Gyro and Hot Pants: Pride, Guilt, and Consequences
Chapter 33: The True Man's World Part 1
Let's set up some context for Gyro and HP's first meeting. True Man's World takes place just after the third stage. Gyro is coming off of a fresh defeat by both Johnny and Diego and as of the start of True Man's World is only just starting to understand what it is he's lacking. We know Gyro is very prideful and at this point his ego is in a sensitive place.
At the start of the arc, Hot Pants, the actual winner of the third stage, is approaching them. Gyro is willing to open a dialogue, but Johnny advises against it, and suggests ignoring HP. Most everyone who has approached Johnny and Gyro at this point has been hostile, so this is actually quite a bit of good grace on their part.
Chapter 33: The True Man's World Part 1
Hot Pants' introduction paints them as a very serious person. They see the world matter-of-factly. The two things we know about them from even these introductory panels is that they take even seemingly minor infringements quite seriously, and that they have no qualms using violence or even killing if they deem the situation calls for it.
In the flashback, we see that Johnny advised against taking meat from the cow, but Gyro did so anyway. This could be read as a minor case of Gyro continuing to disregard Johnny's more analytical approach to situations in favor of satisfying himself (whether that be his pride, or in this case, his appetite). But while at this point in the story Gyro can essentially 'get away' with disregarding Johnny's advice, Hot Pants' presence (and the consequence they represent) does not allow him to continue to do so. HP, introduced at the end of the Third Stage, is essentially here to make sure Gyro remembers not to fall back into his old habits.
Chapter 33: The True Man's World Part 1
HP as Gyro's 'consequence' is also represented in how quickly and soundly they defeat him. Up until this point in the story, Gyro has never been so quickly incapacitated in a fight, not even by Diego. Moreover, since his pride is still stinging due to his loss in the third stage, I'm sure the fact that HP (who in a sense also stole the win from him) has so little trouble against the Steel Balls (Gyro's pride and joy), makes this loss not just frustrating but humiliating as well.
Chapter 33: The True Man's World Part 1
Unusually, Gyro is the one urging Johnny to shoot here. Johnny is hesitant, however, and in contrast to his earlier advice is now the one trying to open a dialogue with HP while Gyro is trying to close it. The encounter between HP and Gyro is a microcosm of what the True Man's World arc encompasses, which is to say, Gyro finally admitting to himself that he isn't as free as he'd like to believe. In the fight with HP, Gyro is trying to get rid of the consequences of his actions (stealing the meat) and continue blustering ahead as he had been doing, without the need to look back and understand the 'why' of what he chooses to do. Don't believe me?
Chapter 33: The True Man's World Part 1
Gyro directly tells Johnny that Johnny should have gone for the kill, based on what-ifs and maybes. This isn't Gyro's usual style; he only acts this way when his pride has been wounded and Johnny has 'let him down' (parallel this disagreement with the Catch the Rainbow situation later on, where Johnny again acts in a way that allows Gyro's pride to be wounded; in that case, it escalates from a disagreement into Gyro actually striking Johnny). Gyro's pride is probably his most sensitive point, and as of True Man's World it's in a very precarious place. Gyro doesn't like HP because HP is a reminder that he's not everything he thinks he is.
Chapter 33: The True Man's World Part 1
Note the word choice: 'Is this what I get?' Gyro believes that he should be able to get away without facing the consequences of his actions. We see similar behavior even during the first stage of the race, when Gyro is shocked and bitter that he incurred a penalty for cheating.
Chapter 12: First Stage Disqualified from Victory
In this case, he even retaliates (quite pettily) for the damage to his pride. However, as demonstrated by how quickly HP incapacitates him, they are not someone Gyro can act out against. As such, he simmers in his frustration and believes HP is the one tricking he and Johnny. Moreover, this frustration quickly develops into something of an inferiority complex.
Chapter 33: The True Man's World Part 1
Gyro and Johnny again have opposite reactions to the situation and Hot Pants' presence. Johnny remains calm while Gyro starts posturing in order to try and recuperate his lost pride. After this point they work together; when HP and Johnny are taken out, Gyro is told explicitly by Ringo what it is he needs to work on and fully resolves to find his own path, separate from his past. Despite this, Gyro's grudge against HP doesn't stop.
Chapter 45: The Promised Land Sugar Mountain (Part 1)
In fact, it might only be exacerbated when Gyro finds out who HP really is - and, importantly, that HP too is from his country. Narratively, this evolves HP into not just the metaphorical consequence of Gyro's recklessness, but also a link to the past he still struggles with. Gyro consistently gets defensive whenever Johnny questions him on the identity of the corpse, and in this case, despite having a strong suspicion of who it is, is still avoiding acknowledging the answer. I have to wonder if Gyro, suspecting the corpse is Christ, believes there's a chance he'll be judged for his past. In that way, we can see that he's still running from his past and the guilt he feels toward it.
The next arc we really see all three of them together is in Civil War, which is after Wrecking Ball. Gyro faced his counterpart in Wekapipo, and it was in that fight that he finally reconciled his tradition and his current path and learned to 'hunger nobly'. However, Hot Pants' presence in Civil War forces him to at last confront the part of his past he's been avoiding: not just the Zeppeli family tradition, which Gyro has resolved, but his own guilt towards his duty as executioner.
Chapter 56: Civil War (Part 1)
In fact, it's Gyro who insists that he and Johnny follow Hot Pants into Gettysburg. After HP stole most of the corpse parts from them in In A Silent Way, the obvious reason is that Gyro wants to get them back. However, Gyro explicitly says, 'Tell me everything', which implicitly indicates that he intends to interrogate HP on who they are and their connection to his country and past. I have to wonder if the question on Gyro's mind is, 'Do they know who I am?'. That is, an executioner. And if so, Gyro is probably intent on figuring out what Hot Pants will do with that information, and if that information is influencing their actions towards him in any way. This shared link between Gyro and HP forces Gyro to ask the question of whether or not the things he's trying to leave behind and grow out of are still following him.
Chapter 56: Civil War (Part 1)
While Johnny interrogates HP, Gyro goes to the back and finds that the thing he's been avoiding can be avoided no longer. Gyro is first one we see come face-to-face with Civil War, a stand that operates on guilt, even though Hot Pants was the first one to suffer its effects. Also, HP's imagery as a 'pure' nun stands in strong contrast to the dirty work Gyro endured as an executioner - even if the truth is that they're both equally sinful.
Chapter 57: Civil War (Part 2)
Both HP and Gyro are truly guilty; Johnny, however, is not, which is why, narratively speaking, he's able to defeat Axl Ro. However, like the past that links Gyro and HP together, they also share a massive sense of shame and guilt that comes with those paths (see my The Duty Gyro Zeppeli analysis)
Chapter 59: Gettysburg Dream
Jesus makes his true debut in this arc to Johnny; but does not for both Gyro and HP. Though Gyro may not fully comprehend it, the lines above demonstrate that, at a base level, he and HP both want the same thing: to be forgiven. Gyro begs Johnny to let the corpse go, but calls on the Pope of all people. I don't think it's unlikely that Gyro and HP fell into similar lines of thinking: collecting the corpse is a path to forgiveness. If the collected corpse is returned to the Vatican and given to the Pope, they can be assured they've found the relief from their guilt that they've been searching for.
Chapter 75: D4C (Part 8)
Chapter 84: Ball Breaker (Part 2)
In the end, both Gyro and Hot Pants die. Hot Pants dies unfulfilled and overwhelmed by their guilt; the fact that the corpses' awakening is enough to kill them even without Valentine's interference is indication that their faith and hope were in the wrong place. That is to say, HP understood that the consequence of completing the corpse was an ultimate judgement of whether they were worthy of forgiveness. Yet they did not find it and their perception of the corpse's 'choice' (lack of forgiveness) froze them into inaction. Narratively, they could not find the forgiveness they were looking for because completing the corpse was never the correct approach to absolving their guilt. But Gyro dies satisfied with who he has become; throughout his journey with Johnny he learned to overcome his past and dies satisfied, knowing that he'd lived a good life - and that, to him at least, everything he went through at last made sense in the end. He's no longer running from the consequences of his actions; he actively chooses to stay and fight with Johnny, overcoming his pride and the turning the burden of his duty into something positive for the sake of his friend.
If you got this far, thanks for reading!
