Z

"Black Arm" Zephyr (黒腕のゼファー), also known as Z (ゼット) was the leader of the Neo Marines and the main antagonist of the One Piece Film: Z. He was once a Marine admiral before his resignation.

Appearance
Zephyr appeared as a big and muscular man with short purple hair and a large mechanical right arm connected to the left hip with some mast rigging. He dressed in a Marine-like coat with his Jolly Roger impressed on it and baggy trousers tucked into his boots, and a pair of sunglasses.

Personality
He believed deeply in justice and heroism, having joined the Marines simply to fulfill both desires, and resigning eventually when he realized the organization was not what it seemed.

Originally a happy person, being popular among his subordinates and having created a loving family, his life changed for the worse when his wife and son were murdered by a pirate and his arm eventually severed by another, the latter who would become a Shichibukai; all of this loss and injustice led to a deep hatred towards pirates, as he formed a group to take matters into his own hands and annihilate them all himself even if it also meant opposing the World Government and the Marines. His hatred led to irrational acts such as radically attacking already captured pirates and plotting to destroy the world itself to eradicate his enemies.

Despite his loathing for pirates, he did have a sense of loyalty and respect to even his enemies to the bitter end, as he gave up his life to give time for his Neo Marines and the Straw Hat Pirates to escape from Kizaru, having come to respect the latter after their final battle.

Family
At age 38, Zephyr got married, and one year later his son was born. He was very attached to his family, so much so that when a pirate killed them, he wanted to resign his position as an Admiral. However he was persuaded to stay as an instructor.

World Government
After the Government requested the pirate who cut off Zephyr's arm to join the Shichibukai, he resigned his position as a marine instructor. This is probably why he considers the World Government and Marines to be traitors.

Marines
During his time as a Marine, he was very popular with his subordinates. After he became an instructor, he trained many Marines such as Sakazuki, Borsalino, Kuzan, Momonga, Doberman, Onigumo, Comil, Yamakaji, Strawberry, Hina, Smoker, Ain and Bins. Some of them refers to him as "Sensei", showing respect for him, with Ain, Bins and Shuzo even resigning from the Marines and joined Zephyr's cause.

Neo Marines
Despite feeling the Government and Marines betraying his believes for siding with pirates, Zephyr was caring, trusting and loyal to his subordinates, as he was confident that Shuzo and Alpacacino would not betray them when captured, and Zephyr ultimately gave his life to battle against Kizaru in order to give the Neo Marines time to escape.

Pirates
Having his beloved family killed by pirates and his arm severed by another, the latter of whom was (in Zephyr's opinion, unjustly) promoted to the ranks of Shichikukai, Zephyr was left traumatized, and developed a deep-seated hatred for all pirates and wishes to exterminate them all.

Monkey D. Luffy
During One Piece Film: Z's events, Zephyr and his Neo Marines fight against the Straw Hat Pirates. Intially, Zephyr deemed Luffy unworthy to be the Pirate King after handing him a defeat. During his final battle with Luffy however, he changes his judgment. He acknowledges Luffy as a worthy opponent and decides to battle the Marines in order to allow his subordinates and the Straw Hats to escape from Admiral Kizaru.

Abilities and Powers
In a trailer, he was referred to as being the strongest enemy that the Straw Hats have faced yet.

In the past he was a Marine admiral, which means his command over the soldiers within the organization was once the second highest, just underneath the fleet admiral. He also had the authority to issue a Buster Call on any island he deemed a threat, and could give that authority to any World Government agent. With his resignation, he forfeited such privileges. After his resignation and prior to becoming an extremist, he was requested to stay  in the military as an instructor, and he trained many powerful cadets who would become high ranking officers, indicating he was an excellent teacher.

Being an admiral means he was once crowned as the World Government's greatest military power, being among the strongest individual fighters within the government and Marine organizations of his time. In the trailer, it was also shown that he could charge at his opponents with a lot of speed despite his size and the weapon he carries, and was able to counter Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji's (all of whom were trained by some of the most powerful figures in the world) attacks against him with little problem.

Haki
It was stated that all Marines with a rank of Vice Admiral and above can use Haki, so Zephyr can also use this ability. He mastered Busoshoku Haki at age 34, allowing him to coat himself with it and turn his arms black for much more devastating strikes and defenses, which earned him the nickname "Black Arm Z", and used it quite commandingly in a battle with Monkey D. Luffy.

Rokushiki
Like several other high-ranking Marines, Zephyr has mastered the Rokushiki martial arts style.

Weapons
 He had a mechanical arm that is named Smasher which he used as a powerful bludgeoning weapon. The weapon was constructed by Marine scientists after Zephyr lost his right arm. The arm is imbedded with Kairoseki, effective for combating against Devil Fruit users, especially Logia-class users like Borsalino and his Pika Pika no Mi. Inside Smasher is also a powerful blast cannon and a machine gun turret.

Past
Sixty years ago, a 14 years old Zephyr enlisted in the Marines, desiring to become a hero. He eventually participated in his first battle four years later. At age 28, Zephyr was promoted to Petty Officer. During this time, he realized that the Marines are not always heroes. Six years later, Zephyr had mastered Busoshoku Haki. For this reason, he received the epithet "Black Arm".

Zephyr became an Admiral at age 38, during Gol D. Roger and Edward Newgate's golden age. By this time, he had become very popular with his subordinates. He got married, and a year later, his son was born.

Zephyr's happiness was ended prematurely when a pirate murdered his wife and son three years later. Zephyr wanted to resign from the Marines, but he was eventually persuaded to stay as an instructor. He trained many cadets, most of whom would ascend the Marines bureaucracy in both power and status.



Twenty-three years after the death of his loved ones, Zephyr's arm was cut off by a pirate who had once pleaded for his life when he was arrested by the former Admiral, along with his entire division massacred with only Ain and Bins surviving. At age 70, Zephyr received his mechanical arm from a government scientist.

One year ago, the same pirate who severed Zephyr's arm became a Shichibukai, prompting the instructor and former Admiral to renounce the Marines in order to create his own group, the Neo Marines. With his new group they plotted to destroy all pirates. Zephyr also stole the Dyna Stone from the Marines for his own agenda.

Sometime after the Neo Marines was formed, Ain and Shuzo dueled each other for the position of Z's right hand. Ain became the victor and Z appointed her as his second-in-command.

Z's Ambition Arc
After reading about Shuzo's imprisonment in Impel Down from a newspaper, Zephyr and the rest of the Neo Marines have arrived at Firs Island and he's ready to destroy all the pirates in the New World.

Trivia

 * Zephyr shares his name with Zephyrus (Ζέφυρος), the personification of the west wind in Greek mythology.
 * He shares some similarities with Gasparde:
 * Both crews' jolly rogers indicate a relationship with the Marines.
 * Both were high-ranking Marine officers before their departure (though their reasons and paths chosen were different).
 * He is the only Marine Admiral that hasn't eaten a Devil Fruit.
 * Zephyr also shares many similarities with the main antagonist of the movie Strong World, Shiki:
 * Both are the antagonists of movies overseen by Oda himself during the whole process.
 * Both also have remarkable prostheses, with Shiki having two swords replacing his feet and Zephyr having a huge mechanical arm.
 * Both characters have elements found in ships in their own bodies, with Shiki having a steering wheel on his head and Zephyr having two mast rigging across his chest, possibly supporting his mechanical arm.

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