Winzaleo

"My name is Lion King! (我が名は獅子王！)"

- Winzaleo

Winzaleo the Lion King (獅子王ウィンザレオ) is a tertiary character featured in the first part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Phantom Blood.

Winzaleo is one of the only five knights to survive and win the trial of the 77 Rings. He is omitted in the anime adaptation, but appears as a playable character in the Phantom Blood PlayStation 2 game with an original design.

Appearance
In the video game, Winzaleo appears as a ferocious, burly man with dark, spiked hair pointed backwards, prominent cheekbones, and a wide nose. He lacks eyebrows and has a thick beard. He wears a circlet with gold on the center, armor exposing his midriffs and thighs, and a cape adorned with gold gemstones. His eyes lack irises and he has sharp fangs. Winzaleo also has bandages wrapped around his arms and wears gloves.

In the manga, it is unknown which knight is specifically Winzaleo. However, it is possible that he is the knight drawn in the center due to his beard.

Personality
His personality in the manga is unknown, as he was only mentioned. In the video game, Winzaleo seems to take pride in his title as the "Lion King", as he declares his title in battle. He is described in the game's Profile Mode as a knight who earned the title of "Lion King" due to his fierce appearance, skill with axes, strong build, and chivalrous spirit.

Background
In 1327, Winzaleo is the first knight to survive and successfully complete the challenge of the 77 Rings. He goes down in history as a legendary knight alongside Eijkman, Caineghis, Bruford, and Tarkus.

1889
Over five hundred years later, Winzaleo is revived by Dio Brando along with the other winners of the 77 Rings challenge. Following Dio's orders, Winzaleo, Eijkman, Caineghis, and Wang Chan sneak aboard a ship headed to America. After Dio takes over Father Styx's body, he summons the three zombie knights to defeat Jonathan Joestar for him.

In the end, Jonathan defeats him along with the other knights.

Creation and Development
According to Yusuke Sasaki, a producer from Bandai Namco Games, Winzaleo was initially designed by their staff. They asked Hirohiko Araki to take a look at him, who then made corrections.

The three knights were added in the final battle of the game because the game producer thought Wang Chan wouldn't be a good final boss if he remained completely accurate to the story. However, he didn't want to completely stray away from JoJo's story, so Araki gave him various ideas.

Casting
Although was listed in the credits of the game, it did not state which role he performed. Masutani himself confirmed that he voiced Winzaleo on Twitter.

Trivia

 * Ironically, Caineghis, Eijkman, and Winzaleo are not playable in the PS2 game's 77 Rings Knights Mode, as they appear in the mode as the 33rd, 55th, and 77th enemies respectively.