Bruford
Bruford (ブラフォード, Burafōdo) is a minor antagonist featured in the first part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood.
Along with Tarkus, Bruford was formerly a powerful knight from 16th Century Great Britain. Dying in disgrace, Bruford was resurrected as a Zombie by Dio Brando and is sent to fight Jonathan Joestar.
Appearance
Bruford is a male zombie having the appearance of a man of athletic stature and long, unkempt, dark hair, who has a scar on the bridge of his nose. He wears a metal armor consisting of a chest-plate with a collar-like ornate plate which ends on a decorated metal disk, shoulder pads and ankles pads with a pair of sandals, and a diadem decorated with several jewels.
Color Schemes
Personality
Alive, Bruford was an honorable knight of Mary Stuart. His feelings toward her surpassed even that of love. When Elizabeth I betrayed Mary Stuart, Bruford stood by her side, fighting off all of Elizabeth's forces. Upon learning of her capture, he was easily willing to die for her. However, when the executioner showed him Mary Stuart's head, even though he accepted execution to save his liege, he goes into a blind rage and begins resenting humanity.
As a zombie, his hatred carried over, easily serving Dio in his quest for destruction. However, along with his hatred, his pride as a knight also carried over, deciding to fight Jonathan one on one.
After being defeated by Jonathan, the Ripple sent to him "frees his soul", allowing him to feel human again. He loses his hatred towards the world and is thankful for his chance to meet the honorable Jonathan.
Abilities
As a knight, Bruford is supposedly a good fighter. It is stated that against the armies that fought against Mary Stuart, only Bruford and Tarkus could win. Already, Bruford had athletic abilities beyond ordinary humans. An expert swimmer, Bruford was capable of swimming a 5 km lake wearing an armor with 30 kg of weight. He also managed to complete the 77 Rings challenge.
As a Zombie, his strength is multiplied and he can be seen scraping out a Zombie's nose with just his finger or swimming as fast as the Ripple can spread in water, allowing to escape an attack with minimal damage.
Luck (
Danse Macabre Hair (
History
Background
Born in the 16th century, Bruford was a member of the Tudor Dynasty 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, the two beings of five in history to succeed it, Bruford passed the Challenge of the 77 Rings in 1563.[3]
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. Despite his transition, Bruford still possessed a warrior's code of honor as he asked for Dio's blessing to duel Jonathan. Bruford's manipulation of his hair poses many challenges to Jonathan, eventually leading to them fighting underwater, until Jonathan swims downward to find air bubbles beneath the rocks, enabling him to draw breath and indirectly hit Bruford with a Ripple Overdrive that forced them back on land.
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.
Chapters / Episodes
- Chapter 26: Tarkus and the Dark Knight Bruford, Part 1
- Chapter 27: Tarkus and the Dark Knight Bruford, Part 2
- Chapter 28: Tarkus and the Dark Knight Bruford, Part 3
- Chapter 29: Tarkus and the Dark Knight Bruford, Part 4
- Chapter 30: Sleep as a Hero (Death)
- Chapter 31: The Knights' Ruins (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 38: The Three from a Faraway Land, Part 3 (Flashback)
- Chapter 39: Fire and Ice, Jonathan and Dio, Part 1 (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 44: Fire and Ice, Jonathan and Dio, Part 6 (Flashback)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 5: The Dark Knights
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 6: Pluck for Tomorrow (Death)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 9: The Final Ripple! (Flashback)
Quotes
- “This isn't too shabby! He'll be perfect for our warm-up after three hundred years!”—Bruford about Jonathan, Chapter 27: Tarkus and the Dark Knight Bruford, Part 2
- “This time it's ability against ability! Skill against skill! Mind against mind! Fight me, Bruford, with your all!”—Bruford to Jonathan, Chapter 29: Tarkus and the Dark Knight Bruford, Part 4
- “I am Bruford the dark knight! This mere pain will not stop me!”—Bruford, Chapter 30: Sleep as a Hero
- “Heheh... this pain is proof of life. If you feel pain, you can feel joy. That's what humanity means.”—Bruford, Chapter 30: Sleep as a Hero
- “I feel strangely at peace. I no longer resent the world... in my very last moment, I could meet this great man, this warm human... I'm ready to meet my queen.”—Bruford, Chapter 30: Sleep as a Hero
- “Such irony! Such strange destiny! I had to kill him to save his soul!”—Jonathan about Bruford, Chapter 30: Sleep as a Hero
Video Games
Phantom Blood (PS2)
Bruford appears as a boss character on two different chapters. In the first, the player plays as Jonathan Joestar and faces Bruford in an underwater match (much like their first battle). During the match, Jonathan can only swim forward or backward as he needs to be near the air bubbles on the stage to fill his Ripple gauge, in order to attack Bruford with his Blue Ripple Overdrive. Bruford will always be swimming around the stage and only gets closer to Jonathan to attack him.
In the other boss chapter, the player faces Bruford on land. During the match, Bruford will use punches and kicks as his normal attacks and uses his hair holding a sword as his special move. This is the first battle that allows Jonathan to use his Sunlight Yellow Overdrive as his special Ripple move.
Bruford appears as a playable character in some chapters of EXTRA BATTLE, particularly his "on land" version.
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.
JoJo's Pitter-Patter Pop! (Android/iOS)
Cooldown: 60
Cooldown: 60
Cooldown: 55
Cooldown: 55
Cooldown: 50
Gallery
Trivia
- The name of Bruford's hair, Danse Macabre, is based off of the genre of late-Medieval allegory of the same name.
- Bruford's voice actor, Kenjiro Tsuda, would later voice Tiziano in the anime adaptation of Vento Aureo.
References
- ↑ Deduced from the date of death of Mary Stuart
- ↑ Either November 31st or December 1st, per Chapter 41
- ↑ Chapter 28: Tarkus and the Dark Knight Bruford (3), p. 11