JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s Strongest Protagonist Almost Ruined the End of Part 6 (But Only Manga Fans Will Know It)

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure‘s sixth part, Stone Ocean, has an incredibly controversial ending—but a very different conclusion could have been in the works. Netflix’s adaptation of Part 6 has brought its rewarding convolution to countless new anime-only fans. However, those fans won’t know about Araki teasing the return of Golden Wind‘s protagonist, Giorno Giovanna.

Stone Ocean‘s ending features the relentlessly powerful priest, Pucci, activating a plan left behind by the late DIO to achieve “Heaven”. Accelerating time using gravity, Pucci intends for a universal singularity where future fates are known. Despite their best efforts, Jolyne, Jotaro, and the others can’t stop him. The young mafioso might have been just what they needed though, and the evidence JoJo’s strongest protagonist was supposed to be in Florida’s apocalyptic standoff is stronger than even die-hard JoJo fans realize.

Stone Ocean Teased Giorno Giovanna’s Return

Golden Wind’s Protagonist Might Have Come Back

The Heaven plan calls for Pucci to merge with the Green Baby birthed from DIO’s bone. Pucci receives the Joestar birthmark afterward, drawing three of DIO’s sons (Donatello Versus, Rykiel, and Ungalo) to his doorstep as a result. The release of volume 13 in September 2002 saw Araki append a curious note to chapter #115 (“Sky High Part 4”): a biography for Rykiel, ending with:

Giorno Giovanna (refer to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 5, Golden Wind) is also a son of DIO, but then, why was he not drawn to the priest as well? This is a mystery, but… perhaps he is already somewhere in Florida…

This teaser has prompted intense speculation. It’s technically possible that the hint was just a red herring—Araki playing with his audience. At the same time, that’s not exactly Araki’s style, and it’s known that Araki definitely changed the original ending of Stone Ocean.

Araki Could Have Meant For Stone Ocean To End Very Differently

His Plan Is Hidden In Plain Sight

Fans haven’t been told anything about Araki’s original plans. However, the Giorno hint helps with reconstructing his intentions, if one takes it at face value. The Heavy Weather arc (chapter #125-137) ran from July 23 to October 29, and was immediately followed by the conflict at Cape Canaveral where Pucci manifests C-Moon, then Made in Heaven.

This also means Araki could have been considering Giorno’s return seriously enough to add a teaser to the volume release well into the Heavy Weather arc. Since he hadn’t yet appeared in the Heavy Weather arc when the teaser was added, it’s not too far-fetched to assume he wasn’t meant to appear in that arc, but the Cape Canaveral showdown instead.

The Heaven plans and evolution of Pucci’s stand were clearly cemented long before anything else, meaning the birthmark lure was probably planned well in advance. The struggle before the Cape Canaveral confrontation, Heavy Weather, also hinged on Weather Report’s birthmark being activated. Furthermore, Pucci’s relationship to DIO and the basic elements that would lead to the later birthmark-related calamities were established early on. The idea of the birthmark lure is too convenient for Giorno’s tease at the same time to be discounted.

Giorno’s The Only JoJo Protagonist Who Could Beat Pucci

It Would Be Almost Impossible For Any Others To Beat Such A Menacing Stand

This is especially pertinent since Araki changed the ending at the last second, per an afterword Araki penned in 2009:

That is the end of Stone Ocean, which was changed and redrawn at the last minute. Moreover, it also brought out a sense of nostalgia. Jolyne Cujoh’s memories are different, but her love and affection will remain and become eternal, and she will surely continue to grow and move forward.

What does “last second” mean, here? It’s obvious that everything up to the Cape Canaveral confrontation had been meticulously planned, so it must have something to do with the final showdown. Araki says the change came because of his feeling that he had reached the pinnacle of the series. He needed to start anew, so he made Pucci even stronger. The same interview reads:

In terms of Stand abilities (speaking from my own perspective), it felt at the time like I had drawn all that I needed to in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 6: Stone Ocean, and I felt a sense of creative satisfaction at the thought that, perhaps, I had reached the pinnacle of my ideas. Time itself was getting faster and faster and outpacing human senses, approaching infinity itself, or at least as close to infinity as possible. I thought to myself then that no Stand ability could ever surpass it. […] My ideas had indeed reached their pinnacle. […]

What can I possibly do? And then it hit me.

We’ll go back to the root. […] We’ll make the Stand ability of the main villain, Father Pucci, even more powerful. That way, time, the protagonists, and the bloodline itself can make a full cycle of the universe and return to their origin. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure will abandon modern civilization and return to nature.

That is the end of Stone Ocean, which was changed and redrawn at the last minute.

But, if the nostalgic new universe was part of the last-minute changes, then it implies Pucci was meant to be defeated before the time acceleration progressed to the point of singularity. It also implies that Jolyne wouldn’t have died while Made in Heaven was active. In other words, Made in Heaven was originally meant to be negated and undone. There are only two characters in the JoJo universe who have restorative powers capable of doing so: Josuke and Giorno.

However, Josuke’s Crazy Diamond’s restoration is limited—it would need a significant power-up to achieve an ending with the original universe intact. Jotaro was too out of practice for Star Platinum to be of use, and Jolyne’s Stone Free doesn’t have any innate time/dimension-splitting abilities. Giorno’s Gold Experience Requiem is the only stand capable of beating Pucci and negating Made in Heaven during the Cape Canaveral arc, without assuming a majorly disruptive power-up for the others. There are two big arguments against this theory:

1. Giorno retrieved the Requiem arrow and stored it in the turtle (Mr. President) in Golden Wind‘s conclusion. However, there’s no canonical evidence that he actually lost the Requiem powers, and Diamond is Unbreakable demonstrates that Stands pierced with arrows maintain their augmentations.
2. Made in Heaven doesn’t directly contradict Giorno’s will. Some have argued that Made in Heaven isn’t directly threatening in the same way Diavolo’s King Crimson. Up close, though, Made in Heaven is incredibly dangerous. Furthermore, the mechanics of Gold Experience Requiem aren’t ever fully described. If Giorno needed to know Pucci’s identity to negate his will, then it actually supports the theory he was supposed to appear: he was “somewhere in Florida”, drawn by the birthmark and seeking out the identity of the Stand user causing such calamity.

Giorno’s appearance would have also been perfect for JoJo‘s themes of bloodlines (which Araki also mentioned above). A climactic battle where Pucci and Giorno, both recipients of the Joestar birthmark through DIO, face off would have been perfect symbolism for JoJo. It would have happened directly following the deaths of Weather Report and DIO’s other sons, also Joestars-by-DIO, no less.

Giorno, who chose to think and act like a Joestar in his own way, would reclaim the birthmark for himself. In the process, Pucci, the last “imposter” Joestar, wouldn’t simply be defeated, but would have his will eternally negated. Stone Ocean would have brought a natural conclusion to the ways Golden Wind ingeniously complicated the Joestar lineage. Giorno would have finally definitively settled the matter for the Joestar bloodline, after his very introduction showed that the Joestar-Brando rivalry’s arena had transitioned from the open-air (e.g., against Jonathon and Jotaro) to the body and soul.

So, why didn’t Giorno show up? Araki wanted to end “Joestar against DIO”, but he didn’t want to give up “Joestar”. He didn’t change his mind because Giorno would steal the spotlight from Jolyne, as some fans have suggested—Jotaro and Josuke’s tag-team at the end of Part 4 showed Araki doesn’t worry about that. He didn’t change his mind because Giorno was overpowered, and it would have been unsatisfying. Araki had no choice but to take JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and start over from scratch, saving the franchise in the process.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a Japanese multimedia franchise created by Hirohiko Araki. It follows the adventures of the Joestar family, spanning generations, each with unique abilities and battling supernatural enemies. Known for its eccentric characters, distinctive art style, and creative battles, it includes manga, anime, games, and merchandise.

Created by

Hirohiko Araki

Character(s)

Will A. Zeppeli , Jonathan Joestar , Giorno Giovanna , Jotaro Kujo , Joseph Joestar , Jolyne Cujoh , Johnny Joestar , Josuke Higashikata , Gyro Zeppeli

Video Game(s)

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure , JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R