Smoker


 * The subject of this article is sometimes called Chaser.

Smoker (スモーカー, Sumōkā) is a character who has been chasing Monkey D. Luffy throughout the series. His name is a bit of a pun corresponding to his extreme form of smoking and his Devil Fruit powers. He was initially introduced as a captain in his first appearance. As the story progressed, his rank was promoted to Commodore due to events in Arabasta.

Appearance
Smoker is a muscular bluish-gray haired man. He has a very distinct trait of always being seen smoking two cigars at once, as well as having many cigars on hand strapped to his jacket, which has the kanji for '"justice'" (正義, Seigi) written on the back.

Personality
Smoker is a tough Marine, who when first introduced, was trying to track down Luffy in Loguetown. Unlike many other Marines in One Piece, Smoker does not follow the rule of Absolute Justice and follows his own brand of justice, which he later preaches to Tashigi. Smoker's view on justice also allows the Straw Hats to remain free even being pirates during the Arabasta arc, warning Luffy that as a Marine, next time, he will have to try and capture him. Smoker also didn't like taking credit in Arabasta for the Straw Hats work in defeating Sir Crocodile, telling the World Government to "eat shit". He also tends to hold grudges toward pirates who have escaped him, such as preparing to capture Ace only to pound him into the ground, barely acknowledging Ace, to go after Luffy.

Despite his stern, businesslike manner, he does seem to have a soft side. In Loguetown, when a little girl bumped into him and dropped her ice cream on his trousers, he takes it in good heart, even giving her money to buy a new cone with more ice cream. He also shows respect and even protective kindness to his subordinate, Tashigi, as well as letting Luffy go after Zoro was ordered to save Smoker from drowning.

He seems to know Aokiji, though the nature of the relationship of the two men is unknown. He also seems to be a close, personal friend of Hina.

It seems Smoker doesn't like people who make too much noise around him, as he claims that it 'breaks his flow'.

Devil Fruit
Smoker has eaten the Moku Moku no Mi, Devil Fruit. (モクモクの実, Smoke Smoke/Plume Plume fruit. "Mokumoku" is a phenomime conveying the image of billowing smoke, much as "whoosh" might represent wind in English. It can be a play on "sumoku," the Japanese pronunciation of "smoke.") The Fruit allows him to control any smoke around him; he can also change part or all of his body into smoke at will, like other Logia-type Devil Fruit powers. He can also manipulate the smoke to make it soft or hard, allowing him to hold and constrict others within it.

At this point he doesn't appear to have any exploitable weakness, like Sir Crocodile, due to his ability to be intangible. However, as he has not trained his power to the extent of Crocodile or Eneru, he is not always in a perpetual state of smoke, and thus he can be harmed if he is caught off guard, such as when he and Ace were unintentionally beaten (for a few seconds) by Luffy in their second encounter.

Weapons
He also wields a large jutte tipped with Seastone, a material that affects Devil Fruit users in a similar way to the sea (a person who consumes a Devil Fruit becomes weak and unable to move his or her body in the water, and Seastone is, in Smoker's own words, "a solidified form of the sea"), which he uses to subdue criminal Devil Fruit users.

His thick clothes are what allow him to carry around his Seastone-tipped weapon, along with the fact that he hangs it off his back so that the tip never comes in contact with him.

Past Story
Very little has been said about Smoker's past; what is known is that he joined the Marines at the same time as Hina. However, it appears that Hina has had to help Smoker before in situations where he was almost kicked out of the Marines. It has also been implied that he witnessed the execution of Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King.

Loguetown Arc
Smoker chased Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates across the Grand Line, after Luffy escaped from him in Loguetown. While trying to capture Luffy, they got into a small duel, where Luffy was clearly at a disadvantage. The only reason Luffy and the crew were able to get away is because of the mysterious "Revolutionary," Dragon, who appeared to cause a freak storm. Nevertheless, he set out after Luffy (along with his subordinate, Tashigi), abandoning his post in Loguetown. From witnessing Luffy's near-execution at the hands of Buggy the Clown, he believes there is something special about him, since he was smiling and seemed happy (just as Gold Roger had) even though he was about to die. Because he is convinced of Luffy's uniqueness, Smoker is determined to see that the "Straw-Hat Pirate" faces justice.

Arabasta Arc
Smoker tracked Luffy all the way to Arabasta, where he met the second pirate to ever escape his clutches: Portgas D. Ace, Luffy's older brother. He met Ace in a small cafe in Nanohana. Ace has the Mera Mera no Mi logia type Devil Fruit, and when matched against Smoker's smoke abilities, the two men fought to a draw, though this is due more to the fact that their powers have no real effect on the other as they naturally go hand in hand, then them being of equal strength.

After the Arabasta arc, and the fall of Baroque Works, the Marines officially declared Smoker as the one who defeated Sir Crocodile, one of the Shichibukai. This was done to cover up the fact that Crocodile had, in fact, been defeated by a pirate. Smoker, however, angrily and in not so polite terms, refused both the medals and promotions the Marines offered him and Tashigi. He even openly admitted that it was Luffy and his crew that truly defeated Crocodile and Baroque Works, but they refused to listen to him.

Post Skypia Arc
He later gave Admiral Aokiji a message for Luffy, which Aokiji forgot until after he had beaten Luffy. Aokiji claims that Smoker's message was too stupid to tell (Luffy wouldn't have heard it anyway as he was frozen at the time), but the actual message has yet to be heard.

Post-Enies Lobby
Most recently he was seen on an island in the Grand Line, after capturing an unnamed pirate with a bounty of 50,000,000, where he told Tashigi that, in order to continue on, they needed rank; both he and Tashigi had gotten promoted since they were last seen despite Smoker's protests. Smoker was then ranked up to Commodore (准将, Junshō). He then went on to say that he was going to go to the New World to defeat the Straw Hat Pirates. Also, on his chest is now a scar that had not been there during the Alabasta Arc.

Current Events (Spoilers)
When the execution of Portgas D. Ace was announced, Smoker reported to the summoning of the Marines to reinforce Mariejois.

Major Battles

 * Vs. Monkey D. Luffy
 * Vs. Buggy Pirates
 * Vs. Portgas D. Ace

Anime Only

 * Vs. Galley

Translation and Dub Issues
In the 4Kids version of the anime, Smoker's cigars are removed, and smoke comes out of his mouth due to the power of the Smoke Smoke Fruit. Although his mouth is almost always opened a little where the cigars should be. Because of this, he is renamed 'Chaser'. However, Smoker in the English video game has his cigars strapped to his coat, despite the previous editing.

Another change made to Smoker in the 4Kids dub was removing the kanji for "justice" on the back of his jacket, which is also left in the video games.

Merchandise
Smoker has been the choice character in many forms of merchandise. He has been featured in the series of models Portrait of Pirates.

Trivia

 * In the Japanese anime, Smoker was originally voiced by Ginzo Matsuo. However, Matsuo died on 25 August 2001 of an acute subarachnoid hemorrhage. Subsequently, Mahito Oba (the voice of the Narrator) took over the role of Smoker, beginning with episode 94.
 * In Japanese Fan Polls, Smoker is currently the 14th most popular character.
 * His birthday is March 14th, a Japanese holiday called White Day (coinciding with his smoke powers, and "white" theme to his attack names).

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