Muhammad Avdol


 * The character featured in this article is commonly referred to as "Mohammed Abdul".

Muhammad Avdol is a character in Part III: Stardust Crusaders who was also an old friend of Joseph Joestar.

Personality
Avdol is a rather serious fellow who wears his heart on his sleeve and is a good source of knowledge about stand users, as he knew about Gray Fly, Devo the Cursed and Midler. He is extremely dedicated and willing to die for his comrades. He acts as an adviser of sorts, but is also a powerful warrior. He is the most moderate member of the team: not as impulsive and warm-blooded as Polnareff and Joseph, and not as cold as Kakyoin and Jotaro. He serves as the voice of reason to the rest of the team.

His trademark gesture is mimicking a fire starter, which is done with a rotating thumbs-up while saying "Yes, I am! Tch! Tch! Tch!". Avdol is also a fortune teller, and likes to bring up his enemies' lack of place in it in his fights.

History
Avdol was a fortune teller, born in Cairo, Egypt. He was also one of the first to meet Dio Brando after the vampire's resurrection, barely escaping with his life and sanity. Before the events of Part III, he had met and barely tamed the Stand-wielding dog Iggy.

Stardust Crusaders
Avdol first appeared when he accompanied Joseph to assess Jotaro Kujo's situation in prison. After a brief confrontation it turned out, through his own knowledge, that Jotaro is a stand user and named his stand Star Platinum after the Star tarot card. After that, with Noriaki Kakyoin free from Dio's control, they went to Hong Kong to take a ship, and encountered Jean Pierre Polnareff. Avdol was able to defeat him and after Jotaro destroyed Dio's buds in him, Polnareff became their ally as well.

Polnareff, however, was impulsive and not careful, being a constant target for stand users. In one of these attacks Polnareff was ambushed by Hol Horse and J. Geil, making Avdol try to save him. Unaware of the abilities of Hol Horse's The Emperor and J. Geil's The Hanged Man, Avdol initially fell prey to a combination attack of the two stand users, being stabbed from behind by J. Geil's The Hanged Man and shot by Hol Horse's The Emperor. Their combined attack, however, didn't have the wanted effect, as the pain suffered by the stab of The Hanged Man made Avdol lower his head and make The Emperor's bullet only scratch his forehead, not directly hitting it. His survival was kept a secret from Polnareff, as the group didn't want Avdol to be attacked while he was recovering from his injuries and Polnareff's lack of caution would cause the enemy to find out that Avdol was alive.

From there, it was assumed that he died while he was recovering. Avdol disguised himself as his father, refusing to talk to Polnareff to keep his secret. When Polnareff fell victim to Cameo's onslaught, tricked by clones made by Judgement of Sherry Polnareff and Avdol, the real Avdol revealed himself to be alive, saving Polnareff's life and defeating the stand user. After joining again with the group they traveled in Avdol's new submarine, but it was quickly destroyed by Midler's The High Priestess.

He then asked the Speedwagon Foundation to bring Iggy to join the group, and they were attacked by N'Dour. After tricking N'Dour's ears simulating footsteps in the sand using his own ring cuffs, Avdol almost won the battle by evaporating N'Dour's Geb, but N'Dour found out the trick at the last moment and dodged the attack, injuring Avdol soon after.

The Genesis of Universe: One-Way Trip from Desert To Hell
(The italicized information below derives from a Light Novel not written by Araki. As such, it may or may not be considered canon.) ''Avdol was attached by Absalom's Satanic Coupler, who invaded his body as a miniature and threatened to kill him. Avdol was eventually saved by Kakyoin and Jotaro.''

Afterwords, he falls victim to Mariah's Bast along with Joseph, attracting different metal objects. The two started to pass through difficult and embarrassing situations while following her, even being almost run over by a train. They eventually managed to trick Mariah into standing between them when the two had many heavy objects on their bodies. Attracted to each other via magnetic polarity, Avdol and Joseph crushed Mariah between them, winning the battle.

The Genesis of Universe: The Gravestone of Red-Hot Sand
(The italicized information below derives from a Light Novel not written by Araki. As such, it may or may not be considered canon.) ''Avdol senses the presence of The Scribe Ani following the group. He along with Joseph attract him to a alley so people wouldn't get hurt in the fight, but is victim of a surprise attack by a roman warrior while trying to save Polnareff.''

When the group finally arrived in Dio's mansion, Avdol said that he couldn't act as Polnareff's guardian and he should be more careful from now on. Avdol managed to detect the presence of Kenny G in the area before Iggy defeated him. Polnareff continued to be careless, making Avdol push him out of the way of Vanilla Ice's attack and receive the attack head on. Avdol is instantly erased, his arms being the only thing of his body left intact until Vanilla Ice's Cream came back and ate them. Ice would, however, while facing Polnareff, state that he was injured by Avdol before he died.

Steel Ball Run
Urmd Avdol in Steel Ball Run may be the alternate universe counterpart of the original universe's Muhammad Avdol.

Coming from the arab country of Egypt, Urmd was said to have crossed the Sahara desert three times annually. Unlike the other contestants in the race, Urmd's choice of transportation was a camel, which made him a prime candidate for winning the race. Due to camel's long legs, it had the ability to keep up with a horse's speed, but at the same time crush any other racers with it's 800 kg body.

During the 1st stage of the race, Urmd attempted to knock out Gyro from the race by crashing into him. However, Gyro used his steel ball to locate a hidden cactus cluster and lures Urmd into it. The nomad goes crashing into the cacti and is unable to continue the race

Stand
Avdol's Stand is called Magician's Red because, different from the fire in nature, that only goes up or follow where the wind blows, its flames obey Avdol's own will, just like a magician. Avdol's stand represents the first Tarot Card "The Magician", symbolizing the beginning of something. Polnareff notes that this is suitable, as when the world began it was surround by flames, meaning Avdol's stand represented the beginning of the world. Avdol is also the first character to do many things: He's the first character to properly use a stand (he was born with it) and get into a fight; the first to encounter Dio; the first to throw himself in danger to save someone and the first of the group to die.

Jump Ultimate Stars


Trivia

 * In the manga, Avdol originally was supposed to die when fighting Hol Horse, as a blurred bullet hole could be seen directly at his forehead. Fan feedback ordered his return, and his death was retconned so that Avdol was merely put out of action, and the bullet was stated to have plowed through the surface of his forehead, knocking him unconscious, but leaving a scar.
 * The attack "Cross Fire Hurricane" is a reference to a lyric in the Rolling Stones single Jumpin' Jack Flash.
 * Interesting to note is that Avdol's name is at times translated as "Abdul," is also a stereotypical name for Arabian or Middle Eastern men.
 * A recurring theme in Avdol´s appearances is that he constantly saves Polnareff from enemies, who tends to fall for their traps almost all the time. When the group enters Dio´s mansion, Avdol warns Polnareff he wouldn´t do this anymore, but does so anyway when Vanilla Ice appears.