Everything to know about Scary Monsters in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

Few Stands in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure embody their user’s personality as perfectly as Scary Monsters does for Diego Brando in Steel Ball Run. A power that literally transforms people into dinosaurs, it is both terrifying and awe-inspiring, an ability that pushes Diego from a cunning jockey to one of the series’ most dangerous antagonists.

While Funny Valentine may be the final boss of Steel Ball Run, Diego’s Scary Monsters make him one of the most unpredictable and relentless foes Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli face.

Scary Monsters wasn’t originally Diego’s Stand. Its first user was Dr. Ferdinand, a minor but threatening antagonist working under President Funny Valentine. Ferdinand wielded the power to infect and transform living creatures into dinosaurs, controlling them as an army. This made him extremely dangerous, as a single scratch or bite could spread the transformation like a plague.

However, Ferdinand’s downfall came during the Steel Ball Run race when he clashed with Gyro and Johnny. Once defeated, his Stand should have disappeared, but this is where things took an unexpected turn.

In JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Diego, already one of the strongest jockeys in the race and a cunning rival, managed to obtain the Saint’s Left Eye, a holy relic that merged Ferdinand’s Stand with his own body.

From that point on, Diego in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure didn’t just inherit Scary Monsters. He made it his own, refining its powers far beyond what Ferdinand could ever achieve. In many ways, Araki uses this moment to showcase Diego’s resilience and adaptability, traits that echo the classic Dio Brando while still carving out his uniqueness in the JoJo multiverse.

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Abilities of Scary Monsters in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

Araki crafts Scary Monsters in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure with a wide range of abilities, making it versatile both offensively and defensively.

1. Dinosaur Infection

The Stand’s primary ability is a contagious “virus” that transforms living beings into dinosaurs. A scratch, bite, or even brief contact with Diego can spread the infection, forcing the victim to mutate into a prehistoric creature. Once infected, they fall under Diego’s control, effectively turning them into soldiers in his personal army.

This power has nearly unlimited scale. Diego can infect an entire village, small animals like birds and rats, or even his own horse. In one iconic moment, he transforms fleas into miniature dinosaurs, weaponizing them against his enemies.

2. Dinosaur Morph

Diego’s personal use of Scary Monsters allows him to become a dinosaur-human hybrid. This grants him enhanced stamina, reflexes, and agility, rivaling even Johnny’s Tusk and Gyro’s Steel Balls. His vision also shifts; he perceives movement with heightened clarity, allowing him to counter fast-moving attacks. However, this makes him vulnerable to slower, more deliberate strikes.

As a hybrid, Diego is also capable of directly damaging other Stands in close combat, something rare among Stand users who usually rely on projected entities.

3. Fossilization

Later, Diego unveils a chilling ability: fossilization. He can petrify those he has transformed, fusing them into stone-like states embedded in their surroundings. This can serve as camouflage, immobilization, or even grotesque decoration, as seen when Diego creates dinosaur-shaped candle holders.

This ability expands his control over life and death, reinforcing the monstrous and unnatural nature of his Stand.

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Symbolism of Scary Monsters

Araki rarely gives characters random Stands in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. With Diego, the symbolism is layered:

• Predation and Survival – Dinosaurs represent the apex of natural selection. Diego’s life philosophy mirrors this, as he vows to always be on top, never prey.
• Regression vs. Evolution – While dinosaurs are an ancient species, Diego uses them as a way to advance himself in the race, suggesting that regression to primal instincts can sometimes fuel progress.
• Control and Domination – Just as Ferdinand controlled hordes of dinosaurs, Diego manipulates people and situations. His Stand becomes a metaphor for his manipulative nature.

The title itself, Scary Monsters, alludes not just to dinosaurs but to Diego himself. He is the true “scary monster,” a man whose ambition and cruelty have consumed his humanity.

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Scary Monsters in battle

Throughout Steel Ball Run, Scary Monsters establishes Diego as a constant threat. His dinosaur infection spreads chaos, forcing Gyro and Johnny to adapt quickly. By turning the battlefield into his domain, Diego creates overwhelming pressure, especially when backed by his tactical intelligence.

Unlike the brash Dio Brando of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood, Diego is calculating. He doesn’t waste power. Every transformation, every infection, and every betrayal is part of a larger plan to secure victory in the Steel Ball Run and, ultimately, dominance over all rivals, including Funny Valentine.

It’s telling that Valentine himself, the most powerful villain in JoJo history, acknowledges Diego’s worth by selecting an alternate version of him as a contingency plan. Few characters in the franchise receive such validation, cementing Diego’s role as one of Araki’s most formidable antagonists.

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Final thoughts

Scary Monsters in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is more than just a Stand; it’s a character-defining force that transforms Diego Brando into a legend within JoJo’s Bizarre Universe. From its origins under Dr. Ferdinand to its evolution under Diego, the Stand embodies ambition, primal dominance, and terror.

In many ways, Diego in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure represents the “what if” of Dio Brando: a man not born into privilege, but one who clawed his way out of despair and chose ruthlessness as his weapon. Scary Monsters gives physical form to that philosophy, turning him into a literal apex predator.