Rudol von Stroheim

"You fool! Nazi science is the greatest in the world!"

- Stroheim about his cyborg body

Rudol von Stroheim (ルドル・フォン・シュトロハイム) is a primary ally featured in the second part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Battle Tendency.

Stroheim is introduced as a Nazi researching and experimenting on the Pillar Man, Santana. After a close call with death, he is eventually repurposed as a and promoted to a. 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 masculine facial features. He has a haircut that appears particularly wide.

As part of the German military, he wears the army uniform, consisting of a and a  known as a Schirmmütze. His cap has a stylized eagle emblem in the center.

Later, he acquires complex metallic cybernetic prosthetic implants, such as the section of his face surrounding his right eye, which is additionally covered by a sort of. His arms and entire abdomen are replaced, with his torso housing a powerful machine gun.

Personality
"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

When Stroheim is first introduced, he is a callous and cruel  who has the foolish idea to experiment with the Stone Mask in order to further the power of the. During his mission in Mexico, Stroheim commits several heinous misdeeds such as capturing locals and forcibly turn them into guinea pigs for his vampire experiments (including women and children), or threatening to cut a maid's tongue for slightly cutting him during a shave.

However, upon being threatened with Santana's rampage, he also demonstrates bravery and does not hesitate when trapped in asking Joseph to cut off his leg; or blow himself up with a grenade to kill the invading Santana. This is seen once again when Stroheim gives him a helping hand in defeating Kars and helping Joseph drive him into the volcano with an airplane. Stroheim maintained his bravery up until the Battle of Stalingrad, 1943, where he is said to have fought bravely and died.

Likewise, Stroheim respects courage from others, no matter what ethnicity the individual may belong to. His appreciation for valor is seen when he spares one Mexican boy for being willing to sacrifice himself for his cellmates; on the other hand he executed the rest of the prisoners for not having the same spirit, making the boy's sacrifice moot.

Stroheim is an enthusiastic nationalist. He is particularly proud of his cyborg body; praising "Nazi science" and generally loudly boasting about the Nazis given the occasion. His pride occasionally grows into overconfidence and arrogance. Because of it, Stroheim tends to both overestimate himself or his technology and underestimate how formidable the Pillar Men are. Thus, three times during the story, a Pillar Man gets the better of him; first Santana easily escapes his cell and attacks him, then his cyborg body is also defeated by Kars and finally Stroheim rushing to finish Kars in the battle of the Piz Berlina Ruins allows the Pillar Man to return the UV light against the humans and turn into the Ultimate Thing. On a regular basis, Stroheim also loudly laughs at his foes and point his finger at them when they are in a position of weakness.

Profile
As a in the SS, Stroheim is capable of leading his own battalion, as well as any members of the party of lower rank. To this end, Stroheim enforces his rank with a strong sense of pride and most of time, his word is law. As a capable leader, Stroheim often initiates attacks upon command, though the logic behind them usually varies depending on the level of abnormality of the enemy. When cornered, Stroheim's eminent pride in his country will cause him to unquestionably sacrifice himself to take out his target. 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. Stroheim also flaunts a very able-bodied physique and has demonstrated a very high jumping ability.

After being resurrected as a Cyborg, Stroheim's physical capabilities increased and with it his rank to status. As a Cyborg, his strength increases significantly, having been designed with the ability to crush an object with his hand at a pressure of 1,950 kg/cm2 (roughly double Santana's). In this form, Stroheim had also gained partial immortality, being able to survive most attacks, as his mechanical limbs being damaged lessens the effect on his lifeforce. With these limbs, he is capable of bending his body unnaturally, and deflect enemy attacks due to being made of metal. Situated on one side of Stroheim's face is a magnifying device that allows Stroheim to zoom in on objects up to a point where he can study their internal structure.

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, 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 in 1943.

Gallery
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Trivia

 * Stroheim's hair and eventual monocled visage appear to be based on an illustration by Antonio Lopez.