Lore of Stand Powers

**Stands are one of the main character abilities in Jojovein. Below you will find various details on the lore of stands in the Jojovein universe.**

**(Note: all entries are taken from the in-game Jojovein compendium. Also, some details require context from server gameplay.)**

## Growth and Distribution

It is rare to find a solar system that produces the virus.  Wealthy empires and organizations pay planets in those systems to farm the asteroids so they can mass produce tools to cultivate stand users, be it for militaristic purposes or for generalized utility. The meteorites have been fashioned into needles, spears, arrows, and even pills.  Ultimately, the design settled upon was liquified injections. This methodology minimizes risk of accidents and is unable of producing dangerous requiem stands. There exists a faraway planet by the name of Aschelot which holds a famous blacksmith capable of fashioning special arrows to draw out even more latent stand power.

## Practical Application

The Space Defense Association has classified Stand Power as "Ghost CQC". The vast differences between stands means that a stand user exists to deal with most situations. However, as stands are specialized to a fault, they are not able to be used consistently, and thus are usually less preferable to CQC with broader application. The damage reflection of a stand can also be a liability. However, overall, the vast versatility of stands and ability to enhance stands with Moonwalk makes the art quite formidable.

## Requiem Stands

Requiem is a stand energy that can dominate living souls, evolving out of a stand pierced by the arrow. Every stand uses this energy differently. A requiem stand is not just evolved in terms of power, but it is also an evolved lifeform. It comes alive with its own will, so self-harmony is necessary if the user wishes to be obeyed. If the stand user is mentally or physically weak, a requiem stand may go out of control. This is largely because their base stands are born out of a user's psyche reflecting the strength of their body, so they can evolve in a defective way.

## Rogue Stands

A rogue stand is a stand without a user, an independent organism. Rogue stands often appear in areas where meteoric debris infected nearby life. Most are only visible to stand users. Bizarrely, rogue stands do not seem to appear from the living organisms themselves. Perhaps they slipped in from another dimensional plane, the domain stand users can sense.

## Stand Virus

The stand virus originated from outer space. Unlike normal viruses, the stand virus is spiritual in composition, and will violently attack living souls, attempting to kill them. Only those with a strong fighting spirit can fight off the virus- their soul responds to the attack by manifesting its will to fight back. To clarify, the virus itself does not create stands. It simply forces one to activate the unrealized potential of one's own soul. Should stands be assaulted by the virus, their own auotomous will is realized, and they evolve into sentient beings capable of manipulating living souls (initially for the purpose of killing the virus) using requiem energy. Perhaps counterintuitively, it is attracted to powerful souls like a magnet. The stand virus on Earth came from a meteor.  Meteors are formed from asteroids, celestial objects created during the birth of a solar system. Thus, it is to be believed that the birth of solar system leaves some residual spiritual energy on the asteroids, which can by chance lead to spirit-born viruses, lying dormant within these meteors.

## Stands and Their Users

A stand is a spiritual ability to project an individual's mind into the material world. The contents of one's beliefs, thoughts, ideas, and desires vary vastly. Thus, stands manifest differently in almost every organism. Due to Stand Attraction, Gemini Phenomenon, and Familial Linking, it is generally believed that stand power is tied to fate itself. People with stands are known as stand users, and only stand users can see stands. Thus stand users are revered as spiritually "awakened" or "enlightened", possibly existing on a higher spiritual plane. Even though stands are all very different in application, there are common trends, such as whether a stand is controlled manually or automatically, or the tie to life energy that reflects damage.

*If you find any errors in this page, please report them to the "help-and-questions" channel on the official JoJovein Discord server.*