Spandam

Seiyū: Masaya Onosaka

9 Douriki

The overseer of CP9 and the overall main antagonist of the Enies Lobby arc, Spandam (スパンダム, Supandamu) used to be the CP5 leader and was the first one to come after the Pluton blueprints held by Tom. When Tom refused, Spandam framed him by using Franky's battleships on a judiciary ship, making it seem like Tom and his apprentices (Cutty Flam and Iceburg) were the culprits. In the end though, Spandam was outsmarted (as Tom safely hid the plans away) and only got a very scarred face for his trouble (courtesy of Cutty Flam). Now, Spandam is back with a mask forged onto his face and roaring to finish what he started long ago.

Spandam is the least powerful of the group as he has a Douriki level of only 9 (a normal, armed marine has a douriki level of 10). Being this way, he is incapable of learning and knowing any Rokushiki moves. This said, the rest of the Cipher Pol 9 do not mind and "respect" him as the overseer from the Marines.

Because of his physical weakness, Spandam relies on his natural talents of deception and cunning, as opposed to actual combat. He also often reveals extreme cowardice, though he doesn't hesitate to use his rank to boss around subordinates (though he fears the power of the CP9 agents, especially Lucci's) - he even threatens to fire them or have them killed in order to get a job done.

Spandam is very clumsy (spilling coffee often) and short tempered, with special sensitivity towards his name. Franky's nickname for him, "Spanda" (due to his panda-like markings around the eyes), always causes him to lose his head. As a result, Spandam comes off mostly as a comedic villain like Buggy, though he often reveals real malice when gloating over his prisoners - as seen when he broke his promise of the Straw Hat Pirates' safety, and proceeded to beat on his defenseless captive, Nico Robin. Spandam is also a great believer of the "absolute justice" conveyed by admiral Akainu, and believe that the end justifies the means, with the end being the acquisition of the ancient weapons and the means being as many murders or sacrifices as it takes. He sees himself as the world's greatest hero for capturing Robin, and is very interested in his rank and prestige, often coming across as extremely power hungry (even contemplating using the weapons' power for his own benefit, instead of the world's)-unlike the other agents, who don't want any recognition whatsoever.

He is the son of Spandine, the CP9 director of 20 years ago, who initiated the Buster Call on Robin's home, Ohara. Spandam has apparently seen it as his duty to fulfill his father's mission, and bring an end to the "Demons of Ohara" by capturing the one person who escaped his father: Nico Robin.

He owns a sword, "Funk Freed" (ファンクフリード Fankufurīdo), which somehow absorbed a Devil Fruit, Zou Zou no Mi (ゾウゾウの実 Elephant Elephant Fruit). Using this fruit, it can turn into an elephant. This phenomenon has only been witnessed once before in the series, with Mr. 4's gun-dog, Lasso.

In Enies Lobby, Spandam was assisted by Lucci to take Robin to the Gates of Justice. Along the way, Lucci stayed behind to fight Luffy, and Spandam foolishly activates the Buster Call by accident, causing chaos and confusion to ensue on the island. Near reaching the gate however he was hit at long-range with one of Sogeking's explosive projectile attacks, allowing Nico Robin to escape and break free of her handcuffs, much to Spandam's horror when he realizes that the "unbeatable" CP9 has indeed been defeated. When he tried to attack Robin to prevent her from escaping, Franky crushed him with his own sword, finally settling his vendetta for what he did to Tom. Near the end of the arc as the Straw Hats are escaping on the returned Going Merry, he recovers (though now horribly bruised and swollen) and gives the order to fire stating Aokiji gave him permisson to do so despite Robin being on board (though obviously this is just another lie), Robin notices this and uses her "Clutch" move on him as her group sails off.

Following CP9's animal theme, he has a panda theme, because not only does he have markings around his eyes and nose resembling that of a panda, but his name also has the word panda in it. This is also presumably the reason behind why Franky calls him Spanda, much to Spandam's chagrin.

His mask also closely resembles one worn by WWE/WWF wrestler Mick Foley, better known as "Mankind", who was very popular in Japan. Whether Oda is a fan of professional wrestling or of Mick Foley is currently unknown. Adding to this theory, Spandam's "Funk Freed" sword may be a reference to Mick Foley's long time friend and fellow wrestler, Terry Funk.

In a recent Weekly Shonen Jump, a poll to determine the most popular One Piece characters, Spandam ranked at 28th with 179 votes.

Trivia

 * In the Volume 44 SBS, Oda drew pictures of the CP9 agents as children. Based on these illustrations, it seens Spandam has had Funk Freed ever since he was young. It also seems that animals created by Devil Fruits can age, as Funk Freed looks younger as well.
 * Many villains in One Piece were given distinct laughs. Spandam follows in this tradition with a short "wa" at the beginning of his laugh (i.e. "Wa ha ha ha ha!"), though it sounds more like "Da" in the anime.