Axe

An axe (斧) is a shaft (usually metal or wood) with a bladed head attached to the opposite end of the handle. If used in combat, the users are known as an axeman.

Strengths and Weaknesses


Axes are not commonly used in One Piece, but have made several appearances. Axes themselves have a varieties of uses and are designed to be a chopping tool with a single or double headed blade, while varieties like the "hatchet" have a hammer on the other side. The design of the axe has remained mostly the same for centuries and is one of the older forms of tools made by man (the other being the spear) and were originally made out of sharp stones such as flint that were fashioned onto small handles. The axe head was altered slightly to fit the needs, for chopping and other precision required axes the blades are normally narrower, while ones designed for combat much heavier often with a larger blade.



In combat, the strength of the axe is its ability to deal a blow to a foe, often creating a single lethal blow, often relying as much on the weight of the blade itself to deal the force as the thrust itself. The axe could cut a limb clean off in a single blow even if it did not always kill the enemy. Light-weight versions, however, could be utilized for throwing. Compared to other throwing weapons such as the javelin or daggers, their use as a throwing weapon is often deadlier, but harder to be precise with. Since an axe has a reputation for being armor penetrating or dealing a lethal blow it also makes an axeman fearsome, thus the weapon had some intimidation value in battle as well.

Otherwise the axe was normally a slow weapon because of the chopping arc needed for the force behind it, leaving the wielder vulnerable to faster melee weapons such as daggers or swords. While some axes such as the "Halberd" or "Poleaxe" were mounted on poles and doubled as Polearms, most axes types were designed for relatively close combat, leaving them also vulnerable to ranged melee attacks. Depending on design they were not always cheap to produce, unlike spears and other polearms.

Despite its overall inferiority and costly production against swords and polearms, there was one more advantage to the axe over most other weapons; its endurance. This also lead to the axe also becoming a religious symbol in some cultures as it was not uncommon for a axe to see through years of service with very little wear and tear. Even a blunt axe had damage potential to also bludgeon a victim to death. This was a contrast to the sword, which needed to be kept relatively sharp to be most effective or the pole arm which being made out of wooden was more brittle as only the tip was usually important.

Types
Axes are essentially broken down into two categories, though there is sometimes overlapping, normally axes are designed for a specific purpose.

Tools-based
Though an axe could be used for weapons, several characters have been seen using axes built for some utilities as chopping wood. Some notable examples can be seen in Water Seven's Saga, being used by Galley-La Company employees, or in Tom's flashbacks, within others.

Weapon based
These axes were designed for battle.

Morgan is the first significant person within the series to be known to be as an axeman, having replaced his severed right hand with a large single-bladed axe, living to his epithet "Axe-Hand Morgan". Brogy wielded a Bruiser Axe that ultimately shattered after 100 years of battle. Kashi, like his captain Brogy, uses a single-sided axe. Sentomaru uses a giant, double-bladed broadaxe that is known as a masakari, but only utilizes it in tougher situations. X Drake uses a peculiar type of battle axe, in which it has four blades, one in each cardinal direction. Ronse uses a giant double-bladed axe. Vander Decken IX uses a large amount of giant axes, embossed with rose design on the centre, either with single or double sided blades; he would either use them for close combat (single-side) or as throwing projectiles (double-blade) that is combined with his Mato Mato no Mi. Boo has three double-sided axes, to which he can imbue with Busoshoku Haki to increase their strength.