Player Name: Naem E-mail: gracefulgraveler@gmail.com Preferred Contact:mistytpednaem Timezone: WET (currently WEST) Current Characters in Victory Road: None
Just about everything from this point onward is a spoiler. The Boss's identity is a major mystery throughout most of Golden Wind, and his connection to Doppio is one of the first times the curtain is peeled back.
Character Name: Vinegar Doppio & Diavolo Series: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind Timeline: Chapter 114/Episode 29 Canon Resource Links: It isn't accurate to say that Doppio and Diavolo are the same person. For one, multiple characters in canon state that he has Dissociative Identity Disorder (well, they call it Multiple Personality Disorder because the manga was written in the 90s, but You Know), in contexts that make it very clear this is the author telling his audience "yes, hello, my antagonist has a real condition and this is how it really works". For two, because souls are a thing in JJBA, they are also two separate souls inhabiting a single body.
There's also the absurdly drastic changes in appearance between the two, presumably stemming from Hirohiko Araki reading about how alters can have differences in posture or voice and whatnot and REALLY running away with it, but I could be here all day. The important bit is that these two are an intrinsically linked duo, and as such, I'm linking several pages:
(Doppio's history section summarizes what he goes through in canon, rather than providing any sort of background; this may be because, even though it's never stated which of the two was the "original" personality, if any, Diavolo is now clearly the dominant one, even though he's not the one who likes to show his face. Plus, uh, Diavolo's the main antagonist, so that's probably enough of a reason for the privilege.)
Personality: So, the main antagonist of Jojo's Part 5 has a "split personality". That's a statement that doesn't inspire much confidence, especially knowing that Jojo is a series that takes liberal inspiration from western media, including horror, and lord knows how horror movies tend to treat characters with DID. Heck, their names are Italian for Double and Devil, Diavolo is a mob boss, the exaggerated physical changes between the two are almost evocative of demonic possession...
And yet, it's not that straightforward. Yes, Doppio is nice, compared to Diavolo. Yes, Diavolo kills people. But Doppio is his underboss, and he knows damn well what his job consists of. Aside from the part where his conversations with the Boss are all in his head, anyway.
Now that that's out there, let's take this one man at a time - but let's start with Diavolo, actually.
Diavolo is a mysterious man, in several senses of the word "mysterious". The most obvious, of course, is his desire to be completely unknown. Even though he is the Boss of Passione, a powerful mafia gang, none of the gang's members know his name or his face, nor does he communicate directly with any of them. Only Doppio, his direct subordinate, speaks directly to him, presumably relaying orders further down the chain of command - but more on what Doppio does later. This obsession doesn't seem to have started with the gang's creation, though. As stated in his background, when Diavolo's adoptive father found his mother buried alive (which, no, is never explained), Diavolo's next course of action is to burn down the entire village and fake his death. This paranoia colours his every move to the point of irrationality; years later, when he learns he has a daughter, he conspires to kill her himself for fear that traitors within the gang might use her to learn his identity, even though he and his daughter have never met.
Despite this, when the heroes face Diavolo in combat, he seems to project an aura of confidence and pride. This may be in part because his Stand - an ability drawn from his soul which also has two faces, would you look at that - is ludicrously powerful, capable not only of manipulating time but also skewering people with a single blow. However... if Stands are a reflection of their user, then what does this really mean? Diavolo apparently sees himself as worthy of eternal glory, using and abusing King Crimson's abilities to foresee any events that may be unfavorable to him and erasing them, leaving only the results that he has skewed to his favour, but how does this power come from the soul of a man so paranoid that he no longer shows his face in public?
Some may call these inconsistencies. I call them a challenge. But let's talk about Doppio for a bit.
As mentioned, Doppio is the underboss/consigliere of Passione. While his job description involves mostly advising the boss, as the name implies, and relaying orders to lower-ranking members, the truth of the matter is that Doppio is Diavolo's eyes, ears, and... basically entire body on the streets. When Diavolo realises the protagonists have a very tangible way of learning what he looks like and declares that he has to handle the situation himself, it's Doppio that we see next - in fact, that is when we're introduced to him. Even though he's intrinsically linked to Diavolo, however, he is his own person as well, and Diavolo treats him as such.
An interesting consequence thereof is the following: although Diavolo trusts Doppio - and, in fact, calls him the only person he is able to trust - and Doppio knows himself to be Diavolo's closest subordinate in turn, that's all Doppio knows. Not that they share a body, or the reason why he's plagued with frequent headaches (caused by Diavolo coming to the forefront of their consciousness in some way, it seems), nor why he experiences blackouts and gaps in his memory. Funny definition of trust - and really another sign of Diavolo's intense paranoia - but Doppio seems perfectly content with his position.
In fact, not only does Doppio take pride in his job, he states at one point that serving and protecting Diavolo's interests is pretty much his sole purpose in life - which only makes sense, as his lack of awareness about his condition indicates that he most likely does not remember his past or maybe even anything from before he "joined" Passione. It's arguable whether he even knows how old he is, given that he's fine with letting people assume he's much younger than he actually is and seems to believe he couldn't possibly have a 15-year-old daughter, himself.
But yes, to loop back around to the start of this section? Doppio may be the pleasant and polite one, his demeanour fitting the description of young Diavolo as dim and timid, and Diavolo may be the man who rules the criminal underworld with an iron fist - but that doesn't mean there's a Good one and an Evil one. It means they are two individuals with different dispositions who, nevertheless, work together. More together than one of them suspects, but still...
One last important thing to mention is a trait that the two do seem to share: a violent temper. Reflected even in King Crimson's near-constant grimace, this is easily mistaken for a trait exclusive to Diavolo - perhaps because it often manifests when Doppio has the freaky green eyes going on, an apparent sign that the two of them are sharing consciousness at that point in time - that is not the case, as Doppio snaps several times without Diavolo's direct involvement.
Keeping Doppio away from a phone call - the framing device for his conversations with Diavolo - is a sure-fire way to provoke him, but he also shows intense frustration when a fight with an enemy Stand user turns overwhelmingly against him, eventually vowing to kill his opponent despite his boss's insistence that he needs to back down. He even yells at Diavolo when he gets a phone call at a very inopportune time.
Of course, as mentioned, Diavolo is violent and temperamental as well, as indicated by his outbursts when his identity is at risk and his willingness to brutally murder anyone who compromises it or his supremacy. The difference, then, seems to lie in how each of them expresses their temper. Looking at King Crimson, which is primarily Diavolo's Stand (Doppio can only use parts of it) it overwhelmingly strikes with single, powerful blows - directed anger, in contrast with Doppio's more erratic, uncontrolled fits. Diavolo even has to get him to back down on occasion, as mentioned above, or like when Doppio thought a taxi driver may have seen some compromising information and nearly gouged out the poor guy's eye. Diavolo uses Doppio for protection, yes, but Doppio seems to take to his role well.
So, let's try to summarise this mess. Diavolo is a man of contradictions: an obsessive, paranoid wreck who takes pride in his power and believes he deserves to rule uncontested. Doppio, too, is outright called a walking contradiction by another character: a young man (who's just as old as Diavolo, probably) of polite and cowardly disposition who will go to great lengths to obey a drug lord's commands. Not only that, but these two coexist. That's a lot of contradictions to deal with!
But somehow, they make a whole. A dubiously functional whole with a very peculiar dynamic, but a whole nonetheless.
Pokémon Information Affiliation: Team Rocket Starter: Morpeko and Magikarp Password: Atomic Fireball
Victory Road Sample: Vinegar Doppio wakes up on the floor with a fading headache (this is not an unusual occurrence). Unbeknownst to him, he is not the first person to wake up here, although the one who preceded him, Diavolo, was lucky enough to find himself on a bed. Small fortune, really, because between the two of them, the one who woke up first was exactly the one who didn't have a habit of finding himself in new locations without any memory of how he got there. It was an unpleasant awakening. The immediate fear that he had been found and brought somewhere for questioning, torture, or death. The inane letter. King Crimson's absence. But Doppio is privy to none of this, and as such, it doesn't matter.
The only thing that matters is that the phone is ringing, and Diavolo hopes beyond hope that Doppio goes for the obvious choice - of all possible times to make a scene, this would be the worst. He breathes a non-physical sigh of relief from the back of Doppio's mind when his counterpart reaches for the device he doesn't know is called a PokeGear, and the ringing stops before anyone in this "Team Rocket" can catch the sound of a grown man imitating a phone.
"Boss?! Doppio here! I-I've been waiting for your instructions."
Alright. Here they go. Diavolo prepared a rough cover story before giving Doppio the wheel, but his underboss can be... unpredictable. Hopefully he won't have to adjust too much on the fly.
"I know, my Doppio, but I'm afraid these are very unusual circumstances. Have you read the note yet?"
"Letter? Oh no, did I miss your instructions, Boss? I'm so sorry, let me...!"
Diavolo holds back a sigh. Things are already stressful enough. Better not to give Doppio further reason to believe he's already made a mistake.
"Welcome to... what?" Doppio's eyes scan the note Diavolo has already read and mulled over, increasingly bewildered - team-mates? In the balls? - and, frankly, he needs a minute before he's ready to ask the obvious follow-up question. "Boss, have I been kidnapped??"
"Yes, you have. Most alarming of all, they nearly caught me as well."
Doppio's eyes go very wide.
"What?! How is that possible, Boss? You're untouchable! E-Even if they got the best of me, they shouldn't have been able to defeat your stand!"
"Unfortunately, King Crimson doesn't appear to be available."
"HOW?!" Doppio's voice has turned into the kind of hysterical whisper that would be nigh-inaudible if the person on the other end of the line wasn't inside his head. Diavolo may not be aware of Doppio's precise train of thought - for a moment, he was hoping this might be some kind of deliberate setup, that the Boss may have placed him here to gather info and stamp out dissidents or opponents, or whatever - but his panic is palpable regardless. "But that means... This is terrible! You can't come get me?"
"Not without King Crimson, dear Doppio." Only sort of untrue.
"Then what do we do...?!"
Doppio isn't questioning where his Boss is, how he escaped, or what happened to the people who nearly managed to capture him. Good. It should be smooth sailing from here, then.
"This is no time to panic, Doppio. I believe you can do what you have always done best."
A swell of pride fills Doppio's chest. It may not calm him down, exactly, but it reassures him nonetheless.
"I want you to gather information for me. This Team Rocket appears to be an organization with some type of hierarchy, and as I'm sure you have gleaned from their helpful letter, they want us - you - to do something for them."
"So... You want me to comply?"
"Exactly. Earn their trust, and learn of their inner workings as thoroughly as if you were their loyal agent. Once the conditions are right, this organization will go the way of all others who have opposed Passione."
Doppio beams. Of course the Boss already has a plan - he may have said it's time for Doppio to do what he does best, but this is really about the Boss doing what he does best, isn't it? Crushing the enemy and rising to the top.
"Got it! I'll do everything they tell me - oh, but you're still the one I'm really serving, Boss!"
"Naturally, dear Doppio." There is a smile in his voice. "For now, following the instructions on that note should be enough."
"Even the training, Boss?" Because he's been at this crime thing for a while, really, assuming this is a criminal organization--
"Even the training."
"Right, of course. To get a feel for how this organization works." Now he feels silly for asking. He hopes the Boss can't tell.
"That should be all for now. Get ready to leave this room, and report back to me as soon as it is safe to do so."
"Yes, I'll keep you updated, sir."
That should be that.
"Er, Boss..."
Except Doppio has that one more thing kind of cadence going on.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?"
Ah, dear sweet Doppio. Always the concerned subordinate. Diavolo couldn't ask for a better right-hand man.
"I don't mean to intrude, obviously -"
Wait. Oh no.
He's going to ask.
"- but I still don't understand exactly what your current position..."
Now Diavolo hopes beyond hope for an interruption, even if explaining who Doppio was just talking to may invite its own problems.
Vinegar Doppio & Diavolo | Jojo's Bizarre Adventure | Not reserved
Name: Naem
E-mail: gracefulgraveler@gmail.com
Preferred Contact:
Timezone: WET (currently WEST)
Current Characters in Victory Road: None
Just about everything from this point onward is a spoiler. The Boss's identity is a major mystery throughout most of Golden Wind, and his connection to Doppio is one of the first times the curtain is peeled back.
Character
Name: Vinegar Doppio & Diavolo
Series: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind
Timeline: Chapter 114/Episode 29
Canon Resource Links: It isn't accurate to say that Doppio and Diavolo are the same person. For one, multiple characters in canon state that he has Dissociative Identity Disorder (well, they call it Multiple Personality Disorder because the manga was written in the 90s, but You Know), in contexts that make it very clear this is the author telling his audience "yes, hello, my antagonist has a real condition and this is how it really works". For two, because souls are a thing in JJBA, they are also two separate souls inhabiting a single body.
There's also the absurdly drastic changes in appearance between the two, presumably stemming from Hirohiko Araki reading about how alters can have differences in posture or voice and whatnot and REALLY running away with it, but I could be here all day. The important bit is that these two are an intrinsically linked duo, and as such, I'm linking several pages:
Doppio's entry on the Jojo wiki | Diavolo's entry on the Jojo wiki | Diavolo's history section, in particular
(Doppio's history section summarizes what he goes through in canon, rather than providing any sort of background; this may be because, even though it's never stated which of the two was the "original" personality, if any, Diavolo is now clearly the dominant one, even though he's not the one who likes to show his face. Plus, uh, Diavolo's the main antagonist, so that's probably enough of a reason for the privilege.)
Personality: So, the main antagonist of Jojo's Part 5 has a "split personality". That's a statement that doesn't inspire much confidence, especially knowing that Jojo is a series that takes liberal inspiration from western media, including horror, and lord knows how horror movies tend to treat characters with DID. Heck, their names are Italian for Double and Devil, Diavolo is a mob boss, the exaggerated physical changes between the two are almost evocative of demonic possession...
And yet, it's not that straightforward. Yes, Doppio is nice, compared to Diavolo. Yes, Diavolo kills people. But Doppio is his underboss, and he knows damn well what his job consists of. Aside from the part where his conversations with the Boss are all in his head, anyway.
Now that that's out there, let's take this one man at a time - but let's start with Diavolo, actually.
Diavolo is a mysterious man, in several senses of the word "mysterious". The most obvious, of course, is his desire to be completely unknown. Even though he is the Boss of Passione, a powerful mafia gang, none of the gang's members know his name or his face, nor does he communicate directly with any of them. Only Doppio, his direct subordinate, speaks directly to him, presumably relaying orders further down the chain of command - but more on what Doppio does later. This obsession doesn't seem to have started with the gang's creation, though. As stated in his background, when Diavolo's adoptive father found his mother buried alive (which, no, is never explained), Diavolo's next course of action is to burn down the entire village and fake his death. This paranoia colours his every move to the point of irrationality; years later, when he learns he has a daughter, he conspires to kill her himself for fear that traitors within the gang might use her to learn his identity, even though he and his daughter have never met.
Despite this, when the heroes face Diavolo in combat, he seems to project an aura of confidence and pride. This may be in part because his Stand - an ability drawn from his soul which also has two faces, would you look at that - is ludicrously powerful, capable not only of manipulating time but also skewering people with a single blow. However... if Stands are a reflection of their user, then what does this really mean? Diavolo apparently sees himself as worthy of eternal glory, using and abusing King Crimson's abilities to foresee any events that may be unfavorable to him and erasing them, leaving only the results that he has skewed to his favour, but how does this power come from the soul of a man so paranoid that he no longer shows his face in public?
Some may call these inconsistencies. I call them a challenge. But let's talk about Doppio for a bit.
As mentioned, Doppio is the underboss/consigliere of Passione. While his job description involves mostly advising the boss, as the name implies, and relaying orders to lower-ranking members, the truth of the matter is that Doppio is Diavolo's eyes, ears, and... basically entire body on the streets. When Diavolo realises the protagonists have a very tangible way of learning what he looks like and declares that he has to handle the situation himself, it's Doppio that we see next - in fact, that is when we're introduced to him. Even though he's intrinsically linked to Diavolo, however, he is his own person as well, and Diavolo treats him as such.
An interesting consequence thereof is the following: although Diavolo trusts Doppio - and, in fact, calls him the only person he is able to trust - and Doppio knows himself to be Diavolo's closest subordinate in turn, that's all Doppio knows. Not that they share a body, or the reason why he's plagued with frequent headaches (caused by Diavolo coming to the forefront of their consciousness in some way, it seems), nor why he experiences blackouts and gaps in his memory. Funny definition of trust - and really another sign of Diavolo's intense paranoia - but Doppio seems perfectly content with his position.
In fact, not only does Doppio take pride in his job, he states at one point that serving and protecting Diavolo's interests is pretty much his sole purpose in life - which only makes sense, as his lack of awareness about his condition indicates that he most likely does not remember his past or maybe even anything from before he "joined" Passione. It's arguable whether he even knows how old he is, given that he's fine with letting people assume he's much younger than he actually is and seems to believe he couldn't possibly have a 15-year-old daughter, himself.
But yes, to loop back around to the start of this section? Doppio may be the pleasant and polite one, his demeanour fitting the description of young Diavolo as dim and timid, and Diavolo may be the man who rules the criminal underworld with an iron fist - but that doesn't mean there's a Good one and an Evil one. It means they are two individuals with different dispositions who, nevertheless, work together. More together than one of them suspects, but still...
One last important thing to mention is a trait that the two do seem to share: a violent temper. Reflected even in King Crimson's near-constant grimace, this is easily mistaken for a trait exclusive to Diavolo - perhaps because it often manifests when Doppio has the freaky green eyes going on, an apparent sign that the two of them are sharing consciousness at that point in time - that is not the case, as Doppio snaps several times without Diavolo's direct involvement.
Keeping Doppio away from a phone call - the framing device for his conversations with Diavolo - is a sure-fire way to provoke him, but he also shows intense frustration when a fight with an enemy Stand user turns overwhelmingly against him, eventually vowing to kill his opponent despite his boss's insistence that he needs to back down. He even yells at Diavolo when he gets a phone call at a very inopportune time.
Of course, as mentioned, Diavolo is violent and temperamental as well, as indicated by his outbursts when his identity is at risk and his willingness to brutally murder anyone who compromises it or his supremacy. The difference, then, seems to lie in how each of them expresses their temper. Looking at King Crimson, which is primarily Diavolo's Stand (Doppio can only use parts of it) it overwhelmingly strikes with single, powerful blows - directed anger, in contrast with Doppio's more erratic, uncontrolled fits. Diavolo even has to get him to back down on occasion, as mentioned above, or like when Doppio thought a taxi driver may have seen some compromising information and nearly gouged out the poor guy's eye. Diavolo uses Doppio for protection, yes, but Doppio seems to take to his role well.
So, let's try to summarise this mess. Diavolo is a man of contradictions: an obsessive, paranoid wreck who takes pride in his power and believes he deserves to rule uncontested. Doppio, too, is outright called a walking contradiction by another character: a young man (who's just as old as Diavolo, probably) of polite and cowardly disposition who will go to great lengths to obey a drug lord's commands. Not only that, but these two coexist. That's a lot of contradictions to deal with!
But somehow, they make a whole. A dubiously functional whole with a very peculiar dynamic, but a whole nonetheless.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Team Rocket
Starter: Morpeko and Magikarp
Password: Atomic Fireball
Samples
RP Sample: TDM thread(s)
Victory Road Sample:
Vinegar Doppio wakes up on the floor with a fading headache (this is not an unusual occurrence). Unbeknownst to him, he is not the first person to wake up here, although the one who preceded him, Diavolo, was lucky enough to find himself on a bed. Small fortune, really, because between the two of them, the one who woke up first was exactly the one who didn't have a habit of finding himself in new locations without any memory of how he got there. It was an unpleasant awakening. The immediate fear that he had been found and brought somewhere for questioning, torture, or death. The inane letter. King Crimson's absence. But Doppio is privy to none of this, and as such, it doesn't matter.
The only thing that matters is that the phone is ringing, and Diavolo hopes beyond hope that Doppio goes for the obvious choice - of all possible times to make a scene, this would be the worst. He breathes a non-physical sigh of relief from the back of Doppio's mind when his counterpart reaches for the device he doesn't know is called a PokeGear, and the ringing stops before anyone in this "Team Rocket" can catch the sound of a grown man imitating a phone.
"Boss?! Doppio here! I-I've been waiting for your instructions."
Alright. Here they go. Diavolo prepared a rough cover story before giving Doppio the wheel, but his underboss can be... unpredictable. Hopefully he won't have to adjust too much on the fly.
"I know, my Doppio, but I'm afraid these are very unusual circumstances. Have you read the note yet?"
"Letter? Oh no, did I miss your instructions, Boss? I'm so sorry, let me...!"
Diavolo holds back a sigh. Things are already stressful enough. Better not to give Doppio further reason to believe he's already made a mistake.
"Welcome to... what?" Doppio's eyes scan the note Diavolo has already read and mulled over, increasingly bewildered - team-mates? In the balls? - and, frankly, he needs a minute before he's ready to ask the obvious follow-up question. "Boss, have I been kidnapped??"
"Yes, you have. Most alarming of all, they nearly caught me as well."
Doppio's eyes go very wide.
"What?! How is that possible, Boss? You're untouchable! E-Even if they got the best of me, they shouldn't have been able to defeat your stand!"
"Unfortunately, King Crimson doesn't appear to be available."
"HOW?!" Doppio's voice has turned into the kind of hysterical whisper that would be nigh-inaudible if the person on the other end of the line wasn't inside his head. Diavolo may not be aware of Doppio's precise train of thought - for a moment, he was hoping this might be some kind of deliberate setup, that the Boss may have placed him here to gather info and stamp out dissidents or opponents, or whatever - but his panic is palpable regardless. "But that means... This is terrible! You can't come get me?"
"Not without King Crimson, dear Doppio." Only sort of untrue.
"Then what do we do...?!"
Doppio isn't questioning where his Boss is, how he escaped, or what happened to the people who nearly managed to capture him. Good. It should be smooth sailing from here, then.
"This is no time to panic, Doppio. I believe you can do what you have always done best."
A swell of pride fills Doppio's chest. It may not calm him down, exactly, but it reassures him nonetheless.
"I want you to gather information for me. This Team Rocket appears to be an organization with some type of hierarchy, and as I'm sure you have gleaned from their helpful letter, they want us - you - to do something for them."
"So... You want me to comply?"
"Exactly. Earn their trust, and learn of their inner workings as thoroughly as if you were their loyal agent. Once the conditions are right, this organization will go the way of all others who have opposed Passione."
Doppio beams. Of course the Boss already has a plan - he may have said it's time for Doppio to do what he does best, but this is really about the Boss doing what he does best, isn't it? Crushing the enemy and rising to the top.
"Got it! I'll do everything they tell me - oh, but you're still the one I'm really serving, Boss!"
"Naturally, dear Doppio." There is a smile in his voice. "For now, following the instructions on that note should be enough."
"Even the training, Boss?" Because he's been at this crime thing for a while, really, assuming this is a criminal organization--
"Even the training."
"Right, of course. To get a feel for how this organization works." Now he feels silly for asking. He hopes the Boss can't tell.
"That should be all for now. Get ready to leave this room, and report back to me as soon as it is safe to do so."
"Yes, I'll keep you updated, sir."
That should be that.
"Er, Boss..."
Except Doppio has that one more thing kind of cadence going on.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?"
Ah, dear sweet Doppio. Always the concerned subordinate. Diavolo couldn't ask for a better right-hand man.
"I don't mean to intrude, obviously -"
Wait. Oh no.
He's going to ask.
"- but I still don't understand exactly what your current position..."
Now Diavolo hopes beyond hope for an interruption, even if explaining who Doppio was just talking to may invite its own problems.