Klabautermann

A Klabautermann is said to be a water spirit (or fairy) that dwells in ships and is basically an incarnation of a ship that has developed a life of its own due to being well loved and cared for. They are normally considered to be only a legend among seafarers.

Appearance
A Klabautermann resembles a ghostly humanoid child wearing a sailor's raincoat and a pair of shoes, and carries with it a small wooden hammer.

Personality
A Klabautermann is a merry and diligent creature that is said to warn sailors when a ship is in danger. The more a ship is loved, the more it grows to care for the sailors.

The human form of a Klabautermann only reveals itself to someone that truly cares for their ship.

Abilities
The Going Merry's Klabautermann was able to fix the Merry after she had been severely damaged and burned by Shura. Not only was the Merry completely repaired the next morning, she was also returned to her original appearance from before she had been equipped with various upgrades to help her ride up the Knock Up Stream.

Furthermore, after developing a Klabautermann, the Merry was able to sail on her own without anyone controlling her sails or rudder. She was able to make it all the way to Enies Lobby from Water 7, through terrible weather conditions no less. She was even able to drop a rope ladder over her own side.

Merry also developed the ability to communicate with people (seemingly telepathically). At first, it seemed that only the crew who sailed on her, the Straw Hat Pirates could hear her. However, during her funeral pyre not long after, even the Galley La shipwrights who had never even seen the Merry before seemed to be able to hear her.

The Merry even seemed to be able to realize that she was damaged beyond repair.

Skypiea Arc


On Skypiea, Usopp saw the Klabautermann of the Going Merry fixing the heavily damaged ship, and it told him that it would strive to sail the crew farther for a little while longer.

Water 7 Arc
It was spoken of briefly by Franky after he had kidnapped Usopp, who had temporarily left the Straw Hat Pirates. He identified the Klabautermann and described it as a manifestation of a ship's soul brought about when it has been loved and cared for enough by its owners. Usopp then realized that it really was Merry who had spoken to him at Skypiea. Franky then revealed that if the ship were to sink with Usopp still onboard, the Klabautermann would not be able to go to Heaven, much to Usopp's further grief.

Enies Lobby Arc
When Iceburg recounted how he encountered the Going Merry during Aqua Laguna, the Klabautermann spoke to him, pleading to go out to sea one last time, and this convinced him to make the ship seaworthy before the Aqua Laguna carried it away. The Klabautermann of the Going Merry spoke to the Straw Hats to call them to her at Enies Lobby and again at the Going Merry's funeral.

Episode of Merry


During Episode of Merry, a Klabautermann (presumably Merry's) made an appearance again briefly on the Thousand Sunny. It was sitting above the sails, watching the Straw Hats and smiling. Usopp saw it briefly as it disappeared, and shed a tear of reminiscence of the old ship he loved so much.

Trivia

 * Despite not making much of an appearance, the Klabautermann was ranked as the 49th most popular character in the series (with 46 votes), 2 votes more than the Going Merry itself.
 * In real world myths, Klabautermann is said to be a male seafaring spirit that aids ships of crews that truly deserve it, rather than being an incarnation of the ship. The word Klabautermann comes from older dialects of the German language.
 * There is also one bad omen associated with it. The spirit only makes itself visible to the crew of a doomed ship. This is shown to be true in One Piece, as Usopp saw the spirit fixing Going Merry back in Skypiea, and in the end, due to various events occurring, Going Merry was broken beyond repair and had to receive her Viking funeral.

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