Stand

A stand is a visual manifestation of life energy and a entity psychically generated by its owner, referred to as a Stand User. It generally presents itself as a figure hovering over or near the user and possesses abilities beyond that of an ordinary human, which, depending on the Stand User, can be wielded for good or evil.

Definition
Stands are defined as personifications of "life energy" or "spiritual energy" whose abilities are given visual form. The name "Stand" comes from the fact they usually manifest standing next to the User: ready to act.



A Stand can also represent the manifestation of an individual's innate "fighting spirit" and embodies, to an extent, the individual's psyche. However, Stands may also derive through the exploration of possibilities and expression of the mind, in which case, only a large amount of mental strength is required. Beyond that definition, Stands present themselves in a large variety of forms and with different behaviors, if they are sentient at all. They follow a loose set of rules, with no definite standard by which one can fully classify them. As an embodiment of someone's psyche, Stands are therefore as varied as human minds can be.

Due to their diversity, Stands are not made equal. Some can be incredibly powerful due to their User's outstanding grit, others can be highly situational because of a defining quirk of character, or even detrimental to their User if they do not have the necessary fighting spirit. Naming of Stands is different from person to person, some are named after Tarot Cards or Ancient Egyptian Deities, with their designs often featuring motifs of those cards or mythological figures. Most Stands on the other hand are references to musicians, bands, albums, and songs.

Stands are connected to an alien virus contained in the rock of a meteorite that fell in Cape York, Greenland. It is explained that the virus can infect people and for the most part kills them, but the few who survive are granted a Stand ability.

Stand Users
The Stand is created from someone's psyche, which includes not only humans but also other living creatures. That individual is referred to as the Stand User. The User then gives their Stand a name and uses it for various purposes.



Unless bound to a specific object or automatic, Stands are attached to their User's body. In that case, any damage the Stand sustains results in an equivalent injury on the User's body and vice-versa. Exceptions to this rule include automatic Stands and bound Stands, which usually do not reflect the damage into the User, or special abilities like Silver Chariot's armor.

Except for rare occasions, when a Stand User dies, their Stand disappears with them. If a Stand suffers so much damage they are destroyed, the User dies as well. This includes immortal beings, like Vampires. However, a User can survive with their Stand destroyed if the Stand is automatic or depending on the level of the User's injury. Inversely, some Stands can survive beyond their Users through exceptional abilities like Notorious B.I.G.

Since a Stand is the form of its User's psyche, they share an intimate psychic bond. First and foremost, Stands usually obey their Users' command without question. If a User demands it, the Stand will perform any task within its capacities, which includes attacking someone, defending the User, or any miscellaneous order. In the case a Stand is sentient, they can occasionally advise their User that an order is unwise but will carry it on all the same. Stands are also shown to protect their users in certain instances, such as when a Stand User tries to shoot themself, or one that tries to commit suicide.



However, there are instances when a Stand cannot be controlled by the User. It can be either automatic like Super Fly or the User can acquire a Stand but not have the fighting spirit to control it. In both cases, a Stand can accidentally work against its user's interests through their unsupervised power. However, specifically in the second case, a Stand can go out of control and slowly kill its User like a disease. The User becomes ill, then falls into a coma only to never wake up again; moreover, such occurrences are common enough that some claim having witnessed many people succumbing to this.

One of the defining rules about Stands is that someone may only have one Stand (at a time). Although Stands may take different forms, or be split into several entities, no one is able to summon several Stands at once. Although exceptional circumstances may lead to someone wielding several Stands, only one will be the User's real Stand. A Stand generally remains attached to its User, but it can sometimes change Users. For instance, it can be stolen from its original User, or if the Stand's ability involves changing User. Thanks to Whitesnake's DISCs, a Stand can change Users but will act to protect its new User instead. Others Stands, like Anubis or Cheap Trick, will actively try to change Users, and their malevolent nature makes them harm their Users instead of protecting them.

Occasionally, a Stand can utter a Stand Cry, shouting repeatedly while delivering a beatdown or displaying it's ability.

Appearance


Stands present themselves in a wide variety of forms. Some adopt a humanoid form, others, the appearance of an object or a tool. These Stands all share an inability to be viewed by ordinary humans, unless bound to physical objects. In addition, some Stands can simply be devoid of appearance, simply manifesting themselves as a special power. Stand users and/or Stands may emit Stand aura which varies in color depending on the user.

Stands can be divided into 5 trends based on their appearance. Most of the Stands have features from two or more categories.



A Stand's appearance is not set in stone. Stands change appearance as their Users age. As seen with Silver Chariot or Speed King, young Stand Users have typically childlike Stands and when they become adults, the Stands' features also become adult-like. A special category of Stands that can evolve into different forms or ACTs, is also able to change form and therefore appearance. Finally, a Stand pierced by the Arrow can evolve into a brand new form called a Requiem Stand.

When a Stand is injured, they may either bleed like an organic being or crumble into small pieces like a statue.

Behavior
Most Stands display no personality, sometimes because they do not have a form with which to emote, but the majority of humanoid Stands simply hover behind and above the user awaiting a command. Some Stands display bits of personalities through facial expressions, but it is ambiguous whether the emotions come from the Stand or simply reflect the User's state of mind.

For unknown reasons, a handful of Stands do have a separate consciousness from their Users. They are sentient and can converse with their Users whenever they are summoned. Although they display a variety of personalities, most still obey their Users to the letter. Examples of such Stands include Echoes Act 3, Spice Girl, and Whitesnake. Rarely, these Stands are uncontrollable and have no true master, and instead, move from host to host and actively seek to harm their "user" with their powers. Anubis and Cheap Trick are examples of such Stands.

Abilities
Each Stand possesses supernatural properties as well as a special, unique power, indirectly granting its User superhuman abilities:




 * In general, a Stand is invisible to normal humans, yet can interact with normal objects. It allows the User to use their Stand unnoticed by a large majority of the population. The mundane use of a Stand has been likened to a poltergeist phenomenon by normal people. Even a Stand's power is invisible for ordinary humans; for instance, normal people cannot see Magician's Red's flames but can feel its heat.
 * A Stand is invulnerable to any harm except against another Stand or if their Stand User is harmed.
 * Stands possess intangibility. It is uncommon but not unheard of for Stand Users to channel their Stands inside their bodies to protect themselves, using their Stand's superhuman durability to their advantage. It is even more uncommon for Stands to phase through objects, but the possibility exists. The only stands, however, to do so were Star Platinum, Diver Down, and Whitesnake.
 * As psychic projections, Users can also communicate through their Stands. Barring rare exceptions, a Stand User typically shares their consciousness with their Stand and is able to see through its eyes. Moreover, a Stand User can also speak through their Stand, enabling a form of distant communication. However, the Stand must have a mouth or otherwise be able to speak to do so. Notable examples include Star Platinum, Death Thirteen, Red Hot Chili Pepper, Highway Star and King Crimson. Gold Experience Requiem, however, is able to do the same but only when its ability is used.
 * Users possess the ability to shrink their Stands to a microscopic level, but it is indicated that it is difficult to manipulate the Stand at such a subtle level and that it was taxing to maintain the small size, making that property impractical in most cases.
 * Stand users are able to see ghosts, due to the fact that their Stands are ghosts as well.

Stand Power
Each Stand possesses an esoteric and unique power that defines it and sets it apart from other Stands.



A Stand's power can wildly vary between Stands. The nature of the power can range from relatively mundane powers such as using a sword or controlling flames to extremely powerful ones such as the ability to manipulate the flow of time. These powers have many different subtleties, such as a limited range or a special way of manifesting themselves, that can be exploited during a fight. For instance, Sticky Fingers can create zippers on any surface, but it has to hit an object with its hand to be able to create them. It is up to the User to know how to protect themselves or use their enemy's weakness to their advantage.

The User is sometimes immune, or protected to a degree against the power of their Stand. For instance, The Grateful Dead's User can stay young despite his ability aging everyone around it. However, the reverse is just as widespread, Purple Haze's virus, and Magician's Red's flames are stated to be just as vulnerable.

In rare cases, Stands can have the same abilities. Usually siblings can roughly have the same power. Two rats have also been seen having the same stand.

Barring rare exceptions, if the Stand is destroyed or the User is knocked out, the Stand's power immediately disappears and any ability related modification/modifications to the environment due to it's power is reversed.

Each Stand is unique, but many share enough characteristics that they may be grouped under specific Stand Types. Very uncommon special stands may appear in the story from time to time due to exceptional circumstances.

Firing Range
One of the most important features of a Stand is its range. Stands in principle can only be used within a predetermined range centering around the Stand's owner. As such, for the sake of convenience, the range that a Stand can perform abilities is referred to as "Firing Range." A Stand's range and power are inversely proportional; the further the Stand moves away from its firing range, the weaker and less subtle it becomes. This principle is applied to almost all Stands. Furthermore, this can be construed more specifically as "effective firing range", as a Stand will only gradually lose effectiveness the further it deviates from its firing range, rather than just relinquish immediately. The Stand range is effectively just the range where it can optimally perform.

From a general point of view, all Stands can be roughly divided into two types: "Short distance", and "long distance". As a trend, short-range types display great power, many of which excel at direct blows or destruction (Star Platinum, Killer Queen, Sticky Fingers, etc.), and are often referred to as "Power Types". Long-range types typically have a special ability that can let them indirectly attack. (Lovers, Echoes Act 1, Talking Head, etc.)

Some long-distance types are referred to as "Auto Pilot", in which the "power vs distance from user" principle does not apply (Sheer Heart Attack, Black Sabbath). This is exactly what is touched upon in the third Stand theorem, in that autopilot types are typically an extension of an "effect" that results in a Stand triggering. As such, these Stands are independent of the Stand User's will and mental strength, and their power does not drop as a result. As a related note, certain Stand abilities do not have specified ranges (Earth Wind and Fire), an example being time-based powers, such as The World or King Crimson.

Stand Parameters
Stand Parameters, or Stand Statistics are six statistics used outside of the story to gauge a Stand's capabilities. They are in order (clockwise from top): Destructive Power, Speed, Range, Persistence, Precision, and Developmental Potential. Each statistic is ranked from A to E; though rankings of None and Infinite are also possible. If a rank is Unknown, it will show a question mark (?); this is usually because the Stand or its full capabilities have not yet been revealed in the storyline, such as with Gold Experience Requiem. Rankings are defined as follows:
 * A: Excellent
 * B: Good
 * C: Comparable to a Human
 * D: Weak
 * E: Very Weak