Hiriluk


 * The subject of this article is sometimes called "Dr. Hiriluk".

Dr. Hiluluk (Dr.ヒルルク) was a quack doctor from Drum Island, as well as Tony Tony Chopper's father figure.

Appearance
Hiluluk wore mottled pink pants and a navy blue coat over a green shirt. Over his bizarre white hair resembling a cross, he wore a navy hat that matched his coat. He had long gray hair arranged in three standing outs, one to each side and one at the top, the latter of which is covered by his hat. He also had a black goatee and mustache.

Personality
Hiluluk was a very eccentric man, who would test his experimental medication on unsuspecting patients only for them to backfire, causing the quack doctor to flee. However he was very caring towards others, as he honestly tried his best to cure them of their inflictions. This also extended to animals, as upon meeting a heavily wounded Chopper his first instinct was to help the injured, even when Chopper retaliated with violence Hiluluk did not back down and ended up taking on a fatherly role to the abandoned reindeer. The quack doctor's compassion showed itself when he chose to sacrifice himself rather then let Wapol have his way as he knew that the country he lived in would eventually recover, his actions having a lasting effect on many people who knew of his true caring intentions.

Wapol
When Wapol declared a Doctor Hunt, he saw Hiluluk as one of his two main threats to controlling the kingdom, despite the doctor being a quack. Upon Hiluluk's suicide, Wapol and his loyal subordinates Chess and Kuromarimo laughed, they being the only three to do so, having no respect for the doctor whatsoever.

Tony Tony Chopper
Tony Tony Chopper was very close to Hiluluk ever since the doctor saved him and adopted him as a surrogate son, despite the two arguing almost constantly. Chopper was devastated by his death, and decided to become the best doctor he can through the teachings of Kureha. Despite the superior skills of Kureha and other doctors, Chopper would forever memorialize Hiluluk as the "greatest doctor in the world".

Dr. Kureha
Knowing Hiluluk would be dying, Kureha drank to the charlatan's final moment, and complied to his last wishes of teaching Chopper the medical arts and spreading the cherry powders to Drum island.

Dalton
Dalton would originally think of Hiluluk as a simple quack doctor, though after seeing the doctor coming unhesitatingly to save the so-claimed sick Isshi-20, even knowing it was an obvious trap, Dalton came to see Hiluluk as a brave and noble man. After the doctor's final motivating speech and suicide, Dalton finally brought out his courage to defy Wapol's despotic actions once and for all.

Isshi-20
While the twenty doctors possess skills and talent much superior to Hiluluk, they see him as an inspiration and role model after he came unhesitatingly when he heard they were ill, despite knowing it was a trap set by Wapol. This, coupled with his motivating speech before death, led them to dedicate their research for the goods of Drum Island, despite working for Wapol in fear, in their own proclamation of not wanting to lose to the quack.

Sakura Kingdom
It took Hiluluk 30 years to complete his research, which was to create cherry blossoms that would bloom in the snow, in hopes of curing the country people's hearts. His work was not realized until after his death when Kureha blasted the powder he created into the sky, making the falling snow resemble cherry blossoms by turning it pink. For this, the people of Drum Island renamed their kingdom "Sakura Kingdom".

History
In his early days, Hiluluk was a thief who was diagnosed with a fatal illness. What he believed cured him was the serene vision of a grove of cherry trees. After being cured, he came to believe that there is no disease in the world that cannot be cured. He had a complete change of heart and returned to Drum Island, the island he was born on, to help cure a dire illness. Hiluluk's main dream was to cure the people on the island of their frozen hearts which had formed because of Wapol's selfishness. After Wapol declared any doctor not under his authority to be felons, he and Doctor Kureha were the only free doctors left. However, unlike Kureha, Hiluluk ended up doing more damage than good to his patients by accident.

He found Chopper one day while traveling home in a blizzard. At first Chopper tried to knock him away, but Hiluluk earned his trust by stripping naked in the cold, showing that he did not have any weapons or intention of hurting Chopper. From then on, the two slowly formed a sort of father/son relationship, traveling (and in a way terrorizing) the island trying to cure patients and generally resulting in them having to literally run for their lives from angry patients or their associates.



After one year had passed, Hiluluk reluctantly kicked Chopper out of his house, as he was going to die from his terminal illness. Hiluluk did not want his friend to worry about him. After Chopper learned the truth, he went on a journey for an Amiudake mushroom. Sadly, unknown to the reindeer, the mushroom turned out to be poisonous; but Hiluluk, who did know this, took it anyway because he was so moved by Chopper's concern for him (Hiluluk had always called the jolly roger a symbol of vitality, which Chopper took literally, not realizing that the crossbones symbol in the medicine book he read meant that the mushroom was poisonous).

Afterward, Hiluluk heard news that Wapol's personal 20 doctors, the Isshi-20, were sick and rushed to the castle, only to find out it was a trap by Wapol to draw Hiluluk out and kill him. He thanked Chopper for a wonderful life just as Chopper was about to reach the castle. Hiluluk realized that his life would soon end and so, too, would his country if nothing was done about Wapol. Hiluluk truly believed that his country would be healed in time and his death would not be in vain. Thus with clear and hopeful eyes, and so as not to die from the poisonous medicine Chopper had made, he drank one of his own failed medicines and was blown up in an explosive blast.

When does a person die? When they are shot through the chest with a pistol? No. When he suffers from an incurable disease? No. When he eats a soup made out of a poisonous mushroom? No! A person dies when they are forgotten...

Translation and Dub Issues

 * Hiruluk's last words are different in each dub. In the Japanese version, his last words are "Oh, what a great life I've had!". This was changed to "I am a doctor!" in the 4Kids dub and "I have lived a marvelous life! Thank you, Chopper!" in the FUNimation dub.
 * In the scene where Hiluluk was running to the castle, the bombs were edited out of his hands.

Merchandise
He was issued alongside Chopper in a One Piece Block Figures set featuring the Straw Hats and their past mentors/loved ones.

Trivia

 * In the 4th Japanese Fan Poll, Hiluluk is ranked the 26th most popular character in One Piece.
 * The shape of Hiluluk's head is modeled after a medical cross.
 * His name comes from the Ancient Greek term "Chirurg", meaning "surgeon" or literally "one working with his hands".
 * During the sequence when Hiluluk commits suicide in the anime, a musical chorus of Ave Maria, is played as he confronts Wapol and his entourage.

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