Borsalino

Borsalino (ボルサリーノ), better known by his alias Kizaru (黄猿), is one of the admirals in the Marines. He was first mentioned by Robin during the initial encounter with Aokiji. Because of his actions, Kizaru can be considered as one of the main antagonists of the Sabaody Archipelago Arc.

Appearance
Kizaru is an incredibly tall man, roughly the same size of the other two admirals Aokiji and Akainu, and clearly taller than Brook, who stood 8'8½". Kizaru is a middle aged man with a moderate amount of wrinkles on his face, and a very thin beard. He looks older than the other two admirals (while it is unknown if he actually is).

His standard outfit consists of a yellow striped suit with a Marine coat draped over his shoulders like a cape, his arms not in its sleeves. Kizaru also wears pure white shoes, gold-amber tinted sunglasses, and a dark green shirt with a mauve tie under his yellow suit. There is a tiny Black Den Den Mushi on his left wrist, like a wristwatch, underneath the sleeve of his suit. He is generally seen wearing a relaxed grin on his face.

Twenty-five years before the start of the series, he wore a typical Marine cap and his beard was not as full as it is currently. He also lacked the gold amber-tinted sunglasses, shirt, and tie, which he was last seen wearing.

When he was seen stationed at Marineford as a vice admiral thirteen years before the start of the series, he was sporting a large dark grey hat while wearing dark gloves and a cigarette in his mouth. His trademark pinstriped suit was light grey, matching his tie.

Personality
Kizaru seems to be very laid-back and easygoing, speaking rather-slowly and occasionally drawing out the last word of his sentences, which is strange considering this behavior is in direct contrast with his devil fruit power. Appropriate given his power, he takes everything lightly, regardless of the severity of the moment. Even in surprising and unexpected situations, he is apparently never shocked. Even when a pirate fired a gunshot at him, he seemed to be focused only on calling his subordinate, and did not even mind. He even asked the offenders where his subordinate was. After uprooting a mangrove tree, he laughed to himself that the force he used was a tad excessive. He is also very calm and cool-headed, even in tense situations, such as when Basil Hawkins appeared unharmed by his attack, or when Silvers Rayleigh appeared. He speaks in a politely sarcastic manner, and is very sarcastic and mocking towards his enemies, such as mocking Luffy for being too weak. He often taunts and belittles his foes in and out of battle, such as taunting Whitebeard about Luffy being too feeble to lead the charge towards the execution platform.

Unfortunately for the World Government, he can be quite absent-minded and irresponsible, judging by the fact he used a lot of power in a kick directed at the escaping pirates, uprooted an entire mangrove tree, and tried to call Sentomaru with a black Den Den Mushi, which is only for intercepting communications. He also seems to prefer his original name, Borsalino, rather than his alias.

After Luffy sent Charloss flying during the Sabaody incident, Kizaru volunteered to be dispatched by Sengoku to deal with the nobles' predicament, partly to fulfill his duty as an admiral and because he was under the impression that a trip down the Archipelago to expel the pirate threat would be most relaxing (especially since the Marines already had their hands full in preparation for the Whitebeard War), and was seemingly disappointed when Silvers Rayleigh came out to confront him.

If nothing else, Borsalino appears to be more laid back than Aokiji, such as when Luffy and Law escaped from Marineford, he completely dropped the matter, his attitude regarding it being that of a carefree reaction.

However, he has shown his ruthlessness. While he never has expressed any sympathy for or against the philosophy of absolute justice, Kizaru's careless behavior shows very little mercy towards his enemies, particularly pirates, whom he has targeted. Kizaru even decided to capture Silvers Rayleigh, who had given up piracy over twenty years earlier, simply because, as a member of the Roger Pirates, his crimes could not be forgiven. Following the events of the Sabaody Archipelago, Kizaru captured 500 pirates. Also, he sees the Shichibukai as nothing more than pirates, even if they are on the World Government's side. Even when Little Oars Jr. was bloody and dying (having lost a leg), Kizaru showed no mercy; he simply offered to go ahead and shoot Little Oars Jr. through the head. As revealed by the author, his motto is "unclear justice".

Kizaru often comments that some of the abilities of his opponents are quite frightening. One instance was after he witnessed the Devil Fruit abilities of three Supernovas, he referred to them as monsters, although he was otherwise unfazed by them. Another was after he tried to directly attack Whitebeard, First Division Commander Marco intercepted his attack with ease which made Kizaru point out how scary the Whitebeard Pirates were. When Luffy was launched towards the execution platform and stood before all three admirals, Kizaru commented that this youth was "scary". The most recent occurrence was when Benn Beckman aimed a gun at him, although in that case Kizaru still succeeded in getting off an attack while Beckman was shocked that he was not done yet. Since Kizaru always delivers such admissions of fear with a deadpan expression on his face and his usual lackadaisical tone of voice, it is never clear if he is mocking his opponents or if he is being serious.

Marines
Of all the admirals, Kizaru has displayed the most casual relationship with his fellow marines, if not genuine leadership qualities, from how he in passing mentioned to the Giant Squad to watch out for attacks from the sky after everyone witnessed him being kicked down by Marco, as well as giving advice to shoot through the head after volunteering to help the troops subdue the recently awakened Little Oars Jr.. Kizaru's behavior is just as relaxed with his fellow admirals as it is with his underlings.

Sentomaru
Sentomaru seems to have a high level of respect for him and calls Kizaru "Uncle" (黄猿のオジキ), but he has also chastised Kizaru for his absent-mindedness.

Enemies
Kizaru has shown very little mercy to pirates, as seen when he tried to capture the long-retired Silvers Rayleigh, and when he interrupted his mission to fight Basil Hawkins. He also remains suspicious of the Shichibukai, even Bartholomew Kuma, who is said to be the most loyal of the seven. Kuma stated that his deal and loyalties were with the World Government and, as such, he did not have any obligation to explain his motives to the Marines.

Monkey D. Luffy
Kizaru was also a major hindrance to Luffy's rescue attempts and at one point, mocked Luffy for not having the power to save Ace. He kept Luffy from his goal multiple times and even destroyed the original key to Ace's handcuffs. Overall, Kizaru kept hounding Luffy while he was within his grasp, first at Sabaody Archipelago and then at the Whitebeard War, due to the demands made by the World Nobles.

Abilities and Powers
As an admiral, Kizaru commands vast numbers of Marine subordinates, with the most prevalent of the powers under his command being the Buster Call. His presence at Sabaody Archipelago was enough to cause a panic on the island and make the entire population flee from the island, including the Eleven Supernovas. He was able to defeat four of the Supernovas on Sabaody Archipelago with great ease though, arguably, a Pacifista was alongside him at the time. He was even able to fight Whitebeard alone, causing him severe injuries.

He also has extremely acute hearing, being able to hear activity underwater before the Whitebeard War began. He possesses great physical endurance, as shown when he was kicked to the ground by Marco without even receiving a scratch. He possesses great physical strength, capable of holding down Whitebeard's bisento with just one foot, and is capable of fighting Rayleigh and Whitebeard equally despite their Haki abilities. He also has great accuracy, as shown when he shot and destroyed the key to Ace's shackles whilst it was still in Luffy's hands.

His extraordinary speed and precision makes him one of the most dangerous fighters within the World Government and Marines, fitting his title of admiral. Even as a vice admiral, Kizaru was quite strong, easily defeating Arlong.

Haki
It was stated that all vice admirals possess Haki, so with a rank above vice admiral, Kizaru can also use the ability. He was seen using his Busoshoku Haki to negate Whitebeard's attempt to destroy the execution platform, by creating, with his fellow admirals, a shield combination of their three Haki.

Devil Fruit
Kizaru possesses the power of the Pika Pika no Mi, meaning 'glimmer' or 'light', a Logia-type Devil Fruit. As a Logia-user, he is able to let objects pass through him and reconstruct his body from energy particles. He is capable of moving and attacking at the speed of light, and all of his attacks are based on the element of light; such as firing energy blasts from his fingertips or feet with extreme precision. His power is very destructive, causing huge explosions and easily destroying buildings. He also has the ability to reflect himself, essentially moving from one location to the next at the speed of light.

He can also make an energy sword out of pure light, which can stand up to heavy "Haki" based attacks, as seen when he was fighting Silvers Rayleigh.

Kizaru has named several of his abilities after the three great treasures of Japan.

Weapons
Kizaru has shown considerable skill with a sword of light produced by his Devil Fruit, as he is able to duel Silvers Rayleigh to a draw despite his loss of intangibility.

A Storm in the Edd War
Not much is shown about Borsalino's past. He is briefly seen 25 years ago in the background when Garp and Sengoku were discussing how to deal with the Edd War battle between Gol D. Roger and Shiki. His position at that time is unknown, but it can be said that he was already among high rank officers, as he was wearing the Marines coat and his trademark yellow suit.

Fisher Tiger's Time
While the Sun Pirates were wreaking havoc on the seas, Strawberry reported to Borsalino that Rear Admiral Kadar's ship had been sunk. Borsalino commented on how troublesome and scary the Sun Pirates were while acting calm as usual.

After learning that the people of Foolshout Island sold out Fisher Tiger, Arlong went to that island to avenge him. Kizaru, who happened to be there, effortlessly defeated him. Borsalino then taunted Arlong and was surprised to hear that Fisher Tiger was dead, before saying that he was going to take him somewhere. He then brought Arlong to G-2 for interrogation.

Trouble on Sabaody Archipelago
After the Tenryubito incident at the Sabaody Archipelago, Kizaru spoke with Sengoku about handling the situation, and volunteered to deal with the rookies himself. The Marines outside the Human Auctioning House commented that Kizaru was bringing some type of "troops", which seemed to shock them, but they did not elaborate on what exactly that meant. This most likely was referring to the Pacifista who engaged several of the Supernovas shortly after Kizaru's arrival. Later, the admiral arrived on Sabaody Archipelago at the Grove 27, riding on top of a fired cannonball as it landed.

When he did so, he tried to call someone on his Den Den Mushi, but seemingly got no reply. One of the on-looking pirates wanted to try his luck and fired his weapon at Kizaru, but though the shot passed directly through the admiral, not affected him in the slightest. Kizaru then tried to ask the group of pirates a question, looking for someone named Sentomaru, whom he called his "subordinate". When the pirates ran away from him in fear, he created a large explosion with his Devil Fruit ability, uprooting an entire Yarukiman Grove. Sabaody soldiers commented on his carelessness upon this, and even Kizaru noted that he overdid it.



He later confronts Basil Hawkins, saying he wants to ask him a question. After the pirate looked over his odds, Kizaru says that if he can't find Sentomaru, then gets bored, and says that when he's really bored, he couldn't possibly just leave a bounty head like him (Basil Hawkins) around. He continues by saying that speed is "weight" and asks him if he ever got kicked at the speed of light. He then attacks him with a strong and swift kick, but does not harm Hawkins after he redirects the attack elsewhere, drawing a shocked impression from the admiral. Before long, Urouge and X Drake unintentionally join Hawkins' side, while Kizaru is joined by one of several Pacifista running amok on the island.

He uses his powers to kick Urouge through several buildings, and blinds Basil Hawkins before almost killing him with a barrage of lasers. Scratchmen Apoo joins the fight, and seemingly cuts off Kizaru's arm and makes him explode by using his musical ability. Kizaru then reconstructs his body, and takes down the three remaining Supernovas (Apoo, Hawkins, and Drake) with seemingly no effort. Afterwards, he gets a call from Sentomaru, asking him which of the three culprits (Monkey D. Luffy, Eustass Kid and Trafalgar Law) he is going after first.

Kizaru then appears where the Straw Hats are, immobilizing Zoro and getting ready to kill him with his Pika Pika no Mi powers until his attack is redirected by Silvers Rayleigh. He moves to try and follow the escaping Zoro, Usopp and Brook, using Yata no Kagami, but is stopped by Rayleigh cutting the beam of light with a sword. Kizaru forms a sword of light with his technique Ama no Murakumo, and fights Rayleigh, leaving his subordinates to deal with the Straw Hats. When Bartholomew Kuma suddenly appears, Kizaru questions why he is on Sabaody instead of at Marine Headquarters. When Kuma teleports the Straw Hats, Kizaru asks him why he let them escape to which Kuma refuses to answer.



War Against Whitebeard Pirates
It has been revealed that during the Sabaody incident, he captured 500 pirates. With the date of Portgas D. Ace's execution drawing closer, Kizaru had arrived to lead the battle against the Whitebeard Pirates. He returned to Marine Headquarters, along with other high-ranking marines gathered there, all preparing for war. In the anime, there were scenes of him giving last minute orders to some of the Marines, with a tad bit annoyance. When the public execution of Ace began, Kizaru was then seen watching over the execution platform of Portgas D. Ace with his fellow Marine admirals.

Before the power of Whitebeard is shown to the marines, Kizaru is shown saying he has a bad feeling about what is going to happen next. Like always, Kizaru is shown saying this in a calm and cheerful way. Even when the power of Whitebeard is shown, Kizaru's facial expression is still calm. He seemed happily astonished at witnessing Whitebeard's power. However, the other admirals seem to be more serious.



Deciding to attack their leader directly, he launched an array of light beams at Whitebeard with his Yasakani no Magatama attack, only to have them nullified by Marco's abilities. He commences to fight Marco, but neither were harmed from each others' respective attacks.

Luffy's arrival at Marineford seemed to have thrown Kizaru for a loop, even if only momentarily. Justly so, given the fact that the last time he'd seen Luffy was when he was cleaning up after the Tenryuubito incident at the Sabaody Archipelago. He briefly comments that he didn't think they'd meet again so soon. Nevertheless, he receives Sengoku's order of execution for every last escapee of Impel Down, with his usual casual manner. He attempts to stop Luffy by kicking a beam of light at him, but the attack is deflected by Ivankov's "Death Wink".

He is next seen ordering more marines to attack Luffy and is shown later fighting on the battlefield, wiping out pirates with his light-based attacks. As Sentomaru is about to attack the pirates from behind with the Pacifistas, Kizaru tells him that he doesn't mind the destruction of their own battleships in the process, but also urges not to destroy too many of them.



As Luffy makes a dash for the execution platform once more, Kizaru repels him again with a kick. At this, seven of Whitebeard's various division commanders are then seen charging him and he shows "terror" at this. When Whitebeard fires off a shock-wave to the execution platform, Kizaru and the other two admirals block off the shock-wave, which destroys much of Marineford's residential block, before telling Akainu, in response to the latter grousing about Aokiji's ice preventing the siege wall from rising, to melt the ice down. When Oars suddenly starts to rise, Kizaru volunteers to finish him off, aiming for a precision-shot to the head.

He's interrupted though when Luffy, helped by Jinbe over Marineford's last line of defense and lugging a broken piece of a ships' mast, and then comments on how frightening youth could be. When Luffy activates Gear Second and tries to escape from the three admirals, Kizaru manages to catch up to Luffy and says that Luffy is too slow, he sends Luffy flying back with his "light kick".

Later, he once again attacks Luffy after he is knocked down by Momonga, chiding that even if he has guts without strength he will not be able to save anyone. He then kicks Luffy away where he was caught by Whitebeard, whom Kizaru also chides for letting "trash" like Luffy lead the charge (despite the fact it was Luffy himself who went on ahead, the Whitebeard Pirates just followed after him).



When Marco rushes to Whitebeard after seeing him cough out blood due to his age, Kizaru attacks Marco from behind with laser beams similar to what he did to Luffy. Later, he is been seen stabbing the first division commander Marco again with one of his beams. This time, with the help of the Vice Admiral Onigumo who disables Marco's devil fruit abilities with a Kairōseki Handcuff, while the first division commander isn't paying attention.

After Luffy unleashed his Haōshoku Haki, Kizaru comments on Luffy's fearsome power. As Luffy is getting closer to reaching Ace, Kizaru attempts to stop Luffy, but is attacked by Whitebeard. Although Whitebeard managed to intercept him, Kizaru managed to damage Whitebeard by shooting a beam right through him. Seeing that Luffy had the key to free Ace, Kizaru manages to hit it with a laser, destroying it, but his efforts are nullified by Galdino, who uses his powers to make a new key.



In the anime, after Whitebeard witnesses Akainu deal the fatal blow to Ace, he shoots a beam through his left arm telling him to not to interfere, turning Whitebeard's wrath on him. After Whitebeard's death and Law's arrival, Kizaru's new target was Luffy. Buggy is clipped by one of Kizaru's beams and fled in terror. The admiral tries to attack Law's submarine before he escapes, but suddenly, Benn Beckman points his rifle at him and warns him not to move, which Kizaru complies with by putting his hands up.

However, Benn Beckman's presence did not deter Kizaru as he makes one last attempt on Luffy's life, with Aokiji's efforts he uses his Yasakani no Magatama attack to rain down hundreds of beams of light to try to destroy Law's submarine again. He simply states afterwards that if they had survived, they were just extremely lucky. Upon Sengoku's order that the war is over, he stands down.

Major Battles

 * Kizaru vs. Arlong
 * Kizaru and a Pacifista vs. Basil Hawkins, Urouge, X Drake and Scratchmen Apoo
 * Kizaru vs. Roronoa Zoro
 * Kizaru vs. Silvers Rayleigh
 * Kizaru vs. Marco (Marineford Bay)
 * Kizaru vs. Monkey D. Luffy
 * Kizaru, Aokiji, and Akainu vs. Monkey D. Luffy
 * Kizaru vs. Rakuyo
 * Kizaru and Onigumo vs. Marco
 * Kizaru vs. Whitebeard
 * Kizaru and Aokiji vs. Monkey D. Luffy, Jinbe, and Heart Pirates (chasing them)

Translation and Dub Issues
Borsalino's alias, "Kizaru", means "Yellow Monkey" in Japan.

Trivia

 * The model of Kizaru's face is the Japanese actor, Kunie Tanaka. Along with that, Kizaru's clothes, real name and birthday, Borsalino, are apparently based on a movie character that Kunie Tanaka played in his youth. The character, Borsalino, from the old Japanese film Truck Yarō (トラック野郎), wore a suit and shades similar to Kizaru's design.
 * When first mentioned by Robin, Kizaru's silhouette was seen wearing some kind of large hat. It's a reference to the Italian hat company Borsalino, from which Kizaru's real name is apparently derived. In Chapter 622 it is revealed that Kizaru wore this hat while he was still Vice Admiral Borsalino.
 * Kizaru's lazy and easy-going demeanor is something of a reference to the main characters' approach to crime from the 1970s French film Borsalino.
 * His name and other admiral names (Aokiji, Akainu, and Kizaru), are taken from Momotaro legends (Momotaro met Pheasant, Dog, and Monkey as friends to accompany him in his journey).
 * Kizaru's techniques, Yata no Kagami (八咫鏡), Ama no Murakumo (天叢雲劍) and Yasakani no Magatama (八尺瓊曲玉) are taken from the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan.
 * In the 4th Japanese Fan Poll, Kizaru is the 47th most popular character in One Piece.
 * In the opening scene of Gigant Battle he is shown to be taller than Akainu, but shorter than Aokiji.
 * Kizaru's Logia power was first hinted when a bullet passed thoughout his head without harming him, in a very similar way in which Enel's was, during Kamakiri's attempt to hit the "God" with his spear in the head. Both the Goro Goro no Mi and the Pika Pika no Mi give the user extremely high speed in addition to the intangibility. Also, both fruits' names come from onomatopoeias.
 * When he appeared on the Sabaody Archipelago, he was riding on a cannon ball, which could be a reference to Baron Münchhausen.

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