Golden Wind (manga)

In 2001, Koichi Hirose arrives in Naples, Italy at Jotaro Kujo's request to obtain a skin sample from a young man named Haruno Shiobana whom Jotaro suspects to be the son of Dio Brando, conceived with Jonathan Joestar's body prior to the events of Stardust Crusaders. Koichi ends up being scammed by Haruno, now going by the name of Giorno Giovanna, whose Stand Gold Experience allows him to transform inanimate objects into living organisms. After defeating a Stand-wielding mafioso named Bruno Bucciarati who was sent to avenge the injury he inflicted on a gang member, Giorno wins him over by revealing his goal of becoming a mafia boss to better Naples and end the scourge of drug trafficking plaguing the city's youth. Bucciarati agrees to introduce Giorno into the Passione organization, allowing Giorno to take a deadly initiation test from the morbidly obese capo Polpo. After convincing Koichi to cease his investigation, Giorno passes the test, though he indirectly kills Polpo afterward as revenge for an innocent bystander's death.

Giorno is placed in Bucciarati's group, which consists of fellow Stand users Guido Mista, Leone Abbacchio, Narancia Ghirga and Pannacotta Fugo. Polpo's apparent suicide provides an opening for Bucciarati to achieve the rank of capo by donating Polpo's amassed fortune on the island of Capri to a gang representative. Bucciarati is then given Polpo's final mission: Passione's boss, a mysterious figure whose identity is unknown to even his subordinates, requests that his teenage daughter Trish Una be brought safely to him in Venice. Along the way, Bucciarati's team eliminates all but one of the members of Passione's traitorous Hitman Team, who seek to use Trish as a means to identify and defeat the boss. On the boss's orders, the group retrieves a key in Pompeii and use it to unlock the room inside the Stand-using turtle Coco Jumbo.

After reaching Venice safely and escorting Trish into the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Bucciarati realizes that the boss intends to kill his own daughter to maintain his anonymity. An enraged Bucciarati pursues the boss in order to save Trish, but suffers grievous injuries at the hands of the boss's invincible Stand King Crimson, which has the ability to see into and skip time's progression several seconds into the future. Giorno seemingly heals Bucciarati's injuries as he escapes with Trish, and the two manage to escape the church, unaware that the body Bucciarati's soul resides in has already died. Despite Fugo's objections, the rest of the group defects from Passione and pledges to uncover the boss's identity in order to defeat him. The group and Trish, who discovers her own Stand Spice Girl, are forced to fight for their lives against elite assassins sent by the boss.

Bucciarati's group travels to the island of Sardinia after Trish recalls it as the boss's birthplace so Abbacchio can use his Stand to identify the boss. Vinegar Doppio, an alter ego of the boss who acts as his liaison to the assassins, reaches Sardina at the same time as the Hitman Team's leader, killing him before getting close enough for the boss to quickly kill Abbacchio. But Abbacchio creates a likeness of the boss in his final moments before the group are then contacted by a third party, who reveals the boss's name to be Diavolo and requests that the group visit the Colosseum in Rome to receive a special Arrow. The group arrives in Rome, but is held up when they meet a pair of Stand users called Cioccolatta and Secco, assigned to bump off Buccciarati's group. The group manages to overpower the enemy Stand users, but Diavolo reaches the informant first. He confronts the informant, who is revealed to be Jean Pierre Polnareff. Diavolo fatally wounds Polnareff, forcing him to stab his Stand Silver Chariot with the Arrow and evolve it into Chariot Requiem. Requiem, gifted the ability to swap the souls of living beings, goes berserk and causes a city-wide soul swap, leaving Polnareff's soul in Coco Jumbo's body.

Polnareff explains the Arrow and his Stand to the group, who realize that their own Stands will attack them upon approaching the Arrow. Though the group cripples Bucciarati's body as it awakens, Narancia is killed in skipped time, revealing a dying Doppio to be a separate soul of Diavolo's. Giorno attempts to revive Narancia, but can only reclaim his own body that was originally swapped. Diavolo's own soul is revealed to be inside Mista's body alongside Trish's soul and succeeds in weakening Requiem, but Bucciarati sacrifices himself to dispel the soul swap and pass the Arrow to Giorno. Using the Arrow, Giorno evolves his Stand into Gold Experience Requiem, which condemns Diavolo to an endless loop of being killed in various ways.

The story jumps back to an incident before Bucciarati's encounter with Giorno. Visited by a florist requesting vengeance for his daughter's death, Bucciarati, Fugo, and Mista visit the alleged murderer's place of residence. It is revealed that the suspect, Scolippi, is a Stand user whose Stand tries to euthanize those who are fated to die, such as the florist's daughter. Rolling Stones predicts Bucciarati's death and attempts to reach him, but Mista breaks the Stand before it can do so. As the group leaves the building, the dust of the broken Stand forms the shapes of Bucciarati's, Narancia's, and Abbacchio's faces, revealing their changed fates to an optimistic Scolippi.

As Trish and Mista return to the Colosseum, unaware of Bucciarati's death, Giorno and Polnareff's ghost (now within Coco Jumbo's Stand) agree to preserve the Arrow. Sometime afterward, Giorno becomes the new boss of Passione as Mista and Polnareff observe gang members kneeling before him.

• Giorno Giovanna[lower-alpha 2] is the human son of Dio Brando who retains the Joestar bloodline as Dio was in possession of Jonathan Joestar's body at the time Giorno was conceived, originally named Haruno Shiobana before moving to Italy. Giorno aspires to overthrow the Passione mafia's boss and rework the organization into one that helps the Italian people, akin to Robin Hood's band, in contrast to the sheer powerlust of its current leader, Diavolo. He uses the Stand Gold Experience,[lower-alpha 3] which has the ability to imbue things with life. After piercing his Stand with the arrow, it turns into Gold Experience Requiem,[lower-alpha 4] a Stand that reverts actions and willpower back to the state of "zero", completely nullifying them and preventing them from becoming "real" (whether stand or non-stand), effectively controlling causality, specifically keeping "cause" and removing "effect". It keeps his life-giving abilities but evolves it into a greater extent, with its strength and speed rivaling, if not higher, than Star Platinum or The World.
• Bruno Bucciarati[lower-alpha 5] is the caporegime of a gang within Passione. He uses the Stand Sticky Fingers,[lower-alpha 6] which can place a zipper on any object, allowing entrance into it. Bucciarati can also use Sticky Fingers to separate objects into smaller objects which can be zipped back together later and repaired. He is killed by Diavolo in San Giorgio Maggiore after refusing to hand over Trish Una, but gets revived by Giorno, albeit in a corpse-like situation until the final encounter against Diavolo where he succeeds in providing the Arrow to Giorno, and thus ascends to the afterlife in peace. He also appears in the 2012 spin-off one-shot Jolyne, Fly High with Gucci.[8]
• Leone Abbacchio[lower-alpha 7] is a former police officer, and a member of Bucciarati's gang. He uses the Stand Moody Blues,[lower-alpha 8] which can replay history as a 3D video recording which he and others can observe during a replay of the events, although doing so leaves it temporarily defenseless. He is later killed by Diavolo, but not before he uses his last energy of his Stand to reveal the face of the Boss. Abbacchio also appears in Jolyne, Fly High with Gucci.[8]
• Guido Mista[lower-alpha 9] is a member of Bucciarati's gang. He uses a revolver in tandem with his Stand, Sex Pistols,[lower-alpha 10] which is composed of six small humanoids who can control the bullets Mista shoots. The humanoids are numbered #1–#7, with no #4, due to Mista's tetraphobia. Each of the pistols which make up Mista's stand have their own individual personalities and internal conflicts which Mista always tries to resolve.
• Narancia Ghirga[lower-alpha 11] is a member of Bucciarati's gang. He's rather air-headed and somewhat childish, but remains loyal to Passione. He uses the airplane-like Stand, Aerosmith,[lower-alpha 12] which is equipped with machine guns, bombs and a carbon dioxide radar, allowing him to track down any opponent that breathes. He later joins the rebellion group led by Bucciarati before having his soul exchanged to Giorno's body, which he later dies.
• Pannacotta Fugo[lower-alpha 13] is Bucciarati's right-hand man in the gang. Fugo tends to be erratic in mood, often breaking into short bursts of rage. He uses the Stand Purple Haze,[lower-alpha 14] which can release a virus that rapidly devours organic matter. Purple Haze is indiscriminate in how its virus affects people, damaging both friends and enemies alike (including Fugo himself). Because of Purple Haze's dangerous ability, Fugo tends to avoid using it until he runs out of other options in a fight. He is the only member to not take part in Bucciarati group after Bucciarati rebels against the Boss. Fugo is the main character of the novels Golden Heart, Golden Ring and Purple Haze Feedback.
• Trish Una[lower-alpha 15] is the daughter of Passione's boss, and is on the run from rival factions within the mafia, such as the Hitman Team who wish to use her family ties to the Boss to track him down. She uses the Stand Spice Girl,[lower-alpha 16] which can increase objects' elasticity, making them nearly indestructible.
• Coco Jumbo is a turtle that gained a Stand, presumably from the Stand Arrow. Its stand, Mr. President, manifests as an inter-dimensional hotel room inside its shell.
• Jean Pierre Polnareff[lower-alpha 17] is a French swordsman who traveled alongside Jotaro Kujo and Joseph Joestar to defeat Giorno's father in 1988. Polnareff discovered the true identity of Passione's boss while investigating the rise of drug-related crimes in his home country, but was severely injured and left for dead after being overwhelmed by the boss' Stand. He contacts Bucciarati's team after they betray the boss and offers them a way to defeat the boss: a unique Stand Arrow (an object introduced in Diamond is Unbreakable) that gives whoever uses it a completely new Stand ability. Polnareff wields the extremely fast sword-wielding Stand, Silver Chariot,[lower-alpha 18] but when Diavolo forced Polnareff's Silver Chariot to use the Stand Arrow on Sliver Chariot, his Stand evolves into Chariot Requiem,[lower-alpha 19] which has the ability to swap the souls of living beings.
• Passione[lower-alpha 20] is the most powerful gang in Italy, controlled by a man known only as "The Boss". Passione controls all levels of crime in Italy, from the low-level thugs and protective services to extremely powerful hitmen and drug traffickers. The gang's incredible level of power over Italy is mainly due to the unusual amount of Stand users found within its members.
  • Diavolo[lower-alpha 21] is the boss of Passione, and the father of Trish, intending to kill her to keep his existence a secret, targeting Giorno's group after they refused to hand Trish over. Diavolo uses the incredibly powerful Stand, King Crimson,[lower-alpha 22] which has the power to partially affect the causality of the near future in relation to himself; this allows him to negate processes, leaving only their consequences. Activating its power causes a time skip, where everything except Diavolo and King Crimson is changed to be in the state they would have been a few seconds later; for example, a bullet that would have hit Diavolo will suddenly be shifted to be on his other side. Diavolo is able to predict what will happen during the timeskip by using King Crimson's Sub Stand Epitaph;[lower-alpha 23] this sub-power can also be used by Doppio to see exactly 10 seconds into the future.
  • Vinegar Doppio[lower-alpha 24] is the Boss' younger, more innocent and eccentric underboss. As a member of Passione, he thinks of himself as the most loyal subordinate to Diavolo, but in reality, the two are separate souls inhabiting the same body. During the course of the Part, he helps Diavolo to act and move around undetected. It is ambiguous whether Doppio is truly a Stand User, but he is allowed to wield both King Crimson's arms and Epitaph in battle.
  • The Hitman Team / Execution Squad (La Squadra Esecuzioni)[lower-alpha 25] is a squad of Stand users within Passione specializing in assassinations. While they previously served under the leadership of Diavolo, their inquiry into Diavolo's identity led to their former boss having two of their members killed. In retaliation, the group swore vengeance against Diavolo and began pursuing his daughter, Trish, in order to discover his identity and kill him. They serve as the primary group of antagonists in the first half of Golden Wind (with the exception of Risotto, who doesn't appear until after Bucciarati's group betrays Diavolo).
    • Risotto Nero[lower-alpha 26] is the leader of the Hitman Team. After his cousin was killed by a drunk driver, Risotto tracked down and assassinated the driver. In order to gain protection from the police after this crime, Risotto joined Passione. Although he mostly works in the background of the story, he eventually attacks Vinegar Doppio after the rest of his teammates are killed by Bucciarati's team. Risotto can control the iron in his surroundings (as well as in the blood of organisms) with his Stand, Metallica.[lower-alpha 27]
    • Formaggio[lower-alpha 28] is the first member of the Hitman Team that the protagonists encounter, with the assassin going after Narancia in order to find Trish's whereabouts. Formaggio can shrink any object or creature with his Stand, Little Feet.[lower-alpha 29]
    • Illuso[lower-alpha 30] is the second assassin that Bucciarati's team encounters, and pursues Giorno, Abbacchio, and Fugo in the ruins of Pompeii. Illuso can pull opponents into a mirror world (leaving their Stands behind) with his Stand, Man in the Mirror.[lower-alpha 31]
    • Prosciutto[lower-alpha 32] is the third assassin that Bucciarati's group encounters, and pursues the entire group on a train to Florence alongside his partner Pesci. Prosciutto can rapidly age people with his Stand, The Grateful Dead.[lower-alpha 33]
    • Pesci[lower-alpha 34] is an assassin who attacks Bucciarati's team alongside Prosciutto. Although he acts timid and cowardly, Pesci proves to be an extremely powerful opponent. Pesci wields the Stand Beach Boy,[lower-alpha 35] which takes the form of a fishing rod and hook and can quickly attack opponents as well as sense life force. Beach Boy can also go straight through objects and walls to hook its target.
    • Melone[lower-alpha 36] is an assassin who attacks Giorno, Bucciarati, and Trish as the group tries to find a new route to Venice. A perverted and twisted individual, Melone uses the Stand Baby Face,[lower-alpha 37] which impregnates a "mother" with an individual's DNA and gives birth to a homunculus whose abilities differ depending on the DNA of both of its "parents".
    • Ghiaccio[lower-alpha 38] is the final member of the Hitman Team that Bucciarati's group directly encounters (due to Risotto already being killed by the time the group finds him), and pursues Giorno and Mista as they attempt to reach Venice. Ghiaccio is an extremely unstable man who is enraged by oddities in language, and wields the Stand White Album,[lower-alpha 39] which encases his entire body and allows him to skate around his environment as if he was on ice, as well as freezing everything including the air around him using his secondary ability Gently Weeps.[lower-alpha 40]
    • Sorbet[lower-alpha 41] and Gelato[lower-alpha 42] are two members of the Hitman team who are brutally executed by the boss as punishment for looking into his identity. Their deaths spark the Hitman Team's hatred for Diavolo and their desperation to hunt down Trish.
  • Elite Guard Squad (La Unità Speciale)[lower-alpha 43] is an elite team of Stand users within Passione who act as Diavolo's bodyguards, serving as the secondary antagonists in the latter half of Golden Wind.
    • Squalo[lower-alpha 44] wields the shark-like Stand Clash,[lower-alpha 45] which can travel within and warp to any nearby body of liquid.
    • Tiziano[lower-alpha 46] can force others to tell lies with his Stand, Talking Head.[lower-alpha 47]
    • Carne[lower-alpha 48] wields the invincible Stand Notorious B.I.G,[lower-alpha 49] which activates after his death. Fueled by its late user's grudge, Notorious B.I.G chases after and attempts to devour the quickest-moving thing it can detect.
    • Cioccolata[lower-alpha 50] is a sadistic doctor who records himself torturing patients on camera. He wields the Stand Green Day,[lower-alpha 51] which quickly kills any human in its range with mold if they descend in altitude.
    • Secco[lower-alpha 52] acts as Cioccolata's pet until his master's death, at which point he reveals his true egocentric nature. He wears and uses his Stand, Oasis,[lower-alpha 53] to swim in rock as if it was water. As a result, anything near himself or the melted rock will be melted as well.
• Scolippi[lower-alpha 54] is a sculptor suspected of murdering his girlfriend, the daughter of a vindictive florist. He is a humble and meek person who holds an absolute belief in fate's inevitability, which he attributes to Michelangelo. Scolippi's Stand, Rolling Stones,[lower-alpha 55] takes the shape of a nearby person fated to die and follows them; if the target touches the stone, they will be forced to accept an immediate and painless death. Despite being its user, Scolippi has no control over his own Stand, which acts on its own and draws energy from fate.

Hirohiko Araki described the themes of Golden Wind as "human relationships," "friends versus enemies," and "the beauty of betrayal." By depicting the mafia, the author said the story deals with the sadness of having no choice in life or only one place where one belongs——the "dark underbelly of society." Araki also stated that the main focus was to draw "beautiful men" who can only exist in a world where there is "beauty in meeting one's doom." He wanted the characters, sculptures and fashion to be in the style of the Italian city of Rome. The curls in Giorno Giovanna's hair were inspired by Michelangelo's statue David. Araki cited Guido Mista and Prosciutto as characters he enjoyed drawing; the former due to his positive attitude and for being "true to himself without doubts" and the latter for his "brotherly relationship" with his subordinate Pesci and fun Stand power.[9]

In the original volumization, chapters 437–439 are a part of Diamond Is Unbreakable.

In a 2018 survey of 17,000 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fans, Golden Wind was chosen as the favorite story arc with 19.1% of the vote.[50]

Both Screen Rant's Steven Blackburn and Jordan Richards of AIPT Comics called Golden Wind a breath of fresh air for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure by deviating from the basic formula and following Giorno, son of villain Dio Brando, as he looks to cement a reputation and build a criminal empire.[51][52] Jenni Lada of Siliconera also praised the protagonist Giorno and said the first volume of Golden Wind shows how skilled Araki is at getting people quickly invested in a character and story. She wrote, by giving readers a look at Giorno's past and insights into the person he is now, it emphasizes why he is compelling; "We're introduced to his dream and see him take his first steps toward it."[53] Richards wrote that Part 5's vivid and imaginative Stand fights continue JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's "wholly unique" style of art not seen in any other series. However, despite calling the supporting cast a memorable bunch, Richards felt they were underdeveloped as of the first volume, but noted they had potential.[52]