Marco

Marco is the First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, who, following Whitebeard's death, are now under his command. He is known as 'Marco the Phoenix' and owes this nickname to his unique Mythical Zoan ability to transform into a phoenix at will.

Appearance
Marco is a lean, yet muscular, blond-haired man of average height with dark skin and a rather sleepy look. He wears a light purple jacket and a sash adorned with an elaborated belt around his waist. He has black knee-long pants and sandals, and on his left leg he wears what appears to be some sort of straw decoration, in a similar fashion to Arlong. While his chest was barren in his initial appearance, in his subsequent appearances he has the cross and crescent moon mustache symbol that resembles a silhouette of Whitebeard's Jolly Roger tattooed on his chest after Oda changed it.

Marco was a Whitebeard Pirate 20 years ago as well and while how old he was is difficult to ascertain, he appeared for the most part very similar to how he looks in the present.

Personality
Marco appears to be a patient and calm, mild-mannered man. He is knowledgeable in the sense that he was aware of Shanks' powerful Haki and what would happen to his weaker-willed crewmembers if he used it in their presence. He clearly cares for his crew because he warned them to stay back to avoid it. He himself is also strong-willed, as proven by his ability to wield his own Haki. He appears to be somewhat playful, pretending to be hurt from Admiral Kizaru's attack with obvious sarcasm, though he can also quickly become serious.

Marco seems to appreciate raw talent, even those coming from someone whom he has never met before (i.e. Luffy). Because of this, and based on the fact that Luffy intercepted Crocodile's attack on Marco's Captain, Whitebeard, he immediately showed signs of liking, making him the second Division Commander to take favor on the Straw Hat Captain (Ace being the first).

Abilities and Powers
As commander of the First Division of the Whitebeard Pirates, Marco has authority over the lower-ranking subordinates. Following Whitebeard's death, Marco became the highest authority of the Whitebeard Pirates, and as such the crew was under his command as they retreated from Marineford. He was one of the fewer men unaffected by the powerful Haki released by the Yonkou Shanks. He is very experienced and a veteran of the Whitebeard pirates from the times of Gol D. Roger.

He is most likely the strongest member of the Whitebeard Pirates (except Whitebeard himself), as indicated his position as the First Division Commander. Marco was capable of fighting on par with Kizaru, Aokiji and Akainu, with each having the rank of Admiral.

On top of his Devil Fruit powers and Haki, Marco also possesses impressive physical strength and incredible reflexes. He kicked both Admirals Kizaru and Aokiji away great distances. He also appears to possess great stamina and endurance, as he took several of Kizaru's laser beams and was still able to stand afterwards, despite being unable to regenerate himself with his Devil Fruit abilities because of the Seastone handcuffs (a noteworthy achievement, as the beams had completely pierced his body and the attacks he took were previously shown to have been powerful enough to bring down two of the Supernovas, Basil Hawkins and X. Drake).

Devil Fruit
Marco ate a Devil Fruit referred to as a Mythical Zoan that turns him into a phoenix, a power that is said to be even rarer than Logia. It is because of this ability that he is identified as "Marco the Phoenix."

His Devil Fruit gives Marco increased speed and the ability of flight, as well as the possibility of launching aerial attacks. Along with being able to transform into a phoenix of blue flames at will, the fruit allows him to regenerate any wounds with fire, much like how a phoenix is said to rise from it's own ashes. Because of this, Marco is very resilient and can take a huge amount of damage in his phoenix form with no visible consequence other than the time taken to regenerate; he was able to block a barrage of simultaneous lasers from Kizaru, and even intercepted Akainu's magma punch, an attack that was so damaging it burned and eventually took the life of the Fire Logia-user and Second Division Commander, Ace.

Like other Zoan users, Marco is able to take a hybrid human-beast form. However, unlike most other Zoan users (Lafitte and Onigumo, if they are in fact Zoan users, being the only known exceptions), Marco can transform selective parts of his body without changing the rest of his appearance. In his most commonly seen human-beast form, Marco only transforms his arms into wings of fire (sometimes choosing to maintain his hands) so that he can fly and still attack with standard kicks. He has also revealed the ability to transform his feet into phoenix talons, with which he can slash his enemies; Marco has also displayed being able to summon the blue flames around his person, in his human form (possibly by partially shifting into his hybrid form of full-phoenix form), as seen when he engulfed his arm with the said flames as he prepared to confront Akainu.

The regeneration is very close to that of a Logia user's. However, unlike Logia users, Marco apparently is unable to change to this form or regenerate at reflex, as seen when Kizaru pierced him with a pair of lasers while his back was turned. Contrary to those of Logia users, his body is not intangible and is, therefore, not immune to physical attacks, as seen when he took a punch from Vice Admiral Garp and was visibly damaged. This makes Marco more vulnerable while he is in human form. However, Logia users retain their injuries until they heal naturally, whereas Marco can recover from any damage he accumulates in his human form by reverting to his phoenix, or hybrid phoenix, form. It was revealed that what heals Marco are the blue flames from his phoenix form, which are not hot and do not burn or spread like normal fire. In addition, Marco is also susceptible against the standard Devil Fruit weaknesses.

Haki
Marco was able to hit all three Admirals, who are normally intangible due to their Logia abilities, using Haki.

Jaya Arc
He first appears as a background character; when Rockstar asks if anyone knows him, Marco answered "Nope, never heard of him".

Post Enies Lobby Arc
He next appears when Shanks comes to visit. He appears to be fairly well knowledgeable and experienced in dealing with Shanks, since he knows exactly what will happen to the younger crew members in the Yonkou's presence. He also tells the members still standing afterward not to worry about their fallen comrades as they are just unconscious. Marco scolds Shanks for what he did to his subordinates, Shanks however recognises him as the First divison commander and asks him if he would like to join his crew which Marco replies by telling him to shut up.

Marineford Arc
Marco shows himself at Marineford with the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates and their allies from the New World. He states that, including him, all of the Whitebeard Pirates are ready to battle anyone who'd dared to lay a single finger on Ace. With his powerful Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit abilities, he nullifies an attack from Admiral Kizaru. They seem to be on par with one another, each calling the other out on claims of being damaged.

He sees Luffy and his Impel Down team falling from above and comes to the realization that it is Ace's brother, who Ace was always talking about. When he witnesses Luffy blocking Crocodile's attempt to attack Whitebeard on the grounds of Whitebeard being important to Ace, he concludes that "Ace's little brother is not too shabby after all." Just after Luffy dashes off after informing Whitebeard that Ace will be executed ahead of schedule, Marco returns to the Moby Dick to report the same news. Whitebeard later tells Marco that he will not forgive him if he lets Luffy die, at which Marco (who appears to have developed similar opinions and liking towards Luffy) smiles and replies, "Roger."

Later, after Whitebeard manipulates Buggy into joining his cause temporarily, Marco remarks at how simple-minded Buggy is. When he sees Luffy attacked by Mihawk, he calls out to Vista to go and help him out. He finds it odd when Squardo appears next to Whitebeard, and is shocked when Whitebeard is stabbed by him. He was the first one to reach the Moby Dick and to incapacitate Squardo, but he is repelled by Squardo's sword when he tells Marco it's also his fault that he's been forced to attack Whitebeard. After Crocodile yells at Whitebeard for being weak, Marco comments on how Whitebeard's health is getting worse, since Whitebeard should have been able to stop any attack aimed him, even if he was taken off guard. Seeing Squardo crying and deeply regretting his actions, Marco tells him that instead he should redeem himself. Marco's expression is solemn as he sees the Moby Dick destroyed by Akainu's meteor magma attack.

Marco is prepared to save Ace from being executed, but notes that he is not needed when it turns out that Crocodile does so first. After Luffy is heavily injured by the Admirals and is about to be finished off by Aokiji, Marco arrives and kicks Aokiji away a great distance.

With (seemingly) only two Marines watching over Ace, Marco flies towards the execution platform, telling Ace he'll be right there. As he gets closer, however, Garp intercepts him from with a punch that sends him crashing to the ground. Marco looks up, frustrated and with a bruise on the left side of his chin.

In the midst of battling Akainu, Whitebead suddenly seizes his chest, and Marco, in horror, realizes what is happening just as Whitebeard coughs up a massive amount of blood. Marco thinks to himself how this is what he was most afraid might happen and rushes to reach his Captain. However, he does not get very far before Kizaru shoots him from behind with two simultaneous lasers, which clearly cause Marco pain, as he is in his human form. Enduring it, Marco activates his regenerative powers and continues to run towards Whitebeard, only to have Onigumo seize him and put Kairoseki handcuffs on his right arm. Kizaru takes the opportunity to shoot Marco with two more laser bursts - Marco, badly injured and unable to regenerate, falls. Later, after Luffy unconsciously uses his Haoshoku Haki, the bloodied Marco shows surprise. By the time Squardo enters the battlefield with the paddle boat Oars brought into the plaza, stating that Whitebeard and allies should grab Ace and leave the enemy to him, Marco is back on his feet. He comments angrily on Squardo's foolish way of redeeming himself and quickly orders a nearby crewmate to remove his cuffs.

After Whitebeard declares that he will part ways with his sons and stay behind, Marco hesitates, reluctant, as a nearby crewmate urges him to go. He is next seen with Vista and Atmos, shocked by the sight of Ace taking Akainu's molten punch through his torso. When Akainu tries to strike Ace a second time and finish him off, he's stopped by Jinbei; Marco sees this and, desperate now, orders Mr. 3, who is dragged over to him, to remove his handcuffs immediately. Akainu turns to launch another attack on Jinbei, and much to his annoyance is stopped by simultaneous attacks from Marco and Vista, who use Haki attacks to drive him away from the injured Jinbei, Ace, and Luffy. Marco, deep in regret, asks how they could have allowed all this to happen. While Ace speaks his last words to Luffy, Marco joins the battle in order to keep the Marine forces away from Ace. After Ace passes on, Marco is seen crying. Determined to finish off Luffy, who is incapacitated by his mindless grief and anguish, Akainu attacks once again; this time he is again intercepted by Marco, who shouts that Akainu will not touch Luffy. He orders Jinbei to take Luffy and go. As Luffy is all that remains of Ace's will, Marco declares that they will protect him without fail, in place of Ace; if he too were to die, the Whitebeard Pirates would be put to shame.

Marco tries to fly to the other side to kill Teach but Whitebeard commands him to stop, telling Marco he will kill Blackbeard in Thatch's place. When Whitebeard is brutally killed by the Blackbeard Pirates, Marco is crying mourning Whitebeard's death as Whitebeard leaves the crew in his care.

Marco then witnesses Blackbeard absorb the power of the Gura Gura no mi, and when he recognized the stance that goes with the use of the ability he becomes shocked. Marco explains to a fellow crewmate that Blackbeard is no ordinary person. He then joins his fellow crewmates, with the unlikely help from Crocodile, as they prepare to face off against Admiral Akainu to defend Luffy and carry him on to the next era. When Coby yells for all the combatants to stop, Marco wonders why a marine is trying to stop the fight. When Shanks arrived at Marineford to stop the war, Marco was asked by Shanks to withdraw the Whitebeard Pirates peacefully from Marineford. Marco was later seen along with the Whitebeard Pirates grieving for the outcomes of the war.

Post-War Arc
Marco is seen again attending Ace's and Whitebeard's funeral and thanks Shanks for helping with the burial.

Major Battles

 * Marco, Whitebeard Pirates, and other allies vs. Marines and Shichibukai
 * Marco vs. Admiral Kizaru
 * Marco vs. Admiral Aokiji
 * Marco vs. Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp
 * Marco vs. Admiral Kizaru and Vice Admiral Onigumo
 * Marco and Vista vs. Admiral Akainu
 * Marco, Crocodile, and Whitebeard Pirates Commanders vs. Admiral Akainu

Manga and Anime Differences
In the anime when he was first shown, he was replaced with a generic crewmember: a black haired man with lighter colored skin and different clothes. This is a common mistake that occurs in transferring a scene from manga to anime and has been witnessed in One Piece before, in particular when characters are first introduced without a formal introduction.

Trivia

 * He has been under Whitebeard's service for at least 20 years.
 * Marco shares his epithet "Phoenix" with the anime only character Puzzle; but they each gained the epithet for different reasons.
 * Marco may be named after the famous Italian explorer Marco Polo. This however remains unconfirmed by Oda.

Site Polls
Who is your favorite Whitebeard Pirates' Commander ? Division Commander #01: "Phoenix" Marco Division Commander #02: "Fire Fist" Portgas D. Ace (deceased) Division Commander #03: "Diamond" Jozu Division Commander #04: Thatch (deceased) Division Commander #05: "Flower Sword" Vista Division Commander #06: Bramenko Division Commander #07: Rakuyou Division Commander #08: Namyuul Division Commander #09: Blenheim Division Commander #10: Curiel Division Commander #11: Kingdyu Division Commander #12: Haruta Division Commander #13: "Water Buffalo" Atomos Division Commander #14: Speed Jiru Division Commander #15: Fossa Division Commander #16: Izou

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Marco Marco