Hannyabal



Hannyabal is the vice-warden in charge of Impel Down.

Appearance
Hannyabal is a large pot bellied man that resembles a cross between a devil and an Egyptian pharaoh. His brow ridge is shaped like horns, his chin is shaped like a pharaoh's false beard and he wears a nemes, the striped head cloth worn by pharaohs, with his hair coming from inside the nemes. His face in particular is designed in such a way that it looks like a Hannya mask. He has demon-like wings on his back and also carries a pitch fork around, another common symbol linked to the devil.

After his original nemes had been stolen by Mr. 2 Bon Kurei, his new one has a fox figurehead attachment on top.

Personality
He has a habit of saying he owns everything and then having to apologize afterwards for getting ahead of himself. He does this because he is an "ambitious person". He also seems to be prone to "Freudian Slips", which often give insight to his previously mentioned, ambitious qualities and his somewhat dark brand of humor. Hannyabal usually tries to show off how "tough" he really is to the prisoners by going into the Freezing Hell of Level 5 without weapons and almost completely naked, a reason he is admired amongst the guards.

He is emotionally more stern than most characters and can maintain a clear mind even in the presence of Hancock, remaining unaffected by her charms. Despite this, he seems to be easily infatuated with beautiful women, as he let slip of his true ambitions towards Hancock. This was also because she wasn't his kind of woman as later he is easily seduced by Nami (who was really Mr. 2 Bon Kurei in disguise) because she was "his type of woman".

Hannyabal's desire to become Warden by eliminating Magellan causes him to willing to jeopardize the security of Impel Down, such as letting prisoners run away, if it means for a chance to pin the blame on his superior. In short, Hannyabal cares more about his own position than the security and welfare of the prison.

Despite his seemingly lack of seriousness most of the time, due to his desire to get Magellan fired, Hannyabal may get serious when the situation gets to the extreme, especially if he risks getting fired too. If this sudden change occurs, then it would surprise some guards.

His ambition takes the better of him most of the time; however, it turns out that he is a considerate person who became a gaoler to protect the life of the citizens by keeping the criminals in prison.

Impel Down
He cares little for his superior Magellan, whom he simply wishes to see fail or be rid of so he can become the chief warden in his place. Even when not suffering from Freudian Slips, around his superior Hannyabal will also openly state his desire to see his superior fail or die. Sometimes he will even begin shouting or speaking out his words within Magellan's hearing range, causing Hannyabal to reword his sentence to sound better when he realizes he has stepped out of line too much. This often leads him to be conflicted with the warden Magellan, who shuts him up with his poisonous breath. However, every time he is poisoned by Magellan he seems to comically act as though he is dying yet make a full recovery mere moments later. Hannyabal's main grudge against his superior is over his apparent "lack" of leadership skills and he will ofter scold Magellan for things like neglecting the intruder call on Luffy because he was distracted by Hancock's charms. However, Magellan fully trust him and states he is the only one beside himself who is able to run Impel Down.

After being tricked by Mr. 2 Bon Kurei (disguised as Nami) and was tied up in the weapon storage room, Hannyabal seems to have developed a grudge against the okama, as he claimed to hate being tricked like this.

He seems to have a good reputation amongst the personnel and his courage is admired by the gaolers when the situation is getting serious.

Abilities and Power
As vice warden of Impel Down, Hannyabal has command over all of Impel Down, second only to Magellan. However, this power apparently is not satisfying enough, as Hannyabal always speak out on how he desires to take over as warden.

Unlike Magellan or the Four Demon Guards, Hannyabal seems to lack a feared reputation in the walls of Impel Down, as Buggy and Mr. 3 stated that they haven't heard anything about him. However, it's proven wrong, as he easily defeated both Buggy and Mr. 3 without a single scratch on him. He also seems to have a resistance to extreme colds, as he is known to walk through the Freezing Hell with nothing more than his loincloth and nemes, as well as tolerating the extreme heat in Level 4 in the very same attire.

As a fighter, Hannyabal is capable of wielding a double bladed naginata (a Japanese spear) called Kessui (血吸, literally Blood Sucker). With it, he is able to spin it wildly and create flames to deter any opponent. He is also very resilient and is capable of withstanding the strongest of attacks to a certain degree.

Attacks

 * Hannya Carnival: Shou-Netsu Jigoku Guruma (Hannya Carnival: Blazing Hell Wheel): Along with fanfare being played by guards alongside him, Hannyabal twirls the sword in such a way that it creates two flaming wheels at his sides.

History
Upon Hancock's and Momonga's arrival at Impel Down, he comes to greet them and orders Domino to do a body search on Hancock. As Hancock petrifies her and the Surveillance Den Den Mushi, his subordinates report that they have no image from the room and he goes on and meets them as they exit the room. Then he takes Hancock and Momonga to a lift to go to the fourth floor to meet the prison warden Magellan. While in the warden's room he shows many obvious signs that he wants to be warden someday. He then continues down to Level 6, and introduces Ace to Hancock. He also quickly runs away when Magellan uses Hydra on a prisoner. He comments that if he meets the escapees (Mr. 2 Bon Kurei, Luffy, Buggy and Mr. 3), he will let them escape so Magellan would be fired and he would take his position. Magellan assigned him to keep the stairway who led to Level 3, and Buggy and Mr. 3 conspired to beat him to escape, thinking he is the weakest point within the escape routes of Level 4.

However, due to their miscalculations, he easily defeated both of them off screen. But when Magellan arrived at the scene later, the person assuming Hannyabal's role was in fact Mr. 2 Bon Kurei, who had distracted him by seducing him while transformed into Nami, then knocked him out and tied him up in a weapons storage room. After being tied up for a few hours, a couple of guards find him, and he tries to ask them to untie him through his gag.

After he has been released, the guards tell him that Buggy, Mr. 3 and Mr. 2 Bon Kurei, the latter having been disguised as Hannyabal, have descended down to Level 5. The only thing they found was Hannyabal's stolen nemes, which was covered in blood. Under the report of the guards, Hannyabal found that if the four intruders were not eaten by the wolves, but instead escaped, then not only Magellan, but also Hannyabal himself, would risk losing their officer positions, much to Hannyabal's shock.

He is then later seen in the monitor room, surprised to see Luffy, Iva and Inazuma heading down to Level 6. He then tells a guard to inform the jailers of Level 6 to prepare for combat while Sadi-chan gets there with the Demon Guards. He also tells the guard to inform Magellan and all floors of this discovery and to activate all the traps in the passage that lead to Level 6. This sudden turn of seriousness makes the guard question whether Hannyabal is an impostor.

As Magellan was busy with Ace's transfer, Hannyabal was in charge of the prison. During his leadership, he learns Luffy, Inazuma and Ivankov has freed both Jinbei and Crocodile for allies. Hannyabal orders all jailers to gather at Level 4, intending to face the escaped prisoners himself, fearing the incident could cost him his position, but is informed about another riot going on on Level 2 started by Buggy and Mr. 3 as well as an army led by Iva, Inazuma, and Mr. 2 consusting of prisoners that were thought lost forever and is unsure what he should do.

Still undecided about how to deal with the current situation, Hannyabal learns that Blackbeard and his crew are invading Impel Down. Now with 2 situations on his hands he struggles to make a decision and casually asks the other jailers if they should lock themselves in the monitor room and have snacks, much to the shock of the jailers. He then gets a Den Den Mushi call from Magellan, having told him that the riot on Level 2 is over, and with Magellan giving him an order to hold out on Level 4 until he gets there. In an ironic sense of relief, Hannabayal cheers the warden on.

Hannyabal finally faces Luffy and the rest of the rioting prisoners on Level 3. He is backed by the Bazooka Squad and tells the freed prisoners that they don't have chance, bringing out his Naginata "Kessui." Luffy simply orders him to get out of the way. Hannyabal refuses and attempts to fight him with his Hanya Carnival move Shounetsu Jigoku-Guruma. Luffy however beats him back with the Jet Gatling. Even so, Hannyabal refuses to give in and attempts to stop Luffy even when beaten and bloody as the gaolers beg him to stop for his own sake. Hannyabal then gives a speech about why "scum" like Luffy have no right to be free as innocent people are threatened and frightened by the very existence of pirates. He goes on to say that Impel Down exists to keep evildoers locked up and protect the weak people outside. He claims that its destruction would result in more fear, and therefore he would not let Luffy pass and thereby escape. Luffy once again refuses, saying that Ace was precious to him. Hannyabal bitterly reflects that some people refuse to listen. Then the Bazooka Squad begins to vanish into Blackbeard's darkness as Blackbeard crushes Hannyabal under his feet and mocks his beliefs, stating that there is no answer.

After Blackbeard and his crew attempt to deal with Magellan, Magellan quickly douses them with poison and disposes of them. He then acknowledges the battered and bloody Hannyabal and thanks him for holding out for so long. Magellan leaves Impel Down to Hannyabal and tells him not to die, admitting that Hannyabal is his only successor to Hannyabal's stunned disbelief.

Major Battles

 * Hannyabal and Impel Down Guards vs. Buggy and Mr. 3
 * Hannyabal vs. Luffy (interrupted by Marshall D. Teach)

Translation and Dub Issues
While some translations may use "Hannibal" as the English spelling for his name, this is wrong. The name Hannibal in Japanese would be written like this: ハンニバル (hannibaru), while Hannyabal's name appears in the manga as ハンニャバル (hannyabaru), a clear combination of both Hannibal and Hannya which is ハンニャ.

Trivia

 * The fox on his fox-head nemes is drawn in a style that resembles the Jackal head of Anubis, a Egyptian God associated with the dying.