About the umbrella?
Well the thing is, the umbrella and fan were once tools for the ancient
samurais during
feudal Japan. A fan?
Yes, but not the type of fan we think of today. Back then, the fan
was made out of
plates of iron that would
be used to block off arrows and parry the attacks of other weapons.
The fact that it
could be folded down into
a nice, compact item, made it easy to transport and very pragmatic since
it was also
used in the fashion that
we use fans today. This is also true for the umbrella. Instead
of cloth-like materials,
these tools were either
made out of plates of iron (like the fans) or hard woods. They had
the about the same
purpose as the fans, but
the larger surface area made it more effective in blocking arrows.
Also, the larger bulk
made it a great blunt weapon
when the plates were retracted. You can see Guido do this as he swings
the
umbrella like a golf club.
His umbrella can also fire a powerful heat ray (also good for frying chicken)
and mind
control beam. If that
wasn't enough, he can hop onto the umbrella in mid air and execute a powerful
downward
slash against his enemies.
Hope you enjoyed that little history lesson (I bet you won't look at umbrellas
the
same way again, heh heh).