Alessi

Alessi is a minor antagonist featured in Part III: Stardust Crusaders.

Appearance/Personality
Alessi's biggest hallmark is his bizarre hairstyle, which resembles a dust mop with decorative beads hung underneath. He wears a loose fitting jacket that conceals his weapons of choice: an over-sized hatchet (engraved with the word 'Ax') and a long-barreled handgun.

Alessi is a sadistic, yet cowardly man who will only fight those who are weaker than him. He takes extreme pleasure in taunting and humiliating his opponents before finishing them off, and will exploit any underhanded method to gain an unfair advantage. Despite this cowardice he has an odd sense of pride, and will go out of his way to take revenge on those who humiliate him, even if it leaves him vulnerable. The mercenary's mental competence is further brought into question with his strange logic, when he claims that "people who always say they are weird aren't actually weird... So I'm not weird." His stand Sethan is named after the Egyptian God of Tornadoes and Storms.

Stardust Crusaders
Alessi is hired by Dio Brando to kill Jotaro Kujo and his friends. Alessi first appears bullying some children on the street, until he spots Polnareff alone. Sethan extends from Alessi like a shadow and catches Jean Pierre off guard, turning him and his Stand Silver Chariot into children. Alessi also turns a woman who became Polnareff's friend into a fetus, and he warns Jean that unless he is defeated quickly the woman will wither and die. In his younger state Polnareff doesn't remember Jotaro or how to use his Stand and is nearly killed, until Jotaro steps in. The mercenary also manages to turn Jotaro into a child, but unaware of Jotaro's violent nature (even as a child), he is caught off guard by several punches to the face and is knocked out cold. Alessi, upon waking up, finds his stand power was deactivated, with adult Jotaro and Polnareff standing triumphantly before him. He is then subjected to a combined barrage from Silver Chariot and Star Platinum and "punched into oblivion", not being capable of fighting anymore.

JoJo's Bizzare Adventure: Heritage for the Future
Alessi plays the same role he did in the manga during Story Mode. He is an assassin hired by Dio to destroy Jotaro Kujo and his companions. Very little is offered in terms of his backstory, so his motivations and the potential reward for helping Dio are a mystery.

During his storyline he manages to defeat the protagonists, and he starts to believe that he is even more powerful than Dio himself. Alessi travels to Dio's mansion, and kills Vanilla Ice and his vampire master. Alessi becomes the most powerful Stand Master in the world afterwards, and contemplates "who to torture next" in his ending.

Strategy
Alessi is characterized as a comic-relief character (such as Dan from the Street Fighter) with his ridiculous animations and over the top attacks, but is in fact a powerful character. His active stand possesses incredible range, and can be extended even further by holding the Summon button down while calling it out. It's weakness however: Alessi will not be able to attack aerially with it active since Sethan is a shadow, and cannot leave the ground.

Alessi has two notable attacks, one of which uses his stand Sethan to de-age his opponent. This is done by sending a 'wave' through Sethan while it is not Active, and reaching out and 'grabbing' with shadowy hands while Sethan is Active. His other attack allows Alessi to pull out his signature handgun and pelt his opponent with bullets from a distance, although it is aimed with a reticule that must be moved across the screen. Alessi is vulnerable during this time period.

Alessi possesses three super techniques. The first causes him to dash forward a short distance and subject his opponent to a flurry of hits from Sethan, ending in them being de-aged. The second causes Sethan to rise from the ground vertically, (unblockable to opponents in the air) and repeatedly hit the foe until they are turned into the child. The final technique is the 'Tandem' mechanic of the game, which allows certain characters to pay one super gauge to attack and move much faster for a brief period of time. This can be combined with Alessi's other special or super techniques for devastating combos.

Just like the manga, anyone who is de-aged by Sethan will be at the mercy of Alessi's "Ax" and handgun!

A few basics to keep in mind:

1. Alessi's non-Stand attacks are weaker than other characters, but they are useful. As noted before, Sethan cannot leave the ground when Alessi jumps, and withdrawing his Stand is the only way he can hit enemies in the air. They are also vital for starting up a Tandem chain without it being blocked prematurely.

2. Sethan's range can be a weakness. It is not always a good idea to keep Alessi's Stand Active, as the opponent can easily jump over the tip of the shadow and land "inside" the range of attacks. This means you will be completely vulnerable while your shadowy hands attack behind your foe's back. Withdraw your Stand when you think this is about to happen.

3. Abuse Alessi's special and super techniques. Alessi possesses no dash special or conventional projectiles, so all that is left is his basic attacks and his de-aging abilities. His de-aging special technique requires A LOT of timing in order to hit your opponent (the version while Sethan is active is much easier to use), which means your main method of de-aging your opponents will probably be his super techniques. Use his second one (where Sethan rises from the ground) when your is opponent trying to jump attack you repeatedly. His first super technique (the dash) can be used in a basic combo, or by itself (because you are invulnerable for the first second) to break through an enemy attack. If you are an advanced player, then using his Tandem abilities with his de-aging attacks will be your main method of dealing damage.

Trivia

 * Interestingly, not everybody who is hit by Sethan becomes younger. Some victims turn into minor characters from the manga, such as Mariah who turns to the old woman in Egypt that Joseph encounters, or Chaka and Khan, who respectively turn into the young boy and the cow that Anubis possesses before going into the river. Joseph needs to be hit twice for the stand to have any effect, as he turns back to his younger self from Part II: Battle Tendency, and when hit again, turns into an even younger child holding a Superman comic. Alessi can use his stand even after being de-aged by another Alessi, implying he might have developed his Stand Abilities at a very early age.


 * Alessi is the second character to break the fourth wall (the first one being ZZ). Alessi scolds Polnareff for kicking his feces at him, telling him how he would never do that if he was the main character. He's also one of the few characters to do the "rerorero" sound (along with Noriaki Kakyoin, Rubber Soul, and Joushuu Higashikata).


 * People who abuse children in the real world are often called cowards for beating up victims who cannot defend themselves. As this is Alessi's specialty, it fits his cowardly nature perfectly.


 * Alessi's cowardice is further illustrated by his ability to run away quickly from his opponent in game, yet he possess a very short dash towards them.