#eijkman jjba

[geraldtheoceanman]

Ye olde medieval femboys

[pabsterthelobster]

The Forgotten Champions of the 77 Rings

The first two parts of JoJo don't get as much attention as the latter parts do, especially the first part, Phantom Blood.

As you know, Bruford and Tarkus were two knights who were resurrected by Dio to serve as his zombie minions when he took over Windknight's Lot. In life, they served as retainers for Queen Mary Stuart of Scotland until Queen Elizabeth II of England had her kidnapped. The two knights would fight Elizabeth's armies until she offered them Mary's safety in exchange for their surrender. As they were to be excuted, they were told of how their mistress had already been killed before them.

However, what you may not know, as this was cut from the anime version, was that before their execution, the two had once accomplished a challenge known as the 77 Rings, where warriors would traverse a 10-kilometer mountain range near the Lot. As said warriors traversed the harsh environment, they would each fight 77 soldiers positioned on said mountain range to the death. For each battle they won, they would wear a bracelet or anklet (the "Rings" in question), which when worn all at once, had a total weight of 100 kilograms (that's over two hundred pounds if you don't do metric).

Both Bruford and Tarkus accomplished the challenge together in the year 1563, with Bruford using his Danse Macabre Hair to compensate for the extra weight, but they weren't the only ones to have accomplished this grueling trek. There were three others that succeeded in the challenge in the centuries beforehand; they were just the only ones "lucky" enough in canon to be resurrected by Dio.

For the video game adaptation for PS2, you fight these three other warriors as zombie warriors in a mode based on the 77 Rings challenge. You could also fight them in an unlockable alternate final boss battle, where they would fight against Jonathan on the burning ship alongside Wang Chan, per Dio's orders.

Winzaleo, the Lion King

Year of completion: 1327

Winzaleo was a proud and boisterous warrior who was the first to accomplish the challenge. He was proficient in the use of axes and his strength was so impressive that when he struck the ground with his axe, it would generate seismic waves.

Eijkman, the Lightning Knight

Year of completion: 1389

Wielding a halberd that could somehow generate wind and lightning, Eijkman was known in life for his quick fighting style. It is likely that he was extremely loyal to whomever he served in life, as after his resurrection, he would speak nothing but praise towards his new master Dio.

Caineghis, the One-Eyed Man

Year of completion: 1408

Despite his position as a noble knight, Caineghis was a sadistic man who fought with little honor, and fought his opponents with a sense of perverse pleasure. This is notable with his choice of weapon, being a scimitar laced with poisonous fluids.

Trivia

Similar to Part 3 antagonist Midler, these three characters originally lacked distinct designs in the original manga, only appearing in in one panel as generic looking knights. Unlike Midler, their designs weren't created by Araki for the game, but rather by the development team. Araki would then look over these designs and provide his own little touches after the initial designs were presented to him.

In order to access the alternate final battle, one must attain an S rank in the previous chapter. Otherwise, the final chapter will consist of Jonathan fighting Dio (being carried by Wang Chan) and a bunch of zombies.

The reason behind the existence of an alternate final battle is because the developers of the PS2 game felt that the original ending of Part 1 wouldn't really translate into a good final boss fight, and so they consulted with Araki for ideas.

Another change made to the final battle was that Dio would not only kill the drunk Father Styx as he did in canon, but would also take his body for a short while before beheading himself once again.

To my greater knowledge, none of these three's names are musical references, unlike Bruford and Tarkus, who are named after a drummer and album respectively.

[geraldtheoceanman]

Perhaps I am going insane over these guys…

[geraldtheoceanman]

I will never not be proud of this stupid thing

(If no one will create silly headcanons and stories for the knights of the square table then I will)

[geraldtheoceanman]

I’m back on my shit again— more knights of the square table shitposting

(Alternate version) v

I just thought it was funny that the attack doesn’t land and he just flops onto the ground, taking bruford with him.