JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a long-running shonen series that's famed for featuring a variety of Joestar family heroes, starting with Jonathan Joestar in the Phantom Blood story arc before moving on to newer heroes. These characters vary not just in their flashy outfits and Stands but also in their personalities, and none more so than Kujo Jotaro, the third Joestar hero.
Jotaro is nothing like Jonathan or Joseph, and that's for the better. By being a grouchy tsundere type, Jotaro stands out among the Joestar heroes and most shonen protagonists in general, and he even lacks the classic power of friendship. Despite shonen's conventional wisdom, Jotaro actually does better without the power of friendship in several different ways.
Kujo Jotaro: An Antihero To Root For
Jotaro Kujo rejects the power of friendship and is generally an unsentimental person, which may be off-putting for someone watching JoJo's Bizarre Adventure for the first time, especially when he's compared to Jonathan and Joseph. Jotaro actively resists a variety of shonen tropes such as being a naive but enthusiastic himbo and the power of friendship, and in the eyes of many viewers, this is refreshing rather than frustrating.
Author Hirohiko Araki already shook up the shonen formula once by killing off Jonathan Joestar, and he shook it up again by creating a Joestar hero unlike anything else in shonen. Jotaro seemingly has no best friends at all, even if he does respect Kakyoin, and he has an abrasive attitude that tends to push other people away. Jotaro is definitely a hero at heart, but he doesn't have to act like it, which means he is an antihero.
Jotaro's lack of friends or personal warmth contributes to his status as an antihero, or a protagonist who rejects most conventional heroic traits. Some shonen titles and many seinen titles feature such characters, such as Thorfinn the vengeful Viking and Guts the mercenary swordsman, and these heroes are a breath of fresh air for anime fans tired of the likes of Goku, Luffy, Naruto and Izuku.
Not everyone identifies with or roots for such characters -- sometimes, they want a gritty antihero who saves the day their own way, without indulging in tedious shonen lessons about friendship and optimism. It's not that Jotaro hates friendship, simply that he doesn't rely on it, and he more than makes up for it in other ways. All this makes Jotaro iconic, as he relies on everything but the power of friendship.
When Jotaro's Lack Of Friends Comes In Handy
Not only does Jotaro's antisocial personality make him compelling in the eyes of antihero fans, but it actually comes in handy for the character more than once, to the point it could be called "the power of no friendship." While Jotaro is capable of being a team player if necessary, his best victories were won because he relies on no one but himself, and he doesn't get discouraged when a friend or ally is hurt or even killed. Plenty of other shonen heroes get distracted, become recklessly angry or lose all hope when their friends are hurt or killed off, which is the downside of friendship. A beloved friend can become a liability if they are hurt or held hostage -- a fact that many villains use to their advantage. Jotaro is immune to that.
To name one example, Jotaro coldly wagered his mother's very soul when gambling with Daniel J. D'Arby, forcing Daniel to call that bet and wager something he wasn't willing to lose: DIO's secrets. A more sentimental hero like Izuku, Tanjiro or even Ichigo Kurosaki would never do that, believing in the power of friendship, but Jotaro sure did it, and that was his only route to victory. Moreover, when Kakyoin was turned into a doll at the hands of Terrence D'Arby, Jotaro was completely unfazed, remaining focused on the game at hand. Someone like Tanjiro or Natsu Dragneel would have been far too upset to focus on the game.
Lastly, Jotaro's power of no friendship came in handy when he fought his final battle against DIO, being unfazed by Kakyoin's tragic death. Jotaro didn't like seeing his ally die, but he still kept a cool head and outsmarted DIO in the end. In fact, Jotaro was motivated not to avenge Kakyoin or Avdol, but rather to show just how much DIO annoyed him and to rid himself of this annoyance once and for all. A creative but antisocial guy like Jotaro clearly gets much more mileage out of the power of no friendship than any shonen-style bond of sworn brotherhood.
