Hol Horse
Hol Horse (ホル・ホース, Horu Hōsu) is a minor character appearing in Part III: Stardust Crusaders. He is initially portrayed as an antagonist, but later shifted to a more comic role in the story.
Personality
Hol Horse is an arrogant cowboy though despite this, prefers to be a second in command than a number 1 type of guy.
Hol Horse is shown to respect power, as seen when he arrogantly believes that he could kill Dio Brando, but is easily convinced into killing the heroes after witnessing first hand the power of Dio's The World Stand. Though he considers himself a ladies' man, he doesn't particularly hold any respect for them as women and considers them more helpful as leverage or assistants in fights than romantic partners, from the way he talks about Nena. He also vehemently denied that Thoth's prediction of him kicking a lady from behind would come true, as he had sworn to never hit women (although he later kicked said lady to save her from a scorpion)
He is not a very brave man, as he quickly loses his composure once he realizes he is outmatched. The most extreme case of this was when attempting to assassinate Dio, the vampire merely used The World's power to seemingly teleport behind Hol Horse and avoid his shot effortlessly without so much as even disturbing the cobwebs around them. His independence was shattered, and he realized he had failed completely. As a result, Hol Horse swore eternal loyalty to Dio.
Synopsis
Stardust Crusaders
He's introduced in India turning down a marriage offer from future partner Nena before revealing himself as a member of a tag team of stand users with J. Geil. He reveals to J. Geil that he was merely using Nena, because women in love are willing to do anything for him.
Together they manage to severely injure Muhammad Avdol, believing him to be dead. He decides to run away after J. Geil is killed by Polnareff, as he is the kind of guy who only works with partners; Nena assists him in escaping. Enya Gail decided to blame Hol Horse for the possibility that he deserted her son, using her stand to injure Hol Horse and believes that she have killed him. After the protagonists defeat Enya, however, he steals their vehicle confirming that he was not killed in her attack.
After escaping the protagonists, he promises revenge on them, but doesn't come back to fight them. He goes to Dio Brando to report on Alessi's and Mariah's defeat, but attacks Dio after he questions why Hol Horse doesn't fight. He is cowed by Dio's power and, broken, swears eternal loyalty to Dio and decides to attack the Joestar group with a new partner. He goes to the extent of kidnapping Boingo for assistance in dispatching the protagonists with Tohth. The joint assassination attempt on Jotaro Kujo by Hol Horse and Boingo goes horribly awry as Tohth's prediction backfires on them, ending with The Emperor's own bullets hitting Hol right in the face. While severe, the bullet wounds stop just short of his skull, leaving him in the hospital for the remainder of the story.
Stand
Hol Horse's stand represents the Tarot Card Emperor, which symbolizes the desire to rule over one's surroundings with strategies and long-term thinking. Its appearance in a reading often suggests that the subject needs to accept that some things may not be controllable, and others may not benefit from being controlled. Hol Horse tries to take control over the situations he's in through thinking how he would benefit from it, carelessly attacking Dio Brando before he witnessed he would be better being his ally. As he understands that he may not be in total control of things as well as recognizing his own Stand's shortcomings, he prefers to be the number 2 guy in most working relationships.
In the OVA
Hol Horse also appears in the 2000 episodes of the Part III OVA, with his debut being in the two parter episodes "The Emperor and the Hanged Man" and "The Judgment", a straight adaptation of his manga debut. His last appearances are in the Enya Geil 2 parter episodes which adapt her manga chapters as well. Unlike in the manga, at the end of the "Justice" episode of the OVA, Hol Horse is rendered comatose but still alive, and does not hinder the Joestar group any further.
In Video Games
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (SNES Game)
Hol Horse appears multiple times throughout this game re-enacting most of his moments from the series. His final encounter with the player has him teaming up with Mariah to try and take Jotaro and the others down.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future (PS1/DC/Arcade Game)
Hol Horse appears in the second revision of the game, and possesses two different versions of himself, one where he is allied with J. Geil and the Hanged Man Stand, and the other where he is allied with Boingo and Thoth, due to what happens to him in the story. While normal Hol Horse is readily available, Hol Horse's "Boingo" version must be unlocked via a code. If he defeats the Joestar party while partnered up with J. Geil, the arrogant cowboy will turn on Dio (in his Shadow Form) and defeat him, though still admitting he prefers to be a second-in-command. On the other hand, if the humbled Hol Horse partnered with Boingo defeats the party, Dio grants him a cash sum substantial enough for Hol to "live happily ever after", while Boingo decides to use his Stand to help people. Hol Horse ("& Boingo" version) appears to be able to use his Stand after being de-aged by Alessi, implying he either was born or developed his stand at a young age.
As Hol Horse lacks an "active" Stand, pressing the Stand button has him fire a bullet that briefly stops in midair, moving in whatever direction the player inputs during this time. The delay is significantly shorter for the "& Boingo" version of Hol Horse.
In the first version of the game (Jojo's Venture), a few sprites of Hol Horse can be found within the game's data, showing that he was at one point planned instead to debut in the first version.
Techniques
- Mighty Gun
- Glass Shower
- Hanged Man
- Super Mighty Gun
- Wild West
- Wooden Nickels
- Pipe Maze
- Absolute Premonition
Strategy
Predictably, most of Hol Horse's strategy revolves around utilizing his gun (The Emperor) to harass his opponents from the distance. He possesses no Active Stand, which renders him extremely vulnerable to chip damage (which having a Stand active would normally block) and forces the player take a more aggressive role, or at the very least avoid attacks instead of blocking them. His Glass Shower move is excellent for denying aerial attacks and forcing opponents backwards, while the Hanged Man (normal Hol Horse only) can help Hol by stabbing his opponent in the leg and paralyzing them while they are on the ground.
While all of Hol's super techniques are very usable, the one that shines the most is his Dangan no Modou, which allows him to fire a bullet and freely control it with the joystick for a few moments. This attack is completely unblockable, and can be used repeatedly until Hol's super gauge is empty. This is a great way of finishing off an enemy who is playing defensively, or just equalizing an opponent who has more energy than you.
In summary, Hol Horse shines at medium range, as his close quarters attacks are less than impressive, and his bullets become easy to avoid from across the screen. Keep the pressure on with plenty of straight shots (be sure to mix-up between high and low to keep your opponent guessing) and use the Glass Shower to cover your tracks when they try to rush. Or just experiment with his moveset and make your own strategy, as his techniques allow for a great deal of flexibility depending on who your opponent is.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle (PS3 Game)
Hol Horse returns as a playable character on the PS3 title. He was confirmed along with Avdol and DIO as one of the last Part III representatives (not counting the DLC characters Iggy and Vanilla Ice.). Most of Hol Horse's previous moves returns, though toned down for balance. He cannot call out J. Geil's Hanged Man whenever he wants in this game, instead he must throw a bottle of liquid into the air and shoot the airborne bottle, spilling the liquid onto the floor. Inputting the same command after that summons Hanged Man to briefly attack the opponent.
He is voiced by Houchuu Ootsuka in this game, who previously voiced young Joseph Joestar in the Capcom game.
His HHA has him fire a controlled bullet that repeatedly damages his victim. His GHA is similiar to his normal Hanged Man move, named "Me and J. Geil's Invincible Combo". Hol Horse tosses mutliple bottles into the air and shoots them. If the opening attack hits, Hanged Man appears behind the victim and stabs them in the back, imobilizing them. Hol Horse then fires a single shot into the immobile victim's head (reminiscent of how he and J. Geil first seemingly killed Avdol.)
Along with Enrico Pucci, Kosaku-Kira, Johnny Joestar, Koichi Hirose and Giorno Giovanna, Hol Horse is the only character who can use more than one stand during a match as part of his moveset. Besides the cast from PART III (not counting Vanilla Ice), Hol Horse has special intro dialogue with Guido Mista, wherein Hol Horse decides to see which one of the two is the faster gunman, a challenge that Mista accepts.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Shooters (Android/iOS Game)
Hol Horse appears as one of the several PART III characters who posses a Metal Striker. His FINISH move makes his stand, Emperor, appears and shoots several times on the defeated opponent.
Gallery
Hol Horse appearing before Polnareff
Hol Horse summoning his stand
Hol Horse in All-Star Battle
- Hol Horse in the 2000 OVA.jpg
Hol Horse in the 2000 OVA
Hol Horse in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future
- OP Hol Horse.png
A glimpse of Hol Horse in STAND PROUD
Trivia
- In Heritage for the Future, Hol Horse is one of the special characters that doesn't turn his child form but rather, the boy that attempted to sell Kakyoin and Polnareff things during their fight against J. Geil. For his "Hol Horse And Boingo" form he seems to swap places with Boingo, and hides under the latter's box although you can see a young Hol Horse's arm sticking out firing Emperor when using certain attacks.
- Hol Horse is one of the three characters in the franchise to use a gun as his main weapon, the other two being Mista and F.F. One of the trailers for All Star Battle references that, by showing Mista and Hol Horse as rivals, with their battle named as "GUN AND GUN".
- Hol Horse, Wamuu, Akira Otoishi, Vanilla Ice and Esidisi are the only minor antagonists to appear as playable characters in All Star Battle PS3 game.
- In one group shot picture of the main protagonists in Part 3 Hol Horse appears in the picture with them. The reason for this isn't known, but it suggests at one point Hol Horse was going to be an ally after being defeated as he's the only minor antagonist in the series to appear in a protagonist group shot.
- So far he's the only minor antagonist to come back into the story after he's defeated, only to end up being defeated yet again.
References
