Pillar Men: Difference between revisions

|title = Pillar Men

|image = <tabber>{{Tabber

|Manga=|[[Image:Pillarmen.png|260px]]

|engname = Ultimate Lifeforms {{S|[[JoJo's Bizarre = Pillar Men<br />Ultimate LifeformsAdventure (OVA)|OVA]] Timeline)}}

|user member = [[Kars]], [[EsidisiWamuu]], [[WamuuEsidisi]], [[Santana]]

}}{{Quote|{{Nihongo2|Awaken, my masters!|目覚めたまえッ！ 我が主たちよ！|Mezame tamae! Waga omotachi yo!}}|Wamuu, {{Ch2Ch|Chapter 64}}}}

The {{nihongoNihongo|'''Pillar Men'''|柱の男|Hashira no Otoko}}, also known as the {{Nihongo|'''Tribe of the Pillar's Darkness'''|柱の闇の一族|Hashira no Yami no Ichizoku}} or simply the {{Nihongo|'''Tribe of Darkness'''|闇の一族|Yami no Ichizoku}}, are four powerful humanoids that serve as the primary antagonistic force in the second part of the ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'' series, ''[[Battle Tendency]]''. Described by others as the {{Nihongo|'''Ultimate Beings'''|究極生物|Kyūkyoku Seibutsu}}, theirTheir goal is to obtain the [[Red Stone of Aja]] and conquer their weakness to the sun.

The Pillar Men are from a race of ancient, humanoid, super-human beings. These beings are now nearly extinct, but used to live hundreds of thousand of years ago in underground colonies beneath the American continent. They are highly intelligent, extremely strong, and ableextremely to manipulate their bodies to a very extreme degree; howeverpowerful, they arebut vulnerable to the rays of the Sun and to the [[Ripple]].

The surviving Pillar Men generally have vastly superior physical abilities than humans in all aspects, surpassing by far even the strongest of [[Vampires]].

|Desc = While a weakened Vampire can exert a pressure of 235 kg/cm² with his fingers,<ref>{{Ch|Chapter 51}}, p5p.5</ref> the Pillar Men have anpossess even greater strength. Santana's Rib Blades can exert a pressure of 825 kg/cm²<ref>{{Ch|Chapter 58}}, p12p.12</ref> and his finger pressure wouldis haveestimated beenby about[[Rudol 925von kg/cm²Stroheim|Stroheim]] ifto Stroheim'sbe estimatesaround were975 accuratekg/cm².<ref>{{Ch|Chapter 85}}, p8p.8</ref> [[Wamuu]] wasis also able to casually break a stone pillar, then lift it to crush [[Joseph Joestar]].<ref>{{Ch|Chapter 99}}, p6p.6-9</ref>

|Desc = The Pillar Men's bodies are exceptionally tough. For instance, [[Esidisi]] wasis able to swallow a dynamite stick and withstand its explosion in his stomach.<ref>{{Ch|Chapter 70}}, p10p.10</ref> Similarly, Kars wasis not wounded when he fellfalls off a {{Cvt|175 |m}} tall cliff.<ref>{{Ch|Chapter 87}}</ref> The Pillar Men have also a high resilience to pain and think little of losing limbs or piercing themselves on spikes. In fact, they can still function even if they are cut in half or even reduced to a head or a brain. However, the [[Ripple]] constituteconstitutes a weakness for them. While their skin can resist a sufficiently weak Ripple and disperse it, a concentrated Ripple can pierce their skin and melt their bodies.

|Desc = Pillar Men are able to move extremely quickly, as Wamuu demonstrates when he moves between the soldiers of a platoon and ties them together before they are able to react.<ref>{{Ch|Chapter 64}}, p13p.13</ref> Kars also demonstrates this when he slices through Stroheim's machine gun fire, using his Light Blades Mode to cut the bullets clean in half.<ref>{{Ch|Chapter 85}}</ref>

|Desc = Pillar Men possess extremely enhanced senses. These are demonstrated a number of times, such as when Santana sniffingsniffs out thehis holding area like a dog, or when Kars being able to detectdetects the number of people in a room via their heat signatures.<ref>{{Ch|Chapter 84}}</ref> Likewise, [[Wamuu]] reflexively attacks anyone who enters his shadow,<ref>{{Ch|Chapter 66}}</ref>, and also his horn allows him to read the wind and detect other objectliving things via their breathing.<ref>{{Ch|Chapter 102}}</ref>

|Desc = The Pillar Men's most dangerous trait is their superior intelligence. They are capable of perfect recall and are able to instantly analyze and understand the mechanics behind anything including complicated things such as languages, machinery, tactics, systems, and people's minds and actions, within a matter of seconds. Santana instantly learnedlearns the disassembly procedure to dissemblefor a gun that might have taken a human hours to learn;, and Esidisi wasis able to match [[Joseph Joestar|Joseph]] in wits. The Pillar Men wereare also able to learn the modern language in moments, just by listening to others speak.

|Desc = The Pillar Men can freely change and manipulate their bodies to a greater degree and speed than any [[vampire]] created by the Stone Masks, being able to dislocate or even break their own bones as well as flatten organs in order to achieve any form they desire. Even if a body part is severed, the Pillar Men can still remotely control them. With their near-immortality and powers of regeneration, they can survive, endure attacks, and restore their bodies even after being reduced to only their brain. They can also slip into another organism's body and control them from the inside. OneAccording victimto saidtheir hevictims, feltthis produces an overwhelming pleasing sensation thanks to that.

|Desc = The Pillar Men's main method of sustenance is absorbing living beings (including [[Vampire]]s) via any form of physical contact. A Pillar Man's body is composed of cells that release a digestive acid, which melt the victim at a cellular level, creating the illusion that the Pillar Man is absorbing a victim into its body. The cells also appear to induce an euphoric enzyme as victims subjected to the process do not feel anything until physical contact is broken. The surviving Pillar Men displayeddisplay this ability in creative ways: Santana forcedforces himself into another's body to control their movement while eating them from the inside,; Wamuu graftedgrafts the hands of multiple targets and absorbedabsorbs their innards by simply touching one,; and Esidisi graftedgrafts a human limb to himself after losing his original forearm. This ability is ineffective against Ripple users, as the cellsRipple perceiveenergy thewithin dangerthem posedis byable theirto energyrepel the digestive acid.

File:pillar men absorption 03.gif|Esidisi makes Loggins's arm his

|Name = Elemental Battle ModeModes

|Desc = The more experienced Pillar Men each have their own special fighting style, characterized by a specific "element" such as fire, wind, or light. PowersTechniques baseddeveloped around these elements are referred to as {{Nihongo|"Modes"|{{Ruby|流法|モード}}|Mōdo|lit. "Flow Method"Methods}}.

|Desc = A Pillar Man can become the {{Nihongo|'''Ultimate Thing'''|{{Ruby|究極の生命体|アルティミット・シイング}}|Arutimitto Shīngu|lit. "Ultimate Life Form"}} by activating a Stone Mask affixed with the [[Red Stone of Aja]]. So farinserted, a feat that only Kars has been seenable to becomeachieve. theIn Ultimatethis Thing.state, Aa Pillar Man in this state becomes much moreoverwhelmingly powerful, with againing massive enhancementenhancements to histheir overallexisting capabilities andabilities, as well as several new ones:

*The ability to use the Ripple (100at a level hundreds of times more powerful than Joseph's, according to Kars)humans

The Pillar Men come from an ancient race of humanoids that possess extraordinary strength, intelligence and lifespan. This race once ruled the Earth, living at the top of the food chain and consuming humans who regarded them as either gods to be worshiped or demons to be feared. However, because of their great abilities and physique, the race followed the "rule of evolution" regarding the trophic level: the "higher" it "evolved"," the fewer its population became. They remained unable to overcome their adversity to sunlight, yet were content with their lives regardless.

One among this tribe named Kars did not accept his kind's way of life and sought perfection. This led to Kars creating the Stone Mask to bring out his race's full potential through {{W|acupuncture}}. He found that the mask worked effectively on humans (thoughby turning them into vampires)[[Vampire]]s, but the thickness of his species's skullskulls only enabled the mask to partially unlock its full potential. The result for them was immortality and enhanced body manipulation, presumably unlocking the use of Elemental Battle Modes,coupled with an increased hunger. Fearing the threat posed by Kars's genius, the tribe sought to execute him in order to maintain natural order. Kars retaliated by massacring most of his race, including his parents. Only Kars, his co-conspirator Esidisi, and two infant children (Wamuu and Santana), were the sole survivors of their race.

The four remaining pillarPillar menMen first appearedappear in human history 50005,000 years beforeprior to the events of ''[[Battle Tendency]]'', capturing hundreds of thousands of humans for experimentation with the stoneStone maskMask.<ref>{{Ch|Chapter 76: ''[[Chapter 76|Ripple Teacher Lisa Lisa (6)]]''}}</ref> Kars found through his research that a flawless [[Red Stone of Aja]] called the Super Aja would be essential to perfect the Stone Mask and complete their transition into complete superbeings. To this end, Kars took, Esidisi, and Wamuu totraveled the old world whileeast, leaving Santana behind in Mexico.

The three reached as far as imperial Rome, where aan emperor was rumored to possess a Super Aja, nearly wiping out the entire Ripple Clan in the process.<ref>{{Ch|Chapter 67}}</ref> Unable to find the stone, the Pillar Men were forced to hibernate, fusing themselves into athe stone wall hidden withinof a cave underbeneath the [[Colosseum]] neararound the 1st Century100 A.D. The wall itself was rigged by the Pillar Men as a trap to feedenable themselvesthem to feed on any greedy humans whileas they sleepingsleep, as seendemonstrated withby [[Mario Zeppeli]]. The AztecAztecs correctly predicted that the Pillar Men would reawaken in the year 2852 of the Aztectheir calendar, the equivalent of the year 1938 A.D.<ref>{{Ch|Chapter 62}}</ref>

===''[[Battle Tendency]]''===

In the winter of 1939, the [[Speedwagon Foundation]] discovereddiscovers a Mexican temple filled with stone masks and the body of Santana. [[Robert E. O. Speedwagon]] intendedintends for [[Straizo]] to destroy Santana, only forbut the Ripple user toinstead betraybetrays him and becomebecomes a vampire, whilethough he also preventingattempts to prevent the Pillar Man from awakening. The Nazis discover the other Pillar Men around this time, sending a research group underheaded by [[Rudol von Stroheim]] to extract and observe Santana. Once awakened prematurely, Santana kills everyone but Speedwagon and Stroheim before being confronted by [[Joseph Joestar]]. It is only through the combined effortefforts of Joseph and Stroheim's sacrifice that Santana wasis stopped and stored at the Speedwagon Foundation Headquartersheadquarters in a petrified state.

Several days later, Wamuu awakened himselfawakens and killed offkills the team of Nazis watching over him before revivingawakening Kars and Esidisi. CoincidentallyShortly afterward, Speedwagon, Joseph, and [[Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli]], along with a soldier named [[Mark]], came intoenter the cave to joinmeet with the Nazis., Whenonly to find them all slaughtered. Wamuu inadvertently gavepasses through Mark, forcing him to undergo an agonizing death, heand provokedprovoking his friend Caesar. andAfter defeateddealing him.with Caesar, Wamuu also defeateddefeats Joseph, who luredlures him away from Caesar and Speedwagon whileand convincingconvinces Wamuuhim to spare him for a future confrontation. But Wamuu and Esidisi, the latter out of interestintrigue, placed theirplace [[Wedding Ring of Death|poisoned wedding rings]] inwithin Joseph's body to force him to seekrematch them. The three Pillar Men, afterthen settingset up a base in the San Moritz hotel in Swizterland,Switzerland and proceed to search Europe for the Super Aja.

Nearly a month later, Esidisi learnedlearns that the Super Aja wasis in the possession of the Ripple Mastermaster [[Lisa Lisa]]. andEsidisi infiltratedinfiltrates Lisa Lisa's hideout, [[Air Supplena Island]], whereand he killedkills [[Loggins]]. Thoughin hisfront bodyof wasJoseph. destroyed byThough Joseph whodestroys tookhis body and takes the first antidote, Esidisi, survivingsurvives as a disembodied nervous system, managedwhich manages to possess [[Suzi Q]] and mailedmail the Super Aja to San Moritz. Esidisibefore wasfinally thenbeing safelyeliminated extracted by Caesar and Joseph and destroyed byfor sunlightgood. Kars, fearing the worseworst when notEsidisi contactedfails byto Esidisicontact him, sets out for the Swiss border. andAfter attempted tolearning stealthat the SuperNazis Ajahave whenintercepted thea Nazispackage interceptedsent to the package.hotel, ItKars turnedfaces intoand defeats a cybernetically-enhanced Stroheim, intuitively recognizing Joseph as Esidisi's killer. As a result of the battle, withthe KarsSuper overwhelmingAja nearly falls off a cybernetically-modifiedcliff, Stroheimbut Joseph is able to retrieve it while instinctivelysending knowingKars Josephoff killedthe Esidisiledge. Kars, lettingunharmed by the fall, allows him to keep the stone while, intending to personally kill him when the time comes.

Events acceleratedaccelerate when Caesar, learninghaving learned of the Pillar Men's hideout, attemptedattempts to go after Kars induring daylight,the withday alongside [[Messina]] accompanying him to the San Moritz. The two wereare intercepted by Wamuu after he returnedreturns from Greece, incapacitating Messina while engaging Caesar. AWamuu fightincapacitates ensues,Messina and byengages theCaesar timein Josepha andfight Lisa Lisa reachto the buildingdeath, which Caesar is already deadloses. Following the trail of Wamuu's blood, the two rippleRipple users find the remaining two Pillar Men surrounded by an army of Vampires. Lisa Lisa bluffedBluffing that the RedSuper StoneAja wouldis beprotected destroyedby ifa neithertime ofbomb themthat returnwill todestroy it if she and Joseph die, proposingLisa Lisa proposes two one-on-one death matchesdeathmatches to settle things. Kars acceptedaccepts the challenge and letlets Joseph go with Messina to get the stoneSuper Aja, keeping Lisa Lisa as asecurity hostage whileand setting athe meetingarena point atas the arena of [[Skeleton Heel Stone]].

Once atAt Skeleton Heel Stone, Joseph engages Wamuu in a chariot race to the death, and managednarrowly manages to defeat him in an epic battle between two honorable warriors. Kars, having no intention of honoring his contract, ambushedambushes Lisa Lisa during their fight withusing a body double,. seizedKars then seizes the Red Stone of Aja, and siccedsics his army againston an exhausted Joseph. A timely intervention from the German Armyarmy and the Speedwagon Foundation, armed with [[Minor Items#Miniaturized UV Lasers|miniature UV lights]], savesallows Joseph who manages to outwitconfront Kars and defeatultimately Karsoutwit him. Cornered and almost defeated, Kars uses the UV lights to activate histhe Stone Mask with the RedSuper StoneAja toinside, finally evolveevolving into the '''Ultimate Thing'''.

Now an invincible immortal, Kars proceedsrelentlessly topursues actJoseph, onaiming to avenge his obsessionfriends toand killcelebrate Josephhis asrebirth thevia humanJoseph's death. Joseph flees by plane, hoping to lure the PillarUltimate ManThing into an active volcano. With Stroheim's help, Joseph manages to force Kars into a lava pit withof Stroheim's helplava, but the Pillar Man eventuallycomes developsup with a natural defense and emerges unscathed while, slicing Joseph's left forearmarm off in the process. As Kars goesmoves to dealsdeal the final blow with his own newly-found Ripple energy, Joseph uses the Super Aja to transfer the energy into the ground, to triggertriggering a volcanic eruption. WithDistracted when Joseph's eggingsevered himhand tolaunches keepinto him from escaping, Kars endsis upunable knockedto outkeep ofthe debris from sending him outside the Earth's atmosphere, and freezesfreezing in the vacuum of space. ImmobileUnable andto immortal,live Karsyet graduallyunable ceasedto intelligentdie, thoughtKars whileeventually driftingceases off into deep spacethinking.