Rereading Battle Tendency And I'm Shocked By How Little The Fandom Discusses The Family Dynamics. Speedwagon

Rereading Battle Tendency and I'm shocked by how little the fandom discusses the family dynamics. Speedwagon and Erina have different parenting styles, and that has a huge impact on shaping who Joseph is. Joseph was raised to be a little shithead!

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From the very beginning of BT, it's established that Joseph's attitude is VERY different from Jonathan's. We're shown a flashback of Joseph's childhood.

When I first watched jjba, this scene surprised me. Joseph acts so aloof!! But now that I'm rereading it, I think Speedwagon told Joseph not to get involved beforehand. Or, as one of my followers on Bluesky mentioned, Joseph may have been acting like a brat in order to draw the robbers' attention away from Speedwagon.

Joseph snaps when the clothes Erina had given him get ruined. Joseph tells Speedwagon he'd do anything to protect them, as they're the only family he has.

From here on, Speedwagon is shown enabling Joseph's behavior. He's aware of Joseph's temper and bratty habits. But never once do we see Speedwagon scold or reprimand Joseph in any meaningful way, even when he's being reckless.

Speedwagon consistently responds in two ways. Giving Joseph a sideways glance or raising his voice...

"JoJo!" "JoJo..." "🥺" "😨"

In contrast to this... Erina is shown PHYSICALLY reprimanding Joseph when he steps out of line after he jokes about the implications of Speedwagon and Jonathan's relationship / Speedwagon and Erina's relationship (varies by translation)

However, Erina ALSO enables Joseph's behavior. But instead of Speedwagon's method of letting Joseph do whatever he wants, Erina guides Joseph on how to beat up a racist in public with STYLE. Joseph's sense of justice makes him wild & careless, so she teaches him how to stay in control while still doing the right thing.

Erina's background of an upper-class childhood, nursing career / teaching career, and her experience living as a woman in the 19th century shaped how she raised Joseph. Joseph inherited Erina's social intelligence, class, and kindness.

Speedwagon lived the majority of his life in the slums of London and was involved in organized crime. Speedwagon was also an oil tycoon. He's mastered the art of bartering. Joseph "inherited" Speedwagon's rebellious nature, street intelligence, and loyalty.

Joseph has a strong sense of justice, something ALL Joestars inherited from Jonathan.

But that sense of justice is what ultimately killed Jonathan and George. Erina and Speedwagon knew that Joseph was destined to get into trouble.

I believe that Erina and Speedwagon raised Joseph in such a way that he could survive the worst. And he did. Joseph is the only Joestar in the entire series that is shown to live into old age. He survived all that because of Erina and Speedwagon's love for him.