Gyro Zeppeli ★ History

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A detailed chronological summary of the life of Gyro Zeppeli.

Early Years

Gyro as a young boy and at 13 years old.
Gyro Zeppeli was born in the Kingdom of Naples, within the prestigious Zeppeli Family.

The Zeppelis being renowned doctors as well as servants of the King of Naples, Gyro lived in certain comfort. During his childhood, Gyro was trained in the arts of the Spin by his father Gregorio Zeppeli, as well as studying medicine to learn how to apply the Spin to people. At the same time, Gyro developed a taste for horseriding and began riding before he was nine. Mysteriously, the King's servant regularly inquired about the boy's age once or twice a month, every time Gregorio was summoned to the King's castle. At age thirteen, Gyro was promptly brought to the King's castle where Gregorio revealed to his son that the Zeppeli Family were secretly a family of executioners at the service of the King, and from now on Gyro started his training as an executioner. He began as an assistant for his father. At the same time, he was an apprentice surgeon for the family. In his late teens, Gyro was to become the next royal executioner as well as a surgeon, following his father in both aspects.

Several incidents ponctuated Gyro's life. One time, a prisoner managed to slip off his handcuffs by bending his joints and took an executioner hostage. Gyro promptly stepped in and threw his Steel Ball in such a way that the Spin safely traversed the executioner and forced the prisoner's body to twist.[1]

One time, Gyro slep with one of the Zeppeli's patients. He was almost caught by his father but used his Steel Ball to wrinkle the woman's body into resembling a malnourished hag and pretending to examine her when Gregorio came to the room. Gyro escaped suspicion but was yelled at for doing this to her. In compensation, he used the Spin to also give her better curves for a time. Gyro's fun was cut short when he spotted the trace of a wedding ring on his girlfriend's finger, meaning that he committed a crime worthy of capital punishment.[2]

One day, Gyro encountered a female patient who fell down the stairs. Her head was bruised and ther shoulder was broken. Although these wounds where the object of the operation Gyro participated in, he also saw her damaged optic nerves. Against his mother's recommendations, Gyro decided by himself to heal these too. However, just as he generated a Spin, his Steel Ball's rotation was disturbed by an accidental steam jet coming out of a pipe.[3] As a result, the woman went completely blind from Gyro's blunder. Gyro was ashamed of his failure.[4] However, he was then told by Gregorio that the woman was the sister of the guard Wekapipo, who was exiled for killing a noble of the court in a duel. Gregorio also told him that it was for the better that he botched his intervention, as the woman's impairment meant her potential enemies didn't have interest in getting revenge against her.[5]

At one point, Gyro botched an execution and didn't kill the prisoner swiftly. The execution was under the supervision of his father, who scolded him. Gyro threw away the Steel Ball that he used during this execution.[6]

At the age of 24, near his 25th anniversary, one woman scheduled for execution became violent and almost killed an executioner. The woman slammed Gyro against the wall but Gyro neutralized her. During the struggle, Gyro lost his collar hanger; his father Gregorio also chastised him for his sentimentality, as he saw Gyro pensive looking at the woman and an old prisoner in a cell. When he found it again, it was in the hands of a little boy named Marco who was found guilty of treason because he served a traitorous lord. Out of duty, Marco has sewn Gyro's collar hanger with a fishbone, which was found and put the boy in trouble for carrying a dangerous item.[7] Disturbed by the false charges as well as the fact that Marco was his first execution, Gyro asked for Marco's appeal. The protestation made the news of the country and Gregorio disapproved of Gyro's behavior. Unfortunately, his efforts were vain, but a the King's servant explained to him that the king would give amnesty to political criminals if the country suddenly gained prestige, such as winning a famous horse race. Thus, against his father's wishes, Gyro subscribed to the Steel Ball Run race.[8]

Steel Ball Run (1890-1891)

Pre-Race

Gyro's first appearance.

Gyro departed from Genoa earlier in May and arrived in the US on May 22. As a royal executioner Gyro was granted a VIP treatment and journeyed aboerd a boat owned by royalty.[9]

Gyro then spent some time in the Arizona desert, training in the Spin; during that time he exerciced and pushed the limits of his body by jumping great heights and doing cardio. Incidentally, Gyro trained near the territory of Sandman's tribe, and Sandman also found some of the book he left at his training camp.

Two days before the start of the Steel Ball Run race, Gyro arrives to San Diego beach and presents himself at the registration office. Paying his fee, Gyro is given the number B-636 as well as a commemoration badge. A man approaches him and pretends to be interested in his Steel Balls but Gyro presses the Steel Ball against the man's palm, forcing him to knee. When the employee notes that $20 are missing from the fee, Gyro discovers that the man is a thief who stole one $20 coin from his purse. Gyro takes back the coin and completes his registration. Angry, the thief is arrested but manages to snatch a gun and point it at Gyro from behind, as the Neapolitan leaves the scene. The thief gloats about how easy it is to kill Gyro and swears to come to him during the race to kill him. Angered, Gyro tells the guards to release the man and give him a gun: Gyro accepts to duel the thief. He throws a Steel Ball at the thief's right shoulder and leaves, satisfied, when the thief points his gun again at Gyro, the Spin causes the arm to bend in the direction of his face and the the thief shoots himself in the head. Since it was a fair duel, Gyro is left off the hook by the sheriff.

The duel attracts the attention of a particular man, Johnny Joestar, an ex-jockey who's become paraplegic. Out of curiosity, Johnny touches the Steel Balls and momentarily stands up. Shocked, Johnny wants to touch the Balls again but Gyro prevents him from doing so and tells him to get lost. Johnny swears to follow him during the race and find the secret of his Steel Balls.

Three hours to the start of the race, Gyro prepares his equipment and sorts out what he doesn't need to travel as lightly as possible. He ditches his toilet paper roll, toothbrush, his books, watches, ink bottles and scissors, but allows himself to keep his teddy bear. As he gets out of his tent, he sees Johnny in a paddock, dragged around by his newly acquired horse. When Johnny almost gets trampled by the horse, Gyro comments that Johnny cannot mount his horse, but that it would make him a superhuman if he accomplished it. Gyro then meets Sandman and tells him the way to the registration office. Two minutes before the start of the race, Gyro positions himself at his designated starting point. He meets Johnny again, who reiterates his vow to find the secret of the Steel Ball. Impressed by Johnny's determination, Gyro commends his wise choice of mount and gives Johnny a hint. Johnny thus realizes that the secret is about the Spin, and he rolls up his horse's neck to get in the saddle, just as the race starts.[10]

First Stage

At the start of the race, Gyro rushes ahead of every participant, which catches the attention of every watcher. The racer Urmd Avdol soon challenges him. Avdol pushes Gyro to unhorse him and has a weight advantage because of his large camel. However, Gyro throws a Steel Ball and sees that there are cacti nearby from a dust motif the Spin creates. He heads towards a specific grove and through he's almost pushed down, surprises Avdol with a sudden slope hiding the cacti. Avdol's camel falls right into the cacti and his camel collapses. Avdol is taken out of the race.[11] Then, Diego Brando the British star jockey challenges him. Diego has noted Valkyrie's habit of swaying left every eighth breath and uses this to his advantage to take the lead. As the two arrive at a wooden bridge, Diego is a horse's length ahed. However, Gyro then applies the Spin to Valkyrie's hind legs, empowering the steps into a sudden leap forward. Gyro gets ahead of Diego but also destroys the bridge with Valkyrie's violent jump.To everyone's shock, the jockey loses to Gyro for now.[12]

Still leading the race, at 6,000 meters from the finish line, Gyro then takes a dangerous shortcut through a fores. He expertly navigates during the trees and soon notices that one racer, Pocoloco, is trailing him.[13] The confident Pocoloco declares that he will definitely get ahead as the two engage a dangerous slope downhill. Pocoloco doesn't control his horse and seemingly trips, but he luckily lands on a cow skin and begins to slide downhill.[14] Faced with the eventually of Pocoloco getting ahead and having his horse rested doesn't sit well with Gyro, who throws his Steel Ball at a nearby rock formation to create a small rockslide and get Pocoloco away from his cow skin. However, Gyro accidentally hinders Sandman's path, as the Indian was on the rock formation at the time.[15] In the final 2,000 meters, Sandman is the one who takes the lead. Frustrated, Gyro accelerates. In the final kilometer, the race then becomes a dash between Sandman, Gyro, Pocoloco, Johnny and Diego. Gyro then turns his cape into a sail, fixing it with the Steel Balls. Helped by the tailwind, Gyro is the first to cross the finish line of the first stage.[16]

However, Steven Steel voids Gyro's performance for endangering the competitor Sandman and relegates him to 21st place, which outrages him. Gyro takes a petty revenge by forcing every bottle of champagne of Steel's party to open, and ruins the beverages by making a water tower spill on the bottles, all with the Spin. Gyro then crosses path with Johnny again. A friendship blooms between them and Gyro imparts his second lesson to Johnny and shows him how to get off a horse despite being paraplegic. The two decide to ride together.[17]

Second Stage

The racers line up, preparing to race across 2000 km of Arizona Desert for the second Stage. Against Johnny's advice, Gyro decides to take another shortcut through 120 km of desert and Johnny follows Gyro, both pursued by the fellow racer Mrs. Robinson.[18]

Six hours into the second stage, Gyro and Johnny momentarily stop to verify that they are on the right path, although Gyro hastily assures Johnny of it, making him nervous. As they carefully navigate the desert trying to keep an eye on Mrs. Robinson, something rapidly flies past them and shoots through Gyro's ear. Soon, they are assailled from all sides by what Johnny discovers to be catcus needles, coming from the explosive cholla cacti scattered in the land. However, they cannot be sure that Robinson, who's keeping away from them, is actually attacking. When a flurry of needles accurately cut his bridle and aim at his face, they is no doubt that Robinson is somehow trying to kill them. Johnny is unhorsed and tells Gyro to go ahead anyway, but Gyro decides to confront Robinson. He tries to throw his Steel Balls but needles hit his arm, making Gyro botch his throw and the Balls falls to the ground. Robinson reveals that he's breeding a swarm of flies inside of him to send them toward the chollas. However, Gyro also reveals that the vibrations of the Spin are still synched up to take out Robinson. The vibrations make some chollas explode near Robinson, who is shot down by a flurry of needles. The two can continue their race.[19]

Night falls, Johnny and Gyro set up camp. Gyro spots another horseman, and raises the question of their own security. When Johnny searches his pack to get his gun, he accidentally stumbles upon some documents alluding to Gyro's motivations for participating in the race, which angers the Napolitan.

Soon, they are approached by Andre Boom Boom, a fellow competitor who claims to have been bitten by a poisonous spotted salamander. Andre asks for some fire to heat his knife. Gyro reluctantly kicks him a branch on fire, and Andre proceeds to sever the poisoned skin while he chokes himself. He seemingly loses consciousness and Gyro nonchalantly kicks his knife away. Gyro immediately notices that his boot has been torn for an unknown reason. Meanwhile, Johnny also looks at the competitors' list and notes that Andre is part of a family of three that are competing too. Indeed, the rest of the Boom Boom Family approaches.[20] Suddenly, Gyro's feet is invaded by steel and the duo realises that they are dealing with enemies that are assassinating the competition. They realise that the Boom Boom's ability is a magnetic power when Johnny's pistol is disassembled and the pieces are attracted to Gyro's feet. Worse, Gyro loses a Steel Ball when he throws one at the patriarch, Benjamin Boom Boom, and it disintegrates midair. Andre's knife flies towards Gyro's neck but he thankfully blocks it.Gyro throws his remaining ball at a rock, making a piece of rock shoot through Andre. Seeing the Boom Boom Family circle around them, Gyro understands that the magnetism is tied to his proximity to them and thus, the duo flees. As they move away from the Boom Boom, the magnetisms weakens but Benjamin still manages to splash some of Andre's blood on Johnny and then tricks the cowboy Mountain Tim into thinking Johnny is the culprit of a murder they committed during the first stage.

Soon, Mountain Tim catches up to Gyro and Johnnyand the three feel the effects of the magnetism. Realising that they risk death of they collide, Gyro turns the nearby rock to dust rich in iron that hit Mountain Tim. Mountain Tim uses his power Oh! Lonesome Me to tie himself to a rock and the misunderstanding between the three is cleared. Mountain Tim also explains his power and presents the concept of Stands to the pair. The Boom Boom family appears and binds everyone in iron sand. Mountain Tim empties his revolver on L. A. Boom Boom but Benjamin deflects the bullets with his Stand. The heroes are immobilized and collide. Thankfully, Johnny awakens his own Stand and defeas Benjamin and L.A. with his spinning nails. Johnny realises that he's acquired a Stand ability because he's in a Devil's Palm. Angry, L. A. promises that they will be dead as someone from Gyro's country has put a bounty on his head. Since he's involved in this battle, Johnny pushes Gyro to reveal his past as an executioner from the Kingdom of Naples, whose effort to win the Steel Ball Run are undermined by enemies of his kingdom.

Gyro, Johnny and Mountain Tim reach a checkpoint town together where they can rest their horses. In here, Gyro notably receives a letter from his kingdom informing him that they have prepared a Zombie Horse for him to use, a tool that will help him heal wounds and fatigue. However, the Napolitan terrorist Oyecomova arrives in town. Due to his ability Boku no Rhythm wo Kiitekure, Oyecomova turns anything he touches into time bombs and he creates an explosion that takes out the hotel. Gyro and Johnny were in a nearby barn and thus are spared the explosion, and a wounded Mountain Tim warns them about Oyecomova but the terrorist sneaks on Gyro and touches his hand.

With bombs attached to his fingers, Gyro must press them as hard as possible to prevent the bombs from setting off. Seeing Oyecomova, Gyro does remember the terrorist's past with the Kingdom of Naples. Oyecomova sends a rat-bomb that explodes near Gyro. The blast almost forces him to let go of his hand; one bomb escape and Gyro has to shove it back into his hand to gain time. Oyecomova then prepares to leave and seize whatever Gyro was granted. Because sweat begins to accumulate in Gyro's palm, the bombs eventually escape and Gyro decides to throw the Ball at the terrorist. Gyro has to use the Spin to harden the vital parts of his body sacrifice a leg to endure the explosion with the use of his two hands. On the other hand, he but he manages to hit Oyecomova once.

Oyecomova leaves to retrieve the Zombie Horse, Johnny and Gyro behind him. In the mountainous area, Oyecomova is able to turn water, wasps and even smoke into bombs. To avoid the explosions, Gyro and Johnny accelerate to go beyond the range of their blasts. Using his Steel Ball, Gyro catches a spider web and spins it to capture the wasp-bombs Oyecomova sent too. Despite their efforts to keep up, Oyecomova manages to stay just out of Gyro's effective range. However, as Oyecomova blows out smoke, Johnny puts his spinning nails on a spider web that Oyecomova pulls, expecting to find wasps he can't be harmed with. With the spinning nails near him, they can boost Gyro's Steel Ball by reinforcing its rotation midair and Gyro is able to smash Oyecomova's face with his Steel Balls. The duo is victorious.[21]

In the mountains, Johnny and Gyro finally acquire the Zombie Horse, a string put on the wall of a cliff like a horse fresco. Using the string, Gyro stitches his leg and heals.

As Johnny and Gyro continue their journey, they are attacked by another competitor, Fritz von Stroheim. Gyro quickly defeats the German cyborg but Johnny begins to question how important the race prize can be with now several attempts on their lives. Suddenly, Johnny sees a mummified Left Arm fused to his own body, through it quickly fades inside of him. He quickly realises its significance related to his Stand ability and the Devil's Palm.

The duo are in sight of Monument Valley, the end of the second stage. However, Gyro is captured by Pork Pie Hat Kid. Nearly immobilized, Gyro is able to grab a Steel Ball and throw it through the portal Wired creates, indicating Johnny where he and the enemy are. When Johnny finally reaches Gyro and the Pork Pie Hat Kid, the latter ambushes him by using Gyro to make his hooks appears. Johnny is unable to attack Pork Pie Hat Kid and must yield or else the both of them die. Devastated, Johnny ejects the arm and loses his Stand. Johnny despairs but then Gyro reveals that he made the nails on the left arm spin too, acting as a trap for Pork Pie Hat Kid who is killed by the nails.

Gyro retakes the arm under Johnny's anxious eyes, but the Napolitan confirms that he isn't after the Corpse but simple victory and gives Johnny back the Left Arm. Johnny and Gyro discuss the true nature of the race, and Gyro theorizes that this Corpse must belong to some saint, knowing that relics can bless entire nations with good luck. That said, Johnny and Gyro resume their race, determined to get the Saint's Corpse or win it respectively.[22]

The other top contenders have arrived. Johnny and Gyro dash toward the finish line, with Diego Brando and Sandman contesting their lead. Incidentally, Johnny stumbles upon a stray newspaper and sees the photo of a montain whose top exactly resembles the word "movere crus" carved on his arm. Gyro is distracted and ends up finishing fourth, behind Sandman in third place, Johnny in second place and Diego in first place. However, the race doesn't stop and the competitor directly enter the 3rd stage: the Rocky Mountain Breakdown, crossing the eponymous mountain chain towards Cannon City.

Third Stage

In the Rocky Mountains, Gyro and Johnny meet with an unhorsed and visibly hurt Diego Brando. While Gyro tries to check up on him, Johnny advocates leaving Diego. Indeed, the British jockey even pridely tells them to go away. Soon enough, Diego catches up to them, strangely lively for someone who was wounded moments ago. The three of them decide to spend the night in a village to avoid the cougars. Gyro goes out to look for food and firewood. When he comes back, Gyro complains about a swarm of flies and discovers the corpse of a bear. Indeed, Diego has turned into a raptor, a ferocious dinosaur.

A fight ensues and Diego whips Gyro out of the house with his tail. He comes back and throws a Steel Ball but the dinosaur has an advantage in his kinetic vision allowing it to discern and avoid fast projectiles. Diego leaps at Gyro and pins him. To counter this kinetic vision, Gyro hides his second Steel Ball in a can, making it fly at Diego from point-blank range. Diego is stunned by the Ball, allowing the duo to escape. Still pursued by Diego, the duo notice on the horizon the "movere crus" mountain and realize where the next corpse part is. To hide from Diego, Gyro and Johnny lay on the bear corpse to mask their scent and stay immobile as dinosaurs cannot discern immobile objects. Diego follows one of Gyro's loose Balls, but thanks to the Spin, it flattens Gyro's leg as it passes on it, and rolls away, leading Diego away too. However, the bear that Diego has killed turns into another dinosaur.

The duo hides in a sewer where they are assailled by small rat-dinosaurs. These dinosaurs are killed by Gyro's Steel Ball but manage to mark their odor on the duo. The sewer leads to a cliff, but even there, some raptors are waiting for them and DIO tracks them thanks to the mark. Worse, Gyro and Johnny have been scratched by the dinosaur and slowly begin their own transformation. Noticing that Johnny's metamorphosis into a dinosaur is slowed by the Corpse Part, the duo try to reach the new Corpse Part on a nearby peak. They jump across a ravine and Gyro uses his Steel Ball on a tree to create a rope. However, both are stopped at the last moment by Diego and the horde of dinosaurs. Diego seizes the Eyes and Gyro, turned enough to become an ally to Diego, protects the former from Johnny.

The true enemy, Valentine's Subordinate, Dr. Ferdinand, appears riding a raptor. In a position of strength, Ferdinand calls Johnny out on his petty goals with the Saint's Corpse, not realizing who he is dealing with. To turn the situation around, Johnny relinquishes his Left Arm. He partially transforms into a dinosaur and uses his tail to propel himself towards Ferdinand, knocking the Eyes out of his hands. Gyro gets one of the eyes and is cured. He throws a Steel Ball at Dr. Ferdinand, who is protected by Diego. However, Gyro has acquired a new ability with the Corpse Part. Gyro pilots his Steel Ball remotely and sends it at Ferdinand's face, wounding him despite Diego's protection. Gyro acquires a supernatural vision. Thanks to it, he is able to hit the enemy even through a crowd of dinosaurs; when Ferdinand hides inside of one of his raptors, Gyro throws his Ball at the ground and sees through their bodies thanks to the vibrations. He thus can see where Ferdinand is hiding and hits him a third time along with Johnny. Ferdinand is defeated and his power is cancelled. Now surrounded by cougars, Ferdinand is mauled to death. Gyro has acquired the Right Eye, but the duo sees Diego with the Left Eye. Diego disappears, having kept the dinosaur powers with him.[23]

Johnny and Gyro then ride safely toward the end of the third stage. As every competitor races to finish first, Gyro and Diego try to take a shortcut through the lake instead of going around it. Johnny admonishes him, criticizing his lack of real, selfish drive he needs to come out on top. This angers Gyro who persists in his path and closely follows Diego. Out of the water, Valkyrie shows he is exhausted but is still running behind. To help his horse, Gyro throws away everything he carries and even uses the Spin to wring the water out of his body. Still, Diego sneakily spits a gastrolith and makes it rebound into Valkyrie's leg. Wounded, the horse slows down and Diego stays ahead of Gyro. Johnny nonetheless finishes before Diego. Thinking about this defeat, Gyro acknowledges that Johnny may have a point and wonders if he can take the Corpse hunt seriously to help him grow spiritually. Surprisingly, Johnny isn't the stage winner: the racer Hot Pants has already crossed the finish line some time before.[24]

Fourth Stage

Gyro and Johnny then race peacefully during 600 km of the 1250 km of the fourth stage.

At about 650 km from Kansas City, Gyro and Johnny formally meet Hot Pants, a fellow racer. Although Gyro doesn't like nor trusts Hot Pants who attacked them earlier, they are forced to ally themselves with him as gunslinger Ringo Roadagain blocks their way out of a forest. A shootout ensues, Johnny and Hot Pants are injured while Gyro is spared out of spite by Ringo. It is at this moment that Gyro acquires a genuine and selfish motivation to win, and challenges Ringo, this time winning against him. Gyro then heals Hot Pants and Johnny, but steals the latter's sandwiches to annoy him.[25]

As they approach Kansas City, Gyro and Johnny challenge Diego again in a race during a heavy rain. Gyro manages to win against Diego, whose horse is injured, putting the Englishman out of the race for a certain amount of time.[26] Later they meet Lucy Steel, who learned about the Corpse Parts and unwittingly antagonized he American Government. Asking for help, Lucy gives them the Spine as token of good faith, and Gyro defeats Blackmore, an agent who trailed Lucy. Gyro however suggests that Lucy goes back to steal Valentine's Heart. The Spine also gives them the location of the three next Corpse Parts.[27]

Fifth Stage

During the fifth stage, Gyro and Johnny race peacefully for about 300 km.

However they are attacked by Diego and Sandman, the latter's ability to give life to sounds being problematic since it destroys Gyro's Steel Balls. Cornered into a river, Gyro manages to teach Johnny to take inspiration from the surrounding nature in order to create an infinite rotation. Johnny's Tusk ACT 2 kills Sandman while Diego is already far away. Weakened by the fight, they cannot stop Hot Pants from stealing their Corpse Parts.[28]

They then finish the fifth stage peacefully.

Sixth Stage

File:Gyro in the snow.jpg
Gyro in the snow.

At the beginning of the sixth stage, Gyro and Johnny meet Sugar Mountain, a young girl living in a tree who guards the Ears and the Right Arm. Gyro manages to acquire both plus a hefty amount of precious goods. Their joy is cut short when they learn that they have to trade the goods by sunset, or they'll be absorbed into the tree.

In a nearby city, Gyro has difficulties spending everything in time, plus Eleven Men are stalking them, looking to kill them. Gyro decides to go into a clandestine casino to gamble, but he and Johnny are interrupted by the Eleven Men. A shootout ensues, during which the enemy proves too much, but Gyro convinces the gangsters working in the casino to protect him in exchange for the goods. As sun sets, Gyro transforms himself into a tree, having not thought of trading the Corpse Parts, and Johnny is forced to trade them to the last of the Eleven Men.[29]

Near the Michigan Lake, Gyro and Johnny confront another duo of government agents. Wekapipo and Magent Magent. While Magent Magent is disposed of rather quickly, Wekapipo's expertise in the art of the Spin proves dangerous as Wekapipo made sure to seal off Gyro's ability to draw from nature, and Gyro almost dies. However due to a coincidence, Gyro is able to look a snowflakes to overpower Wekapipo. Instead of letting him die, Gyro asks Wekapipo to go look for Lucy Steel.[30]

Having victory on their side, Gyro and Johnny immediately obtain the Legs from a wolf and easily finish the sixth stage at the first and second place.

Seventh Stage

Gyro and Johnny ride peacefully for 12 days, until one night, they see Hot Pants riding away. Gyro and Johnny follow her into a local garbage dump, but they realize it was a trap from the Stand user Axl RO, whose Civil War immobilizes Gyro. However Johnny saves them both due to his Stand evolving another time.[31]

Unfortunately, Valentine intervenes at the last moment and steals away all the Corpse Parts of the competitors save Diego's Eye. Their luck runs out, and Gyro finishes the stage at a disappointing 6th place.[32]

Eighth Stage

In Philadelphia, Gyro and Johnny decide to follow Diego and acquire his Eye. However, Valentine, using Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap's power to his advantage. Gyro loses time fighting his last agent D-I-S-C-O then investigate a shootout during which Johnny disappeared. At the same time, Valentine takes the Right Eye from Diego and Diego kills Wekapipo to escape the parallel dimension in which he's been imprisoned.[33]
Gyro to the rescue.
Johnny manage to work out the power of Valentine's Stand, and a reluctant Gyro accepts to help him pursue Valentine, revealing that even against Valentine, there is another level of Spin which could overpower him. Gyro and Johnny follow Diego and Hot Pants, observing from afar their clash between the three. It is not until Diego dies that Gyro and Johnny approach the train. However, they didn't plan for Lucy, now transformed into the Corpse, to cause a space distortion making the landscape converge toward her. As Gyro tries to escape this strange phenomenon, a carp bites into his finger. Later when Gyro investigates the locomotive, this one bite has moved to his carotid, severely injuring him.[33]

Now, Valentine has unlocked Love Train, a pocket dimension against which harm rebounces, making the President invulnerable. However, Gyro manages to forcefully tear off some of Valentine's hair. Gyro and Johnny take a respite, then charge toward the President, gambling on the potential of the Spin.[33]

File:Funny vs Johnny and Gyro.jpg
Gyro races towards the final battle against Valentine.

Nonetheless, Valentine manages to injure Johnny in the subsequent clash, forcing Gyro to throw one Steel Ball in a hurry. Johnny is only saved by Steven Steel who gives Lucy to Gyro and begs him to take her away from Valentine. Gyro manages to save Lucy on his horse and dashes toward the ocean, setting the stage for a duel against Valentine.[33]

Final Duel Against Valentine

In the final battle against Valentine, Gyro uses the most advanced technique of the Golden Rectangle: the "Super (or Cavalry) Spin", which is created by invoking the golden rectangle while riding a horse to gain momentum. By combining this technique with his newly developed stand Ball Breaker, his attack becomes very powerful.

Gyro's death.

Although his technique is very effective, it is not enough to beat Valentine, who resists his injuries long enough for Gyro to die from his own wounds. However, before dying, Gyro gives his last lesson to Johnny, allowing Tusk to reach ACT 4 and giving Johnny the power to defeat Valentine.

Gyro then reappears as a spirit, saying goodbye to his friend and ascends to Heaven. After the race, Johnny travels by ship to Naples in order to return Gyro's corpse to his family, intending to honor him one last time.


References

  1. Steel Ball Run Chapter 21: Gyro Zeppeli's Mission, Part 2, p2
  2. Steel Ball Run Chapter 45: The Promised Land: Sugar Mountain, Part 1, p3-6
  3. Steel Ball Run Chapter 52: Wrecking Ball, Part 2, p2-8
  4. Steel Ball Run Chapter 53: Wrecking Ball, Part 3, p2-5
  5. Steel Ball Run Chapter 54: Wrecking Ball, Part 4, p54-55
  6. Steel Ball Run Chapter 57: Civil War, Part 2, p39-40
  7. Steel Ball Run Chapter 24: Interlude, p6-18
  8. Steel Ball Run Chapter 21: Gyro Zeppeli's Mission, Part 2, p10-15
  9. SBR Vol. 3 Ch. 12: 1st Stage Disqualified From Victory p. 8
  10. SBR Vol. 1 Ch.4: September 25, 1890 - 3 Hours to Start
  11. SBR Vol. 1 Ch. 5: First Stage, 15,000 Meters
  12. SBR Vol. 2 Ch. 6: The Dried-Up River; Diego Brando
  13. SBR Vol. 2 Ch. 8: Crossing the Forest
  14. SBR Vol. 2 Ch. 9: Long, Long Downhill
  15. SBR Vol. 2 Ch. 10: Final Straight 2,000 Meters Left
  16. SBR Vol. 2 Ch. 11: The Final Stretch 1,000 Meters Left
  17. SBR Vol. 3 Ch. 12: 1st Stage Disqualified From Victory
  18. SBR Vol. 3 Ch. 13: The Sheriff's Request to Mountain Tim
  19. SBR Vol. 3 Ch. 14: Across the Arizona Desert: Continuing Along the Shortest Route
  20. SBR Vol. 3 Ch. 15: The Desert Born Outlaws (1)
  21. The Terrorist from a Faraway Country (story arc)
  22. Tusk (story arc)
  23. Scary Monsters (story arc)
  24. SBR Chapter 32
  25. A Man's World (story arc)
  26. The Green Tomb (story arc)
  27. Catch the Rainbow
  28. Silent Way (story arc)
  29. The Land of Promises: Sugar Mountain (story arc)
  30. Wrecking Ball (story arc)
  31. Civil War (story arc)
  32. SBR Chapter 59
  33. 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 D4C (story arc)