Seventeen-year-old Jotaro Kujo refuses to leave his jail cell, believing that he is possessed by an evil spirit. Jotaro's grandfather Joseph Joestar, and the mysterious Mohammed Avdol introduce him to spirit manifestations called Stands.

Jotaro learns the secret of his Stand power and about his family's enemy, the vampire Dio. Later, Jotaro is attacked by Noriaki Kakyoin and his Stand Hierophant Green, an assassin controlled by Dio.

On the way to Egypt, the Stardust Crusaders encounter a freighter with only two passengers - an orangutan and Jean-Pierre Polnareff, both Stand users.

Polnareff is attacked by the Stand known as the Hanged Man, an enemy Stand. Polnareff is lured into a trap set by J. Geil, user of the Hanged Man and his partner, Hol Horse.

Kakyoin and Polnareff desperately seek a way to defeat the Hanged Man, who can strike out at them from within reflections while remaining invulnerable to their attacks.

Polnareff becomes a living puppet under the control of Enya and her incredible mist of death Stand Justice.