Kuzan

Kuzan, better known by his former alias Aokiji, is a former Marine admiral and the first one to be revealed. He was nominated by Sengoku for the position of fleet admiral. However, after losing the position to Sakazuki, he resigned from the Marines.

He is a minor antagonist of the Long Ring Long Land Arc, and along with the other Marines, he is one of the main antagonists of the Marineford Arc.

Appearance
Kuzan is an incredibly tall man and is roughly of the same size as the other two admirals Sakazuki and Borsalino, the latter clearly taller than Brook but it seems that he also is shorter than Doflamingo who is 305 cm (10'0") tall.

His standard outfit while in the Marines consists of a white buttoned-up vest over a long-sleeved navy blue shirt and matching white trousers and shoes. He also wears a yellow tie divided geometrically by black lines and a sleep mask on his forehead. During his preparations for the war against Whitebeard, Kuzan has a white Marine coat draped over him like a cape, as did the other admirals. He also is seen wearing a green and purple sleep mask at all times two years ago from the present timeline. In contrast to Borsalino and Sakazuki, Kuzan is younger than his colleagues.

As a child Kuzan had a grimace on his face. He wore a dirty light blue shirt and a purple pair of shorts with white stripes. He carried an umbrella tied on his back, a bottle of alcohol and a backpack. Also, his hair was curlier compared to his current hairstyle.

In his youth, Kuzan wore a white marine cap and a shirt.

Twenty-two years ago during the Ohara Incident, Kuzan wore a dark blue bandanna with a white Marine symbol on it, as well as a pair of black round sunglasses.

After the timeskip, he wears an attire similar to the outfit he wore during the bombardment of Ohara. This consists of a blue bandana and a dark blue trench-coat along with black pants and a white deep V-neck shirt. He also now wears black cowboy boots and travels with a knapsack carrying his belongings along with his old pair of green round sunglasses. He, like his rival Sakazuki, has also grown facial hair, namely, a thin mustache and a beard.

After his duel on Punk Hazard, Kuzan received several burn scars spanning from the right side of his neck down to his entire right shoulder and onto his torso. His right hand is also heavily scarred and most noticeably he's lost part of his left leg, for which he now wears a prosthesis made of ice formed from his Devil Fruit ability.

Personality


Kuzan is a very laid back man, showing no shock or surprise from almost anything. His lack of interest and "Lazy Justice" (だらけきった正義) (as he describes his motto himself) often leads others to believe that he can not possibly be a marine of such a high ranking. However, if he deems a situation worthy, he will take action, as shown when he created a passage to another island for Tonjit at Long Ring Long Land.

He appears to be the most benevolent of the three admirals, helping Tonjit at Long Ring Land to cross the ocean with the power of his Devil Fruit and even letting Nico Robin escape the Buster Call on Ohara. He seems to dislike the Shichibukai, or at least Crocodile, as he said that the only reason he did not kill Luffy was that Luffy had defeated Crocodile.

The thing called "justice" changes its shape... Depending on where you stand.

In contrast to his former colleague, fleet admiral Sakazuki, Kuzan has a sense of honor, as he keeps his word to not attack the Straw Hat Pirates after accepting a one-on-one battle with Luffy. Kuzan's moral stance is unknown, but it is likely that he follows Moral Justice. He is disgusted by Sakazuki's brutal actions in dealing with situations (such as the Ohara Incident), calling him a fool. While he may follow Moral Justice, he does understand the position his ranking puts him in, as he does not hesitate to do what is necessary for the needs of the Marines, as shown when he freezes Jaguar D. Saul after the Ohara incident, and attacked Luffy and Whitebeard during the Marineford War.

Aokiji was a faithful follower of the World Government. He always tried to follow orders but sometimes found his own ideals in opposition to his orders. Even as he followed his orders, he would sometimes exhibit a sense of mercy and honor that other World Government officials did not. Like many characters in One Piece (for example, Jaguar D. Saul and Smoker), after witnessing the senseless murder of many innocent people, Aokiji may have come to realize the depths to which the World Government will sink to accomplish their goals.

His relaxed demeanor while performing the more macabre of his duties is similar to that of Borsalino, making him one of the more complicated characters in the series. Despite not really wanting the position of fleet admiral, he was even more opposed to Sakazuki getting the position, and dueled his fellow admiral rather than letting him take it. After being defeated, Kuzan chose to resign from the Marines rather than stay under Akainu's command.

He has a recurring phrase, "Arara", meaning "Oh, my", which is frequently used when something surprises him.

Marines
Kuzan also appears to have some connection to Garp, saying he once "owed a favor" to Garp. It is currently unknown what the nature of this favor was, or what Luffy's grandfather did for Kuzan to gain this debt. He also admired (maybe even idolized) Garp for consistently refusing promotions, since the latter was already satisfied with the rank bestowed upon him since the time of Roger. However, with Luffy's choice of piracy, even the favor and admiration are not enough to let him spare Luffy's life during their encounter at Marineford, though whether it was because he felt that Ace was too much of a risk to be left alive, because letting Luffy go publicly would get him into severe trouble, or because he has something personal against pirates is unknown.

Kuzan was a close friend of Jaguar D. Saul. Apparently, one of the reasons that he let Robin go during the destruction of Ohara is because of Saul. He states that he respected Saul's will and felt it was his duty to watch over Robin's life until she found her place. However, this friendship was not enough for Kuzan to spare Saul's life.

Kuzan detests Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, because the latter follows a policy of "Absolute Justice". This disgust dates back many years, as during the time when both were still vice admirals, Sakazuki killed innocent Ohara civilians to ensure that none of the archaeologists escaped the Buster Call, causing Kuzan to call him a fool. After Sengoku resigned, Admiral Aokiji was strongly opposed against Admiral Akainu becoming fleet admiral and fought him for the position, even though Kuzan himself originally had little interest in it. They battled for 10 days but Aokiji was defeated (albeit barely) and he resigned from the Marines rather than serve under Akainu. Nonetheless he was not above telling Smoker to warn Akainu about the danger Doflamingo posed to the new Marine HQ, showing a degree of concern for the well being of the Marines, despite disagreeing with Akainu's ideals.

Kuzan also seems to be familiar with Smoker, since he mentioned Smoker and the message given to him about Luffy, though Kuzan chose not to give it, as he thought it was stupid. They were also talking together in his office about Smoker's transfer to G-5. In the Punk Hazard Arc he even goes as far as to call the Vice Admiral his friend.

Sengoku seems to trust Kuzan well enough to lead the Marines since he nominated him to be fleet admiral.

During his time as Marine Instructor, Zephyr trained Kuzan. Due to this, Kuzan seems to very much respect him and even though he wanted to stop his former teacher from destroying the New World, he never attacked him. Also, in the end, Kuzan helps him to protect Ain, erecting an ice wall between her and Zephyr, and consoles the young woman and Binz, talking about how great a man Zephyr was.

Shichibukai
Kuzan also seems to have some kind of grudge against Crocodile (if not all of the Shichibukai). After sparing Luffy's life, Aokiji says, "With your defeat of Crocodile, we'll just call it even." Kuzan, however, did apologize (albeit sarcastically) to Jinbe for freezing the ocean to prevent escape.

Straw Hat Pirates
Aokiji is first encountered in the plot by the "Straw Hat Pirates", immediately following the conclusion of the "Davy Back Fight", and the fight against "Foxy the Silver Fox". Initially, Aokiji stated that he is not here to arrest or execute the "Straw Hats and said that he was merely here to view their progress. However, just as the "Straw Hats" were about to leave, Aokiji appeared to have a change of heart, and announces that he was here to arrest Nico Robin, on the account of understanding the forbidden "Poneglyph" text/language, and also for being the only survivor of "Ohara", her home island (which was horrendously massacred by the Marine-commissioned "Buster Call", following reports that the residing scholars there had discovered the truth about the "Void Century" through interpreting the "Poneglyphs"). The "Straw Hats" attempted to protect her, but Aokiji soundly defeated all of them, including Luffy twice, but he let them live out of mercy and of curiosity, as to how they would survive against the odds in the Grand Line.

Kuzan shows some disappointment in the fact that Nico Robin had taken the path of piracy and had not changed her life for the better (although she did have a bounty put on her, making it impossible to live a normal life). It is also revealed that Aokiji and Nico Robin share a past as "Vice-Admiral Kuzan", Aokiji was forced to freeze and kill his good friend, former Vice-Admiral Jaguar D. Saul, due to the latter refusing to participate in the "Ohara" massacre. As it happened, Saul was also Robin's best friend at the time, and it became a very traumatic moment for the little girl, who is fearful of Aokiji to this date. As a testament to the giant's friendship, Aokiji allowed Robin to escape from "Ohara", but he warned her that should they ever cross paths again, he would be her enemy, and he would attempt to arrest or even kill her.

However, later, he seemed to retain some concern for her well-being, as he was relieved to see her finally find a place to belong with the Straw Hat Pirates. The two did manage to encounter one-another during the post-"Enies Lobby" celebrations, but Aokiji decided against action, and even encouraged Robin to continue sailing with the "Straw Hats", remarking they are unlike any of the other crews or organizations that she joined in the past, and they truly understand the concept of "friendship".

Kuzan is shown to have a grudging respect for the young captain, even though he is a pirate. Due to Kuzan's power, the fated conflict between him and the Straw Hats prompted Luffy to be less naive towards future conflicts; for this reason Kuzan served as the starting point for Luffy to push his strength beyond his limits. Kuzan is shown to be impressed by Luffy's quick rise in infamy; Luffy and the Straw Hats escape from the Marines' strongest battle force; Luffy being able to escape Impel Down, bringing several notorious convicts with him; and Luffy being able to penetrate Marine HQ to ring the Ox Bell. Kuzan was also visibly shocked when Luffy used Haoshoku Haki.

He also non-cannonly helped the Straw Hat Pirates by giving them information about former admiral Z’s plans to destroy the New World.

Abilities and Powers
As a former admiral, Kuzan was able to command a vast number of Marine troops under his rank. Most of all, he had the ability to order a Buster Call attack on any island. In fact, his overall abilities were so vast that Sengoku suggested to World Government Commander-in-Chief Kong that Kuzan should become the succeeding fleet admiral. However, after leaving the Marines, he has forfeited these privileges. He was able to easily overpower Luffy and the other Straw Hats single-handedly.

A notable example of Kuzan’s reputation is Nico Robin from the Straw Hat Pirates, related to her childhood trauma, she constantly loses her grip and starts panicking whenever an admiral is around, this being significant as she rarely panics even in most of the dangerous situations.

He is also a skilled navigator, being able to travel the Grand Line with a bike and after the timeskip travelling the New World with a penguin.

Along with this, he is very powerful, as being an admiral grants him the title of the strongest individual fighter within the World Government and Marines, and is able to fight against notably powerful figures such as Diamond Jozu, the Third Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, defeating him with relative ease, and could even fight Whitebeard himself equally.

Furthermore, he was able to battle against his colleague Sakazuki on equal standing, and they dealt each other severe injuries during their 10 day duel to the death before Aokiji ultimately was defeated, thus demonstrating enhanced endurance. Kuzan was considered to be a massive asset to the Marines, and his departure left a negative impact to their military strength.

Physical Abilities
Aside from that and his Devil Fruit powers, his physical attributes are also extremely high, as he is able to repel simultaneous attacks from Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji without taking any damage, and took a Haki imbued kick from Marco and was seen with no injuries moments later.

He also jumped to a very extreme height in mere seconds, in order to freeze a pair of tsunamis caused by Whitebeard. He is also able to travel at tremendous speed, as seen when attacking Buggy, whether this is due to him using Soru, his Devil Fruit or just his natural speed is unknown. He also has extremely acute hearing, being able to hear activity underwater, before the Whitebeard War began.

He was also acknowledged by Jaguar D. Saul, who had destroyed several huge warships and had lifted one by himself, that Kuzan's strength was abnormal, even before he was an admiral. Another testament to his power as an admiral is that he emerged mostly unharmed after the Whitebeard War.

Devil Fruit



Kuzan has the powers of the Hie Hie no Mi, a Logia Devil Fruit that allows him to control, create, and become ice. He can create enough ice to cover a giant, a Sea King or several square miles of ocean within mere moments. He was even able to freeze the tsunamis created by Whitebeard, despite their size surpassing that of Marineford. In battle, he uses his ice powers to disable and immobilize enemies, freezing their bodies solid just by touching them, and threatening to shatter their fragile forms. Like other Logia users, he is capable of breaking himself into his particular element to avoid damage from most physical attacks. Kuzan also has extreme amounts of resistance towards cold, due to his Devil Fruit's element. This fruit is so powerful that his usage of it during his ten day battle with Akainu permanently changed the weather on one side of Punk Hazard, turning that side into a frozen wasteland.

In addition, Kuzan is one of the few Devil Fruit users who has adapted their powers to travel efficiently across the sea. In his case, he simply rides his bicycle the Ao Chari across the sea, due to the water freezing as the wheels pass over it. This freezing ability, which can be used on a very large scale, renders Kuzan one of the few Devil Fruit users who can actually counteract the weakness of falling into a large body of water and drowning, as he can just freeze the water and stand on the ice.

Haki
It was stated that all vice admirals possess Haki, so with a rank above vice admiral, Kuzan can also use the ability.

During the Battle of Marineford, 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.

Weapons
Kuzan is shown to be quite adept at using weapons formed out of his ice powers, such as a sword and throwing spears.

Joining the Marines
At age 19, Kuzan enlisted in the Marines and came under the tutelage of instructor Zephyr. Even though he joined the marines, he stated that he never held the organization at high esteem to begin with.

A Storm in the Edd War
When the Marines learned that the Roger Pirates and the Golden Lion Pirates were about to battle in the Edd War, three years before the death of the Pirate King, Kuzan was seen in the Marineford, walking with Garp, Saul, Sakazuki and Tsuru, telling the Hero of the Marines that him turning down another promotion was really something cool.

Ohara Incident
Kuzan was revealed to have been at least indirectly involved in the incident at Ohara that prompted the Marines to put a bounty on Nico Robin's head. At that time, Vice Admiral Kuzan appears to have been responsible for the deployment of Cipher Pol No. 9 in pursuit of the "criminal" archaeologists of Ohara.

While the full extent of his involvement in the incident has yet to be revealed, it is clear that the destruction of the civilian fleet, ordered by the former Vice Admiral Sakazuki, who later became promoted to admiral (now fleet admiral), came as a complete shock to Kuzan. The original order that had been sent was for all those that had not been involved with the Ohara scholars and the Poneglyph, to be safely transported off the island. However, Sakazuki's course of action was the complete opposite.

And remember this: I am not your ally... If you do anything, I'm the 'enemy' that will be the first to catch you.



Aokiji then froze Jaguar D. Saul using his Devil Fruit powers, killing his friend. He helped Nico Robin to escape via the use of his Devil Fruit powers, by freezing a trail in the ocean for her boat to sail safely through. Before her departure, he warned her that he is not her ally despite this one assistance, and would be quick to come after her, if he ever felt that she was a threat.

As part of his plot in saving Robin, Kuzan froze Spandine's ship's rudder, but regardless, Spandine saw Robin and had her marked for capture. Kuzan seemed troubled when he was present at the meeting between the Marines and Spandine.

Davy Back Fight Arc
Twenty years later, when the Marine HQ discovered that he was missing, they informed the Gorosei about the situation. The Gorosei were upset with Aokiji's action and remarked that he should watch his rank.

Aokiji managed to reach Long Ring Long Land island. How he knew the Straw Hat Pirates were at this island is unknown, yet he managed to track Robin there. Standing in front of Tonjit's house, he slept.

After the Straw Hat Pirates finished the Davy Back Fight, they return to Tonjit with the pirate flag. Gleefully, Tonjit walked to the door of his house, only to bump into a sleeping Aokiji standing there. This terrifies Robin, because Aokiji was one of her past demons. Aokiji woke up and began to make excuses that he wanted to inspect something. He froze the water with his power to create a bridge for Tonjit to cross.

After the Straw Hats bid their good byes to Tonjit, Aokiji lied by saying that he once tried to arrest Robin, but fled. Yet he started to talk nonsense, confusing the pirates, then Sanji and Luffy got angry with him. Aokiji told Luffy that his anger reminds him of his grandfather. Luffy was startled that his grandfather was mentioned; when Usopp asked Luffy what was wrong, Luffy nervously said nothing. After that, Aokiji then announced that maybe they should just die.

Aokiji decided to test the Straw Hat Pirates by lying to them about Robin's past. He said that everyone around Robin gets wiped away with her being the only person left standing, referring to the actual situation that happened to Robin's mother. The truth is Robin only ran away from people who tried to kill her or turn her in. The Straw Hats never knew about Robin's past and stand with Robin against him. Aokiji started to call Robin a demon and an unfortunate woman. He told them that one day they will regret carrying Robin around.

Angry and tired of Aokiji's taunting game, she uses her Devil Fruit abilities to break him into pieces against Usopp's wishes. Thinking he is dead, the Straw Hats prepared to flee, but Aokiji returned back in one piece, grabbed some grass and breathed on the grass to create an ice saber, but was parried by Zoro when he attempted to kill Robin. The sabre was kicked away (and thus destroyed) by Sanji shortly thereafter.

Zoro rushed in attempting to cut him only to be caught by the wrist, Sanji tried to kick him but was grabbed by the thigh, Luffy tried to punch him in the stomach, but when he connected, his hand was frozen. Sanji and Zoro were also frozen on the leg and arm respectively. Nami blocked Aokiji with her staff but was pushed away.

He then froze Robin into solid ice and threatened to punch her into pieces, claiming the world would be better off without her. Luffy saved Robin in the nick of time, but Aokiji said that they should not try to save her and was going to step on her, but Usopp and Chopper managed to save her and drag her back to the ship.



Luffy ordered his crew to go back to the ship as he faced Aokiji one-on-one. Luffy tried to send him flying with his Gomu Gomu no Storm, but he was quickly frozen up by Aokiji. Having Luffy frozen solid, he realises that Luffy tricked him. By agreeing to a one on one fight with Luffy, he could not attack his crew. He remarks that Robin would bring him only misfortune. He then decided not to kill Luffy, saying that he did the World Government a favour by defeating Crocodile and commented that Smoker's message was too stupid. As Aokiji left on his bike across the ocean, he noticed that the Straw Hat Pirates are heading to Water 7 which is close to the Marine HQ.

He then called Spandam, who was ready to have his Unit finish the mission, who was informed that Robin is heading to Water 7. It is later stated by Spandam (though never shown) that Aokiji also gave the Golden Den Den Mushi to him to at this time in order summon a Buster Call. Spandam decided to wait until Robin arrived at Water 7.

Interestingly, this conflict with Aokiji would set in motion the defection of two Straw Hats. After their conversation, Robin began developing paranoia about the crew abandoning her as had happened many times in the past. She would later allow herself to be captured by CP9, preferring to die rather than be betrayed. After witnessing Aokiji's powers, Usopp begins to question his own strength in relation to the crew and the future enemies they will face. This would later contribute to him leaving as well. It would seem that his confrontation with the Straw Hats played a major part in what was to come next, and culminated in the Straw Hats rescuing Nico Robin from Enies Lobby, defeating the seemingly invincible CP9, and escaping the Buster Call.

Seeing all this, Aokiji was seen again witnessing the aftermath of their raid at Enies Lobby, and the Buster Call attack. They had passed his "test" far beyond his expectations. When he was asked by a Marine over the Den Den Mushi whether they should continue to pursue the Straw Hats, Aokiji declined, noting the Marines suffered heavy casualties already, calling their battle "a complete defeat".

Post-Enies Lobby Arc


After the destruction of Enies Lobby, Aokiji visited Water 7 and had a secret conversation with Robin. Apparently, Aokiji and Saul were good friends, and 20 years ago, he let Robin go because of his friendship with Saul. He also said that he intended for everything to end at Enies Lobby, but he did not expect the CP9 to lose to the Straw Hats. However, when he asked Robin why she did not run from the Straw Hats like she did before, Robin told him she does not want to see them die. Aokiji bids Robin farewell, telling her to live strong, live on and that Ohara is not fully destroyed, presumably meaning that the memory and purpose of Ohara live on within her and left by appearing to instantly disappear with his ice abilities.

A while later, he is seen leaving Dock 1 on his bike. Robin speculates that he is responsible for excluding all the non-Straw Hat Pirates (outside Franky, who joined the Straw Hats after the incident) from the report on the Enies Lobby incident, instead making them out to be innocent civilians who got caught up in all the commotion.

Later, he asked for Garp to lend him a ride on his ship back to Marine HQ because riding back there on his bike was "such a bother". He witnessed the Straw Hats' new ship the Thousand Sunny leaping into the air to escape and, seemingly impressed by it, smiled.

Marineford Arc


Following the announcement of Portgas D. Ace's execution, Aokiji has been summoned to lead the Marines in the battle against the Whitebeard Pirates, and has arrived at Marine Headquarters. Aokiji sat over the execution platform of Portgas D. Ace with his fellow admirals, watching over it.

When Whitebeard's forces arrived and their captain used the Gura Gura no Mi powers to create two massive tidal waves, Aokiji freezes them both with Ice Age, then attacks Whitebeard with his Partisan. However, he is shattered by one of Whitebeard's seismic waves, which the admiral takes in stride. He then froze the bay water of Marineford, which not only held all the pirate ships from moving, but also served as a foothold for them. Having reformed himself at some point, Aokiji can only remark at the motley crew that Luffy helped gather at Impel Down for his attempt at freeing Ace from the Marines.

After Whitebeard is attacked by Squard, Aokiji follows Sengoku's orders and freezes Buggy and the Impel Down prisoners loyal to him, stopping them from showing the world any more of the battle. When Whitebeard fired off a shockwave towards the execution platform itself, the three admirals, including Aokiji, are seen raising their hands in order to block the sheer concussive force of the shockwave. Aokiji mutters how slow they are at raising the encircling walls in time. Akainu chides Aokiji for his ice being the problem, with Kizaru chiming in for the latter to just melt his ice.

Later, when Luffy leaps over the siege wall, with a large piece of broken mast in hand, Aokiji comments on how, despite how far he has come, that Luffy still was not ready to "play with the big boys". When Luffy simply brings the broken mast piece to bear, Aokiji freezes it before it could somehow damage the three admirals and watches as the frozen piece of wood smashes beneath the assault of kicks almost immediately following it.



Luffy, having been (once more) prevented from reaching the execution platform, then gets cornered by Aokiji. He comments that he is in debt to Luffy's grandfather but that he has no choice since Luffy himself chose this path of death for himself. He stabs Luffy through his shoulder with an Ice Sabre and as he is about to impale him again, Marco intervenes and shatters the spear with a single kick that knocks Aokiji away from Luffy.

Aokiji is then seen blocking Whitebeard's bisento attack with his Ice Ball. After seeing that he failed to freeze Whitebeard's earthquake, he commented that he did not know that earthquakes could not be frozen. He then got stabbed by Whitebeard's bisento, to which pirates are seen wondering if Aokiji was stabbed with Haki and if he was dead. Aokiji told them not to spout nonsense before grabbing the bisento and using his Ice Block Partisan attack. All of a sudden, Jozu attacks him and Aokiji is caught off-guard, even bleeding from his mouth.

When Jozu is distracted upon seeing Marco being shot by Kizaru's laser beam, Aokiji warns him that he should not be getting distracted and freezes his right arm, and then his entire body, forcing him to fall over resulting in his right arm shattering, before commenting that the Whitebeard Pirates are finished. When Luffy unleashes a burst of Haōshoku Haki, Aokiji is seen shocked at his power.



After Ace is freed, he attacks Ace and Luffy, but Ace blocked his attack with his fire. Aokiji is later seen with a solemn expression after witnessing Akainu striking Ace from behind with a magma fist. After Whitebeard's death, Aokiji froze the sea once again in order for the pirates not to leave Marineford.

When Jinbe tries to escape into Marineford Bay with Luffy and notices that it was been frozen over, Aokiji is seen nearby apologising to Jinbe. As the Heart Pirates are leaving with Luffy in their submarine, Aokiji attempts to freeze them with an Ice Age, but the Heart Pirates' submarine manages to elude him. After that, he stands down.

Post-War Arc
He is later seen in his office in Marineford with Commodore Smoker, commenting on Luffy's return to Marineford and the ringing of the Ox Bell. The admiral wonders if the Ox Bell ringing was some kind of message. Aokiji then spoke with Smoker about the Commodore's request for transfer to Marine outpost G-5 in the New World. Unsure of being able to grant his transfer, he assured he would negotiate with Sengoku for approval. Aokiji was then recently nominated by Sengoku to be the next fleet admiral upon the latter's resignation.

A Fierce Duel and Resignation


Even though Sengoku supported Aokiji as a candidate for the next fleet admiral, many of the upper brass of the World Government nominated Akainu. Aokiji strongly opposed Akainu becoming fleet admiral and fought him for the position. They battled on Punk Hazard, with the fight lasting for ten days.

According to Smoker, the battle between these two was so ferocious that it literally changed the weather of Punk Hazard Island. Akainu ended up as the winner, but had sympathy enough to spare Aokiji's life in spite of it being meant as a battle to the death. Afterwards, Aokiji resigned from the Marines, not wanting to work under Sakazuki.

Timeskip
Donquixote Doflamingo and Smoker have speculated that sometime around the timeskip, Kuzan affiliated himself with the Underworld of Brokers. Kuzan has neither confirmed nor denied these suspicions.

One Piece Film: Z
Kuzan first appeared near Firs Island's on his bicycle, watching an explosion caused by the fight between Zephyr and Borsalino. He then left after asking himself what the marines were doing.

In Secon Island's springs, he met Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Brook. After he calmed them down by saying that he wasn't out to capture them, he warned them of Zephyr's power and his mission to destroy the New World. Brook did not recognize him, but panicked when they told him in that he was an Admiral. Kuzan reassured them he was not there to capture them, and had given up being an Admiral.

Brook asked what he was then, with Kuzan finding being questioned bothersome. He thought on the question, and was unable to think of a proper answer confusing them further. However, he told them again he was not their enemy anymore and reminded them if he was he wouldn't be in a hot spring where he couldn’t use his powers. As Kuzan got out of the water, the Straw Hats saw his battle scarred body and his missing leg that he regrew with his ice powers. He merely said he got carried away, when explaining this. Kuzan and the Straw Hats were seen making their way to port, as he told about the great age of pirates. He pondered to himself if pirates were made from the One Piece existing, or if the One Piece existed because of the pirates. Kuzan looked out to sea, telling them how when some follow their dreams, it could lead to pain and sadness of others. He told them that Z planned to destroy piracy by destroying the One Piece. He had chosen to follow Z's journey, but is unsure what actions he himself must take. He then departed, telling Luffy he would find Z on the island.

After Luffy's second battle with Zephyr, Kuzan met his former instructor. Kuzan gave him a bottle of wine and prepared to fight him but chose not to and just walked away. He told Z he used to drink that because of him, looking up to him. He told Kuzan to not lecture him, and he would go forward with his plan no matter what.Kuzan told him he might die, as Z responded that was no problem if he could rid the world of evil. Z told him to step aside, and the next time they meet they would share drinks together. Kuzan and Z faced each other, but each side unwilling to fight one another as enemies. Kuzan backed down and left Z to his machinations.

Later, he met with the Straw Hat crew again and explained Zephyr's plan to use the Dyna Stones to destroy all the three Endpoints and then release the Grande Imbuto, which would destroy the New World and everyone in it, pirates and civilians alike. Now that two of the Endpoints had been destroyed, Z is about to go to the last one, Piriodo, and unless the Straw Hats stop him, the Pirate Era would end. The Endpoints had been considered a legend, with most thinking it was nonsense. The government covered up the truth about them, to dissuade pirates from using it. That only the World Government and highest ranking officers of the Marines knew about it. He laments that it was an Admiral abusing this knowledge above all else. He reminded them that he was not doing this out of power, but to punish pirates.

Luffy remains undeterred despite being defeated twice by Z, vowing to chase him down and get his hat back. If he let Z keep his hat, he could never face Shanks or be worthy of the Pirate King title. Kuzan then gave the crew an Eternal Pose leading to Piriodo. Nami asked why he was helping them, as he ignored the question and warned them that their journey would be very dangerous. If they lost to Z, they would be destroyed along with the New World. Or, if they won they would be attacked by the Marines. With that said he left them to their own fates. The crew began making their preparations to leave, as Kuzan and Robin shared a small moment.

Kuzan was then seen watching Zephyr and Luffy's final battle. He later helped his former instructor to protect Ain, Binz, and the Straw Hat Pirates from Borsalino's fleet attack by creating an ice wall so that Z could fight to his heart's content. He was later seen at Zephyr's grave, telling Ain and Binz that he died like he wanted to.

Punk Hazard Arc


Sometime during the events of the Punk Hazard Arc, Kuzan decided to go to Punk Hazard. He eventually arrived shortly after the conflict between the Straw Hat Pirates and the G-5 Marines. Before Doflamingo could deliver the killing blow to Smoker, Kuzan suddenly appeared, claiming that the vice admiral was his friend.

Doflamingo ignored Kuzan and attempted to finish off Smoker, but the former admiral froze Doflamingo solid. The Shichibukai freed himself from the ice and walked away with Buffalo and Baby 5, having no interest in fighting Kuzan. After this, Smoker discussed with Kuzan about the latter's current status. Smoker also wondered if he had some kind of connection to the Underworld. Kuzan stated he's still himself, seemingly reassuring Smoker. He then told Smoker to be wary of Doflamingo and to ask the fleet admiral to dispatch the admirals as soon as possible. He also asked the G-5 Marines to not to reveal his presence there, to which they obeyed.

Major Battles

 * Kuzan vs. Jaguar D. Saul
 * Kuzan vs. Nico Robin
 * Kuzan vs. Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, and Sanji
 * Kuzan vs. Monkey D. Luffy
 * Marines vs. Whitebeard Pirates
 * Kuzan vs. Whitebeard
 * Kuzan vs. Buggy, Mr. 3, and Impel Down's escapees
 * Kuzan, Kizaru and Akainu vs. Monkey D. Luffy
 * Kuzan vs. Marco
 * Kuzan vs. Whitebeard
 * Kuzan vs. Jozu
 * Kuzan vs. Portgas D. Ace
 * Kuzan and Kizaru vs. Monkey D. Luffy, Jinbe, and the Heart Pirates (chasing them)
 * Kuzan vs. Sakazuki (not seen)

Anime and Manga Differences
In the manga originally, Aokiji met the Straw Hat Pirates at Tonjit's hut after the Davy Back Fight. In the anime, he met them much later at a different island and showed his powers helping some shipwrecked passengers as opposed to Tonjit.

In the anime, after the war, Aokiji is seen standing on the bow of a warship vessel approaching Marineford, sneezing. When he enters the HQ building, a Marine officer approaches him in tears reporting his inability to capture Luffy. Aokiji merely pats him on the shoulder and tells him that it is okay.

Translation and Dub Issues
Kuzan's alias, "Aokiji", means "Blue Pheasant" in Japanese. 青 = Ao = Blue (this "Ao" Color can be referred as both blue or green, depending on the Japanese phrase) 雉 = Kiji = Pheasant. It was literally translated in most dubs. Kiji was written katakana キジ from the introduction of Kuzan, but was shown in kanji in his introduction box in the Battle of Marineford. After that, it was reverted to katakana.

Merchandise


Aokiji has been a choice character in several series of merchandise. He has been featured in the Portrait of Pirates Figuarts Zero, One Piece DX Figure, One Piece High Spec Coloring Figure, Super Modeling Soul One Piece lines. But also in World Collectable,One Piece Super Effect, One Piece Amazing Log Collection,Deformeister Petit One Piece,One Piece Super Deformed Figures, Anichara Heroes, One Piece Full Face Jr., One Piece Battle One Piece Attack Motions, One Piece Great Deep Collection, and the One Piece Logbox series.

Trivia

 * The design for Aokiji's face is based on the late actor Yusaku Matsuda. The character that the actor played in the TV series and movie "Detective Story" (Tantei Monogatari) even had a similar hairstyle, clothing and wore the same sleep mask design. Aokiji's birthday is even based upon Matsuda's.
 * 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)
 * In the 4th Japanese Fan Poll, Aokiji is currently ranked as the 17th most popular character, making him the most popular of the Marines.

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