Koala (One Piece)

Koala is a character from the One Piece anime and manga.

Koala is a former slave who was set free by Fisher Tiger'srampage on Mary Geoise. She sailed along with the Sun Pirates to reach her home town.

At some point later, she became the Fishman Karate assistant instructor and officer of the Revolutionary Army, where she now works with Sabo, making her reappearance in the Dressrosa Arc.

In the Heroes Coalition fics, Koala is a member of the Heroes Coalitions and is an honorary member of Team Redemption.

Appearance
When she appeared twelve years ago, Koala was a skinny girl with long, unkempt brown hair. She also had distinctively large and round eyes, similar to that of a koala, and was always smiling. She had on a dirty, short-sleeved collared shirt, which she wore under dark overalls and a smudge on her right cheek. As a slave of the World Nobles, she had the mark of the Celestial Dragons on her back, which was replaced by the mark of the Sun Pirates by Fisher Tiger.

After a few weeks she had neat, shoulder-length hair, a light-colored dress, and a pair of loafers.

At age 23, she became taller (though she is still rather short as an adult at 160 cm), slim, curvaceous, and has a pronounced hourglass figure. In the anime, her hair was changed from light brown to orange, now matching her depiction in the manga. She wears a crimson newsboy cap with gold goggles, a pink shirt with a frilly collar, a maroon short skirt, and black thigh-high stockings with brown high heeled boots.

Personality
Aladine described Koala as having the lifestyle of a slave ingrained in her blood. Even after being set free for three years, she was very apologetic and vowed to never cry or stop working. The pirate explained that if a slave ever cried or stopped cleaning, they would be killed. Koala seemed to consider the Sun Pirates her masters, as she asked them if she would be killed if she stopped cleaning. Aladine also said that slaves panicked constantly, even when alone, and that they couldn't trust anyone. It is unknown if Koala also became paranoid in that regard.

When Fisher Tiger convinced her that his crew were not like the Celestial Dragons by throwing his gun into the ocean, she finally cried for the first time in years. She then began to regard the Sun Pirates as her family rather than her masters, though this did not stop her habit of cleaning even when she was not asked.

By the time they reached her home town she genuinely liked the fishmen and mermen of the Sun Pirates, creating especially strong bonds with Hatchan and the future members of the Macro Pirates. She went as far as to actually hold Fisher Tiger's hands despite him trying to shake her off.

At the age of 23 Koala has become much more mature, having shown sympathy towards Sabo for not being able to save Ace, telling him he should not let his guilt get to him. She has also become rather playful and cheery, having gleefully hugged Robin after meeting her and also teasing Sabo about him crying upon meeting Luffy again. She has also been shown to have a temper, as she got angry with Sabo for fighting Fujitora instead of staying at his post and comically pinched his cheeks for his disregard for his duties as a Revolutionary.

Abilities
She has been shown to have certain skills like being able to take down larger enemies and great agility and can make a big jump from the stands to all the way down to an underground port while bringing Sabo clothes to wear.

Her position indicates that in terms of combat, she is above simple revolutionary soldiers, as she seems to have a decent level within fishmen standards despite being human.

Fishman Karate

 * Further information: Fishman Karate

She is skilled enough at Fishman Karate to be able to teach it and was able to defeat an opponent much larger than her. Not being a fishwoman and still being able to learn the art makes her more impressive. In the anime, she is shown to be proficient enough to defeat a group of five armed men with only a single strike each.

Trivia

 * Koala is the first non-fishman known to use Fishman Karate as well as the first human to have their Celestial Dragon slave mark replaced with the symbol of the Sun Pirates.
 * Koala and Nami were both in fishmen crews, but draw contrasting parallels with each other:
 * While Nami was forced to join Arlong's crew against her will, Koala only traveled with the Sun Pirates because they were asked to take her.
 * While both were forced to wear their crew's mark, Koala's "mark of the sun" was put on to replace another mark. Nami's Arlong tattoo was removed and replaced with a tattoo of her own design.
 * Each girl ended up with a permanent mark replacing a former mark of enslavement as a result of affiliation with fishmen.
 * When Koala joined the Sun Pirates, she was finally allowed to cry, whereas with Nami, after she was forced to join Arlong she refused to cry.
 * Koala was never forced to do any work as she was freed from slavery. Nami was forced to draw maps and act as a slave to Arlong.
 * Koala's time in the crew was only meant to be temporary while Arlong intended to keep Nami in the crew forever.
 * In Koala's case, her hometown exchanged her freedom with the Marines for the lives of the fishmen. In the case of Nami's hometown, they fought against the fishmen for their freedom after the Marines betrayed them.
 * In the 5th fan poll, Koala ranked 30th, making her the second most popular of the Revolutionary Army behind Sabo.
 * She is also the eighth most popular female character after Nami, Boa Hancock, Nico Robin, Perona, Nefeltari Vivi, Shirahoshi and Rebecca.
 * In the 6th fan poll, Koala is ranked as the 35th most popular character and is the 11th most popular female character.