Tashigi

Captain Tashigi (たしぎ大佐) is a Marine serving under Vice Admiral Smoker.

Appearance
Tashigi has chin-length, black hair (dark blue in the anime) and dark brown eyes. She is known to look remarkably like Zoro's deceased friend Kuina. She wears various short-sleeved shirts with different colors and designs, but always adds a blue leather coat with a furred collar and edge linings. She also wears blue jeans, black shoes and rectangular red spectacles.

Chapter 439 marks the full debut (after a single image on the cover of Chapter 432) of a markedly different "look" for her as well as having longer hair; however, it is not clear whether this is an intentional redesign, or simply a result of the author's continually evolving art style and the length of time she had been out of the spotlight.

After the timeskip her hair is much longer and is now pinned up by a clip. She has also grown taller. Due to still having bad vision, she still wears her glasses, and, like many other women who have aged over the timeskip, her figure has changed with her breasts growing slightly larger and her figure becoming more hourglass-like. She is seen wearing a floral, button down shirt, white pants, and black boots. Achieving the rank of captain since the timeskip, she now also wears the standard coat of high ranking Marine officers. Similar to Hina, Tashigi's subordinates are attracted towards her due to her skills and beauty.

Personality
She was first introduced when the Straw Hat Pirates docked in Loguetown, where she was stationed. Smoker, her superior officer, seems to regard her as a protege and the two work very well together. While adept at sword fighting, she is usually clumsy, which tends to get on Smoker's nerves. She is also very well-versed in katana, knowing their names and origins. During the Loguetown arc, she was even shown carrying a small book about katana.

Tashigi is very brave and reckless when fighting her opponents. She will fight anyone who she considers her enemy, regardless what their reputation is or not. However, she has been easily defeated by opponents by not thinking things through and rushing in without planning ahead, something Smoker scolds her for several times. Such times are against Nico Robin and having her knee broken against her and against Law by being cut in two for charging in recklessly. She is also stubborn, as she refuses to accept defeat, such as demanding a rematch with Zoro despite the clear difference in strength and wanting to fight Law again despite her being cut by him. Demonstrating by others, Tashigi has a "sore loser" personality when it comes to losing a fight.

Like her superior Smoker, Tashigi has her own view of "justice" which differs from the Marines' own definition, and will fight for what she sees as the right thing to do. Tashigi's stated goal is to remove all meito from the hands of those who would use them for their own selfish ends.

Like Kuina, Tashigi felt that as a woman, she would be perceived as inferior to men as a swordswoman, and felt insulted when Zoro refused to kill her. She also felt insulted by Law for cutting her, yet not killing her and for saying to her that weaklings can't pick their way of death. However, this doesn't stop her from trying hard to get stronger and achieve her dreams. As a swordswoman, she would die losing rather than lose in shame.

Tashigi's most prominent trait is that she is very absent-minded. During the Alabasta arc, when Smoker was chasing after Luffy, she failed to recognize the situation until Smoker had told her. In the same story arc she was also incapable of noticing Chopper's Devil Fruit ability to talk, and he was in his Walk Point and directly in front of Tashigi. However, easily the most significant occurrence of this trait was demonstrated in the Loguetown Arc, where Tashigi was completely oblivious to Roronoa Zoro's identity, when everything that he did (namely that he carried three swords) hinted his true character.

Marines
Her relationship with her superior, Smoker, is strictly professional. Smoker constantly scorns her for her mishaps such as mistaking a fellow marine 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. Her new subordinates are very attracted to Tashigi and often hit on her. They also get very distracted by her, even in the middle of the battle, which causes her to scold them. They commonly refer to her as "Captain-chan". Her subordinates are very protective of her and attack everyone who attacks or insults Tashigi.

Roronoa Zoro
She seems to hold a grudge against Zoro after she aided him in finding new swords although at the time, she was unaware of who he was. After finding out his true identity, Tashigi challenged him into a duel. Zoro defeated her, but refused to fight her again in later confrontations due to her uncanny resemblance to his childhood friend, Kuina.

Abilities and Powers
Tashigi is an able swordsman, capable of defeating two pirates in Loguetown rather easily. She is very knowledgeable of swords, as shown in the swords shop at Loguetown. However, her skills still pale in comparison to Roronoa Zoro, as she was defeated quite easily by him.

After the timeskip, her skills seem to have increased, as she was able to deflect an enemy cannonball using her katana with precision and ease, much like how the Shichibukai Dracule Mihawk deflected bullets. She has also been promoted to the rank of captain, and is capable of taking on the dangers of the New World.

Weapons
Tashigi uses her katana, the meito, Shigure. Not much is known about her fighting style other than she has a similar style to which Kuina used. Though nothing special compared to the higher skills levels of many swordsmen in the series, she is a highly competent fighter, capable of taking down multiple opponents in mere seconds. However, at the end of the Alabasta arc, she had resolved to get stronger, and a proud Smoker told her subordinates that they could only wish they had her guts.


 * Tashigi's Swords
 * Meito Shigure
 * Yamaoroshi (formerly belonged to Billy of the Yes Pirates)
 * Kashu (formerly belonged to Mr. 11 of the Baroque Works)

Haki
During her fight with Trafalgar Law Smoker revealed that Tashigi knows how to use Haki, but says that her level of it is not enough to counter Law's ability.

Loguetown Arc
When Zoro first saw Tashigi, he was instantly struck by how much Tashigi looks like his deceased childhood friend, Kuina.

Tashigi would later meet Roronoa Zoro once again in Loguetown (whom she had inadvertently helped pick new swords before she learned his name) and after seeing a supposedly cursed sword swerve out of the way to spare Zoro's outstretched arm from being mutilated, she thinks of him as an extraordinary swordsman. Once she finds out who he really is however, apparently under the belief that the swordsman deceived her (to which Zoro countered that she should have asked who he was first), she confronts him as the Straw Hat Pirates are making their escape from the town. She demands Zoro to surrender the Wado Ichimonji, however, Zoro initially beats her without much effort (only requiring two swords and keeping Tashigi largely on the defensive), disarming her of her sword before starting to leave. She takes this as an insult, which in turn sparks a childish argument between the two before Dragon's arrival separates them. Afterward she sets out to sea with Smoker, chasing after Zoro and the rest of the Straw Hat crew and eventually winding up in Alabasta.

Alabasta Arc
During their pursuit, Tashigi and Smoker capture Mr. 11 and discover information about Baroque Works. She pays for the water that Luffy and Ussop run out with at rainbase. She re-meets Zoro in Rainbase and demands a rematch but all it does is set off another argument before he manages to escape her. She dropped her glasses and landed on Tony Tony Chopper. She thanked him and called him sweetie, not knowing Chopper was part of the Straw Hat Pirates.

During the battle for Alabasta, Tashigi is badly wounded while fighting against Nico Robin while trying to free Nefertari Cobra despite his pleas for her to back down. Crocodile comes across her limp form afterward, insulting her sense of justice before he continues on. However she bears witness to the triumph of Luffy and his crew in beating Crocodile and stopping the war. She then personally (in fitting irony) arrests him after his defeat at the hands of someone else. She ordered the men not to arrest the Straw Hat crew when they were unconscious. She gives the report to Smoker and greets Captain Hina. She cries until Smoker tells her to get stronger and she tells him she will. Smoker tells the crew to be a lot like her. She is then granted a promotion by the World Government with Smoker despite Smoker's objections.

Post-Enies Lobby Arc
Tashigi appears again after receiving word of the Straw Hats after their fight against the Buster Call. While trying to relay the news to Smoker, she ends up telling another sailor, since she wasn't wearing her glasses.

Marineford Arc
When the execution of Portgas D. Ace is announced, Tashigi reports to the summoning of the Marines to reinforce Marineford.

Three hours before Ace's execution, she was seen listening to Sengoku's speech about Ace's past.

She's shocked by Luffy's arrival at Marineford, but has to alert Smoker to this new factor in the war against the Whitebeard Pirates. As Luffy is charging to the execution platform, Tashigi attempts to fight Luffy, but Smoker got to him first.

As Sengoku is putting the final phase of his plan into motion, Tashigi and Smoker retreat to the plaza.

Tashigi is then seen again witnessing a marine seeking help for his wounded comrade only to be told to leave the fallen and to continue on with the fight. Tashigi thinks to herself that even after the marines completed their goal, they won't stop.

After Shanks arrives, she is seen standing down with the other Marines.

Fishman Island Arc
After the timeskip, Tashigi and Smoker (who have been promoted to captain and vice admiral respectively) 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. While Tashigi is fighting off the pirates, she berates her subordinates for staring at her instead of taking the situation more seriously.

Punk Hazard Arc
After gaining word that the Straw Hats are going to Punk Hazard by intercepting a call with a black Den Den Mushi, Tashigi and Smoker decide to head out there as well while commenting it's insane to go to such an island that the log pose wasn't even pointing to and because of the "incident" that happened four years ago on that island.



Later, when they arrived on the winter side, they approach the PH-006 building. They are then greeted by the Royal Shichibukai Trafalgar Law and Tashigi is seen shivering in fear at the sight of him. As Smoker and Law discuss the possible presence of the Straw Hat Pirates on the island, a group of them and giant children bust out of the building and ran into Law and the G-5 marines. Tashigi and the other marines are then surprised by these turn of events. The Straw Hats and the children immediately fled back into the building to avoid any conflicts. Tashigi is about to lead the chase, but Law stands in their way, saying that he won't allow them to leave the island. Law then destroys their battleship and steals all of their Den Den Mushi. Later during the fight, Tashigi attempts to attack Law despite Smoker's warning that the level of her Haki is not enough to defeat Law. Tashigi's attack backfires and Law cuts her and her sword in half. Tashigi says that being cut and not dying is a shame to a swordsman, but Law tells her that weaklings do not get to choose their way to die, causing her to bite her lip in shame. Using one arm to support her severed upper body from the ground, she tries to attack Law yet again, only to fall short as her sword itself suddenly got severed. Law attempts to attack Tashigi again, but Smoker steps in and deflects the attack with his jutte. While Smoker fights Law, the other G-5 marines quickly flee Law's Room and carry Tashigi with them. While the marines were contemplating on how things turned out this way when the Shichibukai are supposedly allies to the World Government, Tashigi herself recalls what Smoker once said to her before the time-skip: that pirates will always be pirates. The marines then help reassemble Tashigi's body.

When she returns to where Law and Smoker were fighting, Tashigi is horrified to see her superior lying unconscious and defeated on the ground. She notices a hole in his chest, and realizes that his heart was stolen by Law, just like he did to a hundred pirates before. Enraged, she tries to attack Law again, but he responds by switching her "heart" with Smoker's, putting Tashigi into Smoker's body, and causing her to pass out. She and Smoker are then brought to safety in a nearby cave.

Major Battles

 * Tashigi vs. Billy (novel)
 * Tashigi vs. Koze & Packy
 * Tashigi vs. Roronoa Zoro
 * Tashigi vs. Mr. 11 (unseen)
 * Tashigi vs. Miss All-Sunday
 * Tashigi and Smoker vs. unnamed pirate with a bounty of 50,000,000 (not seen)
 * Tashigi, Smoker and other Marines vs. Whitebeard Pirates
 * Tashigi, Smoker and G-5 Marines vs. the freed New Fishman Pirates' slave pirates
 * Tashigi, Smoker and G-5 Marines vs. Trafalgar Law

Translation and Dub Issues
Like Kuina, her name comes from a flightless bird. The fact she is named after a flightless bird is a reflection of herself. In regards to the bird itself, Oda stated though a bird cannot fly, it doesn't mean it never will.

The Viz Manga gives her the rank of Sergeant, while the FUNimation dub gives her the rank of Sergeant-Major.

Merchandise
Tashigi has been the choice character in many forms of merchandise. She has been featured in the series of models Portrait of Pirates.

Trivia

 * In 4th Japanese Fan Poll, Tashigi is ranked the 42nd most popular character in One Piece.
 * Once a fan asked about Tashigi's glasses as she seems nearsighted but she lifts her glasses to see a sword. Also, she was also seen not wearing glasses running and asked if the glasses were for show. Oda stated she does need them.
 * In Japan, the act of taking another's sword is seen as a strong statement, which often means the wielder was not worthy of the blade, which Tashigi is doing supposedly by taking the blades from criminals.
 * Though she is after Zoro's Meito, the sword that caught her eye the most is Wado Ichimonji owed to its magnificence and her lack of understanding of why such a sword is in Zoro's hands. Ironically, this is the very sword that once was wielded by Kuina whom she resembles.
 * So far, Yamaoroshi and Kashu are the only known swords to have been taken from their original respective owners by Tashigi.
 * Tashigi's art style has changed greatly throughout the series. On her first appearance, she looks like Kuina but during the Whitebeard War saga, her art style has become more distinct.
 * Her clumsiness, in particular her habit of falling over, can be seen as a referential bit of dark humor towards Kuina's own demise since she died when she fell down a set of stairs.
 * Tashigi was the second female Marine shown in the series (the retired and deceased Bell-mère being first).

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