Dio Brando

Dio Brando
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure character
DIO with his stand, The World, as he appears in Stardust Crusaders.
First appearance	JoJo's Bizarre Adventure chapter #1: "Dio the Invader" (1986)
Created by	Hirohiko Araki
Voiced by	See Voice actors
Profile
Relatives	Dario Brando (father) Giorno Giovanna (son) Donatello Versus (son) Rykiel (son) Ungalo (son)
Stand	The World

Dio Brando (Japanese: ディオ・ブランドー, Hepburn: Dio Burandō^?) is a fictional character from the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga series created by Hirohiko Araki. He first appears as the primary antagonist of the first story arc Phantom Blood in the debut chapter "Dio the Invader" (侵略者ディオ, Shinryakusha Dio), which was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on January 1, 1987. He later returns as the main antagonist in the series' third story arc Stardust Crusaders, where he is now known solely as DIO, and he also appears in flashbacks in the sixth story arc Stone Ocean. In the seventh story arc Steel Ball Run an alternative version of Dio called Diego Brando, who is also called Dio for short, appears as a major character in the setting.

The poor son of an abusive alcoholic who worked his mother to death, Dio Brando holds an inordinate amount of enmity toward others. As the series' most prolific villain, his defining trait is his staunch ambition, which manifests in a peerless desire for power, no matter the cost.

When beginning the series, Dio is the character that Araki looked forward to drawing the most. He said that he was inspired by FBI profiling of serial killers; admitting that in a way he thinks they must be incredibly strong to be able to commit the heinous crimes that they do. How they control their victims through psychological manipulation interested him as well, a trait similar to how Dio has followers to do his bidding. Araki revealed that he had not thought up a weakness for the character and that it was difficult to come up with a way for Dio to be defeated. Dio's first name is a reference to the Italian word for God.