Dio Brando comes from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, which is a Japanese manga series that has had a huge impact on Japanese pop culture. For that matter, the influence of said series isn’t limited to Japanese pop culture, which is why people in the west might recognize more than one of the Internet memes that can be connected to it. Regardless, Dio is one of the most prominent villains in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, which is unsurprising when he played important roles in the first, the third, the sixth, and the seventh story arcs. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Dio Brando from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure:
1. Multiple Namesakes
Dio has multiple namesakes. First, the creator of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Hirohiko Araki wanted the villain’s name to sound cool, which is why he named him Dio for “God.” Second, Dio is a reference to the American heavy metal band of the same name. Third, Brando is a reference to Marlon Brando. Based on this, it should come as no surprise to learn that Araki is a huge fan of American pop culture.
2. Meant to Be Wholly Malevolent
There are plenty of villains out there that are a mix of both good and bad characteristics. However, Dio isn’t one of them. Instead, Araki meant for him to be wholly malevolent, which is why he had Dio cast off his literal humanity as a symbol of Dio’s choice to cast off his figurative humanity.
3. Child of a Drunkard
Dio is the son of a man named Dario Brando, who stumbled upon the scene of a carriage accident involving the Joestar family. Due to the mistaken impression that Dario had saved him and his son Jonathan, George Joestar promised a favor to Dario, which is why he winded up adopting Dio following Dario’s premature death from drinking. Unfortunately, Dio’s very rough upbringing had a very negative impact on his personality, which became worse and worse at a rapid pace.
4. Became a Vampire
Eventually, Dio’s crimes culminated in him using a mysterious stone mask of South American origin to turn into a vampire. This would be the literal casting off of his humanity that served as a symbol of his figurative casting off of his humanity.
5. Got Reduced to a Head in the First Story Arc
Even by villain standards, Dio is pretty tenacious. For example, he literally survives being reduced to a head in the first story arc of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure before launching an attack on Jonathan Joestar while he is on his honeymoon cruise with his wife Erina. Again, Dio is seemingly killed when Jonathan manages to sink the ship in spite of having been mortally wounded, while Erina managed to escape the ship with the other survivor of Dio’s massacre on the ship.
6. Survived By Grafting His Head on His Adopted Brother’s Body
However, it turned out that Dio managed to survive by grafting his head onto Jonathan’s body before sealing himself in a casket to wait out the passage of time. Eventually, the casket was recovered by a salvage ship, thus kicking off the events of the third story arc.
7. Died for Real in the Third Story Arc
In the third story arc, Dio was overcome by Jonathan’s grandson Joseph, Joseph’s grandson Jotaro, and their friends. After which, Joseph and Jotaro exposed his corpse to sunlight, thus ensuring that he was dead for real. With that said, that didn’t stop him from having plot relevance in later story arcs.
8. Had a Son
For example, the protagonist of the fifth story arc of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is Giorno Giovanna, who is Dio’s son that he fathered following his escape from the shipwreck. Technically, Giorno is counted as a member of the Joestar family because Dio was using Jonathan’s body at the time, with the result that he exhibits a curious combination of characteristics from both men.
9. Possesses the Stand Called The World
For a lot of people, their knowledge of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure will be limited to the physical manifestations of psychic power called Stands, which showed up in the third story arc. In Dio’s case, his Stand was called The World, which possessed superhuman speed, strength, and senses. However, its most formidable power was the ability to stop time for longer and longer periods, during which Dio was free to act as he pleased.
10. Associated with the Muda Muda Muda Meme
One of the Internet memes that have popped up into existence is the Muda Muda Muda meme, which refers to the phrase that The World shouts when it goes on the attack. For those who are curious, Muda means “useless.”
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