| “ | La Li Ho! Isn't it romantic to die inside a dream? | ” |
—Death Thirteen, Chapter 169 | ||
Death Thirteen (デスサーティーン（死神13） Desu Sātīn), sometimes stylized as "DEATH 13", is the Stand of Mannish Boy, an antagonist featured in Stardust Crusaders.
Appearance
Death Thirteen appears as a humanoid cloaked in a dark robe. It wears a smiling jester mask with downwards curved eyes and an eerie smile, as well as metallic gauntlets, shoulder pads, a collar and a high hat. The face's design takes inspiration from the masks found during the Venetian carnival.[1]
Death Thirteen is armed with a great scythe.
Outside of its head and arms, Death Thirteen has no physical body, meaning any attacks aimed at its clothing simply passes through the emptiness under its mantle[2].
Personality
Death
Death Thirteen reflects its user's vulgar and sadistic personality. In the dream world where it is almighty, Death Thirteen constantly insults and belittles its victims and takes pleasure in torturing them, having at one point made Kakyoin swallow several eyeballs just to horrify him[3].
It has the habit of shouting "Lali-ho." It represents the Tarot Card Death.
Ability
Death Thirteen is unique in that it can only exist inside a dream world and thus requires that its victims are asleep. It is incredibly dangerous because it is certain to take people by surprise and it was only through chance that the Joestar Group survived its encounter. It is offset by the fact that the user, a baby at that, is defenseless when everyone is awake and cannot attract suspicion.
Dream World Control
This ability comes in two parts. When anything alive (human or otherwise) falls asleep near Mannish Boy, Death Thirteen's User, they are drawn into Death Thirteen's dream world, which appears as a massive carnival, complete with Ferris wheels and roller coasters[4].
Death Thirteen has full control over this dream world. It is able to make death machines out of mechanical items, summon objects out of nothing, manipulate Polnareff's hair or Joseph's hand, basically shaping everything as it sees fit[5]. However, the most redoubtable property of this dream world is that Stand Users cannot summon their Stand inside the dream world and are defenceless[6]. Death Thirteen explains that because Stands are made of spiritual energy, during their sleep, their spirits are "off-guard" and cannot defend themselves, thus Users cannot conjure Stands[5]. However, someone who falls asleep (or unconscious) with their Stand active beforehand will be able to summon the Stand inside the dream world[7].
No one can willingly wake up from the dream world[3], but they can be normally woken up by someone else and thus saved temporarily[4]. When they wake up, the surviving victims won't be able to remember anything from the dream but will still feel the dread they've had, giving the impression of a nightmare[4]. Someone who has defeated Death Thirteen will remember the dream, however.[2].
The amusement park in Death Thirteen's dream world
In the dream world, Death Thirteen is free to torment and kill anyone inside the dream with its scythe. Any injuries the person receives in the dream world are transferred to the real world, including fatal ones[4]. Inversely, it can also heal wounds if coerced, thus healing Kakyoin's cuts[7], which transfers into the real world too.
If Death Thirteen is obliged to fight a Stand, it remains dangerous because of its mastery over the surrounding world, but is also very fragile and weak, relying on scythe sweeps to wound. Thus it was easily defeated by Hierophant Green[7].
In Video Games
JoJo RPG (SFC)
Unlike the original story line, in the game, Mannish Boy attacks the entire group from inside a plane en route to India. During the battle, Death Thirteen's main attack consists of using its scythe several times.
Heritage for the Future (PS1/DC/Arcade)
Death Thirteen appears as a special enemy faced in Arcade Mode. The conditions to fight him include using only one of the eight main hero characters (including Young Joseph and New Kakyoin) and the player cannot lose a single battle. If these conditions are completed, a "Here Comes a New Challenger" will appear on the screen, taking the player to the world of dreams to fight Death Thirteen.
In the PlayStation version, the events from the Death Thirteen story arc appear in the Super Story mode, where the player has to defeat the Stand using Kakyoin. During the fight, Death Thirteen can summon a fake Star Platinum, Silver Chariot and Magician's Red to attack the player (these fakes Stands are defeated with one attack), as well as fly around the stage and throw its sickle.
Death Thirteen's special battle can also be unlocked on Gallery mode (Oingo and Boingo's book), but the player can only play as one of the eight heroes (including Young Joseph and New Kakyoin).
Gallery
Trivia
- Death Thirteen's powers are similar to those of horror icon Freddy Krueger: both can enter others' dreams and kill them there to kill them in the real world.
- Unlike the other Tarot Stands, Death Thirteen's appearance almost identically matches its picture on the Tarot Card it represents.
- His repeated phrase "Lali-ho" is in reference to the original name of the sleep spell in the Dragon Quest series, itself a reference to the rallying cry of The Impossibles. The spell would leave the target helpless for several turns, even while being killed. Some months before Death Thirteen's debut, Araki was among the many Shonen Jump artists photographed in Dragon Quest cosplay for their 1990 No. 6 cover celebrating the fourth installment.
References
- ↑ Artbook: JOJOVELLER
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chapter 173, Death XIII Part 6
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 170, Death Thirteen Part 3
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Chapter 168, Death Thirteen Part 1
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 172, Death Thirteen Part 5
- ↑ Chapter 169, Death Thirteen Part 2
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Chapter 173, Death Thirteen Part 6