Rudol von Stroheim
Rudol von Stroheim (ルドル・フォン・シュトロハイム, Rudoru fon Shutorohaimu) is a primary ally featured in the second part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Battle Tendency.
Stroheim is introduced as a Nazi Major researching and experimenting on the Pillar Man, Santana. After a close call with death, he is eventually repurposed as a cyborg and promoted to a Colonel. His unit cooperates with the Speedwagon Foundation and the Ripple users to stop the threat of the Pillar Men.
Appearance
Stroheim is a tall, well-built man with defined cheek bones and a strong jawline. He has a flattop haircut that appears particularly wide. In the anime, his eyes are a greenish-blue compared to the colored version of the manga where his eyes appear to be a vibrant blue.
As part of the German military, he wears the army uniform, consisting of a Model 1936 tunic and a peaked cap known as a Schirmmütze. His cap has a stylized eagle (Parteiadler) emblem in the center.
Later, he acquires complex metallic cybernetic prosthetic implants, such as the facial corset surrounding his right eye, which is additionally covered by a sort of monocle. His arms and entire abdomen are replaced, with his torso housing a powerful machine gun.
Color Schemes
Personality
Rudol von Stroheim is a cruel and callous Nazi Major of the Waffen-SS. His introduction paints him as a comically sadistic man. He orders a woman to lick his wound clean only for him to threaten to cut her tongue shortly after with the shaving razor,[5] executes Mexican civilians for a blood extraction experiment,[6] and uses a serum to forcibly extract information from Speedwagon.[7] He is also quite overconfident and a bit too arrogant in his own schemes to account for failure.[8]
Stroheim has a certain respect for strength, believing only the great should live.[6] He displays bravery when the situation calls for it, but otherwise he's in a state of panic.[9][10][11] He is willing to sacrifice himself for Nazi Germany, going as far as to blow himself up to stop Santana from escaping.[12] Even Joseph is shocked to see how willing he is to show his guts.[13] He assists Joseph and his entourage, and his involvement in the final battle is critical to Kars and his vampire army's defeat.[14][15]
Stroheim's key trait is his enthusiastic nationalism. He is very prideful of Nazi Germany, and boasts about its technological superiority often.[16][17] He is particularly proud of his cyborg body and notably taunts Kars about its strength being greater than Santana's.[18][19] He is arrogantly confident about the strength of his country, yet he does have his failures down the line despite his confidence. He underestimates all of his enemies, and the failure of the Nazi army to contain the Pillar Men nearly dooms the world.[20][21]
Abilities
As a Major in the SS, Stroheim is seemingly a competent leader of his battalion. He commands with ease and confidently believes in his ability to succeed no matter what. In the most dire situations, Stroheim's eminent pride in Nazi Germany will make him sacrifice himself to further its aims with little hesitation.
In terms of combat expertise, it is presumed he is capable of performing the most basic of military skills with ease, including assembling and disassembling military weapons, and making efficient use of said weapons. He is also very acrobatic, as seen when he effortlessly hurdles over the stairs to open the door to let Joseph bring Santana into the sunlight.
Weapons
Thanks to his mechanical parts, Stroheim is gifted with superhuman strength. He can crush an object with his hand at a pressure of 1,950 kg (4,300 lb) per centimeter squared, which is roughly double of what was Santana's strength. For instance, he can easily tear apart some of Kars's hand and crush a golf ball with surprising ease.
The Ultraviolet Radiation Apparatus is one of Stroheim's hidden weapons. Inside Stroheim's mechanized eye is a small laser cannon capable of firing a concentrated beam of Ultraviolet light. The beam itself is five times more intense than a set of typical ultraviolet lights and was able to pierce straight through Kars's hand.
Built by the technical department of the Speedwagon Foundation specifically as an anti-vampire device, Stroheim is able to fire out powerful blasts of ultraviolet light from apparatuses located on each side of his shoulders. As miniaturized searchlights, they pack the same power as the original, but are light enough to carry with ease. Stroheim used these cannons during the final battle against Kars, where he, along with his team, fought back against the army of vampires.
History
The Pillar Man, Santana
Stroheim is a Nazi SS officer who accepts the mission of going to Mexico and study one of the Pillar Men, thinking it is a quick way to earn a promotion. Taking over a luxurious hacienda in the desert, Stroheim makes it his personal fortress and laboratory, where he is free to torment the servants. Stroheim takes an injured Robert E. O. Speedwagon to his base. To quickly acquire the needed information regarding the Pillar Men and Speedwagon's own life, he uses a truth serum.
Stroheim orders preparation for the experiment to begin. He orders a Vampire starved and locked to test the Pillar Man and visits the prisoners' cell, where locals are put to be later used as food. One prisoner tries to attack him but Stroheim puts a broken pencil in his mouth and uppercuts him. Impressed when a young boy wants to sacrifice himself, Stroheim congratulates him and spares him; instead he orders his guards to execute everyone else. Showing off the cell that is specially designed to contain the Pillar Man, Stroheim begins the injection of blood in the pillar, waking up the man. Dubbing the individual "Santana" after the warm winds of Mexico, Stroheim is initially amused to see him slip on the wet ground, thinking of Santana as a primitive being. He sics the starved Vampire on Santana, but witness with fear Santana effortlessly absorb the Vampire. Still confident in his cell, Stroheim is nonetheless shocked to hear Santana speak the modern language. Suddenly, Santana disappears. It is shown that the Pillar Man could twist his body to fit inside of a small opening leading to an air duct.
Santana reappears in the control room and possesses a German soldier. Seeing that the experiment is now out of his control, Stroheim orders his men to fire but the possessed soldier shoots the bullets back at them with his fingers. Thankfully, Joseph Joestar reveals himself and protects both Stroheim and Speedwagon. Stroheim witnesses Joseph battle Santana but eventually, Joseph is too tired to drag the Pillar Man to the surface. Stroheim steps in and leaps to open the door, only to be hindered by pieces of Santana. Out of options, Stroheim tells Joseph to cut off his leg with an axe hanged on the wall nearby to free him and allow him to open the door to the surface, and the sun. Joseph reluctantly does so, allowing Stroheim to expose Santana to the sun. However, Santana then enters his body through his leg stump. Cornered, Stroheim eventually sacrifices himself by setting off a grenade against him. Before this, Stroheim takes the take to warn Joseph about three other Pillar Men hidden in Rome and of a contact Speedwagon knows.
Stroheim's Unit Strikes Back
Thanks to Nazi science, Colonel Stroheim is revived with cybernetic parts, which heavy weaponry and a strength designed to take on someone like Santana. He is deployed in Switzerland with another unit of soldiers and intercepts the Red Stone of Aja during a train delivery; satisfied, he puts the Stone in his pocket. He also spots the heroes and invites them to his chalet, keeping his identity a secret for the moment. That night, Kars enters the chalet. Stroheim confronts him in the living room just as Joseph barges in. Showing off his strength, Stroheim confidently takes on the Pillar Man and uses his stomach machine gun. However, Kars decides to fight seriously and easily cuts the cyborg in half. Kars takes the Red Stone of Aja, but Stroheim reveals an eye laser he shoots Kars with, making him drop the Stone. Thankfully, Joseph and the Ripple user manage to keep it. Stroheim is sent away for repairs.
The Birth of a Superbeing
Stroheim appears yet again at the Piz Berlina Ruins after being reconstructed with the help of the Speedwagon Foundation science division. He, his unit of soldiers and a whole group of agents from the Speedwagon Foundation save Joseph from Kars's vampire army just as Joseph was getting overwhelmed. Kars is defeated by Joseph soon after and is sent falling onto a spikes below, where Stroheim and his division blast him with ultraviolet light. They fail to realize, however, that Kars had donned a Stone Mask with the Aja and are dumbstruck when he achieves his ultimate form and begins killing them off with a squirrel formed from his right hand.
After Joseph hijacks a Nazi aircraft to lure Kars away, Stroheim reveals himself in the side wing of the plane just before it goes plummeting into an active volcano. After pinning Kars to the front end of the aircraft by shooting his rocket fist at him, he pulls Joseph out of the plane and cushions their fall by sacrificing his cybernetic legs. Stroheim is left helpless as Kars is shown to survive the crash in the lava, but fortunately, Joseph makes the volcano erupts when Kars' Ripple collides with the Red Stone of Aja, launching both Joseph and him into the air. Stroheim eventually returns to the rest of the group and reports Joseph's supposed death.
Aftermath
After the battle with Kars, Stroheim had Joseph Joestar's severed left hand replaced with a mechanical one as a gift but he never meets Joseph again. He dies at the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943.
Eyes of Heaven
When Heaven-Attained DIO begins to rewrite reality, Stroheim is among the first few heroes brainwashed to fight for him.
He and Lisa Lisa both become servants of DIO and attack the heroes as Jotaro Kujo and Joseph Joestar travel through time and space to 1939, in Air Supplena Island. The younger Joseph and Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli beat them, but Stroheim escapes.
Later, Stroheim is sent in alongside a brainwashed Okuyasu Nijimura to the Rocky Mountains Village in 1980in the Steel Ball Run universe where the heroes are gathering the pieces of the Saint's Corpse. Joseph and Josuke Higashikata beat them and are able to restore them. From that point on, Stroheim joins the party of heroes trying to gather the Saint's Corpse's parts. However, DIO springs a trap and Stroheim is among the 36 souls that he absorbs to attain even greater power.
Fortunately Jotaro defeats Heaven-Attained DIO once and for once, altering fate for the better.
Chapters / Episodes
- Chapter 52: Straizo vs. Joseph, Part 5
- Chapter 53: The Pillar Man
- Chapter 54: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 1
- Chapter 55: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 2
- Chapter 56: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 3
- Chapter 57: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 4
- Chapter 58: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 5
- Chapter 59: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 6
- Chapter 60: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 7
- Chapter 61: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 8 (Apparent death)
- Chapter 62: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 9 (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 65: Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times, Part 1 (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 82: The Remains Lurk, Part 2 (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 84: Stroheim's Unit Strikes Back, Part 2
- Chapter 85: Stroheim's Unit Strikes Back, Part 3
- Chapter 86: Light Mode Kars, Part 1
- Chapter 87: Light Mode Kars, Part 2
- Chapter 88: Caesar: A Lonely Youth, Part 1 (Cover only)
- Chapter 106: The Bond That Binds Lisa Lisa and JoJo, Part 2
- Chapter 107: JoJo: The Final Ripple, Part 1
- Chapter 108: JoJo: The Final Ripple, Part 2
- Chapter 109: Kars the Superbeing is Born, Part 1
- Chapter 111: Joseph's Final Gamble
- Chapter 112: The Man Who Became a God
- Chapter 113: The Man Who Crossed the Atlantic (Mentioned only) (Death)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 11: Master of the Game
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 12: The Pillar Man
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 13: JoJo vs. the Ultimate Being (Apparent death)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 14: Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times (Mentioned only)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 18: Stroheim's Unit Strikes Back
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 19: Race Toward the Cliff of Death
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 23: The Warrior Returns to the Wind
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 24: The Bond That Binds JoJo
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 25: The Birth of a Superbeing!!
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 26: The Man Who Became a God (Death)
- Purple Haze Feedback Chapter 5: mi votu e mi rivotu (Mentioned only)
Quotes
- “Kid! Our races may be different but I respect those like you who have courage! Only the great should live!... Kill everyone besides him.”—Rudol von Stroheim, Chapter 53: The Pillar Man
- “I may not seem it but I'm a proud German soldier. I was already prepared for this when I accepted this mission! I'm different from you cowardly British wimps. I'd easily give up 2 or 3 limbs for my country!”—Rudol von Stroheim, Chapter 60: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 7
- “The greatness of humans is when they face fear with pride.”—Rudol von Stroheim quoting Plutarque, Chapter 61: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 8
- “You fool! Nazi science is the greatest in the world! (ブァカ者がァアアアアナチスの科学は世界一チィィィィ!!)”—Rudol von Stroheim, Chapter 85: Stroheim's Unit Strikes Back, Part 3
- “My body is the result of the most advanced technology of the German people and I'm proud of iiit!! In other words, I'm above every other human being!!”—Rudol von Stroheim, Chapter 85: Stroheim's Unit Strikes Back, Part 3
Gallery
Trivia
- Stroheim's hair and eventual monocled visage appear to be based on an illustration by Antonio Lopez.[22]
References
- ↑ [citation needed]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chapter 113: The Man Who Crossed the Atlantic
- ↑ Chapter 52: Straizo vs. Joseph, Part 5
- ↑ Chapter 84: Stroheim's Unit Strikes Back, Part 2
- ↑ Chapter 52: Straizo vs. Joseph, Part 5 P.14.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 53: The Pillar Man P.9.
- ↑ Chapter 53: The Pillar Man P.6.
- ↑ Chapter 54: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 1 P.3.
- ↑ Chapter 56: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 3 P.19.
- ↑ Chapter 58: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 5 P.14.
- ↑ Chapter 85: Stroheim's Unit Strikes Back, Part 3 P.18.
- ↑ Chapter 61: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 8 P.16.
- ↑ Chapter 60: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 7 P.17.
- ↑ Chapter 106: The Bond That Binds Lisa Lisa and JoJo, Part 2 P.5.
- ↑ Chapter 111: Joseph's Final Gamble
- ↑ Chapter 85: Stroheim's Unit Strikes Back, Part 3 P.9.
- ↑ Chapter 86: Light Mode Kars, Part 1 P.5.
- ↑ Chapter 85: Stroheim's Unit Strikes Back, Part 3 P.10.
- ↑ Chapter 86: Light Mode Kars, Part 1 P.7.
- ↑ Chapter 64: The Red Stone of Aja P.5.
- ↑ Chapter 108: JoJo: The Final Ripple, Part 2 P.14-17.
- ↑ ジョジョのパクリ糾弾スレテンプレその1 - アントニオロペス(スペインのファッションイラストレーター)