Jonathan Joestar is where the whole wild, beautiful, deeply extra JoJo bloodline begins.

The original hero of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood, Jonathan is the first JoJo, a noble-hearted English gentleman whose life gets turned upside down when Dio Brando enters the picture as his adopted brother. From there, his story becomes a full-on gothic nightmare of betrayal, revenge, ancient masks, and supernatural combat. He learns Hamon, also called the Ripple, to fight Dio and the darkness spreading around him.

What makes Jonathan stand out is how completely sincere he is. In a franchise famous for swagger, trickery, and weaponized weirdness, Jonathan is refreshingly direct. He is strong, kind, honorable, and deeply committed to protecting others, even when the world gives him every reason to become bitter instead. He feels less like a chaos goblin and more like a mythic hero dropped into a cursed family saga.

Fans love Jonathan because he sets the moral foundation for the entire Joestar legacy. He’s not the flashiest JoJo, but he may be the purest. Massive fists, bigger heart. The kind of guy who would absolutely suplex a vampire and then apologize for the rough handling. His rivalry with Dio is also one of anime’s all-time great “this got personal immediately” feuds, and the emotional weight of that conflict echoes through the entire series.

He is the gentleman.
He is the blueprint.
And man, what a place to start.