JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s titular character, Jotaro Kujo, returns to the anime’s modern fighting game with his next series appearance from Part 4. Jotaro Part 3 can use his strong normals, mix-ups, and aggressive specials to deliver heavy damage, especially once his Stand, Star Platinum, gets close. His older version from Diamond Is Unbreakable is more balanced with a versatile kit that works for any range due to his teleport and good control of spacing with hitboxes.
Jotaro from Part 3 Stardust Crusaders is a beginner-friendly character first and foremost with how his kit gives you easy combos, a mix-up to open people up, and an unblockable special in the game. He sits at A tier while his future self is just under him at B tier, but the two are more different when it comes to what range they can fight at or what matchups they are more suited to handle.
Mastering Jotaro From Stardust Crusaders
While his sheer predictability and weakness to zoning are flaws, Jotaro has effective specials, especially with his time stop to keep pressure on the opponent and control the pace of the match with the damage he puts out from any open guards. The most iconic JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure protagonist is a honed, formidable pick even in User Mode, and he has one of the most dangerous, easiest to use Stands from the Stardust Crusaders cast.
User Mode
Jotaro’s air medium and air heavy are both great tools for initiating. The air medium can be used for your cross ups and the air heavy includes plenty of hit-stun that will make the opponent want to block that diving punch in particular. His command normal “Back off” from diagonal heavy is not safe on black, but the forward moving low kick is useful for catching someone not blocking low so you can go into a combo.
- “ORA, ORA!” from 236 (or quarter circle forward) is more of a tool used for fighting in neutral. Use the gatling punches as a wall and try to end on the light version of the special on block because it’s the safest.
- “Here’s your receipt” from 623 (or dragon punch input) has Star Platinum punch upward rapidly for an anti-air. You’ll want to be very careful using the move against crouching opponents because your last hit will miss, and every button version is already unsafe on block. The heavy version does have nice invincibility until the final hit though.
- “My Stand will be the judge!” is an amazing move with hit grab animation after a large punch from 63214 (or half circle backwards). Star Platinum goes a considerable distance with this anti-zoning tool, and landing it results in a hard knockdown that Jotaro can use to reengage the opponent with stronger options in Stand-On Mode.
Stand-On Mode
Your Stand-On version of “ORA, ORA!” from 236 (or quarter circle forward) will be one of the main moves you use for good damage. The amount of hits increases by repeatedly pressing attack buttons. It’s the range that increases depending on light, medium, or heavy being used, so adjust which version you use to catch an opponent with the punch gatling accordingly.
- “Star Finger” from 623 (or dragon punch input) is one of your best moves to open opponents’ guard up through its unblockable hit. You can further pressure the opponent by canceling this into Stand-Rush and jumping in with an aerial medium. Feel free to abuse Star Finger as much as you can from controlling the game in your neutral play. The unblockable hit goes a long ways to pressure the opponent, especially when you have enough meter to condition the enemy to figure out if you are going to Stand-Rush or not. Keep them guessing once you have enough meter.
- “Beat in a single breath!” from 63214 or (half circle backwards) is your other pressure tool to set up approaches or even mess with your opponent’s timing. The strongest version of the move pulls in the enemy from half the stage away, and you can even use the pull on enemies that are on the ground. Since the move is stand-rush compatible, like “Star Finger” you can create cross-ups.
- “I stopped time…” from 22S (or down down special button) has too much of a lengthy startup to really be deemed viable without saving up all of your 3 bars of meter to guarantee landing the special. If so, you can take advantage of time stop by setting up the opponent for juggles. Also, all attacks can hit on the ground during time stop as long as they can reach the opponent.
It’s never a bad idea to save up your 3 bars of meter for a time stop, as that is free damage once you use it.
Mastering Jotaro From Diamond Is Unbreakable
Part 4 Jotaro comes with the abilities for utility to zone opponents with projectiles and also teleport, unlike his younger self. User Mode features the projectile, and Stand-On Mode has the teleport, so he feels pretty balanced with his options. While “Star Finger” is blockable, you can create a loop with it still and use it for a combo extender, as well as have an answer to opponents with his anti-air “I’m going to break you into pieces.“
- “If I throw this bearing…” from 236 (or quarter circle forward) is safest with the light version that only throws one bearing at the enemy. The medium version throws 2 bearings, and the heavy version throws three, but the final hit of every special knocks the opponent back. At closer distances, the light version will aid you from the smaller recovery time in case the opponent just blocks or dodges — otherwise Jotaro will be left vulnerable.
Fighting in Stand-On Mode lets Jotaro pull off some higher damage and open up the opponents guard at the cost of losing safer spacing. His barrage of punches from 236 (quarter circle forward) “ORA ORA!” has a short range, so you want to be careful about making sure it’s guaranteed to hit. The upside is that the barrage branches out to another hit with forward light, medium, or heavy. The light is the only Stand-Rush Jotaro has, the medium is a slow overhead, and the heavy is a crouching fist that causes a hard knockdown. Using backwards light, medium, or heavy after your barrage results in Jotaro’s teleport.
- “Where’d all the time go?” comes at the cost of using 0.4 meter if canceled into from your punch barrage. Using the move by itself with 22 (or down down) light, medium, or heavy takes 0.2 meter. The move benefits Jotaro for controlling the fight, but be careful in getting completely punished for it, even if you are using the medium version that teleports behind the opponent. To be safe, you might want to confirm a hard knockdown before using the teleport. It also can be hard to master because you not only need meter but also need to be in Stand-On Mode to activate it.
- “So I’m going to bust you up” from 63214 (or half circle backwards) is a ranged command grab that increases in range and damage depending on the light, medium, or heavy version it’s performed with. This is a useful move worth putting the time into for learning the range. You can try to catch someone off guard after conditioning them to the mix-ups Star Platinum can pull off from his punch barrage.
Another show of range for this Jotaro is in his Heart Heat Attack “I’m going to break it…And by ‘it,’ I mean your face.” The super features great range from Star Platinum flying forward to throw a heavy punch. The distance is a bit surprising, so feel free to use the super offensively and defensively, and of course as a combo ender.
Like Jotaro Part 3, this Jotaro also has a time stop mechanic. One of the main differences is that your bearing projectiles he shoots will hang around in the air after firing and activating “Star Platinum, The World!” If you leave enough space for them to hit, you can leave up to 9 bearing projectiles that will all combine at once when time resumes during your activation. Refraining from using your new teleports can save you meter throughout the matches so that you build up 3 bars to successfully pull off a time stop. Stand-On Mode’s diagonal heavy command normal sends the opponent away from Jotaro after Star Platinum launches a good distance forward with a downward punch, so you can potentially set up a time stop from there.
Part 4 Jotaro is a more resource-based character than his original Stardust Crusaders appearance. He lacks meterless mobility and is not able to convert from air attacks as well without using some kind of resource. His hitboxes in Stand-On Mode can help control the fight, but his more balanced kit forces you to work harder to get inside a viable range to beat on the opponent.
