10. August 2020, original post
NOTE: The original post and this post are different, as I removed some parts I don't agree with as much anymore.
Character: Diego Brando
Part: VII
NOTE: The original post and this post are different, as I removed some parts I don't agree with as much anymore.
Character: Diego Brando
Part: VII
Talking about Diego Brando
Answer to this question:
since you discuss Dio so often, what are your thoughts on Diego?
since you discuss Dio so often, what are your thoughts on Diego?
He was by far one of the best parts of SBR for me, but I don’t hold a particularly strong opinion of him as a character because while I obviously do like him, I really wish he (and SBR in general) wasn’t built up so much by the fandom because I expected more.
I did talk about Diego once before here when someone asked me about comparisons between Diego and Dio Brando.
To first get this out of the way; My disinterest in Diego exists largely due to me being petty. Basically, I’m really sick of seeing people say he’s a “better DIO”, because they mistake grey morality for character depth. Purely based on the amount of content and exploration each character gets, DIO is objectively the one with more depth. We see DIO in 3 parts, where very different aspects of him, his growth, and his stupidly complex yet intriguing motivation get revealed to us. Diego, meanwhile, gets one part where he’s an excellent recurring part-time antagonist who gets a tragic backstory and a fairly basic motivation.
Whether you prefer one or the other, or whether you think Diego is a more interesting character than DIO, is really just a matter of personal preference, I'm just explaining where I stand on the matter, personally. As someone who loves character analysis, I take issue with people stating that it’s somehow an irrefutable fact that Diego is a “better written DIO with more depth”, with their only reason for that claim being that he’s morally grey.
Here’s the thing: The moral ambiguity of Diego’s actions suits Diego’s specific character. That’s what DIEGO is like. But it’s not what DIO is like. Moral ambiguity wouldn’t fit DIO because that would literally go against the most basic building blocks of his character. Making DIO morally grey would ruin his character, just like making Diego pure evil would probably make him way less interesting and likeable.
Basically: Alignment does not signify depth or quality of a character.
To go into positives now, there are a lot of really great things about Diego as well, I just generally overall really enjoyed his appearances. He was definitely a standout character for me, and my favourite one in SBR along with Magenta Magenta. The early Scary Monsters arc was probably my favourite part of SBR purely thanks to Diego, and I really wish we got to see more of that side of him. He was characterised so well during the beginning of that arc, the way he tried to talk to Johnny and Gyro while they were suspicious as fuck was endearing and I just. Love that entire arc tbh.
I did talk about Diego once before here when someone asked me about comparisons between Diego and Dio Brando.
To first get this out of the way; My disinterest in Diego exists largely due to me being petty. Basically, I’m really sick of seeing people say he’s a “better DIO”, because they mistake grey morality for character depth. Purely based on the amount of content and exploration each character gets, DIO is objectively the one with more depth. We see DIO in 3 parts, where very different aspects of him, his growth, and his stupidly complex yet intriguing motivation get revealed to us. Diego, meanwhile, gets one part where he’s an excellent recurring part-time antagonist who gets a tragic backstory and a fairly basic motivation.
Whether you prefer one or the other, or whether you think Diego is a more interesting character than DIO, is really just a matter of personal preference, I'm just explaining where I stand on the matter, personally. As someone who loves character analysis, I take issue with people stating that it’s somehow an irrefutable fact that Diego is a “better written DIO with more depth”, with their only reason for that claim being that he’s morally grey.
Here’s the thing: The moral ambiguity of Diego’s actions suits Diego’s specific character. That’s what DIEGO is like. But it’s not what DIO is like. Moral ambiguity wouldn’t fit DIO because that would literally go against the most basic building blocks of his character. Making DIO morally grey would ruin his character, just like making Diego pure evil would probably make him way less interesting and likeable.
Basically: Alignment does not signify depth or quality of a character.
To go into positives now, there are a lot of really great things about Diego as well, I just generally overall really enjoyed his appearances. He was definitely a standout character for me, and my favourite one in SBR along with Magenta Magenta. The early Scary Monsters arc was probably my favourite part of SBR purely thanks to Diego, and I really wish we got to see more of that side of him. He was characterised so well during the beginning of that arc, the way he tried to talk to Johnny and Gyro while they were suspicious as fuck was endearing and I just. Love that entire arc tbh.
I love him as a jockey too, I like how in sync with his horse he is and he seems to genuinely care for it, calling it his ‘beloved’, that was cute.
I also like that he’s a short king, being kinda short myself lmao, represent.
Another moment of his that struck me was the time when he had to cross the finish line on foot, looking defeated and exhausted, with his horse being hurt. It was a very shameful situation for someone of his reputation, you see him looking down with his hair covering his eyes, but then on one panel we are shown his eyes and they are clear
I also like that he’s a short king, being kinda short myself lmao, represent.
Another moment of his that struck me was the time when he had to cross the finish line on foot, looking defeated and exhausted, with his horse being hurt. It was a very shameful situation for someone of his reputation, you see him looking down with his hair covering his eyes, but then on one panel we are shown his eyes and they are clear
And then next time we see a close up of him in about a page or two, his eyes are dull. It’s like he mustered up all that was left of his pride to cross that finish line and only after that he allowed the disappointment and shame to weight on him.
I loved that he was an anti-hero as well, his fights against Valentine were some of the most hype moments for me and it was really interesting to see this somewhat Dio-esque persona take a more active role in the story.
The High Voltage arc was absolutely STELLAR, it’s incredibly wild to me that the final battle of the show wasn’t with the main villain, and callbacks to Jonathan vs Dio and Jotaro vs DIO were awesome. (I have to deduct points though, because I felt like the final rape threat to Lucy was a cheap attempt to make us hate his character more right before he died. I also hate that people call this version "the more DIO Diego" when DIO would never stoop so low.)
Lastly, Diego’s original death probably lands among the top 3 deaths in JoJo for me. That was a REALLY impactful exit and I was genuinely shaken by it. It was honestly really damn heartbreaking to see him die as he did, while believing that he won. And what a brutal death it was too, jesus christ.
So yeah, there are a LOT of great things about Diego, but just as SBR itself kinda lost me along the way, so did he.
I loved that he was an anti-hero as well, his fights against Valentine were some of the most hype moments for me and it was really interesting to see this somewhat Dio-esque persona take a more active role in the story.
The High Voltage arc was absolutely STELLAR, it’s incredibly wild to me that the final battle of the show wasn’t with the main villain, and callbacks to Jonathan vs Dio and Jotaro vs DIO were awesome. (I have to deduct points though, because I felt like the final rape threat to Lucy was a cheap attempt to make us hate his character more right before he died. I also hate that people call this version "the more DIO Diego" when DIO would never stoop so low.)
Lastly, Diego’s original death probably lands among the top 3 deaths in JoJo for me. That was a REALLY impactful exit and I was genuinely shaken by it. It was honestly really damn heartbreaking to see him die as he did, while believing that he won. And what a brutal death it was too, jesus christ.
So yeah, there are a LOT of great things about Diego, but just as SBR itself kinda lost me along the way, so did he.