First appearing as seemingly confident and smooth-talking with women, Hol Horse looks like a stereotypical movie gunslinger. However, whenever he is disadvantaged, his cowardice resurfaces.
As a henchman for DIO, Hol Horse's confidence fluctuates significantly. Unlike many overconfident Stand users, Hol Horse is primarily aware of how weak his Stand Emperor is when compared to most Stands. This knowledge combined with his affable personality (since he has no problem being a second-in-command rather than a "Number 1") make him willing to partner up with someone else. In that case, Hol Horse is very confident that he can take on anyone. This confidence extends to whenever he can convince himself that he has the advantage, which leads to his assassination attempt on DIO with a calm determination the vampire complimented and deemed enough to prevail against the Joestar Group. On the other hand, if Hol Horse sees that he doesn't have the upper hand, he reveals his cowardly self and doesn't hesitate to flee in the face of danger. Hol Horse fled twice, for this reason; First when he learned that J. Geil was killed and secondly when he saw the opportunity of stealing the Joestar Group's 4x4. Still, Hol Horse has a lingering pride and his first reflex, as seen against Enya the Hag and DIO, is to put up a fight if ridiculed.
Hol Horse considers himself a ladies' man. By his word, he has girlfriends from all over the world but reveals that he seduces them to make use of them later rather than from any romantic feelings. Although he almost always lies to women, Hol Horse is against hitting them. He vehemently denied Tohth's prediction of him kicking a lady from behind would come to pass, as he had sworn never to hit women. This prediction is proven later out Hol Horse's own compulsion, though he kicked the woman to save her from a scorpion. This moral standard didn't prevent Hol Horse from pointing his Stand at Enya.
Hol Horse is mildly greedy, carrying out assassinations for money, and the possibility of taking DIO's treasures was one motivation for his attempt to kill DIO. He also broke his word in never hitting a woman over the idea of somehow getting rich through Tohth's prediction.
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.
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 Hanged Man; and the other where he is allied with Boingo and Tohth, 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.
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.
Storyline
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.
Strategy
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.
Predictably, most of Hol Horse's strategy revolves around utilizing his gun (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 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.
Techniques
- Mighty Gun
- Glass Shower
- Hanged Man
- Super Mighty Gun
- Wild West
- Wooden Nickels
- Pipe Maze
- Absolute Premonition
Hol Horse returns as a playable character in the PS3 title. He was confirmed along with Avdol and DIO as one of the last Part 3 characters (not counting DLC characters Iggy and Vanilla Ice). He is voiced by Houchuu Ootsuka in this game, who previously voiced young Joseph Joestar in the Capcom game.
Along with Enrico Pucci, Kosaku-Kira, Johnny Joestar, Koichi Hirose, and Giorno Giovanna, Hol Horse is a character who can utilize more than one Stand during a match as part of his moveset; Emperor, and The Hanged Man of J. Geil, whom is never shown aside from it.
Some of his attacks return from the Capcom game (Heritage for the Future), though he is otherwise newly outfitted with different abilities. Despite being one of the mass majority of playable characters in the game with the "Stand" Style, Hol Horse cannot switch between movesets, nor does he have access to the Stand Rush ability. He shares this effect with Guido Mista and Diavolo. Instead, Hol Horse's Style button triggers the skill "Gun beats sword", wherein he trick-spins Emperor as it glows, enhancing the next skill marked with a star. Said abilities can be instantly performed following the skill.
During a fight, Hol Horse uses moves that were loosely based on those featured in Stardust Crusaders.
- I'll be right back!: Hol Horse runs away from the opponent, marking him one of the only three characters in the game capable of running in the opposite direction; The others being Joseph Joestar (both versions) and Iggy.
- You lose, loser!: Hol Horse fires a high-speed bullet. Different attack button inputs have different effects on the bullet's flight. This move is marked with a star, and can be enhanced to hit multiple times for higher overall damage. If Hol Horse takes damage, the bullet will disappear. (Comboable through Puttsun Cancel)
- Light - The bullet flies forward normally.
- Medium - The bullet curves upward, acting as a form of anti-air.
- Heavy - The bullet flies back towards Hol Horse after going a distance, disappearing right as it's about to touch him. This variation can be used to hit opponents that have jumped over the initial shot, but Hol Horse cannot move for longer as he needs to manually bring the bullet back.
- Even my bullets are a Stand!: Hol Horse fires a special slow bullet that deals more damage. As long as the Style button is held, the bullet's trajectory can be manually changed up to 4 times (Comboable through Puttsun Cancel). This move is marked with a star, and can be enhanced to increase the amount of times the trajectory can be changed to unlimited and the amount of times the bullet hits the opponent as well. (Comboable)
- Come get us!: Hol Horse tosses a glass bottle full of water into the air before shooting it. The opponent may also collide with the bottle and take damage as a makeshift anti-air, the bullet to allow the bottle to break on landing, or both for substantial unintended damage. Upon breaking, a puddle of water is left on the floor. This move's second half is in the form of a follow-up.
- You're up, J. Geil!: The Hanged Man appears out of the puddle and stabs the opponent, stunning them and leaving them vulnerable. Hol Horse's inputted normal attack will be delivered simultaneously. A low attack that cannot be blocked if the opponent is not crouching, and can even be used if Hol Horse is in the middle being attacked or down. (Comboable)
- Throw - Now I've got ya!: Hol Horse picks the opponent up by their collar, before Hanged Man stabs them and sends them flying.
Exclusive to Hol Horse is the passive ability "Hol Horse loves the ladies!". Whenever he faces off against a female opponent (Lisa Lisa, Jolyne Cujoh, or Ermes Costello), Hol Horse will have special dialogue with them as he attempts to flirt, only to be met by repulsion. An icon will display above his Heart Heat Gauge depicting a yellow silhouette of his head as a pink heart appears in the smoke of his cigarette. During battle, Hol Horse's attack power is reduced, but his HHG builds faster.
Hol Horse's HHA, "Eat this!", begins with him spitting his cigarette up into the air shortly before he fires a volley of 4 to 10 bullets, dependent on whether or not an attack button was rapidly pressed. Each bullet comes back around to hit again before disappearing for a total of 8 to 20 hits. The last hit will knock the opponent to the ground, and Hol Horse will catch his cigarette back in his mouth. The HHA will deal more damage if "Gun beats sword" is in effect, making the bullets hit yet another time.
Hol Horse's GHA, "Hol Horse is gonna kill ya!", starts with him throwing an empty glass bottle into the air and shooting it. If the opponent is caught in the shard rain, Hanged Man will appear in the mirror world in front of them and stab them in the shoulder, immobilizing them and prompting Hol Horse to shoot. Hol Horse complying happily, he fires a bullets that curves and dances around the falling glass shards before finally flying with high speed straight toward its target: The opponent's forehead. The GHA can hit a downed opponent, but cannot hit at point-blank or close range.
Besides the cast from Part 3 (not counting Old Joseph, Iggy, and Vanilla Ice, all of whom are DLC), 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. If Hol Horse wins, he'll note that, unlike Mista, his bullets are also part of his Stand. If Mista wins, he'll note how funny of a guy Hol Horse is.
Hol Horse appears as one of the several Part 3 characters who posses a Metal Striker. His FINISH move makes his Stand, Emperor, appear and shoot several times at the defeated opponent.
Hol Horse was confirmed for the game alongside Polnareff.
If he is set up against Mista he will note their similar abilities.
Unlike the previous game, Hol Horse's main color is now based on his anime appearance.
He is paired with Yukako Yamagishi in the Eyes of Heaven Tournament, but was eliminated in the preliminaries by Jotaro Kujo and Vanilla Ice.
