Hol Horse

Hol Horse stands taller than most, with a medium build and light, neck-length hair swept back from his face; dimples mark his cheeks and his chin is cleft. He dresses largely in pale clothing over a dark undershirt, topped with a wide-brimmed hat trailing two long, thin straps and a loose sleeveless poncho that hangs in a rectangle to about mid-thigh. The overall effect suggests a Western gunslinger while staying distinctly its own thing, and the OVA renders the same outfit in far deeper browns.

On the surface Hol Horse plays the assured, silver-tongued charmer, every inch the movie-screen gunfighter, but the moment a fight turns against him his cowardice takes over. Unusually for one of DIO's agents, he is clear-eyed about how weak Emperor really is next to most Stands, which is why he happily works as a partner and second rather than a leader; teamed up, his confidence soars.

That confidence holds whenever he believes he holds the edge, even carrying him into a nervy assassination attempt on DIO, yet it collapses the instant the advantage slips, sending him fleeing without hesitation. He fancies himself a ladies' man with girlfriends the world over, though he admits he courts them to use them rather than out of affection, and for all his deceit he refuses to strike a woman. Greed drives him above all: he kills for money, and the prospect of DIO's riches was part of what tempted him to turn on his master.

Hol Horse's Stand, Emperor, takes the form of a handgun whose bullets he guides in mid-flight, homing them onto targets without any need for real marksmanship, and he prefers to fight beside a partner whose power covers his own gaps. Sent by DIO to help kill the Joestar Group, he first teams with J. Geil in Calcutta to ambush Jean Pierre Polnareff, gravely wounding Muhammad Avdol in the process; but when he learns J. Geil has already been killed, he loses his nerve and slips away.

He resurfaces during Enya the Hag's attempt on the group, who blames him for her son's death; feigning death after her attack, he escapes aboard the Joestars' own vehicle. Later, reporting to DIO, he impulsively tries to shoot the vampire, only to be cowed into swearing undying loyalty. For his final bid he drags the reluctant Boingo and his Stand Tohth into a scheme in Cairo, trusting the comic's prophecies to deliver victory over Polnareff and Jotaro.

The plan unravels spectacularly when Tohth's prediction turns on him and Emperor's own bullets tear into his face, leaving him hospitalized for the rest of the story. He also headlines the spin-off Crazy Diamond's Demonic Heartbreak, where a request to track down one of Pet Shop's fellow animals sends him to Morioh.