Esidisi

"Hmm... that gaze of yours, it has become piercing! But men with a look like that in their eyes die quickly when they run into me."

- Esidisi to Joseph Joestar,

Esidisi (エシディシ) is a primary antagonist featured in the second part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Battle Tendency. He is the second highest ranked Pillar Man after Kars and battles the Ripple users for the possession of the Red Stone of Aja.

Appearance
Esidisi's appearance is that of a tall and very well-built man. He has light hair, protruding in a bouffant tuft from under a tall headpiece. A dark painted or tattooed X mark spans his face, joined at the bridge of his nose, touching the middle of his forehead and jaw. He commonly wears a nose ring in his right nostril, and great, thick hoop earrings. His brow rests in a sinister scowl.

During his fight with Joseph, his top is bare save for leather-like patches stitched to his skin at his shoulders and chest.

Personality
"It is still a little soon for you to have the right to fight me! 2000 years ago, I devoured so many Ripple users like you that I got sick of it!"

- Esidisi to Joseph,

Like Wamuu and Kars, Esidisi is a confident and violent Pillar Man.

As a Pillar Man, Esidisi is very confident in his powers and abilities and sees humans as an inferior species. He is particularly smug towards Joseph and enjoyed outwitting him. Although he is highly intelligent, Esidisi is prone to overconfidence and was tricked by a double-layered trap lain by Joseph. Esidisi also has a tendency to gloat and explains his moves to the enemy if he thinks he's won. The one time he let his anger get the better of him was also when Joseph decisively outwitted him and he was furious that a human had dared to win against him. Otherwise, Esidisi is very affable and acts calm a majority of the time, tranquilly assessing the situation before taking action. For unknown reasons, he calmly swallowed a lit dynamite stick, letting it explode in his stomach.

Like his brethren, Esidisi has no problem murdering humans if it suits his goals, and thought little of Loggins' death. He also created an attack revolving around injecting his scalding blood into his victims to boil them from the inside and has shown he looked forward to Joseph's screams of despair, indicating a measure of sadism. Esidisi states that he has a more violent temperament than his comrades and has devised a peculiar calming mechanism: instead of getting angry, Esidisi lets out his frustration by throwing a tantrum and sobbing in a dramatic fashion. This also serves as an unsettling destabilization tactic.

Esidisi is Kars's oldest comrade and he believed in Kars's quest of taming the sun to the point he participated in the genocide of his own tribe and tagged along Kars for millennia. Esidisi never loses sight of his goal, and will always act to get the Red Stone of Aja. Esidisi's devotion to Kars's goals is so adamant that he would gladly lower himself to bring them to fruition, as Joseph noted to be the Pillar Man's motivation for possessing the defenseless Suzi Q.

Personal
Master Strategist: Despite his violent temper, Esidisi is a brilliant tactician, being able to see through Joseph's deception and even managing to thwart his insidious plans using his own, something no other villain in the series demonstrated. Esidisi also traveled to China and is knowledgeable about 's Art of War, including his theory "all warfare is based on deception".

Background
Esidisi is a member of the race known as the Pillar Men. One of the few to not object to Kars's ideals, he was spared from their clan's genocide and became right hand man to Kars. Esidisi accompanied Kars to the old world to find a flawless Red Stone of Aja, briefly ending up in China, where he learned of Sun Tzu, before his group's search brought them to Rome. There, the Pillar Men battled Ripple users before entering a hibernation state under the Roman Colosseum. The wall that Esidisi and the others embedded themselves in was booby trapped to impale potential prey for nourishment as seen with Mario Zeppeli. At some point, the Nazi learn of the Pillar Men and made attempts to study them before deeming them a threat to the rising Third Reich.

Awakening
Esidisi is scolded with Kars after Wamuu disposes of the German soldiers. They prepare to leave but when Kars steps on Wamuu's shadow, the younger Pillar Man attacks by reflex and Esisidi scolds him for his impudence. However, Kars apologizes. When the human Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli attacks, the Pillar Men realize that the Ripple Clan has returned to hinder them. Caesar is easily defeated and Esidisi mocks his meaningless determination alongside his fellow Pillar Men. Joseph Joestar steps in but makes a spectacle of himself with his new Ripple clackers. Amused, Esidisi and Kars leave Wamuu behind to dispose of this amusing human.

Esidisi crosses paths with Joseph and Wamuu as they exit the Colosseum in a mine cart. In desperation, Joseph bluffs Wamuu into giving him a month to train for a worth-while battle. Intrigued by Wamuu placing a wedding ring inside the human's heart, Esidisi ups the ante by placing his own ring around Joseph's throat, mentioning that the poison's antidote is in his nose ring. The Pillar Men then set out in search for the Red Stone of Aja.

Esidisi vs Joseph
Almost a month later, Esidisi discovers the location of the Red Stone of Aja and heads to Air Supplena Island in Venice. Once there, Esidisi kills Loggins as he was preparing for Joseph's final test.

When Joseph arrives, he challenges Esidisi and the two face each other on an arena covered in sharp spikes. Sensing Joseph's growth but confident, Esidisi attacks but Joseph stops him with a finger and pierces his palm with the Ripple. Impressed, Esidisi can still grab Joseph's fist and tries to twist his arm. Joseph vaults above Esidisi to break free and ties a string around Esidisi's arm. Joseph yanks the string, slicing Esidisi's arm and destroying it with a Ripple kick. Surprisingly, the Pillar Man momentarily breaks down in tears and sobs to keep his murderous rage under control. Once recomposed, Esidisi reveals in-depth knowledge of Sun Tzu's Art of War, proceeding to take Loggins' arm as his own while subjecting the corpse to his boiling blood to psychologically shock Joseph. Shaken, Joseph hastily attacks, leaving himself exposed to his Erratic Blaze King Mode. Extracting his own veins our of his fingers, Esidisi splashes his boiling blood at Joseph's face, forcing him to take out his mask. Joseph yells in anger, but again Esidisi sees that it is a mere distraction. The Pillar Man willingly impales his body on the spikes to create as many holes as possible and lets many veins out of his body. Joseph avoids the veins, but Esidisi sees the strings that Joseph laid out in front of him in time, and cuts them with his toes' veins. Esidisi surrounds Joseph with his veins but Joseph reveals that he's used a to hide a second string behind Esidisi. Esidisi is tied and Joseph burns him with the Ripple. Furious, Esidisi reveals his horn and attacks, but Joseph breaks it. Esidisi's body releases a lot of energy that illuminate the arena before his body crumbles.

Esidisi's demise
Despite his apparent death, Esidisi is merely reduced to a disembodied nervous system that latches onto the unsuspecting Joseph's back. That way, he's able to sneak inside of Lisa Lisa's quarters. He takes over the body of Suzi Q, using her to mail the Super Aja to Switzerland before revealing himself in Lisa Lisa's balcony.

When Caesar arrives, Esidisi is able to kick the unaware Ripple user out of the way and blocks the door with Suzi Q's body. The Pillar Man attempts to stall the Ripple users by using Suzi as a literal human shield before deciding to turn her into a "boiling blood bomb" to kill everyone. However, Joseph and Caesar team up to send a Ripple attack from two extremities of Suzi Q's body and her back, their Ripples cancelling each other out to safely remove Esidisi without any harm coming to the girl. Esidisi attempts to cling onto Joseph but is shortly finished off by the sunlight. Despite being enemies, Joseph gives his respect to the Pillar Man.

Famicom Jump: Hero Retsuden (NES)
Esidisi appears as one of the thirteen rivals who challenges the player's party during the RPG-like final battle. His attacks are "Heat Mode" and "Blazing King's Giant Wheel" and his special ability "It's not faaaaair!" boosts his attack power by 1.5 once his health is below 100.

Due to the game's release date being around the time Part 2 only reaching the portion prior to Esidisi's battle against Joseph, only Santana and Esidisi appear as the enemies faced during the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure part of the game, leaving out Kars and Wamuu.

Heritage for the Future (PS1/DC/Arcade
There is concept art of Esidisi, indicating that he was originally set to appear in the game during development.

All-Star Battle (PS3)
Esidisi makes his first appearance as a playable character in All-Star Battle, confirmed alongside Caesar Zeppeli. In the English release of the game, Esidisi's Flame Mode is renamed "Heat Control Mode".

Since Esidisi never exactly fought extensively in Part 2 (he was only shown fighting Joseph), most of his normal attacks consist of punches and kicks. Along with Wamuu and Kars, Esidisi uses the Mode Style as part of his moveset, which allows him to temporarily boost his strength and performance among other things, at the cost of the Heart Heat Gauge.

Vampire characters (Dio Brando, DIO and Vanilla Ice) and Pillar Men characters (Wamuu, Esidisi and Kars) can't fight on stages that contain sunlight. To play on those stages they need to be equipped with the Red Stone of Aja on the character select screen, which is unlocked by beating their respective parts in Story Mode.

Moveset
Esidisi has 900 HP.

During a fight, Esidisi can use several different attacks that were featured in Battle Tendency.

Esidisi is a fighter who performs best at mid-range, as more of his skills can strike at a distance than not, and are fairly fast to boot. If he can force the opponent to approach, his mix-up skills offer methods to bypass their defenses, leading into powerful combos that efficiently generate Heart Heat. Esidisi's Heat Control Mode makes him tremendously threatening once activated, improving his offensive aspects with faster speed, larger range, and greater damage. This renders his attacks more potent in neutral and massively expands his combo potential. Erratic Blaze King Mode compounds said enhancements by allowing Esidisi to inflict passive damage over time so long as the opponent remains within range, and thus works well when added to extended combos.

However, his greatest strength is also a weakness, and Esidisi is arguably more reliant on his Modes than his fellow Pillar Men to be effective. While not in either Mode, most of his skills are slow and linear, making them situational against foes with good reaction time and difficult for his mix-up attempts to succeed. Defensively, his best reversals become unreliable due to lowered speed, and he may have trouble shaking an aggressive opponent. His best combos also lie within his Modes and involve a large investment of Heart Heat. As such, their longwinded nature results in a massive loss if he drops them, and good Heart Heat management is necessary for him to remain strong.

From his wealth of ranged attacks to his fiery-hot aura, Esidisi is capable of constantly exerting damage and pressure onto his opponent within his large effective range. Should he close the distance and enter his Modes, he is then able to remove vast amounts of his foe's health through his lengthy combos.

Trivia

 * If Esidisi, Wamuu or Kars fight in the Skeleton Heel Stone stage, the crowd will shout their names, recreating the scene in Part 2. In Esidisi's case, this is the first instance in JoJo media his name has been chanted by the crowd.
 * When Retired with an attack that does not result in a knockdown or knockback, Esidisi's brain will tear itself out of his body before evaporating, referencing his demise in the series.
 * When caught in Jolyne's "The best angle to strike from!" move, Esidisi performs the same pose as when he was caught by Joseph's own string trap.
 * Naturally, Esidisi shares special introductions with the entire cast of Part 2.

Stardust Shooters (Android/iOS)
Esidisi appears as one of the Part 2 characters who possess a Metal Striker, and also as the one of the bosses faced in the events for the Part 2 Story Mode.

His FINISH move makes several of his Blood Vessels appear and attack the defeated opponent's Metal Striker.

Eyes of Heaven (PS3/PS4)
Esidisi returns as a playable character in Eyes of Heaven, he was confirmed alongside the other Pillar Men, Kars and Wamuu.

As a Pillar Man, Esidisi has the special ability Switch Mode, exclusive to the Mode style. His specific Mode is Heat Control Mode. He is also able to stand and walk on the spike pit in the Air Supplena Island stage without taking damage (though he will still take extra damage if knocked down onto the spikes).


 * Style Action - Heat Control Mode: Esidisi generates a high-temperature field around himself that sets opponents on fire, causing them to take gradual damage while they remain within range. His Normal and Powerful attacks perform quicker, his basic combos are given additional steps involving his veins, and all skills are enhanced.
 * I can fire blood heated to 500 °C!: Esidisi fires off his flaming blood in ball-like projectiles. Opponents hit by the blood will be set on fire and crumple, open to further attack. The blood will linger on the ground as pools if they hit the ground. In Heat Control Mode, the damage of the blood is increased. Both the regular and the EX version of this ability can damage downed enemies.
 * Of note is that the in-game description of this skill erroneously states that the blood will only linger in Heat Control Mode.
 * I can already see right through your plans!: Esidisi sends veins from his feet across the ground, stunning and drawing in opponents caught. The longer the activating button is held, the farther the veins will travel. In Heat Control Mode, the veins become unblockable and sets opponent's on fire.
 * Think fast!: Esidisi performs a powerful kick, striking opponents in the abdomen and making them go limp if it lands. After sucking blood to restore some health, Esidisi sends the opponent off with the other leg in a roudhouse-style jump kick. In Heat Control Mode, the attack becomes unblockable and the second kick sets off a small explosion, setting his opponent on fire.
 * I can't take it anymore!: Esidisi openly and dramatically bawls for a moment before suddenly composing himself. Using this skill cuts the cooldown on his Flash Burst by up to half, and restores one of his Flash Cancels if they've been used.
 * EX - I can already see right through your plans!: The execution of the skill and Esidisi's recovery from using it is made quicker.
 * EX - I can fire blood heated to 500 °C!: The skill executes quicker.
 * Dual Heat Attack - Burned to a crisp!: It works the same as the one from All-Star Battle.

JoJolities

 * Aah, that feels good...: Esidisi must perform "I can't take it anymore!". (200 Points)
 * You just got scared of me, didn't you?: Esidisi must connect "Think fast!" twice. (200 Points)
 * You're a long way away from being ready to fight me!: Esidisi must Retire an opponent. (300 Points)
 * I am Esidisi of the Flames!: Esidisi must perform and connect the extra final step of his normal ground combo granted during Heat Control Mode. (500 Points)
 * My opponents don't live long!: Esidisi must win within 50 counts of the battle timer. (800 Points)

If paired against Avdol the two will note their similar abilities and they wonder who's fire powers are superior.

If paired with Kars, Esidisi will ask where Wamuu is, and Kars will reply that although he is out looking for the Red Stone, the two of them should be more than enough to deal with their opponents.

In an interaction with Old Joseph, Esidisi seems to be able to detect Joseph's Stand with Joseph believing that Esidisi senses the Stand Energy from his body.

Unlike the previous game, Esidisi's main color scheme is now based off his appearance in the anime.

Tournament
He is paired with Mariah in the Eyes of Heaven Tournament, defeating Rudol von Stroheim and Okuyasu Nijimura in the first round, and Narancia Ghirga and Diego Brando in the second. In the semifinals, they were eliminated by Jotaro Kujo and DIO in the first round.

Gallery
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