Stardust Crusaders (Japanese: スターダストクルセイダース, Hepburn: Sutādasuto Kuruseidāsu) is the third story arc of the manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki.

The story is set long after the events of Battle Tendency and follows Joseph Joestar's grandson Jotaro Kujo, a Japanese high school delinquent who awakens Star Platinum, a guardian spirit known as a Stand with superhuman abilities.

Alongside his grandfather and other Stand-users, they are tasked to go on a journey to Cairo, Egypt, in order to defeat Dio, who is revealed to be alive and is seeking revenge on the Joestar family.

An anime television adaptation by David Production, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, aired in Japan between April 2014 and June 2015.

In Japan, 1987,[b] Jotaro Kujo, grandson of Joseph Joestar, has been arrested, and refuses to leave his cell, believing he is possessed by an evil spirit.

Polnareff floods the room with light, disintegrating Vanilla Ice and avenging his friends whose spirits peacefully head to Heaven.

Though fatally wounded by The World, Kakyoin manages to deduce the Stand's ability to stop time for five seconds and covertly relays it to Joseph in his final moments.

But he did not want it to be a tournament affair, which was popular in Weekly Shōnen Jump at the time, and therefore decided to make it a "road movie" inspired by Around the World in Eighty Days.

Although the author said the character might seem "rough" compared to other Jump protagonists, Jotaro fits his own image of a hero perfectly as a "loner" who does not do the right thing for attention.

Araki said the character wearing his school uniform in the desert has its roots in Mitsuteru Yokoyama's Babel II, and that if he were to draw the part over again, he would base the Stands on Tetsujin 28-go.

When creating them he often takes inspiration from artifacts such as clothing, masks, and dolls by indigenous peoples, which when fused with something biological or mechanical, makes for a very unique design.

Although he is not a fan of bringing them back simply for nostalgia, he did not hesitate having Joseph return from Battle Tendency to save his daughter because it is completely true to the character.

In hindsight, Araki felt he probably should have given Avdol a section where he played a more primary role, but also believes that he would not have ranked well in a character popularity poll, as the readers only wanted more fights featuring Jotaro.

Araki also said that Avdol's Stand was difficult to draw as controlling fire is a common thing in manga and film, and if you "play it too loose" it can break the power balance.

Although they both wear school uniforms, Kakyoin's well-tailored one gives him the feel of an honor student, while Jotaro's loose-fitting one and accessories convey that he is a delinquent.

[13] In order to not have him overlap with Jotaro and Joseph, Polnareff was given a distinctive look and personality, which in turn made him shine on his own, with his lines standing out "for better or for worse".

The character's name was inspired by those of Araki's three favorite French people, actors Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo, and musician Michel Polnareff.

[14] With the series meant to be long-running, Araki took great care in deciding which unique Stand user to put the main cast against and when, in order to keep readers interested.

Although he drew a color illustration with Hol Horse alongside the Joestar group and had the character return several times through the story, he suspects he did not go through with it because his personality overlaps with Polnareff's.

He described The Fool as representing his ideal design for a Stand; starting with a dog, then adding a Native American mask, and then the tires of a car.

This English volume 1 included a recap of Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency in order to clarify story points for Western readers.

English volume 7 features redrawn artwork in the final chapter of the "Death 13" story arc in order to remove scenes of human feces.

From 1992 to 1993, Stardust Crusaders was adapted into the three-volume audio drama JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, subtitled Jotaro Kujo's Visitation,[ak] The Death of Avdol,[al] and Dio's World.

Super Techno Arts produced a North American English dub version of all 13 episodes in chronological order as a six-volume DVD series.

An anime television adaptation of the series, titled JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, was produced by David Production and aired in Japan between April 2014 and June 2015.

[92] In addition to the second season of the anime, a mobile app game titled JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Shooters was also released.

The international version this time retained the manga's actual full title of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, dropping the Heritage for the Future subtitle.

In May 2008, both Shueisha and Studio APPP halted manga/OVA shipments of JoJo after a complaint had been launched against them by a group of online Muslim protestors after a scene from one of the OVA's episodes features Dio reading a book depicting pages from the Qur'an.

[97] She initially called the replacement of Hamon with Stands both understandable and a bit of a disappointment, since the "insane physical abilities and contortions" caused by the former were a large source of the fun in the first two parts.