Dr. Ferdinand

"'Respect' is 'Prosperity' !"

- Dr. Ferdinand

Dr. Ferdinand (フェルディナンド博士) is a minor antagonist featured in Steel Ball Run.

A geologist by trade and one of the President's assassins, Dr. Ferdinand ambushes Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli alongside a transformed Diego Brando in the Rocky Mountains to take the Saint's Corpse's eyes from them.

Appearance/Personality
Dr. Ferdinand is a geologist and a paleontologist with a very flamboyant personality. For him, the most important thing in the world is respect: he has himself a great respect of the planet, to the point he'd get senselessly furious should he see somebody spitting on the ground or littering. He's convinced that Earth brings prosperity only to those who respect the soil and has come to believe that dinosaurs, the once undisputed rulers of the world, died because their small brains couldn't understand this basic ideal.

Dr. Ferdinand is also the first Steel Ball Run antagonist to be truly devoted to Funny Valentine, and not just a mercenary. He tries to obtain the Saint's Corpse, as he believes the completed body would bring not only respect and prosperity to whoever obtains all the pieces, but true power and an eternal kingdom. He plans to recover them for the President, the only one who can actually exploit this power for the glory of a nation.

Abilities
Ferdinand uses Scary Monsters to turn Diego Brando into a dinosaur and have him affect an entire village. By directing orders to Diego, he is able to command an army of dinosaurs to do his bidding.

Synopsis
Two years before the story, Ferdinand obtained his Stand while searching for the Devil's Palm.

During the course of the Third stage of the race, Dio is attacked and severely injured by an unknown enemy. He recovers rather quickly, however, and catches up with Gyro and Johnny. The three decide to spend the night in a little village on the rocky mountains, but during the night Dio attacks the protagonists, transformed into a dinosaur. Not only are his physical abilities are enhanced, but he's also able to turn every living being he bites or scratches into a dinosaur as well, thus rapidly gathering a dinosaur army by turning the village men and animals (including some mice).

Gyro and Johnny attempt to escape, regardless of being easy detectable by the dinosaurs who can sense movement and can track the smell of their clothes, now wet because of the little dinosaur's urine. Unfortunately, they are infected by Dio as well, though Johnny is able to resist his power because of the corpse.

They decide to recover the new corpse part in order to save Gyro from transforming as well, but Dio manages to stop them and recovers the Saint's eyes. It is only then that Dr. Ferdinand shows up, revealing to be the real Stand user and having attacked Dio and made him the leader of the group of dinosaurs.

Gyro is able to return to his human form, thanks to the Saint's eye recovered by Johnny, but also gains a new ability, thus allowing him to defeat Dr. Ferdinand and neutralize Scary Monsters.

With Dr. Ferdinand's power inactive, the dinosaurs revert to their original form, including some pumas: the mountain lions, angered, pounce on Dr. Ferdinand and devour him.

Dio, now free of Ferdinand's control, manages to escape with the left eye of the Saint, along with Ferdinand's abilities.