ALRIGHT IT’S JOJO GIRLS WEEK BUT I’M IN THE MIDDLE OF RENFAIRE/CON CRUNCH SEASON SO I DON’T HAVE TIME TO ACTUALLY MAKE ANYTHING SO INSTEAD LET ME TELL YOU A THING ABOUT THE QUEEN OF BADASSERY, ERINA PENDLETON.
I am strongly of the opinion that Erina is the toughest character in the entirety of Jojo. Here’s why.
First, let’s start off with her childhood. Erina was born in the late 19th century, not exactly the most woman-friendly period ever. When she was about 12 years old- 12!- she was approached, alone, by Dio and two of his groupies. Let me repeat that: A young girl, by herself, approached by three boys with clearly malicious intent. Pretty scary, right? Dio shoved her and kissed her forcibly, and even slapped her.Â
Even most adults would probably freak out or run away in a situation like that, but what did Erina do? Even though she cried (I mean she’s 12, come on), she stood her ground and went so far as to wash her mouth out with mud, a clear, big fat “Fuck you” to Dio. This message was not misunderstood and pissed Dio the hell off, more than most things.
It should be noted that Dio has pretty much every character in part 1 whipped. Most characters are either a. terrified of him, b. try and fail to stand up to him, or c. totally fooled by his charisma. Erina is pretty much the only character in the series to straight up defy Dio without hesitation.Â
That’s right: Erina, the feeble 19th century lady, the love interest with no fighting skills or special powers, is more defiant towards Dio than even Jonathan or Will Zeppeli. Impressed yet? No? Well first of all, what the fuck is wrong with you, and second of all, sit tight because that’s just the tip of the iceberg buddy.
The next time we see Erina, she’s about 18 years old, and working as a nurse in a hospital. Jonathan has multiple broken bones and severe burns, and Erina gives him round the clock care. Literally. We see her when Speedwagon tries to visit Jonathan during visiting hours, and when he breaks in at 1 AM that night, she’s still there treating Jonathan’s burns by herself. (It’s also worth mentioning that she intimidated the shit out of Speedwagon.) She spent so much time working hard treating Jonathan’s wounds that her hands were chapped and bloody, and was so exhausted she almost passed out. Now there’s some fucking devotion for you.
Later, when she and Jojo go for a walk and encounter Will Zeppeli, a weirdo who punched Jonathan in the gut and talked about weird magic martial arts bullshit, she once again didn’t scream or run away. Instead, she was just like “Um, excuse you bitch, Jojo’s injured, what the fuck is your damage?” because Erina isn’t afraid of anything.
Finally, Erina and Jonathan get married. They’re having a lovely time on their honeymoon when oh no, what’s this? The entire ship gets overrun by zombies. All caused by Dio, who was supposed to be dead, and is now out to kill Jonathan. Even though Jonathan told Erina to go to their room and lock the door, which most people would probably do (if not completely petrified with fear, anyway), she followed Jonathan. She knew her husband was in trouble, and she was going to stand by him no matter what. Have I mentioned that Erina has no fighting abilities?
When she found Jonathan and Dio (and Wang Chen and some zombies, but they’re not that important) fighting, she still showed no fear, and instead of running away, she went to Jonathan and held him as he died. She was fully prepared to die with him, and only saved herself for the sake of an orphaned baby, at Jonathan’s request.
So now Erina is a widow at the young age of 20, survived a shipwreck, and is raising a son on her own. Unfortunately, shortly after getting married, her son George was murdered by yet another zombie, and his wife had to go into hiding. Did Erina die of sadness after losing her son and daughter-in-law? Did she become a pitiful recluse, stricken with never-ending grief? Nope! Erina, now in her 50s, raised her grandson from the time he was a baby. It’s hard enough being a single mother when you’re young, let alone when you’re 50 years old (which was a respectable age to say the least in the early 20th century) and dealing with the loss of your children. Oh yeah, and also your kid has supernatural powers he doesn’t know how to use. Good luck with that.
As an old woman in her 70s- in other words, old as fuck, because this is 1920- Erina is still as tough as ever, even as a single parent to an incredibly hot-tempered, 6′ 4″ teenage boy. Even as rude as he is, Joseph knows to respect and listen to granny Erina, because he knows damn well she can kick his ass. He shows more respect towards her and is more intimidated by her than even Lisa Lisa, the actual martial arts master who trained him and kicked his ass.
Old lady Erina gives no fucks and is barely fazed by anything, and has no tolerance for disrespect. She also more or less force adopted Smokey.
“What the fuck” -Smokey
When Erina hears that one of her oldest friends has been murdered by one of their other oldest friends, who is now most likely an evil vampire thanks to the same power that was responsible for the death of her husband 50 years ago, AND said ex-friend-now-evil-vampire tries to kill her grandson in the middle of a populated area, Erina still just isn’t that freaked out. She’s afraid for Joseph, but not herself.
Even after part 2, Erina continued to live a respectable and badass life.
So, to sum things up: Erina Pendleton is a woman who was assaulted at the age of 12, attacked by zombies, lost her husband, and survived a shipwreck at the age of 20, raised a son all on her own, lost her son and daughter-in-law, raised her grandson by herself even as an old woman, gave 0 fucks through all of this, stood up to Dio more than anyone else, took no shit, and still went on to live a long and badass life.
In conclusion, Erina Pendleton for Eyes of Heaven DLC character 2k16.
