Tarkus

Born in the 16th century, Tarkus was a member of the Tudor Dynasty and a retainer of Mary Stuart. After losing his relatives in previous wars, the young Tarkus was brought up as Mary Stuart's knight and trained his body for that sole purpose. At the same time, Tarkus became attached to Mary. Alongside his fellow retainer Bruford—the two being of five in history to succeed it — Tarkus passed the Challenge of the 77 Rings in 1563. Eventually, when Mary was imprisoned by her political rival, Queen Elizabeth, Bruford and Tarkus fought the Queen's army until she offered Mary's release in return for their surrender. But on the day of their execution as enemies of the Crown, Bruford and Tarkus learned from their executioner that Mary was already killed before they gave into the Queen's demands. Tarkus was livid upon hearing that Elizabeth had deceived them into giving up their lives for nothing, and cursed her in his dying breath; rumors saying that his neck became so rigid from anger that several axes broke before he was beheaded. The story of Bruford and Tarkus was then passed on from generation to generation and became famous in England. After taking residence in Windknight's Lot following his transition into a vampire, Dio resurrects Bruford and Tarkus as his zombie enforcers to exploit their hatred against the world. The two would be responsible for the zombification and devouring of the people of Windknight's Lot.

Tarkus was a powerful knight during the time he was alive, and loyal to his queen. However, different from his partner Bruford, he lacks a sense of honor. Tarkus gets enraged easily and uses his anger for violence. Due to the corruption of Dio, he thinks of Bruford as a disgrace to the Dark Knights, having no qualms about destroying the armor of his former friend. He declares his abandonment of human reason and embrace of undead brutality. Tarkus is a brutal and ruthless fighter and enjoys forcing his opponents to battle him to the death in the Chain Neck Deathmatch, even if it is against their own will.

Tarkus is a towering and muscular zombie. He wears a set of heavy metal armor consisting of a chestplate, two shoulder pads, two legplates and a loincloth. On top of his medium-length hair, Tarkus wears a horned and crested metal helmet, which he removes during his Chain Neck Deathmatch with Jonathan.

As a trained warrior and one of the only five knights to succeed in the 77 Rings Challenge, Tarkus possesses an incredible amount of physical strength and endurance. Even while alive as a human, his neck could withstand several attacks and break the axes of executioners before being cut. After being resurrected as a zombie, his brutality and power increase even more, making him capable of squashing people with his bare hands. Tarkus initially demonstrates his strength by lifting a massive portion of the ground that Jonathan was standing on from beneath him, while only using a finger. He then shatters the giant boulder with the same finger.

Later, he throws himself onto a stone wall in order to trap Jonathan in the Lair of the Two-Headed Dragon. Whereas Zeppeli states that Tarkus should be unable to move because his bones would have shattered from the collision, Tarkus manages to climb the building and still be in a state to fight Jonathan and Zeppeli afterwards. A kick from him is strong enough to shatter the bone of Jonathan's upper arm.

Chain Techniques Tarkus is an expert at the Chain Neck Deathmatch, having killed forty-eight warriors in death matches. He uses his surroundings to his advantage, such as ensnaring his opponents with a chain to rip apart their bodies.

Hell Heaven Snake Kill. Tarkus' signature technique. He jumps above his opponent while he manipulates his chain to strike them from below, cornering them from both sides. The chain wraps around his opponent and Tarkus pulls on it with enough force to tear a body in half. Swordsmanship When Tarkus was a knight of Mary Stuart, he was described as a hero who could cut rocks like butter with his sword. Proving the stories of his past, Tarkus strikes the ground with his sword and slices off a large cliff, causing the Joestar Group to fall.