| “ | This Stand breaks... every single rule I've known. There is no host... He's already dead... on the runway in Venice. | ” |
—Giorno Giovanna about Notorious B.I.G, Chapter 535 | ||
Notorious B.I.G (ノトーリアス・
Appearance[]
In its brief appearance with its user alive, Notorious B.I.G seems humanoid. It wears a striped half-mask rising in a peak above its head and extending over its right eye. Its teeth are bared in a snarl, although it's unclear if this is a permanent expression or merely its reaction to Carne's injuries.
After reactivating itself following its user's death, Notorious B.I.G. begins developing a body of blobby flesh. Once large enough, it develops a crude form with two small limbs and a tail. It gains the eyes and mask of its previous form, along with armored bands on its body and shoulders and tiny, wheel-like "hands" at the ends of its arms.
After consuming enough matter, Notorious B.I.G undergoes a second transformation into a much larger monster. It becomes big enough to fill up the entire end of a plane's cabin and its arms become two stretchy tentacles. Its pointed helmet now curls over the top of its head and the Stand now possesses a mouth filled with blunt human-like teeth.
In both the colored manga and PS2 video game adaptation, Notorious B.I.G is portrayed as being primarily purple, with white and blue striped body parts and yellow eyes. In the anime adaptation, it becomes flesh red.
Personality[]
Notorious B.I.G. has an almost animalistic personality, seeking only to devour things to further its growth. However, it appears to communicate with Giorno when it begins to develop on his arm, revealing information about itself that its current target couldn't possibly know (such as its name and the nature of its existence).
Abilities[]
Notorious B.I.G is one of the few Stands that can still be active even after the user's death. Coupled with its ability to grow by absorbing energy, even that of attacks, Notorious B.I.G can be said to be truly invincible. However, as an automated Stand, it can be bypassed.
Post-Mortem Activation[]
While Notorious B.I.G can be summoned while Carne is alive,[2] the Stand is said to only activate upon its User's death, drawing energy from Carne's grudge. This is one of its main features and gets rid of a potential weakness. Initially, Notorious B.I.G seems to have no body after the death of its user, instead constructing one by absorbing matter and energy from an outside source.[3] As this body is made of physical matter, it is vulnerable to mundane damage such as being flung into objects[4] or getting impaled;[5] however, any surviving pieces will remain active and capable of regenerating themselves.
Energy Absorption[]
Notorious B.I.G eats at Giorno's arm
Upon activation, Notorious B.I.G slowly infects anyone that has touched the remains of its user and eats away at flesh and energy in order to grow a body; this includes Stand energy[6] and energy from automated objects like an engine.[3][5] Through this ability, Notorious B.I.G can grow to a great volume with enough energy, eventually reaching a size comparable to a jet plane. More importantly, one speck of it can completely recover from near-destruction as long as it reaches a source of energy to feed on, making it nigh-impossible to defeat.[5]
Its ability to absorb Stand energy makes it immune to Stand attacks, enabling it to seek out Stands in order to feed on them.[7]
Partial Symbiosis[]
In its initial growth phase, Notorious B.I.G. can influence its host's body, causing them to perform actions without being consciously aware of them. After infecting Giorno, it somehow made him take some of Carne's fingers and put them into a plane's freezer; later, it used a pen to write out Giorno's thoughts on the wall and window.
Speed Detection[]
Notorious B.I.G detects and can catch up to the fastest things near it
While Notorious B.I.G is blind, it can detect movement around itself, driving it to automatically attack the fastest moving object within range.[7] It is never explained what objects within its range it considers stationary, so it is open to interpretation. After detecting the object moving the fastest, it accelerates itself until it can latch onto its target; at one point, it becomes fast enough to catch up with a plane flying at 800kph.[8] This trait makes Notorious B.I.G.'s behavior predictable if one is aware of it;[7] the Stand can be distracted with various objects like the moving hand of a clock[4] or a motorized seat[9] as long as nothing is moving faster than it. This also secures its prison in the ocean; the constant motion of waves and currents confuses Notorious B.I.G. to the point where it can no longer attack anything besides the odd passing boat.[10]
History[]
Notorious B.I.G was originally the humanoid Stand of Carne, though nothing was known about its abilities then. Carne is sent on a mission to kill Passione's traitors, but is immediately killed by Mista. However, it is eventually revealed that Notorious B.I.G survived after Carne's death and latched onto Giorno's body when he attempts to confirm the enemy's demise, only making its presence known well after the plane takes off. Consuming Giorno's arm to grow, it attacks and incapacitates Mista and Narancia in rapid succession.
Although Giorno succeeds in throwing the Stand outside by cutting off his remaining hand, it quickly catches up to the plane and begins to attack Trish before shifting its focus to Giorno's brooch, which Gold Experience turned into a hand earlier. Trish's attempt to protect Giorno's hand leads to the awakening of her Stand Spice Girl, which allows Trish to impale and seemingly destroy Notorious B.I.G. In actuality, a piece of the immortal Stand entered the engine room and absorbed the energy of the engine, causing it to grow huge.
In defiance of Bucciarati's plan to crash the plane, Trish tears the plane apart with Spice Girl, turning the cockpit into a makeshift parachute while the majority of Notorious B.I.G chases the larger, faster-falling part of the plane into the Tyrrhenian Sea. While a small piece of the Stand is found on Abbacchio's hair, Bruno attacks it with Sticky Fingers, causing it to attach to his arm. Trish then cuts off Bruno's arm to send it into the sea. Notorious B.I.G remains alive and active in the Tyrrhenian Sea, occasionally chasing down and destroying quickly-moving ships; this behavior leads sailors to call it "TyrrhenianW's stomach".
Chapters / Episodes[]
| Manga Appearances |
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Chapters in order of appearance
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| Anime Appearances |
Episodes in order of appearance
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In Video Games[]
Vento Aureo (PS2)[]
Notorious B.I.G appears as the enemy faced in Chapters 14 and 15 of Super Story Mode, with the player taking control of Trish. While Trish can, in theory, defeat Notorious B.I.G without reaching the ladybug brooch turning into a hand by Giorno, doing so is a very tedious and difficult process. The Stand will wander the plane aimlessly until something moves. It is then that Notorious B.I.G will leap at whatever has moved and attack it. For Trish, moving in any way shape or form will draw Notorious B.I.G's attention until she stops or is attacked. The Stand only has one move against Trish: It will jump on her head before knocking her all the way to the front of the plane, resetting her progress towards the brooch. If Trish gets to the brooch in the back of the plane, she will awaken her Stand Spice Girl, allowing her to effectively defeat Notorious B.I.G.
In Chapter 15, Notorious B.I.G has become gigantic and is slowly advancing to the front of the plane. Trish must attack it in order to set it back and stall it for two minutes. During this level, debris and cargo will fall, and Notorious B.I.G will attack in attempts to push Trish back and gain ground. If Notorious B.I.G gets to the front of the plane and catches Trish, she will be instantly defeated regardless of health level.
Secret Factors[]
Chapter 14[]
- Trish must hit one of the seats and make it recline. This will make Notorious B.I.G attack said seat until it destroys it, allowing Trish to walk (but not run) without being attacked. (Value of 2)
- Trish must get to the ladybug brooch. This will activate a cutscene of Spice Girl awakening. From then on, Trish will have her Stand and therefore full moveset available. (Value of 4)
- Trish must Stand Shoot one of the seats. Instead of reclining, the seat will soften and will become much more durable, making Notorious B.I.G take longer to destroy it and therefore leave itself vulnerable for a longer period of time. (Value of 2)
- Trish must use Spice Girl's pipe attack (Triangle button) on Notorious B.I.G, dealing heavy damage. This is best done while it is distracted by a seat. (Value of 2)
Chapter 15[]
- Trish automatically starts the level with a Secret Factor level of MAX. (Value of 10)
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Araki admits that he created Notorious B.I.G simply as an opponent for Trish to fight and enjoyed drawing Carne more than the Stand itself.[11];
- The idea of Notorious B.I.G activating after the user dies might be a reference to the Notorious B.I.G album, "Life After Death"; alternately, its method of activation may be rooted in darker concepts and references such as the idea of posthumous celebrity fame and the infamous death of The Notorious B.I.G. in 1997 being only two years into his rise into mainstream fame in 1995.
- Its parasitic nature, ability to take over bodies, and flesh bending appearance, might be a reference to the 1982 film, The Thing, and the 1987 anime film, Lily C.A.T., both which features an alien organism with very similar abilities.
- The anime adaptation changed the romanization of the Stand's name into Notorius B.I.G., matching the punctuation of the artist's name.
- Its English voice actor David VincentW also voices the narrator and ZZ.
- Notorious B.I.G’s localized name, Notorious Chase, may be a reference to the Stand’s behaviour of chasing moving targets with incredible speed.
References[]
- ↑ Weekly Shōnen Jump '97 Issue No. 36
- ↑ Chapter 533, Notorious B.I.G (1)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 534, Notorious B.I.G (2)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chapter 538, Notorious B.I.G (6)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Chapter 539, Spice Girl (1)
- ↑ Volume 57, in-between Stand stats, Chapter 534 Notorious B.I.G (2)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Chapter 535, Notorious B.I.G (3)
- ↑ Chapter 536, Notorious B.I.G (4)
- ↑ Chapter 537, Notorious B.I.G (5)
- ↑ Chapter 540, Spice Girl (2)
- ↑ JOJOVELLER Stand Commentaries