Saga



Saga (サガ) is the 'main antagonist' of the fifth movie. He's a childhood friend of Zoro's (both went to the same dojo together) and Maya's friend and possible love-interest. The real Saga is a friendly, honorable, and ambitous young man.

He fell into depression after losing use of his right arm, but was brought out of it by Maya, whom he met when he drifted to her island. He was accepted into her village and later fought alongside them when they were attacked by pirates.

During the fight, he and Maya ran into the shrine that housed the Seven Stars Sword. He fell under the evil influence of the sword when he used it out of desperation to save her from the pirates. The sword possessed Saga to try to rise to full power and bring darkness to the world. Saga took over and possessed an entire Marine dojo to help in the quest.

When the Straw Hats landed on the island, Saga summons Zoro; at first to stop Maya from using the sacred jewels to seal the sword's power, then plans to use Zoro as a live sacrifice to increase its strength. Luffy manages to destroy the sword with the help of Maya's barrier. But the curse had fused with Saga's body, giving him superhuman strength and allowing him use both of his arms again. Despite being weakened by Saga in an earlier duel, Zoro arrives and finally manages to free him of the influence with a one-sword strike. Saga survives and resolves to continue seeking the 'sword of justice', his dream, to make up for his actions.

Trivia

 * Both Saga and Shanks lost an arm to save a friend at sea, Zoro and Luffy respectively. And both are still proficient swordsmen despite their handicap. Only instead of dismemberment, Saga's was merely disabled. He regained use of it when the sword took over his body. It is unknown if he can still use his arm after the curse was lifted.
 * Visually, Saga resembles the main protagonist of the Devil May Cry video game series, Dante - both have medium-length silver hair, a red trenchcoat, and a large sword strapped to their backs