Rudol von Stroheim


 * "German science is the greatest in the world!"

- Rudol von Stroheim, about his cyborg body.

Rudol von Stroheim (ルドル・フォン・シュトロハイム) is a major ally in Battle Tendency. Starting as a Nazi officer researching and experimentating on the Pillar Man Santana, he and his unit actively cooperate with the Ripple users to stop the threat of the Pillar Men.

Appearance
Stroheim is a tall, well-built man of masculine facial features (comparable to those of the contemporary Dolph Lundgren).

Blue-eyed; at his introduction his blonde hair involves a short flat-top and a length at his neck; soon developing into tall, splaying cut. Later, he acquires complex metallic cybernetic prosthetics, including the section of his face surrounding his right eye; which is additionally covered by a sort of monocle.

He wears a range of official Nazi military attire. His cyborg prosthetics include his entire abdomen, which houses a powerful machine gun.

Personality
When Stroheim is first introduced, he is a callous, cruel, demanding Nazi Major who has the foolish idea to experiment with the Stone Mask in order to further the power of the Waffen-SS.

However, upon being threatened with Santana's rampage, he demonstrates bravery and does not hesitate when trapped in asking Joseph to cut off his leg; or blow himself up with a grenade to kill the invading Santana. This is seen once again when Stroheim gives him a helping hand in defeating Kars and helping Joseph drive him into the volcano with an airplane.

Stroheim is an enthusiastic nationalist. He is particularly proud of his cyborg body; praising "German science" and generally loudly boasting the Germans given the occasion. His pride occasionally grows into overconfidence, a tendency which continuously works against him, and his eagerness to dramatically finish Kars off without taking precautions enabled the Pillar Man to become the Ultimate Lifeform. On the other hand, Stroheim respects bravery, no matter what ethnicity the individual may belong to, this is seen when he spares one Mexican child for being willing to sacrifice himself for his whole village.

Stroheim is said to have fought and died (bravely) on the Russian front.

Weapons

 * Abdominal Machine Gun: A machine gun inside Stroheim's stomach region, able to shoot 600 armored bullets per minute, and capable of piercing a 30-millimetre steel plate. Stroheim first introduces this weapon against Kars.
 * Ultraviolet Radiation Beam (紫外線照射装置): Inside Stroheim's mechanized eye is a small laser cannon capable of firing a concentrated beam of Ultraviolet light. The beam itself is five times more intense than a set of typical ultraviolet lights and was able to pierce straight through Kars' hand.
 * Ultraviolet Shoulder Cannons: Built by the technical department of the Speedwagon Foundation specifically as an anti-vampire device, Stroheim is able to fire out powerful blasts of ultraviolet light from two flood lights located on each side of his shoulders. As miniaturized searchlights, they pack the same power as the original, but are light enough to carry with ease. Stroheim used these cannons during the final battle against Kars, where he, along with his team, fought back against the army of vampires.
 * Projectile Hand: Stroheim is capable of firing off his mechanical hand with enough force to impale and deeply wound an enemy. Though revealed only towards the end of the arc, Stroheim used it to prevent Kars' escape and pinned him to a plane that went crashing into an active volcano.

Profile
As a Major in the Nazi Party, Stroheim is capable of leading his own battalion, as well as any members of the party of lower rank. To this end, Stroheim enforces his rank with a strong sense of pride and most of time, his word is law. As a capable leader, Stroheim often initiates attacks upon command, though the logic behind them usually varies depending on the level of abnormality of the enemy. When cornered, Stroheim's eminent pride in his country will cause him to unquestionably sacrifice himself to take out his target. In terms of combat expertise, it is presumed he is capable of performing the most basic of military skills with ease, including assembling and disassembling military weapons, and making efficient use of said weapons. Stroheim also flaunts a very able-bodied physique and has demonstrated a very high jumping ability.

After being resurrected as a Cyborg, Stroheim's physical capabilities increased and with it his rank to Colonel status. As a Cyborg, his strength increases significantly, having been designed with the ability to crush an object with his hand at a pressure of 1,950 kg/cm2 (roughly double Santana's.) In this form, Stroheim had also gained partial immortality, being able to survive most attacks, as his mechanical limbs being damaged lessens the effect on his lifeforce. With these limbs, he is capable of bending his body unnaturally, and deflect enemy attacks due to being made of metal. Situated on one side of Stroheim's face is a magnifying device that allows Stroheim to zoom in on objects up to a point where he can study their internal structure.

Battle Tendency
Stroheim takes an injured Robert E. O. Speedwagon to the Nazi base in Mexico and interrogates him for information regarding the Pillar Men. He reveals that the Nazis had acquired one of them, which he named "Santana" after the warm winds of Mexico.

Stroheim eventually sacrifices himself in an attempt to stop Santana's rampage and is assumed to have died until he reappears at the border of Switzerland to retrieve the Red Stone of Aja. Thanks to Nazi science, Colonel Stroheim was revived with cybernetic parts (including a machine gun on his chest and a monocle that presumably serves as a Terminator/Robocop-esque radar system). He challenges Kars to a duel and is quickly cut in half, but is ultimately able to separate Kars from the stone by firing a ultraviolet beam from his eye.

Stroheim appears yet again after being reconstructed with the help of the Speedwagon Foundation science division and saves Joseph from Kars' impending vampire army just in the nick of time. Kars is defeated by Joseph soon after and is sent falling onto a spikes below, where Stroheim and his division blast him with ultraviolet light. They fail to realize, however, that Kars had donned a Stone Mask with the Aja and are dumbstruck when he achieves his ultimate form and begins killing them off with a squirrel formed from his right hand.

After Joseph hijacks a Nazi aircraft to lure Kars away, Stroheim reveals himself in the side wing of the plane just before it goes plummeting into an active volcano. After pinning Kars to the front end of the aircraft, he pulls Joseph out of the plane and cushions their fall by sacrificing his cybernetic legs. The volcano eventually erupts when Kars' Ripple collides with the Red Stone of Aja, launching both Joseph and him into the air. Stroheim eventually returns to the rest of the group and reports Joseph's supposed death.

After the battle with Kars, Stroheim never meets Joseph again and is said to have died honourably at the battle of Stalingrad.

All-Star Battle (PS3)
Stroheim makes his first video game appearance in the PS3 title. Appearing as one of the Campaign Surprise Support Characters, where he shoots the opponent's profile with his machine gun (in the same way he attacked Kars during the events of Part II), decreasing their health bar by 40% before the fight.

Stardust Shooters (Android/iOS)
Stroheim appears as one of the several Part II characters who possess a Metal Striker. His FINISH move makes him shooting several bullets of his Torso-Machine Gun at the defeated opponent and his Level 3 special ability allows him to destroy himself after defeat, damaging any Metal Striker near him (enemy or ally).

Eyes of Heaven (PS3/PS4)
Stroheim was one of the first characters confirmed to be playable in the game (alongside Jotaro Kujo, Joseph Joestar, Noriaki Kakyoin, Josuke Higashikata, and Diego Brando).

With a new unique battle style called German's Highest Intelligence Crystallize (ゲルマン民族の最高知能の結晶), most of Stroheim's moveset is based on his robotic-body, as he can shoot using his torso-machine-gun (much like in his fight against Kars), shoot lasers from his eyes, and grab an opponent with his mechanical arm and use his photon-ray beam as a special move. His Style Action summons two soldiers in order to assist him in battle and increase the damage dealt by his attacks, Stroheim's "sacrifice" (where he blew himself up along with Santana) also appears as one of his special moves, blowing away everyone within the attack radius. His GHA has him activate a powerful photon beam in tandem with his subordinates, stunning the enemy, before launching an extended volley of bullets from his Abdominal Machine Gun as he taunts the opponent.

Stroheim always starts a match fully dressed with his uniform (wearing his hat that comes off if the player takes too much damage), one of his special moves allows him to open his coat and reveal the photon beam mechanism on his shoulders, allowing Stroheim to use a few new moves and deal increased damage to vampires and Pillar Men.

As in the anime, he's voiced by Atsuhi Imaruoka. Eyes of Heaven also marks the first time Stroheim appears in a video game as a playable character.

In the Western release of the game, Stroheim's default outfit (with his military uniform) was removed, most likely due to sensitivity regarding the display of Nazi symbols.

Tournament
He is paired with Okuyasu Nijimura in the Eyes of Heaven Tournament, but was eliminated in the preliminaries by Mariah and Esidisi.

Trivia

 * His given name translates to Rudol, without f or ph, in alphabetic languages.
 * In addition to Stroheim's enthusiastic nationalism, his features are consistent with those of the "Nordic race" favored in Nazi ideology.
 * Stroheim's hair and eventual monocled visage appear to be based on an illustration by Antonio Lopez.
 * He is the first cyborg to appear in the series.

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