Gyro Zeppeli

Gyro Zeppeli (ジャイロ・ツェペリ, Jairo Tseperi) is a character featured in Part VII: Steel Ball Run. In Steel Ball Run's alternate universe version of the world, he most likely takes the place of William Antonio Zeppeli, Caesar Antonio Zeppeli or another previously unseen member of the Zeppeli family. He is the main protagonist of this series alongside Johnny Joestar.

Personality
Gyro has a cocky and flamboyant personality, appearing to have a high opinion of himself. However, he can be driven by emotions for other people and become realistic and serious when a problem presents itself. Like most Manga archetypes, Gyro is incredibly intelligent when he needs to be. His most distinguishable body features are his long hair, western hat and his teeth which have "GO! GO! ZEPPELI" written on them, revealed whenever he smiles at someone. His signature laugh/chuckle is "Nyo ho ho ho~".

Past
Gyro is from the Zeppeli family, a line of practiced executioners in Italy. They use an ancestral technique named the 'Spin' which allows people to die painlessly, usually applied through the use of an iron ball. Gyro lived this way until his late teens, becoming a skilled executioner. However, this is not to say that Gyro kills indiscriminately. Although the Zeppeli family usually sticks to delivering the death penalty to serious and dangerous criminals, there was one incident which resulted in the arrest and death sentence of an innocent little boy who made a living from cleaning shoes, Gyro was struck when he heard of this and even more when the boy offered to clean his own executioner's shoes. Gyro's father is strictly convinced that the Zeppeli family are in the hands of the state and they aren't the ones who choose whether or not someone dies-- refusing this, Gyro pleads with the king for an appeal. After this, it's agreed that Gyro will receive an amnesty to release the boy if he can complete the American cross-country race, the Steel Ball Run.

Stand
See Scan and Ball Breaker

Faithful Encounter
Shortly after joining the race and before it begins, Gyro goes into town where he fights a man using his 'Spin' and iron balls as weapons. When the paraplegic Johnny Joestar touches one of Gyro's spinning orbs, it causes his paralyzed legs to move for a moment. Gyro attempts to convince Johnny that it was simply a reflex of his legs but Johnny isn't convinced, joining the Steel Ball Run race to follow him in order to learn about the Spin and how to move his legs once again.

Gyro sees Johnny at the start of the race, clearly displeased seeing Johnny there, and during the start of the race, quickly gained the upper hand. It is then that Gyro would first meet Dio and, using his iron balls, would get ahead of the race and win a high amount of points. Stephen Steel, who was watching this event then reduced Gyro's points for using an "unauthorized weapon."

The Tragic End
In the final battle against Funny Valentine, Gyro uses the most advanced technique of Golden Rectangle, the "Super (or Cavalry) Spin", which is created by invoking the golden rectangle while riding a horse to gain momentum. By combining this technique with his newly developed stand Ball Breaker, his attack became very powerful. Although his technique was very effective, was not enough to beat Valentine who resisted his injuries long enough for Gyro die from his own wounds. However, before dying, Gyro gives his last lesson to Johnny, allowing Tusk to reach level 4 and giving Johnny the poewr to defeat Funny Valentine.

The 'Spin'
The 'Spin' is the Steel Ball Run counterpart to 'Hamon' used by several characters in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. The Zeppeli family's 'Spin' technique is Gyro's primary means of attack. The steel balls which Gyro carries are his weapons which he uses the 'Spin' technique with. By throwing them, he seems to be able to control their path, cause spiral ripples in the flesh of his opponents and even return to him once it's done. However, Gyro explain that his 'Spin' technique is not really for offensive purpose. It is in fact used as a medical treatment or anatomy objective.

Trivia

 * In the popular pixel avatar site [| Gaia online], there is an obtainable item know as Roto's Hat. This item first pose allows the avatar of the site to wear a hat identical to that of Gyro's, cleverly name Roto's hat.


 * In the same time during a Halloween special one of the NPC dress in Gyro's outfit.


 * He is one of the few character to posses a stand and lose it, with the other being those place with stand disc and Holly Kujo after Dio's death.


 * In Steel Ball Run Vol.19 it is revealed from himself that Gyro was just his nickname. His real name is, in fact 'Yulius Kaiser Zeppeli', upon which Johnny in surprise asks him if it is actually pronounced 'Julius Caesar'.


 * In the Italian edition of SBR, Gyro's name is written as "J.Lo" as a reference to American-Latino singer Jennifer Lopez.
 * The first time Gyro and Johnny meets Lucy, he refuses to let her ride with him stating "No woman ride my horse". Later, he explains that Lady Luck could be Jealous if he let "another woman" ride with him.