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), referred to by his tribe as Soundman (サウンドマン), is a minor character and antagonist featured in Steel Ball Run.

Sandman comes from an Indian 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.

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

Personality
Sandman is a rebel of his tribe, condemned as a convert or agent of the settlers by keeping English literature when he was trying to read about the Englishmen because he saw them as the enemy and wanted to learn more about them to defeat them. Though loyal to his tribe, part of his rebel status is due to the fact he sees the tribes' ways as old and outdated. Of a utilitarian mindset, joining the Steel Ball Run race, he states an aim to win and use the prize money to liberate or defend his tribe; and he later reveals to have allied with the government in order to defend this interest.

He has a sister, exasperated by his rebellion who states that since he was a child, whenever he is committed to something, he won't change his mind which makes it difficult for others to understand him.

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.

Synopsis
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 tepee, 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 an 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".