Sandman

"I'll cross the continent and win with my feet alone."

- Sandman's plan to win the Steel Ball Run

Sandman (サンドマン (砂男)), in reality referred to by his tribe as Soundman (サウンドマン (「音」をかなでる者)), is a minor character and antagonist featured in Steel Ball Run.

Sandman comes from a Native American tribe. Despite being ostracized, he hopes that winning the Steel Ball Run race will earn him the money to buy back his ancestor's land and becomes one of the fiercest competitors in the race thanks to his running technique. He eventually sides with Funny Valentine and battles Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli near the Mississipi to take their Saint's Corpse parts.

Sandman is a Stand User who wields In a Silent Way in battle.

Appearance
Sandman is a man of average to above-average height and athletic build. He wears his mostly light hair in two long braids crossing his face. He is sparsely clothed, with a few tattoos.

Personality
Sandman is an Native American with a singular and cynical outlook on the world but who is also loyal to his tribe.

Sandman is introduced as an open-minded member of his tribe, for instance shown in the possession of books expressively forbidden by the tribe due to originating from white settlers and having developed his unique and admittedly extraordinary running style while ignoring his tribe's own techniques. Sandman is critical of his fellow tribesmen, highlighting to his sister their outdated views and their misconceptions. For instance he claims that the idea of a claim to an ancestral land is out-of-date when the majority of the population now thinks on a financial level. Nonetheless, he is ready to take the risk to participate in a continent-spanning horse race to give back his tribe's stolen lands to them, showing a great degree of loyalty for his tribe.

Despite his open-mindedness, Sandman still treats the "white man" fundamentally as an enemy and sustains the idea that their society is governed by money. He ultimately sides with Funny Valentine, working to take the Corpse Parts to negotiate the necessary money to buy back his ancestors' lands. Disinterested in the corpse and the stakes at play, Sandman only considers it as a potential bargaining piece. When he confronts Johnny, Sandman also ultimately blames the white man's obsession for money as the reason of their current feud.

Sandman shows a great deal of determination and confidence. During his first appearance, he notably jumps under a running horse to purposefully be kicked high in the air and escape pursuit. Learning about the Steel Ball Run race, Sandman also decides without hesitation to leave his tribe and home to cross the United States on foot alone, expressing great confidence in his skill. However, his sister also points out that he is also solitary and stubborn to a fault since childhood, making it difficult for others to understand him. Sandman also doesn't shy away from committing questionable actions and readily fight Johnny and Gyro with the intent of killing them.

Sandman also shows a slightly honorable side. During the first stage, he gives some of his time to tip Pocoloco and help him climb a cliff and, after he wins the first place in the first stage due to a technicality, makes the effort to "repay" Gyro and warn him about an incoming storm. Finally, although he was ready to kill Johnny and Gyro, he is the only enemy to have taken the time to ask them for their Corpse Parts, even thought he threatened them.

Sandman is very close to his sister. She is the only person with whom he shares his personal opinions and his final thoughts are to her, hoping for her happiness.

Abilities
Sandman's Stand, In a Silent Way, lends solid, offensive substance to sounds of his creation.

Running
Sandman is a pre-eminent athlete, possessing fantastic skill and technique in running and gymnastics; able to run distances other racers consider sensible only by horse as well as rivaling a horse's speed, and quickly negotiate a range of natural geographies.

Steven Steel explains that through sheer training, Sandman can make his heels only briefly touch the ground when he's running, meaning he can "recycle" the energy of his feet's impact on the ground into running, and at the same time preserving his legs from fatigue. When going down a slope or a cliff, Sandman can only hop on the relief several times in order to reduce the impact. This running style allows him to take shortcuts through natural obstacles horses can't cross.

History
Sandman (although he goes by the name "Soundman" amongst his people) is the first character introduced in the series. He is a member of a Native American tribe who learned to read the "white man's" books. When the tribe discovers the books in his teepee, they hunt him down to scalp him. It is then that Sandman is revealed to have developed a special running technique that allows him to run long distances without having to rest.

Sandman appears again on the Michigan lakeline, with a stand of his own. He works alongside Diego Brando and uses their combination to create dinosaurs that carry sound-effects. It is there that he fights with Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli. During the fight, Sandman seriously wounds Gyro, but becomes overconfident in thinking that he will kill Johnny, who uses his newfound Golden Rectangle technique to injure the overconfident Sandman, leading to his death.

Trivia

 * Sandman's ability for running may be inspired by the Tarahumara Native American tribe, known for continuous long distance running of ~200 miles (320 km).
 * During his battle with Johnny Joestar, he reveals that the name "Sandman" was mistakenly given to him by "[Johnny's] people"; continuing that "Soundman" is his actual name and that in his tongue, by his tribesmen, he is called "the one who creates sound".