Sea King

Sea Kings (海王類) are mythical sea creatures which are generally much larger than normal sea creatures. They are found in great numbers along the Calm Belt around the Grand Line, although in rare occasions they can be found in other places throughout the world.

Appearance
Sea King species consists of radically different physiques and builds, so unique that no two individual Sea Kings have been recorded as being of similar build. They are serpent-like in appearance. Some may have arms and legs and one particular sea king even was noted to look like an oversized frog. Despite this, they are normally different enough to be determined from other types of sea monsters. "Lord of the Coast" is one of the smallest Sea Kings seen in the storyline, yet is still quite large in comparison to most other sea monsters.

Personality
They are classified in the One Piece world as a type "C" creature, which is the "Big Savage" group of creatures. They will attack anything that comes within reach of them and are savage predators. In the storyline they were seen as sea monsters who attacked without mercy and were ruthless, which led many to fear their strength and pressence.

Their depiction within the storyline however did not fully display their true nature until during the Fishman Island arc. They are far more intelligent than the storyline had initally lead the reader to believe. When they were summoned to Fishman Island, they acknowledged that Luffy and his crew were strong humans, but more remarkably acknowledge that if they were any later then they had been, the Island would have been saved but Noah destoryed. They also did not seem beneath lending their strength to those who wished for their help.

Abilities and Powers
Sea Kings make trade and travel difficult for anyone trying to cross the water where they are found as they are exceptionally fierce and strong compared to many other sea creatures. They are powerful predators and attack unprovoked with no fear or signs of backing down, the only exceptions was in the cases where they themselves were the hunted. Cases have arisen where some islands in the Grand Line close to the edge of the Calm Belt (their natural breeding ground) have ended up getting almost completely cut off from the rest of the world.

Most other creatures in the ocean fear the Sea King, with the notable exceptions;
 * Bananawani: their only natural predator.
 * Yuda: who are too ferocious even for them and also poisonous.
 * Blue Gorillas: Impel Down guards who are extremely good swimmers and incredibly strong, cutting Sea Kings up for food supply.
 * Giants: who are incredibly strong themselves.

Only the strongest of ships or captains can take on a Sea King. Confrontation with one by all but a few humans is inadvisable and is considered nothing short of suicide. The fishman Jinbe also acknowledged the danger Sea Kings proved when he summoned whale sharks into the calm belt, thus proving at the very least fishmen are also aware of the potential threat they are. Many characters, such as Franky, see the act of killing one a sign of strength and achievement.

The Mermaid Legend
Even though the Mermaids can communicate with fish in the sea, the Sea Kings are beyond their reach. This indicates that they are very different to the other aquatic inhabitants of the ocean. Ryuboshi once commented that he always dreamt of riding on the back of a Sea King. However, according to legend once every few centuries a mermaid is born with the ability to speak to the Sea Kings, on that day the world will change forever, then one day a man will appear to guide that mermaid. This power implies that the Sea King species is very powerful indeed, but it is noted that due to the nature of this ability when used for the greater evil it is a most dangerous ability, as if they are drawn into a rage by the Mermaid's ability unintentionally through shock due to the mermaid's lack of control, they can destroy and sink every land mass into the ocean thus making the ability a threat to Fishman Island.

In the past, Vander Decken went looking for a mermaid princess of legend with this ability drawn to the bottom of the ocean in his search. The search continued with every member thereafter until Vander Decken IX. Shirahoshi is believed to be the current mermaid with this ability.

The Sea King Menace
Sea Kings occupy the Calm Belt. In the past their reputation and numbers have been the sole protection for Amazon Lily located inside the Calm Belt itself. However elsewhere, islands close to it such as Water 7 remained cut off.

Instances Throughout History

 * During Montblanc Noland's return to Jaya, the two ships led by his king encountered a Sea King themselves. Terrified of such a beast, the king left Noland to handle it by himself. In a published false story, however, the king himself was the hero who defeated the Sea King.
 * Sea Kings were the reason behind Dorry's and Brogy's contest to see who was the stronger warrior. They caught one each and began arguing over who caught the bigger Sea King.
 * Yorki is believed to have perished when he attempted to flee the Grand Line via the Calm Belt.
 * Franky began his attempt to best one of these beasts as a child. He began building the Battle Frankys. Ten years before the storyline, he successfully kills a Sea King. However his ships for killing Sea Kings would later become part of a plan hatched by Spandam.
 * Twelve years ago, Higuma is killed by a Sea King and Shanks loses an arm to the same Sea King while saving the life of Monkey D. Luffy.
 * Ten years ago, it is revealed that Shirahoshi has the ability to control Sea Kings, unknowingly using this ability to save her mother.

Changing Times
After centuries of ruling the sea, the Sea Kings' control over the Calm Belt has been lessened. Dr. Vegapunk discovered that Seastone emits the same aura as the sea, resulting in the Marines to underline all their ships with it and be completely ignored by the Sea Kings. For the first time, ships can move in and out of the Grand Line freely. The Sea Train was invented by Tom to create trade and travel between Water 7 and its neighbouring islands and was designed to create a noise that repels Sea Kings.

Fishman Island
During Fishman Island Shirahoshi called out for her own strength to become Luffy's. The Sea King's heard her call and granted their strength to aid Luffy in protecting the island by stopping Noah from destroying the Island while preventing the ship from being destroyed by Luffy also in the process. They finally revealled that to her that it was indeed her that called them and her wish to aid Luffy that led to their actions.

Anime and Manga Differences
Near the island of Ruluka lives an unnamed Sea King. It was also trapped in the Ape's Concert dimension, but managed to escape from the Rainbow Mist. It tried to eat Nami, but it was easily defeated by Rapanui Pasqua. The Sea King first appeared in episode 141.

Trivia

 * Very few Sea Kings end up with names, only those who commonly inhabited the same waters receive names. The Sea King that ate Shanks' arm is known as Lord of the Coast, and Long Ring Long Land island had a Sea King called Master of the Waters.
 * Sea King meat is apparently considered a delicacy as Luffy has claimed that food made out of Sea King meat is "crazy good stuff". It is also one of Zoro's favorite foods.
 * Though nameless, some of the Sea Kings seen early in the series often crop up in intros and outros even though Oda himself has never reused them for the storyline until chapter 647 in which many anime-familiar sea kings appear all at once in the same panel. Notably, a puffy white Sea King with a bird's beak has been in multiple introductions.
 * "Sea-King" was a term given to powerful Viking pirates.
 * Sea Kings and the other large sized monsters of the world are most likely based on the illustrations of Sea monsters found on old maps, often placed on the map as a warning to sailors traveling in those waters as a result of local superstitions. This practice was abandoned with the use of modern cartography technqiues.
 * As a note of coincidence, the sandworms of the series Dune hold a status similair to the Sea Kings of One Piece in both size and reputation as well as a serpent/worm-like shaped body. Ironically, sound guides the Sandworm to a target, whereas the frequencey of Seastone can be used to move freely in Sea King infested waters. Also, control of the Sandworms in Dune was said to be able to shape the world, just as Sea Kings can potentially shape the world. In the later book "Heretics of Dune", control of the Sandworms had all but been lost, but a young girl called "Sheeana" was able to control them for the first time in centuries just as Shirahoshi commands the Sea Kings. Ryuboshi, desired to ride the Sea King, riding the Sand Worms was a remarkable feat in Dune. However, the sandworms transformed Arakis into a dessert world, whereas the Sea Kings would be able to sink anything into the ocean, turning the world into an endless ocean. Also, the spice produced by the Sand Worms kept trade in the Empire thrieving making their existence essential to the Empires needs; In the One Piece world, wherever there is Sea Kings, trade and progress is dramatically slowed down due to their pressence.

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