Sakazuki

Admiral Akainu (赤犬大将, Akainu Taishō), formerly known as Vice Admiral Sakazuki (サカズキ中将, Sakazuki Chūjō), is an Admiral of the Marines, one of only three to hold such a position and subordinate only to Fleet Admiral Sengoku. In the manga he was first mentioned by Robin during the initial encounter with Aokiji. Because of his actions, he is one of the two major antagonists of the Marineford arc along with Blackbeard.

Appearance
Twenty years ago, at the Ohara incident, he wore a simple white Marine cap under a dark gray hood that seemed to be a part of a cloak he wore beneath his suit, or marine coat. Like any other high-ranking Marine, he was dressed in a simple white/gray suit with a white marine coat draped over his shoulders. His entire face was not seen during this appearance, as it was hidden by his cap.

Akainu has a square-shaped face with hollowed out cheeks. There also appears to be a tattoo on the left side of his chest, but it is largely obscured from view by his shirt. However, from what can be seen, the tattoo appears to contain numerous images of flowers integrated into its design. He is also just as tall as his fellow Admirals, Aokiji and Kizaru.

Personality
We have to be thorough! If even one of those scholars made it onto that ship, all of the sacrifices we've made would be for nothing! We must eliminate the very possibility of this "evil" existing!!

Akainu is a firm believer in "Absolute Justice", ruthless in his maintenance of justice. Of the three Admirals, he is the only one who has had a dead-serious disposition in all of his appearances.

Akainu's beliefs led him to go as far as destroying the refugee ship simply due to the miniscule possibility of even one scholar sneaking on board. His logic is that if even one of the scholars of Ohara had escaped with it, the mission would've been a failure, much to the dismay of Aokiji, who called him a fool for overdoing things.

Akainu is also a very good manipulator willing to lie or misdirect his enemies, pretending to be sympathetic with them, in order to achieve results, as he managed to deceive Squad through Sengoku's master plan, or insulting Whitebeard to get Ace angry and stop his flee. Being a believer of "Absolute Justice", Akainu is perfectly capable of using underhanded tactics against pirates such as misinformation and other pyschological methods to defeat his opponents. He finds obstacles (people who attempt interfer) being constantly in his way irritating.

Additionally, he seems to have no tolerance for Marines who desert their post, even appeals of wanting to return to their families instead of dying did not sway Akainu from killing and the only consolation he offered was that they should not dishonor their families by running away. He cares little for Marines who are not prepared to keeping fighting for "Justice" and as well as killing the fleeing, he will kill the ones who linger on moral rather then justice grounds. He seems in many ways unthreatened by older legends and comments on this when Whitebeard claims to his men not to be intimidated by Garp simply because he is an old soldier while Akainu says that he and Garp are of the same generation and promptly attacks him.

Prior to Sengoku making it public, Akainu is one of the few who knew that Luffy was Dragon's son. Whether he has some relationship with Dragon or if some of the Marines know that Dragon is Garp's son is unknown. As a believer of Absolute Justice, Akainu deems that Luffy's mere existence due to being Dragon's son is enough to be a threat to the world, and must be eliminated. In fact, Akainu's beliefs of heritage run deep enough that he declares that even if every other pirates escape, he personally will not permit Ace nor Luffy to leave the war alive due to their bloodlines, to the point of actively hunting Luffy himself even though Blackbeard is destroying Marineford.

Abilities and Powers
As an Admiral, Akainu is able to command vast number of Marine troops that are under his rank. Most of all, he has the ability to order a Buster Call attack on any island.

It appears that Akainu and his fellow Admirals have very acute hearing; they were able to hear activity underwater before anyone else. It should also be worth mentioning that Akainu must have an incredible amount of durability by the fact that not even two quake-powered blows from Whitebeard were able to keep him down (just one was enough to incapacitate a giant).

He has also shown an ability (alongside with his other two Admiral mates) to reflect shockwaves, as seen when he, Kuzan and Borsalino counter a shockwave punch attack from Whitebeard which was about to destroy the execution platform where they and Sengoku was (the nature of this ability has yet to be explained as it's unknown if it's by his Devil Fruit powers, Haki or some skill else).

Devil Fruit
Akainu possesses an unnamed Logia-class Devil Fruit which grants him the ability to become magma. As a Logia, Akainu is not susceptible to normal attacks and can regenerate his body.

Akainu's usual method of attack is to transform his fist into magma and launch it with a forward motion, much like a rocket. He can also create a lava wave shaped like a dog's head, that he can control and use to attack his opponents.

His ability is naturally of a higher order than Ace's fire-based abilities, which allowed him to successfully harm Ace. In fact, while Ace confronted Admiral Aokiji's ice abilities on equal terms, Akainu's lava is hot enough to instantly evaporate ice without melting it first (as well as greatly heat up the sea). Just by forming an attack, the heat coming off of his body has been shown to melt enemy weapons around him. In essence, Akainu's Devil Fruit is a stronger version of the Mera Mera no Mi. However it is worth mentioning that even though Akainu's Devil Fruit was able to completely overpower Ace's fire based abilities, it was completely unsuccessful against Marco's phoenix Devil Fruit. Apparently he can also melt the ground and move underground for sneak attacks or as a faster way of traveling.

Aside from the standard Devil Fruit weaknesses, Akainu's powers doesn't seem to be weak against anything specific.


 * Dai Funka (大噴火, Great Eruption): Akainu transforms his right fist into one made out of pure lava before throwing it forward, like some over sized rocket, similiar in size to that of Luffy's Gear third fist. The explosion causes volcanic rock to hit the ground, in a method similar to meteors. This was first seen when he used it to evaporate an iceberg hurled at his fellow Marines by Jozu. According to spectators, the battlefield resembled an apocalypse after this one attack.


 * Ryūsei Kazan (流星火山, Meteor Volcano): Akainu creates a great number of lava fists that he fires into the air in order to let them rain down upon the battlefield, causing enormous amounts of damage. This looks like a cross between a meteor shower and a volcanic eruption. This was first used to destroy the ice floor Aokiji created along with the pirates who were standing on it. He managed to take out Whitebeard's flagship, the Moby Dick, with this technique.


 * Meigō (冥狗, Dark Dog): Akainu lashes out with a claw-thrust similar to his Dai Funka technique. This technique is powerful enough that a glancing blow tears off half of Whitebeard's face.

Ohara Incident
He was known as Vice Admiral Sakazuki before his promotion. He was present at the Ohara incident, being one of the five vice-admirals, leading the Buster Call offensive. He ordered the destruction of an evacuation ship of civilians and soldiers, claiming it needed to be destroyed in case a single scholar managed to sneak on board (an action that horrified even Spandine).

Current Events
Vice Admiral Momonga mentioned to Boa Hancock that the three Marine Admirals, including Akainu, will lead the Marines against the Whitebeard Pirates following the announcement of Portgas D. Ace's execution. Akainu was seen sitting beneath the execution platform of Portgas D. Ace with his fellow Marine Admirals.

Akainu stepped into the battle when Jozu hurled a massive iceberg, displaying abilities to control volcanic rock by launching a fist made of lava to destroy the iceberg and sending small burning rocks flying all over the place, destroying one of Whitebeard's ships.

He is later seen confronting a Marine officer who is fleeing from the battle not wanting to die out of concern for his family. Akainu attacks, and brutally kills, the Marine officer for this "cowardice", much to the horror of Coby and Helmeppo who were watching (having nearly ran into the Admiral themselves doing the same thing). Akainu then receives a report on the Den Den Mushi that the preparations for Sengoku's plan are set.

Luffy's arrival at Marineford has Admiral Akainu commenting that, as the son of Dragon, Luffy is the one pirate who must be eliminated at all costs.

During the battle, following Sengoku's orders, Akainu talks to Captain Squad, making him believe that Whitebeard has betrayed his allies, trading their lives with Ace's one. He demonstrates his words making Squad notice that the Pacifistas has attacked everyone in the bay but Whitebeard's pirates, this being also part of Sengoku's plan. He tells Squad he doesn't agree with the plan of sparing Ace's and Whitebeard's life, and offers him the chance to save himself and his own crew if he kills Whitebeard. Because of his deep hatred for Gol D. Roger, who killed his first crew, Squad believes him and attacks Whitebeard, stabbing him in the chest.

Whitebeard survives Squad's attack, forgives his ally and starts a massive attack against the Marines, using his Devil Fruit's powers. Akainu, along with Aokiji and Kizaru, manages to stop Whitebeard's seismic waves directed to the platform on which Ace is chained. When the steel wall is finally raised around the pirates, Akainu starts to attack the pirates with his Ryūsei Kazan, melting Aokiji's ice and destroying the Moby Dick.

Much later, when Luffy is hurled over the siege wall and lands before the execution platform, Akainu sneers before commenting on how bold the son of Dragon is. After Whitebeard and his crew successfully enter the plaza, Whitebeard begins to swing his Bisento for another attack when Akainu intervenes, telling him that the island won't hold out long if he keeps on like that, Whitebeard then tells him he should try and protect it. They both use their devil fruit powers and clash with each other.

When Garp joins the battle, Whitebeard tells his men that he is just an old man and should not be fooled, Akainu retaliates and says that Whitebeard himself is also of the same generation. The two clash again, causing another rampage in the Marineford. Akainu is angry at Whitebeard and shouts at him for destroying the city, Whitebeard repeats what he said before and tells him he should protect it. Suddenly, Whitebeard grabs his chest and coughs up a massive amount of blood. Akainu comments on how Whitebeard cannot escape the effects of the old age and takes full advantage by landing a devastating blow to Whitebeard's chest with molten magma.

When Luffy unleashes a wave of Haoshoku Haki, saving Ace from the second execution attempt, Akainu notices that Luffy used his power unconsciously.

When Ace is finally freed, Akainu assures his men that there's nothing to worry about, since the two pirate brothers are going to be captured again and executed. He then confronts Luffy and Ace, and provokes Ace into attacking him by badmouthing Whitebeard. He says that his magma can consume Ace's fire (magma can extinguish fire by smothering it) and is thus able to injure Ace despite his Logia intangibility, making him his natural enemy. Stating that both Luffy and Ace deserve to be executed due to their parentage, he attacks Luffy, but Ace throws himself in the way, taking Akainu's devastating attack through his torso, which shortly leads to his tragic death. He then burns Jinbei as the latter attempts to protect Ace from a second strike for the head. Marco and Vista then attack Akainu; however, with his Logia abilities, Akainu nullifies their attacks. He did feel some discomfort, commenting on how irritating it is that they were both Haki users. He then chides to them that it is too late for Ace. After killing Ace and making another attempt to kill Luffy, Akainu is seen to be attacked by Whitebeard himself. After Whitebeard strikes at Akainu he is seen to be defeated by his second punch. He managed to injure Whitebeard's face and he was seen falling into the fissure that was created when Whitebeard struck the Marine HQ.

Akainu, having survived Whitebeard's onslaught, reappeared in front of Jinbei as he is making his way to the escape ship. Akainu demands Jinbei to hand over Luffy, but Jinbei refuses, stating that he will protect Luffy with his life. Akainu then prepares to attack, but Ivankov appeared and blasted Akainu with a Hell Wink. He later heard Blackbeard as he declared to the entire world that the age of Blackbeard has begun.

Akainu then subdued Ivankov and continues to pursue Jinbei and Luffy, which ends in Akainu piercing through Jinbei and straight towards Luffy, critically injuring the both of them. When he is prepared to finish them off, Crocodile repelled him and got Luffy and Jinbei out of the admiral's reach. Akainu then prepares to face off against Crocodile and the Whitebeard Pirates.

He takes down Curiel and goes into a blind rage yelling to the marines to not let pirates roam this earth. He,along with the whole battlefield, is stopped by Coby as he yells for the fighting to stop. Akainu is outraged at this and attacks Coby, only to have his punch blocked by Shanks.

Major Battles

 * Akainu, Kizaru and Aokiji vs. Monkey D. Luffy
 * Akainu vs. Whitebeard
 * Akainu vs. Portgas D. Ace
 * Akainu vs. Curiel
 * Akainu vs. Jinbei (trying to finish Ace off)
 * Akainu vs. Marco and Vista
 * Akainu vs. Marco (after killing Ace)
 * Akainu vs. Whitebeard (after killing Ace)
 * Akainu vs. Emporio Ivankov and Inazuma
 * Akainu vs. Jinbei (chasing Luffy)
 * Akainu vs. Crocodile
 * Akainu vs. Crocodile, and Whitebeard Pirates Commanders
 * Akainu vs. Shanks

Translation and Dub Issues

 * Sakazuki's alias, "Akainu", means "Red Dog" in Japanese.

Trivia

 * The way Akainu's character design is drawn resembles the famous Japanese actor, Bunta Sugawara. Akainu's real name, Sakazuki is apparently based on the three movies of Bunta Sugawara with "Sakazuki" in the title.
 * 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)
 * Before being revealed in the manga, Akainu's abilities were the center of many myths among fans.
 * Among the three Admirals, Akainu is:
 * the only one who has not fought the Straw Hat Pirates aside from Luffy.
 * the only one who has not formed a sword out of his element.
 * the only Admiral as well as the only confirmed Logia user whose Devil Fruit's name has not been revealed.
 * the only Admiral known to kill innocent people in the past as well as the only Admiral to attack another marine.
 * the only Admiral to be first introduced in a flash back.
 * He is the first Admiral to harm Whitebeard.
 * Akainu is also the first Admiral to use an attack that resembles his nickname (Red Dog): a dog's head made out of magma.
 * Oddly, some Marines seem to refer to him by his real name (Sakazuki) instead of his alias.
 * Akainu is the first person to actually kill a major character in the present storyline, accomplished when he successfully executed Portgas D. Ace in combat.
 * He is the second known Marine, and first Admiral to kill a D. Aokiji killed Jaguar D. Saul but was not an Admiral at the time.
 * Akainu did the most damage to the Whitebeard Pirates during the war: his lie to Squad caused Whitebeard to suffer a critical injury; his meteoric magma fists destroyed one of the crew's ships, as well as the Moby Dick; he gave Whitebeard a critical injury to the chest and another that took off half of his face; he successfully killed Ace; he defeated and possibly killed 10th division commander Curiel.

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