Wamuu
Wamuu (ワムウ, Wamū) is a primary antagonist featured in the second part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Battle Tendency.
He is a proud Pillar Man warrior in the respectful service of his superiors Esidisi and Kars, also serving as a personal rival to Joseph Joestar throughout his journey.
Appearance
Wamuu appears as an immense being; powerfully built and tall. Many of his more detailed drawings have his veins bulging from his extremities. His face is particularly chiseled and square with high cheekbones.
Wamuu has short, standing light hair and prominent eyebrows. On his face is a tattoo of a thick square outline. It crosses his face just under the bridge of his nose, upwards through the middle of his left eye and ending above his right eyebrow. In one particular close-up of his face, the tattoo has the word "POWER" written several times in it, as well as the word "ALPHABET". As a Pillar Man, he has a singular, relatively large drill-like horn above his forehead that he can retract.
In all of his appearances, Wamuu wears large earrings and a metallic head adornment similar to a crown that opens at the front whenever he summons out his horn. Up until his defeat of Caesar, he has a small ring on the left side of his lip containing the antidote for his Wedding Ring.
Color Schemes
Personality
Wamuu's most notable traits are his love of battle and his sense of honor, such that he stops himself from finishing off a defenseless Joseph Joestar on the mere possibility that he can wash away an earlier humiliation inflicted by Joseph when he'll beat him as soon as he becomes a fine and powerful Ripple warrior.[4]
Wamuu usually looks down on all the humans he comes across to, but he will come to respect them should they have the following two requirements: firstly that the fighters take combat seriously, and secondly that they are strong fighters. Thus Wamuu sneered at Caesar Zeppeli when he declared that he fought for his friend Mark,[5] yet honored Caesar's last efforts to steal the antidote for Joseph and left it for Joseph out of respect for the strength Caesar demonstrated.[6] Because of his way of life centered around fighting, Wamuu tends to ignore non-combatants, for instance telling Joseph to leave during their first meeting, mistaking the young man for a harmless goof.[7] Wamuu is also one of the few antagonists in the JoJo franchise who cannot bring himself to harm or murder children, a moral compunction that his master Kars does not share.[8] However, anyone earning his attention becomes a target for his challenges.
Wamuu is as severe toward himself as he is toward anyone else save his masters. For instance, he once let Joseph beat him as punishment for letting his guard down and strongly disliked that Joseph expressed pity on him.[8] On the other hand, Wamuu has a high opinion of himself, as he regularly deems certain individuals "worthy" or "unworthy" of fighting him. Wamuu also opted to kill the helpless Speedwagon and Caesar who saw his humiliation before being distracted.[9] As a testament to his commitment and strength of character, Wamuu has developed himself an extreme mental switch designed to help him focus if he ever enters a state of shock or panics during combat. Thus, he will gouge his eyes and rely on his wind-sensing horn as a means of seeing.[1] Kars even went further and said that after activating his mental switch, Wamuu no longer has any psychological weaknesses. When it comes to fighting, Wamuu is irritated that a fighter might try to flee or surrender,[9] but he considers using tactics such as ambushes or feints to beat one's opponent acceptable.
The only thing that rivals his sense of honor is his fidelity toward his masters Kars and Esidisi, who raised him since he was a baby. He respects both highly, yet holds no illusion that neither of them has the same sense of honor and can objectively assert their strengths and weaknesses. During his battle with Caesar, he noted that Kars would have an even harder time fighting Caesar than him.[6] Wamuu occasionally requests that his masters change their plans to suit his love of fights, which they allow easily since they have raised Wamuu as their finest warrior[5] but also can refuse.[10] Either way, Wamuu will obey their command.
Wamuu has a weird personality quirk, where he reflexively attacks anyone who steps on his shadow, even if it was one of his masters (Kars and Esidisi). Somehow, Wamuu is able to tell when someone is stepping on his shadow, even if he wasn't looking at their direction.[11]
Abilities
- See also: Pillar Men
Wamuu's head gear is specially designed to be an "Anti-Ripple Tool". The head gear contains wires that Wamuu used to nullify Caesar's Ripple-charged bubbles, by spinning his head and knocking the bubbles away. Also, the head gear has a hole that opens up allowing his horn to drill out, enabling him to sense the wind, and precisely locate any movement or changes in the air surrounding him. The wind-sensing Horn also works as a wind cannon of sort, where he shoots a stream of wind that is destructive enough to slice through huge rocks.
The cells that constitute Wamuu's body release a potent digestive acid that melts anything organic on physical contact while making it appear Wamuu is absorbing his victim into his body. Wamuu displayed this ability through grafting the hands of multiple Nazi soldiers in a paper-doll fashion, sucking out all their innards through one of them. Only those who use Ripple are immune as the cells recognize the threat the energy poses to them.
Wind Mode
Wamuu possesses what he calls "Wind Mode", which is an ability he achieved through the Pillar Men's ability to freely control and alter their bodies. Using Wind Mode, Wamuu is able to attack using razor sharp wind that blows out of his own body, capable of shredding a human being to pieces. This even causes trouble for highly-trained Ripple users like Joseph and Caesar.
Wamuu's signature technique. The attack is initiated when Wamuu starts to spin his forearms rapidly from the elbow joint, where the right arm spins to the left, and the left arm spins to the right. The rapid spinning creates a massive wind storm with enough destructive power to shred a human being into pieces, and make large pieces of rock crumble. The attack was likened to "A Sandstorm in Space" by Joseph.
A technique where Wamuu wraps his body in a whirlwind of steam released from his lungs, using make-shift tubes produced from his own body to release the air inside his lungs. The wind suit gives Wamuu the ability to reflect the sun rays off of his body, giving him much needed protection against the sun. Also, by reflecting the light, Wamuu becomes invisible, which gives him the opportunity to launch surprise attacks. However, the wind suit takes a lot of energy to maintain, and only lasts for roughly ten seconds, which forces Wamuu to stay near a sheltered area to take cover once the technique is over.
Typically used as a last resort, Wamuu uses the tubes for his wind suit to gather huge amounts of air and compresses it in his lungs. The air is then released through a slit on the horn of his head, causing it to become as sharp as a razor blade. The wind flails about much like a whip and is sharp enough to cut through stone. However, due to the scraping and heat led by the quick wind compression, the technique slowly tears apart Wamuu's body until he collapses.
Personal
Fighting Genius: Wamuu's signature characteristic, as he was described as a "Fighting Genius" by many characters in the series, including Caesar and Wamuu's own master, Kars. Perhaps his fighting genius was best demonstrated in his fight with Caesar, when, despite being cornered and injured, he managed to escape by using the force generated by Caesar's attack to push himself to safety.
History
Background
Wamuu is a member of the same race as Kars. After Kars and Esidisi exterminated their clan, Wamuu and Santana were taken in by the two of them since they were infants. After being trained by the two, Wamuu became a strong warrior with honed instincts. Wamuu accompanied his masters to find a flawless Red Stone of Aja. During their travels, he participated in the extermination of the Ripple Clan. However, he was reluctant to kill a child from the clan, so Kars killed the boy himself.[12]
The Pillar Men's search took them to Rome where they battled Ripple users before entering a hibernation state under the Roman Colosseum. The wall that he and his masters embedded themselves in was booby-trapped to impale potential prey for nourishment as seen with Mario Zeppeli.
Battle Tendency (1939)
Awakening in Rome
The Pillar Man begin their awakening in 1939. Wamuu is introduced when he uses his horn to kill one of the Nazis sent to prevent the Pillar Mens' awakening, using the dead man's blood to disable to UV lights. While noting the change in time, Wamuu used his digestive acids to graft the hands of the rest of the Nazi group together, allowing him to absorb them simultaneously. Wamuu, with no one to interfere, then awakens Kars and Esidisi.
As the three set off to find the Red Stone of Aja, Wamuu mortally wounds Mark while passing through the German soldier. Kars accidentally steps in Wamuu's shadow, causing Wamuu to attack by reflex. Wamuu apologizes for his impudence but Kars apologizes too and takes the incident as his mistake. Meanwhile, the grieving Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli was forced to put his dying friend out of his misery. Enraged, Caesar launches his bubbles at Wamuu, who touches the bubbles and see his finger melt. The Pillar Men realize that the Ripple clan has returned to stop them. However, Wamuu's headset is specially designed to counter projectiles and Wamuu destroys the bubbles. He also cuts Caesar's face from afar. Mocking Caesar's determination, Wamuu stabs him in the throat with his finger when the Italian tries to attack, noting that he knows the weaknesses of the Ripple users before sending him flying into a pillar.
Wamuu then hears someone cough ostentatiously. It is Joseph Joestar, who also wants to fight. Joseph presents his Ripple clackers, but Wamuu is more amused than impressed when Joseph hits his head with the clackers by accident. However, Joseph gets serious with his clackers; hiding his clackers behind his back, Joseph attempts a surprise attack but Wamuu contorts his body to avoid everything. When Joseph seemingly drops his clackers by accident, Wamuu is entertained by this buffoon and allows him one minute to fight, cutting his wrist so that he'll die out of blood loss after a minute passes. However, Wamuu is taken by surprise when the clackers come back and plough his head. Ashamed, Wamuu lets Joseph hit him as punishment before he uses his secret technique, the Divine Sandstorm. He blows Joseph away with it. Wamuu turns his attention to Caesar and Speedwagon to kill them as witnesses to his scarification, only to be lured away by Joseph on a speeding mine cart. Realizing Joseph was anything but a coward, he sees though Joseph's attempt to blow him up with dynamite and knocks the mine cart off the track. Wamuu is about to finish Joseph off when the human plays on his ego and honor to give himself a month's reprieve to properly master the Ripple and become a worthy opponent. Wamuu accepts, placing a Wedding Ring of Death inside of Joseph's heart to prevent him from "running away" as the poison will take effect within thirty three days. As Esidisi places his own ring in Joseph's throat, Wamuu reveals the antidote to his poison in in his lip ring before taking his leave.
Wamuu vs Caesar
After searching for a Red Stone of Aja in Greece, Wamuu returns to Switzerland where he intercepts Caesar and Messina approaching the Pillar Men's lair in San Moritz. Wamuu covers himself in a dense layer of air to ward off the sunlight and steps out to attack. Wamuu cuts Messina's hand before dragging him inside of the hotel. He comes out to attack Caesar. However, Wamuu is taken by surprise by Caesar's new technique, the Bubble Cutter. He spins his bubbles to turn them into sharp saws and exploits Wamuu's air armor to make as many cutters fly towards Wamuu as possible. Overwhelmed, Wamuu tries to run back to the hotel. Caesar cuts his legs with a flurry of bubbles before leaping in to attack, but Wamuu violently kicks Caesar to propel himself back into the shadows, who soon follows him inside the hotel.
In the main hall, an intense exchange of wind blasts and soap bubbles ensues, in which Caesar takes the advantage. Wamuu then plans to use his Divine Sandstorm but Caesar reveals that the many bubbles he's created now act as lenses refracting the sunlight into the hall. Wamuu is exposed to the sun and burns. However, when Caesar jumps again to attack, he projects his shadow at Wamuu for a split second. This allows Wamuu to use the Divine Sandstorm at point-blank range and mortally wound the Italian. Grievously injuring his opponent, Wamuu tells Caesar to cease fighting as he will soon be dead from the massive blood loss. Nevertheless, Caesar uses the last of his strength to rip Wamuu's lip piercing and seals it in a bubble of his own blood for Joseph. Wamuu does not take back the antidote to honor the man's strength. Wamuu leaves while remarking that Caesar Zeppeli is worthy of being remembered by him.
Wamuu vs Joseph
Wamuu recovers in one of the hotel's room. He is present when Lisa Lisa and Joseph Joestar burst into the room and expects a good fight, but Kars wants to use his 100 Vampires instead. Wamuu has no choice but to obey. However, Lisa Lisa then announces that if the Ripple users do not come back to their base, a time bomb will destroy the Super Aja in their possession. This way, she convinces Kars to settle things in a series of one-on-one matches at Skeleton Heel Stone arena, with Joseph and Wamuu to settle their affairs in a deadly chariot race. Joseph initially piles pebbles in front of Wamuu's chariot wheels to stall him, and then proceeds to grab the war hammer which was put at the disposal of whoever can take it. Wamuu, however, takes the pillar from which the hammer was hanging and uses it to knock Joseph from his chariot, aiming to trample him with his own. Joseph uses the hammer to vault over Wamuu's horses and attack him from the chariot. Wamuu, however, hides in one of the horses and ambushes Joseph with his Divine Sandstorm, which gets countered by Joseph entangling his arms with Ripple-infused reins, tearing his arms apart and causing Wamuu, who was proud of his Divine Sandstorm, to suffer psychological trauma. Wamuu counters this by gouging out his eyes to remove his psychological weakness and uses his horn to perceive Joseph.
Kars announces the next round of weapons, in which the racer can either pick a large crossbow or a small one which can shoot metal balls. As Joseph takes the larger crossbow, Wamuu settles with the smaller one. This turns out to be to Wamuu's advantage because Joseph cannot bend his crossbow. Using the wind, Wamuu shoots the first of his balls and hits one of Joseph's horses in the head. When Joseph tries to avoid this by hiding behind the central flame to prevent him from seeing through the fire, Wamuu fires his bolt at the outer wall of the racetrack to hit Joseph but is countered in this manner by Joseph's bolt hitting him in the same manner while Joseph distracts him by flinging pebbles at him pretending to fear for his life. Now on the verge of death, Wamuu detaches his already-limp arms and fires them at Joseph from his torso, while accessing his final form to end his opponent. Joseph is pinned to the great fireplace while Wamuu uses his Atmospheric Rift to suck air rapidly into him chest then create a whip of cutting air. With the whip, Wamuu slowly but surely closing in on Joseph. Joseph counters that by throwing a molotov cocktail and Caesar's burning headband at Wamuu. Wamuu slices them both, but he inadvertently inhales the oil and the pieces of the headband, causing his body to explode. Only his head remains, with the Ripple slowly killing him.
Joseph gives Wamuu some of his own blood to ease his pain, which enrages Wamuu, who sees the action as pity. Joseph corrects him by telling him it was out of honor, the same reason Wamuu ignored the bubble left by Caesar. Wamuu uses the last of his strength to destroy a group of Vampires that attempted to kill Joseph. His horn breaks off, and he admits that despite swearing loyalty to Kars, he lived by his own code of honor. Wamuu asks Joseph to consume the antidote before he fades away, claiming that the action alone is enough for him to know. Bidding farewell to the man who defeated him, Wamuu smiles as his head crumbles to ash that scatters in the wind, with Joseph giving an unconscious salute to him.
Chapters / Episodes
- Chapter 61: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 8 (Cameo)
- Chapter 62: The Pillar Man, Santana, Part 9 (Cameo)
- Chapter 64: The Red Stone of Aja
- Chapter 65: Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times, Part 1
- Chapter 66: Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times, Part 2
- Chapter 67: Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times, Part 3
- Chapter 68: Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times, Part 4
- Chapter 69: Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times, Part 5
- Chapter 70: An Engagement with Death: The Wedding Ring
- Chapter 73: Ripple Teacher Lisa Lisa, Part 3 (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 75: Ripple Teacher Lisa Lisa, Part 5 (Flashback)
- Chapter 76: Ripple Teacher Lisa Lisa, Part 6 (Flashback)
- Chapter 77: Go! Ripple Master (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 78: Flame Mode Esidisi, Part 1 (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 79: Flame Mode Esidisi, Part 2 (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 84: Stroheim's Unit Strikes Back, Part 2 (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 85: Stroheim's Unit Strikes Back, Part 3 (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 86: Light Mode Kars, Part 1 (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 88: Caesar: A Lonely Youth, Part 1
- Chapter 89: Caesar: A Lonely Youth, Part 2
- Chapter 90: Caesar: A Lonely Youth, Part 3
- Chapter 91: Caesar: A Lonely Youth, Part 4
- Chapter 92: Caesar: A Lonely Youth, Part 5
- Chapter 93: Caesar: A Lonely Youth, Part 6 (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 94: Climb Out of the Fortified Hotel (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 95: The Wind, the Chariot, and Wamuu, Part 1
- Chapter 96: The Wind, the Chariot, and Wamuu, Part 2
- Chapter 97: The Wind, the Chariot, and Wamuu, Part 3
- Chapter 98: The Wind, the Chariot, and Wamuu, Part 4
- Chapter 99: The Wind, the Chariot, and Wamuu, Part 5
- Chapter 100: The Wind, the Chariot, and Wamuu, Part 6
- Chapter 101: The Wind, the Chariot, and Wamuu, Part 7
- Chapter 102: The Wind, the Chariot, and Wamuu, Part 8
- Chapter 103: The Wind, the Chariot, and Wamuu, Part 9
- Chapter 104: The Warrior Returns to the Wind (Death)
- Chapter 105: The Bond That Binds Lisa Lisa and JoJo, Part 1 (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 106: The Bond That Binds Lisa Lisa and JoJo, Part 2 (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 109: Kars the Superbeing is Born, Part 1 (Mentioned only)
- Chapter 112: The Man Who Became a God (Flashback)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 13: JoJo vs. the Ultimate Being (Cameo)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 14: Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 15: A Hero's Proof
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 16: Ripple Teacher Lisa Lisa (Mentioned only)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 19: Race Toward the Cliff of Death (Mentioned only)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 20: Caesar: A Lonely Youth
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 21: The Hundred vs. Two Strategy
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 22: A True Warrior
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 23: The Warrior Returns to the Wind (Death)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 25: The Birth of a Superbeing!! (Flashback)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 26: The Man Who Became a God (Flashback)
Quotes
- “Kid, the next time we meet, get stronger before facing Wamuu so that I can respect your strength as I kill you...”—Wamuu, Chapter 67: Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times, Part 3
- “Hit me some more... nobody has ever wounded my face... this is the honor I give you before you die!”—Wamuu, Chapter 68: Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times, Part 4
- “Very good!! You are already worthy of being killed by my hands!”—Wamuu, Chapter 90: Caesar: A Lonely Youth, Part 3
- “I only recognize the strong... Justice and camaraderie exist only for the victors!!”—Wamuu, Chapter 92: Caesar: A Lonely Youth, Part 5
- “I, Wamuu, am not used to allowing an easy victory for my opponent... the wounds I sustained are a part of my being. The damage I have been inflicted are parts of my powers! I will use everything to claim victory!”—Wamuu, Chapter 103: The Wind, the Chariot, and Wamuu, Part 9
- “I have no regrets...from the bottom of my heart, I am grateful to have witnessed your growth. Perhaps the reason I wandered through these 12,000 years was just to have met you... so... Good...bye...JoJo...”—Wamuu's last words, Chapter 104: The Warrior Returns to the Wind
Gallery
Trivia
- Wamuu's voice actor, Akio Otsuka, had previously voiced Muhammad Avdol in the Stardust Crusaders Drama CD.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Chapter 101: The Wind, the Chariot, and Wamuu, Part 7 P.1.
- ↑ JoJo6251 Timeline, p.148
- ↑ JoJo6251 Timeline, p.150
- ↑ Chapter 70: An Engagement with Death: The Wedding Ring
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 67: Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times, Part 3
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 92: Caesar: A Lonely Youth, Part 5
- ↑ Chapter 68: Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times, Part 4
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chapter 104: The Warrior Returns to the Wind
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Chapter 69: Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times, Part 5
- ↑ Chapter 95: The Wind, the Chariot, and Wamuu, Part 1
- ↑ Chapter 66: Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times, Part 2
- ↑ Chapter 104: The Warrior Returns to the Wind, p.16-17