Bruford/fr

"Hé hé hé... c'est cette douleur qui prouve que l'on est en vie. C'est parce que cette douleur existe que l'on peut aussi éprouver de la joie. C'est sans doute çà l'humanité."

- Bruford à Jonathan,

Bruford (ブラフォード) est un antagoniste mineur figurant dans la première partie de JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood.

Bruford était un célèbre chevalier britannique du 16ème siècle qui, avec le puissant Tarkus, était au service de Mary Stuart. Trahi et exécuté, Bruford est ressuscité en zombie vengeur par Dio Brando et devient son serviteur. Il combat ainsi Jonathan Joestar, armé de son épée Luck.

Apparence
Bruford est un un homme de stature athlétique et de longs cheveux noirs en bataille, qui a une cicatrice sur l'arête du nez. Il porte une armure métallique composée d'un plastron avec une plaque ornée en forme de collier qui se termine sur un disque métallique décoré, des épaulettes et des protections aux chevilles avec une paire de sandales et un diadème décoré de plusieurs bijoux. Il est transformé en zombie et acquiert aussi des crocs acérés.

Personnalité
Quand il était vivant, Bruford était un honorable chevalier au service de Mary Stuart. Ses sentiments envers elle dépassaient même celui de l'amour. Quand Elizabeth I a trahi Mary Stuart, Bruford se tenait à ses côtés, combattant les armées d'Elizabeth pour Mary Stuart. En apprenant sa capture, il était prêt à mourir pour elle et avait accepté d'être exécuté lorsque Elizabeth avait promise qu'elle épargnerait alors Stuart. Cependant, lorsque le bourreau lui a montré la tête de Mary Stuart, Bruford entra dans une rage extraordinaire et commença à haîr l'humanité.

En tant que zombie, sa haine est restée et il sert désormais Dio dans sa quête de destruction. Cependant, sa fierté en tant que chevalier a également persistée même s'il était un zombie rempli de haine. C'est pour celà que Bruford avait demandé à combattre Jonathan en combat individuel.

Après avoir été vaincu par Jonathan, l'Onde que Jonathan injecte en lui "libère son âme", lui permettant de se sentir à nouveau humain. Il perd sa haine envers le monde et est reconnaissant d'avoir eu la chance de rencontrer l'honorable Jonathan.

Pouvoirs et Equipement
En tant que chevalier, Bruford est censé être un bon combattant. Il est dit que durant la guerre entre les forces de Mary Stuart et Elizabeth I, seuls Bruford et Tarkus pouvaient gagner contre les armées d'Elizabeth I. Même en tant qu'humain, Bruford avait des capacités athlétiques au-delà du commun des hommes. Nageur expert, Bruford était capable de nager à travers un lac de 5 km en armure et avec 30 kg de poids sur lui. Il a également réussi à relever le défi des 77 Anneaux.

En tant que zombie, sa force est demultipliée et on peut le voir arracher le nez d'un zombie avec juste son doigt ou nager aussi vite que l'Onde peut se propager dans l'eau, lui permettant d'échapper à une attaque de Jonathan avec un minimum de dégâts.

Luck
Luck: l'épée de Bruford. En tant que chevalier, il était assez compétent dans le maniement des armes, ayant vaincu plusieurs personnes lors de l'épreuve des 77 Anneaux. Après avoir été vaincu en tant que zombie, il l'a donné à Jonathan et l'a renommé Luck and Pluck.

Danse Macabre Hair
Danse Macabre Hair: Through unknown means, during his time alive Bruford had developed a technique that allowed him to use his hair in combat as a weapon. His hair acts much like a third arm, able to entwine things and be used as a distraction. His standard method of fighting consisted of using his hair first, and following with a thrust or kick from a blind angle. He was the only man not large in stature to surpass the 77 Rings Challenge due to this ability. After becoming a zombie, his hair amplified in power and was shown to able to lift around 105 kilograms with ease. This allows him to literally use it as a third arm and swing his sword with it. He is also able to expand it outwards at will to surround his enemies. The ability to do this comes from the phenomenon in plants called, a technique used to retain their rigidity. After piercing an enemy's skin with his hair, Bruford can also use turgidity to force blood through the strands of his hair, an alternate method of bloodsucking.

Background
Born in the 16th century, Bruford was a member of the and a retainer of Mary Stuart. After losing his relatives in previous wars, young Bruford was brought up as Mary Stuart's knight and trained his body for that sole purpose. At the same time, Bruford became attached to Mary whose charm made him feel at peace. Alongside his fellow retainer Tarkus, Bruford passed the Challenge of the 77 Rings in 1563, being the only two out of five in history to succeed it.

Eventually, when Mary was imprisoned by her political rival Queen Elizabeth, Bruford and Tarkus fought the queen's army until she offered Mary's release in return for their surrender. But on the day they are to executed as enemies of the crown, Bruford and Tarkus learned from their executioner that Mary was already killed before they gave into the queen's demands. Bruford died expressing his undying hatred for Elizabeth and her family, rumors saying that his hair entangled the executioner's feet and killed him moments before being beheaded. The story of Bruford and Tarkus was passed down and became known to some, two such people being Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brando.

Phantom Blood
After taking residence in Windknight's Lot following his transition into a vampire, expressing a bit of sentimentality toward them, Dio resurrected Bruford and Tarkus as his zombie enforcers to deal with Jonathan, Will Anthonio Zeppeli, and Robert E. O. Speedwagon. Bruford's hair sucks Jonathan's blood, preventing him from conducting the Ripple through his affected arm but Jonathan simply uses his other fist to burn the hair with a flaming Ripple. When a Zombie interferes, Bruford kills him and asks Dio if he could be the one to take care of Jonathan, which Dio accepts. Bruford thus attacks, leaping while hiding his hands to trick Jonathan, instead drawing and wielding his sword "Luck" with his hair instead. To avoid the swing, Jonathan must duck and jump underwater, followed by Bruford. Surprisingly, Jonathan swims downward to find air bubbles beneath the rocks, enabling him to draw breath and indirectly hit Bruford with a Ripple Overdrive. However, Bruford rapidly swims to the surface to avoid the brunt of the attack.

Happy to face such an opponent, Bruford deploys his hair and ties up Jonathan, smashing him against a tree. Bruford draws his sword and attacks but Jonathan kicks the sword, conducting the Ripple into the Zombie's arm. Then, Jonathan violently pummels Bruford with the Sunlight Yellow Overdrive.

Once Jonathan made a direct hit on him after literally disarming him, Bruford regained his former humanity from the Ripple slowly destroying his body. Accepting his defeat with grace, noting he lost his hatred, Bruford only expressed only content to be reunited with Mary in the afterlife. After learning of Jonathan's name, Bruford gives the youth his sword, which he renamed Luck and Pluck, before he completely turned to ash. His armor and remains were kicked aside by a wrathful Tarkus as Jonathan was utterly conflicted over being forced to kill such a noble warrior regardless of being warped by Dio's evil.

Stardust Shooters (Android/iOS)
Bruford appears as one of the several characters who possess a Medal Striker. His FINISH move animation shows his hair holding the sword Luck and attacking the defeated medal striker character.

J-Stars Victory Vs (PS3/PS Vita)
Despite not appearing in the game, Bruford's name is said during Jonathan's special move using the Luck & Pluck sword. As he says "Bruford's sword, LUCK & PLUCK!!!" when using it. His name is also written in a loading screen describing the Luck & Pluck sword attack.

Galerie
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Détails

 * Le nom de la technique capillaire de Bruford, Danse Macabre, est basé sur l'élément artistique datant du Moyen Âge, la.
 * Le doubleur de Bruford,, sera plus tard la voix de Tiziano dans l'adaptation animée de «Vento Aureo».