Smoker


 * The subject of this article is sometimes called "Chaser".

Smoker the White Hunter (白猟のスモーカー) is a Marine vice admiral. He was first introduced in Loguetown, where he made it his mission to capture Monkey D. Luffy. He was initially introduced as a captain (大佐) in his first appearance. As the series progressed, he was promoted to the rank of commodore (准将) due to the events in Alabasta. It appears he was promoted to the rank of vice admiral (中将) after the timeskip.

Appearance
Smoker is a muscular white (gray in the anime) haired man, who carries the very distinct trait of always being seen smoking two cigars at once. He wears a large thick white and blue specialist Marine jacket which he keeps open with greenish fur lining neck, wrists and hem. Many cigars are strapped to the jacket which has the kanji for "justice" (正義) written on the back of it. He used to carry a Seastone-tipped jutte as his weapon, until it was destroyed during the Battle of Marineford by Boa Hancock. He also wears brown leather gloves, blue jeans with a brown belt and large military issue brown leather boots. The fact that he also rides a custom made motorbike gives off the impression of a delinquent marine.

In the manga, his hair has a white tone and the fur on his coat was initially blue, later changed to dark green, and ultimately modified to follow the anime, albeit with a much lighter green tone, and with green zips as well.

During his stay on an unknown island of the Grand Line, he was seen without his jacket, that he had a subordinate to carry for him. During this time, he was seen keeping his jutte strapped to his back via a series of belts. A scar was visible on the right side of his chest.

After the timeskip, his hair is now longer and slicked back. He is also wearing sunglasses and has a scar on his right eye.

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 Alabasta Incident. He let Luffy go after he found out that Zoro was ordered by Luffy to save him from drowning; however, he quickly lost his temper after Luffy made a stupid remark. He warned Luffy that as a Marine, next time, he would have tried and capture him. Smoker also didn't like taking credit in Alabasta for the Straw Hats' work in defeating Crocodile, telling the World Government to eat shit when they attempted to reward him for it. On the other hand, Smoker is dedicated to the pursuit of global justice against criminals and pirates and will not forget those that forsake the law and manage to escape his grasp, though he appears to share Aokiji's and Garp's "moral justice" and recognizes that not all Marines are as noble as their image suggests, nor should all allies be trusted blindly.

He also tends to hold grudges toward pirates who have escaped him. For example, he prepares to capture Ace and is prepared for a big fight. However, after Luffy unexpectedly interrupts them and throws them through several walls, Smoker, as soon as he sees Luffy, barely acknowledges Ace. He merely shoves him into the ground and prepares to go after Luffy, who is his primary target.

It seems Smoker doesn't like people who make too much noise around him, as he claims that it breaks his focus. Smoker also does not trust the Shichibukai as he sees them as nothing more than pirates. In fact, he has been betrayed by Shichibukai twice so far in the series. His favored weapon is a sea-stone tipped jutte.

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. He even gives her money to buy a new cone. He also shows respect and even protective kindness to his subordinate, Tashigi.

Marines
Smoker is not afraid to openly challenge the higher ranking echelons within the Marines or World Government, going as far as to use a brutal insult in an attempt to reject a promotion that he did not want. He has close ties with Hina as a personal friend due their days of training. Because they have known each other for a long time, Hina calls him Smoker-kun while Smoker addresses Hina by her name alone. He has a close relationship with his subordinate Tashigi. However, he appears to act very harshly to her mistakes, such as confusing another soldier for Smoker due to her not wearing her glasses. Despite this, he's shown that he trusts her judgement, as seen when he tells her to follow her own sense of justice when she goes to Alabasta. Smoker also seems to be on good terms with Aokiji, as he requested Aokiji to negotiate with Sengoku for a transfer to the more dangerous G-5 station in the New World.

Shichibukai
Even though the Shichibukai have allied with the World Government, Smoker, like Sengoku and Kizaru, thinks they are nothing but pirates and cannot be trusted. Indeed, Smoker made an enemy of Crocodile after seeing Operation Utopia, and of Boa Hancock after she defended Luffy.

Monkey D. Luffy
He has a strong desire to capture Luffy dating back to when Luffy was about to be executed by Buggy in Loguetown. Smoker saw the smile Luffy gave off to mirror that of Gol D. Roger's twenty-two years ago, and considered Luffy to be a potential danger to the world. Smoker has always wondered why Dragon would save Luffy in Loguetown, until Sengoku made it public that Dragon is Luffy's father. Ever since then, Smoker has been relentless in trying to catch up to Luffy and capture him. Even after Luffy ordered Zoro to save Smoker from drowning after escaping the Rainbase Hideout, Smoker still had the agenda to someday capture Luffy, only repaying him by letting him go that one time. Smoker is even willing to go as far as to the New World to capture Luffy. Smoker is Luffy's longest running Marine foe to date.

Portgas D. Ace
He also made an enemy of Ace during the Alabasta Arc while Smoker was trying to capture Luffy. Smoker simply states that he couldn't let a pirate such as Ace go so easily. But after Ace helped Luffy escape from Smoker, it is possible that Smoker may have held a grudge against Ace for that.

Abilities and Powers
Smoker is quite a formidable fighter, as on top of his sheer strength, his Logia Devil Fruit powers set him apart from most Marines. In Loguetown, he was on the verge of capturing Luffy during their first encounter, and would have succeeded had it not been for Luffy's father, Monkey D. Dragon.

After the Enies Lobby events, he was shown unsatisfied in capturing a pirate with a bounty of 50,000,000. When Luffy meets him again in Marineford, he comments that Smoker has gotten far stronger before being pinned to the ground. Smoker's overall strength has granted him enough confidence to ask for a reassignment to G-5 in the highly fearsome New World. It is said that the Marines of this branch are insane, cruel, and merciless who stick needles into pirates, feed them to sharks, or use them for kindling. They are known for not following orders.

He is one of the few Marines that has ever beaten Luffy, the others being the two high-ranking Admirals Aokiji and Kizaru as well as the brutish Sentomaru. As a result, Luffy resorts to running away from Smoker if he ever sees him. As evident of his strong build, Smoker possesses incredible physical strength: during their confrontation in Loguetown, he was able to hold down Luffy with him being unable to retaliate, a noteworthy feat, considering Luffy's own inhuman physical power.

He also has great endurance and resistance, as he was able to stand back up with no visible damage and without effort after receiving a kick from Boa Hancock, whose attacks are strong enough to shatter stone and Pacifistas armor (though Hancock's kick was primarily to get him off Luffy).

Smoker has both excellent hearing and memory, as shown during the Alabasta arc when he tells Sanji to attack the third Bananawani that entered the room, since "that growl just now was the same as the one who ate the key". He has also shown great strategic capabilities, as he was able to plan in mere minutes the efficient assault on the pirates in the plaza during Buggy's attempt to kill Luffy.

Devil Fruit
Smoker has eaten the Moku Moku no Mi, a Logia type Devil Fruit which allows him to create, control and become smoke. He can manipulate the smoke's density to make it thick or thin, allowing him to hold and constrict others within it. Like most Logia users, he can fly by turning his lower body into smoke and propelling himself like a rocket.

At this point, he doesn't appear to have any exploitable weakness (aside from the standard Devil Fruit weaknesses), due to his ability to be intangible. With his current mastery over his powers, the only reliable way to injure Smoker is through the use of Haki, as Hancock did during their short battle, or through the standard Devil Fruit weaknesses.

Using his smoke powers, Smoker can power up the engines of his motorbike, the Billower Bike, for on-land and presumably water transportation.

Weapons
Smoker's main weapon is a large jutte that is quite long and is 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.

Since only the tip is seastone, it does not affect Smoker himself. He keeps the tip hanging in the air at all times, and his thick clothing provides further protection. When he turns into smoke, the weapon does not turn into smoke with him because of the seastone. Instead, he carries it with him while in smoke form.



Smoker seems to be very proficient in wielding the jutte, taking enemies by surprise and using the weapon to deliver strong blunt attacks. The jutte was broken in half when Boa Hancock kicked it, which led it to crumble. It is unknown if he had it repaired or got a replacement, as he is still wielding a jutte after two years. Its hilt is white in the manga, but red in the anime. Also, in the manga and in its related merchandise and products, it seems to be much longer than in the anime, almost reaching down to Smoker's feet.

Haki
Smoker is aware of the existence of Haki, though his exact knowledge in that area is unclear. It was stated that all vice admirals possess Haki, so Smoker can also use the ability, since he was promoted over the timeskip. However, he has not yet been shown using it.

Early Life
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.

Smoker was also present at Loguetown during Gol D. Roger's death.

Mission at Loguetown
Some time prior to the current storyline, Smoker managed to become Marine Captain (大佐, Taisa), and was charged with the protection of Loguetown, the city in which the Pirate King was born, and then executed. Some citizens as well as some of his subordinates were apparently afraid of him, most likely because of his smoke powers, his imposing appearance and his sharp manners; the captain however seemed to care deeply for the inhabitants of the city. This is seen when he did not get angry when a little girl accidentally bumped into him, spilling her ice cream on one of his pant legs. He instead gave the girl money to buy a bigger ice cream.



When Buggy was preparing Luffy's execution, he reached the plaza with his men, and when the execution-platform was destroyed by a lightning strike, he captured Buggy and his crew with his smoke powers. He then chased after Luffy on his Billower Bike and was able to reach him near the town's entrance. There he rapidly dispatched Sanji and then got into a small duel with the Straw Hat captain. Luffy was clearly at a disadvantage, and the only reason he and his crew were able to get away is because of the mysterious "Revolutionary" Dragon (Luffy's father) who appeared to cause a freak storm.

Nevertheless, Smoker 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, he believes there is something special about him, since he was smiling and seemed happy (just as Gol D. 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.

Why did he smile...? Why? Did he know he would be saved? No. In that instant, he must have understood that his life was going to end. Death. He accepted it. He was fully prepared for it and smiled.

War in Alabasta
Smoker manages to intercept the conversation between Mr. 0 and Sanji and plans to go to Alabasta. Smoker and Ace are confronting each other in the restaurant. Smoker starts to make a move to arrest Ace, when suddenly; a starving Luffy bumps into the restaurant, propelling both Smoker and Ace away in the process. While Luffy is starting to eat in front of a bemused assembly, Smoker and Ace realise that the guy who hit them is the one they are looking for. Smoker reacts first and confronts Luffy.

After an abnormal amount of time, Luffy realises his situation and flees the restaurant, hence not realising the presence of Ace. While the marines are pursuing Luffy, the rest of the crew has bought some local clothes (much to Sanji's delight) in order to remain anonymous. Unfortunately for them, their captain soon gives them out, forcing everyone to flee. While Smoker is about to catch Luffy thanks to his Moku Moku no Mi, Ace interposes. 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. Back in Nanohana, Smoker looks concerned, but not because he was not able to catch the Straw Hat, rather because he saw that the princess of Alabasta was among them. The Straw Hats finally arrive at Rainbase. Unfortunately, while they are buying some water, Luffy and Usopp bump into Smoker and Tashigi. The marine captain was suspicious about Crocodile’s activities and decides to come to Rainbase as well. A pirate hunt starts. Cornered by the marines, the Straw Hat Pirates (except Chopper who left for a personal break) decide to split and meet up at Crocodile's casino. After the chase, Luffy, Usopp, Nami, and Zoro arrive at the casino followed by Smoker. Making a ruckus into the casino, Luffy, Usopp, Zoro and Nami are invited to a V.I.P. room by Crocodile. Smoker is chasing them, but the end up being locked a very annoying prison. Smoker reveals to them that the cell they are shut into is made of Seastone, a material that has the power to drain devil fruit power like the sea does. Then, a sarcastic Crocodile shows himself mocking their helplessness.

When Vivi appears, she can not control herself at the sight of her enemy and tries to attack him. But she is powerless against the sand man who ate the Suna Suna no Mi. Crocodile announces the beginning of his plan in order to destroy Alabasta: Utopia starts at 7 o clock. Crocodile tells Vivi that he and Miss All Sunday are about to meet her father. Sanji, nicknamed as Mr. Prince, fools Crocodile by letting him go outside of the casino by pretending to be dead. Usopp and Luffy yell at Smoker asking why he was so calm in such a situation, but Smoker responds by asking how much of Crocodile's plan the Strawhats know. He tells them that Crocodile and Miss All Sunday paring up may shake the entire world, but Luffy says that no reasons are needed to beat Crocodile up. When Smoker asks how they are going to escape, the Strawhats remember their situation and start panicking again, and Luffy starts to feel faint because of the seawater touching him.

Sanji finally appears, defeating a Bananawani with a single kick, to everyone's surprise. As more Bananawani’s close in, Smoker tells the Strawhats that the third Bananawani that came in is the one that ate the key. When Luffy asks how he knows, Smoker says the voice is the same. Mr. 3 who has survived into the Bananawani stomach by putting himself into a wax ball is ejected thanks to one of Sanji's kick. Thanks to his power, they are able to force him creating a key that open the gate. When they are about to escape, the room collapse but everyone managed to swim to the surface safely. Even Smoker has been carried by Zoro. When the marine asked the swordman about the reason of his action, Zoro tells him it was an order from Luffy. Annoyed by the Straw Hat captain unlogic behaviour, Smoker does not arrest them. Instead he asks for his men to call for marine reinforcement.

While Luffy is fighting Crocodile for the first time in Rainbase, people talk about the sandstorm they see. Tashigi tells Smoker about it, which he simply looks on at. Smoker tells Tashigi to go straight to Alubarna by herself and do whatever she feels is her own justice there. Smoker tells her to watch closely how this place will end up, whether it gets destroyed or not, and drives away. After the Alabasta arc, and the fall of Baroque Works Smoker has been rejoined by another captain Hina and ask her to bring the captured Crocodile to the marine in his place and when Tashigi rejoins them and report of her failure to capture the Strawhat, instead of blaming the Swordswoman, he asks her to become stronger. The Marines officially declare Smoker as the one who defeated 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, refuses both the medals and promotions the Marines offered him and Tashigi. He even openly admits that it was Luffy and his crew that truly defeated Crocodile and Baroque Works, but they refuse to listen to him.

A message to Aokiji
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.

After Enies Lobby
After the Enies Lobby incident on an island somewhere in the Grand Line, Smoker has just caught a pirate worth 50,000,000, although he didn't find it that hard and just wishes he could get some rest. Tashigi, who is now called a sergeant, comes up to him and tells him that Headquarters called, telling him about their award ceremony for the Crocodile incident at Alabasta or so she thought. She is actually talking to a random Marine soldier because she didn't have her glasses on. Smoker doesn’t seem to care, saying that what the marines need is blood; they need a group stronger then the Straw Hat pirates. Then he bets his pride that he will crush them, in "The New World"!

War Against Whitebeard


When the execution of Portgas D. Ace isannounced, Smoker reported to the summoning of the Marines to reinforce Marineford. Three hours before Ace's execution, he isseen with Tashigi listening to Sengoku's speech about Ace's past. He isstunned along with Tashigi to see Crocodile amongst the members of Luffy's newly-gathered expedition to save Ace. Sengoku's revelation of Luffy being Dragon's son hasfinally made Smoker understand why the Leader of the Revolutionaries saved the Straw Hat pirate in Loguetown.



Later, Smoker decides to confront Luffy. As Luffy continues to battle Marine soldiers, Smoker bursts towards him, intent on settling the score. Smoker manages to strike Luffy with his Seastone jutte, dealing more damage than Luffy would usually take. Luffy strikes back with Gomu Gomu no Jet Bazooka, but the attacks slip right through Smoker's smoke. As Smoker and Luffy comment on how the other has become stronger, the former pins the latter to the ground with his jutte.

Smoker muses on how he finally understands why Dragon saved Luffy back at Loguetown, while Luffy struggles to free himself from Smoker's restraint. Hancock suddenly kicks Smoker away, her Haki allowing her to make contact with Smoker. When Smoker asks why Hancock isn't fulfilling her duty as Shichibukai, Hancock states that she has never felt that angry in her life, and that she wouldn't let anyone harm her beloved Luffy. Onlooking Marines confuse the interaction as Luffy knocking Hancock down. Smoker, however, isn't deterred, preparing to take chase after Luffy again; Hancock interfered once more, though, with a Perfume Femur kick, causing Smoker's jutte to snap in two. Hancock then looks down on Smoker to the point of looking up, telling him that she won't let him pass. When Smoker asks if Hancock realizes the consequences of getting in the way of the Marines, she says that whatever she do she will be forgiven.

Smoker and Tashigi are later seen retreating to the plaza as Sengoku was about to execute the final stages of his plan. After the death of Portgas D. Ace, he is seen condemning the marines still fighting against the pirates as their objective had been completed. After the arrival of Shanks, Smoker is seen standing down with the other marines.

After the War


After the war, he is seen in Aokiji's office, talking with him and asking about his reassignment to the G-5 Marine base in the New World, while brushing off the recent news of Luffy infiltrating Marineford to ring the Ox Bell 16 times.

The Perfect Oppotunity Arrives
After the timeskip, Smoker (promoted to vice admiral) and Tashigi (promoted to captain) are now in charge of G-5. They are seen capturing some pirates who came up from Fishman Island after they were freed from Hody's clutches. Smoker tells Tashigi to be quiet, since he is in the middle of an interrogation. Smoker turns toward his prisoners, reiterating that pirates were being enslaved by Hody Jones, citing that as the explanation why no rookies came through Fishman Island in the last month. But now, they're coming out of the sea practically non-stop. The captured pirates then go on to say that there was a pirate who stopped Hody's war, ultimately freeing them. One guy shuts him up, saying that they are dealing with G-5, listing rumors of their torture methods. Other Marines ask Smoker if they could have the prisoners now. One pirate blurts out that it was the Straw Hat Pirates who saved them. Smoker tells them that he already knew that.

Major Battles

 * Smoker vs. Buggy, Alvida and Buggy Pirates
 * Smoker vs. Monkey D. Luffy and Sanji (interrupted by Monkey D. Dragon); Luffy fights Smoker by himself in Anime.
 * Smoker vs. Portgas D. Ace
 * Smoker and Tashigi vs. unnamed pirate with a bounty of 50,000,000 (not seen)
 * Smoker, Tashigi and other Marines vs. Whitebeard Pirates
 * Smoker vs. Monkey D. Luffy (interrupted by Boa Hancock)
 * Smoker vs. Boa Hancock

Filler Battles

 * Smoker vs. Galley
 * Smoker vs. Monkey D. Luffy (Town Square; Loguetown)

Anime and Manga differences
In the manga, his hair color is pure white, as opposed to his greenish-grey color in the anime. The fur on his jacket was initially blue, but was later changed to green to follow the anime.

In the anime, the subplot on Smoker's backstory he mentions about Gol D. Roger is expanded on in Loguetown. However, in the manga, Smoker's comments on Roger were merely just a passing comment and only Roger's face is seen.

Instead of learning about Luffy when he was about to be executed by Buggy and Alvida, Smoker learns about him earlier. He is informed that some pirates are creating havoc in the harbor. Thinking that this crew is the Straw Hat Pirates, Smoker prepares to go there. There he finds an elderly pirate called Crescent Moon Galley who has a bounty of 3,450,000. He and his crew are seen raiding buildings at Loguetown before being captured by Captain Smoker, who was disappointed that Galley was not Luffy since that was the pirate Smoker was hoping to find. Then Luffy appears. He asks Smoker about the execution gallows. Smoker not knowing who he is, shows him the way. Then, he finds out his true identity and he heads to the execution platform. He challenges Luffy into a fight. Smoker even without his devil fruit powers gains the upper hand. Luffy manages to accidentally send himself flying into another part of town.

Later, Daddy Materson is seen talking to Captain Smoker and asking him to sign a release. Smoker asks him about his daughter and claims it is sad how the Marines' best sniper is reduced to a common bounty hunter. Just as he is about to leave Smoker tells him to say hi to Carol for him at which Daddy replies; "I'll tell her Uncle Smoker said hello." Immediately after he leaves the room Tashigi asks him if the man was Daddy Masterson and Smoker replies with great praise and from there he refers to him as an equal. In the anime during the race back to the Going Merry, Luffy fights Smoker alone and the Marines attack the ship forcing Nami to pull the Going Merry away from the docks. Sanji's role is placed here rather than the fight with Smoker as he fights the Marines attacking the ship.

Also, as of episode 488, Smoker is seen using his miraculously-repaired jutte, even though Hancock had destroyed it earlier in the anime.

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 games One Piece: Grand Battle and One Piece: Grand Adventure has his cigars strapped to his coat, despite the previous editing. Additionally, his power was changed from smoke to steam.

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 sub-arachnoid hemorrhage. Subsequently, Mahito Oba (the voice of the Narrator) took over the role of Smoker, beginning with episode 94.
 * In the 4th Japanese Fan Poll, Smoker is ranked the 20th most popular character.
 * His birthday is March 14, a Japanese holiday called White Day (coinciding with his smoke powers, and "white" theme to his attack names).
 * Smoker is the first Logia-type Devil Fruit user to be introduced in the series.
 * One of his hobbies appears to be rock balancing.

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