Battle Tendency
Joseph Joestar battles ancient Pillar Men to prevent their evolution.
Battle Tendency is the second major story arc in Hirohiko Araki's manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. It ran in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from November 2, 1987, to March 27, 1989, spanning 69 chapters that were later compiled into seven volumes. This arc follows Phantom Blood and precedes Stardust Crusaders.
The story takes place in North America and Europe around 1938–1939, about fifty years after Phantom Blood. It centers on Joseph Joestar and Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli, grandsons of Jonathan Joestar and Will A. Zeppeli, who wield Hamon, a sunlight-based energy. Alongside the Hamon master Lisa Lisa, they aim to stop ancient humanoids called the Pillar Men—the inventors of the stone masks from Phantom Blood—from obtaining the Super Aja, a powerful stone that would make them ultimate beings immune to sunlight.
In 2012, Battle Tendency received a digital color release for smartphones and tablets. A four-volume re-release titled JoJonium came out in 2014, licensed and published in North America by Viz Media in 2015 and 2016. The arc was adapted as part of the first season of David Production's 2012 anime series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
The backstory begins 102,000 years ago in what is now Mexico, with a powerful race of long-lived beings that absorb life force from plants and animals but are vulnerable to sunlight, forcing them underground. One Pillar Man, Kars, created a stone mask to grant immortality by absorbing life energy, aiming to conquer the sun. He killed all but three of his tribe. In 39 AD, Kars, Wamuu, and Esidisi traveled to the Roman Empire seeking a perfectly cut stone called the Super Aja. They developed fighting styles to counter Hamon, nearly wiping out the Hamon tribe, but the stone escaped them. The Pillar Men then entered a nearly 2,000-year sleep.
In 1889, Erina Joestar's husband Jonathan died at sea against Dio Brando. Erina survived and rescued a baby girl, Elizabeth, whose parents were killed by the stone mask. Raised by Hamon master Straizo, Elizabeth learned Hamon and received the Super Aja. She married Erina's son George, and they had a son, Joseph. When Joseph was a baby, George was killed by a zombie disguised as a Royal Flying Corps commander; his death was covered up. Elizabeth killed the zombie in revenge, leading to a warrant for her arrest.
Quick Facts
- Ja Romaji
- Sentō Chōryū
- Genre
- Adventure, supernatural
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Set approximately 50 years after Phantom Blood, Battle Tendency follows Joseph Joestar and Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli, grandsons of Jonathan Joestar and Will A. Zeppeli, who can manipulate sunlight-based energy called Hamon. Along with the Hamon master Lisa Lisa, they seek to prevent ancient humanoids called the Pillar Men—who invented the stone masks from Phantom Blood—from obtaining a powerful stone called the Super Aja, which would evolve them into ultimate beings and conquer their vulnerability to sunlight. The story begins in fall 1938 as Joseph and his grandmother Erina move from London to New York, and former thug turned oil baron Robert E. O. Speedwagon invites Straizo to Mexico to destroy a sleeping Pillar Man. Straizo instead becomes a vampire and attacks Joseph, who defeats him. Joseph then travels to Mexico, where he encounters the awakened Pillar Man Santana and, with Nazi Major Rudol von Stroheim, traps Santana in sunlight. In Rome, Joseph and Caesar meet but fail to prevent the awakening of the three remaining Pillar Men: Kars, Wamuu, and Esidisi. Joseph receives poison-filled rings from Wamuu and Esidisi, giving him 33 days to obtain antidotes. He and Caesar train under Lisa Lisa on Air Suplena Island. Esidisi attacks, and Joseph destroys his body, but Esidisi's brain possesses a handmaid to steal the Super Aja. Caesar is killed by Wamuu but secures an antidote for Joseph. Joseph kills Wamuu, but Kars uses the Super Aja and stone mask to become the ultimate being, immune to sunlight and able to use Hamon. Joseph triggers a volcanic eruption that sends Kars into space, where his body freezes and he drifts eternally. Joseph marries Suzi Q, and an epilogue set in 1987 shows an aged Joseph flying to Japan, leading into Stardust Crusaders.
Reader's Guide
Battle Tendency is significant as the second story arc of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, expanding the series' mythology by introducing the Pillar Men, ancient humanoids who created the stone masks. It shifts the protagonist from Jonathan Joestar to his grandson Joseph Joestar, whose cunning and improvisational fighting style contrast with Jonathan's straightforward heroism. The arc deepens the Hamon system introduced in Phantom Blood and establishes the Super Aja as a key artifact. Its legacy includes being adapted as part of the first season of David Production's 2012 anime television series. The arc was digitally colored and released for smartphones and tablets in 2012, and a four-volume re-release titled JoJonium was published in 2014, licensed in North America by Viz Media in 2015–2016. Battle Tendency directly sets up the following arc, Stardust Crusaders, through its epilogue showing Joseph traveling to Japan.
Did You Know?
- Battle Tendency was originally referred to as 'JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 2' in its original publication.
- The Pillar Men invented the stone masks that appeared in Phantom Blood.
- Joseph Joestar's mother, Lisa Lisa, went into hiding under an alias after being accused of killing a zombie.
- Kars, the leader of the Pillar Men, drifts through space for eternity after being knocked into orbit by a volcanic eruption.
More in Characters
Elsewhere in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
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