Kars


 * The character featured in this article is commonly referred to as "Cars".

Kars (カーズ, Kāzu) is the main antagonist featured in Part II: Battle Tendency and the leader of the Pillar Men.

Appearance
Kars has a much lighter complexion then other Pillar Men, possibly due to his age or status compared to Wamuu or Esidisi. He has long purple hair, which he keeps under a dark tight head-wrap, when he takes it off it is a sign of honor or aggression. his attire differs from the others as well, for instance as other Pillar Men would wear open-toed shoes, he wears high boots. He wears nothing else but forearm guards, thong and a flowing loincloth.

Personality
"I don't intend on being a warrior like Wamuu, nor am I an idle dreamer. I don't care what method I have to use, victory justifies any means!"

- Kars

Kars is intelligent, ruthless, and single-minded in his dedication to obtain the Red Stone of Aja. He was stated to have been a genius among the Pillar Men, having been the original creator of the stone masks. Kars also seems to have respect for nature and animals as seen when he killed a drunk driver who almost hit a puppy and when he fell off a cliff he deflected his body to avoid falling on a flower.

History
Kars was around during the brink of evolution where the people lived underground and strived off the essence of all living things at the same time, failing to reproduce since they had such a long and worthy lifespan.

Frustrated by their ignorance of perfection, Kars wanted the beings to find a way to "tame the sun" and leave the underground to become perfect. In time, Kars created the stone masks in order for his race to become immune to the effects of the sun, and proceeded to kidnap humans in order to test the effects of the stone masks. However, the masks that he created, while capable of turning humans into vampires, were unable to penetrate deeply enough to unlock the pillarmen's full potential, only resulting in some increased body manipulation powers at the cost of greatly increased hunger. Eventually, his race began to fear him for his obsession and sought to execute him due to the increased hunger caused by the mask would threaten their way of life if their use became widespread. Kars was shown protesting their actions before being forced to slaughter the race of Pillar Men himself, including his own parents. Along with Esidisi, he took two children who were presumably the Pillar Men to be known as Santana and Wamuu.

Sometime between his formation of his group of Pillar Men and the beginning of his millennia of rest, he and his comrades would travel to Rome and fight a battle with the ripple users that would end in their victory; how they ended up resting in the wall is unknown.

Battle Tendency (1938-39)
Kars is introduced as the leader of the Pillar Men, getting attacked by Wamuu after stepping on his shadow and apologizing for having forgotten about that trait. After Joseph's initial defeat, Kars and the other Pillar men set off to find the location of the Red Stone of Aja, but eventually settle in an abandoned mansion in San Moritz, Switzerland. Having found a lead to the stone, Esidisi had planned to contact Kars after retrieving it, but was promptly defeated by Joseph instead. With no phone call, Kars assumes something amiss and sets off to Italy to handle things himself.

At the border between Switzerland and Italy, he is confronted by Rudolf von Stroheim and almost effortlessly defeats him after some struggle. At the same time, Kars is able to retrieve the stone, but has it taken from him by Joseph Joestar after a short mingle off a cliff. Kars travels back to San Moritz, where he is eventually confronted by Joseph and Lisa Lisa. He agrees to have a fair fight with Lisa Lisa at the nearby ruins, but ultimately tricks her during their fight with a doppelgänger and steals the stone from her, leaving her unconscious.

This immediately enrages Joseph, who battles Kars but is continually trapped in a dilemma where Kars pierces Lisa Lisa's feet and strings a rope through the wounds, forcing Joseph to grab the rope to stop her from falling and inhibit his combat abilities. An overconfident Kars approaches as Joseph lights his scarf on fire and attacks, but falls from the beam clutching the rope as Kars severs it to finish off Lisa Lisa. However, this is revealed to have been Joseph's intentional setup, as he drew Kars' attention to his upper body while he arranged the loop of rope with his legs below, tricking him into stepping into the loop and forcing him to keep his opponents above the spikes below. Kars faces Joseph in a final standoff with his arm blade, but is soundly beaten as Joseph's ripple breaks the blade and wounds his arm, knocking him off the railing and into the spikes below.

Stroheim and his Nazi troops arrive along with Speedwagon and Smokey, and Stroheim gloats over Kars before ordering his troops to unleash the full barrage of their ultraviolet light on Kars.

Kars, however, reveals himself to have worn a stone mask with the Red Stone of Aja in place and the ultraviolet light activates the mask and enables him to enter his ultimate form. In a final confrontation, he succeeds in severing Joseph's hand but is blown into space by a volcanic eruption induced by his Ripple colliding with the Red Stone of Aja that Joseph instinctively held out. The Ripple sets off the eruption and blasts the slab of rock with Kars and Joseph on it into the sky. Kars prepares to fly off, but is interrupted by Joseph's severed hand stabbing into his throat. This lapse in concentration causes other hot volcanic shards that Kars could have dodged otherwise to hit him and finally propel him into outer space. Kars prepares to return to Earth after being thrown out of orbit by ejecting the built up air, but the air freezes on its way out. His vital body begins to freeze from the near-absolute zero temperature and he becomes trapped in the void of space for eternity. Being unable to die even though he wished for it, Kars eventually stops thinking and desires death.

Steel Ball Run
In Steel Ball Run, Magenta Magenta is trapped at the bottom of a river while using his defensive stand. As he hopes for Dio's rescue that would never come, he eventually stops thinking. Magenta Magenta's "death" in Steel Ball Run is a reference to Kars' fate.

Abilities
Light Mode (光の流法 or 光のモード): Kars' power is that of light, he is able to produce bladed appendages from his arms and legs and use these to reflect blinding light toward his enemies. The light comes from the tiny, shark teeth-like claws running along the edge of the blade much like a chainsaw. It is from the reflections of these claws that gives Kars's Light Blades their shining intensity. In this mode, Kars' blades are sharp enough to cut through most objects, including an automobile and several bullets at blinding speeds.

Bodily Manipulation: As with the other Pillar Men, Kars also has the same body manipulation capabilities shared by his companions. When he gains the power of the Red Stone, Kars's bodily manipulation abilities are enhanced to the genetic level, to the point where he is capable of reactive evolution. Kars was also shown to be able to mutate parts of his body into various living creatures and control them accordingly whilst in his ultimate form.

Ultimate Form Abilities: As the Ultimate Life form, Kars becomes an immortal being and his body cannot age. He acquires multiple abilities and skills such as: an IQ 400, being able to sense the heat and air pressure, superhuman strength (900kg/cm2), can heal any wound in a short period of time, can reconstruct his entire body on a cellular level to transform into any lifeform, his vision is comparable to an Astronomical Telescope, Kars's cells store the DNA of every lifeform, he's able to hear ultrasonic sound (from bat's echolocation to whalesongs).

Hamon (波紋): In his Ultimate Form, Kars is shown using the Hamon. This Hamon is shown to be hundreds of times stronger than Joseph's Hamon, able to melt human flesh and according to Stroheim, comparable to the intensity of the Sun itself.

In Video Games
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle

Kars makes his first appearance as a playable character in All-Star Battle.

Trivia

 * Kars is the only original pillar man capable of using the ripple. This may make him the antithesis of Straits, the first antagonist in Part II and the only vampire capable of using the ripple due to having been a ripple master prior to becoming a vampire.
 * Ironically, in the above case, Kars is the strongest ripple master to date.
 * For JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's 25th anniversary, Sorachi Hideaki, mangaka of Gintama, drew a parody of Kars drifting endlessly into space. A part of Hasegawa Taizo's head is seen jutting from Kars' body.
 * In Symposium of Post-mysticism, an official Touhou Fanbook, Toyosatomimi no Miko says that Koishi Komeiji "stopped thinking", using the phrasing of the famous line "After a while, he stopped thinking" (そのうち考えるのをやめた) referencing Kars.
 * Kars is, so far, the only main antagonist in the series who does not possess a Stand.
 * Kars is the shortest of the Pillar Men.