Devo the Cursed

"I am Devo the Cursed, and my Stand represents "The Devil" of the Major Arcana... it symbolizes confusion and misfortune."

- Devo the Cursed

Devo the Cursed (呪いのデーボ) is a minor antagonist featured in Stardust Crusaders.

An infamous Native American shaman and assassin in DIO's service, Devo ambushes Jean Pierre Polnareff in his hotel room in Singapore. He is a Stand User and uses Ebony Devil.

Appearance
Devo is a tall Native American with long dark hair. His face and body are covered by countless scars: the results of Devo letting his opponents attack him in order to make his anger and his Stand's power grow.

Personality
At first, Polnareff believes Devo to be a complete idiot, since he was hiding in the fridge of Polnareff's room and left all the drinks outside above the very fridge, making himself easily detectable. But Devo pretended to be sloppy to be detected by Polnareff and get hit by his Stand. He is also extremely sadomasochistic, taking blows with ecstatic joy while planning to kill his victims in brutal ways. Through the control of his doll, he becomes even more psychotic and perverse.

Abilities
Devo's Stand is Ebony Devil, converting the "hate" embodied by attacks on him into increased physical power with which he may imbue inanimate objects, such as a puppet, as an indirect means of attack.

Stand Tarot Card
According to Devo, his Stand represents the Devil Tarot Card, which represents confusion and unluckiness. Everyone who met Devo before had the unluckiness to be "cursed" by him and killed without even knowing why demonstrating how unlucky they were to cross his path. When Polnareff first encounters Devo he is initially confused by Ebony Devil's lack of reaction to his attack and Devo's stupidity. This confusion is further aggravated by Devo's happiness for being hurt by Polnareff and Ebony Devil's mischief behaviour in their battle.

The Devil card can indicate any sort of addiction or obsession, something with which we can tend to get "carried away" to the point of losing control over our actions. In other words, it signifies self-bondage to an idea or belief which is preventing a person from growing or being healthy. Should "The Devil" represent a person, it will most likely be one of addicted to money and power; one who is persuasive, aggressive, and controlling. Devo fits exactly in this description: He has killed numerous people just for money and persuaded every one of them to attack him before murdering them.

Background
Prior to allying with DIO, Devo was already known all over the world as a lethal assassin hired by numerous figures in the criminal underworld. Having met Devo at the time, explaining Devo's method of assassinating his targets by having them make the first move, Muhammad Avdol explains no person who seen Devo's Stand lived to tell about it. This leads many ordinary people to believe that Devo curses his victims to suffer a horrific death, hence his moniker.

Stardust Crusaders (1987)
Arriving in Singapore ahead of the Joestar Group, Devo hid himself away within a fridge in the hotel room that Jean Pierre Polnareff was taking. When Polnareff noticed the removed alcoholic beverages, he deduced Devo's presence and forced the assassin to reveal himself. Devo did just that, activating his Stand and having Silver Chariot land the first blow at the cost of his left eye. In horrific pain as his Stand quickly possessed a doll unseen, Devo sadistically curses Polnareff to suffer an agonizing death before falling off from the balcony. But in reality, Devo escaped to the bathroom on one of the lower floors and remained in a stall to act out his curse through his Stand-possessed doll.

Ebony Devil manages to tie Polnareff under the bed so that Silver Chariot would lack its human's direct eyesight, while killing a hotel employee. The doll proceeds to spill the alcohol over the floor and on Polnareff with the intent to use a malfunctioning hairdryer to either burn the Frenchman or electrocute him. However, Polnareff shattered a mirror during the fight and the reflection of its fragments to finally counterattack Devo's Stand with a clear view. Once freed, Polnareff asks for information about J. Geil, but Devo refuses to talk and dies of horrific mutilation as Polnareff brutally destroys Ebony Devil and its vessel.

Heritage for the Future (PS1/DC/Arcade)
Devo (called D'Bo in the English version) functions mostly the same as he did within the manga. He ambushes the Joestar party during their stay in Singapore by hiding in their refrigerator, but he is defeated in the storylines of all the main characters.

Storyline
Devo also has his own storyline, in which he is promised one-hundred million dollars by DIO for the defeat of Jotaro and his companions. He kills one hero after another until he finally slays Jotaro himself.

Devo, wanting to collect his grand reward, travels to Dio's mansion. There he meets Vanilla Ice, who proceeds to question the Shaman on his exploits. Devo, who has become smug with all of his recent success, becomes annoyed with Ice and threatens to kill him if he does not take him to DIO. Devo kills Ice in the resulting battle.

Afterward, DIO is so impressed with Devo's power that he offers him even more money, in exchange for the Shaman's permanent servitude. Devo refuses the vampire's offer and kills him, and becomes the most widely respected (and feared) kingpin in the underworld afterward.

Strategy
Devo is one of the most unique characters in the game. While most characters with an Active Stand have their guardian immobilised in front of them, Devo's doll is allowed to roam freely across the battlefield when activated and lays dormant on the ground when it is not.

Aside from directly controlling his Stand, Devo can also order Ebony Devil to lunge at his opponent once, leaving him free to attack with his main body while they are distracted. This allows clever players to lure their opponents between Devo and Ebony Devil, and pincer them between a deadly flurry of attacks.

Despite all of these interesting advantages, Devo has several key weaknesses that need to be compensated for. While he is controlling Ebony Devil, he is completely vulnerable and will take massively increased damage if his main body is attacked while he is stationary. Also, since Ebony Devil only moves when he is controlled, the opponent can easily keep his distance or push Devo away from his Stand, cutting off his line of support; Ebony Devil by this proxy also requires more effective positioning to avoid any attacks landed on it (which inflicts indirect damage to Devo), as it still counts as a normal extension of himself like all standard Stands.

Devo is considered to be a solid mid-to-high tier character in the metagame, and despite requiring some complex planning and thought to use most effectively, is a very powerful and rewarding character to play.

Trivia

 * His name was changed in Viz Media's translation of the manga to avoid a lawsuit from the band of the same name. Per Araki's suggestion, he was renamed "Soul Sacrifice", a reference to the song of the same name by Santana. This name has since been used within the international release of All Star Battle, the Crunchyroll simulcast of Stardust Crusaders, and the Adult Swim broadcast of the English dub.
 * In the game Heritage for the Future Devo can use his Stand even after being de-aged by Alessi, implying he was either born or developed his Stand ability at a young age.
 * Oddly he is one of the last enemies fought during Young Joseph's Story Mode in Heritage for the Future, despite Devo being killed in Singapore long before Alessi is even introduced into the canon. (The intro explains Young Joseph's story as Joseph encountering Alessi in Egypt instead of Polnareff, and being de-aged into a young adult.)
 * Devo's Voice actor in All Star Battle, Unsho Ishizuka, would later voice Joseph in the Part 3 and 4 anime.

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