Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli

"This is the Zeppeli Family Spirit, from the past to the future! It's the human spirit!"

Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli (シーザー・アントニオ・ツェペリ) is an ally and friend of Joseph Joestar featured in Battle Tendency.

Appearance
Caesar A. Zeppeli is a young man of muscular build and sporting unkempt hair, whose distinctive features are two colored spots on both cheeks. He is extremely handsome, managing to easily swoon several women using his good looks, charm, charisma, and pretty words.

Caesar's trademark accessory is his long thin headband patterned with a row of tessellated triangles and adorned with two feathers on each side of the head.

Personality
Caesar Zeppeli is a hot-blooded but focused man, dedicated to the fight against the Pillar Men.

When he was young, Caesar Zeppeli and his siblings were seemingly abandoned by his father, making him a bitter and extremely violent delinquent. When he was saved by his father from the Pillar Men's trap at the cost of his life, Caesar changes his hate into great pride in his family name.

Caesar Zeppeli is introduced as an arrogant Ripple User looking down on Joseph Joestar's subpar Ripple ability and missing no occasion to ridicule him and antogonize him in general. However he reveals himself to be an honorable man, taking pride in his family's tradition of battling evil as well as wishing to avenge his friend Mark's death at the hands of the Pillar Men. When Joseph reveals himself to be an honorable individual as well, their relationship considerably improves. In general Caesar is respectful to his elders and superiors, most notably his master Lisa Lisa. When it comes to his peers, while he maintains at best shallow relations with this around him, when he truly cares for someone it is true love best evidenced by his relationship with Joseph (and pointed it by Messina).

Caesar's other defining trait in his hot-blooded personality. He is quick to jump to a fight, even though he knows it is detrimental. Taking great pride in his family name, when Joseph told him that he didn't care about that, Caesar hit him without thinking. That character flaw proved fatal when he made the mistake of rushing to Wamuu's lair alone and then try to inish him off up close. Having great determination, Caesar kept on fighting despite being fatally wounded and made a loud eulogy of the human spirit just before dying. Caesar is nonetheless a verious serious person most of the time, zealously fighting the Pillar Men and is exasperated by Joseph's antics.

Caesar is a ladies' man, and has an habit of flirting with beautiful women whenever he can, invoking deeply romantic gestures.

History
As a child, Caesar idolized his father, Mario Zeppeli. When he was 10, however, his father left him and his siblings with no explanation or warning. As a result, Caesar grew to hate his father, thinking he was out living a new and carefree life without them. His mother was missing years prior for unknown reasons, and relatives soon stole everything left from his now orphaned family, driving Caesar to become a delinquent and thug when he was still a child. He made a name for himself committing every crime imaginable short of murder, and was widely feared. He used a wrench to start all his fights, and quickly finished them. Back then, Caesar wasn't aware that his Ripple energy had fully awakened, and that he was using it in his battles.

When he was 16, Caesar spotted his father walking in Rome; he tailed him with the intention of killing him, going through a secret passage under the Colosseum that lead to the Pillar Men. Caesar saw a jewel in the wall they'd been encased in. Not knowing that it was part of a trap set up by Wamuu, he accidentally activated it, but his father pushed him out of the way before he could be killed himself. Having sacrificed himself despite not recognizing his own son, Caesar regained his respect toward his father, and swore revenge on the Pillar Men.

Some time after this, Caesar finds Lisa Lisa in Venice at the dying request of his father. He trains with her to use the art of the Ripple, but apparently has learned little more than the fundamentals, since he still has to go through the final part of the Ripple training in order to master it fully, alongside Joseph.

Battle Tendency
Caesar meets Joseph in Rome, where they have a poor first impression of each other, with Joseph seeing him as a stuck-up lady-chaser and Caesar considering him uncivilized, which only added to his already existing grudge with the Joestar family. The two have a duel at a fountain where Caesar displays his superior skills with the Ripple, using his 'Bubble Launcher' technique and using the Ripple to control a woman via a kiss. Their fight ends when Joseph is trapped inside one of Caesar's bubbles and a Ripple-infused pigeon flies from said woman's mouth into Caesar's face. Joseph, Speedwagon and Caesar are taken to where the Pillar Men were found by Caesar's friend, a young Nazi named Mark. When they arrive, they are horrified to find that all the soldiers that were there had been killed, and Mark is nonchalantly murdered as well by the Pillar Men. Enraged at his friend's death, Caesar attacks the Pillar Men, but Wamuu's headgear renders his 'Bubble Launcher' useless and he is injured. In order to protect Caesar and Speedwagon from Wamuu, Joseph feigns cowardice to lead him away. Caesar eventually finds Joseph and witnesses him bluffing Wamuu and Esidisi into leaving and having the Wedding Rings implanted inside him. Finding new found respect for Joseph, Caesar decides to help him get stronger in order to defeat the Pillar Men. Caesar presents Joseph to Lisa Lisa, and they begin their training together. For their first challenge, Lisa Lisa forces them to tackle 'Hell Climb Pillar', a pillar covered with oil that requires expert control of the Ripple to climb. Caesar is able to climb the tower, but expresses concern for Joseph, who is less experienced than him. When Joseph nearly reaches the peak but slips, Caesar grabs his arm, saving him. After weeks of training, the two reached the final phase where Caesar had to defeat Messina. He manages to win after Messina admits defeat, saying that continuing the fight would result in either one or both of them dying and acknowledging how far Caesar has developed his abilities. Caesar checks on Joseph to see his progress, only to be dismayed when he finds him fighting Esidisi. Despite wanting to help his friend, Messina advises they head back to protect Lisa Lisa and the Red Stone of Aja, since they were too far away to reach Joseph in time. When he returns, he finds out Esidisi's remains have possessed Suzi Q. Caesar and Joseph manage to save Suzie Q by using their combined Ripple to neutralize the damage to her body, while still forcing Esidisi out. During the pursuit of Kars, Caesar goes ahead of the rest of the group after having an argument with Joseph about waiting any longer to attack. Messina goes to help him, and the two of them are ambushed by Wamuu. Caesar almost manages to kill the Pillar Man, but when he closes in for his final attack, his shadow is taken advantage of by Wamuu to hide from the sunlight, and so he is dealt a deathblow. As he is about to die, he rips off Wamuu's lip piercing, which holds the antidote for Joseph's remaining wedding ring. He encases it - along with his headband - in a Ripple bubble made of his blood and his last reserves of energy for Joseph to take, before his body is crushed by a cross-shaped rock.

Physical Ability
As a skillfully trained individual, Caesar possesses very high physical abilities: along with a vast amount of physical strength and proficiency in hand to hand combat, Caesar has demonstrated an amazing sense of balance, even being able to perform the "seated jump" that his grandfather previously performed.

Caesar also boasts a high level of endurance far surpassing normal humans, being able to survive for a few days without food, and taking high amounts of physical punishment while still being able to get up and continue fighting. His endurance was best demonstrated when even after receiving Wamuu's Holy Sandstorm head on, he still managed to get up and continue fighting for a short amount of time, even managing to produce a Ripple after losing huge amounts of blood.

Caesar also has high precision, managing to catch a Ripple enhanced spaghetti thrown by Joseph using the holes in the tortiglioni he was eating.

Ripple
Being a natural born Ripple user through his grandfather's bloodline, Caesar was able to project its power from an early age, though it was only under Lisa Lisa's guidance that he learned how to properly use it. Caesar is able to use more advanced techniques such as focusing the Ripple in his fingertips, and much like Joseph, can channel the Ripple through objects, such as a weapons, food, or even living beings. The base for most of his attacks relies on his gloves, which are loaded with a special soap-like substance. Because of this, he is able to release bubbles from his hands at anytime and fuse them with the Ripple to create deadly projectiles.
 * Repel: Caesar is able to use the Ripple as a repellent of sorts, as well as a shield. During the Hell Climb Pillar Test, he was able to deflect a high pressured oil jet, and used the same technique to force Esidisi out of Suzi Q's body.

Attacks

 * Bubble Launcher (シャボンランチャー): Signature Attack. Caesar fires out a barrage of bubbles from his gloves, each coated in the Ripple. This increases the density of the bubbles and are able to hit objects with a greater impact. When hit by the barrage, Joseph was completely blown away.
 * Bubble Barrier (シャボバリア): Sometimes used in conjunction with Bubble Launcher, the difference is that instead of multiple being used in a barrage, Caesar conjures a single gigantic bubble capable of absorbing and trapping its target.
 * Bubble Cutter (シャボンカッター): Based off his grandfather, Will Zeppeli's technique, Caesar further reinforces his bubble launcher, and creates bubbles with the ability to slice. Unlike his original attack, the bubbles spin at high speed and use centrifugal force, but are able to stay intact due to the Ripple. This causes them to form shapes much like saucers with a small blade-like ring surrounding each bubble. These bubbles move at a higher velocity and have a higher tractability, allowing Caesar to fire them in any direction with ease.
 * Bubble Cutter Gliding (シャボンカッターグライディン): A more versatile version of Bubble Cutter, Caesar sacrifices the quantity of the attack, and focuses on effectiveness. By launching a few bubbles, Caesar is able to aim them much like homing projectiles. They are able to go around objects and have a higher chance of hitting the opponent.
 * Bubble Lenses (シャボンレンズ): The bubbles have the ability to refract light and focus them into beams, much like a magnifying glass. After launching them, the bubbles become stationary and any light source passing through will cause a domino effect, connecting the bubbles together and eventually shooting multiple beams at their target.

Family

 * William Anthonio Zeppeli: Caesar believes the bonds between an Italian family such as the Zeppelis are stronger than most people. According to him, because of their pride, Zeppeli's can handle their problems on their own and have the will to pull through. When he first meets Joseph, he says that it was because Jonathan needed so much help to fight his own battle, that Will ended up dying because of it.
 * Mario Zeppeli: Having left him as a child, Caesar had hated his father. Later, Mario saves Caesar from Wamuu's Trap, which cost him his life. Since then, Caesar's hatred for his father disappeared, and was instead replaced with a desire for revenge against the Pillar Men.

Friends

 * Joseph Joestar: Due to the rough history behind William Anthonio Zeppeli's death and Joseph's lack of skill - along with his overall personality - the two did not get along at all at first. Caesar found Joseph to be a delinquent who would usually fool around at all the wrong times. However, after Joseph received the wedding rings from the Pillar Men after saving Speedwagon and Caesar, his respect for Joseph grew. Upon completing the Ripple Training together, Caesar found Joseph to be a reliable ally, and good friend. When he fought against Wamuu, even though he was dying from being hit by the Divine Sandstorm attack, he still used the last bit of his strength and Hamon to rip the nose ring containing the antidote for Joseph's wedding rings and placed it in a Hamon bubble made from his blood to give to Joseph. When Joseph realized Caesar had died, he immediately broke down crying his friend's name in agony. He immediately sought revenge against the Pillar Men for his defeat.
 * Lisa Lisa: Presumably having met after the death of Mario Zeppeli, she is introduced as Caesar's mentor in the Ripple. As such, Caesar respects her, having asked for her help to train Joseph in the proper usage of the ripple. He has stated he looks at her as his own mother and she is perhaps one of the few beautiful women he has never flirted with, showing a great reverence for her as a person. Joseph even states that Caesar revered her as a goddess. When he died, Lisa Lisa tried to stay calm and pretended to be indifferent, but later broke down showing how much she cared for him as a student and friend.
 * Robert E. O. Speedwagon: After beginning his training of the Ripple, Caesar devoted his life to revenge against the ones who killed his father. Having been friends with his grandfather, Speedwagon informed Caesar of the events that led to Will Zeppeli's death. Other than this, their relationship is unknown aside from being acquaintances in the fight against the Pillar Men. However, it is possible that the hat Caesar is seen wearing during his first appearance was the same hat Speedwagon inherited from Will after he died.
 * Mark: Mark was Caesar's Nazi friend during the war, driving Caesar to the Roman Colosseum to the excavation site of the Pillar Men's location. When half of Mark is promptly eaten by the Pillar Men, Caesar uses the Ripple on his heart in order to ease his pain and his last moments. Caesar is also shown to be very much enraged when he sees that Mark wanted to return home to see his fiance, but was robbed of that chance with his death.

Heritage for the Future (PS1/DC/Arcade)
Caesar is not playable in Heritage for the Future, however when Young Joseph ("JOJO") does one of his special attacks, instead of whispering Lisa Lisa's name (who appears on Part III Joseph's special move), he screams out Caesar's name and pictures of Caesar appear in the background, among with several manga moments from Part II, as Young Joseph blasts the opponent with a Hamon Overdrive.

All-Star Battle (PS3)
Caesar makes his first playable appearance in the PS3 title. He is one of the 6 characters who uses the Hamon as his style, and was confirmed for the game alongside Esidisi.

Most of Caesar's special attacks utilizes his special techniques using bubble-based Hamon attacks with some variations, such as the Bubble Gliding where he sends Hamon-infused Bubble Cutters toward the opponent, the Hamon Bubble Launcher where Caesar launches a series of bubbles as projectiles (also works in the air) and his Hamon Bubble Lenses, which works as a projectile as the bubbles will act as a magnifying glass and shoot rays of light at the opponent.

During his HHA, Caesar will trap the enemy in a large Hamon Bubble to immobilize them, which then explodes and deals damage (similar to what he did to Joseph when they first meet in Part II). His GHA involves his Bubble Lenses, where the enemy gets surrounded by a multitude of lenses that refract the light from the sun and fire with multiple beams of light, causing opponents to burn (Recreating his attacking of Wamuu during his final battle). If Caesar is defeated by a regular attack (any move that does not result in a hard knock-down), he will remove his headband and encase it in a bloody bubble as he slowly keels over (a reference to his final moments).

If Caesar fights Will Zeppeli, before the match start they will have special dialogue, where Caesar says he will make Zeppeli pay for what he did to his family's namesake.

Caesar also managed to win first place in his League Group in the All-Star Battle League, beating Polnareff, Esidisi, and even Jotaro. He also made his way to the semi-finals matches, but ultimately lost to DIO.

Caesar possesses two alternate costumes, the first being his debut attire (wearing William Zeppeli's hat) and the second one being his outfit during his first battle against Wamuu (jacket-less and wearing a top).

Stardust Shooters (ANDROID/IOS)
Caesar appears as one of the several characters who possesses a Metal Striker in the game. During his FINISH move, Caesar shoots several Hamon Bubble Cutter into the defeated opponent.

Also, Caesar's Level 2 ability allows his Metal Striker to drop a single Bubble each time he hits an enemy. During the opponent's turn, if an enemy hits the bubble, its Metal Striker looses a certain amount of Health Points.

Eyes of Heaven (PS3/PS4)
Caesar was one of the first characters confirmed for the game, alongside Joseph, Jotaro, Kakyoin, Diego, and Stroheim. Since the game recycles several animations and copies a large portion of the moveset from All-Star Battle, his gameplay remains mostly the same: Utilizing his bubbles and Bubble Cutter in an almost exclusively-ranged playstyle. His Hamon Bubble Barrier is also part of his regular moveset and can now trap opponents, leaving them open for either Caesar or his partner to attack.

Players can further exploit Caesar when paired with Joseph. Their Dual Heat Attack starts off with them attacking from both sides with an array of Hamon-infused bubbles from Caesar and a series of Hamon-charged punches and kicks from Joseph, before the latter invites Caesar to initiate the Positive/Negative Overdrive they used on Suzi Q to save her from from Esidisi's control as a finisher. If Caesar falls in battle before Joseph, a special animation will play where they recreate the scene involving Caesar's final words and creation of the blood bubble (which pops in an anti-climactic fashion shortly after conception), along with Joseph's iconic "CAESAAAR!!!" scream, before gaining an attack and defense boost, as well as unflinching; a mechanic used in compensation for the loss of a partner in the game.

Unlike the previous game, his main color scheme is now based on his anime appearance.

Tournament
He is paired with Shigekiyo Yangu in the Eyes of Heaven tournament, but was eliminated in the preliminaries by Joseph and Dio Brando.

Trivia

 * Like his grandfather before him, Caesar's choice of weapon is unique: soap and soap bubbles. As shown by his last act though, he was not limited to soap, and could construct bubbles from other liquid materials (i.e. his blood).
 * Also similar to his grandfather, Caesar passes on his headgear to one of his friends after his death: his headband, which is worn by Joseph during the latter's battle with Wamuu.
 * Caesar's Steel Ball Run counterpart is most likely Gyro Zeppeli, who mentions that his real name was, in fact 'Yulius Kaiser Zeppeli', upon which Johnny Joestar, in surprise, asks him if it is actually pronounced 'Julius Caesar'.
 * According to JoJo 6251, Caesar dislikes unsophisticated people, irresponsible people, and bugs.
 * Caesar is the first protagonist in the franchise to use bubbles as his main attack theme, the second being Josuke from Part VIII.

Gallery
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