Warning: Contains spoilers for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: The JOJOLands chapter 2.JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: The JOJOLands chapter 2 has been released, and it just brought back the biggest character from part 4, Diamond is Unbreakable. Continuing from chapter 1, Jodio, Dragona, Paco, and Usagi head to Hawai’i Island to break into the villa of a Japanese man and steal a valuable diamond from him. In the lead-up to chapter 2, there was rapid speculation of who the Japanese man would be, with a common assumption being that it would be someone from JoJolion as a means of continuing the various loose threads of the series.
The actual answer ended up being far more surprising, however, as JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: The JOJOLands chapter 2 revealed the identity of the Japanese man to be, of all people, Diamond is Unbreakable‘s Rohan Kishibe. That’s plenty surprising by itself, but what makes it even bigger is how certain details suggest that it could be the original Rohan, as opposed to a brand-new version of the character. An idea like that is already supported by various spinoff stories, and if it’s true, then Rohan’s appearance could finally bridge the gap between JoJo’s differing continuities.
JOJOLands’ Rohan Kishibe Might Be The Original (& How That’s Possible)
The biggest takeaway from Rohan’s appearance in The JOJOLands is that it might be the same Rohan from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s original continuity, and the biggest hint of that comes from his design. Steel Ball Run and JoJolion have featured numerous characters with the same names as characters from the original continuity like Johnny Joestar, Diego “Dio” Brando, and JoJolion’s Josuke Higashikata and Yoshikage Kira, but in those cases and others, the new characters have looked different from the originals. Rohan, however, looks the same in The JOJOLands as he has in previous stories, so that suggests that he might be the same Rohan from Diamond is Unbreakable.
As for how Rohan could exist in the new continuity, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean already has an explanation for that. A throwaway line revealed that Rohan was somehow the only person able to keep up with Made in Heaven, so that could have set up him being able to enter the Steel Ball Run reality, possibly by using Heaven’s Door to become immune to the changes in reality. That would be an easy way of explaining how Rohan could have entered the Steel Ball Run reality, and it could serve to add a lot of depth to JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: The JOJOLands and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, as a whole.
How JoJo Spinoffs Set Up A Multiverse (& Why That’s A Big Deal)
The JOJOLands’ Rohan Kishibe being the same one from Diamond is Unbreakable would firmly establish a multiverse, and there’s already a precedent for that in various spinoffs. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven, for example, revolved around characters from both continuities fighting an alternate version of DIO who attained Heaven, and Jorge Joestar dealt with dozens of different iterations of the universe created by Made in Heaven, with Rohan even implied to have retained his memories because of how focused he was on his manga. There’s plenty of precedent for a multiverse in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Rohan could be used to finally establish a canonical version of one.
If a multiverse is established in the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure manga, then that could help give a definitive explanation for the connection between the old continuity and Steel Ball Run’s universe. For decades, there’s been confusion over whether Steel Ball Run’s reality is connected to the new reality shown in Stone Ocean, with the mechanics of Made in Heaven and statements from Hirohiko Araki never giving a clear answer. If the Rohan in The JOJOLands is the same one from Diamond is Unbreakable, however, then an answer could finally be given, and if that happens, then one of the biggest debates about the franchise could finally be put to rest.