Karoo


 * The subject of this article is sometimes called "Karoo".

Carue (カルー) is Vivi's pet spot-billed duck, a fast-footed riding bird (one of the fastest modes of transportation available in Alabasta). He is the leader of the Super Spot-Billed Duck Squad in Alabasta.

Appearance
Carue is a large, yellow duck. His wings are tipped with black (though this is not always present), as are his tail feathers. As the name implies, he has a spot on his bill. He wears a blue chullo with a white pattern on it and pink goggles with blue lenses. During his travels in Alabasta, he carried a barrel of water around his neck, complete with a straw sticking out of it.

Personality
Carue is very loyal to Vivi as well as to her friends, the Straw Hat Pirates. He acts very unique as he does sometimes exactly what he is told, like giving his hand, or doing exactly something opposite like drinking all his water although Vivi tells him to conserve his water in the desert.

His role during Vivi's time with the Straw Hat Pirates is mostly that of comic relief, although he does relay valuable information to Chopper from time to time, helps Luffy and Usopp to defeat the Baroque Works agents in Little Garden and saves Vivi from Mr. 2 Bon Kurei in Alabasta. He is the center of several jokes in the Alabasta arc, at one point being used as bait for fishing by Luffy and Usopp to Vivi's anger and chagrin, and he is mistaken for an ostrich by Sanji.

Past
Carue has been Vivi's friend since childhood. On a quest to save Alabasta Kingdom, Carue, along with Vivi and Igaram, infiltrated Baroque Works, a secret crime organization that has been manipulating the people of Alabasta Kingdom. Vivi and Igaram managed to learn the boss's identity, Crocodile, who in turn decided to take action against them.

Whiskey Peak Arc


Carue was first introduced assisting Miss Wednesday (Vivi), Mr. 9, Miss Monday, and Mr. 8 (Igaram) in their fight against Zoro. Carue had trouble following the simplest instructions from Miss Wednesday. Eventually Zoro defeated the Baroque Works agents. Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine arrived on the scene with orders to eliminate Vivi. Carue helped Vivi evade the two officer agents until Luffy and Zoro intervened and defeated them. After Vivi accidentally told the Straw Hats of the boss's identity and Igaram's decoy ship blew up, Carue quickly fled Whiskey Peak with Vivi and the pirates.

Little Garden Arc


Following the log pose, the Straw Hats arrived at Little Garden. After disembarking, Carue and Vivi went with Luffy exploring the island and met a giant named Dorry. After Dorry drank some alcohol that had been tainted with explosives, the giant held Luffy responsible and Carue quickly left the scene. While running through the jungle, the duck unfortunately ran into Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine. The two officer agents forced Carue to cry for help, but the duck remained silent. They beat Carue up and dragged him to Dorry's home where Luffy, Usopp, and Vivi were present. After Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine abducted Vivi, Carue, Luffy, and Usopp set out to save her.

They found four Baroque Works agents on Little Garden: Mr. 5, Miss Valentine, Mr. 3, and Miss Goldenweek. They also found Vivi, Zoro, and Nami stuck on Mr. 3's candle set and in the process of turning into wax figures. Carue and Usopp spend most of the battle running from Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine, but they also helped Luffy break free from Miss Goldenweek's Color Traps. After Usopp figured out how to free Vivi, Zoro, and Nami, he had Carue run around and wrap Mr. 3's candle set with a rope coated with oil. Luffy then lights up the rope with the fire atop of Mr. 3's head freeing the captives. Luffy and Carue went after Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek as they were fleeing the scene. After Luffy knocked out Mr. 3, Carue attacked Miss Goldenweek and quickly defeated her.

After Sanji acquired an eternal pose to Alabasta from the Unluckies, Carue, Vivi, and the Straw Hats set sail for the desert kingdom.

Drum Island Arc
During the journey to Alabasta, Nami suddenly became sick and the crew needed to find a doctor. They disembarked on Drum Island and Zoro and Carue stayed behind to watch the ship. Zoro took a swim in the cold river to train himself. Carue, fearing that Zoro would freeze in the river, decided to jump after him but end up getting frozen in the river himself. After the crew recruited Chopper and returned to the ship, they found the frozen Carue and defrosted him. Once Chopper translated Carue's speech on how he ended up like that, Nami smacked Zoro on the head since Zoro was solely responsible for this mishap.

Alabasta Arc
On their way to Alabasta, the Straw Hats were short on food. Luffy and Usopp decided to use Carue as bait to catch fish much to Vivi's dismay. After passing through a hot spot, Carue caught Mr. 2 Bon Kurei. After Bon Kurei is picked up by his own ship and crew and leaves, the Straw Hats disembark on Alabasta. Vivi sent Carue with a message to Alubarna to warn the King. Carue reached the palace and successfully delivered the message.

As Vivi and the Straw Hats (minus Luffy) make their way to Alubarna, Carue and the Spot Billed Duck Squad came to their aid and they traveled to the capital. Once they reach the capital, the Straw Hats lured the Baroque Works officer agents away from Vivi. Vivi tried to stop the rebel army, but a dust cloud caused by a Baroque Works agent undercover in the royal army prevents the Rebel Army from seeing her. Carue covered Vivi preventing her from getting trampled down by the rebel army's horses. When Mr. 2 arrived attempting to finish off Vivi, Carue ran off with her climbing the steep walls of Alubarna, but is still pursued by Mr. 2. However, Mr. 2 gets delayed by Sanji, who buys Vivi time to get to the palace. On their way to the palace, Carue was shot by a stray bullet. The Spot Billed Duck Squad took Carue to safety while Vivi heads for the castle.

After Crocodile's defeat and the rebellion came to an end, Carue rests and recovered in the castle with the Straw Hats. When Vivi tearfully declined the offer of joining the Straw Hats, Carue was there with her bidding farewell to the pirates.

Further Appearances
Carue and the Spot Billed Duck Squad were later seen enjoying the geothermal baths of Ukkari Hot Spring, owned and operated by Goro (Toto's brother and Kohza's uncle). Carue was later seen when the Straw Hats received their bounties after the Enies Lobby incident. After the Whitebeard War, Carue and Vivi were reading an article about Luffy's second appearance at Marineford.

Two Years Later
After the timeskip, Carue is seen walking around with Vivi and Eyelashes. He and Eyelashes are eating apples while Vivi greets the townspeople.

Merchandise
He is featured alongside Chopper in the One Piece Desert Kingdom Mascot Keychain/Cellphone Strap collection.

Translation and Dub Issues
His name comes from the Japanese word "karugamo", which means "spot-billed duck".

In the 4Kids dub, his name is pronounced as "Kuh-roo", but in the FUNimation dub, it is pronounced "KAH-rue".

Influences
Carue bears resemblance more to a Chocobo than to a kangaroo (a chocobo being a flightless bird commonly used for transportation in the Final Fantasy series). His name resembles the Japanese word for a Sea King (kaiōrui).

Trivia

 * In the 4th Japanese Fan Poll, Carue is ranked the 53rd most popular character in One Piece.
 * Despite his long absence from the series and his separation from ties to the Straw Hat crew, Carue (as well as Vivi) have been and still are being featured on the cover pages of One Piece chapters several times.

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