Stand: Hierophant Green

Starting from Stardust Crusaders, Stands are introduced as the next trademark ability of the series and, more importantly, as the manifestation of the user's life energy. Another way to view them is "literal fighting spirits." Named for the titular tarot, Noriaki's Stand is Hierophant Green.

If Hierophant Green looks like a long noodle trying to cosplay Cell from Dragon Ball to you, congratulations – I thought the same thing. If not, I just embarrassed myself, so let's get to what the article is actually about.

Noriaki holds a special place in the series as the first long-ranged Stand user to be introduced. Capable of traveling as far as a hundred meters away from its user by unraveling its body, Hierophant Green compensates for its poor offense with its flexibility. As a utility Stand, it thrives in battles of wit over those of brute strength, reflecting Noriaki's proclivity for the same.

As the manifestation of Noriaki's life energy, Hierophant Green's shiny green membranes are probably a shout-out to Noriaki's favorite color, which happens to be just that.

The manipulation of the puppeteer

While Noriaki frequently capitalizes on Hierophant Green's excellent range and signature area-of-effect move (Emerald Splash), his Stand is also capable of possessing the body of an organism it has entered. In fact, this is the very first ability Hierophant Green uses in the story. Most fans would agree that abusing this ability would make Noriaki's Stand pretty overpowered, but its scarce use after the initial kerfuffle more than likely originates from Noriaki's personality, rather than an external factor.

Under DIO's control, Noriaki is shown to be remorseless and in possession of twisted morals as he believes that might makes right, thereby justifying his wicked deeds. After Jotaro's (very) physical rescue, he returns to his senses and turns out to be quite conscientious by nature. As he openly states his disdain toward those who would take innocent bystanders hostage, one can infer that he holds back on his Stand's stunning technique for the similar reason that it is simply immoral. It figures that, ironically, the one time he enjoys using this ability is when he himself is possessed by a vampire dressed like a banana.