Dio Brando

Dio Brando (ディオ・ブランドー Dio Burandō), known as DIO (ディオ) from Part 3 onwards, is the main antagonist in the original universe of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, featured primarily as the main antagonist in Phantom Blood and Stardust Crusaders, and a posthumous key antagonist in Stone Ocean. After becoming a Vampire and later a Stand user, DIO has gathered around him many minions and is responsible for many major events of the series, from the death of Jonathan Joestar to the Joestar Family's sudden acquisition of Stand power, and his legacy persists throughout the series. He is the wielder of the immensely powerful The World. DIO is the father of Giorno Giovanna, the main protagonist of Part 5, as well as a handful of other illegitimate offspring. DIO has consistently been shown to be manipulative and violently domineering, regularly displaying a lack of conscience and empathy; a classic case of a psychopath and a sociopath. DIO's most recognizable characteristics are his boundless ambition and megalomania. Abused by his father, being underprivileged and having lived in the most miserable conditions,[14] DIO set himself a goal of becoming the richest man alive. This charisma extends to when he was first introduced; in the presence of Jonathan's father, DIO came across as far more charismatic and gentlemanly than his son. He is also a talented actor, shown as he tricked Jonathan Joestar into dropping his guard long enough for him to lunge at him with a knife. When he couldn't accomplish attaining the Joestar fortune, he settled for becoming the most powerful being on Earth with the power of the Stone Mask, becoming a Vampire in the process and seeking to rule over humanity with an iron fist. To achieve these ends, DIO used anything or anyone that he could in order to further his goals, disregarding any kind of morality that would restrain the range of actions available to him. Whether it be through manipulation, seduction, violence, or straight-up murder, DIO constantly sought to become more and more powerful, and to eventually 'attain heaven'. As such, DIO enjoys being in a position of power above all else[15][16] and has repeatedly stated how great he felt being in a dominating position no matter what it cost, be it selling his humanity to become a vampire, and using his unholy and forbidden power as a member of the undead to create Zombies, or gaining powers that could eventually have him reshape the world in his image and have everyone worship him as a God. On the contrary, DIO never tolerated anyone standing up to him or equaling him in power, and was enraged and deeply disturbed at the thought several times. Due to this he would use servants to snuff out anything and anyone that can get in the way of his ambition as seen with his constant battles with Jonathan Joestar. However despite his immense pride and arrogance DIO is capable of genuine respect for those he believe possess strong wills, over the course of their lives he grew to respect Jonathan for his resolute resolve, going so far as to try to take his life and (literally) take over his body, seeing it as mercy to his former friend/brother. DIO can be extremely charming when he wants to be, with many characters describing him as being scarily charismatic and fascinating. He has used his innate charisma to gather many servants, mainly Stand Users. His guise is not perfect though, as there are people capable of seeing through his charismatic facade and allure by his own dark ambitions and power, such as Joseph Joestar, have likened him akin to a cult leader or even in comparison to historic tyrants and dictators like Adolf Hitler. When angered, DIO will begin to drop the pretense and revert back to his megalomaniac and psychotic personality. This is best seen in his battle with Jonathan's descendant Jotaro Kujo, as upon strengthening his own body by absorbing Joseph's blood, DIO became highly more erratic and psychotic mirroring his behavior 100 years prior, describing this state as a "high" he would indeed use his growing Stand power to rule over humanity and dominate those that get in his way once again, showing that his innate cruelty has not dissipated. Possibly through his twisted nature in life, DIO has very little care for family values or significant others, merely seeing women as tools or meals for him. However, on at least four occasions, he has allowed women to live and escape his grasp, with them going on to conceive his offspring, who would go through the same crucible of hatred and abuse he was put through in childhood. One of his main standards for the women he sought were those with atrocious personalities, selfish interests, and with the worst of hearts to father his children. It is unclear if it was his intention to have his children be tempered with such a miserable upbringing as to possibly breed "strong warrior souls" like himself due to his own experiences with his father, Dario. This proved somewhat true, as with only two notable exceptions being Giorno Giovanna and Rikiel, his kin exemplified the same kind of wicked nature and lust for power he did. Although, it appeared DIO was planning to kill at least one of the women he impregnated before he was eventually killed by Jotaro. The Stand exemplifies the user's psyche. His Stand, The World, represents his immoral desire for power and boundless ambition for control, but also his embodiment of determination to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. This is perhaps what makes The World one of the strongest Stands in the entire series. Following his release from his coffin for 100 years, DIO had successfully attained the body of Jonathan and matured in his thinking, growing an appreciation for achieving peace of mind and a desire to reach a state called "heaven" for which he wrote in his diary. DIO additionally grew an interest in the world's evolving cultures, collecting various works of literature, discussing fine arts in his spare time, and listening to music from figures like Michael Jackson. It was during this period he would confide these interests to a young Enrico Pucci, for which he believed was his closest friend and the one that could help him achieve heaven. DIO's main Stand is The World; a humanoid Stand that specializes in melee attack roughly equal, if not superior, in its immense force and speed to Jotaro Kujo's Star Platinum. About a year after gaining his Stand, DIO discovered that it is capable of stopping time. At first, he could only do this for a very short amount of time, but by the end of Part 3, he is able to stop time for a maximum of 9 seconds. DIO can move in other time stops for a maximum of two seconds. These durations would have continued to develop had DIO not been defeated. When stopping time, DIO gives the impression that he is teleporting or otherwise moving at impossible speeds. The ability is best known for DIO's activation and cancellation phrases THE WORLD, Time, stop! (世界ザ・ワールド! 時よ止まれ! Za Warudo! Toki yo Tomare!) and Time resumes. (時は動き出す Toki wa Ugokidasu). When he first acquired Jonathan Joestar's body and resurfaced from the ocean, he was unable to use the full power of his Stand, and had to acquire blood from a live Joestar to compensate and fully synchronize. Once this weakness was negated, he managed to grow significantly stronger, as did his Stand. His stolen body, being half-mortal, also had a slower regeneration rate than his original one. This weakness was found on the left side of his body. In the climax of DIO's fight with Jotaro when DIO kicked with his wounded left leg, the entire left side of his body shattered against Star Platinum's fist.