Steel Ball Run

The series is set in 1890 in an alternate reality from all previous JoJo's Bizarre Adventure parts,[lower-alpha 1] where racing jockeys from all over the world flock to the United States to take part in the titular Steel Ball Run—a cross-country horse race from San Diego to New York City with a prize of fifty million dollars. Johnny Joestar, a former jockey who fell from glory after a shooter paralyzed him from the waist down, enters the race after meeting the mysterious Gyro Zeppeli to learn the secrets of the man's Spin technique which temporarily restored his mobility. While beginning as rivals, Johnny and Gyro become friends as they travel through the wilderness while fending off violent competitors.

As Gyro begins teaching Johnny the secrets of the Spin, his own background is explored through flashbacks. He is a former executioner from Naples who is competing in the Steel Ball Run, not for his own gain but to win the favor of the Neapolitan royalty and thus prevent the unjust execution of a young boy, Marco, who has been falsely accused of treason. The two continue their progression through the race, all the while being attacked by various assassins, terrorists, and outlaws.

Although the Steel Ball Run is organized by the eccentric oil tycoon Stephen Steel, it is revealed that the race is backed by the United States government. Steel is unaware of the actual agenda of US President Funny Valentine: the race is a means for Valentine to collect the scattered pieces of a two-thousand-year-old corpse known as the Saint's Corpse (implied to be the body of Jesus Christ, brought to America by Joseph of Arimathea) so he can use the reassembled body to achieve incredible power. Stephen's wife Lucy discovers this plot and finds out that Valentine already possesses one part of the Corpse, the heart.

After Johnny and Gyro encounter another piece of the Saint's Corpse, it is absorbed into Johnny's body and he develops the Stand Tusk, allowing him to fend off one of Valentine's minions. Later, they meet the mysterious racer Diego Brando (a counterpart to the character Dio Brando, a major antagonist in previous installments of the series), who obtains one of two Corpse eyes, while Gyro gains the other.

Lucy intercepts a message to Valentine about the Corpse parts, making her a target for his men. She manages to escape him and finds one of the parts with assistance from Johnny and Gyro. With the information provided by Lucy, Johnny and Gyro decide to search for the next three Corpse parts while sending Lucy, with the advantage of Gyro's Corpse eye, to take the Heart from Valentine himself.

Meanwhile, Diego makes a deal with Valentine to help him deal with the traitor (who Valentine does not know is Lucy). Partnered with another racer, Diego attacks Johnny and Gyro. Gyro teaches Johnny how to use the Golden Ratio found in nature to amplify the power of the Spin, which evolves his Stand and allows him to defeat the other racer with this technique, but Diego escapes and all but one of the Corpse parts are stolen by another racer, Hot Pants.

Johnny and Gyro are next forced to deal with a Stand based on the fable of The Honest Woodman by Aesop, which grants them a considerable fortune alongside another Corpse part but forces them to get rid of both before sunrise or else they will be trapped within an ancient tree forever and become the new users of the Stand, making the same deal with passersby. The duo spends the money hiring a mercenary force to fend off Valentine's henchmen, but Gyro is nearly lost forever until Johnny trades away the Corpse parts to the last survivor of Valentine's forces, saving Gyro's life but leaving them with nothing.

Lucy uses Hot Pants' Stand to disguise herself as Valentine's wife Scarlet, while Hot Pants steals several Corpse parts from Valentine, including the Heart.

Johnny and Gyro are led to a garbage dump by Hot Pants, only for all three to be nearly defeated by one of Valentine's men, who takes all of the parts they have collected. With the help of a vision of the Saint, Johnny's Stand develops new powers in combination with the Spin. Before he can win the battle, however, Valentine arrives and kills his own minion, then leaves along with all the Corpse parts except for the undiscovered head and the eyes possessed by Diego and Lucy. Upon returning to the Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Valentine uncovers Lucy's disguise and takes her captive after she fuses with the Corpse and seemingly becomes pregnant with the Corpse's head.

Lucy escapes from captivity, only to be lured into Valentine's clutches once again. Diego and Hot Pants ally against Valentine, chasing him and Lucy to a trainyard while being followed themselves by Johnny and Gyro. Diego and Hot Pants fight Valentine on the moving train but his Stand “D4C” (Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap) allows for multiple universes to exist simultaneously. Valentine's stand ability proves to be far too dangerous as Diego is lured to his death after Valentine pulls him under the moving train, bisecting him. Hot Pants is killed when space-time distortions cause multiple solid objects to converge with her heart, instantly killing her. Lucy begins to metamorphose into a being resembling the Saint's Corpse. This grants Valentine even further powers in the form of an ability for D4C called Love Train, a dimensional wall of light that redirects all harm away from Valentine and randomly redistributes it as misfortune across the world.

Johnny and Gyro arrive and attempt to battle the seemingly invulnerable Valentine. Johnny is momentarily incapacitated as Gyro and Valentine take their fight towards the Atlantic Ocean, with Gyro unlocking his stand “Ball Breaker” utilizing the Golden Spin and the Steel Balls. Gyro passes Johnny a cryptic hint regarding The Golden Spin, a form of spin utilizing gravity. Although Ball Breaker can pass through Love Train and greatly damage Valentine, he unexpectedly survives Ball Breaker’s second attack and kills Gyro after multiple wounds travel towards his heart. At the last possible second, Johnny understands Gyro’s hint and achieves the Golden Spin with Tusk, unlocking ACT 4, which allows Johnny to mark objects or beings with infinite rotation. Valentine is horrified as Tusk ACT 4's attack can breach his dimensional wall and mark D4C with infinite rotation. Pursued by infinite rotation regardless of which dimension he travels to, Valentine is forced to surrender and attempts to make a deal with Johnny, offering to resurrect Gyro by finding a version of him in another universe in exchange for the Corpse. Johnny nearly agrees but realizes that this is a trick after he notices Valentine holding a gun taken from another universe, which he intended to kill Johnny with if he let his guard down. Johnny kills Valentine in a fierce standoff but realizes somebody else has taken the Corpse, now separate from Lucy.

Pursuing this unknown enemy into the final stage of the Steel Ball Run, Johnny is shocked to find that it is an alternate version of Diego Brando, taken from a different universe by Valentine and entrusted with the Corpse. Unlike the previous Diego, this one possesses the time-stopping Stand of Dio Brando, THE WORLD. A flashback reveals that Valentine has educated the alternate Diego on the dangers of Tusk ACT 4 and a battle on the streets of New York begins. The new Diego can stop time for Johnny utilizing THE WORLD, however, Tusk ACT 4 is shown to be able to slightly mitigate the time stop by the use of gravity. Diego eventually outsmarts Johnny by weaponizing Tusk ACT 4's own Golden Spin against it. THE WORLD is attacked by ACT 4, but Diego uses his stand to sever his leg which was attacked by the infinite rotation, and redirects it at Johnny. Overwhelmed by his own stand ability, Johnny begins to die. Diego then goes on to win the race in first place. He brings the Corpse to Trinity Church, where Valentine intended to lock it in a vault so that its powers would protect America forever. At the last moment, Lucy arrives with the severed head of the previous Diego. Terrified, Diego stops time with THE WORLD but is unable to crawl up the stairs with his missing leg and accidentally comes into contact with the root world Diego's head. Since parallel instances of the same person cannot come into contact without destroying each other, Alternate Diego fuses with the original Diego's head, instantly killing him and his Stand.

With Diego missing, first place is awarded to the carefree Pocoloco, who had slept through the start of the race and only caught up by sheer luck. Stephen Steel arrives to save Johnny, who can reverse his own spin with his Stand after being assisted onto a horse. Valentine's death is covered up as retirement from public life, with concerns over the race placated by the donation of the prize money to charitable causes. Johnny, having regained his ability to walk through the power of his Stand and the Spin, leaves America to return Gyro's body to his family. On the boat, he meets the Japanese racer Norisuke Higashikata, whose daughter Rina he later marries, leading to the events of Part 8, JoJolion.

• Johnny Joestar[lower-alpha 2] is a former horse racer from Kentucky, who is paralyzed from the waist down. He participates in the Steel Ball Run to follow Gyro Zeppeli and learn how to use his Spin technique, to be able to stand again, but for the most part, uses his horse Slow Dancer in lieu of his legs. He uses the Stand Tusk,[lower-alpha 3] which allows him to shoot his finger nails as bullets. Tusk later evolves into different ACTs with differing capabilities, similar to Koichi Hirose's stand Echoes.
• Gyro Zeppeli[lower-alpha 4] is a disgraced magistrate and executioner from the Kingdom of Naples, who participates in the Steel Ball Run to free a boy who he believes has been wrongly imprisoned. He is a master of a mystical art called the Spin, which is channeled through the steel balls he throws, with both combative and medical effects. Gyro has an acute knowledge of the human body, which he demonstrates during certain encounters and is well versed in surgical skills. Gyro eventually unlocks his stand Ball Breaker[lower-alpha 5] during the final battle. Ball Breaker induces senescence in its targets.
• Lucy Steel[lower-alpha 6] is a fourteen-year-old girl who tries to help Johnny and Gyro, and is the wife of the Steel Ball Run promoter Stephen Steel. She uses the Stand Ticket to Ride, [lower-alpha 7] which allows her to redirect misfortune every time her tears cuts on someone, which eventually paved the way for D4C's evolved form, Love Train.
• Funny Valentine[lower-alpha 8] is the 23rd President of the United States, and a former soldier. He uses the Stand Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,[lower-alpha 9] which allows him to travel between alternate dimensions when he is pressed between two objects. D4C can also cause space time distortions although this ability seems to be a byproduct of D4C's dimensional abilities.
• Hot Pants[lower-alpha 10] is a Steel Ball Run participant from the United States, and a former nun. She uses the Stand Cream Starter,[lower-alpha 11] which takes the form of a spray bottle that can turn flesh into a foam-like substance and spray it to fuse the flesh with people's bodies.
• Wekapipo[lower-alpha 12] is a former Neapolitan royal guard who is hired and partnered with the Stand user Magent Magent to protect Valentine. He uses the Spin, wielding a steel ball called Wrecking Ball, which can release smaller, blinding balls if the main ball is blocked or misses.
• Steven Steel[lower-alpha 13] is the promoter of the Steel Ball Run and is the middle-aged husband of Lucy Steel.
• Mountain Tim[lower-alpha 14] is working as cowboy and bounty hunter, and announced as leading competitor in the Steel Ball Run. During the first stages of the race, Tim becomes one of Johnny and Gyro's allies. He is also a Stand User and is able to shift through his lasso with his ability, Oh! Lonesome Me [lower-alpha 15]
• Pocoloco[lower-alpha 16] he joins the race after inspired by the news given him by a fortune-teller of his peaking luck. Through sheer luck, he becomes one of the fiercest competitors of the race. Pocoloco happens to be a Stand User, whose Hey Ya! [lower-alpha 17] exists to cheer him up, taking full advantage of its user's absurd amount of luck.

• Valentine's Subordinate[lower-alpha 18] mainly consist of Stand Users following the orders of President Funny Valentine to confront Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli
• Diego Brando,[lower-alpha 19] nicknamed "Dio", is a Steel Ball Run participant from the United Kingdom, and a rival to Gyro and Johnny. He uses the Stand Scary Monsters, [lower-alpha 20] which allows him to transform into a Utahraptor. Later, an alternate version of Diego is summoned by Valentine. This Diego is far more similar to the original Dio, and even uses The World[lower-alpha 21] as his Stand. Both versions of Diego retain an identical appearance.
• Oyecomova[lower-alpha 22] is a terrorist from the Kingdom of Naples who participates in the Steel Ball Run. Having heard of Gyro Zeppeli's participation, he seeks revenge on him and attacks Gyro alongside Mountain Tim and Johnny Joestar in the Rocky Mountains. He uses the stand Listen to My Rhythm, [lower-alpha 23] which allows him to create and attach special time bombs to anything he touches, be it solid objects or even water and smoke.
• Sandman[lower-alpha 24] is a racer in Steel Ball Run race, Sandman comes from a Native American tribe in the Arizona desert. Despite being ostracized, he hopes that winning the Steel Ball Run race will earn him the money to buy back his ancestor's land and becomes one of the fiercest competitors in the race thanks to his running technique. Sandman is a Stand User who wields In a Silent Way [lower-alpha 25] in battle.allows him to create three-dimensional constructs out of sounds.
• Blackmore[lower-alpha 26] is one of Funny Valentine's henchmen. When Lucy Steel's intrusion is discovered while she investigates Valentine's schemes, Blackmore is tasked with tracking and eliminating whoever tried to spy on the President. Blackmore is a Stand User, wearing his mask-Stand Catch the Rainbow [lower-alpha 27]to literally walk on falling raindrops.
• Mike.O[lower-alpha 28] is President Funny Valentine's personal bodyguard. When Lucy Steel and Hot Pants infiltrate the President's residence in Chicago, he battles Hot Pants in order to protect Valentine. Mike O. is a Stand User and creates deadly metal balloons through his Tubular Bells [lower-alpha 29].
• Ringo Roadagain[lower-alpha 30] is a gunslinger at the service of Funny Valentine who traps Gyro, Johnny and Hot Pants at the beginning of the 4th Stage, near Kansas City, to seize the Saint's Corpse's parts. He is a Stand User and uses his time-rewinding Mandom [lower-alpha 31] during gunfights to get the upper hand.
• Axl RO[lower-alpha 32] is an agent to President Valentine, Axl RO attacks Hot Pants, Gyro, and Johnny with his Stand in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, summoning corporeal representations of figures from their pasts in order to steal the Saint's Corpse parts. He is a Stand User, powering his Civil War [lower-alpha 33]}} with guilt

The series was written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki.

Steel Ball Run was written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki,[1] and was originally serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from January 19 to October 16, 2004.[2][3] It was later moved to Shueisha's monthly seinen magazine Ultra Jump on March 19, 2005,[4][5][6] and ran until April 19, 2011.[7] Araki found that the new, monthly schedule with longer chapters suited him better, as he was not as restricted in what he could draw and no longer had to write stories with momentum building up excitement for the next week's chapter, and had more flexibility to draw at his own pace.[5] Araki described the manga's theme as "seeking for satisfaction".[8] Like with other parts of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Araki also used "an affirmation that humanity is wonderful" as a theme, which he explained as a description for humanity's ability to grow and overcome hardships through one's strength and spirit, portrayed through people succeeding in fights through their own actions, without relying on machines or gods.[5]

Because the series follows a race across America, Araki had to split his research into three trips: one from the West Coast to the deserts, one from the Great Plains to the Mississippi River and Chicago, and one to New York. He said that it would have been impossible to get an understanding for the vast scale without having gone there personally, describing the scenery of the midwest as endless and unchanging. The feeling of distance made him think that if an enemy had approached, the open landscape would have meant that he could not have escaped due to a lack of places to hide, an experience he found useful when drawing the manga.[9]

Like other protagonists in the series, Johnny was designed to symbolize the part's story and setting, and to stand out among the previous protagonists in terms of appearance, clothing, and silhouette. He was not specifically planned to have a disability at the start of the production; rather, his disability was the result of the series' focus on protagonists growing through overcoming hardships, and Araki wanting to create a character who was forced to rely on people and horses during the race and had room to grow both mentally and physically.[5] Valentine was created as part of Araki noticing more and more that good and evil is not always easily distinguishable and taking a greater interest in the motivations for people who do bad things. He noted that Valentine's patriotism and goals seemed just and might line up with leaders in the real world, and that it is his sacrifice of powerless people to reach his goals that make him evil and completely unsuitable as a protagonist.[10] The concept of having the United States president fighting the main characters came from when Araki saw the film Independence Day, and liked the idea of a president who fights.[11]

Kono Manga ga Sugoi! recommended Steel Ball Run as a good place to start for people who have not read previous parts, due to how it serves as a reboot of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, and appreciated how its move to the monthly seinen magazine Ultra Jump enabled Araki to write longer stories and depict things that would have been difficult to do in a shōnen magazine.[4] Erkael of Manga-News called the manga one of the best in the series, and said that it does not disappoint the reader at any point.[51] Anime News Network called Steel Ball Run an interesting take on the battle manga genre due to its positive portrayal of a hero with a disability, and found it, along with JoJolion, to represent a big shift in the evolution of Araki's art, following his earlier shift from muscle men to thinner characters and fashion.[5]

K. Thor Jensen of Geek.com called the portrayal of Johnny and Gyro's relationship one of the best platonic friendships in comics, citing their transition from rivals to close allies who make sacrifices for one another and help each other with their respective abilities.[52] Erkael liked the high speed and intensity of the story, saying that it was as if Araki wanted the reader to feel like they were part of the race themselves, and how the story eventually opens up to follow several different characters whose paths at times intersect, leading to a world that feels "rich and dense". They wrote that the lack of Stands early in the story, with Gyro instead using steel balls, was surprising but refreshing, and reminiscent of the hamon abilities featured in the first part in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Phantom Blood; they still enjoyed the shift in focus to Stand abilities later in the story, calling them "original and surprising".[51] Kono Manga ga Sugoi! liked the depiction of the landscapes Johnny and Gyro travel through, calling them "beautiful".[4]

• Official website
• Official Vomic page
• Steel Ball Run (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia