Hyouzou

Hyouzou is a poisonous blue-ringed octopus merman. He is a mercenary, currently working as the New Fishman Pirates' assassin, and the best swordsman on Fishman Island.

Appearance
Being an octopus merman, Hyouzou has six massive octopus tentacles in place of legs with large motifs vaguely reminiscent of eyes on them, making eight limbs with his two arms. He has a standard, slim upper body and two human arms. He has unkept, medium-length shaggy hair. He's usually seen with a sleepy look on his face.

He usually has a toothpick in his mouth. He wears an unbuttoned shirt with the sleeves rolled up, an untied tie hanging around his neck over his chest, and a jacket which is draped over his shoulders like a cape. His left arm is usually pulled through from his shirt and is seen holding a katana that lacks a guard and kept in a sheath covered in elongated spot motifs. Hyouzou also carries around a gourd, in which he stores alcohol, and from which he's often seen drinking.

Personality
Hyouzou has a laid-back and calm demeanor. He seems to be annoyed by noisy people, as is evident by his distaste toward the ruckus made by the Mermaids of the cove. He likes to drink and when he gets drunk, he will blindly attack anyone around him.

He has an evident interest in money, being a mercenary for hire who ends up only working for those of the highest bidder, to the point that he wouldn't even help Arlong invade East Blue because the Fishman was tight with his money and wouldn't pay his fee. Apparently, he's not interested in the goals of the faction he's working for, as long as he receives payment. However, although he has no interest in the goals of the New Fishman Pirates, he is shown to be very efficient when he does have a client as shown when he forced the Fishman Island citizens to comply with the New Fishman Pirates.

He has known Hatchan since their childhood, and seems to look down on him for the fishman's skills in swordsmanship, which according to Hyouzou are far inferior to his and says Arlong would have taken him if it wasn't for his money problems. He apparently has developed a sense of intrigue with Luffy as he stated he thought it would be a shame if Luffy died from his poison.

Like many other characters in One Piece, he is given a personal laughter, which is "Ho he he he".

Abilities and Powers
Hyouzou is a mercenary, the strongest swordsman on Fishman Island, and currently, the assassin of the New Fishman Pirates. He claims he's not assisting them for common goals, but simply because he was hired for it: the fact that the crew resorted to hire a merman mercenary tells a lot about Hyouzou's abilities. Even though he is a freelancer assassin for the crew, he still appears to be an officer of his crew as, just like the other officers, he lead a squad of their crew during their takeover of the island.

He seems to be stronger than Hammond and his other Fishman crewmate, as he was seemingly the only one able to block Luffy's punch (even though he was still greatly pushed back by the attack's sheer force), showing off incredible speed, given that Luffy was in Gear Second mode at the time, and stamina, as he was able to walk away without any visible injuries while his two companions were out-cold and bleeding, yet carrying them with his tentacles. Even Luffy himself acknowledged him as a particularly strong individual.

Due to being the only kind of octopus that is poisonous to humans, he is capable of poisoning his opponents through a mere, short-lasting physical touch, as Luffy was poisoned by rapidly punching him. Hyouzou was subsequently concerned that his poison might have killed the Straw Hat Captain (Chopper confirmed it was deadly poison when testing Luffy's blood); Luffy, however, easily fought it off, due to being exposed to a variety of intense poisons during his fight with Magellan two years earlier. Also, as a merfolk, he is a fast swimmer.

Weapons
Hyouzou is a swordsman, and his weapon of choice are two long katana and a saber which he is always seen carrying around. According to his words, Hatchan never managed to beat him in a sword fight, and is a low-caliber swordsman compared to him. Given that Hatchan is known for his wielding of six, incredibly heavy swords at the same time, Hyouzou can be recognized as a very proficient swordsman. He is later confirmed to be the strongest swordsman on Fishman Island; even while (or rather because of being) intoxicated, Hyouzou shows tremendous swordsmanship, swinging three swords to easily take down members of the New Fishman Pirates.

Energy Steroids
Like the rest of the crew, Hyouzou has taken the Energy Steroids during the battle against the three princes of Ryugu Kingdom, who are crowned the strongest soldiers in the entire island, and was able to overpower them due to this. The drug doubles his strength per pill, but shaves off a portion of his lifespan.

Past
Hyouzou knew Hatchan since childhood. The two sometimes engaged each other in sword fights with Hyouzou always the winner. Later in his life, he was offered a position by Arlong as part of his crew, but Hyouzou denied him since Hyouzou only cared about money. Since Arlong had a tight wallet, he could not pay him.

Some time prior to the current storyline, he was employed by the New Fishman Pirates as an assassin as the crew's captain was more able to pay for his services than Arlong.

Fishman Island Arc
Hyouzou first showed up alongside Hammond and another Fishman when the Straw Hat Pirates were just outside of Fishman Island. After the Straw Hats escaped the sea monsters controlled by Hammond using Coup de Burst and flew through the bubble surrounding Fishman Island, Hyouzou wondered if the Straw Hats are still alive.

After receiving orders from Hody Jones to bring Straw Hat Luffy to him, Hyouzou and Hammond found Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Sanji at Mermaid Cove. After Sanji suffered a massive nosebleed, the fishmen pirates attempt to capture the four Straw Hats but Luffy was able to repel them. Hyouzou managed to avoid the full force of Luffy's attack by blocking him. He also inadvertently poisoned Luffy when the latter struck him.

After the fight, he is seen carrying his unconscious crew mates away and comments that it would be bad if Luffy dies unaware that he had developed an immunity to poison.

Later, when Hatchan shows up at Noah and warns all the people there not to take Neptune lightly, and to quit the rebellion, he is seen watching Hody opposing his (Hatchan's) views. When asked by Hatchan why he did not answer to the call of Arlong in the past, while now he is assisting Hody, someone younger than him; Hyouzou replied that he was only hired by the New Fishman Pirates and that Arlong could not afford him and could only manage to appoint a swordsman of Hatchan's caliber.

Once Hody Jones and Vander Decken IX commence their attack on Ryugu Palace, Hyouzou is seen with the New Fishman Pirates riding on top of sea monsters. Hyouzou says that he'll cut if he's told to do so. The New Fishman Pirates split up to spread terror at other locations. Hyouzou goes to the Fishman's Assembly Hall at the southwest side of Fishman Island. As the invasion commences, Hyouzou is seen forcing the Fishman Island citizens to step on the fumi-e of Queen Otohime. He tells them that they either step on the fumi-e or get off the island. Otherwise, he will cut them.

Hyouzou then gets seriously drunk. One of the New Fishman Pirates tries to snap him out of it, but Hyouzou thoughtlessly attacks anyone around him. The New Fishman Pirates soon gather at the plaza and the Neptune Army's attempts to save the king have been thwarted by the Sea Beasts. Hyouzou and the other officers notice a soldier trying to attack them with dynamite and drunkenly mumbles something about it. Hody stops the soldier's attempt with Water Shot. After the three princes arrive and defeat the Sea Beasts, Hyouzou and the other officers prepare for battle by taking energy steroids. When the princes are defeated and tied up, Hyouzou is seen slumped against a rock sleeping soundly.

Major Battles

 * Hyouzou vs. Hatchan (numerous times, unseen)
 * Hyouzou, Hammond, and another New Fishman pirate vs. Monkey D. Luffy
 * Hyouzou and New Fishman Pirates' Officers vs. Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi and Manboshi

Trivia

 * His name comes from hyōmon-dako (ヒョウモンダコ), the Japanese name for blue-ringed octopus.

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