JoJo’s Most Brutal Scene In Decades Proves The Series Is Now Better Than Ever

Warning: Spoilers for Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: The JoJoLands, Chapter 13

The newest chapter of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure‘s ninth part, The JOJOLands, features a mindblowingly brutal scene, marking one of the worst things that a Jojo hero has ever done, even if he had a reason. The scene serves to prove once again that Jodio isn’t like past Joestars, even setting himself apart from fellow criminal Giorno in his absolutely savage behavior.

Back in chapter 2 of The JoJoLands, Jodio established that he has “Anti-Social Personality Disorder,” a condition which is generally associated with a lack of impulse control and the absence of feelings of guilt or remorse. While this seemed to describe Jodio’s criminal behavior initially, it’s become far more apparent over the ensuing chapters that Jodio has done more to deserve that diagnosis than just deal drugs.

Chapter 13 provides the ultimate proof that Jodio’s diagnosis is accurate, as it reveals the time he set an entire bus of children on fire.

Jodio’s Worst Crime Sets Him Apart From His Predecessors

No Other Jojo Hero Has Used His Stand to Hurt Civilians

In chapter 13, it’s revealed that four years ago, Jodio boarded a school bus where his brother Dragona was being assaulted and harassed by other students, with no teacher or bus driver in sight to disrupt the attack. Jodio is able to extract Dragona from the situation, but that’s when his Stand begins manifesting for the first time. The next day, Jodio causes the drops to fall upon the door lock with his Stand after the other students and teacher board, and soon the entire bus is engulfed in flames. Jodio sits and watches as the attackers burn in a cold manner, unmoved by their fiery fate.

While no one seems to have died in this incident, it’s undoubtedly one of the most brutal uses of Stand power against non-Stand users in the entire series. Jodio never faces any consequences for this, and obviously hasn’t really changed his behavior much over the years, as he goes on to use his Stand freely against corrupt cops in earlier chapters. While all these people did do something to trigger this behavior out of Jodio, his retribution is extremely excessive in every case.

Series creator Hirohiko Araki has long been interested in criminal psychology, dating all the way back to the creation of Dio in 1986. Usually, however, Araki uses his research on criminal psychology to create his villains, not the new protagonist. Jodio is a major outlier among Jojo heroes, something that’s only become more apparent as The JOJOLands continues. Even part 5’s Giorno, who is literally part of the Mafia, has a strong aversion to selling drugs, and sees his role as more a part of society than outside it.

This shift to a more flawed, anti-hero protagonist has been a breath of fresh air for the long-running series, even compared to part 8’s Josuke, who was already more morally neutral than many of his predecessors. It will be interesting to follow Jodio’s journey in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and see whether he becomes more heroic, or remains a more ambiguous figure, loyal to his family and friends but with few other redeeming qualities.