# Mistas Tetraphobia 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. ## Origin Mista's tetraphobia was introduced on April 22, 1996, when JoJo's Bizarre Adventure chapter 456 was published in Weekly Shonen Jump issue #19[2]. 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 adaptation[2]. The anime's visual treatment of Mista's panic gave shitposters exactly the kind of expressive reaction content they needed. - **Platform:** Weekly Shonen Jump (manga source), Reddit (meme spread) - **Creator:** Hirohiko Araki (manga author), Reddit r/ShitPostCrusaders community (meme format) - **Date:** 1996 (manga origin), 2018 (meme spread) ## 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. ## 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 subreddit[2]. 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 days[2]. 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 content[2]. 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 alignment[2]. ## How to Use 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 him[2]. - 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. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Mista's Tetraphobia? It's a meme based on JoJo's Bizarre Adventure character Guido Mista's extreme fear of the number four, used for jokes whenever the number four appears in any context[2]. ### Where did Mista's Tetraphobia come from? The character trait originated in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure chapter 456, published on April 22, 1996, and became a meme after the Golden Wind anime adaptation aired in November 2018[2]. ### What does Mista's Tetraphobia mean? Tetraphobia is the fear or avoidance of the number four, rooted in East Asian cultures where "four" sounds like "death." In the meme context, it refers to any humorous connection between Mista and the number four[2]. ### How do you use Mista's Tetraphobia? Pair any appearance of the number four with Mista's panicked reaction, or reference his Stand's numbering (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7) when something skips four[2]. ### Is Mista's Tetraphobia still popular? The meme peaked around April 2019 but still sees annual activity every April 4th within JoJo communities[2]. ### Why does Mista's Stand skip the number 4? Sex Pistols is numbered 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 because Mista's fear of four is so deeply ingrained that his own Stand, a manifestation of his soul, refuses to include it[2]. ### What happened on April 4, 2019? The date 04/04 triggered a massive wave of Mista memes across r/ShitPostCrusaders and r/Animemes, and r/Animemes coincidentally reached 444,444 subscribers on the same day[2]. ### Is tetraphobia a real thing? Yes. Tetraphobia is a genuine cultural practice, especially in East Asian countries, where the number four is avoided because its pronunciation closely resembles the word for death in several languages. ## References 1. [Why Is Guido Mista Afraid of the Number 4? Explained]() 2. [Mista's Tetraphobia - Know Your Meme]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/mistas-tetraphobia Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library