Johnny Joestar is a depressive ex-jockey, who clings to his hope of regaining the use of his legs through the Spin and then the Corpse Part throughout Steel Ball Run. Johnny is introduced as a distant paraplegic man, whose career was ruined when he was shot in the spine after conceitedly antagonizing a passerby. After Johnny witnesses Gyro's Steel Balls and Spin, and how they enabled him to stand up on his feet for a moment, he becomes determined to follow him and make him teach the Spin, then after discovering the Corpse Part making his legs twitch, to acquire them.