There are two Diego Brandos in Steel Ball Run, and both die. Our world's Diego is killed by a train in chapter 76 after dragging the President off it with him; an alternate-world Diego, brought over by the President, dies under Trinity Church in chapter 95.
Spoilers ahead: chapters 6 to 14, 28 to 31, 69 to 76, and 90 to 95. The Netflix anime adds an episode every Friday, and Diego\'s 1st Stage race is already on screen, according to the official episode page. His Stand (chapters 28 to 31) sits inside the 3rd Stage that the current batch covers. Both deaths and The World fall well past the whole batch, which is announced to cover only the 2nd and 3rd Stages per Anime News Network.
Pick your path: how he dies · does he have The World? · is he Dio? · is he evil?
Want to put yourself inside Steel Ball Run? YourCrush.AI turns this post's original character recipe, Zara Whitlock, into someone you can talk to.
How did Diego Brando die?
There are two Diegos, and both die. Our world's Diego dies in chapter 76 after pushing himself and President Valentine off a train near the Delaware River and being cut in half by its wheels. An alternate-world Diego, brought over by Valentine, is annihilated by Lucy Steel under Trinity Church in chapter 95.
Diego Brando is a British jockey in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7, Steel Ball Run, nicknamed "Dio", who is this new universe's counterpart of Dio Brando and one of Johnny and Gyro's fiercest rivals. The train and Trinity Church come from Wikipedia's volume summaries; the wheels and the chapter number come from the JoJo fan wiki, cross-checked against Wikipedia's chapter range for volume 19. The scenes below tell both halves of the Diego Brando death story in order.
Scene 1: the 1st Stage
San Diego Beach, at the start of the race told in the first half of the story. Diego is a British jockey with a reputation and a horse called Silver Bullet, per his official anime profile. By the end of the 15 km sprint he is racing Gyro Zeppeli, Sandman and Pocoloco for the line.
Spoiler: how Diego's first stage ends
Gyro crosses the line first, is penalised for using his steel balls as weapons, and Sandman is declared the 1st Stage winner (chapter 12), per Wikipedia's chapter list. Diego does not get the stage either.
In our imagining, Diego at the start, sizing up the leads: *"A cripple and a clown from Naples. Fine. Let them have the newspapers. I will have the finish line, and whatever else is out there worth taking."*
Scene 2: the left eye
The 3rd Stage, in the Rockies. The people of a village are turning into dinosaurs under the Stand of Dr. Ferdinand, Scary Monsters (chapters 28 to 31). Diego is caught in it, and he does not come out the same.
Spoiler: where Diego's Stand comes from
Diego takes the Holy Corpse's left eye and keeps the dinosaur power for himself, per Wikipedia. From now on he is a rival in the hunt for the Corpse as well as in the race.
Scene 3: Wekapipo
The 8th Stage. Diego sacrifices Wekapipo, an exiled Neapolitan royal guard who also uses the Spin, per Wikipedia.
Spoiler: what Diego does to survive in chapters 69 to 72
Diego survives by sacrificing Wekapipo, per Wikipedia's volume 18 summary.
Scene 4: the train
Near the Delaware River, Diego and Hot Pants, the nun with the Stand Cream Starter, ambush President Valentine on a moving train (chapters 73 to 76). Diego pushes himself and the President off the train, per Wikipedia's volume 19 summary. The rest of that stretch, through Love Train to the finish, is in the story of the race's final stages.
In our imagining, Diego on the train roof, a second before he jumps: *"If he walks away from this, he wins everything. So he doesn't walk away. Neither do I, apparently."*
Spoiler: how our world's Diego dies
He cannot finish Valentine off. He is cut in half by the train's wheels in chapter 76, "D4C Part 9", per the JoJo fan wiki.
How YourCrush.AI lets you race a rival who wants the win more than you do
A rival like Diego is more fun to ride against than to read about. YourCrush.AI drafts a character's description, backstory and greeting from a name and an image, so the rival below is ready to edit in a minute. YourCrush.AI keeps pinned memories, so she never forgets the wet track where you beat her. YourCrush.AI lets you branch a story, so you can play the stage where she keeps the alliance and the one where she breaks it.
No Steel Ball Run character has a chat page with us, and this is not Diego. It is an original adult rival. Paste it into the character creator.
Name (24 of 40 characters): Zara Whitlock, the Rival
Behaviour mode: natural · Category: Anime
Traits (5): Arrogant, Confident, Intelligent, Manipulative, Impulsive
Speaking style (4 words): cutting, cool, quick, mocking
Description: Zara Whitlock is 29, a horse dealer's daughter who clawed her way into professional racing in late-Victorian England. She is brilliant in the saddle and contemptuous of anyone born comfortable. She is quick, cool and cutting, and she smiles only when she has already won. She rides a dark bay mare she bought lame and trained sound herself. She keeps her word exactly as long as it pays. She treats you as the rival she has decided to beat in the next long-distance race, and she respects you more than she will ever say.
Backstory: Two seasons ago you beat Zara once, on a wet track, by a nose, and she has not forgiven it. Now you are both entered in a long-distance race with a marsh stage that nobody crosses alone. She came to your stable the night before the start and offered an alliance through the marsh. You accepted. You both know she will break it the moment it suits her, and she knows you know.
Greeting: *Zara reins in beside you at the start and does not bother to smile.* "Still riding that old mare? Brave. Here is my offer: we ride together through the marsh stage, because nobody crosses it alone. After that, I win. You can thank me for the company when you finish second."
Who kills the alternate Diego?
Lucy Steel kills the alternate Diego in chapter 95 by making him merge with the severed head of our world's Diego, in the vault under Trinity Church where he has sealed the Corpse. It happens after he has already crossed the finish line first.
Scene 5: the other Diego
The President is dead, and the Corpse separates from Lucy. Then a man who should not exist here steals it: another Diego Brando, from another world, brought over by Valentine before he died. How Valentine's story ends is its own post.
Spoiler: the Diego who has The World
This Diego wields The World, a Stand that stops time for about five seconds (chapters 90 to 91, "High Voltage"), per Wikipedia. He turns Johnny's infinite rotation back on Johnny and crosses the finish line first (chapters 92 to 94).
In our imagining, the alternate Diego at the line: *"First. Write it down. In my world they would already be carving it in stone."*
Scene 6: Trinity Church
He takes the Corpse to a vault under Trinity Church in Manhattan and seals it there.
Spoiler: how the alternate Diego dies
Lucy annihilates him by making him merge with the severed head of our world's Diego (chapter 95), per Wikipedia. Separately, he is disqualified for failing to appear at the post-race ceremonies, so Pocoloco is awarded first place.
Our reading, marked as ours: the Diego who wins the race is the one from another world, and he loses the win by never showing up to collect it.
Does Diego Brando have the Stand called The World?
Not the Diego from our world. His Stand is Scary Monsters, the dinosaur power he picks up by taking the Corpse's left eye. The World belongs to the alternate-world Diego, and it stops time for about five seconds.
Two Diegos, one Stand each, per Wikipedia. Whether the alternate Diego could also use Scary Monsters is something the source never settles, so I won't guess.
Is Diego Brando the same person as Dio?
Diego isn't Dio himself. He's this universe's version of him: a British racer nicknamed "Dio" and Dio Brando's counterpart. Steel Ball Run opens a new continuity, so nobody from Parts 1 through 6 carries over. Only the names survive, along with a handful of Stands.
Wikipedia describes the new universe as "not related to the first six parts in any way beyond references to the names of some of its characters and a scant few recycled Stands". Diego is one of those names. The World, carried by the alternate Diego, is one of those Stands.
Is Diego Brando evil?
Diego is a ruthless rival, not the story's main villain. That role belongs to President Valentine. Diego survives one fight by sacrificing Wekapipo, then ambushes Valentine on the train and dies trying to stop him.
Valentine built the race to gather the Corpse, and Araki located his evil in how he exploits powerless people, per Wikipedia. Diego never claims a cause. He takes the eye because it is power, spends Wekapipo's life because it saves his own, and goes after the President because the President has what he wants.
Our view: that makes Diego the more honest of the two. He is selfish all the way down and never pretends otherwise, and the one time his ambition points at the real threat, it kills him. The alternate Diego is the colder copy, the last obstacle in the race and a thief to the end.
How old is Diego Brando?
Diego Brando is 20 during the Steel Ball Run by most accounts. That figure comes from the JoJo fan wiki's reading of chapter 64. No official age appears in the sources this post uses.
The fan wiki's Diego page is where the 20 comes from. Beyond that, no source we trust gives an age or a height for either Diego, so we print none for the alternate one.
Frequently asked questions
What is Scary Monsters?
Scary Monsters is a dinosaur Stand that Dr. Ferdinand uses first. Diego ends up with it after he takes the Corpse's left eye, per Wikipedia.
Who voices Diego Brando in the anime?
Kaito Ishikawa voices Diego, per Anime News Network.
Does Diego Brando win the Steel Ball Run?
No. The alternate Diego crosses the finish line first, but he's disqualified for skipping the post-race ceremonies, which hands the win to Pocoloco, per Wikipedia.
Who is Wekapipo?
Wekapipo is an exiled Neapolitan royal guard who fights with the Spin and the Stand Magent Magent, per Wikipedia.
Is Diego Brando in the anime yet?
Yes. Diego races as a 1st Stage rival in the episodes released so far, per Wikipedia's anime entry. His Stand and both of his deaths come later than anything that has aired.
What is Diego Brando's horse called?
His horse is Silver Bullet, per his official anime profile.
More from Steel Ball Run
- Read the full story: When does Steel Ball Run take place? JoJo Part 7's story from the start line to Gettysburg
- Steel Ball Run anime: Netflix schedule and where to start
- How did Johnny Joestar die? Who shot him, how old he is, and whether he walks again
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