Jio

Jio is a minor protagonist in the 07 Ghost anime and manga series. Jio is the Archbishop at the Barsburg Church, making him the leader of the bishops. He is one of the few who knows about the existence of the Seven Ghosts, as well as their identities. Jio is easily recognised by his one scarred eye, though it is unknown how it was damaged.

After the Pope's death, it is likely that Jio succeeded him.

Etymology
Jio's name may be a variant of the Italian name 'Giovanni'. The name 'Giovanni' itself is a variant of the name 'John', one of Jesus's disciples and means 'God is gracious'.

It is worth noting that Jio's name is 'Oji' reversed, and 'Oji' can mean 'elderly man' in Japanese. This could be a wordplay on Jio's age and Frau's opinion of him.

Physical appearance
Jio is a very tall and intimidating man, who towers over most people. Though his official height is unknown, Jio is shown to be roughly the same size as Frau, putting him somewhere around 190 cm. His build is very stocky and muscular, with a thick neck, and large hands. Jio's face is very masculine, with a strong jaw, and a square face, with a large, straight nose, narrowed brown eyes that appear red from a distance and a large mouth with full lips. One of Jio's most notable features is the jagged scar running across the right side of his face and across his right eye, preventing him from opening it. His hair is black, or a very dark grey in colour, and when he takes off his hat is shown to be quite long and spiked upwards. He has thick eyebrows as well as a thick moustache of the same colour. Jio also appears to be quite old, as he has wrinkles round his eyes and marionette lines around his mouth.

Clothing
Jio wears a more elaborate form of the Bishop's robes.

Personality
Jio is diligent in his work as an Archbishop and places a lot of importance on doing the job to the best of standards. He is authoritative and rule-abiding, and makes sure others do the same. He is shown to be concerned with how others think of the Church and believes a Bishop should look and act the part in order to maintain an image of a respectable member of the clergy.

In keeping with his authoritative nature, Jio tries to interact with others in a solely professional manner. He calls others by their ranks and not their names and expects them to do the same to him.

Despite appearing physically intimindating, he is kind and welcoming to those he is tasked with helping, and smiles to make those around him feel more at ease. He is also a modest man, as when the woman he helped thanked him, Jio dismissed the compliment and said that it was due to the woman's spirit.

Jio has a very short temper and little patience when it comes to those who break the rules, and is easily angered, prone to violent outbursts, and not above using violence to discipline those around him. However, he calms down just as quickly, usually by drinking tea. Bastien comments that Jio has a high blood pressure.

Jio is also quite intelligent, as he was quick to realise something was wrong when Warsfeil began appearing in the Church despite the barrier, and correctly guessed that there was a traitor within the Church.

Bastien
Bastien was Jio's assistant. Jio trusted and respected Bastien, as he let Bastien take care of him, and confided in him when he thought something was amiss. Although Jio did believe there were spies in the Church, he never thought to suspect Bastien as being one of them, and entrusted Bastien with several clandestine missions on discovering the traitor's identity. Jio was saddened by Bastien's betrayal.



Frau
"That boy is stupid."

- Jio

Jio and Frau do not interact much, but Jio appears to dislike Frau's reckless and disobedient nature. He thinks Frau is a terrible example of a Bishop, but does not consider him a lost cause, as he attempts to steer Frau on the right path, reminding him of the rules and his manners whenever Frau forgets them. Despite Jio thinking little of Frau as a Bishop, he trusts his judgement as a Ghost. Although Frau is an adult, Jio refers to him as 'that boy'.

As the Archbishop, Jio is aware of Frau's true identity as the Ghost Zehel.

Castor
Jio does not interact much with Castor, but seems to get along well with him. As the Archbishop, Jio is aware of Castor's true identity as the Ghost Fest.

Labrador
Jio does not interact much with Labrador, but seems to get along well with him. As the Archbishop, Jio is aware of Labrador's true identity as the Ghost Profe.

Previous generation of Seven Ghosts
One of the members of the previous generation of Seven Ghosts once mentioned Jio, referring to him respectfully as 'Jio-sama'. This suggests that Jio was acquainted with the previous generation of Seven Ghosts, and that they respected him.

Teito Klein
Jio and Teito spend very little time with each other, but are aware of each other's respective positions as Archbishop and the vessel of the Eye of Mikhail and Pandora's Box. In the future, Teito goes on to succeed Jio as Pope.

History
Jio's history is virtually unknown, though he has obviously been Archbishop for some time, long enough to become familiar with Bastien and the Seven Ghosts. It is possible that he was already Archbishop at the time of the Raggs War, as one of the Ghosts at that time mentioned him, referring to him with the honorific suffix '-sama'.

He has a large scar over his right eye, but it is unknown how he got this scar. After the Pope's death, it is likely that Jio succeeded him.

The child with a Kor
"Your fierce spirit that sought to protect someone important was stronger than anything we could do."

- Jio

Jio first appears before a large crowd of people, along with the other Bishops. A woman suddenly rushes towards them all, holding a small child in her arms that had been tainted by the likes of a Kor. After the child has been healed, he is introduced to Teito by Bishops Frau, Castor and Labrador.

Mikage's death
Jio is seen again when Frau suggests skipping mass. He grabs Frau, hits him, and tells him mass is unavoidable.

Wars Attacks
Jio is next seen in a meeting with other high-ranking members of the clergy where they discuss the threat of Verloren's revival, the increasing presence of Kor in the Church, and the appearance of a Wars the previous night.

Frau's arrest
"Bastien, there is a traitor within the Church."

- Jio

After Frau had been falsely imprisoned due to Kuroyuri framing him, Jio is seen sitting in his office and talking with Bastien, his assistant. Upon hearing about Frau's situation, he chides Frau, calling him a 'stupid child', and wonders about the circumstances surrounding his arrest. He also tells Bastien of his suspicions of Barsburg spies working within the Church grounds, something which is later proven when Bastien is revealed to be a spy.

Bastien's letter
Later, Jio is briefly seen being given a letter written by Bastien, and reading the letter. Through the letter, he discovers Bastien's betrayal, and is shown to feel sad about it.

Raggs War
In a flashback of the Raggs War, Jio was mentioned by one of the previous Seven Ghosts.

Post-timeskip
He was eventually succeeded by Teito as Pope, which means that he either had died by then or retired.

Trivia

 * Apart from the Former Assistant Archbishops, Jio is the only elderly bishop seen in the series.
 * In a manga chapter, upon seeing Lance in Hohburg Fortress, Hakuren Oak addresses him as 'Archbishop Candidate Lance', implying that the position of Archbishop was vacant at the time. This further hints at the possibility of Jio having ascended to the position of Pope.
 * Teito briefly mentions Jio in the seventh and last track on the drama CD The Love Letter Which God Receives.
 * He has the same voice actor as Hyuuga.