, later known mononymously as , is a fictional character and a primary antagonist in the Japanese manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. He is featured initially as the main antagonist of the series' first part, Phantom Blood, and later returns as the main antagonist of the series' third part, Stardust Crusaders, now solely referred to as DIO. In the alternate universe of the series' seventh part, Steel Ball Run, a character named bears resemblance to Dio and appears as a secondary antagonist.
The poor son of Dario Brando, an abusive alcoholic who worked Dio's mother to death, Dio first appears as a young misanthrope who, via the power of an ancient stone mask, becomes an immortal vampire. A century after the events of the first part, he resurfaces as the user of the time-stopping Stand named The World. As the series' most prolific villain, his defining trait is his staunch ambition, which develops into a "might makes right" philosophy and a drive for absolute control through absolute power.
Creation and design When beginning the series, Dio was the character that Araki looked forward to drawing the most. He also revealed that he had not thought up a weakness for the character and that it was difficult to come up with a way for Dio to be defeated. In regard to Dio's characterization, Araki said that he was inspired by FBI profiling of Serial killers, admitting that in a way he thinks they must be incredibly strong to be able to commit the heinous crimes that they do. How serial killers control their victims through psychological manipulation interested Araki as well, a trait similar to how Dio uses his charisma to ensure his followers to do his bidding. Araki intended to characterize Dio as unapologetically baleful in his pursuit of power, with his literal abandonment of his humanity reflecting his figurative and emotional one. Araki wanted his name to sound cool next to JoJo's, so he chose Dio, the Italian word for God.
Araki said that he wanted Dio to embody the "attractiveness of evil" and created him to be a "beautiful, attractive young man". In classic villain style, his eyes are slightly slanted and he shows dimples and fangs when smiling. His hair is blond to contrast with Jonathan's black hair. Dio's appearance was inspired by western idols, and in a separate interview Araki specifically mentioned the short hairstyle and muscles of Rutger Hauer's character Roy Batty from the 1982 film Blade Runner influencing Dio's design. The author brought in the vampire element in order to depict a dark world that had rarely been seen in Weekly Shōnen Jump up to that point. Although the character is popular with women in the story, Araki said Dio is more interested in dominating than loving. In regards to his sexuality, Araki stated in a 2007 interview that "[Dio's] sort of a composed character that could go either way. [He] could go with a man or a woman."
Some of Dio's mannerisms and phrases, such as his frequent cries of and or the quote , have yielded several Internet memes and other popular culture references.
Appearances and influences
Phantom Blood In Phantom Blood, the child of an abusive drunkard named Dario Brando, Dio Brando becomes the adopted brother of Jonathan Joestar by using a promise that George Joestar made to Dario years ago. Upon entering the Joestar estate after his father died, Dio tried to take everything from Jonathan and killed Jonathan's dog, Danny. However, Dio underestimated Jonathan and his retaliation for forcefully kissing Erina Pendleton causes Dio to spend the next seven years feigning to be Jonathan's friend. He then poisons George with the same poison that he used to kill Dario in order to steal the Joestar fortune. Jonathan investigates it, causing Dio to plan to murder Jonathan with an ancient Aztec stone mask.
However, Dio learns that it transforms the wearer into a vampire when exposed to blood, and uses it on himself when his plan is exposed. After the resulting fight, Jonathan impales him on a stone statue and leaves him in the burning Joestar mansion. However, Dio survives and uses zombies to take over the small village of Windknight's Lot. Jonathan is sought out by Will A. Zeppeli, a master of an ancient martial art called Hamon, which can kill vampires and zombies. He teaches Jonathan how to use it as Dio sends zombies to kill him so he can take over the world. Jonathan seemingly defeats him again, but Dio survives by decapitating himself. He and a surviving zombie, Wang Chan, attack Jonathan on a steamship during his honeymoon with Erina in an attempt to claim his enemy's body for his own. While Dio fatally punctures his throat, Jonathan overloads the ship's engines by using his Hamon. Dio is seemingly killed by the resulting explosion. Erina, pregnant with Jonathan's son, escapes unharmed along with an orphaned girl.
Battle Tendency As he is dormant in the sunken ship, Dio Brando does not appear in Battle Tendency, but the aftermath of his apparent death at the hands of Jonathan Joestar affects the plot. It is ultimately revealed that Jonathan and Erina's son George Joestar II, a famed pilot of the Royal Air Force in World War I, was murdered by one of Dio's zombies who survived the battle at Windknight's Lot and had infiltrated the RAF. George II's wife, the orphaned girl Elizabeth, hunted down this zombie and used Hamon to kill him. However, as no-one else knew that he was a zombie, she became a wanted murderer and was forced into hiding under the name Lisa Lisa. This was done with the help of the Speedwagon Foundation that was founded by Robert E. O. Speedwagon. Lisa Lisa later reunites with her son Joseph Joestar, teaches him Hamon so he can defeat the Pillar Men. Their leader, Kars, created the Stone masks and was indirectly responsible for Dio's transformation into a vampire.
Stardust Crusaders It is revealed in Stardust Crusaders that Dio survived the ship's explosion by decapitating Jonathan's corpse and attaching his own head to it as the ship sank and remained inside of a casket at the bottom of the ocean for a century until he was unintentionally retrieved by a shipwreck salvage operation in 1983. Dio escaped the coffin through a secret layer of the coffin. Now known mononymously as "DIO", he soon meets the mystic Enya Geil who awakens his Stand, , which is named after the tarot card and allows him to temporarily stop the passage of time. He also acquires a Hermit Purple-like Stand that is possessed by Jonathan's body. As his head is attached to Jonathan's body, Dio's acquisition of The World also awakens Stand abilities in all of Jonathan's living descendants. While Joseph Joestar and his grandson Jotaro Kujo have the resolve to control their Stands, Joseph's daughter and Jotaro's mother Holly has her very life sapped away by her own Stand because of her gentle disposition. This spurs Jotaro and Joseph to track down Dio along with their friends Mohammed Avdol, Noriaki Kakyoin, Jean-Pierre Polnareff, and Iggy the Boston Terrier to kill him once and for all, freeing Holly from the curse the Stand has trapped her under.
Dio responds by sending other Stand users to assassinate the Joestars before they can find him in his mansion lair in Cairo, some of whom (namely Kakyoin and Polnareff) he had previously mind controlled and joined the Joestars on their journey after being saved by them. Along the way, Avdol and Iggy are killed by Dio's right-hand man Vanilla Ice, who in turn is killed by Polnareff. Dio kills Jotaro's friend Kakyoin in combat and then kills Joseph in front of Jotaro. During his battle with Jotaro, Dio is severely hurt and resorts to draining Joseph of his blood, not only healing himself but also finally completing his unification with Jonathan's body. Dio greatly strengthens his vampiric abilities and his Stand, but Jotaro's Stand, Star Platinum, proves to be The World's equally powered counterpart. After much effort, fuelled by the rage of his friends and grandfather's deaths as well as his mother's dwindling health, taking advantage of Dio's pride and desire to test his strengthened abilities, Jotaro awakens his own time-stopping powers and overpowers Dio with Star Platinum, successfully defeating him on the Qasr El Nil Bridge. Jotaro and the Speedwagon Foundation doctors revive Joseph via a blood transfusion from Dio/Jonathan's body. Then Joseph and Jotaro take their ancestors body out into the desert and expose it to sunlight, which disintegrates it vanquishing the vampire for good, ending the century long rivalry between the Joestars and Dio and finally allowing Jonathan Joestar to rest in peace after so many years.
Diamond Is Unbreakable and Golden Wind Dio is not present in either Diamond Is Unbreakable or Golden Wind, but his influence on the story is still present.
In Diamond Is Unbreakable, it is revealed that Dio acquired his Stand by means of an ancient artifact known as the "Bow and Arrow", which has reappeared in the fictional Japanese town of Morioh because the children of one of Dio's former lackeys, Mr. Nijimura, are seeking out someone who can possibly kill their father and put him out his misery due to the mutation that he has suffered as a result of Dio's death.
In Golden Wind, the protagonist Giorno Giovanna is Dio's son, but because Dio was in possession of Jonathan's body at the time of Giorno's conception, Giorno is biologically both Dio and Jonathan's son and thus a member of the Joestar family, and his own virtuous soul prevents him from becoming evil as Dio was, thanks to his encounter with a heroic gangster in his childhood life.
Stone Ocean Dio's influence on JoJo's Bizarre Adventure returns in Stone Ocean, where it is revealed that he met the story arc's main antagonist, Father Enrico Pucci, shortly before the events of Stardust Crusaders. He told Father Pucci of his desire to use his Stand, The World, in order to reach "Heaven", and befriended the young priest in order to help him achieve his goal. Pucci's reverence for Dio drives him to carry out his plan decades later. He manipulates events to frame Jotaro Kujo's daughter Jolyne Cujoh for murder in order to trap her in Green Dolphin Street Prison, where he serves as a chaplain. Pucci uses one of Dio's bones to evolve his Stand to reset reality in what he believes is Dio's vision of Heaven, a world where everyone knows their own destiny that would also be free of the Joestar bloodline. However, he was defeated by Jolyne's last surviving friend, Emporio. This reverts reality, but there are some changes, including the erasure of Pucci. Stone Ocean also introduces Dio's three other children: Ungalo, Rikiel, and Donatello Versus.
Steel Ball Run Dio Brando himself does not appear in Steel Ball Run, set in a new continuity. He is thematically succeeded by a similar character named Diego Brando (ディエゴ・ブランドー), nicknamed Dio. Like Dio of the original continuity, Diego is the child of an abusive household, and one who reveres his mother. She instilled in him a sense of pride that he took with him as he became a masterful jockey in his adulthood. He decides to take part in the Steel Ball Run horse race across the United States. He encounters the protagonists Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli and is controlled by Dr. Ferdinand's Stand , which transforms him into a dromaeosaurid dinosaur. After Dr. Ferdinand is defeated, he gains control of Scary Monsters. Diego is hired by President of the United States Funny Valentine in his quest to find the pieces of the Saint's Corpse scattered along the racecourse, but after fighting against Johnny and Gyro, he realizes that President Valentine's plans are more dangerous to the world as a whole and joins them in an attempt to stop him, but dies during his quest.