Hol Horse

Hol Horse is a mercenary wielding Emperor, a Stand that looks like and functions similarly to a gun. He was originally sent by DIO to confront the Joestar Group alongside J. Geil. However, after his partner is defeated first, he makes a tactical retreat, returning for two following encounters. He first reappears caught in the cross fire of Enya the Hag's own attempt to kill the Joestar Group and one last time to attack them himself alongside Boingo, finally being defeated in the latter encounter. Hol Horse also appears in the spin-off manga "Crazy Diamonds Demonic Heartbreak" as a main character

Hol Horse is a man of above-average height and medium build. At his back, he has light, neck-length hair. He has dimples in his cheeks and a cleft chin. He wears mostly light-colored clothes with a dark undershirt and a wide-brimmed hat from which hang two long, thin, loose straps; and a loose, sleeveless top or a type of poncho, hanging below his waist in a rectangle of the fabric of mid-thigh length. His clothing resembles that of a cowboy from a Western but is distinctly different at the same time. In the OVA his appearance stays mostly the same, but has much darker shades of brown.

First appearing as seemingly confident and smooth-talking with women, Hol Horse looks and acts like a stereotypical movie gunslinger. However, whenever he is at a disadvantage, his cowardice surfaces. 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"[3]) makes him willing to partner up with someone else. In that case, Hol Horse is very confident that he can take on anyone.[4] 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.[5] 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,[3] and secondly when he saw the opportunity of stealing the Joestar Group's 4x4.[6] Still, Hol Horse has a lingering pride and his first reflex, as seen against Enya the Hag[7] and DIO, is to put up a fight if humiliated. 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.[8] 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 of Hol Horse's own compulsion, though he kicked the woman to save her from a deadly scorpion.[9] This moral standard didn't prevent Hol Horse from pointing his Stand at Enya. However, that was out of self-defense as the latter had blamed Hol Horse for her son's death and refused to listen to reason. Hol Horse has a greedy personality, carrying out assassinations for money, and the possibility of taking DIO's treasures was one motivation for his attempt to kill DIO.

Hol Horse's Stand is Emperor; a handgun over the bullets of which he maintains control of a fine degree (in a style nullifying the need for marksmanship) as he can use them to home in onto his targets. Hol Horse partners with J. Geil of the Stand Hanged Man, and later Boingo of the Stand Tohth, who both complement his abilities well. He says that he prefers to operate with a partner. Stand Tarot Card The stand represents the Tarot Card, The EmperorW , which symbolizes stability over one's life due to their hard work, discipline, and self control. Unlike most of DIO's henchmen Hol Horse is a mercenary, not imbued with a flesh bud and fighting willingly. He is allowed to quit hunting the Crusaders whenever he wants (albeit his payment is forfeit) and even struck an alliance with them when facing Enya. His cowardice and satisfaction with a "Second best" title gives him agency over of his own path, and allowed him to escape the consequences of defeat from Crusaders numerous times. He also accepts DIO's ultimatum to fall in line or die after a failed attempt at betraying him, representing self control symbolized by The Emperor. Understanding his own weaknesses and remaining in those lines allows Hol Horse to survive and thrive where other antagonists have not. The Emperor also represents wealth, reflecting Hol Horse's greed being his prime motivator in battling the Crusaders. In his Stand's case, The Emperor represents his ability to control the trajectory of his bullets.

Hol Horse arrives at Calcutta on elephant-back with Nena, a young girl whose marriage proposal he turns down while claiming to be thinking of her best interests. He meets with J. Geil and the two decide to kill Jean Pierre Polnareff while he is separated from the Joestar Group. The following day, Hol Horse confronts Polnareff with his Emperor Stand while J. Geil supports him through his Hanged Man. When Muhammad Avdol intervenes to save Polnareff, Hol Horse severely injures Avdol, believing him to be dead from the headshot he administered. After separating from J. Geil and the protagonists, Hol Horse catches up to Polnareff and Noriaki Kakyoin and learns that they had already killed J. Geil. Knowing he could not handle the two Stand users alone, Hol Horse flees before he's intercepted by Jotaro Kujo and Joseph Joestar. Nena's interference, however, gives him a chance to escape, with the Joestar Group deciding to let him go. Justice Hol Horse later appears before Enya the Hag during her attempt on the Joestar Group's lives and is attacked by her as she considered him equally responsible for the death of her son, J. Geil. While seemingly killed by Enya's Stand, Hol Horse played dead until he was able to escape via the Joestar Group's vehicle, vowing to get his revenge later. Later, while reporting to DIO on Alessi's and Mariah's defeat, he tries to attack the vampire when questioned on why he is not fighting the Joestar group. He is cowed by DIO's power and, broken, swears eternal loyalty to DIO and decides to attack the Joestar group with a new partner. Hol Horse and Boingo Hol Horse flies to Aswan to forcibly take Boingo with him for assistance in dispatching the protagonists with Tohth. On the way out of the airport, Hol Horse antagonizes a pair of men and makes them flee when he shoots one man's ear off. Afterward, he manages to convince Boingo to work with him. At first, Hol Horse is taken aback by Tohth's strange predictions but is ultimately convinced of their reliability after he kicks a woman to save her from a scorpion and is rewarded with a jewel. Hol Horse and Boingo then stalk the Joestar Group in the streets of Cairo, knowing that Hol Horse must now put his fingers in Polnareff's nose which will somehow end up in victory. Polnareff does surprise Hol Horse and almost takes him out but Boingo distracts Polnareff, allowing Hol Horse to put his fingers in Polnareff's nose. As the rest of the group comes to Polnareff, Hol Horse is forced to hide in a corner and hold Polnareff at gunpoint to force him to lie. Polnareff tips off the group and thanks to his irritated nose, manages to avoid being shot by sneezing, making Hol Horse stumble out of his hiding place. Cornered, Hol Horse is saved when the two thugs from earlier try to run him down but their truck slips on spilled oil and crashes into the heroes instead. Hol Horse and Boingo retreat behind another corner and see that Hol Horse will shoot into a pipe at noon exactly and put bullets through Jotaro's head. Nervous and eager, Hol Horse ends up shooting too early into the pipe and Jotaro Kujo is saved when Polnareff sneezes again on his face, making him back out of the bullet's path in disgust. The operation goes horribly awry as Tohth's prediction backfires on them, ending with Emperor's own bullets hitting Hol Horse right in the face, just as he realizes the time on his watch was advanced. While severe, the bullet wounds stop just short of his skull with Hol Horse hospitalized for the remainder of the story.