Vander Decken IX

Vander Decken IX is the current captain of the Flying Pirates on their ship, the Flying Dutchman, and the eighth descendent of the Vander Decken of legend. He is a Japanese bullhead shark fishman.

Appearance
Decken is a tall individual with a slim build and lanky limbs. His most distinguishing feature is his four legs. He has a short, scraggly goatee, a long, wavy mustache with spiky edges, and similarly, long, wavy and spiky hair. He also has sharp teeth, with bigger webs between his fingers then most fishmen, a very thin, pointy nose and a prominent hunch that puts his head on equal level with his shoulders.

He wears three golden bands on each of his ankles, and two pairs of sandals. He sports dark overalls reaching just below his knees, with ruffled edges and decorative buttons on both the straps, over a light-colored shirt with ruffled edges. He sports a light cape, also complete with ruffled edges, draped over his shoulders, and two massive beaded necklaces hanging on his chest. He wears a light fedora with a dark band on his head which he seems to have had for at least ten years.

While masquerading as his supposed cursed ancestor during his first appearance, he wore a dark colored cloak that covered up his body.

In the past, he wore a broadly horizontal-striped shirt under light overalls with a gun strapped to his hip. He had cat-like whiskers instead of a mustache and didn't have a goatee. His hair was shorter and was straight and rounded like dreadlocks.

Personality
Decken often has his arms crossed over his chest with each of his hands holding two fingers in a 'victory' sign.

He is very formal, as shown when he introduced himself to Hordy Jones. He often adds "I think" (のハズだ) to the end of his sentences. He also doesn't want to become an underling to anyone which is the reason why he did not join the Arlong Pirates, but is willing to get into a partnership with anyone who shares a similar goal with him, as long as he is treated as no less than an equal.

He has been described as a bandit of the sea floor, and the residents of Fishman Island feared him for years. Typical of a pirate, he believes violence is the answer for everything, which is most evident by how he displays his affections for Shirahoshi by throwing large weapons at her. He has a desire for treasure as he does not approve of his giant angler fish, Ankoro, eating ships before he can collect the ships' treasure.

Crew and Allies
Decken has a loyal crew. Wadatsumi is very obedient and follows Decken's every command, while the rest of his crew cheers him on. They are also aware of the Decken family's ambitions about getting the legendary mermaid who can communicate with Sea Kings, a legend that only a few knows about. Unlike most pirate captains, Decken has a casual relationship with his crew.

Decken also formed an alliance with Hordy Jones, with the understanding that they are equals, not leader or underlings. However, Decken has no interest in the goals of the New Fishman Pirates and only used this alliance to get closer to Shirahoshi.

Princess Shirahoshi
He is attracted to the Mermaid Princess, sending her letters, packages, and even threatening marriage proposals. He decided that he must marry Shirahoshi after he saw that she has the ability to communicate with Sea Kings, a trait belonging to a mermaid princess of legend. He is rather obsessive about getting the princess to marry him, showing clear signs of erotomania as he believes the princess is in love with him, going so far as to say she can either marry him or die. His obsession led to him reserving his right hand for Shirahoshi alone, targeting her when she was only six years old, and going as far as to send wedding invitations before even proposing to her. He has been threatening her for ten years by sending her "love notes" in the form of weapons with his ability.

After ten years, he enters the palace and refers to Neptune as his "father" despite not taking Shirahoshi as his wife, believing both him and Shirahoshi have spent the last decade dreaming of each other when in reality Shirahoshi is revolted at Decken. When Decken proposes to Shirahoshi during her first time outside of Hard-Shell Tower in ten years, the Mermaid Princess rejects him, saying that he is not her type. Seeing that Shirahoshi has no feelings for him, he decides to forget about marriage and aims to kill her.

Ryugu Kingdom
Decken has a dislike for the king, as he believes Neptune is keeping Shirahoshi from him to use her marriage for political reasons. King Neptune is angered at Decken for threatening Shirahoshi, who he considers to be his treasure. The king has his sons form an army to find Decken.

Monkey D. Luffy
Luffy has earned Decken's hatred by standing between him and Shirahoshi. Thinking of the possibility that Shirahoshi and Luffy might become a pair, Decken decides that Luffy should be killed as well. Unfortunately, Decken is completely unsuccessful during his first fight with Luffy.

Abilities and Powers
Vander Decken IX is the eighth descendant of the legendary wicked pirate Vander Decken and the captain of the Flying Pirates: as such, he has authority over his crew and controls the legendary, enormous ship Flying Dutchman. He also has at least two gigantic sea creatures at his command, these being the fishman Wadatsumi and Ankoro. When Decken joined forces with Hordy Jones, it was stated that these two pirate captains working together would be unstoppable.

In terms of physical prowess, as a fishman, Decken is at least ten times stronger than the average human, as demonstrated when he was able to carry and throw a large battle axe. He also seems to hold a great deal of endurance, as he was able to recover just moments after Luffy pummeled him into the ground with a Jet Hammer attack.

During his first appearance, it was shown that he can sing as well.

Devil Fruit
Decken ate the Mato Mato no Mi, a Paramecia type Devil Fruit which allows him to throw any projectile, including even people, at targets he has designated. By touching people with his bare hands, he can "lock on" to them and make them his targets. From there on, any projectile he throws with that respective hand will automatically seek out a targeted person of his choice like a homing missile. Even if Decken throws the projectile in the opposite direction of the target, the projectile will automatically correct itself and change course to its true destination. The projectile thrown will seek the target out until it reaches it or is hindered by an obstacle. Moving away won't save the targets from the power of this fruit, as the thrown objects will correct their trajectory accordingly and chase them around until they manage to reach them.

Decken uses his power to threaten Shirahoshi by sending weapons to both woo and kill her. This is why the princess is locked up in her room, as evidenced by the many weapons that are stuck in the tower's door. He also used this power to throw people so they could arrive at Shirahoshi's door, thus infiltrating the palace. He can also use his powers as a means of locating one of his targets and can even ride on some of the objects he throws, as shown when he threw and jumped on a large piece of coral to find Shirahoshi.

The major weakness of this ability is that should the thrown object hit something resistant enough to prevent its further advance (and subsequently lodges itself into), or hit something other than its target, it will stop. This was how Shirahoshi was able to ignore Decken's "gifts" by secluding herself in a private chamber accessible only through a heavily enforced door. He can also only remember as many people as he has palms (i.e. two), which is why he wears a glove on one of them. Currently, his right hand is locked onto Shirahoshi, and his left hand is locked onto Hatchan. And, wanting to have Shirahoshi as the permanent target, Vander only uses his left hand to switch his secondary targets.

In addition, the loss of the ability to swim affects Decken more than a human Devil Fruit user since, as a fishman, he would have a huge advantage underwater, an advantage he can no longer use due to the side-effects. It is yet unknown if other fishman abilities such as breathing underwater are affected by his powers, however he is wearing a flutter kick coating when he shakes hands with Hordy when they agreed to team up and when he uses his ability to send a coral flying.

Weapons
Despite not being visible anywhere on his body, Decken has a great array of weapons at his disposal, which have mostly been seen used in conjunction with his Devil Fruit powers. He seems to have a penchant for large battle-axes with a rose design on the sides. He throws giant double-bladed ones at Shirahoshi from afar during several occasions, and tried to kill her with single-edged smaller (but still rather large) ones, which he also employed proficiently in melee when fending off some inhabitants of Ryugu Kingdom who were trying to stop him. However, judging from the exterior of the Hard-Shell Tower he has a large variety, including swords and maces.

In the New Fishman Pirates's hideout, after making Hatchan his target, he showed his Devil Fruit powers off by hitting the fishman with a thrown knife, and had a subordinate carry him many arrows, that he similarly threw at Hatchan, forcing him to escape the place.

In the past, he was seen carrying a rifle.

Past
Eventually, Vander Decken IX became captain of the Flying Dutchman and formed a crew which included Wadatsumi and Ankoro, hunting down coated ships that tried to descend to Fishman Island for their treasure.

Arlong once offered Decken a place in the Arlong Pirates, but Decken declined, citing that he doesn't work under anyone.

Ten years ago during an uproar with a World Noble, Decken witnessed Princess Shirahoshi's legendary ability to call upon Sea Kings. He was overjoyed, as encountering the mermaid with this power was the dream of his ancestors. He declared to his ancestors that he had succeeded in accomplishing their goal. Decken then set his sights on marrying her. Seeing as she was too young at the time, Decken came up with a plan to use the Tamatebako to age Shirahoshi into a woman. The problem was that the Tamatebako was in the Ryugu Palace and Decken could not enter the palace unless he marries Shirahoshi. Since Decken does not have a problem with big women, he decided to give Shirahoshi ten or twenty years first. He started writing wedding invitations even though he had not propose to Shirahoshi yet, and then realizing that he doesn't have any friends to begin with.

During the confusion when Queen Otohime was shot, he managed to "mark" Shirahoshi with his acquired Devil Fruit power using his right hand, which Decken reserved for Shirahoshi as the designated target of ever since. He also started to send letters, which became packages, which became threatening marriage proposals to Princess Shirahoshi. His actions angered Neptune, the Princess' father, which led the Ryugu Kingdom to raise an army against Decken and his crew. Decken is also noted on posters around Fishman Island to be dangerous.

Fishman Island Arc
Ten years later, he encountered the Straw Hat Pirates when Wadatsumi stops Ankoro the angler fish from eating the Thousand Sunny. Decken then orders Wadatsumi to attack the Thousand Sunny so he can take their treasure. Unfortunately for him, the kraken, Surume, having been tamed by Luffy, intervenes and defeats Wadatsumi. Decken then yells at Wadatsumi to get up and retaliate, but is informed by one of his crew that the undersea volcano is about to erupt.

With the volcano starting to erupt, he orders Ankoro and Wadatsumi to pull the Flying Dutchman away from the approaching magma and says that his business with the Straw Hat Pirates isn't finished.

He is later seen with Wadatsumi and Ankoro, asking Wadatsumi how long it has been since he has started proposing to Princess Shirahoshi. Wadatsumi replies that it has been ten years. He blames Neptune, saying that he thinks the king has a politically motivated wedding planned for her. He comments on how painful it is, as he thinks that they are both in love (though really it is just him). He then brandishes a large axe with a rose painted on it, saying that he will present her with it. He then throws it, but the axe doubles back and takes out the mast of his ship, causing one of his crew members to tell him that he missed. Decken then crosses his arms, saying he never misses. He then declares his love for Shirahoshi by saying that he would never find another woman like her. He says it is good if her love unites them, but that she cannot live her life with another man, as he will kill her if she does. He declares that she must pledge her love to him or die, saying her fate is either marriage or death.



Later, he and his crew arrived in Noah, where the New Fishman Pirates were waiting for him. He is told where to go, and he apologized for being late; citing his earlier trouble with the volcanic eruption. He then greeted Hordy Jones and after putting on a glove, he shakes hands with him. As their crews cheer them on, the two then cement their intent: the complete collapse of the Ryugu Kingdom.

As Decken sets the plan into motion, Hatchan appears and tries to talk Jones and Decken out of going through with the operation. When Hatchan asks Decken about why he is helping the New Fishman Pirates when he didn't help Arlong, Decken states that he is not the kind of person who follows under anyone and his relationship with Jones is nothing more than a partnership. Decken then touches Hatchan making him a target. Decken throws a knife in the air behind Hatchan, and it flies back towards Hatchan, stabbing him in the back. Decken explains that after a person becomes his target, he can hit that target from anywhere. He then sends Hatchan running when he throws a volley of arrows. With that settled, Decken then uses his ability to throw a group of captive pirates and send them flying into Shirahoshi's tower, thus infiltrating the palace.



He is later seen heading for the Ryugu Palace with Hordy Jones and his crew while riding on top of sea monsters. Decken is eager to have his marriage with Princess Shirahoshi. Once they enter the palace, they find King Neptune and the palace guards already subdued, courtesy of the Straw Hats. Decken was immediately met with accusations by Neptune, who assumed that Decken was behind his daughter's inexplicable disappearance. Decken denies these convictions, saying that he has yet to be properly engaged to Shirahoshi, and demanding her be returned at once would be too egotistical even for Neptune. Ignoring his statement, Neptune pressed on and tearfully asked where was his daughter taken, much to Decken's shock as it began to dawn on him that Shirahoshi was no longer in the palace and that someone may have reached her before he did.

He then goes in to a frothing rage, but was promptly assured by Jones that she may still be somewhere nearby, since the human pirates that Decken sent flying have landed directly within the Ryugu Palace; and even if she wasn't, Decken would still be able to track where Shirahoshi is. This calms Decken and he proceeds to once again enter a bubble as he embarks outside, where he uses a giant coral as a medium for his power to discern Shirahoshi's location. The coral flew away from the palace, confirming Decken's suspicions that the princess wasn't in Hard-Shell Tower anymore. He is then seen riding on top of the coral, stating that only "death" can keep him and Shirahoshi apart.



He soon arrives at Coral Hill and demands Shirahoshi to marry him. She bluntly rejects him, claiming he is not her type. Enraged, Decken prepares to kill her, but Luffy gets in the way. Luffy smashes the flying coral and pummels Decken into the ground. He recovers just moments later and says to Luffy and Shirahoshi that they're not getting away as they prepare to leave on Megalo. He calls out to Wadatsumi to attack them, but Wadatsumi gets hit in his front tooth by Luffy's Jet Pistol. As Wadatsumi cries out in pain, Shirahoshi escapes Decken's clutches much to the latter's anger. After Decken gets away from the locals, he throws weapons at Shirahoshi several times only for them to get deflected by Luffy.

Major Battles

 * Vander Decken IX vs. Hatchan
 * Vander Decken IX vs. Monkey D. Luffy

Trivia

 * Like many characters in the series, Decken has a distinct laughter of his own, starting his laughs with "Ba" (i.e Bahohohoho!).
 * Decken is so far the only known fishman to have eaten a Devil Fruit.
 * His Devil Fruit only allows him to target as many people as he has hands. Ironically, while he has four legs, he has only two hands. Also, he is the only known fishman so far to have more legs than arms.
 * Because of his Devil Fruit, he is also the only known fishman unable to swim. This is a reversal of most adaptations of the Flying Dutchman legend: the captain is a human spirit who cannot step onto land.
 * Decken being the "cursed" captain of the Flying Dutchman and his pursuit of Shirahoshi somewhat follows a motif used in Richard Wagner's opera: the captain can be freed from his curse if he can find a faithful woman.