Stand

A stand (スタンド sutando) is a supernatural power in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. When first presented, the kanji used is 幽波紋 yuuhamon with スタンド written over it; the kanji meaning "ghostly ripple", marking a similarity to the central power of the ripple of the first two Parts.

History
The concept of "Stand" (a contraction of the phrase "one who stands by me") was introduced in part 3 of the manga series. According to Joseph Joestar, it is the manifestation of an individual's innate power over the "ripple" (hamon) and represents, to an extent, the individual's psyche. In fact, Joseph once referred to it in the manga as the "ghost ripple" (quite apt, as most of them take on humanoid forms and hover around the wielders like wraiths). Stands are usually sustained by breathing, and hover behind and above the user while usually being invisible to non-stand users. Most Stand Users can access the "senses" of their Stands, seeing and hearing whatever their Stands can.

To people without the power of the Stand, who normally cannot see them, the activities of the Stands are comparable to ghostly and poltergeist activity, and ESP. This behavior is evidently seen when Jotaro imprisons himself, takes a gun from the guard, aims it at his head, and pulls the trigger of the gun. His Stand's hand caught the bullet before it reached his head. For the normal people around him, it would appear that the bullet was suspended in midair, and as a result, the other prisoners in his cell and even the guards feared Jotaro.

In general, only those with unusually strong spiritual power and determination (but not limited to human beings) can develop Stands, as they are typically a reflection of the wielder's spirit. Stands can be developed hereditarily or artificially (through the Bow and Arrow). Those who gain Stands without such a needed trait to fully stabilize and harness them, are however, subject from negative and harmful influences due to the Stand turning onto their user, to, as Holly Joestar experienced, possible disease like symptoms, and to what Abdul witnessed, the worst case when Stands will actively and knowledgeably desire the harm of their user to the point of attacking them.

An interesting trend regarding Stands is that in their earlier appearances in parts 3 and 4 had a more humanoid appearance and mostly elemental powers, but later in parts 5 and 6, Stands take on a more mechanical look and have more physical and intricate abilities (such as controlling gravity).

Although stands manifests themselves from the wielder's psyche, some abilities cannot be controlled and may even restrict the wielder (e.g, Superfly). Though most stands acts at the wielder's will, some stands are "automatic" and the wielders cannot keep track of their actions (e.g, Black Sabbath).

It is interesting to note that the stands began to take on names of distinguished bands and album titles starting from late in part 3, though continue to retain an English name format very similar to the tarot stands from Part III. Most of them are progressive rock bands, as Araki himself is a fan of this music genre. Most Stands in part 3 are named after tarot cards, and later, nine are named after Egyptian gods.

Despite their power, Stands hold one drawback: any damage the Stand receives is transmitted to its user (i.e. if a Stand's leg were to be ripped off, the Stand's user will have his or her leg severed as well). This has served as a way for defeating most of the encountered opponents throughout the series, though some Stands are immune to this factor.

Stand Statistics
A Stand's abilities are categorized by 6 statistics: destructive power, speed, range, durability/staying, precision and developmental potential/learning. Each statistic is ranked from A to E, though rankings of Infinite and None are also possible.

Rankings are defined as follows:

A: Excellent

B: Good

C: Average (the same level as a normal person)

D: Weak

E: Very Weak

For range, rankings are defined as follows:

A: 100m.

B: 50m.

C: 20m.

D: 10m.

E: 2m.

To elaborate on the Developmental Potential attribute, it decreases in rank as the user masters his or her Stand. For example, Star Platinum is Rank A in Developmental Potential during Part 3, but is Rank E during Part 6, as Jotaro has had many years to hone Star Platinum's power, leaving little room for any more growth.

Trivia

 * The use of the word "Stand" to term the manifestations of supernatural powers in the series may have been inspired by the 1961 Ben E. King song 'Stand by Me'.
 * Their bases are very similar to the concepts of thoughtforms, being a manifestation of mental and spiritual energy of an individual into a semi-sentient and existent being.
 * A running theme is that the main villains from Part III forward have a Stand ability related to time manipulation: Dio Brando (Part III) and Dio Brando from another universe (Part VII) can stop time, Yoshikage Kira (Part IV) can loop time, Diavolo (Part V) can erase time, Enrico Pucci (Part VI) can cause time to accelerate, and Funny Valentine (Part VII) can access alternate timelines.