Steel Ball Run

Lore & Background

As the race progresses, Johnny and Gyro encounter pieces of the Holy Corpse, which are absorbed into Johnny's body, granting him the evolving Stand Tusk. They face rivals including Diego Brando, who obtains one of the Corpse's eyes, and later confront Valentine, who seizes their corpse parts with his dimension-traversing Stand Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. Lucy Steel, Steven's wife, attempts to foil Valentine's plan but is captured after fusing with the Corpse. Valentine kills Gyro in battle, but Johnny achieves the perfect Spin technique, enhances his Stand, and kills Valentine. The Holy Corpse is stolen by an alternate instance of Diego Brando from a parallel dimension, who wields a time-stopping Stand called The World. The alternate Diego wins the race but is annihilated by Lucy. The race's first place is awarded to Pocoloco, who slept through the start and caught up by luck. Johnny, having regained his ability to walk, leaves America to return Gyro's body to his family.

Reader's Guide

Steel Ball Run is significant as the seventh main story arc of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and the beginning of a separate continuity that continues in JoJolion and The JoJoLands. Originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 2004 without apparent connection to the series, it was officially announced as the seventh arc after moving to Ultra Jump in 2005. The arc has been praised for its art, characters, and story. Its 95 chapters were collected into 24 tankōbon volumes, following the trend from the previous part, Stone Ocean, of restarting the volume count. Viz Media licensed the manga for English release, with the first volume in May 2025. An anime adaptation premiered on Netflix in March 2026. The arc introduces key characters and concepts—such as the Spin, the Holy Corpse, and multiple Stands—that define the new continuity.

Did You Know?

• The first 23 chapters were serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 2004 under the title Steel Ball Run without any connection to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
• The Holy Corpse is heavily implied to be the body of Jesus Christ.
• The alternate Diego Brando from a parallel dimension wields a time-stopping Stand called The World.
• The race's first place was awarded to Pocoloco, who slept through the start and caught up by sheer luck.