DIO apeared in the first part and was meant to be the story's main villain.
Diego appeared in the seventh part and was meant to be a character.
These differences greatly matter on how they were written and how we view these two.

Diego vs valentine is the spiritual successor to risotto vs doppio

Also the probably most fully fleshed out story araki ever did. I can't wait for steel ball run anime.

I like how as Diego isn't an outright villain compared to DIO, Johnny isn't exactly a hero like Jonathan either.  Both of them are simply participants in the SBR race, looking for personal gain. Great video - I think you've detailed the difference between hero/villain and protag/antag nicely!

100% agreed. And with alternate The World we got our cake and ate it too in a hype af final volume.

I don't think a sympathetic villain is inherently better than an evil villain, frankly. I'd argue the mentality they are has done legitimate damage to writing as a craft.

I've always seen Diego Brando as DIO's humanity and his better self in every way, both as a person and a character.

2:31 it's been like 2 years since I read SBR, and only now am i noticing that a young Diego had donuts in his hair

He’s the humanity Dio rejected.

You can just as easily argue how original Dio was a better villain by virtue of NOT being sympathetic. They are different characters, it mainly matters how they are used. There is no objective measure of quality in this way.

honestly I love Diego as a different character all together. as Diego isn't even evil or a villain . he is just against the protagonist. His motive is revenge and ambitious but the way he sets out to achieve it is somewhat decent .
DIO and Dio Brando is straight up evil and is extremely ICONIC . it would be unfair to Diego to be compared to this guy. Its very easy to see Diego as a downgrade when comparing to DIO since DIO is a character whose influence changed a lot of the Manga scene.

While both Dio and Diego ultimately gained their iconic powers (vampirism and Scary Monsters) from others, Dio is ultimately just leeching off of a much more successful predecessor who managed to use the full potential of the power Dio became a vampire through while Dio only scratched the surface, with Dio needing another power- a Stand- something all things with the right will power can get to be a threat.

In contrast, Diego's use of his new Stand is so unorthodox and versatile, that it's seen more as Diego's power than Dr. Ferninand's due to Diego taking it to heights that the original user couldn't even dream of. It's very telling that when the Stand Scary Monsters comes up, Diego comes up as the user.

Thank you for talking about Diego! This makes me look forward more to Jodio's development since he has that Brando dawg in him.

Before I say this, I love part 7, I love Diego, even if my favorite part is part 8 still love every part. But I think I prefer the main universe DIO more. From part one, to part three, to part six. And it comes down to a very simple thing, I like a pure evil villain. Albert Wesker is one of my favorite villains because he's just a guy who wants to kill billions to become a god. He's not complex. He's just evil. Therefore he can just be a badass, overpowered villain that can just do what he wants. He's fun. DIO is fun. I think DIO is more complex than Wesker. Part 3 DIO is probably my favorite villain of all time. Period. DIO in general, from 1 to 6 is my favorite villain of all time. I just like a pure evil, evil for the sake of it villain. Complex, sympathetic villains are nice. But nothing wrong with a villain that's just evil. As long as they're fun. And DIO is fun.

The main thing about Diego that is so good is we get to see 2 forms of him, base Diego is far closer to I think Risotto in terms of personality than Dio both deeply scarred by the loss of a family member and both seeking revenge plus both go up against the main villain, while with AU Diego he get to see more personality traits from Dio and a form of Dio that doesn't mess around and does all he  needs to obtain victory without becoming too cocky in his abilities.

When u realize diego never got his revenge that he deserved

Diego is incredible. And then at the end Araki gives us alternate ZA WARUDO and I totally lost my shit reading SBR for the first time 😂

11:52 That ambition. The absolute desire to stand on top is what makes me love Diego. What I love most is the transition from a weaker Diego to a more powerful one. The World really added more emphasis to Diego's character imo cause he realized this was the key to winning. Alternate World Diego had a better chance at winning and achieving his goal. His ambition and his stand, the key to his victory, actually took him somewhere. He still died, yes, but I feel like he got farther to his goal than part 3 Dio got to his. Diego's The World really was the salt that was needed in the pot. The power he attained is what made him more enjoyable. Cause original Diego was close, yes, as mentioned in the video, but he could've gotten farther if he had the world. It's like comparing it to part 1 and part 3 Dio. Using Jonathan's body and attaining the world. The world is the exact key that would've brought every Dio to their absolute peak and reach their goals if it wasn't for plot and Joestars.

Vampire to Vampire with Stand. Love the original concept. It was needed in order to create the part 7 transition of dinosaur to pure stand user. But for Alternate world Diego to show how useless his other world counterpart and prove why he would stand on top is just something I enjoy. I love Diego.

I think Diego and the alternate Diego are slightly different. Main world Diego didn’t care about others, but I don’t think he was kill happy. The only time he seemed close to revelling in other’s misfortune was when he believed he was killing Valentine. But that was largely due to it means he would have all of the corpse parts, and as you mentioned, a boy who started off with nothing, surpassing a super powered President of America. Meanwhile Alternate Diego seems to just revel in suffering in general. Using fans as human shields, proclaiming “this is where the fun begins” as he tried to burn Johnny with gasoline and matches and trying to force himself on a 14 year old Lucy, he’s got that ruthless ambition, but also a cruelty that the original was just short of.

I think Diego represents the original idea that he had for him. A trickster  power hungry because he thinks that the world owns him for everything he suffered.