Kuro

Captain Kuro (キャプテン･クロ), also known as Kurahadol (クラハドール), is the main antagonist of the Syrup Village Arc. He was the former caretaker of Kaya, and the captain of the Black Cat Pirates before that. His current status and occupation, aside from being a renegade, is unknown.

Appearance
Kuro is a slim man with glasses and slicked black hair with a green tinge to it, though during his fight with Luffy strands fell off onto his face.

During his stay on Gecko Islands, he wore a black suit with two golden markings on it (that were jokingly referred to as "poop" by Oda) over a white shirt with a curious collar, with spiral-like protrusions on the edges, and a standard black tie. He also sports striped shoes (which he apparently kept from his life as a pirate). He would loosen up the tie and collar on the night before the planned raid on Syrup Village.

During his time as a pirate, he wore a standard black captain's coat with the Black Cat Pirates' symbol on the epaulets over a simple white shirt hanging over a pair of black pants reaching down to his knees, and his trademark shoes.

Whichever his persona he is using, he wears round glasses that tends to always slip off, until Luffy knocked them off when he dealt the final blow, where a previous punch shattered the lens and the final headbutt bent the frame; despite these glasses slipping off from time to time that required Kuro to shove them back into place, they are nevertheless his signature belongings, as he rejected a more fitting pair from Kaya.

Personality
In general, Kuro's intelligence is of the highest caliber, (having the second highest IQ in East Blue, behind Benn Beckman), whose plans have never failed in the past. He is a master strategist and an accomplished fighter, but he was severely hampered by the fact that he simply did not have the fortitude to deal with a pirate's life on the run from the Marines.

My plan cannot fail! Kuro seems to be very proud of his plans, which had never failed before (hence his nickname, Kuro of a Hundred Plans). When he relived his moments of piracy, he claims his plans were too great to be wasted on his crew. He also said that he would kill his crew if they were to hinder his plans in any way. During the final moments before Luffy defeated him, Kuro lost his composure and screamed at the despair of his precious plan failing.

He also seems to like the glasses he wears very much, even though they tend to slip down his nose every so often. He pushes them up with his palms so he does not scratch his face with his Cat Claws, a symbol of remembering his murderous ways. Even despite the lens being shattered by Luffy's punch, he kept them on. The glasses are his signature belongings, and as such, he destroyed the new ones Kaya gave him (though it may be because he simply hated her).

Kuro follows the role of the diabolical mastermind and continues One Piece's tradition of noticeably cruel villains. He held himself in very high regard, having a standard for people no one seemed able to live up to but himself. He felt nothing for the lives of others, willingly sacrificing anyone he needed to achieve his ambitions.

During his three years as Kaya's butler, he acted as a benign (though a little snobbish), trustworthy and well-mannered man who carries a hatred for pirates, and as such, looks down on Usopp. He later admits that, aside his hatred for Usopp and piracy, how much he despises this pseudo-personality; his hatred of piracy standing, the true reason is very different than that of his false persona. Judging by the severe change in personality between Captain Kuro and Kurahadol, it is possible that Kuro has some degree of a split personality, if not simply being skilled in acting; the anime exemplifies the former by "Kurahadol" speaking in a lighter and more polite tone while "Kuro" has a deeper and colder voice. Either way, his sudden change made Merry and Kaya fear him greatly.

Though able to restrain himself most of the time, to the point of appearing to be a civilized person who abhors senseless violence, deep down Kuro is a very bloodthirsty man, a trait that comes to full effect upon seeing a crescent moon which drives him wild and even he finds it difficult to resist the temptations of violence brought on by the stage of the moon. On the night of the Marine attack, there was once again a crescent moon, which seems to have been the reason why Kuro was so brutal to the Marines on board. Even after yearning a peaceful life devoid of the needless violence associated with piracy, Kuro still found the sight of a crescent moon an irresistible lure to his old ways, leading him to unnecessarily attack Merry simply to satisfy himself; his habit of pushing his glasses up with his palm instead of his fingers, whether as a pirate or butler, is prove that he has not forgotten his killing methods. As a consequence during the first opening of the anime a red crescent moon can be briefly seen in the scene with Kuro.

Crew
Pirates should be faithful pawns of their captain. They live and die by my command. Kuro had come to the conclusion his crew were nothing but puppets; that pirates were barbarians that stole from people out of greed and nothing more, and that they were buffoons who were nothing without his guidance and direction, and that his skill is wasted helping them to plot. He saw his crew as this since the very beginning. He would willingly sacrifice them all and by the time his plan was ready he had already long decided they should all die. This was proven to be true, as Kuro killed or injured many of his crew members. This disgusted Luffy and made him even more determined to stop Kuro.

Kuro had no problem in sacrificing Nugire Yainu, the shipwright of his crew, in order to deceive the marines that he was executed and revoke his bounty.

When the crew had a hard time against the Straw Hats (something that Kuro did not know at that time) Kuro became furious because his plan was about to be delayed and he accused Jango for the fact that his crew is not like it used to be. He did not hesitate to call them useless. Sham and Buchi were offended by their captain’s statement and thinking that their captain’s strength had faded attempted to commit a mutiny against him. However, Kuro proving them wrong gave them 5 minutes to get rid of the Straw Hat Pirates.

Originally, Jango was loyal to his former pirate captain, Kuro, as Jango was willing to take over captaincy of the crew, and return three years to instigate the plan, despite seemingly to know of his captain's darker personality. Jango also was frustrated to see Kuro arriving at the shore. Kuro on the other hand viewed Jango simply as a buffoon like the rest of his crew and needed to die to preserve the secrecy of his agenda. Now, as a Marine, the Black Cat Pirates and Jango are enemies.

Marines
His life as a pirate led him to become irritated at the idea that he was forever chased by the Marines, as well as those seeking his bounty. He then began to yearn for a peaceful life, without such bothers.

Straw Hat Pirates
At first Kuro did not consider the Straw Hats as a threat, seeing them as mere children instead of genuine pirates. Kuro’s beliefs for the pirate’s life angered Monkey D. Luffy who had completely a different opinion about this matter. It was Kuro's contrasting believes and underestimation of Luffy's crew that led to his ultimate downfall.

Kuro mocked Usopp when he called himself a pirate, calling his act a "Childish game", and viewed him as equal to an insect. Usopp disliked him for this, and came to hate him after realizing what he was planning. Kuro also (hiding his identity) bullied Usopp because his father abandoned him to become a pirate. Finally, Kuro was not bother by the fact that Usopp heard his conversation with Jango, because he knew that the villagers would not believe him in case he tried to inform them about the pirates’ arrival, though he did bear a grudge against him for an earlier punch in the cheek. This was another factor of underestimation that led to Kuro's plan failing.

Kaya
I, who was once the dreaded Captain Kuro, bowed and scraped to a spoiled little girl, and catered to her every whim... Can you fathom my humiliation? As Kurahadol he was forced into acting kind natured, to make himself out as Miss Kaya's trustworthy family butler and caretaker. He later admits how much he hated acting out this role for three years, and in the process betrays Kaya's feelings. At one point, he relives seemingly happy memories with her, breaking her heart as he states that he "endured it", and voiced his utter contempt for her. Until his deception was revealed, Kaya had always been fond of Kurahadol, even leading to dismiss Usopp's claims about Kurahadol being a pirate as hurtful lies, while Kurahadol made it look as though his mistress's safety and well-being is the utmost importance and refused to let her see Usopp, one factor that she disagreed on due to her friendship. When she discovered what Usopp had told her was the truth, she became upset and could do nothing as Kuro betrayed her feelings on purpose, upsetting her, yet she was unable to pull the trigger of the flintlock that she aimed at him; if anything, she found it very chilling when Kuro made it clear that he was not regretful at the very least in his attempt to kill Merry and made no attempt to deny it. Kuro also voiced aloud that he truly loathed her and desired nothing less than killing her.

Merry
At first, Merry is a fellow butler who deeply trusted Kurahadol, as they both see their mistress' well-being as the most important factor, and were on friendly terms during the three years working together. They also both saw Usopp as an untrustworthy liar who only loves to cause trouble, and as such, Merry refused to believe Usopp's claim that Kurahadol was a pirate attempting to steal Kaya's fortune, and even chuckling it off as ridiculous when Kurahadol asked of it. However, when his colleague revealed his true colors, Merry's trust and liking instantly turned to fear and hate.

Kuro, in turn, showed no genuine sympathy for Merry from the beginning, and even attempted to murder him for no necessary reason, but instead for the sheer pleasure under the crescent moon. If anything, Kuro held contempt for his colleague, as when Kaya confronted him the next morning, Kuro expressed regret only in the failure of killing Merry.

Syrup Villagers
Kuro managed to gain the villagers’ trust during the three years that he stayed on the island. When Usopp arrived at the village shouting for the pirates’ upcoming arrival, not only they did not listen to him but they also said that wished him to be like Kuro.

Kuro, on the other hand, shows no true compassion for the villagers that he had been friendly for three years, and plotted their massacre for his own benefits.

Kaya's Parents
Three years before the start of the story, her father hired Kuro (under the pseudonym Kurahadol) to live in the mansion as a butler (going as far as to save him from the streets in the anime), not knowing of Kuro's true identity. Sometime after this adoption, Kaya's parents died, according to Kuro, by accident and were not part of his plan to gain her riches; Kuro denied killing them when Jango suggested it. Under his Kurahadol guise, he made it as though he felt indebted to the man for saving his life, and that if he let anything happen to Kaya, he could never face her father again.

Abilities and Powers
Worthy of his epithet, Kuro is a master strategist who has never once before failed in his village raids, due to him planning skillfully beforehand. He is the second most intelligent man in East Blue, and was skilled enough to have tricked the Marines into making them think he died with a decoy, thus deactivating his bounty and infamy.

His epithet is "Kuro of the Hundred Plans", and he is shown to be well-versed in tactics: he has the patience and determination to carry out a three-years plan right down to the most minute detail, and managed to perfectly blend into his "alias" Kurahadol (winning the respect of the townspeople, the care of his adoptive family and managing to convince Syrup Village that the liar Usopp was of malicious intent), demonstrating expert manipulation skills.

He is feared by all his subordinates, all of whom obey him out of his well-known ruthlessness to both foes and allies alike. Despite the Nyaban Brothers believing that his skills dulled over the three years as a butler and tried to kill him, he proved that he is still superior by easily overwhelming them at the tip of his claws. He also considered Zoro as "soft" in comparison for not successfully killing Buchi in one strike.

Along with his intellect, he is also a deadly fighter by East Blue standards. Kuro can effectively enter a state of automatic blood-lust during any phase of a "crescent moon", leading to an increase in brutality. He possesses a good level of endurance as shown during his fight against the Straw Hats. Finally, even though Devil Fruits are rare in East Blue, Kuro calmly came to acknowledge it as a fact when Luffy had demonstrated the powers of eating one, while many others (including the rest of the Black Cat Pirates) would be shocked to see what they believe to be a mere myth come to reality.

Stealth Foot
Kuro can run at blinding speed, with which to deliver his attacks, a technique he named "Shakushi". His skill is such that at full speed he is only able to be seen as a vague blur or by the damage his attacks cause; his speed is such that he can kill a group of 50 skilled assassins before any of them would even take notice. He is able to run 100 meters in around 4 seconds.

While he uses super-human speed, his weakness (being unable to tell what he is hitting) puts him at a set back against other super-speed users who can tell what they are striking, though the fact he can move so fast at his level (which is weak compared to other super speed users) is still impressive, as well as the fact that he does not really care about anyone around him and feels no remorse for killing his crewmates, counteracting this weakness.

His inhuman speed is due to his powerful legs; therefore, he also possesses powerful kicks, as demonstrated when he kicked Usopp and Luffy; sending them both flying for a great distance from him.

Weapons
Captain Kuro uses weapons called "Cat Claws", furred gloves with full-length katana blades at the end of each finger. He combines these large iron claws with his impressive speed to indiscriminately slash everyone in his vicinity to death at random depths of cuts.

Captain Kuro often pushes his glasses up on his nose with the palm of his hand, a technique he has used since his days as a pirate: straightening them with the fingers would be impossible when the Cat Claws are worn. According to Jango, this proves that even after three years of peaceful life, that Captain Kuro has not yet forgotten how to kill.

The Black Captain
The dreaded former Captain of the Black Cat Pirates, he is also known as Kuro of the Hundred Plans for his elaborate plans that virtually never fail. However, this proved to have a huge setback; as time passed, he grew tired of setting up schemes for his crewmates and of constantly being hunted down by the Marines.

Five years before the current storyline Kuro told Jango that he want to give up being Captain Kuro after being pursued by the Marines the third time in a week since he is now an infamous pirate. Jango told Kuro that the Marines would not stop until the pirate captain was dead. Kuro told Jango that he was going to die and that Jango would be the new captain. A Marine Ship was attacking the Bezan Black with its cannons. He ordered his crew to give him a small boat, which they did. He arrived at the Marine ship and killed everyone on board, except a jaw-broken Marine soldier who was none other than Morgan.

Jango ordered the crew to board the ship. He noticed Nugire Yainu and said to him goodbye. Morgan refused to beg Kuro to kill him, but Kuro said to him that today, he would be the one who captured Captain Kuro. Jango hypnotized Nugire to think he was Captain Kuro and Morgan to think he was the one who captured the dreaded pirate. The Marine ship sailed away with the fake Captain Kuro to be executed. Kuro was happy that the first part of his plan worked.

Cunning Plans
Soon after, Captain Kuro set up an elaborate scheme in a small village he came to live in, in order to live free from pursuit with great wealth. He taught his crew how to function without him, then took the name Kurahadol and, for three years, lived as the butler of the wealthy parents of Kaya, who he is believed by many to have killed (this is not yet known to be true, as he denied it when Jango accused him of it, saying that their deaths weren't part of his original plan). He then became the sickly Kaya's caretaker.

Syrup Village Arc


At the mansion, Kaya and Kurahadol, her butler, talk about Usopp, and Kurahadol forbids her from seeing him. At the mansion, Kurahadol the caretaker explains to his mistress Kaya that he will not allow Usopp inside on the account of his lying. He explains that it is his duty to see she is safe and well on behalf of her late father and why there are two bodyguards on the front gate. Despite his efforts, when his leaves Usopp appears outside her window, claiming nothing could keep him away. Usopp then goes onto tell her a story which is clearly a lie, but she laughs anyway.

Luffy climbs over the gate. Kurahadol asks another servant where the bodyguards are, he explains they are at lunch. As Usopp finishes his story about a giant goldfish, Luffy and Usopp's pirates appear and greet him. Kurahadol appears and demands to know what they are doing. Kurahadol tells Luffy he will not get a ship and that they all need to leave. Kurahadol begins to put Usopp down because his father is a pirate and as far as he is concerned all pirates are bad. When he asks what he wants from Kaya, money or otherwise, Kaya gets upset. Usopp also loses his temper and whacks him for insulting his father. After being hit, Usopp is compared to his "father" the pirate, Usopp replies that he is proud to be the son of a pirate.

Usopp is the center of attention as Kurahadol continues to insult Usopp, stating although he is not a pirate his father's blood still makes him turn to fists when he is insulted. Finally Kaya begs Usopp to stop when he goes to hit him again, this time for saying he is only after Kaya's money. As Usopp lets the care taker go, he gets one final warning about coming back to the mansion which Usopp replies is fine with him. The Usopp's Pirates insult their captain for that, which Luffy also admits, as the others are told to go away, the four try to go after the care taker but are held back by Zoro and Nami.

Later, Kaya is crying in her room, and Kurahadol comes in to bring her a meal. Kaya asks why Kurahadol was so harsh, but he replies by reminding Kaya of the day he came to the mansion, when he was battered, and her father let him in. He says that if anything happened to Kaya, he would not forgive himself, and is only doing what he does with Kaya's best interests in mind. Kaya is still unsure, however.

He later meets Jango at the shore. Jango confirms the plan to murder the mansion owner is ready. Kurahadol asks Jango to not mention the word "murder" and to stop calling him Captain Kuro. Usopp and Luffy spy on the pair and Usopp suddenly remembers the name "Captain Kuro". Usopp recalls he was a feared pirate who raided many towns and was finally put to death three years ago after he was captured by the Marines.

Jango finds it amusing his captain declared he was bored with a pirate's life, made him captain and secretly settled in the village, but so long as there is a reward he is happy doing whatever Kuro asks of him. According to Kuro, all Jango has to do is hypnotize Kaya to sign a will so he rightfully owns the mansion because "Kurahadol" is not a member of the family and therefore cannot inherit her fortune otherwise. Once the task is done he must then kill her without making it look like she was murdered. Jango mocks his former captain, stating that if it was him, he would just invade the mansion and takes the riches, however Kuro reminds him that would make him a pirate again. Jango mocks him once again for asking for a peaceful life when he plans to kill everyone to get Kaya's money, but Kuro states he did not expect some things like Kaya's parents death as they died unexpectedly in an accident.

As Usopp slowly comes round to the realization of what they are hearing, he has to contend with Luffy who does not have a clue on what is going on. While he deals with thoughts related to the problem at hand, Luffy stands up and shouts to the pair below them. While Usopp is horrified at what Luffy did, Usopp grabs him to pull him down before he is seen, but Kuro and Jango look up the cliff and see the pair.

All of a sudden, Jango holds up his ring and begins to hypnotize the pair, while Usopp looks away in time, Luffy is clueless about the ring to do so. While Luffy has fallen asleep, so apparently has Jango, Usopp yells to Luffy but Luffy falls off the cliff seemingly to his death. While Usopp yells about killing Luffy, Jango asks if Usopp should be killed as well but Kuro just states even if he tells the village no one will believe Usopp on what he heard, due to Usopp's reputation as a liar.

Back at the coast, Kuro has gone to greet his men after three years away from them and ensure the plan in the morning.

Inside the mansion Kurahadol and Kaya's other servant discusses Usopp's actions of the day while Kaya sleeps soundly in her bed. Kurahadol finds the glasses that were supposed to be a present for him in the morning on their 3rd anniversary, they were specially made for him so he did not have to keep pushing his back up. As the other servant continues to talk, Kurahadol suddenly begins to talk strangely. He looks to the crescent moon and states it makes him wild. Before his eyes, Kurahadol smashes the glasses and looks devilishly at the other servant stating his present will be the mansion.

Kurahadol states that he no longer has to pretend as there is only a few hours left. He pulls out his cat claws from a bag he is carrying and turns them on the servant. He reveals also to Merry that he intends to get Kaya's inheritance and destroy Syrup Village, which shocks Merry further. He reveals his Cat Claws gloves and attack Merry, leaving him for dead.

Kuro goes upstairs, go to Kaya's room and is about to kill the young heiress. Then, he decides to let her live a little longer, until the village is completely destroyed tomorrow.

On the mansion doors steps, Kuro sits and he says the word "late". He pictures the other servant laying on the floor, injured and the room cut up from his attack. He comments on if Jango and the others are late he would kill them, setting off to find out where they may have gone. Kuro heads towards the north coast only for Tamanegi to sight him; wondering why the butler would be walking around that early. On the slope the Black Cat Pirates are fighting suddenly, Jango gets a bad feeling come over him and the Nyaban brothers both become incredibly frightened. On top of the slope, stands Kuro. Kuro demands to know why dawn has passed and his plan is not in motion.

Jango and the rest of the Black Cat Pirates are terrified by him, including Sham and Buchi. He can’t believe that his former crew were held back by a bunch of children. He asks Jango for an explanation. Jango reminds Kuro who said letting Usopp go would not cause any problems. Kuro said that he knew that Usopp would try in vain to stop the Black Cat Pirates from invading Syrup Village since no one would believe him, but the one thing he didn’t count on was the weakness of his crew.

This remark made Sham and Buchi very mad. They remember Kuro as a strong killer and they say they are sinking ships and vanquishing pirate crews while Kuro lives the good life. They accuse him of becoming weak. They go straight to him, hoping to kill him. Jango tries to warn them, but it is no use. Before they can deal him a blow, he suddenly disappears. And he reappears moments later behind them with his Cat Claws gloves on his hands. This surprises even Zoro. They try to attack him again, but he disappears one more time. Jango recognizes this move as the Nuki Ashi technique, Kuro’s trademark attack. He reappears behind Sham and Buchi again, with his claw-like knifes pointing at them. Even Nami is impressed by this, as the Nyaban Brothers nearly defeated Zoro. This silent technique is so powerful that not even a group of 50 assassins could stop Kuro. Jango knew he hasn’t lost that attack by the way he always lifted his glasses to avoid being cut by his Cat Claws gloves.

Kuro gives his crew 5 minutes to kill Zoro. Otherwise, he will kill them all. After the Nyaban Brothers are defeated Zoro says to Kuro that the former captain will be defeated in less than 5 minutes. Kuro is a little impressed. Buchi is still conscious and he begs Jango to hypnotize him so he will become strong enough to defeat Zoro. Jango manages to do so and Zoro decides to deal with Buchi before he can fight Kuro. After being hypnotized, Buchi becomes stronger and more savage than before. His muscles even increased in size. That surprises Zoro, but he manages to regain his calm and decides to fight him no matter what happens. Meanwhile, Luffy wakes up.

The Black Cat Pirates begin to think it will be impossible to defeat Luffy and Zoro since they appear to be very strong. After waking up Luffy, Nami passes out for a bit. Luffy notices Nami’s wound. Nami asks Luffy to fight for the village and her treasure, and Luffy accepts. The pirates run from Luffy, scared for their life. While Buchi fights Zoro, Jango will deal with Luffy. Kuro says that time is up and he will kill everyone on the north slope. He is also surprised that Luffy survived the fall from the cliff since he thought that fall would have killed him.

But before Kuro could kill anyone, Kaya arrives and begs him to stop. Usopp manages to save her before Kuro slashes her. She says to Usopp that she could not bear to see him get hurt protecting her. She then talks to Kuro and said he can take her fortune and leave the village alone. Kuro says to Kaya he wants more than her fortune. He wants peace. He says that despite her plea, the Black Cat Pirates will still attack Syrup Village and kill her. She then pulls a gun from her coat and points it at Kuro. She threatens to kill him if Kuro and the Black Cat Pirates don’t leave Gecko Island this instant.

Kuro comments that she has become "stronger" over the last 3 years. He then recollects the events of the last 3 years with her, the things they did together but then as a change of tone he calls the events "stupid things" and tells her straight he has done everything for her today, the day she dies. Kaya drops the gun as Kuro goes on about enduring the boring days in the past 3 years. He also says that spending 3 years with her was an insult to his pride as a pirate. He takes the gun from her and throws it to the ground. Usopp takes the gun and tries to shoot Kuro down, but Kuro uses his Nuki Ashi to reappear behind the liar with his Cat Claws gloves on. He tries to kill him to make him pay for punching him, but his attempts are stopped by Luffy who gives him a Gomu Gomu no Pistol, sending him to the ground. Luffy swears Kuro will have a bad day since he hates being punched.

The Black Cat Pirates are terrified by this. Nami decides to search for the pirates’ treasure despite her wounded shoulder. The Usopp Pirates arrive and hit him as hard as they can with a shovel, a casserole and a bat. Usopp, Kaya and the others try to warn them to stay away, but they refuse to listen, too busy at beating Kuro up, hoping to kill him. They stop. Jango is afraid the kids will make Kuro really mad.

The Usopp Pirates go to Usopp and they argue with him for not telling them about the fight. Usopp begs them to run away, but the kids refuse to run away, saying it will only ashamed the Usopp Pirates. Suddenly, Kuro gets up, making the Usopp Pirates terrified and scream in terror. But Kuro ignores them and goes to Usopp to beat him. His sight then goes to Luffy in whom he asks if he has eaten a Devil Fruit. Luffy confirms it. This news frightens the Black Cat Pirates even more. Kuro orders Jango to take care of Kaya and the Usopp Pirates while he takes care of Luffy. Jango agrees.

Kuro says to Usopp that escape is useless, since he knows that Kaya’s weak. Usopp manages to get up a little and hears a noise coming from the forest. Kuro tells Usopp this is Jango tearing up the forest. Usopp asks him where is his shred of pity. Kuro tells him he has none, that Kaya is nothing more than a pawn to his plan and he’ll express gratitude once she’s dead. Usopp is angry by Kuro’s words. Luffy tells Usopp to go to Kaya and the Usopp Pirates and he’ll take care of Kuro. Usopp manages to get up more despite his multiple wounds. Kuro is impressed by this. Usopp says to him that he won’t let him win. He tries to walk, but he falls down due to his wounds. Kuro laughs at Usopp’s effort and says even if he did manage to get to Jango, he’ll ended up dead. Usopp says that despite his weakness, he will protect the village. The Black Cat Pirates laugh at Usopp’s vow, but Luffy throws a rock at them, saying to them to not laugh at Usopp.

Zoro takes Usopp on his right shoulder and tells him that he’ll go after Jango. Luffy agrees to it. Kuro tries to stop them, but Luffy stops him with a Gomu Gomu no Kama, in which Kuro dodges. Kuro tried to slash him, but Luffy evades the attack. He then counter attacks with a Gomu Gomu no Yari, but Kuro disappears using his Nuki Ashi technique. Kuro reappears and asks Luffy why an outsider like him is butting into the village’s business. He tells Kuro that because there’s a man in the village he doesn’t want to let him die and that he won’t die today.

The battle continues. Luffy stretches his arm to hold Kuro and then tries to give him a foot kick. Kuro manages to evade it by sending the Straw Hat kid into the ground. Luffy tries to use a Gomu Gomu no Muchi and a Gomu Gomu no Pistol at him, but Kuro dodges both moves. He finds Kuro on one of his arms. He says to Luffy that this fight is boring. He then delivers a kick at Luffy, sending him to the ground again. The crewmembers try to cheer their captain up, but Kuro angrily tells them to not call him by that name, saying that his plan was to get rid of the name "Captain Kuro". He says that he is tired of devising plans for a band of men who cares only about mayhem and to be relentlessly pursued by bounty hunters and government dogs.

While saying that, Kuro flashbacks three years ago. Back at the present, Kuro tells Luffy when his plan succeeds today, his goal will be fully achieved and that money and peace of mind will be his. He refuses to let Luffy ruin his plans. He tries to kill Luffy, but the Straw Hat kid stretches his arms to pick a rock and blocks his attack. The rock breaks his first Cat Glove.

While throwing the rock at him, Luffy tells Kuro that if the pirate captain doesn’t want a reputation, he shouldn’t be a pirate and that his ambition is greater than Kuro’s.

After his right hand was disposed of by Luffy, Kuro then gets up and tell the Black Cat Pirates that he will kill them and Jango later. Kuro then reveals that he was planning to kill the Black Cats anyway to prove his innocence and not to make the world notice that he was still alive, which greatly shocks the Black Cats Pirates.

Luffy then tells Kuro that his pirate crew is dumb, then Kuro explains his ideals what a pirate crew is and uses his Shakushi. One by one the Black Cats stat falling, Nami and Luffy watch in disbelieve.



Luffy and Nami are still watching as Kuro continues to cut up the other Black Cat Pirates. Suddenly, Luffy is wounded by Kuro but he keeps his ground and grabs Kuro's jacket and throws him to the ground. Kuro mocks Luffy, saying he should have stood still so Kuro could kill him easier, and because Luffy stops him moving, his crew are still alive and suffering. Kuro goes to do his move again, but this time Luffy grabs him and holds him tight. Kuro is unable to move.

Kuro's crew cheers Luffy on. Luffy throws his head back and stretches his neck far enough back to tell the Black Cat pirates to stop cheering for him. Kuro in shock just keeps on about how his plan will not fail. Luffy iron head-butts Kuro and then throws him back to the Black Cats. He tells them that he's going to be the Pirate King and they should leave the island and never come back.

Major Battles

 * Kuro vs. Marines (including Morgan)
 * Kuro (as Kurahadol) vs. Usopp (Kaya's mansion)
 * Kuro vs. Sham and Buchi
 * Kuro vs. Monkey D. Luffy
 * Kuro vs. Usopp Pirates
 * Kuro vs. Black Cat Pirates
 * Kuro vs. Monkey D. Luffy

Anime and Manga Differences


In the manga, right after slashing down Merry, Kuro continued to attack all over the room, leaving scratch marks all over; in the anime, he instead left the room and went straight for Kaya, and wanted to kill her before leaving her for later.

In the manga, Kuro is not seen again after his defeat by Luffy. In the anime, Kuro was last seen in a cameo appearance on board of his ship, as the captain again, when his crew informed him of Luffy's 30,000,000 bounty.

The manga made no indication that Kuro returned to piracy, but the anime shows otherwise. It also appears that the marines are unaware of his resumed life of piracy, which would make sense since everyone decided to keep it under wraps. When the inside of Fullbody's ship was seen in the same episode, Kuro's wanted poster was seen with a red X through it, meaning that he is still believed to be deceased by the marines.

Translation and Dub Issues
"Kuro" can be written in kanji as 黒, meaning "Black". "Kuro" is also a way of saying "claw" in Japanese.

Due to his odd alias, Kuro's "butler name" has been translated in a wide variety of ways. The English adaptations use the name Klahadore, possibly a "claw" pun. The pronunciation of "Klahadore" could be compared to "claw-a-door" in English. Some fans of Kaizoku Fansubs, however, use the term Kurahadol; as it is what K-F uses.

Also, in the original version, Kuro's epithet is "Of a Hundred Plans," while the English version changes it to "Of a Thousand Plans". His epithet, in the original Japanese version, is another way of saying "all means", which is a testament of him achieving his plans by all means.

Trivia

 * When he was in his butler attire, there were strange symbols on his jacket. Oda jokingly explained that these symbols are poop, to signify that he is lying. This directly resembles the American slang term "bullshit", meaning lie. Although the answer was obviously a joke (as Oda is known to give joke answers to questions he cannot seriously answer), this could be a play on the slang term "full of shit".
 * In an early SBS in the manga, Oda stated that the most intelligent person in all the East Blue saga is Benn Beckman, followed by Captain Kuro in second and Nami in third.
 * In the 4th Japanese Fan Poll, Kuro is ranked the 29th most popular character in One Piece.
 * Due to being thought of as dead and the events surrounding him largely unwitnessed outside of those involved, Kuro was not considered when the Marines gave Luffy his first bounty.

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