Jean Pierre Polnareff is one of the major characters in Part III: Stardust Crusaders, and makes a further appearance later on in Part V: Vento Aureo. He went with Jotaro and Joseph to get revenge for his sister, who was raped and murdered by J. Geil. He is the only non-Joestar to have survived the third adventure.
Personality
Polnareff is the stereotypical "good-natured klutz". He is heroic and protective of those he loves, but is not very bright (although he has shown lots of cunning and strategy throughout the series). He is very impulsive and loud, and is quick to jump into action without considering the risk, character traits that have landed him in lots of trouble. However, he is sincerely dedicated to doing good, and is a good man who can watch his friends' backs. He also fancies himself as a ladies man, but his personality implies that he overestimates his actual prowess.
Out of all the characters in the series, Polnareff is the one who has the least problems showing his feelings, and he adds a lot of humor and warmth to what would otherwise be a pretty cold team (Kakyoin and Jotaro in particular are very cold characters). Indeed, while he may sometimes be seen as the comic relief of the series, Polnareff's companions appreciate his good nature and trust him to help them win when a tough battle arrives.
Interestingly, Polnareff's best friends during the course of the series are Abdul and Iggy, neither of whom he could stand when they first met. In fact, no character mourns the deaths of his companions like Polnareff does, and no other character is as dedicated to avenging them
Synopsis
History
Polnareff was born with his stand, though does not realize it until some time later. Three years ago, his sister was ambushed, raped, and murdered by J. Geil, sparking Polnareff's desire for revenge. Subsequently, Polnareff trains constantly with his stand to avenge his sister and kill J. Geil.[2][3] His Stand powers attracted Dio, who lured him into a fight and brainwashed him afterward.
Stardust Crusaders (1986-1988)
Under Dio's influence, Polnareff attacked the Joestar party in Hong Kong. He was confronted by Abdul and defeated after some difficulty. While Polnareff conceded his defeat, Jotaro sensed Dio's cells in the man's forehead and removed the implant. Afterwards, Polnareff joined the Joestar group in their quest to destroy Dio, with his ultimate goal being to find his sister's murderer.
He got his shot at J. Geil, his sister's murderer, and successfully avenged her death. Unfortunately, during the battle with J. Geil and his partner Hol Horse, Abdul was seemingly killed, saving Polnareff's life. Abdul's death weighed very heavily on him. At one point, Polnareff was tricked by Cameo's stand Judgment into wishing for his sister Sherry and Abdul back to life. These clones attacked Polnareff as clay golems, but the real Abdul reappeared and saved him, having survived Hol Horse's attack after all. When possessed by Anubis, he once again fell under Dio's control but was freed by Jotaro a second time.
During the invasion of Dio's mansion, Polnareff was again saved at the price of two friends' lives. Both Abdul and Iggy died in the battle against Cream, the latter protecting Polnareff until the last. After Dio's ultimate defeat, Polnareff tearfully parted with Jotaro and Joseph, remembering the three friends who had died on their journey.
Vento Aureo (2001)
Somewhere near the end of Vento Aureo, he encountered Doppio - not knowing the boy was secretly Diavolo. Polnareff was taken by surprise and tried to get the arrow away from Diavolo. Polnareff was severely injured by King Crimson, but not before using the arrow on his own stand.
When his body died, it left Silver Chariot Requiem as an insane stand without direction. The resulting body switch put his soul inside of Coco Jumbo. After all souls were put in the proper body, Polnareff maintained his place inside of Coco Jumbo. He claimed he could do this because of how powerful Coco Jumbo's stand was, as it allowed his spirit to linger..
In Video Games
Befitting a charge character, Polnareff can string up offensive attacks to form a somewhat unstoppable pattern. His Million Spits has good strength. He also has good Stand combos that can be used to set up attacks for an execution of Special or Super moves. He's a good character for a juggle game. Armor Takeoff is highly damaging and, used with juggle tactics, he can inflict damage easily in comparison to the other characters. However, his combos like most charge characters require a different execution, and his mostly at times might need to start his combos with jumpin midair attacks.
Black Polnareff: This version of Polnareff is the original darkside version from Part 3 that only appears playable in this game. He is born on accident due to Polnareff at one point getting a hold of Anubis' blade, allowing him to be possessed. This version of Polnareff is more aggressive due to Anubis' control.
As if Polnareff isn't good enough for offense, Black Polnareff is even better. His increased speed gives him a good confusion game. Despite the loss of an active Stand, his moves more than make up for it - all of his special and most super attacks can be chained from basic attacks. While this makes him a close-quarters character, the damage he deals pays off the effort. Also, he gains the properties of any Anubis Sword-wielder: the ability to remember attacks. His version of Dimension Slash renders him completely invincible until the attack deploys by itself.
Techniques
- Million Spit
- Raydarts
- Shooting Star
- Piercing Needles Sentence
- Armor Takeoff
- Last Shot
Trivia
- Polnareff became the biggest inspiration towards the character design of KOF's Benimaru Nikaido. SNK developers continue referring to Benimaru as Polnareff even today. It is also ironic that Benimaru dislikes otaku and anime, even though several of his moves are based off of anime in the Tokusatsu genre.
- He is often quoted saying "Buttsubusu!" ("I'll beat you up!") or "Buttagitte yaru!" ("I'll slice you to pieces!").
- There are strong parallels between Polnareff and Inigo Montoya from the movie and novel The Princess Bride: both are at first foes and then allies, both are master swordsmen and both sworn to vengeance against a man with a deformed hand. For Inigo, it was the count with six fingers, for Polnareff, J. Geil with two right hands. Finally when both meet their villain, they have a dramatic but concise presentation of their reason and intent for vengeance.
- He is one of the few character who holds on to two stands at the same time. This would otherwise break the rule of only one stand per person, but he was possessed by Anubis, who was nothing more than a sword that combined with Silver Chariot to dual wield.
- Polnareff is the second person to have died (i.e. physical body perishing) and have his stand continue existing, the other being Notorious B.I.G.. However, while Notorious BIG had that power, Polnareff's Silver Chariot went insane without a user. Thus Polnareff was not dead but fully separated from his stand, while his spirit existed inside Coco Jumbo.
- His hair is similar to the Tekken character Paul Phoenix.
- His might have a counterpart in steel ball run in chapter 25 page 7.
Gallery
Polnareff in Heritage of the Future
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Black Polnareff
Young Polnareff in Heritage for the Future
