Alessi

"Such a good kid..."

- Alessi

Alessi (アレッシー) is featured in Stardust Crusaders as the central antagonist of the arc 'God Sethan' Alessi.

Appearance
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.

Personality
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 in his work, and will go out of his way to take revenge on those who humiliate him, even if it leaves him vulnerable.

The mercenary takes odd leaps of "logic" to rationalize his sadism and creepiness, which he seems to acknowledge and deny at the same time (employing what could be considered doublethink), claiming that "people who always say that they are weird aren't actually weird... So I'm not weird."

His Stand Sethan is named after Set, the Egyptian God of Tornadoes and Storms. The fact that the Ancient Egyptians considered Set the embodiment of evil may have also played a role in the naming of the Stand of such a twisted and malicious personality.

Abilities
Alessi's Stand is Sethan, with which he is able to turn back the age of his targets.

'God Sethan' Alessi
Alessi is hired by DIO 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 properly use his Stand and is nearly killed, but still manages to outsmart and wound Alessi, causing him to flee just as Jotaro steps in.

The mercenary also manages to turn Jotaro into a child, confidente in the fact that he has obtained his Stand only recently, 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.

Heritage for the Future (PS1/DC/Arcade)
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. Its 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.

Trivia

 * In Heritage for the Future not everybody who is hit by Sethan becomes younger. Some characters turn into minor characters from the manga, such as Mariah who turns to the old woman that Joseph encounters in Egypt, or Chaka and Khan, who respectively turn into the young boy and the cow that Anubis possesses before sinking 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 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 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.


 * Alessi's cowardice is further illustrated by his ability to run away quickly from his opponent in game, yet he possesses a very short dash towards them. When they're reverted to children, however, his dash towards them increases in speed.


 * When he chops through the door to the bedroom in which Polnareff is hiding, the shot resembles the famous "Heeeeeere's Johnny!" scene from The Shining. Some translations have Alessi reference the scene verbally as well. As he sticks his head in, he makes a perororo sound similar to Kakyoin's reroreros.

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