Chariot Requiem

"The power to dominate souls...? Is that what this is?"

- Guido Mista

Chariot Requiem (チャリオッツ・レクイエム) or simply Requiem (レクイエム) is a Requiem Stand featured in Vento Aureo. Chariot Requiem resembles a man clouded in darkness. It is a very dangerous Stand due to its ability to control souls on a massive scale.

It is the evolved form of Silver Chariot after being pierced by the Arrow. Aside from Gold Experience, it is the only other Stand known to have a Requiem form.

Appearance
Chariot Requiem is an androgynous humanoid Stand of light build, large hips, and average height.

Its most striking feature is that it is completely shrouded in shadows, appearing entirely black. It wears a large hat, one side folded over its top, a coat over which Chariot Requiem sports large rings serving as shoulder pads, a stylized belt, and a trouser decorated with braces around the ankles.

Bucciarati notes that Chariot Requiem is fully materialized and thus ordinary people can see and interact with it. Its face is shown to have an arrow-like mark underneath what seems to be a large, empty eye. Bucciarati even described it as having an appearance similar to 'black plastic'.

Its design is based on the myth of a man wearing pitch-black, resembling Death visiting Austrian composer to commission the ultimately-unfinished Requiem that he would work on in his final days.

Personality
Chariot Requiem is the Stand that Polnareff develops when Silver Chariot is stabbed with the Arrow. Polnareff died shortly after the arrow pierced the original Silver Chariot, and, as a result, the Stand survived and moves on its own (much like Notorious B.I.G).

Chariot Requiem seems to be nearly mindless, generally walking straight forward and ignoring outside stimuli; however, it will attack anyone who tries to take the Arrow from it, having inherited Polnareff's priority of protecting it. Polnareff himself describes the Stand as "berserk".

Abilities
Chariot Requiem is an automated Stand that follows its late User's final wish - to protect the Arrow at all costs. Despite its previous form being a heavily combat-oriented Stand, Chariot Requiem doesn't show any combat ability. However, it can be considered one of the most dangerous Stands ever featured in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series due to its mastery over souls.

Regeneration
Chariot Requiem is particularly resilient, being able to reattach detached limbs with ease (as demonstrated when it reconnects its arm after it was severed by Sticky Fingers and Sex Pistols. )

Soul Manipulation
Upon activation, Chariot Requiem puts every living being in a large area (at least the entirety of Rome) around it into a forceful sleep of around 6-7 hours. During that sleep, Requiem switches the soul of one organism with that of another around, regardless of species. If a body physically dies, the soul currently inhabiting it will die too. In this case, the previous owner is able to take over their own body, provided it is still suitable for life.

Stand Manipulation
As Chariot Requiem is able to affect souls, it also affects Stands, as they are a reflection of the soul.

The first known ability of Chariot Requiem is to greatly empower Stands, energizing them and making them more powerful than they were before the soul switch; it can reach the point where some Users can hardly control their Stands.

Secondly, Chariot Requiem can partially control Stands in order to protect the Arrow as it was commanded. Any Stand user who tries to take the Arrow or even affect it in the slightest will be attacked by their own Stand. Sentient Stands are shown to temporarily go mad and wish to kill their owners in a psychotic fashion as in the case of Sex Pistols' No.1. The response is always proportional to the attack; merely reaching out one's hand will only summon another hand, while attacking the Arrow will cause a full-scale retaliation. If Chariot Requiem is attacked in any other form outside a Stand, it will engage the assailant personally.

Complete Alteration of Life
Chariot Requiem's true ability is complete control of the "souls of all living beings." With enough time, the Stand will begin to transform souls affected by its ability into the souls of unidentifiable, otherworldly beings, causing horrifying mutations.

Polnareff comes to the conclusion that the ability switches the entirety of the people, animals, and plants of Earth with "something else". The theorized result would be the complete metamorphosis of every organism in the biosphere, both in body and soul, into completely new and absolutely unknown entities. The effect of the violent transformation appears to be painless, as those transforming continued their activities without noticing that they were physically changing.

Shadow Weakness
For as powerful as Chariot Requiem is, it does have a critical weakness.

If anyone looks at Chariot Requiem, they may notice that its shadow will always be opposite to the observer, regardless of any ambient sources of light like the sun. In reality, Diavolo discovers that what appears as Requiem's shadow is the shadow of the observer's own soul: the Stand manifests itself in this shadow. To accomplish this, it manifests a psychic light source which always hovers behind one's head and is only visible to the person to whom it is attached. A Stand can destroy the marble emitting the light in order to defeat Chariot Requiem.

Heritage for the Future (DC/Arcade)
The Capcom fighting game marks the debut of Requiem in a video game. It appears as Polnareff's level 3 super combo move, where Silver Chariot gets shot in the head by an Arrow, and briefly transforms into its Requiem form. After the light emitted from the Stand fully engulfs the screen without interruption, the opponent is instantly put to sleep.

Eyes of Heaven (PS3/PS4)
Requiem appears as a stage hazard on the Part 5 stage, "Coliseum", holding the arrow. Those who enter its range will fall asleep and be left vulnerable to their opponent, having to rapidly shake the movement stick in order to awaken. The orb of light that comes with Requiem will follow any of the four fighters, always being behind them. Hitting it once will temporarily vanquish Chariot Requiem for a moment.

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