JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure tells the story of the Joestar family’s fight against evil. The series is separated into parts, each featuring a different Joestar family member as its protagonist. JoJo’s spans whole generations, over hundreds of years, and even crosses universes, so we’ve seen many Joestars step up to the plate to battle the forces of evil.
Each of the main Joestars is gifted with unique abilities, whether a Stand or otherwise. Some can create amplified sunlight to fight vampires, while another can turn herself into string. The Joestars have so many diverse powers that it’s reasonable to wonder how they all compare to one another when it comes to strength.
Updated April 2, 2023, by Daniel Kurland: Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is still going strong after more than 35 years, and the emergence of a new story in the ongoing Joestar saga has fans more excited for the series than ever before. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has endured for as long as it has because of its unique structure that turns to generational storytelling across multiple members of the infamous Joestar family. One constant in every JoJo story is that there will be a new Joestar on display, leading to high expectations regarding these pivotal protagonists. Each Joestar’s merits can be endlessly debated, but when it comes to physical strength and power, it’s a little easier to determine who’s on top.
9 Jonathan Joestar (Phantom Blood)
Hamon
The first Joestar that audiences are introduced to in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood is Jonathan Joestar, a selfless gentleman who turns into a cautionary tale for his combative descendants. Curiously, Jonathan is quite burly, and when it comes to a fistfight, he’s likely to last longer than most Joestars.
This is because Phantom Blood relies more on physical fights than the fantastical Stand battles that go on to take over JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Jonathan also benefits from Hamon abilities, which prove helpful against vampires, but he becomes an early casualty who’s bested by Dio Brando in a dark turn of events. Jonathan doesn’t live long enough to better hone his skills and strength.
8 Joseph Joestar (Battle Tendency, Stardust Crusaders)
Hamon/Hermit Purple
Jonathan Joestar meets a tragic end in Phantom Blood, but his courageous legacy lives on through his grandson, Joseph Joestar, who leads the way in Battle Tendency. Joseph’s cocky bravado makes him close to Jonathan’s opposite, but they prove to both be natural in the ways of Hamon.
Joseph is able to push his Hamon abilities beyond that of Jonathan, but he also develops his own Stand during the events of Stardust Crusaders. Joseph’s expertise with both Hamon and Stands is a rarity in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. It’s just unfortunate that his Stand, Hermit Purple, is so limited in its use. It’s meant more as a precognitive tool than an offensive measure.
7 Josuke Higashikata (Diamond Is Unbreakable)
Crazy Diamond
Diamond is Unbreakable’s Josuke Higashikata is more good-natured than most of the other Joestars, even if he’s quite sensitive when it comes to jokes about his hair. Josuke’s Stand, Crazy Diamond, is tremendously powerful and can easily punch through a human body.
However, Crazy Diamond’s true strength comes from its ability to restore or revert objects or organisms to their previous state. Josuke primarily uses the ability to heal people of their wounds, but he also applies Crazy Diamond in some more creative contexts, like when he fuses a murderer with a rock or weaponizes shards of glass into boomerang-like projectiles. People always need to be on guard when they’re around Crazy Diamond.
6 Jodio Joestar (The JOJOLands)
November Rain
Admittedly, Araki’s The JOJOLands–the long-awaited Part 9 to JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure–has only released a handful of chapters. So its main character, Jodio Joestar, lacks the depth of the rest of the franchise’s protagonists. Jodio is a 15-year-old hoodlum from Hawaii who’s turned to a life of crime to help make ends meet and to protect his sister, Dragona Joestar. Jodio is brash and impulsive, but he also has a timid streak that reveals itself.
Jodio’s Stand, November Rain, adopts a unique design that towers above the competition and bombards them with lethal raindrops that will crush them. In theory, November Rain seems formidable, but it’s currently unclear if its limited range can be improved and how it can handle defense.
5 Jolyne Cujoh (Stone Ocean)
Stone Free
Jolyne Cujoh, protagonist of Stone Ocean and Jotaro Kujo’s daughter, has quickly become a fan favorite among the JoJo community. Jolyne’s Stand, Stone Free, has destructive power comparable to her father’s Star Platinum, which means that it can deliver punches on the same level as a small, extremely fast meteor. That being said, the true utility of Stone Free is that it allows Jolyne to unravel her body into string, which has an almost limitless variety of uses.
Jolyne uses this power for simple whims, like pick-pocketing and eavesdropping, but she can also use these versatile strings in battle. Jolyne relies upon Stone Free to create nets to stop bullets or can even wield razor-sharp filaments that can cut her targets.
4 Josuke Higashikata (JoJolion)
Soft & Wet
Josuke Higashikata begins Part 8, JoJolion, with a pesky case of amnesia, which culminates in the surprising reveal that he’s actually two people–the fused state of Josefumi Kujo and Yoshikage Kira. Josuke’s Stand, Soft & Wet, has the ability to steal something from an object or person and take it for itself.
Soft & Wet has quite a bit of freedom in this regard. Josuke’s Stand can steal a person’s sight or even the friction from the ground. Josuke’s plundering ability has a multitude of uses, but it’s mainly a support ability. However, Soft & Wet still carries intense destructive abilities that Josuke explores during JoJolion’s finale.
3 Johnny Joestar (Steel Ball Run)
Tusk ACTS 1-4
Johnny Joestar is the first protagonist of the new universe formed in the wake of Stone Ocean’s ending. Johnny Joestar gallops towards success in Steel Ball Run, the seventh part in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and one that transforms the battle shonen series into a cross-country horse race with superpowers. Johnny begins Steel Ball Run as a person with paraplegia following a devastating spinal injury, but Gyro Zeppeli still recognizes the boy’s potential and destiny.
Johnny’s Stand, Tusk, is unique in that it slowly develops across four distinct ACTS. Tusk ACT1 isn’t anything special, but by the end of Steel Ball Run, Johnny has mastered the art of “Spin,” and Tusk ACT4 is a force so powerful that it can break through realities and foil Funny Valentine’s multiverse schemes.
2 Jotaro Kujo (Stardust Crusaders, Diamond Is Unbreakable, Stone Ocean)
Star Platinum/Star Platinum: The World
Jotaro Kujo is one of the most important players in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and he even goes on to help several subsequent Joestars following the events of his saga, Stardust Crusaders. In terms of raw destructive power capabilities, Jotaro’s Star Platinum rises above just about any other Stand in the series. Star Platinum is strong enough to destroy large diamonds with nothing but its fists. The Stand also casually launches an occupied jeep with a single hand.
If brute strength isn’t enough, Jotaro also helps Star Platinum evolve to a point where it can also stop time, just like DIO‘s Stand, The World. Jotaro goes on to steadily increase how long Star Platinum: The World can displace time, but Jotaro’s skills regress later in life, and he becomes an unfortunate casualty to chaos.
1 Giorno Giovanna (Golden Wind)
Gold Experience/Gold Experience Requiem
Giorno Giovanna may technically be the son of the revered JoJo villain, DIO, but he’s still a Joestar and has the birthmark to prove it. Giorno and his Stand, Gold Experience, is one of the greatest glow-ups in the entirety of JoJo. Golden Wind begins with Gold Experience having fairly nebulous powers that relate to the giving and transferring life energy between objects and individuals. Gold Experience can turn inorganic matter into living beings, create spare body parts, and even reflect damage to the aggressor.
This proves to be limited during Golden Wind’s battles, but the series concludes with Gold Experience evolving through the use of the Stand Arrow so that it becomes Gold Experience Requiem. In this state, Giorno can rewrite reality and become powerful enough to withstand other nefarious time-manipulation Stands like Diavolo’s King Crimson.