi Kujo, this ability was described as "Absorption". As Soft & Wet's original user, Josefumi had mastered his ability to the point that he could control it at an extremely precise level. This degree of precision with his Stand allowed for the creation of the grafted Locacaca branch; by absorbing and re-arranging matter from two plants with expert precision, Josefumi was able to fuse them together. Josefumi is also shown using his plunder bubbles to remove large amounts of black pepper from his bowl of ramen. Josefumi's bubbles were initially featureless and produced no force when they popped. However after feeding Yoshikage Kira an unripe New Locacaca causing an equivalent exchange, Josefumi's bubbles gained five-pointed stars and and slight explosive power, similar to Kira's bubbles.

First Bomb Bubble
As previously stated, after undergoing equivalent exchange with Yoshikage Kira, Soft & Wet's bubbles become a hybrid of its own bubbles and those of Killer Queen. These fused bubbles retain some aspects of Killer Queen's bubble-generation ability. These bubbles are able to pop with enough force to cause damage at close range, as seen when Josuke uses one to shatter Tamaki Damo's sunglasses. Josuke can also use this force to propel any small objects stored inside of his bubbles, seemingly with a degree of control over the direction they fly in. In addition to this, Josuke is able to injure opponents by popping bubbles which have been embedded under their skin, an ability that one of the A. Phex Brothers remarked bears a striking resemblance to the late Kira's own fighting style.

During the fight against Urban Guerrilla and his pet Josuke utilized the full extent of the First Bomb by detonating bubbles he had previously buried underground. Josuke uses the First Bomb bubbles again during his fight with Dododo De Dadada where he detonates the bubbles on top of a desk it was hiding under. And again when Josuke pries open a vault door by detonating the bubbles inside the gap between the door and the wall.

Soft & Wet: Go Beyond
In reality, Soft & Wet's soap bubbles are extremely thin lines that spin rapidly, described by Rai Mamezuku as part of the Spin. Once Josuke learns the true mechanics of his Stand's ability, he acquires a new power called "Soft & Wet: Go Beyond" (ソフト＆ウェット・ゴー・ビヨンド Sofuto Ando Wetto Gō Biyondo). This power involves the creation of uncontrollable and impossible-to-aim bubbles that extend from Josuke's birthmark.According to Mamezuku, Go Beyond combines Josefumi's Soft & Wet's soap bubbles with the explosive bubbles of Kira's Killer Queen. The resulting invisible bubbles utilize an "Explosive Spin" and move at incredibly high speeds. The combination of speed and the infinitesimal thinness of Soft & Wet's lines gives Go Beyond properties that surpass the boundaries of ordinary physics. Mamezuku explains that the bubbles produced by Go Beyond "do not exist in this world."



The bubbles of Go Beyond have the ability to pass through any barrier, as noted by Mamezuku when one passes through his clothes without causing damage. This is further demonstrated when a Go Beyond bubble, with the assistance of Yasuho's Stand Paisley Park, travels between T.G. University Hospital and the Higashikata Estate within Paisley Park's domain. Moreover, Go Beyond's bubbles are not subject to the effects of calamity, so their movement towards Wonder of U or its user does not trigger Wonder of U's ability. The high-speed spinning of Go Beyond's bubbles enables them to be used as devastating projectiles. Upon contact, the bubbles can instantly erode the body part they touch. Additionally, the bubbles possess great explosive force, capable of launching targets into the air when struck directly, as seen with Toru. Although Josuke lacks precise control over the bubbles once created, external influences like Yasuho's Paisley Park can guide them, and Josuke can roughly direct their trajectory by striking them with Soft & Wet itself.

Pre-Equivalent Exchange S&W
When Josefumi Kujo was the user of Soft & Wet, its plunder ability was referred to as "absorption." As an experienced Stand user, Josefumi demonstrated remarkable precision in utilizing this ability. For instance, he skillfully employed Soft & Wet to seamlessly graft a loose branch onto another plant, which he and Yoshikage Kira intended for the cultivation of Locacaca. Moreover, Josefumi effectively utilized his soap bubbles to remove excessive black pepper from his bowl of ramen. The bubbles produced by Josefumi were devoid of distinguishing features and exerted minimal force upon bursting. Interestingly, even though Josuke was created from the following equivalent exchange of the Wall Eyes, Soft & Wet acquired its star marking and acquired a slight explosive power while Josefumi was alive and in control of the stand after the exchange with Kira using the premature New Locacaca.

Gallery
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Trivia

 * Originally, Soft & Wet was planned to have the ability to attach screws to things, but the ability was ultimately given to Nut King Call instead. It is possible that the screw-like eyes of the Stand is a remnant of or reference to this original ability.
 * The fifth volume of JoJolion mentions that Hirohiko Araki loves drawing Soft & Wet's ears.
 * It is named after a Prince song which is a callback to the Original Josuke.
 * In a handful of early illustrations, Soft & Wet appeared with an early design that was eventually scrapped in favor of the current one. This design had significantly shorter ears, a series of holes bearing a slight resemblance to those of the Wall Eyes, and in one instance even a visible nose.