JoJo’s Bizarre Adventurenow spans nine parts, and the final battles at the end of each part have provided some of the most emotional, hype, and simply fun moments in the entire series. The formula is more-or-less set: the ending of the part sees a member of the Joestar bloodline face off against the part’s overarching antagonist. With one big controversial exception—they win in the end.
Just because the stories usually end with the Joestar avatar reigning victorious, that obviously doesn’t mean all the battles are on the same level. There’s huge diversity amongJoJo’s villains and their final showdowns, with some being protracted realizations set up over the course of dozens of chapters, while others are brutal, sudden blowouts.From worst to best, here’s the standing ofJoJo’s final showdowns.
8Kars Contests Humanity and Loses
Part 2 (Battle Tendency)
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is aboutBattle Tendencythat feels so different from any otherJoJopart. The young Joseph Joestar faces a united front of antagonists on roughly equal footing with the Pillar Men. Taken as a whole, it’s less thatBattle Tendencyhas one final boss, and more thatit’s a set of extremely tough enemies spaced out from one another.
Kars, however, becomes an immortal “superbeing”. The fight is clutch, and the stakes are extremely high.However, its ending can’t help but fall flat. As Kars becomes braindead while immortally floating in space, there’s certainly a sense of finality. The gimmick with the volcano is also a lot of fun on a first watch.
Battle Tendencyis a wonderful part, but it’s so good across the board that its final confrontation doesn’t stand out.
Nonetheless,it doesn’t feel so much as though the part “builds up” to the confrontation with Kars as it feels like the final saga in a chain of sagas that sees Joseph do other things just as entertaining—whether it’s dancing on the tips of spikes with Esidisi, engaged in an epic chariot race with Wamuu and Kars, or taunting Santana in a research lab.Battle Tendencyis a wonderful part, but it’s so good across the board that its final confrontation doesn’t stand out.
7Diavolo Gets Cast Out of Cause and Effect
Part 5 (Golden Wind)
It might be a hot take, butGiorno’s battle with Diavolo is actually fairly anticlimactic. On their own, they’re both incredibly strong. Diavolo’s King Crimson is one ofJoJo’s most confusing stands, but it doesn’t take an encyclopedic knowledge ofJoJostands to see that it doesn’t have a whole lot of counterplay.
The way that Requiem mechanics are built out is super cool, and the events surrounding Giorno’s final confrontation with Diavolo are hype and awesome. However, when it actually comes to Giorno facing off against Diavolo and King Crimson, it feels almost like the only response to a Stand without weaknesses was to give Giorno an ability that’s even more overpowered. It’s incredible when first experienced, but it doesn’t hold up afterward.
6Dio Brando and Jonathan Joestar Face Mutually Assured Destruction
Part 1 (Phantom Blood)
If the ranking was based on how impactful one particular showdown was, it goes without saying that Dio and Jonathan’s climactic, emotional battle at sea would be number one.There’s a lot one can say about this battle: both Dio and Jonathan set a bar for mechanical strength thatBattle Tendencyimmediately had to set out to top. Not to mention, it’s truly touching when Jonathan parts with Erina.
In the grand scheme, though, the battle itself is very straightforward and cookie-cutter in comparison toJoJo’s other ultimate confrontations.
This isn’t a knock onPhantom Bloodeither.JoJowas in its relative mechanical infancy, and it was just getting its footing as a story too. Its emotional impact and high stakes alone make it a wonderful fight to watch. It’s far fromJoJo’s best, though.
5Pucci Resets the Whole Universe
Part 6 (Stone Ocean)
Perhaps it’s controversial not to place the face-off at Cape Canaveral at either the start or end of this ranking. It truly is middling, though.The controversy around the Cape Canaveral battle between Pucci and Giorno’s whole crew has a lot more to do with its outcome than the fight itself. There are some clutch and emotional moments, like Jotaro’s decision to use The World to save Jolyne.
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Mostly, though, the fight reeks of the very problem that Araki himself identified, and which originallyGiorno was probably meant to show up to solve(just like he did with King Crimson, another low-counterplay final boss stand): Made in Heaven is such an oppressively powerful stand that gives Pucci such speed and agility thatbeating it is pretty much impossible.
It was the apex of power in the originalJoJouniverse, probably only capable of being countered by the raw disabling power of a stand like Gold Experience Requiem.Stone Ocean’s ending itself, regardless of whether one thinks it’s good or bad, draws most of its charm from everything but the Cape Canaveral confrontation.
4Tooru Effects Disaster
Part 8 (Jojolion)
Jojolionis a part that’s better on a reread. Because of the timing ofJoJo’s anime gaining popularity, for manyJoJofans,Jojolionwould have been the first part they read alongside the release schedule. In that context, Tooru and Wonder of U’s encroaching on the Higashikata household can feel underwhelming. Taken all together, though, it’s a satisfying climax as mystery after mystery gets tied up inJojolion.
Revisiting this part, Wonder of U is an absolutely dominant enemy, and the twist linking Tooru to the hospital director and the long-distance sentient Wonder of U makes every attempt by Josuke to close in on the answers to all of his questions feel incredibly claustrophobic. The claustrophobia intensifies when Tooru’s role as the final antagonist of part 8 solidifies and every space throughoutJojolion’s lively rendition of Morioh becomes incredibly threatening.Wonder of U’s control over calamitymanages to even make open spaces feel suffocating—until, eventually, he’s taken down.
3Funny Valentine Dimension Hops to No Avail
Part 7 (Steel Ball Run)
Much likeJojolionis better on a reread,Steel Ball Run’s final battle will be vindicated by the anime adaptation. It’s a frenetic,scattered battle taking place across dimensionswhere Funny Valentine constantly pulls in substitutes and assists from other dimensions. The fact thatSteel Ball Run’s version of Dio is the decisive factor against Funny Valentine is legitimately unexpected, and the development/deployment of Johnny and Gyro’s Spin techniques is going to be glorious when it’s brought to life.
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Steel Ball Run’s boss battle effortlessly culminates the entire journey Johnny and Gyro found themselves undertaking, bringing into play Corpse Parts, Funny Valentine, other racers, Spin, and Araki’s trademark flair for creative applications of fundamental concepts in physics, geometry, philosophy, andother disciplines that seem out of left field for a series whose humble beginnings were in the pages ofWeekly Shōnen Jump.
Gyro’s death is heartbreaking; meanwhile, the against-all-odds ability of Johnny to pierce Funny Valentine’s cross-dimensional barrier uses the new universe’s core mechanic to trump a Stand that would have been nigh-unbeatable in any otherJoJopart.It’s satisfying, exhilarating, and underrated—but the anime is going to change that.
2DIO and Jotaro Both Conquer “The World”
Part 3 (Stardust Crusaders)
Stardust Crusadersis one of the most influential shonen stories ever, so it’s hard to pick apart in hindsight what’s underwhelming and what’s truly fantastic about the final showdown.It’s easy to look back atStardust Crusadersand judge its so-called “ass-pulls”, and if that’s the standard, then the final battle between Jotaro and DIO is underwhelming. But the line between an “ass-pull” and a genuinely surprising twist.
On a first watch,Stardust Crusadersleans more toward “genuinely surprising twists”, and it stays endlessly entertaining after the fact. From DIO’s iconic taunts (the ever-memed “Oh? You’re approaching me?") and the “Roadroller da!”, to the heartbreak around Joseph (with whom new viewers would have just spent two parts) and Kakyoin, to Polnareff’s fruitless efforts to climb the stairs, to Jotaro’s surprise reveal that he’d copied The World,the fight is enthralling and unexpected from the moment the Stardust Crusaders start trying to seriously confront DIO in Cairo. It’s an unparalleled fight—except for one.
1Yoshikage Kira Is JoJo’s Most Menacing Villain of All Time
Part 4 (Diamond Is Unbreakable)
Diamond is Unbreakablehas an absolutely ingenious structure; its first frames nod toward the final antagonist, Yoshikage Kira, who provides a gentle pulse operating from the shadows until around halfway through the part. In the meantime,Diamond is Unbreakable’s setting is skillfully built out by Araki as a main cast of characters is assembled throughJoJo’s early villain-of-the-week rotations. Yoshikage Kira’s threat level grows gradually, until he eventually lies low, masquerading as salaryman Kosaku Kawajiri.
It’s chilling to watch him strike fear into his “son”, Hayato, and repair his marriage with his “wife”, Shinobu.
The wayDiamond is Unbreakabledraws attention to Kira is marvelous.Furthermore, when the manhunt begins after he assumes Kosaku’s identity, watching him assimilate into Kosaku’s life while assembling new weapons like the reincarnated cat-plant Stray Cat is enthralling. It’s chilling to watch him strike fear into his “son”, Hayato, and repair his marriage with his “wife”, Shinobu.
Finally, it happens: the ending slowly unfolds after Kira embeds Hayato with one of the most frustratingly hopeless Stands of all time,resetting time whenever somebody finds out about Kira’s true identity. Kira’s desire above all to evade capture plays out through a genius sequence of strategic outplays and subtle moments as Hayato and every member ofDiamond is Unbreakable’s core crew band together, through the most hopeless of circumstances, to finally topple Kira.
It’s a protracted, winding battle, and the payoff of the victory is the most satisfying of any final showdown inJoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a Japanese multimedia franchise created by Hirohiko Araki. It follows the adventures of the Joestar family, spanning generations, each with unique abilities and battling supernatural enemies. Known for its eccentric characters, distinctive art style, and creative battles, it includes manga, anime, games, and merchandise.
