Illuso is a man of average height and slim to medium build; according to the height chart in Vento Aureo, he's actually the shortest of the La Squadra members at roughly 5'9" / 175 cm (which is actually close to the Italian height average). He has light-colored eyes and past shoulder-length hair tied into six pigtails. His outfit is entirely quilted: a vest with long sleeves with matching pants. With this outfit he wears dress shoes in a similar style to Giorno's and metal cuffs on the sleeves. He also has on circular knee and elbow pads with straps and a belt with a square, metal buckle. Holes are cut into the outfit to reveal most of his abdomen and neck areas.
In some panels, his sleeves, instead of ending in metal, simply end in more quilted fabric colored a like color. His vest also changes details, such as having a flap with buttons that buckles it together or simply being one strip.
Personality
Illuso appears before Fugo, Abbacchio and Giorno as a confident and smug assassin. Singling out each of them, he expresses great confidence and revels in his advantage as his power makes his opponents powerless before him. He also takes a bit of pride in the ability his Stand has, noticeably flashing his neck at Fugo and also reminding him several times that Man in the Mirror has removed his ability to attack. However, when he is pushed into a corner, Illuso shows the nerves to always think on moves to return the situation to his advantage until his fate is sealed. Illuso is also very calm for the first half of his fight, such as when he quickly got over the dead crows and Moody Blues' surprise attack. His confidence is such that he lets Fugo live while he's had the advantage to pursue Abbacchio, which proves to be a mistake by letting his opponents with a Stand in the normal world.
The anime expands on his unpleasantness, showing him jeering at Formaggio's power, calling it useless, and acting the most insensitive to Sorbet and Gelato's disappearance, wondering if they aren't spending time together and openly mentioning the rumor of the two being a couple.
Illuso is also highly perceptive of his surroundings, such as hearing Abbacchio's footsteps despite yelling at Fugo and also quickly noticing the key was missing from the room. As well, he became very alarmed and panicked when Abbacchio cut off his hand, a mood that continued until Illuso's demise.
He alluded as possibly being an informant of sorts to La Squadra, as out of all of the members, he had the most information on Team Bucciarati. He revealed he had all of Fugo's past written down in a journal he kept, alluded to the idea of having the same for Abbacchio and would've had something similar on Giorno if he wasn't new, and despite not having any information on their Stands soon quickly realized what everyone could do. He also had a journal of some kind on him, which may have held more information.
In Purple Haze Feedback, when Sheila E insults Illuso, Murolo (who is revealed to have hated La Squadra), laughs and asks what Illuso had done to deserve insults. This may imply that, out of everyone in La Squadra, Illuso hadn't been the worst member.
Illuso's Stand is Man in the Mirror; a humanoid Stand of moderate bodily power, and with which Illuso may isolate opponents in discrete alternate spaces reflected in mirrors.
(The information below derives from a Light Novel not written by Araki. As such, it may or may not be considered canon.)
Sometime before the main story line, Illuso killed Sheila E's sister; it is unknown why. This spurs her to join Passione for revenge.
Illuso was first introduced when Abbacchio, Giorno Giovanna and Pannacotta Fugo went to pick up a key in Pompeii. Ambushing them by using Man In The Mirror's ability to hide Illuso from sight in the Mirror World, Fugo was grabbed first after attempting to alert his friends of Illuso's presence (although Illuso noted he didn't care what order he fought them in). Threatening to either get the information he needed or to kill, Illuso fought and quickly overpowered Fugo by splitting Fugo away from his Stand.
When Abbacchio fled to attempt to get the key and leave Pompeii, Illuso abandoned fighting Fugo after beating him up with the promise to finish him off and chased after Abbacchio, soon bringing the ex-cop into the Mirror World as well. Although caught off guard by Abbacchio switching himself out with Moody Blues, Illuso eventually dragged half of Abbacchio in, bonded him with his Stand so as to effectively immobilize him, and then attempted to claim the key. Using his Stand ability and sacrificing his hand, Abbacchio attempts to give Giorno the key and pressure him to leave, only for Giorno to stay put.
Illuso's death
Illuso then attempts to drag Giorno into the Mirror World and succeeds without a fight, only for Giorno to reveal one of Purple Haze's virus capsules, having infected himself. Illuso is easily infected as well. Aware of the danger of the virus due to the death of crows earlier in the battle, Illuso throws Giorno away from him and is left with no choice but to flee back to the real world, cutting off his infected hand in the process. However, Giorno would create a snake that would track Illuso's position and allow Purple Haze to hunt him down. In a last-ditch effort, Illuso catches Purple Haze's fist and attempts to send it into the mirror world to prevent the capsules containing its virus from being released. This fails, as Purple Haze's shoots the capsules before he succeeds, the virus directly infecting his face. In the end, Purple Haze itself pummels Illuso to death, spreading the virus through his entire body and leaving him a puddle of flesh and discarded clothes.
In Purple Haze Feedback, Giorno mused at one point that while experiencing his slow and agonizing death, Illuso came to regret every decision and life choice he had made.
Illuso appears as the enemy faced in Chapters 5 through 7 of Super Story Mode, making him the enemy faced the second most in the entire game (behind Diavolo/The Boss). Illuso's main attack pattern is going back and forth between the normal and mirror world, represented as him teleporting to any of the seven mirrors strewn around the stage. Other than using Man In The Mirror to deliver punches and kicks, his main form of attack is to come out of a mirror or pile of mirror shards and throw multiple shards of broken glass at the player in a ranged attack that is difficult to dodge. Another attack has Illuso use Man in the Mirror to attempt to grab the player from behind and slit their throat, dealing substantial damage. All of his attacks are middle-to-long-ranged, with the grab attack easily reaching across the screen.
During Chapter 5 the player takes control of Fugo without his Stand, Purple Haze, during the fight the player needs to survive for two minutes. For all battles in the Mirror World, the left and right movement controls are inverted, while up and down are not, creating a disorienting experience. In Chapter 6 the player takes control of Abbacchio, and unlike the previous chapter Abbacchio can use Moody Blues. During this segment, the player only needs to damage Illuso until his health bar reaches roughly half. While Abbacchio plays with inverted controls (same as Fugo), Moody Blues' controls are regular.
Illuso is faced again during Chapter 7, with the player controlling Fugo again (and also with inverted controls). Since Illuso will now keep changing between the normal and mirror worlds, the player must manually switch between Fugo and Purple Haze with the Stand activation button, with Purple Haze having regular controls. Wherever Fugo is in the mirror world, Purple Haze will appear horizontally mirrored (e.g. if Fugo is touching the stage's left wall, switching to Purple Haze will have it touching the stage's right wall). Purple Haze will deal immense amounts of damage per attack in contrast to Fugo. This is countered, however, by Purple Haze being easily Stand Broken, forcing control back to Fugo and the player losing time having to turn Purple Haze back on.
Secret Factors
Chapter 5
Fugo must attempt to activate Purple Haze (L1 button). This Secret Factor will only count if it is the first Secret Factor achieved in the level. (Value of 2)
Fugo must check any of the mirrors within the level's stage. This will activate a cutscene of Fugo peering out of the mirror, and rather than seeing his own reflection, he sees Purple Haze ready to attack on its own. Illuso will then explain that effect of Man In The Mirror. (Value of 3)
Fugo must walk past any of the two garbage cans. It is possible to lose this Secret Factor as the garbage cans can be destroyed by Illuso. (Value of 2)
Fugo must walk past the broken mirror that is second to furthest to the left of the stage. (Value of 3)
Chapter 6
Abbacchio automatically starts the level with his Secret Factor level at MAX. (Value of 10)
Chapter 7
Fugo automatically starts the level with his Secret Factor level at 8. (Value of 8)
Fugo must defeat Illuso with a Level 3 Stand Shoot. (Value of 2)
Illuso's death is nearly identical to Captain Frye's death from the 1996 film, The Rock. Both are killed after an incurable toxic agent enclosed within a bulb is shattered near them, causing them to melt and asphyxiate.
Manga Appearances
Anime Appearances
