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You're about to capture THE Johnny of the Seven Seas, and "pesky" is the best you can come up with?! Act or not, I can't let that slide!
― Johnny to Leo Whitefang[src]

Johnny is a recurring character in the Guilty Gear series. He is the captain of the female-only Jellyfish Pirates, a group of sky pirates sworn to help those less fortunate, who are known all around the world. Johnny's flirty, debonair demeanor hides a man dedicated to the noble idea of caring for others and a mastery of the battou sword style.

Design[]

Johnny is a tall, muscled individual of fair complexion. Johnny has blue eyes and long blond hair, which he usually keeps in a pony-tail, but changed it to a short, slick hairstyle in the Xrd games. He is always wearing a wide-rimmed cowboy-style hat (which bears a skull insignia in XX, and a letter "J" pin in Xrd) and a pair of dark sunglasses.

Invariably shirtless, Johnny sports a black outfit, sparsely adorned with golden beads. The outfit consists of long, well-fitting pants, a large gunslinger-style belt worn diagonally, and a long collared trench coat, left unbuttoned to ensure his chest remains visible. He wears brown fingerless gloves to complete his outfit. In battle, Johnny wields a shirasaya katana of plain undecorated wooden mounting.

In Strive, Johnny has gone under a slight redesign. The skull buttons on his lapel are now silver instead of gold. The hatband is a brownish color instead of silver. His monk-styled shoes are swapped out with tan shoes that seem to be that of the Oxford style. His shoes are embroidered with the words "Down By Law" on the soles.

In the character select screen in Strive, the player has the option to give Johnny a beard by pressing the "up" button, which is a reference to his design in Guilty Gear Vastedge XT.

Personality[]

Johnny is a daring, suave, and flamboyant man who likes old-fashioned language and fools around, being a "free spirit" who has no intention of settling down any time soon. A bit self-absorbed, Johnny appreciates his own physical appearance, frequently commenting on it to others throughout the series, and is a notorious gambler.

He is also a peerless lover of women, claiming that it is his duty to provide love for all the ladies in the world. A compulsive womanizer, Johnny has expressed interest in nearly every female character he encounters, including Bridget (whom he initially mistakes for a girl). He rarely welcomes non-women into his ship, although Testament seems to hang around sometimes.

Beneath his swash-buckling, somewhat surly persona, Johnny has a big heart. He has a chivalrous personality and a strong sense of duty, and often goes out of his way to protect the weak. In a pledge to save the lonely, Johnny founded the Jellyfish Pirates in order to help those less fortunate than himself. He cares for his crew very deeply, often going to great lengths to protect them from harm, and reassuring them on numerous occasions that they are family to him. While he trusts them with his life, Johnny is nevertheless a shrewd, secretive individual, often keeping his intentions to himself, and has one ironclad rule according to Haehyun: He doesn't rely on others unless he is truly at his wit's end.

Story[]

Background[]

During the Crusades, at the young age of 13, Johnny's father—the only person who cared for him—was slain by a Gear. His heart already closed to others, the fear of losing those he loved made Johnny retreat into a shell of solitude even more. It was presumably during this time that Johnny acquired and mastered his skill with the sword under Hirofumi Unchou. Yet, one day Johnny came to truly understand the plight of orphans, realizing that not everyone could stand up for themselves like he did, and endeavored to become a man of compassion like his father.

GGCB May found

Johnny finding May.

Johnny decided to become a "noble bandit", primarily stealing from the well-off to aid those in need, and founded the Jellyfish Pirates sometime prior to 2171 by adopting war orphans (girls only) and raising them. Among the girls he took in was May, whisking her away from a savage battlefield. They began running their Robin Hood operation aboard a stolen hover-carrier later re-named the Mayship. As the leader, Johnny became a key individual in the criminal underworld, wanted throughout the world, and acquired a wide range of connections, including Gabriel of Zepp.

Under unknown circumstances, Johnny met Kum Haehyun; the two became great friends, with Johnny being one of the few people who knew her real identity. In the Night of Knives Vol.3 Drama CD, Johnny met Millia Rage and helped her find a foster home for a baby boy, who unbeknownst to him was King Salteria I.

Guilty Gear[]

In 2180, Johnny was caught in the act and incarcerated. He was given a long term, so his crew immediately began planning an elaborate breakout. However, the day before the plan was to commence, April found about a tournament that will grant any wish to the winner.

Thinking they can wish for Johnny to be released, May enters the competition. During the tournament, Justice is freed. In May's ending, the dying Justice recognizes May as Japanese, but Johnny arrives just in time to cut her short from revealing May's origins. Johnny explains that he considered to serve his time, but broke out by force to come looking for May. In truth, he escaped by charming his way out with the female guard. Afterwards, the crew celebrates with a party.

Guilty Gear X[]

In 2181, as seen in Guilty Gear X Lightning the Argent, Johnny and his crew are hired by Bernard, Ky Kiske's butler, to assist during the Blackard incident that released the Hydra in London.

In the Guilty Gear X Drama CD, Johnny and May are shopping for clothes when the shopkeeper mentions some newly discovered ruins from the Old World nearby, and the duo pays the ruins a visit. Ky turns up shortly afterwards, investigating the ruins himself, and attempts to arrest Johnny. Johnny isn't keen on fighting, but May impulsively fights Ky. The ruins destabilize, and a Black Tech holographic disk activates, which Johnny slices in two. He and May escape with one half. April later tells Johnny that she heard that these "tablets" were found before and are on exhibition at the Thor Museum. However, the rumors were planted by Venom to lure the pirates out. Johnny and May nonetheless manage to escape the museum. Back aboard the Mayship, Johnny deems the disk too dangerous to be kept, and secretly uses it to fashion pendants for everyone in the crew.

Since it is close to his birthday, they all decide to get him something nice in return, but May hopes instead to get Johnny something special just from her, "as a woman". Soon enough they learn that there is a Gear with a W$500,000 bounty. Johnny—in his duty to save the lonely—decides to investigate, but tells his crew that he is in it for the prize. In Guilty Gear X Plus, he has two endings: in one, Johnny meets Dizzy directly and takes her home to the Mayship. In the other (likely non-canon (as it would imply that May met Testament, who she doesn't recognize in Guilty Gear XX)), he is distracted in a fight by May and comes home to find that Dizzy had been already brought back to the Mayship as a surprise "birthday present".

Guilty Gear XX[]

A few weeks later, I-No knocks Dizzy off the Mayship just before Testament arrives unannounced. In one path, Johnny runs off to rescue Dizzy; in his first ending, he defeats I-No, and then carries Dizzy back to the Mayship because of slightly injured legs. In the second, Testament gets to I-No first, and is reluctant to let Dizzy continue to live with the crew until Johnny defeats them. The other path has Johnny learn that the Japanese are being targeted, and ends with him turning his back on Ky as he is about to fight a group of Robo-Kys; Johnny on the Mayship is then left to ponder about if he truly should tell May about her origins herself when the time comes.

Sometime later, Johnny is chasing after the Post-War Administration Bureau, but there is something else on his mind: should he tell May the truth of her origins? Also sensing that Dizzy misses Testament, Johnny visits the Grove to persuade them to visit her. There the story splits. Johnny finds out more about the Japanese from either Baiken or Mito Anji, and then raids the P.W.A.B. facility. In Path 1, he does so alone and recognizes Crow due to his connection to Unchou; May sneaks in, and hears the truth from Crow as he flees. May meekly asks Johnny if it is safe for her to be with the crew, but he assures that he will protect her from anything.

In the other, Johnny helps Ky subdue Dizzy, upon which they all board the Mayship to resume the raid. The ensuing conflict causes the ship to crash into the P.W.A.B. building. There, Johnny and May encounter Crow, who lets the secret of May's origins slip. Johnny struggles to comfort May, and she disappears in search of answers. During the crew's frantic search for May, Johnny quietly hopes that May will return home.

Guilty Gear Xrd[]

In 2187, May starts having recurrent headaches, and Johnny sets off to find Faust. Johnny finds him in a small Illyrian village, and convinces him to treat May. Johnny returns to the Mayship II to find that May has vanished, having learned from Ramlethal Valentine that her people are "a disease".

Johnny and the crew begin a desperate search for her. Thanks to Chipp Zanuff, they find May, who didn't want to infect them. Around the same time, Faust arrives to give her medicine and warn them not to go near the colony. Bedman then arrives with an incapacitated Millia, Venom and Slayer, and knocks Faust out. Chipp tells Johnny to escape with the girls while he holds off their attacker; followed by his crew, Johnny reluctantly agrees and carries the unconscious Faust to the Mayship.

They later intervene in the Illyrian ambush on the Cradle near the Black Sea. Johnny assists Leo Whitefang in his battle with Bedman, delaying him, while Faust installs the final beacon. The Cradle's Felion defense is destroyed, but the Conclave escapes with Justice.

In order to investigate the disturbances at the colony, Johnny arranges to rendezvous there with his old friend, Haehyun, and Faust. Upon arrival at the colony, Johnny and May accidentally encounter Leo, who must reluctantly arrest them. Haehyun intervenes and requests that Leo let them go; given the status of the Kum family, Leo agrees. Privately, Johnny calls Faust and Haehyun is able to tell the doctor her preliminary investigation. Later that day, Johnny tells Haehyun he worries for her safety, but Haehyun won't abandon him because she knows he is at his wit's end, and the two hug.

In order to move to Ariels' location as soon as possible once they track her down, Colin Vernon personally meets with Johnny at his garage. As they have no time left, Vernon guarantees that Johnny will have immunity, and so, Johnny presents to him the Gullinkambi Dark. Once they obtain Ariels' coordinates in the North Atlantic, Johnny and April pilot the airship, with Sol, Ky, Sin and Jack-O' as passengers. Upon dropping them off, Ariels damages the ship, and Johnny and April momentarily retreat, coming back when the battle is over.

Guilty Gear -Strive-[]

In the epilogue, Johnny is seen celebrating victory alongside the rest of the Jellyfish Pirates.

Abilities[]

Johnny is one of the strongest and swiftest human fighters in the series, and it is implied that he rarely, if ever, utilizes his full strength when fighting. When he fights Crow's mechanical copy of Justice, the scientist sets his creation to optimal combat settings in order for it to serve as adequate challenge, yet Johnny defeats it regardless. In -Sign-, Johnny is able to hold his own against the powerful Bedman for a short time, albeit with assistance from Leo Whitefang.

Johnny's weapon choice is a katana of plain wooden mounting. He is a master of the swordmanship Phantom Hirofumi Style, Swallow-Moon-Blade, taught to him by Hirofumi Unchou. As a user of this battou sword style, Johnny possesses extremely fast reflexes and a quick hand to employ the iaido art—he can draw his sword, strike an opponent, then re-place the sword in its scabbard in the blink of an eye. He is also able to move short distances at such high speed that it looks like teleportation. His swallow-inspired technique allows him to swing his blade to displace the air around his opponents, and possibly tear them to shreds. He uses this tactic to prevent Bedman from teleporting during their battle.

In terms of playstyle, Johnny usually dominates the neutral and offense game thanks to his famous Mist Finer stance, and while he cannot run, he has a character-specific step dash. He also has a unique resource in form of coins, starting each round with eight of them (they do not regenerate unless Treasure Hunt in Xrd is used, which grants him two coins). They are used during his Glitter is Gold special move, throwing one at a time as a projectile. When a coin hits the enemy, Johnny's Mist Finer can level up to its Level 3 form; using Mist Finer returns the move to Level 1, and must be leveled up again. Even then, Johnny's recurring issue is being committal to some of his sword-based attacks and must make a strong effective judgment on reads. Once his precision pays off however, Johnny can go to town on his foes.

Music[]

  • Liquor Bar & Drunkard - Guilty Gear X, Guilty Gear XX
  • Desert Dust - Guilty Gear XX ♯Reload Korean OST
  • Exceptional Routine Work - Guilty Gear Isuka
  • Original Bet - Guilty Gear Xrd
  • Just Lean - Guilty Gear -Strive-

Quotes[]

Allusions[]

  • The soles of his shoes that are embroidered that says "Down By Law" is a possible reference to the American punk rock band with a single band member with the same name or perhaps to the comedy/crime movie with the same name.
  • Johnny's entirely black outfit may be a possible reference to American musician Johnny Cash, who was known as "The Man in Black", or perhaps to Johnny Winter, given his long blond hair and cowboy hat. It is also possible that he was named after Queen's bassist, John Deacon.
  • Johnny's theme "Liquor Bar & Drunkard" shares a similar riff to Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady". Coincidentally, Hendrix's birth name was also Johnny.
  • His Glitter Is Gold attack is named after the opening lines of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven."
  • Ensenga may be a take on Tachibana Ukyou's (from the Samurai Showdown series) variation of Sasaki Kojirou's famous Tsubame Gaeshi technique, since Ukyou's version is also a flame-based sword-drawing attack that is done only in midair.
  • Johnny is likely an allusion to Batman. Both characters take inspiration from Zorro, and both characters are orphans known for adopting other orphans. Furthermore, Johnny's instant kill, Joker Trick, shares its name with Batman's most famous adversary, the Joker (from the movie Joker; not to be confused with other Jokers in media, such as either Joker from the Persona series).
  • Divine Blade is a reference to the band "Divine Regale".
  • Type O Negative did a song "In Praise of Bacchus" (Bacchus being the God of Wine and Drink)
  • The Lyrics of "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin also hold a subtle reference: "There's a Lady who's sure all that [Glitters is Gold] and She's buying a stairway to Heaven."
  • Mist Finer, is probably an allusion to what Frank Zappa did a song "Find her Finer".
  • H.I.T.S. (Honey in the Sky) might be a subtle parody of John Lennon's song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".
  • Johnny's Overdrive "That's My Name" in which he etches a flaming J on his opponent (which will always end facing left to properly display the J) is a reference to the masked swordsman "Zorro" who always defeated his opponents in duels by marking them with a Z.
  • Johnny's Iaido sword style and move list has many subtle references to Tachibana Ukyo of Samurai Showdown (Samurai Spirits) fame. In particular his Mist Finer resembles Ukyo's Hiken: Sasameyuki (Hidden Sword: Small Snowflakes) and Johnny's Ensenga... Hiken: Tsubame Gaeshi (Hidden Sword: Swallow's Return). Notable that unlike the flaming bird effect in Ukyo's attack, Johnny actually uses a Whisky bottle in his version... what's more... "Ensenga" and "Tsubame Gaeshi" use the same Kanji but are read differently.
  • While many might confuse Johnny's Sword "Engetsu" with Ichigo Kurosaki's Zanpakuto (from the anime/manga series Bleach by Tite Kubo) of similar name... they are not the same! Ichigo's Engetsu uses the Kanji "剡月" which means Scathing or "Bloody Moon"... Johnny's sword "Engetsu" is "偃月", simply "Crescent Moon". The former's Kanji 剡 is extremely rare and seldom used... a hallmark of Kubo's style. Interestingly enough, Guilty Gear X predates the Bleach Manga by a year.

Trivia[]

  • For well over a decade, Johnny's last name was believed to be Sfondi by Western fans due to the Guilty Gear X Drama CD, where the Japanese word for "family" was accidentally misheard and interpreted as his surname.
  • Because of his "Ensenga" special move, many players mistake Johnny as a fire magic user, when he is actually just slicing a liquor bottle midair.
  • Johnny and Axl Low (Xrd -SIGN- only) both share the same English voice actor, Liam O'Brien.
  • Johnny has made guest appearances in the following games: Brave Frontier, Crusaders Quest, Elemental Battle, and Code Shifter.
  • One of Johnny's quotes in Strive "You gotta know when to hold 'em" is a possible reference to the chorus of the Kenny Rogers song, "The Gambler"

Gallery[]

External links[]


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