Mistas Tetraphobia

1996Fandom in-joke / shitpost formatsemi-active

Published July 28, 2026

Also known as: Mista Hates the Number 4 · Mista and the Number 4

Mista's Tetraphobia is a recurring joke in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fandom based on character Guido Mista's intense fear of the number four. Originating from the 1996 manga and picking up major meme traction after the 2018 Golden Wind anime adaptation, the gag became a staple of anime shitposting communities on Reddit. The meme hit a peak on April 4, 2019, when the date itself (04/04) turned into a community-wide event across multiple subreddits.

Overview

Guido Mista is a gunslinger character in Part 5 (Golden Wind) of Hirohiko Araki's long-running manga and anime series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. His defining personality quirk is an extreme, irrational fear of the number four, a superstition known as tetraphobia. This fear is so deep that it shapes everything about him, including his Stand ability, Sex Pistols, a group of six small bullet-riding creatures numbered 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7, deliberately skipping number 4.

The meme format typically involves referencing the number four in any context and connecting it to Mista's terror. Posts range from screenshots of Mista panicking to edits placing the number four in threatening positions, to real-world scenarios where the number four appears ominously.

Origin & Background

Platform
Weekly Shonen Jump (manga source), Reddit (meme spread)
Key People
Hirohiko Araki, Reddit r/ShitPostCrusaders community
Date
1996 (manga origin), 2018 (meme spread)

Mista's tetraphobia was introduced on April 22, 1996, when JoJo's Bizarre Adventure chapter 456 was published in Weekly Shonen Jump issue #192. Creator Hirohiko Araki made Mista's fear of four the character's very first revealed trait. The phobia draws from tetraphobia, a real cultural superstition common in East Asian countries where the word for "four" sounds similar to the word for "death" in several languages, including Japanese (shi/四 and shi/死).

While the quirk existed in the manga for over two decades, it didn't become widespread meme material until November 3, 2018, when the scene appeared in episode 5 of the Golden Wind anime adaptation2. The anime's visual treatment of Mista's panic gave shitposters exactly the kind of expressive reaction content they needed.

How It Spread

In the weeks after the Golden Wind anime began airing, memes about Mista's number four phobia started appearing across r/ShitPostCrusaders, the primary JoJo meme subreddit2. The jokes fit naturally into the subreddit's existing culture of referencing obscure character quirks from the series.

The real explosion came in anticipation of April 4, 2019 (04/04), a date that was essentially Mista's worst nightmare. On March 28, 2019, Redditor Pharah_is_my_waIfu posted a prediction about the incoming flood of Mista memes to r/ShitPostCrusaders, which pulled in over 4,800 upvotes in nine days2. The community was already gearing up.

When April 4th arrived, the memes hit hard. Both r/ShitPostCrusaders and r/Animemes were flooded with number-four content2. In a stroke of cosmic coincidence, r/Animemes reached exactly 444,444 subscribers on that same day, triggering a second wave of posts about the cursed number alignment2.

How to Use This Meme

Mista's Tetraphobia memes typically follow a few common patterns:

1

The Trigger Format: Show any real-world occurrence of the number four (a price tag, a clock showing 4:44, four items in a group) paired with an image of Mista looking distressed or panicking.

2

The Avoidance Format: Point out things that skip the number four (building floors going from 3 to 5, lists missing item #4) and credit Mista's influence.

3

The Sex Pistols Numbering Gag: Reference the 1-2-3-5-6-7 numbering of his Stand as a punchline for any situation involving deliberate avoidance.

4

Date-Based Posts: Any date with prominent fours (April 4th, the 4th of any month at 4:44 PM) is fair game for Mista content.

Cultural Impact

Mista's Tetraphobia is one of several JoJo character quirks that crossed over from niche fandom joke to broader anime community meme. The April 4, 2019 event showed the JoJo fandom's ability to coordinate large-scale posting events around thematic dates, a pattern also seen with other anime fandoms but rarely with this level of focus on a single character trait.

The meme also introduced many Western anime fans to the concept of tetraphobia, a genuine and widespread cultural practice. Buildings in Japan, China, Korea, and other East Asian countries routinely skip the fourth floor, and gifts in sets of four are avoided. Araki's choice to give an Italian character this distinctly Asian superstition is one of the many cultural mashups that define JoJo's worldbuilding.

Fun Facts

Mista's very first scene in the manga establishes his tetraphobia, making it literally the first thing readers learn about him2.

His Stand, Sex Pistols, is one of the few Stands in JoJo whose design directly reflects a psychological trait rather than a combat philosophy.

The number four phobia is never resolved or overcome in the story. Mista stays afraid of four for the entire run of Golden Wind.

Chapter 456, where Mista debuted, contains the number sequence 4-5-6, which includes the dreaded four. Fans have noted the irony.

Derivatives & Variations

April 4th Annual Posts:

Each year on 04/04, JoJo communities produce fresh Mista content, making it a minor recurring event in anime meme culture[2].

444,444 Subscriber Milestone Memes:

When r/Animemes hit the cursed subscriber count on April 4, 2019, the coincidence generated its own subcategory of memes combining subreddit meta-humor with Mista's phobia[2].

Sex Pistols Numbering Edits:

Memes that take any numbered list and remove or skip the number four, crediting Mista's Stand as the reason[2].

Frequently Asked Questions