Scratchmen Apoo

Scratchmen Apoo  is an infamous music themed pirate from the Grand Line and captain of the On Air Pirates. He is one of eleven pirates who have been referred to as "The Eleven Supernovas" on Sabaody Archipelago whose bounties are higher than 100,000,000.

Appearance
Being of the Longarm Tribe from the Grand Line, one of Apoo's distinguishing traits is his incredibly long arms. Each of these long arms possesses two elbow joints instead of just one, making them much longer than a normal person's. These arms make it possible for him to utilize his Devil Fruit powers without the need to contort the said limbs, whenever he converts them into make-shift instruments. Apoo also has a rather broad chest cavity, which may aid him in producing deep and bellowing drum-like sounds. Besides these, his most distinguishing attributes are his unique physical characteristics and the objects adorned on him, all of which are music themed or related. He wears a set of headphones with his name on either side over his ears and hairstyle similar to Jyabura's, where the hair on his scalp has been pulled tightly so that his roots resemble lightning patterns. A red chinese garb with kanji "音" which means sound or music, is written at the center of a large flower-like print splayed across the chest area, as well as on his back. Apoo also has a yellow scarf around his waist. He also has what seems to be the design of a green rose sewed on front of his left shoulder. His teeth have a unique look to them as they resemble piano keys. Apoo's lower jaw is also somewhat wider than the upper half of his face, similar to Itomimizu of the Foxy Pirates. His fighting stance is also music themed as he appears like he's moving his hands in the same way a DJ would move theirs when mixing music on turntables.

Personality
Apoo seems to be a passive individual who would not seek to harm others without a good reason. As a result, he is normally defensive during confrontations as seen in his postponed brawl with Eustass Kid at a Sabaody Archipelago bar. He also proved to be quite perceptive, since he claimed to have sensed an immense murderous intent momentarily emitted by Roronoa Zoro, shortly before Zoro attempted to attack the World Noble Saint Charloss after the latter attempted to shoot the former. Apoo can be very ambiguous at times, meaning he cannot deny himself as audience to a good brawl, should the opportunity presents itself. He hates it when someone tells him the obvious, such as when a crewmember stated that the crew was running in the air, while they were running away from a pack of savage boars in the in the New World.

Abilities and Powers
Scratchmen Apoo is a martial artist of sorts. His fighting stance generally consists of him waving his hands in front of him like a DJ. Not much is currently known about his abilities, as he has not demonstrated any fighting skill to the extent of the other Supernovas, save for his brief brawl with Eustass Kid, where the two caused a building to tumble down and his attack on Admiral Kizaru.

Devil Fruit
Apoo also appears to have a Devil Fruit connected with sound and music. This ability, which he refers to as Tatakau Music (戦う音楽(たたかうミュージック), Fighting Music), allows him to transform his body into various musical instruments (such as piano keys on his teeth or turning his arm into a clarinet) which he can play. Furthermore, the ability also allows him to release attacks based on various sounds, and seems to have hypnotic effects.

Attacks

 * Tatakau Music: Scratch Shān Dōn (戦う音楽(たたかうミュージック) スクラッチ・ 斬(シャーン)・爆(ドーン), Fighting Music: Scratch Shan Don): Apoo morphs his limbs into various instruments, and emits a dance-like musical number which he raps over. This was first seen being used against Admiral Kizaru.
 * Shan (シャーン): Apoo releases a sound wave that can slice his opponents. In the anime it is the sound of a cymbal. This was first seen being used against Admiral Kizaru. "Shan" is an onomatopoeia that symbolizes quick and silent sounds, like a slash. In the Viz Manga, this is called Slash.
 * Don (ドーン): Apoo releases a sound wave that can cause an explosion near his enemy with devastating effects. In the anime, it was the sound of a drum. This was first seen being used against Admiral Kizaru. "Don" is a Japanese onomatopoeia that symbolizes a strong noise, like an explosion. In the Viz Manga, this is called Boom.

Sabaody Archipelago Arc
After a long voyage following one of the Log Pose routes of the Grand Line, Apoo and his crew came to the Sabaody Archipelago to prepare themselves for the New World. While there, he had a little squabble with Eustass Kid in Grove 24. Knowing full well what would happen if they caused an incident in Sabaody, Apoo asked Kid to postpone their battle until they met in the New World, of which Kid agreed to. As Apoo continued his stay in Sabaody, he and his crew witnessed some of the cruelty imposed on the inhabitants by the World Nobles. While witnessing Saint Charloss abuse a citizen, Apoo was suddenly shocked when a newly-arrived Roronoa Zoro tried to defend the man. Fortunately for Apoo and his crew, Jewelry Bonney stopped Zoro and faked the swordsman's death in order to prevent an incident from occurring. Though danger was averted, Apoo sensed a strong killing intent from Zoro as he witnessed the scene.

Upon hearing of Luffy's attack on a World Noble, he seemed reluctant to leave, asking if only the Straw Hats will be targeted by the coming Marines. Also, like X. Drake, he seemed eager to find out which Admiral would be dispatched to deal with the Straw Hat crew's actions. Despite the best efforts of his crew to get him off the island, Apoo insisted on seeing the Admiral in action and feels that he should anger Kizaru before he runs away. Later on, a brawl erupts between Kizaru, a Pacifista, Basil Hawkins, Drake, and Urouge, which Apoo excitedly begins to watch. As the battle unfurls, Apoo gets to witness the three captains' true power, including Drake's dinosaur Zoan Devil Fruit ability, which he states he has never seen before. He also witnesses Urouge felled by Kizaru and Hawkins blinded by the Admiral before nearly being killed. Apoo then intervenes and saves Hawkins by emitting sounds played on various body parts, which were being used as instruments as he rapped over the music. His ability not only stuns and mezmerizes Kizaru, the other captains, and possibly the Pacifista, but also badly damages the Admiral. Apoo releases a sound wave likening to the cutting tone of a cymbal, which travels down and cleanly slices Kizaru's right arm off. After this attack, he pounds on his chest, releasing a loud booming drum-like sound which also produces a visible sonic wave. This causes an explosion around Kizaru's mid-section and he collapses on the ground in two parts. While Kizaru is incapacitated he attempts to flee the scene, however, the Admiral reanimates himself using his Devil Fruit ability and catches him by teleporting with his powers, then kicks him through a building. Apoo is left on the ground, defeated and badly damaged.

Marineford Arc
He was seen watching Ace's execution televised at Sabaody, meaning that he managed to escape capture by the Marines. It is made apparent at the very least that Apoo's crew sailed away from Sabaody and came back because one of his crew mates was complaining how they came back to see Ace's execution only for the broadcast to be cut off. Apoo correctly assumes that the Marines stopped the broadcast because there is something that the Marines didn't want society to see.

Apoo is among the Supernova crews that gathered some distance from Marineford to witness the end of the war between the Marines and Whitebeard's forces. After the war ends, Apoo is seen angrily wondering why Trafalgar Law would go save Luffy, mentioning that Law has a vicious reputation and that Luffy is a rival.

Post-War Arc
Weeks later, Apoo and his crew had made it into the New World and stopped at a spring island. They are seen running in fear from a stampede of monstorous boars, running toward the end of a cliff. Apoo commanded his crew to jump off the cliff, but much to his and everyone elses' surprise, they ran off the cliff and seemingly ran on air while the boars continuined to chase after them.

Major Battles

 * Apoo vs. Eustass Kid (postponed)
 * Apoo, X. Drake, Basil Hawkins and Urouge vs. Kizaru and a Pacifista

Trivia

 * Apoo's name is derived from real life Chinese pirate, Chui-Apoo.
 * The name "Scratchmen" might be a reference to the act of scratching, a DJ technique in which sounds are manipulated by moving a vinyl record upon a turntable.
 * Like many One Piece characters, Apoo has his own unique laugh, which is "Apapapapapapa", closely resembling Apachai's laughter from History's Strongest Discipline Kenichi.
 * Like the other members of the Longarm Tribe Apoo's appearance is based on a Japanese mythological monster called a Tenaga whose most notable characteristics were long arms.

Site Navigation
Scratchmen Apoo