Hiriluk


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

Dr. Hiluluk was a quack doctor from Drum Island, as well as Tony Tony Chopper's father figure.

Appearance


Hiluluk wore mottled pink pants and a black coat over a green shirt. Over his bizarre white hair resembling a cross, he wore a black 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 it 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, and never desired any rewards. This also extended to animals, as upon meeting a heavily wounded Chopper his first instinct was to help the injured soul. 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 the 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 could 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 was 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 originally thought of Hiluluk as a simple quack doctor, though after seeing him come 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 betterment 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 thirty years to complete his research, which was to create cherry blossoms that would bloom in the snow, in hopes of curing the hearts of the country's people. 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 his well-being (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). Soon after, he realized that his 30 year-long experiment was finally complete, and declared that the country would finally be saved.

Afterward, Hiluluk heard news that Wapol's personal 20 doctors, the Isshi-20, were gravely ill and rushed to the castle, only to find out it was a trap by Wapol to draw Hiluluk out and kill him. However, he began crying out of joy at seeing that the doctors were well. When Wapol ordered him executed, Hiluluk asked not to waste their ammo and gave out a inspiring speech:

When does a man die? When he is hit by a bullet? No! When he suffers a disease? No! When he ate a soup made out of a poisonous mushroom? No! A man dies when he is forgotten!

He then declared that even if he should die, his dream of curing the kingdom's sickness of the heart will still come true, which deeply impacted a crying Dalton. With his time coming to an end, he poured another failed medicine, with which he will use to kill himself in order to keep Chopper's poison from being the cause of his death. He then shouted to the heavens that he has had a wonderful life, and thanked Chopper for all of it. He then drank the medicine, causing him to die in a huge explosion, leaving only his trademark hat.

Post-Mortem
Chopper was initially shocked to the core at seeing his mentor and father-figure die and, after hearing Wapol laugh at his demise, became so enraged and attempted to attack the corrupt king. However, Dalton stopped him and begged him not waste his life for revenge. Chopper then left, taking Hiluluk's hat to make a grave marker, while Dalton finally spoke against Wapol for his heartless ways. Kureha then took in Chopper as her apprentice and held on to his cherry-blossom powder, as is the quack doctor's final wish.

After Wapol's self-exile to escape a terrible enemy, Kureha and Chopper took residence within the abandoned castle and hung Hiluluk's personal Jolly Roger over the tallest tower as tribute to him.

After Wapol's defeat, Chopper went out to become a pirate. But just before he left, Kureha began shooting Hiluluk's dust into the sky, causing the snow to turn pink like cherry-blossoms, thus finally accomplishing the doctor's 30-year dream at last.

Translation and Dub Issues

 * Hiluluk's last words are modified to differing extents 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. The FUNimation dub translated the line accurately to "I have lived a marvelous life!" but added "Thank you, Chopper!" right after it.
 * In the 4kids dub, 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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