Thatch

Thatch was the commander of the 4th division as well as the culinary chef of the Whitebeard Pirates. He was murdered by Marshall D. Teach prior to the main storyline.

Appearance
Thatch was a tall man with a light brown pompadour hairstyle, which went to a point at the back of his head, and a goatee around his chin. He also had a stitched scar running down his face, around his left eye, reminiscent that of Garp. Thatch often dressed in a posh uniform, with calf-long pants and a black belt around his waist, and brown shoes.

Initially in the anime, he was given blonde hair spiking out rather than being arranged in a pompadour and his goatee was black. He wore a white foulard, a blue shirt, and gray pants with a sword on his right hip. Later in the anime, he was given a different color scheme. His hair was changed to orange brown, his foulard became yellow, and his entire uniform changed to a much lighter blue, with his shirt and pants the same color.

Personality
Jovial and affable, Thatch appeared to be one of the friendlier and more sociable commanders of Whitebeard's crew, being the first to interact with Ace after they captured him and the rest of the Spade Pirates. He also may have had a confident side, having chosen not to devour the Yami Yami no Mi after retrieving it from a raid, as according to the Whitebeard Pirates, the finder of the Devil Fruit has the right to consume it. However, this turned out to be a fatal mistake, as Teach took advantage of it and murdered Thatch for that very fruit.

Portgas D. Ace
Thatch was the first to have a relationship with Ace when he was taken aboard the Moby Dick, going on many adventures together. After learning of his death, he went to hunt down Blackbeard to avenge his friend.

Marshall D. Teach
Thatch seemed to have a good relationship with Teach as partners; however, when the latter did something wrong, like starting a fight or making a joke of killing a partner for a Devil Fruit, Thatch would often yell at him. Despite this, Thatch did not think of Teach as being a bad person.

However, their relationship would come to a tragic end when Teach murdered Thatch to steal the Yami Yami no Mi.

Abilities and Powers
Having been a division commander, he had authority over a vast number of subordinates. He was also recognized as one of the strongest pirates on board. His strength was also praised by Ace after seeing him fight the Raccoon crew. In the anime, it can be seen that Teach had to resort to a surprise attack to kill him.

Thatch was shown to be a skilled chef responsible for providing nutritious food for his aging captain. After Thatch's death, his crew was unable to cook meals of the same quality, and Whitebeard's health started to deteriorate faster as a result.

Weapons
Thatch carried a three-foot-long kitchen knife on his right hip and was skilled at using it like a commander. However, Vista was superior to him as a swordsman.

In the anime, Thatch is seen carrying a sword on his right hip. He was also shown dual-wielding swords and was capable of fighting the Decalvan Brothers, although he was struggling a bit.

Biography
Thatch was born in the North Blue, and at some point joined the Whitebeard Pirates, becoming the commander of the 4th Division and the head chef of the crew.

Approximately two years before the narrative begins, Tatch entered Whitebeard's room to remind him to take the medicine, otherwise the doctor would reprimand him, and to inform him of Jinbe's impending departure. The emperor complimented him on the sea snake soup he had cooked. The two then went on deck, where Whitebeard complained to the fishman that he was leaving the ship to go to Marineford without saying goodbye, then showed him the newspaper and asked if he knew Ace. Jinbe claimed to have heard of him and how notorious he is becoming; There Thatch asked him to keep them informed if he found out more about Ace to which Jinbe agreed.

The New Comrade
Thatch was one of the first to try befriending Ace when he had arrived on the ship. Ace responded cynically, and questioned why he is not being held with shackles while on board the Moby Dick. Thatch merely gave an amused look, as though he believed that was unnecessary.

One day, Thatch saw Teach and Ace argue so she split them up. Before leaving, Teach continued to ask Ace about his devil fruit, but once again receiving no answer, he left angry. Thatch said that Teach was not evil at heart, or at least he believed that he was not.

Ace, Thatch and Teach fight a pirate named Raccoon for taking food in Whitebeard's territory without paying, and they quickly defeat him, when they were going to deliver him to a bounty hunter, Raccoon shoots Teach who then kills him.

Whitebeard later told Thatch to watch over Ace alongside Teach.

Shortly after they went to a bar, where Ace asked Thatch who was the pirate in the crew that hurt Shanks, but he didn't know anything about it, though he kept asking. Ace then asked Teach who he was, which surprised them both, but then Teach said it was just a joke. Thatch said that he was envious of Ace's devil fruit ever since he was a cook, so Teach advised him to kill Ace, but Thatch told him not to joke about such things; since he would never kill a comrade. Ace asked Teach what kind of fruit he would like, but before answering, Satch said that he knew what he was. Teach was surprised and asked how he knew. Satch responded that it was easy to guess and that it was Suke Suke, asking for confirmation. Teach laughed that he was right and Thatch went on to say that it was every man's dream. The girls then came over to their table and gave them flower leis to thank them for defeating the Raccoon crew. As Teach and Ace talk, Thatch tells the girls that such talk doesn't interest them, he thanks them for the flowers and asks if they want to marry him in twenty years, then corrects himself by saying ten. The girls immediately rejected the offer and left.

At some point he faced the Decalvan brothers with Ace.

Death


Thatch later found the Yami Yami no Mi, the Devil Fruit that Blackbeard was after for a long time. This Devil Fruit was the very reason that Blackbeard joined the Whitebeard Pirates. Because of the rule on Whitebeard's ship is that the one who finds a Devil Fruit may eat it, Teach murdered Thatch and ran off with it, leaving his former commander, Portgas D. Ace, to hunt him down for revenge.

Legacy
However, when Ace failed and was captured and ultimately executed, the quest for revenge also ended in failure. Whitebeard himself attempted to get revenge in place of Ace, but he was assassinated by the Blackbeard Pirates. A year after the war, one of the reasons the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates led by Marco attacked the Blackbeard Pirates was to avenge Thatch.

Anime and Manga Differences


The episode showing Ace's flashback contains more information about Thatch than ever given in the manga. These scenes ultimately depict Thatch as a very close friend to Ace. This would include him and Ace fighting together back to back against the Decalvan Brothers, even so far as the betrayal by Marshall D. Teach and his corpse laying on the deck of the Moby Dick, having been stabbed to death in the back. Also there is a scene in which Ace received a banquet for becoming the 2nd division commander, and Thatch is shown giving something to Ace to drink after he choked on his food. In the anime, it is also seen that he gets along quite well with Marco.

Major Battles

 * Whitebeard Pirates vs Raccoon Crew
 * Thatch vs. Marshall D. Teach (past battle unseen)

Filler Battles

 * Portgas D. Ace and Thatch vs. Decalvan Brothers (past battle)

Playable Appearances

 * One Piece Treasure Cruise
 * One Piece Thousand Storm

Trivia

 * Seeing a resemblance between Thatch's name and that of the real life pirate known as Blackbeard, Edward Teach, a fan asked Oda in a SBS question if Thatch was based on the real life Blackbeard along with Edward Newgate and Marshall D. Teach. Oda replied to the fan that he indeed based Thatch's name on the real life Blackbeard's. However, the similarity is in name only.
 * During the war at Marineford, Whitebeard is seen with only fourteen division commanders, not including Ace, indicating that Thatch had not been replaced.
 * In Episode 476, a statue resembling Thatch can be seen after Hancock's first attack.
 * In volume 2 of One Piece novel A, Thatch claimed that Teach wanted to eat the Suke Suke no Mi, unaware that Teach truly wanted the Yami Yami no Mi.
 * While without one in the series, Treasure Cruise gives him the epithet "Twin-Blade Thatch" (双剣のサッチ).

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