01Basic information

Japanese Name
ホル・ホース↗
Romanized Name
Horu Hōsu↗
Stand
Emperor↗
Gender
Male↗
Height
188 cm (6 ft 2 in) (Anime)↗
Occupation
Hitman | Detective (Novel only)↗↗
Affiliation
Agents of DIO | J. Geil / Boingo (Partners)↗
Manga Debut
Chapter 141↗
Anime Debut
SC Episode 10↗
Game Debut
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (SFC Game) (NPC) | Heritage for the Future (Playable)↗

02Appearance

Hol Horse is a tall man with an athletic build. He has light shoulder-length hair and long sideburns. He also has dimples in his cheeks and a cleft chin.↗

Crazy Diamond's Demonic Heartbreak / Crazy Heartbreakers

In the spin-off Crazy Diamond's Demonic Heartbreak, Hol Horse wears a tattered coat in addition to his usual attire. Moreover, he's replaced his old wristwatch and now wears three watches on his wrist. Instead of a smoke-free pipe, he now keeps a toothpick in his mouth.↗

03Personality

Hol Horse is portrayed like a Western gunfighter, appearing to be bold and a womanizer. In contrast, his fearfulness manifests itself when he is under pressure. He is a sharp-witted deceiver and prime opportunist, tending to rely on others as well as luck to save himself.↗

Hol Horse adheres to the belief of there being a hierarchy between people as well as their weapons. While fighting Polnareff and Avdol, he compares the battle to Japanese military chess. Furthermore, his motto is that the best way for him to live is to be "Number Two" rather than "Number One". Consequently, he prefers having a partner to fight with him even if his partner is a timid child like Boingo. According to Polnareff, Hol Horse has a talent for picking his allies.↗↗↗↗↗

His resolve and confidence frequently shifts depending on his current situation. For example, he boasts to Polnareff that Emperor can beat Silver Chariot because swords don't stand a chance against guns. He displays his pride when he is ridiculed, such as when he attempts to shoot Enya the Hag and later against DIO. Hol Horse manages to convince himself that perhaps DIO isn't much stronger than he is, and assumes he would have a better chance against one person than four men at the same time. Despite his fear, he is capable of calming himself down and bravely attempts to assassinate the vampire.↗↗↗↗↗↗

04Abilities

Stand

Hol Horse's Stand is Emperor, a handgun that Hol Horse can directly summon in his hand.↗

It is capable of firing bullets whose trajectory Hol Horse can control to a fine degree. He can even juggle the gun around with expertise.↗↗

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.↗

Personal Skills

Darts: In the spin-off Crazy Diamond's Demonic Heartbreak, it is shown that Hol Horse can throw darts with extreme precision. He is shown throwing several darts at a dart board and managing to hit the center of the board with all his darts.↗↗

05Story

SPOILERS

Background

At some point after 1983, Hol Horse is recruited by DIO and Enya the Hag. He is partnered with Enya's son, J. Geil. In the anime, it is implied that Hol Horse and J. Geil have a history as a pair of assassins.↗

Stardust Crusaders (1988-1989)

Calcutta, India

Riding an elephant, Hol Horse arrives at Calcutta, India 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 with his Hanged Man.↗

Shooting DIO

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.↗↗

The Night Kakyoin Died

After Hol Horse is defeated while trying to assassinate Jotaro, he wakes up at a hospital realizing that the Joestar Group defeated him. However, he wonders why he's still alive since DIO kills anybody who fails him. He sees Boingo sitting on a bed beside him, and they assume that DIO must be preoccupied with fighting the Joestar Group. Hol Horse doesn't think the Joestar Group could defeat DIO, so he runs away with Boingo before DIO gets them next.↗

Crazy Diamond's Demonic Heartbreak (1999)

Hol Horse's Mission

Hol Horse has survived his ordeal during Stardust Crusaders and the heroes seem to have left him be.↗

Arrival in Morioh

Hol Horse and Boingo arrive in Morioh, but Hol Horse then inexplicably loses Boingo's trace. Wandering in the streets, he passes by Ryoko, wondering where Boingo went. He asks some schoolgirls if they've seen him but they start running away from him instead. Hol Horse complains about not knowing anyone in Morioh when he suddenly hears DIO's voice in his head. Suddenly, a driver resembling Wilson Phillips runs over several people on the sidewalk, as if he is following orders from someone.↗

Pet Sounds's First Attack

Josuke starts getting angry at Ryoko but Hol Horse interferes and says Josuke should cherish ladies instead of threatening them. He brings Josuke close toward him and whispers that he can tell how powerful Josuke's Stand is and that he shouldn't just summon it every time he gets angry, as Hol Horse doesn't want to keep getting caught up in Josuke's fights. Hol Horse asks Ryoko if she can understand his Japanese properly.↗

Pet Sounds's Second Attack

Later, Josuke and Hol Horse stay in a tunnel to restrict the enemy's movement to attack again. Hol Horse summarizes what they know about the parrot's Stand ability so far. He and Josuke wonder how they can do something about the bird before it attacks them first. They think they might be safe since they're in the subway and the bird probably won't come flying there.↗

Aftermath

Hol Horse keeps Pet Sounds in a cage with him. Drinking coffee with Josuke at Café Deux Magots, Josuke informs Hol Horse that his grandfather and his coworkers found Karaiya's gun at the construction site, as well as Karaiya himself strung up in a nearby tree. However, they couldn't question him with the mental state he was in. Hol Horse regrets that they'll never find out how Karaiya managed to capture Pet Sounds, but Josuke thinks it's fine since Hol Horse has the bird now anyways.↗

Eyes of Heaven

When Heaven-Attained DIO starts to rewrite reality, Hol Horse recovers from his wounds and resumes working for DIO. Hol Horse confronts Jotaro Kujo at Air Supplena Island in the year 1939 while the heroes are looking for the Saint's Corpse 's parts. He is defeated and disappears, never to be seen again.↗

06Plot details

SPOILERS

Personality

Geil is killed and the Joestar group is aware of Hol Horse's ability to change the path of his bullets, he realizes that he has no chance to defeat them by himself and sacrifices his pride to flee.↗↗↗↗↗↗↗↗

Despite charming several women, he also claims that he's destined to die alone.↗↗↗↗

Profile details

Status Status based on their final appearance in the part(s) they are featured in: Retired (Part 3)↗

07Appearances

Chapter 130: Strength, Part 1 (Mentioned) Mentioned only↗

Chapter 139: Yellow Temperance, Part 4 (Mentioned) Mentioned only↗

Chapter 141: Emperor and Hanged Man, Part 2↗

Chapter 142: Emperor and Hanged Man, Part 3↗

Chapter 143: Emperor and Hanged Man, Part 4↗

08Behind the Character

Araki's idea for Hol Horse might have been influenced by the titular character in the manga, Cobra; a gun slinging outlaw who always smokes and has the power to fire projectiles without having a line-of-sight.↗↗

Though not initially planned, Araki threw around the idea of Hol Horse joining the protagonists (much like how Polnareff and Kakyoin did as former antagonists) during their journey, but opted out due to balance issues with Polnareff's similar character. Araki mentions this is part of the reason Hol Horse shows up multiple times throughout the story and why there is at least one group shot with Hol Horse present.↗↗

09Relationships

CharacterRelationshipNotes
Unnamed MotherNovel↗
NenaLover↗↗

10Sources & attribution

Source text: JoJoWiki and its contributors. This entry has been reorganized and condensed for readability under CC BY-SA 4.0. Archived records reflect their capture dates. Referenced manga, anime, and artwork retain their respective copyrights.
Source bibliography (18)
  1. Stardust Crusaders Model Sheet No.SC-PR249-01 Open ↗
  2. Chapter 142: Emperor and Hanged Man, Part 3 Open ↗
  3. Crazy Heartbreakers Chapter 1: Dire straits Open ↗
  4. Chapter 141: Emperor and Hanged Man, Part 2 Open ↗
  5. Chapter 220: Hol Horse and Boingo, Part 4 Open ↗
  6. Chapter 146: Empress, Part 1 Open ↗
  7. Chapter 217: Hol Horse and Boingo, Part 1 Open ↗
  8. Chapter 218: Hol Horse and Boingo, Part 2 Open ↗
  9. Chapter 156: Justice, Part 3 Open ↗
  10. Chapter 210: Shooting DIO?! Open ↗
  11. Chapter 157: Justice, Part 4 Open ↗
  12. Chapter 159: Justice, Part 6 Open ↗
  13. Chapter 160: Lovers, Part 1 Open ↗
  14. Chapter 221: Hol Horse and Boingo, Part 5 Open ↗
  15. Chapter 146: Empress, Part 1, p.5 Open ↗
  16. CDDH Chapter 1, p.24 Open ↗
  17. JoJonium Volume 10 (Hol Horse) - Special Interview Open ↗
  18. Chapter 210: Shooting DIO?! Open ↗

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