Hot Pants
Hot Pants (ホット・パンツ, Hotto Pantsu) is a primary character featured in the seventh part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Steel Ball Run.
She is a jockey who was sent to the Steel Ball Run race in disguise by the Kingdom of Naples and the Vatican in order to interfere with the collecting of the Saint Corpse Parts. Throughout the story she assists Gyro, Johnny, Lucy, and Diego in opposing the American government's plan to gather the Corpse. Hot Pants is also a Stand user and wields Cream Starter.
Appearance
Hot Pants is a woman of above-average height, medium build, and short straight hair. However, her androgynous traits and loose clothes allow her to pass off as a man.
Hot Pants's whole body is covered by a baggy striped suit that is further covered with a long blouse. It is decorated with metallic decorations of flowers and leaves, is lined with fur, and has a second layer of cloth covering Hot Pants's chest. Hot Pants also has various accessories such as a fur cap decorated with a single spike at its top, furred elbow pads, and assorted leg warmers. She also wears a belt bearing the letters "HP".
Hot Pants keeps Cream Starter in two holsters located on both sides of her hip.
Color Schemes
Personality
Hot Pants is introduced as a rough and vindictive individual, accusing Johnny and Gyro of stealing her supplies and immediately attacking them upon their first meeting. Even when Johnny disproves Hot Pants's accusations, Hot Pants merely backs off and doesn't apologize for her attack, claiming that the duo was guilty of eating some of her meat anyway.[7] This behavior earns her a particular enmity from Gyro's part, who would see her as an enemy.[8][9]
Hot Pants speaks in a particularly rough and masculine manner despite her gender, for instance using the pronoun Ore (オレ) to refer to herself. This and her clothes allow her to pretend to be a man and perform her mission under an alias.
Hot Pants has a somewhat loose moral compass - she attacks, spares, and allies with potential competition at her leisure. For example, she heals Johnny and Gyro's life-threatening injuries after their fight with Sandman, but not before knocking Johnny out and taking his Corpse Parts.[10] Hot Pants often frames her temporary partnerships as mutually beneficial deals, for example providing Lucy with a disguise and helping her in battle, while still enlisting the young girl as a personal spy, and swaying Diego toward working together by promising information that would help him take revenge on his father.[11] However, she notably pays a few favors to Johnny Joestar, as the two seem to develop a quiet relationship of mutual respect despite their clashing goals - Johnny has kept her true identity and mission a secret from Gyro, while Hot Pants let Johnny keep his Stand by leaving a single vertebra from the Corpse Part after robbing him of the rest, and advised him to run away and leave both her and Gyro to die in their battle against Civil War.[12]
Hot Pants harbors great guilt. As a child, she and her younger brother were attacked by a bear and Hot Pants ultimately pushed her brother toward the bear to escape. Having kept her dark secret from everyone, Hot Pants became a nun to seek forgiveness from God and her brother.[13] She is dedicated to the search for the Saint's Corpse as she hopes that in gathering them, she will also be granted forgiveness from the Saint.[14] For instance, she shows a rare bliss when taking a Corpse Part[15] and is ready to risk her life against Funny Valentine. Despite being sent on the hunt for the Corpse Parts as a government agent of the Vatican, she seems to regard the search more as a path toward personal salvation.
Abilities
Stand
Hot Pants's Stand is Cream Starter; a handheld aerosol spray-like device, generating flesh as well as channeling her own; enabling her to distort and extend her body, and seal wounds.
Horseback Riding
Hot Pants is a skillful horseback rider and serious competitor in the Steel Ball Run race. Although she is not often seen riding, she has managed to always stay among the top racers in each of the stages she participated in (for instance ending at the sixth place during the first stage),[16] and she also won the third stage with a significant lead of one hour over the other top competitors.[17]
History
Background
When she was a child, Hot Pants went to collect nuts in the woods with her younger brother. Attacked by a grizzly bear, they hid in a rock crevice. Injured and scared, Hot Pants pushed her brother out of the crevice - saving herself at the price of his life. The people in her hometown were very kind to her and her parents after the "tragic accident", but Hot Pants became unable to bear the burden of the truth surrounding her brother's death.
Hot Pants left her home and joined a convent in Italy, becoming a nun in the hopes of earning forgiveness from God and her brother. At one undisclosed point in life, she acquired Cream Starter. Working for the Kingdom of Naples and the Vatican, she was then sent on a mission in the United States, participating in the Steel Ball Run to gather the Saint's Corpse under an alias. Her real name is unknown.[1]
Hot Pants remained among the top racers in the first and second stages of the Steel Ball Run but didn't make any waves until she finished the Third STAGE placing first. She arranges for a cow to be deposited on her route so she can slaughter and eat it.
Steel Ball Run
The World of Man
Hot Pants first appears at the beginning of the race's Fourth STAGE in a forest. She confronts Johnny and Gyro, accusing them of having killed the cow she's arranged for herself. Hot Pants attacks them both with her Stand Cream Starter. Cream Starters sprays flesh, which blinds and chokes Gyro and Johnny. Gyro uses his ability to punch Hot Pants's spine with his Steel Ball, and the Spin blocks her arms. Johnny defuses the fight by shooting a nail into the ground, proving that neither of them has the weapon that killed the cow. Hot Pants calls off her attack but doesn't apologize as the two still took meat from the cow. However, Hot Pants gets lost in the forest and meets Johnny and Gyro again, who are also lost. Gyro still hates Hot Pants but the three decide to cooperate to limit their time loss. They see a nearby house and decide to go ask the residents for directions.
However, the three also meet Gaucho, another competitor who is also lost but also expresses anger against the resident of the house, who said that they would have to kill him to ever go out of the woods. Gaucho shouts and challenges the inhabitant to a gun duel and the gunslinger named Ringo Roadagain appears. After a quick duel, Ringo kills Gaucho and salutes him. Shocked, the three leave and try to go out of the woods again without success. Resigned to fight, the trio prepares their fight and Hot Pants throws her Cream Starters onto the house's roof beforehand. They confront Ringo, who asks Johnny to be the first duelist. Hot Pants then attacks and melts Ringo's gun hand, but Ringo uses his Stand, Mandom, to rewind time to 6 seconds ago. He avoids the ambush. Johnny attacks but is shot in the head while Hot Pants is shot in the chest and taken out.
After the fight, Johnny discovers that Hot Pants is a woman when he checks for her heartbeat but inadvertently gropes her breasts.
Chasing the Corpse Parts
At the end of the fourth stage, in Kansas City, Hot Pants is seen meeting Norisuke Higashikata I at the waterpoint set up for the racers. She cuts in to take her water but politely lets Norisuke take it since he was there before. Norisuke tries to engage in conversation but eventually speaks about his double navels, which disgusts her. Norisuke sees through her disguise and agrees that it wouldn't be proper for her to touch them. Near the Mississippi, Hot Pants finds Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli, just out of a battle against Sandman. Gyro is unconscious and Johnny is exhausted from the fight, so Hot Pants uses this opportunity to knock out Johnny and take his Corpse Parts. However, she leaves a vertebra and helps them cross the Mississippi on a raft.
While searching the duo, Hot Pants doesn't find the right eye and deduces that they have a third collaborator who has it. Hot Pants drops out of the race in its sixth stage to further pursue the Corpse Parts. Hearing about a government search for a woman, Hot Pants finds Lucy Steel in Chicago and cooperates with her to take the Corpse Parts. She gives Lucy some meat spray from Cream Starter to change her appearance to infiltrate Valentine's compound, and two doses of sleeping agent hidden in her fingernails. She tells Lucy how to bring the corpse parts together using one of the eyes of the corpse. After Lucy is found out and ends up killing Scarlet, Hot Pants enters the compound to help her. Hot Pants ends up in the bathroom adjacent to Funny Valentine's bedroom and is seen by the agent Mike O.. The two fight and Mike O. uses his Stand Tubular Bells to control the metallic objects around them. Hot Pants detaches her hand to spray Mike O. at point-blank range but a metallic shutter cuts it off. Nonetheless, some of her flesh is sprayed on Mike O. and infiltrates his body. Hot Pants tells Lucy to stay still but it tips off Mike O. about her presence. With another shutter, Mike O. cuts off Hot Pant's other arm and destroys a stall, uncovering Lucy and the dead body of Scarlet Valentine. Furious, Mike O. steps inside the bathroom through the window but when he blows his nails, Hot Pants's ability triggers and makes his throat and lungs inflate if he tries to blow his weapons. Ultimately, Mike O.'s lungs and throat explode, causing him to die. Lucy has extracted unexpected Corpse Parts from Valentine and while Hot Pants can take the Heart and Ears, she cannot bring the Right Arm through the drain. Likewise, Lucy is trapped in the building. To save her, Hot Pants disguises Lucy as Scarlet and disposes of Scarlet's body in the Fox River, disguising her as Lucy and making it look like she drowned.
Hot Pants follows the race's route until she reaches Gettysburg. She is seen by Gyro and Johnny speeding toward the city and follow her to a garbage dump. However, she's then in her nun's habits and Gyro doesn't recognize her. Gyro ventures further inside the building while Johnny confronts her and reveals to Hot Pants that he knows her true gender. For the first time, she breaks down into tears as she tells Johnny that her Corpse Parts were taken by someone. At that moment, her deceased brother appears on her body due to Civil War. She says that the guilt has followed her even as she collected Corpse Parts, even when she became a nun in her hometown. She tells Johnny to run as the memory of her brother's death nearly consumes her. Axl RO is eventually defeated by Valentine, who steals all the Corpse Parts.
Pursuing Valentine
In Philadelphia, Hot Pants finds Diego in the river port. A short fight ensues during which Hot Pants tries to ambush Diego, only for Diego to sniff her out and leap to attack. Cream Starter covers Diego's mouth and nose and disables the small dinosaurs he sends. Hot Pants pins Diego and intends on incapacitating him with another flesh spray but Diego grabs her and merges her face with the flesh she's just sprayed. Seeing that the fight is going toward a dangerous mutual kill, Hot Pants sprays her mouth on the ground and calls for a truce. She explains that they use Lucy Steel's scent to trail the President and offers Diego everything that Valentine has while she takes the Saint's Corpse. Finally, she persuades Diego by mentioning that with the resources at her disposal, she can find Diego's father for him. Diego reluctantly accepts and they begin to follow Lucy's trail.
They arrive in a trainyard and see a train depart with Valentine in it and thus continue their pursuit. However, alternate Hot Pants and Diego fall from the train. The two Diegos leave to pursue the train, leaving Hot Pants and her counterpart facing each other awkwardly. The tension escalates between them and they attack at the same time, blinding each other with Cream Starter. They grab the same Cream Starter, but Hot Pants has the advantage of her horse and uses its flesh to preserve her hand and flee. However, the other Hot Pants pursues her on horseback. Hot Pants manages to board the train and Diego closes the door on their alternate selves, sending them out of this universe. They approach the President's car and formulate a plan. For her part, Hot Pants's guilt is out of control and she is ready to do anything to acquire the Saint's Corpse and earn forgiveness. Diego directly confronts Valentine in a close-quarters fight, using his superior speed to prevail while Hot Pants detaches her hand and controls it to ensure Valentine can't put himself between objects. Despite being heavily wounded, Valentine manages to splash water on himself and disappears. Valentine comes back, hitting Hot Pants from a drawer, and knocks her onto the ground, allowing two other Valentines to appear. However, Diego and Hot Pants enact their plan. Cream Starter disguises Diego as Valentine, confusing the Presidents and allowing Diego to instantly kill two of them. The remaining Valentine jumps through a window and manages to kill Diego and replace himself.
Hot Pants watches Lucy and marvels at the mosaic of the Corpse Parts on Lucy's body. However, the evolution of Valentine's Stand, D4C Love Train, finally takes form and causes further spatial anomalies. Hot Pants is the first to fall victim to the Stand's ability as multiple insects and a window frame merge with her, puncturing her heart, and inflicting a mortal wound. This causes Hot Pants to fly out of the moving train and tumble onto the ground, where she perishes.
Race Stats
| Steel Ball Run Race Statistics | ||
| Stage | Placement | Points |
|---|---|---|
| First | 6th | 25 |
| Second | 5th | 30 |
| Third | 1st | 100 |
| Fourth | 7th | 20 |
| Fifth | 3rd | 40 |
Hot Pants drops out in the sixth stage, with a total of 215 points and one extra hour of time.
Chapters
Manga Appearances- Steel Ball Run Chapter 12: 1st Stage: Disqualified from Victory (Mentioned only)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 15: The Desert Born Outlaws, Part 1 (Mentioned only)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 31: Scary Monsters, Part 4 (Mentioned only)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 32: 3rd Stage Goal: Cañon City
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 33: The World of Man, Part 1
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 34: The World of Man, Part 2
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 35: The World of Man, Part 3
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 36: The Green Tomb, Part 1
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 39: Catch the Rainbow (On a Stormy Night...), Part 2 (Mentioned only)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 40: Silent Way, Part 1
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 41: Silent Way, Part 2
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 42: Silent Way, Part 3 (Mentioned only)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 43: Silent Way, Part 4 (Mentioned only)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 44: Silent Way, Part 5
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 45: The Promised Land: Sugar Mountain, Part 1 (Mentioned only)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 47: The Promised Land: Sugar Mountain, Part 3 (Cover only)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 49: Tubular Bells, Part 2 (Flashback)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 50: Tubular Bells, Part 3
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 51: Wrecking Ball, Part 1 (Mentioned only)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 52: Wrecking Ball, Part 2 (Mentioned only)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 56: Civil War, Part 1
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 57: Civil War, Part 2
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 59: A Dream of Gettysburg
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 60: Both Sides Now, Part 1 (Mentioned only)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 62: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Mentioned only)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 64: Chocolate Disco, Part 1 (Description only)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 73: D4C, Part 6
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 74: D4C, Part 7
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 75: D4C, Part 8
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 76: D4C, Part 9
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 77: D4C, Part 10 (Death)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 78: D4C, Part 11 -Love Train- (Mentioned only)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 84: Ball Breaker, Part 2 (Flashback)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 88: Break My Heart, Break Your Heart, Part 1 (Mentioned only)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 91: High Voltage, Part 2 (Mentioned only)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 95: The World of Stars and Stripes - Outro (Flashback)
Quotes
Quotes- “Good day to you both. Let’s skip the chit-chat and get straight to the point. I will now hang you both from this tree.”—Hot Pants, Steel Ball Run Chapter 33: The World of Man, Part 1
- “You two aren’t bad people. If you were, I’d already have killed you.”—Hot Pants, Steel Ball Run Chapter 33: The World of Man, Part 1
- “I didn’t soil your good name… I soiled your face with my meat spray.”—Hot Pants, Steel Ball Run Chapter 50: Tubular Bells, Part 3
- “There’s no need for you to die shamefully. Just die peacefully as you are.”—Hot Pants, Steel Ball Run Chapter 50: Tubular Bells, Part 3
- “Johnny, I can’t bear this any longer. Even when I became a member of the church… even when I became a child of God, it didn’t work… Because I sacrificed him… My heart can’t take it anymore…”—Hot Pants, Steel Ball Run Chapter 56: Civil War, Part 1
- “I can’t bear it anymore… the sin I committed… that sin feels like It’s going to destroy me… The only thing that can soothe and cleanse my sin is that corpse. And the act of obtaining the corpse is the for the sake of the people of this world’s righteous heart… For that end, I will defeat the President or whomever it may be! This time… I will sacrifice my life.”—Hot Pants, Steel Ball Run Chapter 75: D4C, Part 8
Video Games
Eyes of Heaven (PS3/PS4)
Hot Pants appears in Eyes of Heaven as a support in Story Mode. She has one voice line, performed by Megumi Toyoguchi.
Gallery
Embracing several corpse parts after procuring them from various opponents
Confronting Mike O.
Attacking with Cream Starter
Hot Pants in nun's garbs
Hot Pants gets attacked by Civil War
Hot Pants panics and sacrifices her brother
Silencing Diego Brando with her Stand ability
Diego and Hot Pants encounter their alternate versions from D4C's ability
Warned by Diego that meeting with their alternate selves will annihilate them.
Hot Pants battles herself
Shocked, upon seeing the state Lucy Steel is in
SBR Chapter 47 Cover
SBR Chapter 57 Cover
SBR Chapter 75 Cover
SBR Volume 7 Cover
SBR Volume 7 Illustration
SBR Volume 8 Cover
SBR Volume 8 Illustration
SBR Volume 15 Cover
SBR Volume 15 Illustration
Steel Ball Run Volume Spine Art
SBR Chapter 56 Tailpiece
SBR Chapter 75 Tailpiece
SBR Chapter 34 Tailpiece
Voice track in Eyes of Heaven
Ultra Jump 2006 Issue #1 (Cover)
By Naoto Tenhiro (Sister Princess artist) for Volume 100.5
Trivia
- The revelation of her true gender is an homage to works like Shakespeare in Love or The Rose of Versailles.[18]
- Hot Pants's Japanese voice actress in Eyes of Heaven, Megumi Toyoguchi, would later voice Tomoko Higashikata in the Part 4 TV anime.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Steel Ball Run Chapter 33: The World of Man, Part 1
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 64: Chocolate Disco, Part 1
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 50: Tubular Bells, Part 3, p.58
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 56: Civil War, Part 1
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Steel Ball Run Chapter 57: Civil War, Part 2
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 94: The World of Stars and Stripes
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 33: The World of Man, Part 1, p.4-24
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 33: The World of Man, Part 1, p.40
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 36: The Green Tomb, Part 1, p.8
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 44: Silent Way, Part 5, p.47-49
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 73: D4C, Part 6, p.31-32
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 57: Civil War, Part 2, p.15
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 57: Civil War, Part 2, p.19-21
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 75: D4C, Part 8, p.5
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 44: Silent Way, Part 5, p.60
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 12: 1st Stage: Disqualified from Victory
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 32: 3rd Stage Goal: Cañon City
- ↑ Eureka (November 2007)
