CHARACTER PROFILE
Nena
- Primary work
- Stardust Crusaders
Other recorded work links
Nena (ネーナ, Nēna) is a secondary antagonist featured in the third part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Stardust Crusaders, specifically the " Empress " story arc.
She first appears in India alongside Hol Horse and tries to assassinate Joseph Joestar while passing as an ordinary woman. She is a Stand user who uses Empress.
Image attribution details
Nena. Source illustration via JoJoWiki; copyright remains with the original rights holders.
Image via JoJoWiki. Original franchise/production rights holders retain copyright; the wiki text CC BY-SA license does not license this image.
Original image ↗ · Archived image ↗01Basic information
02Appearance
Nena wears the disguise of a 16-year-old Indian girl in typical Indian attire. Underneath it, Nena is really a short, ugly, and overweight woman wearing a bikini. Nena also possesses a bud on her tongue.↗↗
Disguised, Nena has a bindi on her forehead and wears an ankle-length, sleeveless dress and a headscarf, along with plenty of jewelry such as a pair of looped earrings and a bead necklace.↗
03Personality
Nena is a devious servant of DIO. Not much is known about Nena but most of the things she's seen doing indicate a twisted personality. She is an assassin at DIO's service and Enya the Hag notes that her Empress 's specialty is to slowly kill her victims. Nena also hides her true form by assimilating the skin of another, prettier woman with her Stand and uses her good looks to trick her targets into thinking she's an innocent woman and approach them to plant Empress in them. Nena also keeps this habit in presence of potential allies.↗↗↗
She's initially introduced as a young Indian girl pretending to be in love with Hol Horse to the point of wanting marriage. She uses her "relationship" with him as a means to infiltrate the Joestar Group and later charms Polnareff as a distraction while trying to assassinate Joseph Joestar.↗↗↗↗
In the OVA, her role as a villain was cut. Instead, Nena truly is a young, naive girl who fell for Hol Horse. She yearns to marry him, and is heartbroken by his rejection. Hol Horse comments that a girl like her is useful, loyal to the point that she would sacrifice her safety for him.↗
04Abilities
Stand
Empress is a long-distance parasitic Stand that grows from a victim's flesh after contact with Nena's blood. It feeds on external resources relative to its rapidly growing size, while actively trying to harm its host in increasingly dangerous ways.↗
05Story
SPOILERS
Background
Nena is a Stand User hired by DIO to intercept and kill the Joestar group. She used her Stand Empress to kill a beautiful young woman and wore her skin to hide her true form. She accompanies Hol Horse using this disguise, pretending to be a naive girl who fell for his charm. According to Hol Horse and Polnareff, Nena comes from a noble family in Benares, though it is unclear if this status is from the young woman she killed or completely fabricated.↗↗↗
Stardust Crusaders (1988)
Nena is initially portrayed as an ally and lover of Hol Horse. She arrives with him to Calcutta's outskirts on the back of an elephant. She shows interest in marrying him but he denies her marriage offer claiming he is a traveler destined to die on the street and couldn't stay with her even though they loved each other. He later reveals to J. Geil that he is with her just because she could be useful in the future, potentially sacrificing her life for him.↗↗
Following the events of the Emperor and Hanged Man story arc, Nena reappears to aid Hol Horse when he is cornered by the Joestar Group. Just as Polnareff is about to strike, she intervenes by grabbing hold of his leg, allowing Hol Horse to escape on horseback. Despite her efforts, Polnareff continues to move forward, injuring Nena's arm in the process as he drags her along. Joseph eventually steps in to treat her wound and urges Polnareff to abandon the chase.↗↗↗
Nena accompanies the group on a bus to the city of Benares, remaining close to Polnareff while he attempts to dissuade her from her attachment to Hol Horse, whom he describes as manipulative. Meanwhile, Joseph’s infection worsens as the wart on his arm slowly transforms into a face. After killing a doctor attempting to remove it, the face reveals itself to be the Empress Stand.↗
During the chaotic battle, Nena uses Empress to consume everything in its path, including live animals, growing larger and more menacing as Nena continues to mock Joseph and threaten his life. The Stand eventually reaches a size capable of physically striking Joseph, forcing him to haphazardly defend against it whilst running through the streets of Benares. He runs past Polnareff and Nena again, but she fakes being in love with Polnareff to distract him once more.↗↗
Joseph ultimately outsmarts Nena by using the struggle to locate a barrel of coal tar and dunks his arm along with her Stand into it. Nena mocks Joseph for thinking he could suffocate her Stand, but soon realizes that the tar was meant to solidify Empress, allowing Joseph to destroy it with Hermit Purple. Nena's involvement is revealed soon after when Polnareff, unaware of her true nature, attempts to kiss her.↗↗
OVA
When Hol Horse is traveling through India to confront the Joestar Group, Nena suddenly appears to confess his affection for him. She yearns to marry him, however Hol Horse doesn't reciprocate completely, as the life he leads is unfitting for a girl from an aristocratic family. He comforts Nena by explaining that he can't marry her because he loves her too much. Nena accepts the reality, and returns back to her home.↗
Nena later appears when Hol Horse is surrounded by the Joestar group, and when Polnareff unleashes Silver Chariot, she tugs on his leg and gives Hol Horse the opportunity to escape.↗
07Appearances
08Relationships
| Character | Relationship | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hol Horse | Lover | ↗↗ |
09Sources & attribution
- Nena
Source text: JoJoWiki and its contributors. This entry has been reorganized and condensed for readability under CC BY-SA 4.0. Archived records reflect their capture dates. Referenced manga, anime, and artwork retain their respective copyrights.
Source bibliography (9)
- Chapter 141: Emperor and Hanged Man, Part 2 Open ↗
- Chapter 147: Empress, Part 2 P.5. Open ↗
- Chapter 149: Empress, Part 4 P.19. Open ↗
- JOJO A-GO!GO!: STANDS - EMPRESS, p.25 Open ↗
- Chapter 141: Emperor and Hanged Man, Part 2 P.10. Open ↗
- Chapter 148: Empress, Part 3 Open ↗
- Chapter 147: Empress, Part 2 Open ↗
- Chapter 146: Empress, Part 1 Open ↗
- Chapter 149: Empress, Part 4 Open ↗
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