Van Augur

Van Augur (ヴァン･オーガー, Van Ōgā), nicknamed "The Supersonic", is a member of the Blackbeard Pirates. He was first seen in the Jaya arc shooting down seagulls from a distance so far that the Straw Hat Pirates, who were watching, couldn't even see the island he was on.

Appearance
Augur is a rather tall and thin man. He appears calm all the time, even in battles and hardly has any facial expression. His eye-brows are always furrowed in the 'sad' position and he rarely smiles. The left lens of the glasses he wears is a normal eyepiece, but the right side is what appears to be a cross-hair. He has light-brown hair, reaching down to his shoulders. He sports a large, black hat, protruding on both of his sides, and also a matching cape. Under it, he has light-purple shirt, with loose sleeves, similar to the ones worn in '600, and simple black pants and shoes.

Personality
Van Augur is extremely calm and analytic even during battle. He very rarely changes his facial expression. However, in his confrontation with Ace on Banaro Island, he showed a darker side by grinning devilishly after a failed attempt at assassination. He, like his crewmates, is a heavy believer in fate. He is very loyal to Blackbeard and the rest of the crew.

Marksmanship


As the gunman of the crew, Van Augur uses a rifle called Senriku (千陸, lit. "Thousand Lands") for battle. The rifle is extra long in length, and allows extraordinary long range shooting. His skills in accuracy seem to surpass Usopp's. When Chopper suggested to Usopp that the seagulls flying around their ship were sniped from an extremely long distance, Nami immediately disclaims it since they couldn't see the island Auger was on, saying it was 'impossible' for any sniper to do. Augur was even able to tell after he shot the birds one of them did not die immediately. Another example of his extreme sharp-shooting skills is that he can shoot through the bullets of Impel Down and then through the barrels of their guns, destroying them. He did this in a matter of seconds.

Aside from his deadly accuracy, he also seems to have great speed in shooting and running, as he did with his battle against Ace. He predicted where bullets would strike and ran at an extremely fast pace to evade them.

Past Story
So far most of Van Augur past is unknown, such as how he joined Blackbeard's crew in the first place, whether he holds a bounty, and where he obtained his gun.

Mock Town
Van Augur first appeared to shoot down seagulls in a far distance from Mock Town, to see which one of them will die painfully. Later, he and the rest of his crew were waiting for Laffitte. They also tried to capture the Straw Hat Pirates, but before they could get to them, the Knock Up Stream sent the Straw Hat Pirates to Skypiea and destroyed their raft.

Banaro Island
After the Enies Lobby incident, he and the rest of the crew were seen looting Banaro Island when Ace appeared. Augur then started shooting Ace at an incredible speed, and to evade retaliation. Augur and Jesus Burgess then carried the sick Doc Q and Stronger out of the battlefield and watched as their captain and Ace battled. While witnessing the two Logia-users battle, Augur then muses to himself that once again, fate had made its decision that their paths would part once again.

Impel Down
Along with the rest of the Blackbeard pirates, he made his arrival at the main of entrance of Impel Down as the riot in Level 4 of the prison continues. He later appears together with the rest of the crew in front of an escaping Luffy and said that fate holds no coincidences.

After meeting up with Magellan and the exchange of some words between him and Blackbeard, Augur and the rest of the crew are caught and poisoned by Magellan's Hydra technique. Later, the whole crew is saved by an antidote from former Chief Guard Shiryū, who accepts Blackbeard's offer and joins their crew.

Marineford
Van Augur is spotted along with the other members of the Blackbeard Pirates on the execution platform where they were watching the events that unfold on the battlefield. Currently he and the others came to Marineford because they wanted to witness Whitebeard's death. He then joins the crew in attacking Whitebeard, barraging him with bullets.

After Whitebeard dies, Augur assists his fellow crewmates in covering Whitebeard's body in a black cloth and guards Blackbeard as he begins to demonstrate his powers. Van Augur and the other Blackbeard Pirates are then attacked by a shockwave created by Sengoku in his Buddha form. He, along with the rest of the crew, leaves the battlefield when the Red Haired Pirates arrive.

Current Events
The Blackbeard Pirates make their move in the New World, taking out Jewelry Bonney in the process. The crew is seen bickering amongst each other on a fiery island. The Blackbeard Pirates' raft was brought close to the point of destruction due to Sanjuan Wolf's size, and they seemingly got in contact with the Marines to trade Jewelry Bonney for a battle ship. On look out, Van Augur alerts Teach that the battle ship has arrived, but not for a trade because Akainu is on board. Knowing that the trade will not happen, the Blackbeard Pirates flee, leaving Bonney and her crew behind to be arrested.

Major Battles

 * Van Augur and Jesus Burgess vs. Portgas D. Ace
 * Blackbeard Pirates vs. Edward Newgate
 * Blackbeard Pirates vs. Fleet Admiral Sengoku
 * Blackbeard Pirates vs. Bonney Pirates

Translation and Dub Issues
In the Viz Manga his name is spelled "Ogre". The edited for television FUNimation dub also spells it this way, but the closed captions spell the name as "Auger". With the release of FUNimation's "Season Three First Voyage" (The first set of the Skypiea Arc) this was confirmed to be the case. The subtitles for both the Japanese Language track as well as the subtitles translating just the signs and title cards for the dub both spell his name "Van Auger", however Oda has stated in chapter 595 of the manga the official spelling of his name (Van Augur).

Trivia

 * His name may be possibly derived from the famous pirate John Auger, as most of the other members of Blackbeard's pirate seem to be named after real pirates.
 * Augur and Usopp both seem to have several similarities. Both are remarkably accurate in marksmanship, strategic and analytical, and run very fast to avoid attacks. However, while Usopp flees in cowardice in a comical manner, Augur runs more gracefully.
 * In both his appearance and abilities, Van Augur bears a number of similarities to the character Adolphus from Terry Gilliam's film "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen". Adolphus is one of the eponymous Baron's henchmen, and has incredible eyesight and amazing shooting skills, able to detach an apple from a tree about 900 miles away. Van Augur's hat, glasses, hair, cape and rifle all contribute to this resemblance.
 * He can be seen in the beginning of the ninth movie of One Piece, with the rest of the Blackbeard pirates attacking Drum Island.
 * The "Van" in his name could possibly be a reference to Washington Irving's literary character Rip van Winkle, who is also known for having a rifle slung over his shoulder.