Araki stated that at the time, female characters in "shōnen manga" were typically cute and designed to be "a man's ideal woman." He said readers were not interested in realistic portrayals of women, but rather the type of girl "that giggles during a conversation" with heart marks next to her. He believes this made the warrior-type Lisa Lisa feel fresh and "unheard of" in both manga and society in general and said it was exciting to challenge people's expectations with her. Araki also said that the supernatural basis of the fights in his series evened the battlefield for women and children to match up against strong men. This idea that looks are irrelevant in supernatural battles led to the introduction of Stands in "Stardust Crusaders". Because the Hamon master in Part 1, Will A. Zeppeli, was very gentle, he wanted to give Lisa Lisa a "sadistic" personality. The author based her on a smart and intimidating neighborhood girl who tutored him in elementary school. He stated that at the time it was hard to get Japanese readers to remember a foreign name, so he chose something with repetition. He also said that Lisa Lisa phonetically resembles Japanese to an extent.