Abstract: The stepped failure of rock slopes is a common type of failure, primarily controlled by discontinuous structural planes and rock bridges within the rock slope. To investigate the influence of complex changes in the relative positions of en echelon cracks on the formation of stepped fracture surfaces on jointed rock slopes, numerical simulations of the stepped failure of cohesive rock slopes with en echelon cracks were conducted using the zero-thickness cohesive force element and the gravity increment method. The simulations consider factors such as crack dip angle, rock bridge dip angle, and rock bridge length. The simulation results were programmed to realize the acoustic emission simulation of the failure process of jointed rock slopes. By combining stress and displacement nephograms of the failure process of the jointed rock slope, the evolution process and mechanical mechanism of the formation of the stepped fracture surface of the jointed rock slope were further analyzed. The results indicate that the failure modes of the joint rock slope model can be categorized into continuous failure mode and progressive failure mode, with the emergence of the progressive failure mode mainly related to crack inclination angle and rock bridge inclination angle. The formation of the stepped sliding surface of the rock slope is a process of gradual connection of rock bridges from bottom to top, and the failure process is divided into equal velocity deformation stage and accelerated deformation stage. With the increase of crack inclination angle, the load required for rock bridge penetration of the rock slope gradually increases. As for the length of the rock bridge, the number of acoustic emission events and the total length of crack propagation caused by the fracture of the rock bridge in the rock slope gradually decrease. Compared with crack inclination angle and bridge length, bridge inclination angle has less influence on bridge penetration and step fracture surface formation in jointed rock slopes. This paper studies the instability mechanism of a rock slope with a wild goose discontinuous joint under various working conditions to provide theoretical references for stability evaluation, instability prevention, and control of this type of rock slope.