Noriaki Kakyoin (花京院典明 Kakyōin Noriaki) is the deuteragonist in Stardust Crusaders and a Japanese student who was brainwashed by DIO during an earlier trip to Egypt and is sent to kill Jotaro Kujo. After being freed from DIO’s influence, he decides to join Jotaro on his quest to Egypt to save Jotaro’s mother and find redemption.
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Appearance:
Kakyoin is a young man of average to above-average height and fit to slender build. His primary outfit is a proper, trench coat-length, green gakuran/tsume-eriW with gold accents and dress shoes typical for Japanese high schoolers. He is also shown wearing striped pajamas during his initial encounter with Death Thirteen. In the anime, he wears the pajamas when admitted to the hospital, along with bandages wrapped around his eyes. After he rejoins the rest of the group, he wears black sunglasses over his twin scars. He is always seen wearing cherry earrings.
Kakyoin keeps his red hair styled fluffed up in the back and longer around the nape of his neck, characterized by a large, twisting bang hanging to the side of his face. Strangely, the side the bang hangs at is inconsistent, changing depending on the way he’s facing.
He is attractive and has captured the attention of several women. Some of Jotaro’s own admirers commented on his appearance, and during the Tower of Gray encounter, he swooned two female stewardesses. He is also referred to as beautiful upon arriving in India by a man trying to sell him a tattoo.
Later, Kakyoin acquires two thin scars vertically crossing both eyes; which he often hides with a pair of dark sunglasses.
In his character cover for Jojonium, he is seen with light pink hair and a black uniform.
Stand:
- Main article: Hierophant Green
Kakyoin’s long-range humanoid Stand is Hierophant Green; able to extend tentacle-like limbs or unravel to a modest extent; as well as fire a barrage of hard projectiles (an “Emerald Splash”). He is often seen shouting his signature attack (like the Emerald Splash) in fights.
Stand Mastery:
Kakyoin is, due to a lifetime of possessing Hierophant Green, quite proficient at using it. Although it is mostly seen as a humanoid, Kakyoin states that its true form is that of a bunch of strings; as such one of his key tactics is to secretly unravel Hierophant Green’s tentacles while keeping the main body as a distraction. Thanks to that, Kakyoin can avoid attacks by unraveling his Stand, use the strings as piercing weapons or ropes, and reach for things in the distance. It also gives him a distance advantage, being able to attack from far away with a flurry of sharp emerald shards.
Possession:
Kakyoin is capable of possessing living entities, seen with the school nurse and Death 13, by having his Stand’s tentacles enter through a bodily orphus.
Personal:
Intelligence
Kakyoin is the most quick-thinking of the group, being able to devise extensive strategies and plans on the spot, such as during with his fight with Death Thirteen, where he hid Hierophant Green for future use while in the process of being knocked unconscious, and tricking his way out of a hoard of greedy beggars with a single coin. He is brilliant at analyzing, piecing together the ability of DIO’s stand while dying. He is also well informed on the behaviour of different cultures, explaining to Jotaro on how to order tea and thank the wait staff in Hong Kong.
Video Games:
Kakyoin is shown to be excellent at video games, displaying confidence in his match with D’Arby and planning out a sequence of in-game attacks whilst playing.
Martial Arts:
Kakyoin appears to be rather proficient at martial arts. During his fight against Tower of Gray, Kakyoin knocks out the Stand’s User, shouting “Atemi!”. This is a reference to the Japanese art of Atemi, which targets points of weakness in the human anatomy. This may be why he is of such an athletic build.
Painting:
Kakyoin is shown to be capable of painting in his introduction, albeit in a semi-abstract style. He paints a picture of Jotaro before slicing his leg with his Stand by drawing a red mark on the canvas. He is not seen using this ability again.
Marionette Puppetry:
Kakyoin is able to manipulate marionette dolls well, using it as a controller for his potential vessel, like the nurse that attacked Jotaro. He is not seen using this ability again.