‘JoJo’s Bizarre Musical Adventure’: Dream Evil, DIO

So, you thought you were going to read about JoJo references from the Joestar family? Too bad, because this time you’re reading about Dio! Wrrryyyyyy!

The major antagonist of Parts One to Six of the manga. The source of all the troubles for the Joestar bloodline. The bane of Jonathan’s existence all boils down to one person.

Dio Brando.

You guessed it, Brando as in actor Marlon Brando. His first name which is Italian for ‘God’, is borrowed from the heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio, who was the frontman of many bands including Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Elf, Heaven and Hell and Dio.

But who is this Dio? Why is he so tenacious that he doesn’t just stay confined to being the main antagonist of part one? 

In the words of Jonathan’s faithful friend Robert E. O. Speedwagon, the entire character of Dio summed up in a single sentence is this: “He is pure evil, right down to his very bones! Is he a victim of circumstance, you’re wondering? Not on your life! He’s been evil since he drew his first breath!”

Dio is a man who eats, sleeps, breathes and when he sleeps, he’ll probably “Dream Evil.”

“You could open up the door/Where things that just should never be/Are calling up a spell so you can see, yeah/Dream evil.“

Dio Brando’s father Dario Brando comes across the carriage accident that cost Jonathan’s mother’s life. Dario, who was thinking there would be no survivors, was actually attempting to loot the corpses when George Joestar I catches him, mistaking Dario for someone who had come to rescue them. George tells Dario that he is forever indebted to him.

This is how Dio ends up as Jonathan’s adopted brother at the Joestar manor, with every intention of usurping the Joestar family fortune.

Maintaining the façade of the picture-perfect gentleman in front of everyone else, Dio tortures Jonathan in every way he can find – including incinerating his (Jonathan’s) dog, Danny. Finally, Dio decides it’s time to kill George Joestar I and get his hands on the fortune. Dio devises a nefarious plot to do away with Jonathan using a mysterious Stone Mask that was in the Joestar mansion. Fortunately, or unfortunately for him, while skulking the streets of Liverpool, Dio discovers that the Stone Mask has the ability to turn its wearer into a vampire forever. Using the power of the Stone Mask Dio turns himself into one of the “Night People.”

“Do you like the dark?/Do you like the way it moves?/Do you come alive when neon kills the sun? /Are you hypnotized?”

(Most people certainly are hypnotized by Dio’s charismatic charm, despite his evilness, he’s still one of the most popular characters of JJBA).

At the end of Phantom Blood, Jonathan is last seen clutching Dio’s dismembered head (Dio’s still alive, but he’s a vampire, remember?). Cue in “All the Fools Sailed Away”:

“There’s perfect harmony/In the rising and the falling of the sea/And as we sail along.”

And you’re left to think that finally Jonathan Joestar has defeated Dio and taking the vampire’s head along with him to the bottom of the ocean would be the best way to ensure that Dio never rears his ugly head again. But look at the lyrics:

“It’s your one great chance for a miracle/Or we will disappear never to be seen again/And all the fools sailed away.”

Dio pulls a miracle.

You think he’s gone forever?

WRYYYYYYY!

This is a man who puts even the survivability of a cockroach to shame. No matter how many times you crush him, he’s back, in some form or another.

“Holy diver/You’ve been down too long in the midnight sea.”

Like the song “Holy Diver,” Dio is the “Holy diver, sole survivor,” because in Part Three – Stardust Crusaders – Dio’s back, better than ever, with his head attached to Jonathan Joestar’s body. No longer would the vampire’s name be restricted to a single uppercase letter in the series. Dio is henceforth referred to as DIO. All capitals, as if to portray his might. Casting away his surname, DIO’s legacy will stem only from DIO. The meaning of his name makes sense now more than ever.

“In the land of the lost horizon/Where the queen lies dark and cold/And when the stars won’t shine/Then the story’s told.”

– “Egypt (The Chains Are On).”

From the dark foggy English streets in the perpetual downpour, DIO has relocated to the sunny scorching sands of Egypt. You would think a vampire would avoid sunlit areas. Well, DIO does that. He spends his time lurking around the dark and cold shadowy corners of his mansion, philosophizing and drinking blood.

Hearing that the Joestar Bloodline is still going strong, DIO decides to send in his minions to thwart Jonathan’s descendants from meddling in his plans.  

On his song “Egypt (The Chains Are On)” taken from Stand up And Shout: The Anthology (2003) Ronnie James Dio had this to say: “It was the people, the people in chains taken from their home and made slaves, who built the pyramids, not the architect or the Pharaoh. This is what the people are saying – ‘We don’t know what to do, what’s happening here?’ At the end of the song, it’s over and ‘Now what? Wait a minute, we’re free!’ And away they go. No longer slaves, the chains are an illusion.”

This is exactly what DIO does, some of his thralls aren’t even aware that they were being mind-controlled by DIO. The members of the Joestar clan break the illusion of the chains, thereby freeing the thralls and gaining new allies along the way.

By Part Three, a new mysterious ability has appeared in JoJo’s Bizarre Universe – Stand Power. Broadly speaking, Stands are the manifestations of the user’s spiritual energy which aid the stand user significantly both in battle (and as we shall see later even in day-to-day life). All stands have different abilities which match the stand user’s personality. DIO’s stand is The World, based on the last tarot card in the Major Arcana, The World.

To quote “I Speed at Night”: “Dark touches send rushes through the brain” Dio’s evolution into a vampire from the moment the Stone mask touches his face.

“I just come seeking pleasure, I hate the light/You’ve got some stairs to Heaven, you may be right/I only know in my world, I hate the light”

He can’t be out and about in the sun anymore, can he? With his newfound power, DIO plans to create the perfect world for him and his minions.

DIO can be found speeding at Night through the streets of Cairo, stopping time and throwing a road roller at a 17-year-old, going WRYYYYYYYY while his Stand, The World chants Muda Muda Muda!  無駄 無駄 無駄! which translates to useless/ futile.

DIO’s design, in Part Three, matches the album cover of Sacred Heart. The similar color scheme, the grinning dragon (who honestly resembles DIO cackling) which can be seen in the crystal ball much like how the Stardust Crusaders group uses the power of divination via the stand Hermit Purple to ascertain DIO’s location. DIO sports a belt that has a heart called Sacred Heart. DIO’s stand The World also has heart motifs on its body. The Stand also has two diving cylinders on its back, alluding to DIO’s time spent at the bottom of the ocean and the song “Holy Diver.” 

Love him? Hate him? Amused by him? Terrified of him? It is futile to try and run from DIO in the JJBA universe. Long after DIO is left out drying in the Egyptian summer sun, his presence is felt, his actions causing a cosmic ripple. Even if it’s “just whispers in dark places.”Better watch out dream child, DIO has “electric eyes that never let you/See them in the day.”

DIO’s discography

“Holy Diver” (Album: Holy Diver, 1983)

“Egypt (The Chains Are On)” (Album: The Last in Line, 1984)

“I Speed the Night” (Album: The Last in Line, 1984)

“Dream Evil” (Album: Dream Evil, 1987)

“Night People” (Album: Dream Evil, 1987)

“All the Fools Sailed Away” (Album: Dream Evil, 1987)