The Bizarre Names of JJBA: Golden Wind

From the very start, the names in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure have been a bit on the odd side–e.g., Jonathan Joestar, Dio Brando, Will Anthonio Zeppeli. But when the Stands come rushing in fast and furious in the third arc, the naming goes fully off the rails. This is more than plain to see in the currently-airing fifth arc of the story, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind.

In Golden Wind, there are two clear naming patterns. The first is that the Stand-users names are based on the Italian words for various foods. (The big exception to this is the protagonist, Giorno Giovanna himself–his name has to fit the titular “JoJo” moniker after all.) The second pattern is that Stands are named after a Western band, song, or album.

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However, it doesn’t take a genius to see that these Stand names have the potential to cause problems when the anime comes to the English-speaking world. After all, using famous band’s name without permission is almost begging for a lawsuit. And even if you do win, you still have to pay your lawyers. So it’s understandable why the localization simply opts to head off any legal issues by changing the Stands names preemptively. Of course, this also adds a bit of humor when the characters say one name and the subtitles read another.

So, just for fun, let’s go through what we’ve seen of Golden Wind so far, look at the Stand-users we’ve met, break down the origins of their names and those of their Stands, and then see what the English localization has to offer as a royalty-free alternative.

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Giorno Giovanna

Name Origin: Giorno means “Day” in Italian

Stand Name: “Golden Experience”

Stand Name Origin: Prince album The Gold Experience

Localized Stand Name: “Golden Wind”

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Bruno Bucciarati

Name Origin: Bruccellati is an Italian Fig Cookie

Stand Name: “Sticky Fingers”

Stand Name Origin: The Rolling Stones album Sticky Fingers

Localized Stand Name: “Zipper Man”

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Leone Abbacchio

Name Origin: Abbacchio means “lamb meat” in Italian

Stand Name: “Moody Blues”

Stand Name Origin: The British band The Moody Blues

Localized Stand Name: Moody Jazz

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Pannacotta Fugo

Name Origin: Panna Cotta is an Italian pudding

Stand Name: “Purple Haze”

Stand Name Origin: The Jimmy Hendrix song Purple Haze

Localized Stand Name: “Purple Smoke”

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Narancia Ghirga

Name Origin: Arancia means “orange” in Italian

Stand Name: “Aerosmith”

Stand Name Origin: The American band Aerosmith

Localized Stand Name: “Li’l Bomber”

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Guido Mista

Name Origin: Insalata Mista means “mixed salad” in Italian

Stand Name: “Sex Pistols”

Stand Name Origin: Based on the British band Sex Pistols

Localized Stand Name: “Six Bullets”

Polpo

Name Origin: Polpo means “octopus” in Italian

Stand Name: “Black Sabbath”

Stand Name Origin: The British band Black Sabbath

Localized Stand Name: “Shadow Sabbath”

Mario Zucchero

Name Origin: Zucchero means “sugar” in Italian

Stand Name: “Soft Machine”

Stand Name Origin: The British band Soft Machine

Localized Stand Name: “Tender Machine”

Sale

Name Origin: Sale means “salt” in Italian

Stand Name: “Kraft Work”

Stand Name Origin: The German band Kraftwerk

Localized Stand Name: “Arts & Crafts”

Formaggio

Name Origin: Formaggio means “cheese” in Italian

Stand Name: “Little Feet”

Stand Name Origin: The American band Little Feat

Localized Stand Name: “Tiny Feet”

And if that’s not enough to prove original JoJo creator Hirohiko Araki’s love of Western music, you can always watch as our heroes dance to a just-different-enough-to-avoid-copyright-version of Prince’s “Pussy Control.”

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind can be seen in English on Crunchyroll.

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