William Anthonio Zeppeli (ウィル・
Introduced as the first character in the series to use the Ripple, Zeppeli acts as a mentor to Jonathan and is the first member of the Zeppeli family to aid a Joestar.
Zeppeli appears as a man of average to above-average height, muscular build and defined, pointed facial features. He has dark, curly hair that protrudes somewhat from under his hat and a thin, well-groomed handlebar mustache.
Between two outfits, he wears a suit, a bow tie, and a top hat; first characterized by a rainbow print, and then by a checkered print.
As a master of the Ripple, Zeppeli is confident and brave, freely approaching an injured Jonathan and giving him the power of the ripple without having met him previously. This personality also extends to the majority of his battles, such as when he is teaching Jonathan to apply the ripple in his fight against Jack the Ripper - all the while calmly pouring and drinking wine. Even when he realizes he is about to face a sudden and horrific death, he does not seem to be too fazed by this and acts very casually with regards to life.
Having studied the technique for years with masters in Tibet and trained Jonathan himself, Zeppeli is an expert when it comes to using the Ripple. Aside from attacking, he is able to use it for other things such as jumping, standing on water, healing wounds, reviving plants, and even limited foresight.
Born to a scholarly family, Zeppeli had been interested in researching the unknown since his youth. When he became of age, he joined the archaeological group at his father's university and was able to travel to various places around the world.
On one of his travels, the group went to Mexico to excavate an underground Aztec ruin. Amongst their finds was the Stone Mask.
On the voyage home, several of the crew began to die off, until they realized that someone had put on the mask. It turned out to be the leader of the group, Zeppeli's father. All 58 crew members were slaughtered, but Zeppeli managed to escape by jumping into the sea. His father was eradicated by the morning sun soon after. Zeppeli was eventually rescued several days later by a fishing boat.
Two years after this horrific event, Zeppeli travels the world in order to find a way to destroy the stone mask. In a town in India, he meets a strange man with the ability to heal even the most impossible injuries and sicknesses. The man directs Zeppeli to his master, Tonpetty, who teaches him to use the "Ripple". However, during his training, Tonpetty foresees Zeppeli's death and warns him that should he complete his training he will surely die. Zeppeli accepts his fate and agrees to complete the training along with Dire.
When Dio reveals himself to the group, Zeppeli quickly engages him on his own - however his arm is flash-frozen in the battle by Dio, totally disabling his Ripple techniques and putting him out of commission until Speedwagon comes to his aid. When Dio summons the Dark Knights, Zeppeli and Speedwagon are unable to assist Jonathan in his fight against Bruford due to Tarkus's interference. After Bruford is defeated, Zeppeli and Jonathan use their ripple on a pile of leaves to make a hang glider to escape Tarkus, who eventually manages to catch up. While Jonathan is struggling to defeat Tarkus, Zeppeli enters the battle with Poco's help and finally shares his knowledge of his own fate.
As Tonpetty's prophecy foretold, Zeppeli battles with Tarkus and becomes wrapped in his chains. Tarkus attempts to kill Jonathan and Will at the same time, bifurcating Zeppeli at the waist (as well as amputating an arm) and breaking Jonathan's neck - however Zeppeli is able to give his power and life energy to Jonathan moments before dying. It is by this power that Jonathan is healed and able to defeat Tarkus. Despite his ravaged body, Will manages to stay conscious for a few minutes, chastises Jonathan for grieving and implores him one final time to defeat Dio for good and destroy the Stone Mask. He takes his last breaths knowing he will live on through Jonathan, and dies in his arms. His remains are cremated by Jonathan and Speedwagon in the old knight training grounds where Tarkus was slain.
It is later revealed that Zeppeli had sent a letter to his master Tonpetty asking for help in destroying the Stone Mask, though Tonpetty arrived too late to prevent Zeppeli's death. After his passing, Speedwagon gains a penchant for wearing his signature checker-print top hat.
Phantom Blood for the Playstation 2 marks Zeppeli's first appearance in any other media outlet outside the manga. He's one of the 5 characters that can use Ripple.
Gameplay-wise, his two special moves are Sendo Wave Kick (as a non-fully charged special move) and Sunlight Yellow Overdrive (as his fully charged special move). Aside from his ripple-based moveset, he uses normal punches and kicks to attack enemies. Zeppeli is playable during most of the chapters (alongside with Jonathan and Speedwagon).
Zeppeli returns as a playable character in the PS3 game. He was confirmed along with Jonathan and Johnny Joestar. As a Ripple-user character (along with Jonathan, Joseph Joestar [Both Parts 2 and 3], Caesar, and Lisa Lisa), Zeppeli can recharge his Heart Heat Gauge through "Ripple Breath" by holding down the Style button, performing a famous JoJo pose, as well as deliver enhanced versions of skills if Style is inputted in place of normal attack buttons.
Zeppeli's moveset mostly comprises of the Ripple-based moves he had used in the original manga.
Zeppeli's HHA, "This is Sendo!", reenacts his first demonstration of Ripple usage on a frog. He slides across the ground to trip the opponent. If it lands, he quickly gets back up, and charges the Ripple into his first before punching the downed opponent.
Zeppeli's GHA, "The power of the sun! Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!", begins with him lunging forward and jabbing his opponent's abdomen with his little finger, while sharing his idea of what courage is. The opponent left defenseless, Zeppeli then charges an immense amount of glowing yellow-colored Ripple, before unleashing a Zoom Punch augmented with the Sunlight Yellow Overdrive into them.
If Zeppeli fights Caesar, before the match starts they will have a special dialogue, where Ceasar says he will make Zeppeli pay for what he did to his family's namesake, while Zeppeli himself is surprised to see such power emanating from the youth.
Zeppeli is voiced by Yoku Shioya, who voiced the character in the anime version, and shares the same color scheme from the anime. Zeppeli also has an alternate costume, that being the tuxedo he wore originally (with a rainbow themed hat), as well as one of his alternate color-schemes resembling his previous video-game appearance (red hat and green suit).
Zeppeli appears in the game as one of the several PART I characters who posses a Metal Striker. His FINISH move makes him shoot several Ripple Cutters upon the defeated opponent.
Zeppeli was confirmed for the game alongside Jonathan and Speedwagon.
His main partner in the game appears to be Jonathan as they possess a tag special move where both of them attack the opponent with a powerful Overdrive-style punch to the abdomen.
He is paired with Koichi Hirose in the Eyes of Heaven Tournament, but was eliminated in the preliminaries by Jonathan and DIO.
William's introduction
Will angry
William demonstrating the Ripple
Will and Jonathan in unison
William punching a frog
The Zoom Punch
The Wine Cutter
A young Zeppeli as a sailor
Zeppeli researching the Stone Mask
Zeppeli as a Ripple apprentice
William cut in two
An old Will A. Zeppeli
William Anthonio Zeppeli expires
Latter illustration by Araki
William Zeppeli in the new Anime
Zeppeli as portrayed in the Anime
Zeppeli as a young sailor
Zeppeli's father wearing the Stone Mask
Zeppeli training in Tibet
Zeppeli training with Dire, years ago
Zeppeli with his Master Tonpetty
Zeppeli showing the Ripple to Jonathan
Zeppeli vs Dio
Zeppeli's death
Zeppeli's funeral
The Zeppeli Family Tree
Zeppeli in Phantom Blood
Zeppeli as he appears in All-Star Battle
Zeppeli Costume A in All Star Battle
All Star Battle concept art
Zeppeli in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure:Eyes of Heaven PS3/PS4
Zeppeli's figure from Statue Legend
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