Baskerville

Three-Headed Baskerville is the Chief Justice of Enies Lobby, in service of the World Government. Ostensibly a three-headed man, "he" is actually three men—Bas, And, and Kerville—who are such close friends that they prefer coordinating as a single body.

Appearance
The three men comprising Baskerville wear identical uniforms—blue, single-breasted coats with gold trim and brown gloves—over their abnormally-built bodies: When masquerading as Baskerville, And (standing constantly bowlegged) carries Bas and Kerville on his thighs, and they collectively wear a massive blue tabard embroidered with the World Government's emblem. This hides everything apart from their heads, And's legs and feet, Bas' left arm, and Kerville's right arm, creating the illusion of a single body.
 * Bas is a stubbled, square-jawed man with extremely short, stubby legs and disproportionately large arms and hands.
 * And is an aged man, with a prominent white beard, a lanky upper body, and disproportionately large legs and feet.
 * Kerville is a relatively young man, with extremely short, stubby legs and disproportionately large arms and hands.

Personalities
Together, the trio number among Enies Lobby's most eccentric personnel, with Bas—who favors immediate conviction—and Kerville—who favors acquittal—routinely deadlocking on judgments. Wilder than both is And, who routinely voices bizarre "compromises" (such as executing the accused) that often annoy the others into headbutting him.

Nevertheless, all three are extremely close friends, and maintain the Baskerville guise out of pure fondness for each other. They are also highly dedicated to Enies Lobby and its judicial system (despite acknowledging that the Just Eleven Jurymen have never acquitted anyone, leaving their trials mostly if not purely ceremonial); when acting to defend it, they coordinate much more smoothly, even speaking in perfect unison.

During introductions, Bas will typically identify as "Left Baskerville", and Kerville as "Right Baskerville"; And "compromises" by inventing much more nonsensical titles for himself, such as "Center Freeway", "Center Lone Mainline", or "Princess".

Relationships
While Bas and Kerville have opposing legal views, they have a relative understanding of one another. It is however the extremely wild and random nature of And that really irks them. Whenever And does or say something completely outrageous, they would usually yell and hit him for his idiocy. Despite their differences, the three men that make up Baskerville are very close friends, which is why they pretend to be a three headed man.

Abilities and Powers
As a walking judicial tribune, Baskerville's main job is to judge criminals brought to Enies Lobby. Each person that makes Baskerville voices their legal opinion of an accused and the majority opinion is carried out. Due to each of their distinct opinions, they usually do not come to conclusion immediately. Regardless of what their opinions may be, the final judgment on whether a criminal is guilty or not is not controlled by them. This decision is made by the Just Eleven Jurymen.

Each of the three people that makes Baskerville is capable of working perfectly together when in costume. With Bas supplying the left arm, Kerville supplying the right arm, and And supplying the legs, they are capable of giving the illusion of a three headed person. Their synchronization with each other is so perfect that it is not hindered even during battle.

As an Enies Lobby official, Baskerville controls the Watchdog Unit of the Law, a group of elite guards that serve under him. When the Straw Hats and their allies invaded Enies Lobby, and Spandam could not be reached, Baskerville became the de facto leader of the entire establishment, commanding thousands of Marines and World Government Agents to defend against the invaders.

Kerville wields a saber, and sometimes Bas gives assistance by utilizing a two-handed swing.

Past
Some time in the past, Bas, Kerville, and And became acquainted with one another; however, they had not yet decided to assume the identity of Baskerville. Instead, they settled on the name of "Basandkerville," but this ended up being shortened into their current name of "Baskerville." After an unknown amount of time, they assumed the position of Chief Justice on Enies Lobby.

Enies Lobby Arc
Awoken suddenly from his nap, Baskerville learned that Enies Lobby was invaded by some pirates. Seeing that Spandam could not be reached for some reason at the moment, Baskerville took up the request of the pleading Marine and Agents to lead them against this attack. Learning that the invaders had gotten passed the two giant gate guards and were then on the judicial island proper, Baskerville ordered his elite guard, the Watchdog Unit of the Law to engage the enemy.

As the battle continued, Baskerville found that not only were his men unable to force the invaders back but that the invaders' leader who attacked first, Luffy, was nowhere to be found at the moment. Seeing how the battle had escalated so much, Baskerville decided to set loose the Just Eleven Jurymen to defend Enies Lobby despite the costs.



As the situation got worse with the invaders storming the courthouse despite the reinforcements, Baskerville was eventually able to get back in contact with Spandam. Despite this unfortunately, the battle had completely worsened by this time. Seeing the Straw Hat pirates and their allies all in the courthouse, Baskerville decided to judge them as guilty for their actions. The pirates however completely ignored Baskerville for other pressing matters. Irked by them, Baskerville attempted to battle the pirates. Unfortunately, Baskerville's attempts were stopped by the Straw Hats' allies, the Franky Family. With them in the way, Baskerville was forced to fight them.



Despite the judge's best efforts, the invaders were able to lower the drawbridge leading to the Tower of Justice. As this was happening, Baskerville was suddenly chopped up by a combination attack from two of the invaders, Paulie and Zambai. Though it looked like the judge had sustained a fatal wound, it was revealed that Baskerville was actually three people in costume. Just as it seemed like the invaders were about to succeed, in a last ditch effort to stop them, the three judges ordered his men to fire on the bridge before it could be fully lowered. Though their men succeeded in stopping the bridge, the three judges did not anticipate the incoming sea train of the invaders, the Rocketman, to aid the pirates in crossing the gap to the tower.

It is currently unknown what happened to Baskerville when the Rocketman stormed their court house and ran over them. It is also unknown if they escaped Enies Lobby before the Buster Call that was accidentally set on the island by Spandam.

Major Battles

 * Baskerville vs. Roronoa Zoro, Nami, and Tony Tony Chopper
 * Baskerville vs. Franky Family
 * Baskerville vs. Zambai and Paulie

Inspirations and Influences
As repeatedly noted by the Franky Family, Baskerville's three-headed appearance evokes the Cerberus of Greek mythology. Much like the monstrous hound, (part of) their duty is to guard a famously isolated land reputed to be impenetrable and unescapable.

Trivia

 * Apart from Cerberus, Baskerville's overall character may stem from a number of other—mostly European—inspirations:
 * Their collective name is likely derived from The Hound of the Baskervilles, the Sherlock Holmes novel that created one of the best-known hellhounds in fiction after Cerberus.
 * More obscurely, the name may also reference the friar William of Baskerville from Umberto Eco's novel Il Nome della Rosa (The Name of the Rose). Brother William was an inquisitor who presided over trials throughout England and Italy, distinguishing himself by sheer perspicacity.
 * The trio's "self"-bickering personality resembles that of the Three-Headed Knight from the 1975 British comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
 * Finally, the "left/right" identifiers used by Bas and Kerville may be a parody of the left-right political spectrum, which—particularly in the United States—associates judicial mercy with the left-wing and "hardliner" penalties with the right-wing. While the "left" Bas advocates the latter and the "right" Kerville the former, it should be noted that from an observer's perspective, Bas appears as the rightmost head, Kerville the leftmost.

Site Navigation
Baskerville Baskerville Baskerville Baskerville Baskerville