Pandaman

Pandaman is a joke character created by Eiichiro Oda, and one of the most prominent easter eggs in One Piece.

Originally designed for a Shonen Jump character creation contest, Pandaman has gone on to make cameo appearances in nearly every chapter of the manga, every episode of the anime, every film, and more. He is particularly prominent in several of the video games, even being playable in the first Grand Battle! and its immediate sequel.

Due to his status as a joke character, most if not all concrete data on Pandaman has been revealed through the SBS, and may or may not be serious on Oda's part.

Appearance
Pandaman's most distinctive feature is his head, which is stylized to look like his namesake (and sometimes emblazoned with the word PANDA). Whether this is a mask or his real face is unknown.

Meanwhile, his physique can vary wildly from appearance to appearance. Though most "official" portraits (including Oda's original contest submission) depict him as tall and well-muscled, many of his cameos in the actual manga and anime depict him as slimmer, if not outright scrawny, to keep him better-hidden in crowd scenes.

Apart from his black trunks and lace-up boots, Pandaman usually goes undressed, and may bear a pair of heart tattoos on his pectorals, and bamboo tattoos on his arms. At times, however, he has been seen in civilian, pirate, or even Marine attire.

Pandaman does not always make cameos in the flesh. Indeed, cameos of his name have appeared scattered throughout the series in both katakana and romaji script.

Pandawoman
Pandaman is said to be in love with Pandawoman, but it is unknown if these feelings are reciprocated.

Tomato Gang
Pandaman, unfortunately, is also constantly on the run from Tomato Gang, a debt collector to whom Pandaman owes money.

Unforgivable Mask
Pandaman's greatest rival, Unforgivable Mask, is hired by Tomato Gang to track Pandaman down and retrieve the money he owes Tomato Gang.

Abilities and Powers
While Pandaman has demonstrated no combat ability in any of his appearances, he does - according to Oda's contest write-up - have a small repertoire of attacks:
 * S.P.D. - Bamboo Leaves Panda Drop (S・P・D (笹の葉パンダドロップ))
 * G.P.D. - Giant Panda Deathlock (G・P・D (ジャイアントパンダデスロック)).

The same write-up also notes that Pandaman has a strength of "3,300,000 power" after eating bamboo and before meals.

In his playable appearances in Grand Battle! and Grand Battle! 2, Pandaman uses a variety of wrestling-based attacks, with the Giant Panda Deathlock in particular portrayed as a brutal backbreaker drop; aside from these, he also possesses the ability to summon Panda Sharks against enemies. Meanwhile, Gigant Battle! portrays him with the ability to fire an energy beam by crossing his forearms.

History
As an infant, Pandaman was said to have been abandoned in a bamboo thicket, and subsequently raised by giant pandas. Growing up, he was frequently picked on for claiming to have seen Princess Kaguya, and as a result trained to become a "demon superman" (悪魔超人).

Eventually, Pandaman grew into a man of wealth and prestige, supposedly presiding over his own island. Rumors of this island (and its panda-like populace) reached as far as Foosha Village. Some time later, however, Pandaman fell into financial trouble with the debt collector Tomato Gang, who began relentlessly pursuing him, even hiring his rival Unforgivable Mask as an enforcer.

Pandaman first crossed paths with the Straw Hat Pirates during the Baratie Arc, shortly before Gin invaded the Baratie. Since then, he has appeared in the background of every locale the Straw Hats have visited; the one exception is the all-female isle of Amazon Lily, where Pandawoman took his place.

Oda later confirmed in SBS form that Pandaman is in love with Pandawoman; but it is currently unknown if the feelings are mutual. There is even a Zombie Pandaman in Episode 351, shown chasing Usopp and Chopper with the other Absalom's zombies.

Anime and Manga Differences
The anime portrays Pandaman more-or-less identically to the manga - as a background curiosity who interacts with neither the plot nor the characters in any meaningful way. However, the anime will often insert Pandaman cameos where the manga had none; indeed, the anime Pandaman made his first appearance during the Syrup Village Arc, mixed in among the Black Cat Pirates.

Special Episode
Pandaman has appeared most of the time as a hidden character that no one else seems to care about or notice, whose actions apparently do not affect the main plot at all. However, in one special episode of the anime, not only did the main characters actually take notice of him, but he was also made the center of attention (although he wasn't revealed to be Pandaman until near the end):



In the special setting in an alternate universe based on feudal Japan, Pandaman owed a large sum of money to Buggy and his gang, the Clown Family. Because of this, they searched high and low around town for him. This eventually led to them to Orika's house where Pandaman was being cared for by her and her mother. Due to his nickname that everyone around town call him being "Tot-san" (which means 'father' in Japanese), Buggy and his men assumed that Orika was his daughter.

After Buggy's men were beaten off by Detective Luffy, Buggy plotted to sell Orika off to pay for Pandaman's debt as well as get rid of Luffy with the aid of a corrupt Bugyō, or magistrate. It was only with the appearance of Vivi and Pandaman himself that Buggy and the Bugyō's plans were foiled.

Later, Pandaman was seen interacting with the rest of the main characters in Onami's restaurant celebrating Christmas.

Anime and Manga Influences
Pandaman was originally conceived for the New Superman Contest (新超人コンテスト), a character-design contest for the pro-wrestling series Kinnikuman. As such, his design is meant to evoke a costumed pro wrestler, with lots of exposed skin, striking colors, and an overall "foreign" theme akin to those used by heel wrestlers in real life.

(Oda would return to pro-wrestling for several later character designs, including Jesus Burgess, Spandam, and the Jeet-Abdullah duo.)

In addition, Pandaman's (supposed) backstory directly references the myth of Princess Kaguya, who was said to have been discovered in a bamboo stalk by a kindly woodcutter.

Playable Appearances

 * Grand Line Dream Adventure Log
 * Grand Battle!
 * Grand Battle! 2

Enemy Appearances

 * One Piece: Treasure Wars
 * One Piece Romance Dawn: The Dawn of the Adventure

Support Appearances

 * One Piece: Treasure Battle!
 * One Piece: Gigant Battle
 * One Piece: Gigant Battle! 2 New World

Non-Playable Appearances

 * One Piece: Become the Pirate King!
 * Birth of Luffy's Dream Pirate Crew!
 * One Piece Grand Battle 3
 * One Piece: Pirates Carnival
 * One Piece (Game Boy Advance)
 * One Piece: Unlimited Adventure
 * One Piece: Pirate Warriors
 * One Piece Treasure Cruise

Trivia

 * As of the 6th Japanese Fan Poll, Pandaman is ranked the 51st most popular character in One Piece.
 * He has a similar nature to the main character of the children's book Where's Waldo.
 * Several of his attributes are linked with the number three (三), in a reference to the Japanese term for bamboo. This extends to his (anime-only) bounty of 3,333,333.
 * He is only character thus far, in either the manga or the anime, to be depicted with an odd-numbered bounty.
 * He was also a prisoner in Level 5 of Impel Down, and can be seen in a list Bentham (disguised as Hannyabal) was reading; he was also seen amongst the group of Impel Down escapees.
 * A pirate group with a panda figurehead and jolly roger can be seen fighting with the Rumbar Pirates.
 * Pandaman made a cameo appearance in One Piece: Pirate Warriors as a coin to power up the player's character.

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