Stardust Crusaders

Stardust Crusaders is the third main story arc of the manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. The arc was serialized for a little over 3 years. It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from April 3, 1989, to April 27, 1992, for 152 chapters, which were later collected into 16 volumes. In its original publication, it was known as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3 Jotaro Kujo: Heritage for the Future. The arc was preceded by Battle Tendency and followed by Diamond Is Unbreakable.
The story is set long after the events of Battle Tendency and follows Joseph Joestar's grandson Jotaro Kujo, a Japanese high school delinquent who awakens Star Platinum, a guardian spirit known as a Stand with superhuman abilities. Alongside his grandfather and other Stand-users, they are tasked to go on a journey to Cairo, Egypt, in order to defeat Dio, who is revealed to be alive and is seeking revenge on the Joestar family.
In 2012, Stardust Crusaders was digitally colored and released as digital downloads for smartphones and tablet computers. A ten-volume hardcover re-release under the title JoJonium was published in 2014 and 2015. Viz Media initially released the sixteen-volume format of the arc in North America between 2005 and 2010. They released the hardcover format from 2016 to 2019.
It is one of the most popular parts of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series as it introduced the audience to the concept of Stands, which differentiated it from its predecessors. This popularity later spawned video games, a three volume drama CD series, two novels and two OVA series of this arc alone. An anime television adaptation by David Production, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, aired in Japan between April 2014 and June 2015.
Stardust Crusaders also stands out as the only arc of the series to gain any notable Western exposure prior to the release of the anime series by David Production in 2012, due to the 1993 OVA series, 1999 video game and the English releases of the manga in 2005–2010.

Plot

In Japan, 1987, Jotaro Kujo, grandson of Joseph Joestar, has been arrested, and refuses to leave his cell, believing he is possessed by an evil spirit. After being called by Holly, Joseph's daughter and Jotaro's mother, Joseph arrives with an associate, Mohammed Avdol. They explain that Jotaro's "evil spirit" is actually a manifestation of his fighting spirit, called a Stand, and reveal that they possess Stands as well. Joseph explains that the sudden appearance of their Stands is caused by the nemesis of his grandfather, Jonathan Joestar: Dio Brando, now simply referred to as Dio. Dio has survived his final battle with Jonathan by decapitating his nemesis's corpse and attaching his own head to it. Now preparing for global conquest, Dio has awoken his own Stand and recruited Stand-using assassins to kill Jonathan's remaining descendants. Soon after, Jotaro uses his Stand, which is later named Star Platinum, to defeat the first of these assassins, a transfer student named Noriaki Kakyoin, before freeing Kakyoin from Dio's control by removing a parasitic flesh bud from him. Holly soon becomes gravely ill due to a Stand manifesting in her, which is slowly killing her due to her weak personality. With little hesitation, Jotaro, Joseph, Avdol, and Kakyoin begin a journey to Egypt to kill Dio and save Holly's life. On the way, they defeat another brainwashed assassin named Jean Pierre Polnareff who later joins the quest to kill Dio and avenge the death of his sister, whose murderer is among Dio's forces.
Forced to travel on foot after Dio's assassins manage to foil their travel by plane and ship, the group encounter Hol Horse and the murderer of Polnareff's sister, J. Geil, in Calcutta, with Avdol seemingly killed during the confrontation. Polnareff kills J. Geil with Kakyoin's help, and the remaining group travels further into Pakistan. After defeating Geil's mother, a Dio loyalist named Enya, the group reach the Red Sea, where Polnareff learns Avdol faked his death to acquire a submarine that allows them to reach Egypt.
Upon arriving in Abu Simbel, the heroes are joined by Iggy, a Boston Terrier with a Stand of his own, while facing the first of nine Stands named after Egyptian deities. Kakyoin is wounded in the fight, and is taken to a hospital to recuperate. After the group defeats several more Stand users while reaching Cairo, Iggy discovers and leads them to Dio's mansion, with Kakyoin rejoining them. At the mansion's entrance, the party is split up- Jotaro, Joseph, and Kakyoin fight the last of the nine Egyptian god Stands, while Polnareff, Avdol, and Iggy make their way through the mansion. However, one of Dio's servants, Vanilla Ice, kills Avdol and Iggy, both of whom separately sacrifice themselves to save Polnareff. An enraged Polnareff battles Vanilla Ice and discovers that Vanilla Ice has been transformed into a vampire like Dio, a fact that Vanilla Ice himself was unaware of. Polnareff floods the room with light, disintegrating Vanilla Ice and avenging his friends whose spirits peacefully head to Heaven.
Jotaro, Joseph, Kakyoin, and Polnareff ultimately encounter Dio, and escape his mansion. A chase across Cairo follows, leading to Kakyoin confronting Dio and his Stand, The World, whose power Dio has taken great lengths to keep secret. Though fatally wounded by The World, Kakyoin manages to deduce the Stand's ability to stop time for five seconds and covertly relays it to Joseph in his final moments. Joseph is able to pass it on to Jotaro, but is swiftly killed by Dio, who uses his blood to increase the duration of his ability to nine seconds. With most of his allies dead and Polnareff unconscious, Jotaro is left to fight Dio alone. During the fight, both sides discover that their respective Stands are similar in both range, power, and ability, meaning that Jotaro is able to use The World's time-stopping powers as well. Jotaro first uses this ability to briefly move around while Dio has stopped time, but he learns how to stop time directly when Dio tries to crush him with a road roller. Dio attempts to kill Jotaro with one final kick, but a counterattack from Jotaro splits The World in two, killing it and Dio. Jotaro transfuses Dio's blood back into Joseph and uses Star Platinum to restart his stopped heart, reviving him. The two Joestars then expose Dio's corpse to the sun, destroying the vampire for good. Jotaro and Joseph bid Polnareff farewell before returning to Japan, as Holly has made a full recovery.

Characters

' is the delinquent protagonist. He uses the Stand Star Platinum, whose power is incredible strength, speed, and precision. It is later revealed that Star Platinum also has the power to stop time, which helps him during the final battle with Dio.
' is Jotaro's grandfather, and the protagonist of the previous part of the series, Battle Tendency. He uses the Stand Hermit Purple, which allows him to produce thorny purple vines that can perform predictions through electronic equipment such as Polaroid cameras or televisions ; he can also use them to attach to buildings and swing through the air. He also still has access to the vampire-killing martial art known as Hamon, which was his primary ability in Battle Tendency, and can use Hermit Purple as wires to channel Hamon energy, which he uses in the fight with Dio to prevent the vampire from directly attacking him.
' is a fortune teller from Cairo, and an ally of Joseph and Jotaro. He uses the Stand Magician's Red, which allows him to manipulate fire.
' is a former enemy turned ally of Jotaro. Kakyoin believed himself a social outcast due to his Stand, which continued up until he met Jotaro. He uses the Stand Hierophant Green, which he can unravel into threads to enter people and control them from the inside, or perform a long-ranged attack using blasts of green energy known as Emerald Splash.
' is another former enemy turned ally of Jotaro. Polnareff joins the crew to avenge his younger sister, who was murdered by a man with two right hands. Polnareff uses the Stand Silver Chariot, which takes the form of an armored knight wielding a rapier, excelling in fast swordsmanship and close-range fighting; his Stand can shed its armor to increase its agility and speed exponentially at the price of being more vulnerable to attacks. He can also shoot his sword but only once in the battle.
' is a Boston Terrier who uses the Stand, The Fool, which manipulates sand and dust.
' is the daughter of Joseph and the mother of Jotaro. Although most Stands are used for fighting, her unnamed Stand works against her gentle, non-violent soul, slowly making her increasingly sick. It takes on the form of vines with roses and berries.
', the main antagonist, is a vampire who previously appeared in Phantom Blood. After being presumed dead for 100 years, he has returned from his slumber and attached his disembodied head to the decapitated corpse of his longtime foe, Jonathan Joestar. He uses the Stand The World, a high-power, short-range Stand similar to Star Platinum, which is capable of stopping time for brief intervals. Possessing Jonathan also lead to Dio gaining the ability to use Jonathan's unnamed stand, a power that manifests similarly to Joseph's Hermit Purple.
' is an old woman, who is the confidant of Dio. She uses the Stand Justice, which takes the form of a mist that takes control over anyone with an open wound, allowing Enya to control them as she would a marionette.
' is a recurring minor antagonist who nearly killed Mohammad Avdol using his Stand Emperor, a long range Stand resembling a gun that can shoot and steer its bullets.
' is the son of Enya the Hag, and the man who murdered Polnareff's sister, prompting Polnareff to avenge her. J. Geil wields the Stand Hanged Man, a Stand that attacks others in reflections such as mirrors. Hanged Man can also jump from reflection to reflection in a ray of light.
Steely Dan is a servant of Dio who was sent to assassinate Enya to prevent her from revealing the secret of Dio's stand. He wields the stand Lovers', which is microscopic, and transfers damage done to its user to a selected target by infiltrating their brain.
Vanilla Ice is one of Dio's most loyal servants, going as far as cutting his head off to heal Dio's neck wound. He is revived as a vampire, and fights Polnareff, Iggy, and Avdol in Dio's mansion. He wields the stand Cream, which can swallow itself and turn into a spherical void of nothingness that destroys anything in its path.
Daniel J. D'Arby is a proficient gambler who wields Osiris, a stand that allows him to put people's souls in poker chips after they lose.
Telence T. D'Arby is Daniel J. D'Arby's younger brother, and a professional gamer who once even beat a person who was born with an IQ of 190. He wields the stand Atum, which allows him to read people's minds and place their souls into dolls if they lose.
is a minor antagonist. He is a blind assassin hired by Dio and the first of the Egypt 9 Glory Gods the Joestar Group encounters upon entering Egypt, attacking them in the middle of the Sahara. N'Doul wields the Stand Geb, a long-ranged Stand made of water that N'Doul can remotely control and shape into anything to attack his foes from afar, notably as a sharp water stream able to slice flesh.