Jinbe

Jinbe is one of the main characters from the One Piece anime and manga.

Jinbe is a member of the Straw Hat Pirates and also a helmsman in his current capacity with them. As of now, he is officially the tenth member of the Straw Hat crew and the ninth to join Luffy's crew, as well as being the only member from Fishman Island. His dream is to fulfull his former captain Fisher Tiger's dying wish of coexistence and equality between humans and fishman and continues to live his life in the hopes of seeing that dream's completion.

He is a whale shark fishman who served as the second captainof the Sun Pirates after Fisher Tiger, and a former Shichibukaifrom 11 years ago until the Battle of Marineford two years ago.

His name was first mentioned by Yosaku, when he was explaining about the Shichibukai. However, he is formally introduced much later, during the Impel Down Arc. He renounced his Shichibukai title at the Battle of Marineford, allying himself with the Whitebeard Pirates. After Whitebeard's death, his crew formed an alliance with Big Mom to protect Fishman Island. He befriended Monkey D. Luffy during the Battle of Marineford, and later allied with him and his crew to prevent the New Fishman Pirates' coup d'état against the Neptune Royal Family and the Ryugu Kingdom. Luffy invited him to join the Straw Hats, but Jinbe held it off until he had severed ties with Big Mom. He would later do so during the Whole Cake Island Arc and officially became a Straw Hat. He is one of the top four fighters in the crew alongside Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji.

Jinbe's first bounty was 76,000,000. Eventually, his bounty raised to 250,000,000. After he resigned from the Shichibukai, his bounty has been raised to over 400,000,000.

Appearance
Jinbe is a large blue whale shark fishman and the current tallest member of the Straw Hat Pirates. He has a stocky build similar to that of a sumo wrestler and a face that is commonly associated with various Japanese demons such as the oni. His yellow eyebrows and sideburns are distinctly shaped like those found on such demons, in addition to a bulb-like nose and an angular lower lip pointing upwards. He has a lightning-shaped scar that can be seen from his left side burn and reaching over his left eye which he obtained sometime between Otohime's assassination and meeting Ace. He also possesses two tusk-like conical lower fangs associated with Oni as well; the rest of his teeth from the upper and lower rows are pretty much the same, albeit much smaller. He also has a severe underbite, which makes room for his huge fangs.

He has long, two-toned black hair, with two long stripes, colored gold in the manga and white in the anime, coming from the roots over his forehead and trailing down the back, a topknot, and tuft of hair on his chin with a slight green hue. This topknot did not exist during his time as a member of the Sun Pirates, instead his shorter and flowing black hair trails off half way to a light color concentrated at the back of his head. He kept his chin clean-shaven before joining the Sun Pirates, after which it gradually grew out over time. His hands and feet are also webbed, typical for a fishman, and his limbs that are somewhat thin in comparison with his enormous girth. His gills (which are pale and pinkish in color) are in between his shoulders and neck.

Under his pale red coat (which he swaps for a black one two years later), he appears to be wearing a Coralcolored traditional Japanese clothing covered all over with black and white square-shaped patterns with the black and white layers alternating each other (beginning with the black outline from the edge) and ending with a dark square at the middle of each and every one of them. He also ties this attire up with a purple obi like a ribbon around his waist.

Jinbe is often seen wearing different traditional kimono of varying patterns: he wore a karakusa and later a floral design during his time as a member of the Sun Pirates; he wore square designs during his debut and a plain one after the Battle of Marineford. Four years ago, when fighting against Ace, he wore a black gi instead with fish designs on either side of the chest, and a red sash with a tanto tied to it. Two years after the war, while waiting for Luffy at the Sea Forest, his kimono has leaf-patterns. During Caribou's cover story, he is seen in another one patterned with flowers. For footwear, he appears to wear simple geta on his webbed feet. His Sun Pirates tattoo is on the middle of his chest. During the Whole Cake Island Arc, his kimono is yellow and has a Jolly Roger design arranged like stripes. Additionally, he is also wearing an orange colored coat.

He wore a Neptune Army uniform while he was serving as a soldier, and was often seen smoking a pipe back then. During Otohime's funeral, Jinbe wore a suit.

In SBS Volume 63, Oda draws the Shichibukai as children. Jinbe as a child is seen with light hair wearing a tattered gi practicing his Fishman Karate. He already had a black belt at this age.

Personality
Jinbe is a fishman of great pride and honor. He is known to the World Government as a pirate-hating pirate, possibly due to the actions of the pirates in Fishman Island, kidnapping fishmen and merfolk to sell them as slaves. However, he has great respect for Whitebeard and his crew as he sees them as a completely different story. Because of what Whitebeard had done for his homeland, Fishman Island, he understands the damage a war between the World Government and Whitebeard would cause. He knows that places like his home, which are protected by simply being part of Whitebeard's territory, would suffer the most should Whitebeard lose the war.[16] Also, despite originally hating pirates, he did not spare a second thought of becoming one in order to aid his brethren Fisher Tiger.

Despite his pride, Jinbe appears to put his priorities and principles over his honor, and is not above retreating from an otherwise unfinished battle (despite being shamed or openly mocked by an opponent) if it was for the sake of the greater good. He also does not seem to hesitate from encouraging others to do likewise for a similar cause, as seen when he pleaded and managed to convince Luffy to prioritize Ace's safety first over avenging his brother's loss against Blackbeard. Jinbe has also displayed great humility regarding his personal strength and status, a trait most unique among the Shichibukai. This was made apparent by his willingness to even lose his status for his refusal to fight against the Whitebeard Pirates.

Also, unlike his former crew mate Arlong, the fact that he is willing to aid a human (Whitebeard) as well as team up with others separates him from the other fishmen. Where as Arlong would never dream of such a thing (even Nami's recruitment into his crew was near slavery), Jinbe proves to be able to treat some humans as equals and also acknowledge when he owes one a debt. While he is a fishman with great emotional control, he is empathetic and understanding of the pains of others, such as being brought to tears when Luffy broke down from losing his brother in front of him after he had awoken from the battle at Marineford. Jinbe is also capable of crying aloud when someone dear to him is lost, such as Ace and Tiger.

His personality in the past dramatically contrasts with the apparently tame temper in the present. In a flashback showing a battle between the Sun Pirates and Marines, Jinbe was shown to exhibit excessive brutality to enemies that even made Arlong ask him to stop. He seems to be a no-nonsense person and appears to be quite passive at times. Though he did not agree with Arlong's thinking that humans always looked down on fishmen, he noticed that they always seemed to be afraid of them. After asking a former human slave named Koala why that is, she said it was because they did not know much about them. Jinbe stated that the unknown was scary and remembered Otohime talking about how fishmen do not know anything about humans.

Jinbe also adamantly believes that true strength should come from hard work and experience, as shown when he reprimanded Gekko Moriah for implanting the shadows of others into himself in order to increase his strength, stating that all he really did was get bigger, and when he referred to the power that Hody Jones received from strength-enhancing pills as "fake power". He can, however, see potential within those who use such cheap methods, as when he told Moriah to grow stronger after defeating him.

Originally, Jinbe was doubtful of Otohime's ideals, thinking that they did not mean anything. He even openly stated that he did not care about her petition. However, after listening to Fisher Tiger's speech about peace, Jinbe grew supportive of Otohime and even admitted about the trouble the Sun Pirates caused her and joined the Shichibukai to support her cause.

Jinbe shares the same perspective as Vivi on responsibilities. When Luffy asked Jinbe to join the Straw Hats, Jinbe refused saying that there are still things that he has to do. Jinbe's decision also resembles to Vivi's when he also asked Luffy to let him join his crew, if they meet again in the future. According to Neptune, Jinbe tends to take on too much responsibility and should learn not to.

Jinbe states that he does not really care who the boss is of his crew despite his leadership skills so long as they can protect the crew, as shown when he allowed the Sun Pirates to work under Big Mom for their protection.

While having a conversation with Ace in Impel Down, Jinbe says he does not lose hope even when a situation says otherwise believing a miracle will happen. This eventually became true when Luffy reached his cell to rescue Ace (although he arrived shortly after Ace was escorted to Marineford). Jinbe states he will not protect a stranger if they do not earn his respect.

As stated by his friend Hack, Jinbe's dream is for there to be friendship between humans and fishmen.[17]

Jinbe is also completely selfless, having lived his entire life helping his fellow fishmen and merfolk in any way he can. This earned him immense respect from other fishmen such as the members of the Sun Pirates. Part of the reason why Jinbe refused to spin Big Mom's roulette was due to the fact that the lives of his own crewmates would also be sacrificed in addition to his own.

Abilities
As the second captain of the Sun Pirates, Jinbe is an extremely powerful pirate as a former Shichibukai, with high authority and respect over his subordinates. It is stated that Jinbe was able to battle Portgas D. Ace on equal terms, despite Ace possessing Logia powers. They both nearly killed each other in a five-day long fight just before Ace was taken in by Whitebeard, and in Impel Down, he and Ace shared a cell on Level 6. His power and influence are so great that him departing from a Yonko's organization would severely diminish their crew's overall strength.

Jinbe boasts considerable interpersonal skills, which he exercises to maintain Fishman Island's connections to human organizations. He served as a Shichibukai to improve relations with the World Government, and served under Big Mom after leaving the Shichibukai, being entrusted by Neptune to run errands to her. He was able to quickly convince Monkey D. Luffy, Capone Bege, and Caesar Clown to put aside their hostility with each other and form an alliance due to their mutual hatred towards Big Mom. Jinbe also has a very acute sense of danger, as he refused to spin Big Mom's roulette after sensing murderous malice from the roulette; it is later confirmed by Pedro and Brûlée that the roulette had been rigged to ensure death to anyone who spun it.

Physical Abilities
Even for a fishman, Jinbe possesses tremendous strength. He is the most powerful fishman seen thus far, shown when he threw away a giant fishman with just one kick. He also appears to be extremely swift, even on dry land, despite his large size. He could intercept an enraged Luffy (in Gear Second mode) and prevent him from further assaulting Blackbeard, and later Akainu, when the latter was about to deal a second life-crippling blow upon the already-injured Ace (who was being held by Luffy) in the latter's last moments. In the anime, when struck by Arlong in the face, he wasn't fazed and easily defeated Arlong not long after fighting. While rescuing Brook from Big Mom, Jinbe was able to swiftly grab Nami and Brook and escape from Prometheus's explosion in an instant.

Jinbe has a massive tolerance for pain: not only was he one of the few people to be able to take a "baptizing" in boiling water in Impel Down without flinching (which is considered an impressive feat),[16] he could also block a direct magma punch from Akainu with his bare hand, unperturbed despite being badly burned, and took a direct hit from Akainu's magma enhanced punch, which brutally pierced his body completely, and his only reaction was to apologize to Luffy for allowing him further pain and was able to survive long enough for Law to operate on him. Oddly enough, he exclaimed in pain when bitten by Luffy, though this is most likely due to the fact that he was prepared for Akainu's attack, but was caught off guard from Luffy's bite, and that it was more out of irritation than actual damage.

Jinbe even withstood a sword attack from Big Mom on the Thousand Sunny that sent him crashing into the ocean and emerge almost unscathed.

As a Fishman, Jinbe's physical capabilities greatly increased at sea. While swimming, Jinbe lifted one of Impel Down's massive entrance doors with little effort and used it as a raft to provide passage over the sea for Crocodile, Mr. 1, and Buggy (all Devil Fruit users), with himself acting as the raft's propeller underneath. He is an excellent swimmer, as not only did he manage to pursue the fleeing battleships, but he also outmaneuvered the incoming cannonballs fired at them by the Marines with relative ease, all the while bypassing the Sea Kings that infested the surrounding waters of the Calm Belt.

In conjunction with his physical abilities, Jinbe possesses immense willpower, being able to completely suppress any emotions of fear, which renders him immune to Big Mom's ability to take away a person's lifespan. This was shown again as when he stayed conscious from Big Mom's burst of Haoshoku Haki.

Fishman Karate

 * Further information: Fishman Karate

Jinbe is an exceptionally powerful master of Fishman Karate, which he can use to knock away many opponents at once and defeat extremely strong enemies. He was a child prodigy, being skilled enough that he became a black belt while he was still a child. By adulthood, Jinbe's skill in Fishman Karate has become so immense that his strikes do not even need to make physical contact with an enemy as the water particles in the air will blow them away after a few seconds of time from the attack's initiation. Another example of his strength and Fishman Karate level is that he defeated Minorhinoceros, one of the four Jailer Beasts who are Awakened Zoan Devil Fruit users, with a single uppercut. He was able to easily punch Gekko Moriah (a fellow Shichibukai) a few meters away, almost knocking him out. He also knocked out Charlotte Opera, an enormous man larger than himself in one punch.

He also displays the ability to skillfully manipulate water as if it were a tangible cloth through Fishman Karate, even using it to attack from a distance. He can cause devastating damage with this kind of technique, to both people and ships. Jinbe later reveals that Fishman Karate allows him to control all the water within his vicinity including the water in a person's body. Jinbe demonstrated this ability by splashing seawater on Moriah's zombies even though he was standing on a battlefield covered in solid ice. With this ability, he is able to harm Luffy despite him being rubber. He is also able to secrete water from his body like Hody did after overdosing on Energy Steroids.

Due to his tremendous mastery of Fishman Karate supplemented with his physical prowess, Jinbe can perform sturdy defensive blocks to stop attacks as powerful as the thrusts from a shadow-strengthened Gekko Moriah, a Shichibukai. With Busoshoku Haki, he managed to defend against the gigantic flaming blade of Big Mom's Cognac and suffered only minor injuries. He could even counter Wadatsumi's punch, who is a giant fishman and had also taken an energy steroid, with a single kick and even broke one of his fingers. It should be noted that a few moments before, Wadatsumi had brutally defeated Surume, a massive Kraken well-known for its monstrous strength. Using his own Water Shot, which is a basic Fishman Karate technique, Jinbe could deflect an energy steroid powered Hody Jones's water shot, which was powerful enough to destroy multiple large coral and pierce through thick stone over an immense distance with relative ease, proving Jinbe's supreme mastery of Fishman Karate compared to Hody, a fishman with monstrous strength. Jinbe is also capable of using Fishman Karate’s hidden technique Buraikan. With this attack, Jinbe blasts the opponent’s body with water. After Jinbe used this powerful attack, he sent Wadatsumi flying into the air.

He also used Buraikan to send the Yonko Big Mom off the Thousand Sunny with tremendous force. This was an impressive feat as Jinbe was the first person seen to knock her down, although she was heavily weakened from her tremendous metabolism and eight-hours craving at the time.

Tactical Skills
Jinbe is a great strategist. He is an expert in discerning military strategies after witnessing any subtle change in enemy formations, as seen when he quickly guessed that Magellan dispatched the order to the battleships outside Impel Down to flee during the mass breakout, and during the battle in Marineford where he surmises that the Marines were plotting something after Ivankov informs him that the enemy is retreating further into the plaza. Jinbe divulges a cunning way to smuggle Luffy and his crew into Gyoncorde Plaza inside Megalo's stomach while effectively deceiving Hody into believing he and Princess Shirahoshi were captured. This allowed the Straw Hats to steal the World Noble's letter and keys to unlock the chains that bounded the Neptune Family, releasing them from captivity by the New Fishman Pirates. Another example is when he persuaded Luffy and the Sanji Retrieval Team into allying with Capone Bege in order to ruin Big Mom's Tea Party after noting they didn't have a plan to act on.

When Bege's assassination plan started to go wrong after Katakuri restrained Luffy, Jinbe released Luffy while claiming to be the one who told Luffy about Carmel's portrait, distracting the Big Mom Pirates long enough for Brook to destroy Carmel's portrait.

Because of his time with the Big Mom Pirates, Jinbe is very knowledgable of their abilities and offered his allies useful information on how to counter them.

Interactions with Marine Life
Among fishmen, Jinbe has shown the unique ability to communicate with fish, even over long distances. The ability to speak with fish is usually unique to merfolks, so Jinbe's ability to do so is considered noteworthy by Crocodile.

He summoned a large school of whale sharks to the Calm Belt (which was usually too dangerous, with the Sea Kings infesting it) to assist him in a mass-breakout of Impel Down. He can give the whale sharks precise orders, so they understand and obey him.

Due to the Calm Belt being dangerously inhabited by Sea Kings, Jinbe would summon his whale-shark comrades to help him to pass through it, as he did when leaving Amazon Lily.[29] This indicates that the whale sharks are capable of outmaneuvering the Sea Kings, something that the former Shichibukai admits is troublesome for himself.

Haki

 * Main article: Haki

Jinbe is extremely skilled in using Busoshoku Haki, as shown when he hardened his arms to defend himself against some members of the Big Mom Pirates and later against Big Mom's Cognac. In the past, he fought equally against Ace, an extremely powerful Logia user.

Techniques

 * Kairagi (Kairagi, literally meaning "Plum Blossom Peel"): Jinbe hardens his arms and crosses them in a defensive stance. This was first seen used against Big Mom's Cognac technique, which it briefly managed to hold back but eventually broke.

Weapon
He was seen with a silver trident when he was a soldier in the Neptune Army. However, he was never shown using it. Other than that, it was shown that he had a tanto under his belt when he was fighting Ace, but he did not use it.

Trivia

 * After his initial silhouette in Chapter 523, at the JUMP Festa 2009 Oda decided to a show a preview of Jinbe and drew a rough sketch of what he looked like.
 * Among the Shichibukai, Jinbe has a whale shark animal theme. He was also the only fishman Shichibukai (being so far the only Shichibukai who is not a human).
 * His blood type is F, the same as Luffy, Vivi, and Reiju.
 * In the 5th fan poll, Jinbe ranked 35th, and was also ranked 6th in the 6th fan poll, making him the most popular Fishman in the series.
 * Jinbe holds the longest time from his mention to his full reveal (mentioned in Chapter 69, December 1998, appeared in Chapter 528, January 2009), for over 10 years and 458 chapters.
 * Jinbe is the first and only known fishman able to use Busoshoku Haki.
 * Jinbe is the first member to join the Straw Hat Pirates after the two-year timeskip.
 * Jinbe has the longest gap between being invited to the Straw Hat Pirates and officially joining (invited in Chapter 648, December 2011, joined in Chapter 863, April 2017), for a little over 5 years and 214 chapters.
 * Jinbe is the first member of the Straw Hat Pirates who was also a Shichibukai.
 * With over 400,000,000, Jinbe has the highest first bounty as a Straw Hat.
 * Jinbe is the only Straw Hat whose accurate bounty is not specified.
 * He is the tallest Straw Hat and second oldest member.
 * When asked during an interview with Yomiuri magazine in July 2017 about Jinbe being omitted from several color spread involving the Straw Hats despite joining the crew, Oda respond that that is due to a surprise in his appearance after splitting from the Sanji Retrieval Team at the end of Whole Cake Island Arc.