Gecko Moria

Gekko Moriah (ゲッコー･モリア) was a member of the Shichibukai who resided on the largest ship in the world, Thriller Bark. His former bounty is 320,000,000. He is also the central antagonist of the Thriller Bark Arc who stole Brook's and various other beings' shadows with the use of the Kage Kage no Mi. He took part to the Whitebeard War and sided with the Marines like all the other loyal Shichibukai. Upon the war's end, he was stripped of his title and was to be eliminated by Donquixote Doflamingo, but managed to escape before he was killed, leaving Moriah's overall status unknown.

Appearance
Moriah is a gargantuan person with very distinct devil-like features. Standing at 22' 7 ''in height, he is the tallest among the Shichibukai. His animal theme is that of a gecko based off his name, general appearance and the collar of his shirt bearing a resemblance to a lizard's frilled neck. His overall design resembles a giant leek.

He has two horns protruding from the sides of his forehead and stitches running down vertically from the top of his face and down his neck, which is rather long and thick in comparison to his body. His ears and teeth are both pointed, while his lower body is relatively fat and stubby in comparison.

Moriah's hair is red (purple in the anime) and his skin is a pale blue of which his lips, armbands and the edges of his gloves share in color. His coat and gloves are black whilst his pants are bright orange with pale window shapes imprinted on them. He wears a fishnet shirt. He also wears a cravat, necklace and a blue crucifix-like ornament with claw-like appendages sprouting out from three of the cross' points. During the meeting of the Shichibukai at the Marine Headquarters, Moriah added a fur-laced cape to his attire.

His armbands and the edges of his gloves are pale blue. His coat and gloves are black whilst his pants are bright orange with pale window shapes imprinted on them. He wears a fishnet shirt. He also wears a cravat, necklace and a blue crucifix-like ornament with claw-like appendages sprouting out from three of the cross' points. During the meeting of the Shichibukai at the Marine Headquarters, Moriah added a blue cape laced with beige fur to his attire.

Twenty-four years before the current storyline, Moriah looked much thinner and had a pointed chin.

In SBS Volume 63, Oda drew the Shichibukai as children. Moriah is shown to be gleefully pulling off the leg of a hapless ghost doll. His horns and hair were shorter and he was missing the cross stitches running down the middle of his face. He wore a baggy long-sleeved white shirt with suspenders and dark knee high pants. He also wore his usual long black gloves with cowboy boots with spurs and a jewel-encrusted dagger on his belt. He was also much thinner, had a chin and longer legs.

Personality
Even if I had allowed you to continue peacefully on your voyage... At your level, death is all you would have found... You're nowhere near ready for the "New World"...!!! Though it would appear you have gathered yourself quite a fine crew....You would only lose it all!!![...] My words...come from experience. My subordinates... They were famed, far and wide... Why did I have to lose them all...?!!! My friends were lost to me precisely because they were still alive!!! If they had all been zombies, dead from the start, I would have lost nothing!!! For zombies are invulnerable!! Eternal warriors; even if they are purified, a replacement can be found!!!



He maintains a relaxed and laid-back stance at all times, seemingly appearing to believe he cannot lose. He also believes that a true pirate should fear nothing, not even death.

Moriah is almost always seen grinning maniacally and only seems to change expression when something bad happens to him. Like other characters in One Piece, he has a distinct laughter (Kishishishi) that he often cackles.

In general, he prefers to avoid fighting altogether, or at least fighting his enemy indirectly, either making his shadow fight or ordering one of his zombies to do so. His proclivity to delegate tasks to his minions is also a weakness in and out of itself. Jinbe noted that Moriah must train more.

At one time he apparently wanted to be the new Pirate King and believed that if he had strong underlings, the goal was possible to achieve. Though he once claimed that he would rely on his own powers to achieve his goals, he is incredibly lazy; his motto is "relying upon others for one's own objective" (他力本願) and his favorite phrase is "You do it!!" (お前がやれ). This also expands to fighting style, as he prefers to lay back and let his own shadow Doppelman battle with the powers of the Kage Kage no Mi.

He also appears to have a great knowledge about the New World and he knows well how terrifying this area is. At Thriller Bark, he told Luffy that with his current strength, he would lose his crew. His prediction came true before the Straw Hats went to the New World, at the Sabaody Archipelago.

Moriah has a lot of experience, having fought many opponents in the past, including a Yonko. He is a good battle tactician, being able to outsmart even Nico Robin. However, his overconfidence and laziness made him underestimate his opponents and caused his final defeat at the hands of the Straw Hat Pirates.

Like Luffy, he had many good friends in the past, considering them valuable comrades and considered himself too overconfident. The loss of his crew to Kaido changed his outlook on life substantially, making him believe that subordinates are better off as zombies, as, due to their undead status, they cannot be harmed by any physical damage. They can only be "purified" by the sea or elements of the sea. Even if they were purified, he could easily find other shadows to reanimate them.

Relationships
Crews

Thriller Bark
The Thriller Bark crew was very loyal and very respectful to Moriah, and always seemed to care about his well being. However, their loyalties towards Moriah seemed to be due to a myriad of reasons. For the zombies, their servitude was mainly fueled by Moriah's hold on their very being, granted to him by his Kage Kage no Mi powers. As for the humans in his crew, they continued to serve him due to the deals that Moriah seemed to have made with them in the past. That, or their goals appeared to be coincidental at the time (i.e. Perona's desire to be granted servants of her own, Doctor Hogback's eagerness to breathe life into corpses, and Absalom's bride).

Hogback and Absalom showed their loyalty by escaping Thriller Bark with an unconscious Moriah after he was defeated, although Perona was somewhat questionable, not only attempting to flee when she feels her life is endangered, but taking all rations and treasure with her. However, after receiving news of Moriah's supposed death, she appeared to be distraught, and lamented his demise. Moriah on the other hand, cared very little about the zombies of Thriller Bark (save perhaps towards his more powerful ones, like the General Zombies and Oars, for reason of their strength if nothing else), as seen when Absalom informs that Brook has returned and is slaying zombies, Moriah simply put him down and turned toward another objective with no apparent concern. Though he viewed his human crew in a slightly higher standard, he didn't seem to display too much dismay if they were defeated.

Moriah on the other hand, cared very little about the zombies of Thriller Bark (save perhaps towards his more powerful ones, like the General Zombies and Oars, for reason of their strength if nothing else), as seen when Absalom informs that Brook has returned and is slaying zombies, Moriah simply put him down and turned toward another objective with no apparent concern. However, he viewed his human crew in a higher standard.

Moriah's old crew


Moriah appears to care deeply for his old crew, who were famous throughout the world. Upon losing them all in the New World, Moriah became bitter and his ideals of a crew changed drastically, desiring a crew of zombies that would never result in another irreplaceable loss. Despite his twisted perceptions, he still seems to mourn their loss and even reacts quite heavily when thinking about them.

Bartholomew Kuma
Moriah's interactions with Bartholomew Kuma have been brief but shown an understanding. He chastises Kuma for being so loyal to the World Government and not having his own agenda. Kuma showed much patience around Moriah, offering assistance to help him against the Straw Hats despite his disrespect towards him. Moriah was gravely insulted at his offer and showed no qualms about attacking him, despite Kuma not being affected by his intimidation tactics. Moriah also knows about Kuma's Nikyu Nikyu no Mi abilities and his habit of asking other people where they would like to go for a vacation, before sending the person flying away.

Jinbe
He also seemed to have had a hostile encounter with Jinbe, since the latter knew the weakness of Moriah's zombie soldiers. The two engage in combat at Marine Headquarters, with Moriah claiming that he will steal Jinbe's shadow; however, the fishman lands a powerful hit on him before he can do so.

Donquixote Doflamingo
Moriah was also quite negative with regards to Donquixote Doflamingo, as Doflamingo damaged Little Oars Jr., despite Moriah wanting the giant intact. After the war he got into a fight with Doflamingo, when Doflamingo was ordered to kill him. He was seen on the ground bleeding while Doflamingo laughs at him and says he's too weak to be a Shichibukai and it would be better for it to look like he died honorably in the war. When Moriah asked if Sengoku ordered his death, Doflamingo mockingly sneered and said that it was someone higher than that.

Enemies
Before Luffy, Moriah had already made countless enemies in his search to find powerful underlings, scouring the world for corpses of powerful fighters and shadows to reanimate them, making Moriah an enemy of every victim whose shadow he extracted. Ironically, Moriah seemed to care slightly more with the well-being of his victims than his zombies, mainly because the shadows of the victims he stole them from are used to maintain the "lives" of his zombies and as such, if those people were to die then his zombies would also share their demise.

Nevertheless, in his quest to acquire powerful warriors to support him in his cause, Moriah would either steal their shadows, or kill them, but preserve their bodies enough to be converted into another suitable zombie warrior.

Monkey D. Luffy
Moriah is an enemy of Monkey D. Luffy, who played a role in destroying his army of zombies. That feeling is mutual, and they also seem to see each other as rivals, as they both aim to become the Pirate King. Moriah had also gained an interest in stealing Luffy's shadow (twice) to empower both Oars and Little Oars Jr., both in Thriller Bark and Marineford. Moriah was also the only Shichibukai to be shocked at the revelation of Revolutionary Dragon being Luffy's father.

Kaido
However, Moriah's apparent biggest enemy is Kaido, who was seemingly responsible for the death of his old crew. Moriah spent ten years creating his zombie army to get his revenge against Kaido.

World Government
Moriah didn't care whether which side of the war won, but only thought that Whitebeard's death would be a treat. Also his abduction of civilians and Marines was troublesome. Moriah's defeat was met with horror by the World Government as they had only just replaced Crocodile's loss.

Fearing what would happen if another fell, the World Government attempted to cover up his defeat by killing all of the survivors of Thriller Bark before word got out. Even though Kuma (the one sent to deal with the problem) chose to disregard the order of the Gorosei, Moriah was able to retain his status for a time, later answering the call to arms against the Whitebeard Pirates. However, after the war the Government finally deemed Moriah to be too weak to continue as a Shichibukai, and decided to annul his pact and eliminate him, under the pretense of Moriah dying in the war to preserve the Shichibukai's reputation of strength.

Moriah seems to view the Marines to be no different to the people from whom he extract shadows from. He had no qualms forcibly taking the shadows of nearby Marines to empower himself against Jinbe. When Doflamingo informs him that he has received orders for his (Moriah's) eradication, Moriah's reaction implied that it was Sengoku whom he suspected.

Lola
Lola has sworn a grudge against Moriah for stealing her and everyone else's shadows. She has remained on Thriller Bark fighting back by purifying zombies and stealing shadows. She even mustered the courage to threaten Moriah when he was weakened.

Abilities and Powers
Gekko Moriah is shown to be smart and strategic, demonstrating keen planning on multiple occasions. He often plans ahead with his zombies, placing certain shadows in certain bodies, and altering the bodies to suit whatever his purpose would be under the circumstances.

He apparently knows of the mechanics behind Kuma's ability to transport people elsewhere instantly; something that most people are not even aware of, and generally dismisses the sudden vanishing into thin air that Kuma does to his victims as an instant annihilation.

Moriah is a former Shichibukai, as well as one of the most experienced pirates in the entire Grand Line. He was said to equal the power of Kaido, one of the Yonko. In Marineford, he was strong enough to defeat a large amount of New World pirates with no effort or injuries, aside from the strike he suffered from Jinbe (a fellow Shichibukai). He also managed to fell Oars Jr. in one move, though others had already injured the mighty giant beforehand.

Unfortunately, his tendency to heavily rely on underlings (or his own shadow) to fight for him in the battlefield may have contributed to his diminished prowess in single combat; often, Moriah would run away from an adversary if he deems the battle as "pointless", as seen when he dismissed Luffy's challenge during the Thriller Bark Arc, since he has already extracted the Straw Hat's shadow from him. Jinbe claimed that Moriah's dependence on absorbing other people's shadow does not actually make himself stronger.

By the time the Battle of Marineford ended, Doflamingo claims that the government has deemed Moriah too weak to continue to bear the title of Shichibukai, and is better off eliminated, although it should be noted that it still took Doflamingo and a group of Pacifistas to corner him, and he still managed to escape.

Physical Abilities
Physically, he was capable of getting up immediately after a Gomu Gomu no Pistol and a Gomu Gomu no Storm by Nightmare Luffy that toppled Oars over. He also did not take any damage when Nami's thunder-attack struck Oars. Moriah also seems to have a strong will, as he was not rattled by Luffy's Haoshoku Haki. He also managed to sustain 1000 shadows within his body, though it did exert him greatly. Also, even though he was crushed under the main tower of Thriller Bark, he only received a small injury to his head, as evidenced by his appearance at Marineford.

Devil Fruit


Moriah ate the Kage Kage no Mi, a Paramecia type Devil Fruit that allows him to manifest and control shadows as physical beings. It is this fruit that allowed him to build his zombie army, by depriving living beings of their shadows and implanting them in dead bodies. In general, he prefers to avoid fighting altogether, or at least fighting his enemy indirectly, either making his shadow fight or ordering one of his zombies to do so. His own shadow can fight for him, while he does nothing but watch. The shadow is mostly solid, and can easily change its form into things like tiny bats. The shadow cannot be destroyed and will continue to reform. Moriah is able to switch his location with his shadow's location, which can also be used to dodge attacks.

Even if he has no zombies to do his fighting for him or shadows to increase his own strength, he is an ample enough fighter with just his own shadow, as seen when he used it to impale Little Oars Jr. in the chest.

Moriah is able to steal a person's shadow with the Kage Kage no Mi. The loss of that person's shadow causes them to be vaporized if they come in contact with direct sunlight (Brook, for example, can survive through the thick fog). Moriah is also able to create various zombies by implanting a stolen shadow into a lifeless corpse. People who have their shadow stolen are left in a coma for two days. A shadowless person has no reflection, and does not appear in mirrors. If they die, the zombie with their shadow loses the shadow.

Moriah can place someone's shadow inside of someone's living body, increasing both physical strength and possibly gaining a fighting technique (for example using the shadow of a swordsman). Usually he can pick up a bunch of shadows to insert in his own body. At the end of the Thriller Bark arc he used the desperate attack "Shadow Asgard", which consist of taking every shadow from every zombie on Thriller Bark (around 1000 shadows) and absorb them. This form increases his mass to the size of a giant, as well as giving him a monstrous boost in physical strength enough to cut the Thriller Bark ship in half with one punch.


 * While Luffy could barely withstand 100 shadows (which was known as "Nightmare Luffy"), Moriah was able to maintain 1000 shadows in his own body with the superior control his Kage Kage no Mi granted him, although this was still over his limit as strikes from Luffy's Gear second caused him to gradually throw up the absorbed shadows, and Zoro noted it as more of a desperate move than a trump card.

Weapon
Moriah wields a giant pair of scissors, which he uses in conjuncture with his Kage Kage no Mi, to sever people's shadows. He carries these with him all the time, so he can steal shadows even during battle, as shown when he took Robin's shadow.

The scissors are also shown to be able to disconnect at the joint, becoming two inverted swords for Moriah. With shadows of capable swordsmen implanted into himself, Moriah can become a swordsman with dual swords.

Early Years
Moriah was present at the execution of Gol D. Roger and witnessed his famous speech. This probably contributed to Moriah's old dream of becoming the new Pirate King. After the execution he, like many others, raised his flag and started to make a name for himself in the New World.

Life as a Pirate
My words... come from experience. My subordinates... they were famed far and wide... Why did I have to lose them all?!!! Moriah became a pirate whose powers could rival that of Kaido, one of the Yonko, and also became a Shichibukai. While in the New World, his entire crew was apparently killed. Their deaths affected his entire outlook about subordinates. After the loss of his crew, Moriah set about trying to gain enough power to beat Kaido.



Ten years before the current storyline, Moriah, along with Absalom and Perona, sought out a man named Hogback. Upon meeting the doctor, Moriah offered him a way to bring his deceased love, Victoria Cindry, back to life. Through the use of his Devil Fruit powers, Moriah implanted a stolen shadow into the corpse and gained the doctor's allegiance in return.

Together with the doctor and Moriah's two associates, they set up the ship "Thriller Bark" and traveled to the Florian Triangle. There they began to ambush anyone who entered, looking for those with strong shadows, such as pirates with high bounties. Moriah then started making zombie minions with shadows stolen from his victims and creations supplied by Hogback.

Five years ago, a skeleton named Brook came to Thriller Bark in hopes of fixing the rudder to his ship. He was captured and Moriah implanted his shadow into the corpse of Ryuuma. The skeleton then returned to Thriller Bark and purified several of Moriah's zombie minions in an attempt to retrieve his shadow. Though the skeleton was defeated by Ryuuma, Moriah was forced to rebuild his army from the mess he left behind.

Nightmare at Thriller Bark
After four days of sleep and some nightmares, Moriah is awoken by his servants and told of the night attack to be commenced on the Straw Hat Pirates, which he then prepares for.



As the attack commences, Moriah takes Sanji's and Zoro's shadows as they are brought before him, implanting them in the zombies, Inuppe and Jigoro respectively. Later, Luffy was brought to Moriah. Moriah reveals his desire to be pirate king. Luffy, who is tied up in a cage yells he will be Pirate King. Moriah and his chief officer converse on they are aims when the three solider guarding him yelled out he ate the steel cage and is escaping. Perona lets loose a few ghosts who subdue him with there negative attack. With that Gekko Moriah begins to remove Luffy's shadow while Nami, Usopp, and Chopper watch in horror from Kumashi.

With his shadow removed, Luffy loses consciousness. With this shadow, he decided to place it in the giant 900th zombie, named Oars. While Luffy's shadow is confused and struggling, Hogback mentions that he has been working on "Number 900" for a few years and it will be the strongest zombie ever created. Absalom and Perona state their dreams and Moriah mentions that with Luffy shadow, Kaido, one of the Yonko, in the New World could not have beaten him. He then calls out to his underlings to head into the freezer while Absalom orders some Spider-Mice to put Luffy's body on the ship. Before they start, they give a report to him saying that Captain Tararan has been beaten and his shadow has been extracted, causing Hogback to panic. Hogback explains that Brook had been causing trouble, purifying all the zombies. Absalom and Perona both don't know what he actually looks like and Absalom states that he will have no trouble passing through the surveillance. Moriah, however, doesn't seem to be troubled and tells them to do something about it, heading into the freezer. The Spider-Mice then proceed to put Luffy back onto the ship while Usopp, Nami and Chopper stay inside Kumashi and plan to take Luffy's shadow back when they get the chance.

In the tunnel of the freezer, all the leaders of Thriller Bark are excited about their plans for the future. They enter the chamber, where this enormous giant twenty times Moriah's size rests.

Moriah declares it was once the great conqueror known as Oars. Moriah implants Luffy's shadow inside the corpse of Oars, making the massive zombie come to life. The zombie immediately shows his similarity to Luffy, yelling out for food at the moment of awakening! Oars calls out for Sanji to make him some food, but then is confused by his own sentence, not remembering who Sanji was, the shadow's personality and memories already starting to be worn away. Moriah has his zombies bring Oars tons of food to eat. The zombies watch in shock as Oars consumes vast amounts of Thriller Bark's stores and still wants more food. Moriah tells Oars who he is and that he is now his minion but Oars declares he will be pirate king and proceeds to break out of the freezer much to the astonishment of the zombies.

In the mansion, Moriah asks Perona where Oars has gone, and she replies that he has climbed up the mast. Some zombies complain that they cannot let Oars wander the island, as he is too dangerous, but Moriah simply replies that since they have Oars now, they will be able to acquire the shadows of more powerful people and create more special zombies. Moriah tells Hogback that he will have to create better bodies for the zombies, and he says to leave it up to him. Suddenly, Hildon flies in, saying that there is a problem. Hildon states that the three people who lost their shadows (Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji) have all woken up and are approaching. Hildon continues, saying that they seem to be connected to Brook and that they know how to purify zombies. Due to this, the zombie are afraid and running around. Hogback says that the surprise, wild, and soldier zombies could not match the Straw Hats even without salt, and that they need to get the general zombies to fight. Hogback asks what Absalom is doing, but Hildon says that most of the general zombies are attending his wedding ceremony. Perona laughs, saying that they do not need to ask Absalom anything. She states that they only need to weaken the Straw Hats with her ghosts so that the soldier zombies can take them out. Perona promises to retrieve them, and tells Hogback to go make bodies for the shadows they captured. Perona then leaves, and Hogback says that he is glad they have her on their side. Hogback tells Moriah that everything is fine, and Moriah says it is boring, even though Hogback states that he would not have even done anything anyway. Moriah decides to stay and play with Oars for a while, and since Absalom is indisposed, Hogback asks for two zombies for himself.

Luffy later reaches Moriah and demands the return everybody’s shadows and that he will kick Moriah's ass, prompting Moriah to ask how exactly Luffy will do that and even if Luffy beats him up or even kills him the shadows will not return unless he orders them to do so. Luffy rears up for a Gomu Gomu no pistol only to have it blocked by Moriah's shadow, his duplicate Doppelman. Moriah then tells Luffy that in the past he was too overconfident in his own ability and ambition and learned the importance of having strong subordinates so their power can make him pirate king without himself having to lift a finger.

Luffy retorts that he will be pirate king and Moriah reveals that a shadow’s master can sometimes leave a very strong will behind, but it’s still just a matter of time until that will fades and they become another obedient zombie. Moriah's shadow turns into several black bats to block Luffy's attacks and then starts to bite him making Moriah ask how this is "kicking my ass?". Luffy jumps down into the freezer causing Moriah to think Luffy is trying to escape only for Luffy to launch a Gomu Gomu no Stamp through the ledge Moriah is sitting on.], breaking it.

Moriah commanded him to rampage through Thriller Bark, assemble the Straw Hats, beat them and put them on their ship. Luffy then starts chasing after a smiling Moria. He leads Luffy deep within the forest of Thriller Bark and then switches with Doppelman the moment Luffy caught him. Doppleman then leaves Luffy in the middle of the forest and returns to Moriah's feet.

Moriah and Kuma


Suddenly, the ground starts shaking, startling the Straw Hats and Oars. A zombie shouts that they could start seeing shreds of sunlight. The soon form the conclusion that Oars had accidentally moved Thriller Bark out of the Florian Triangle due to his messing around earlier. A number of zombies run to Moriah's room, alerting him of the situation. Moriah tells them that he didn't care as they were pirates, sailing wherever they wanted to. He states that he very important matters to deal with and starts talking to his visitor, Bartholomew Kuma. Moriah talks to Kuma, saying that Kuma was the only one Shichibukai that carried out the World Government's wishes. Kuma asks Moriah where he would like to go for a holiday. Moriah tells him nothing, saying that he already knew of Kuma's special ability. The zombies stare on in awe at the giant Shichibukai. Kuma states that he had a report to deliver.

Due to Crocodile's defeat, the World Government had to choose a successor. Moriah comments that there were a lot of pirates to go through and asks who the lucky pirate was. Kuma reveals the newest Shichibukai, Marshall D. Teach. Moriah states that he had no knowledge of a man named "Teach" or "Blackbeard". He questions the bounty and after getting a reply of "Zero", he comments that Blackbeard had must have done a feat capable of getting the World Government to notice him. Moriah laughs, saying that the world was in balance once more. However, Kuma with a stern face reveals he feels otherwise and says that the World Government was concerned. He talks about the recent Enies Lobby incident, revealing that the World Government had recently kept close tabs on the Straw Hat Pirates. They had concluded that if they followed the Log Pose from Water 7 to Fishman Island, they would most probably end up in Thriller Bark. He then reveals that the World Government fears that another Shichibukai could fall to the Straw Hats. Enraged, Moriah grabs Kuma and asks if all Kuma came to do was "protecting" Moriah. Kuma says that he would happily provide assistance if needed. This outrages Moriah even more, shouting at Kuma, asking if he knew who he was. The zombies become terrified of their master's rage. Moriah states that he could never be defeated by a crew of such inexperience. Kuma says that a battle had no certain outcome, saying that who could have dreamed of CP9's Rob Lucci being defeated. Moriah, still enraged, asks Kuma that the reason why there two Shichibukai on Thriller Bark was because the World Government was scared that Moriah would lose. Kuma simply says that he was here to deliver a report and had no orders to participate in battle. Moriah shouts that Kuma sit back and watch the battle and that he could deliver a report back to the pampered fools, that the pirates that had managed to outwit the Government were now part of the Gekko Moriah Zombie Army.

Battle against the Straw Hats
Using his Doppelman switching technique, Moriah enters Oars' stomach and aids the behemoth's battle against the Straw Hats. Moriah then challenges them saying that if they can defeat him he will return all their shadows. With his Devil Fruit powers, Moriah aids Oars by making the behemoth's shadow and body stretch during the battle.

Attacking the Straw Hat Pirates with Gomu Gomu no Kane and immediately following up with Gomu Gomu no Yari, they are left bewildered at his sudden increase in power and question Moriah as to how he is stretching. The Shichibukai explains that it is a result of his Devil Fruit's power, Kage Kakumei. With it, he is capable of altering the shape of a shadow; which in turn alters the shape of the substance. Chopper likens it to reversing nature, and Moriah demonstrates the limit of this power by turning Oars into a giant sphere, Oars Ball. Frustrated with his master's interference, Oars asks him to stop controlling him and allow himself to fight. Promising to provide Oars with support, they go to resume the fight.

Usopp fires Brook out of the Kuwagata, with Nico Robin making him spin and Nami electrifying him, but he only does minor damage to Oars and is knocked out when Oars retaliates. Robin attempts to use her powers on Moriah, but he attacks her with his shadow and then switches places with it, rendering her attack useless. He then takes her shadow, rendering her unconscious.

Zoro tries attacking Oars' arm again, but Oars knocks him out by kneeing him into a wall. Usopp shoots Brook's salt into Oars' mouth with Kuwagata, but Moriah's shadow catches it and throws it out, breaking the bag and preventing them from using it again. Oars tries to stomp Usopp and Nami, but Nightmare Luffy arrives and gets them to safety in an instant. To Moriah's surprise, Luffy had suddenly become extremely powerful and was now able to land massive hits on Oars. While the Rolling Pirates take the unconscious Straw Hat Pirates to safety, Luffy begins attacking Oars, and with his shadows, is far stronger than his opponent. Moriah attempts to escape, but Luffy punches him out with Gomu Gomu no Pistol and sends Oars flying with Gomu Gomu no Storm. The shadows leave Luffy's body, but he appears to have won.



Oars recovers from Nightmare Luffy's attack. However, the Straw Hats all get back on their feet, from Luffy to Brook, and launch a final devastating attack on Oars, which ends with Luffy smashing a Gigant Bazooka into Oars' face from above, breaking his spine and finally defeating the demon. Gekko Moriah, however, gets out of Oars' stomach moments later, and prepares himself for his ultimate technique, Shadows Asgard. By sucking up all of the shadows of all of the zombies on Thriller Bark, totaling one thousand shadows, Moriah becomes a grotesque monster, as big as Oars in size with short spindly legs, gigantic arms, and a huge bloated neck pulsating with veins. That guy seems to be almost running wild...He's barely in control of himself...In his anger and foolish pride, it would seem he's given up on reason.

The sun starting to rise is making everyone despair. Lola and the Straw Hat Pirates who lost their shadows stand patiently for the sun or Moriah to eliminate them. Meanwhile, Luffy activates Gear Second. Moriah tries to attack Luffy but he dodges Moriah's attacks. Luffy uses Gomu Gomu no Jet Rocket on Moriah and causes him to spew out some shadows. Luffy then uses Jet Rocket and Jet Bazooka, causing more shadows to be released. Moriah starts to lose consciousness and lose control of the shadows. Luffy begins another attack but his attack is interrupted by Moriah using Bat Bricks to create a shadow cage and traps Luffy in it. He then smashes the shadow cage against a wall.

The shadow cage becomes misshaped and falls on the ground. Moriah then plans to smash the cage by stepping on it with his foot. The onlookers scream to him to stop, but Moriah ignores them and continues to step on the cage. Luffy's arm is later seen out of the cage. Moriah tells the onlookers that is what will happen if they challenge a Shichibukai. Brook and Chopper notice Luffy and scream his name, Luffy then breaks out of the shadow cage and stands up. He tells Moriah that he can't even dream of defeating him because he is a rubberman.

Luffy activates Gear Second and Gear Third at the same time, Chopper tells him not to overdo it and if he does his body will be torn apart. He continues to use both and attacks Moriah with Gomu Gomu no Giant and Jet Shell. The shadows start to leak out but Moriah forces to control them by closing his mouth with both of his hands. He later attacks Moriah again. More shadows leak out of Moriah, and then he falls down on his back releasing the rest of the shadows. But, the sun being higher in the sky starts to annihilate everyone without a shadow.

Before passing out, he mockingly told Luffy that his time on Thriller Bark is nothing compared to what he'll experience in the New World. Straw Hat...Ughah!...Then you go see for yourself...What a real nightmare is...! In the New World!

Marineford Arc
He was seen lying unconscious on a ship, being steered by Absalom and Hogback, and on its way away from Thriller Bark. Apparently, he had answered to the call of Shichibukai to battle Whitebeard and is joining the war, later shown dining with the other Shichibukai, except for Jinbe and Boa Hancock, with bandages on his head from his fight with Luffy and is also wearing a fur trimmed cape now.

In the anime, it showed him at Marineford alongside Bartholomew Kuma, Donquixote Doflamingo, Dracule Mihawk and Boa Hancock, ready for the battle ahead. He was surprised to learn that Portgas D. Ace is Gol D. Roger's son.

Upon discovering that Little Oars Jr. is under the command of Whitebeard, Moriah expressed an interest in taking the giant's corpse. For this reason, when Doflamingo cuts the right leg of the giant with his powers, Moriah gets angry with him, and decides to finish off Little Oars Jr., using a shadow blade in order to achieve this.



When Luffy and his fellow Impel Down escapees fall from the sky and onto the battlefield, Moriah is seen screaming Luffy's title in apparent rage. He then attempts to have his zombies fight Luffy saying he wants to use Luffy's shadow to reanimate Oars Jr, only to have Jinbe splash them with saltwater and reduce them to lifeless bodies. When he learns that Luffy's father is none other than Dragon, he's absolutely speechless, being the only Shichibukai to be so. He then attempts to fight Jinbe and take his shadow, though Jinbe manages to evade and strike Moriah with ease despite Moriah augmenting himself with the shadows of marines.



He begins to grow larger and stronger as he did in Thriller Bark towering over Jinbe. He then takes his large scissors and detaches them into a pair of swords. He tells Jinbe he will add his shadow and begins attack, slashing wildly but it unable to hit his opponent. He shows surprise over how quick Jinbe is able to move for his size. Jinbe then attacks back, striking him in the throat. This attack stops Moriah in his tracks and causes him to expell his newly absorbed shadows, shrinking back down to normal size. Jinbe then leaves, leaving Moriah furious.

He is later seen provoking the Whitebeard Pirates' 10th squad captain Curiel into a fight on the battlefield, stating that he would enjoy seeing Whitebeard die during the war. When Whitebeard gets stabbed by Squardo, Moriah was seen with a look of delight on his face.

In the plaza, Moriah fought the Whitebeard Pirates and their allies until Whitebeard created a fissure to separate the pirates and the marines. When Whitebeard met his end at the hands of the Blackbeard Pirates, Moriah is seen smiling, being true to his earlier statement of enjoying to see Whitebeard die.

After Shanks arrives with the purpose of bringing the war to an end, Moriah continues to smile, standing ontop a pile of dead bodies. When Sengoku calls the war off, he stands down along with the rest of the Shichibukai and Marines.

Post-War Arc


After the war, Moriah is seen in the backstreets of Marineford being brutally attacked by Doflamingo and a group of Pacifista because, according to the former, Moriah was deemed to be far too weak to continue serving as a Shichibukai, and that it would be better if he was eliminated here with the world believing him to have died in the war. When Moriah questions if the order was from Sengoku, Doflamingo smilingly sneers "higher than that".

Perona later claims that a newspaper article states that he died in the war, though Mihawk questions the validity of this as he recalls that Moriah was alive at the end of the battle, being unaware of the fact that Doflamingo was ordered to kill him. It is later revealed that Moriah disappeared before Doflamingo could deliver the killing blow. Doflamingo wonders if Moriah's Devil Fruit could be the cause of his disappearance, with his mysterious interlocutor having doubts about it.However, his location and current status remain unknown, although Doflamingo said Moriah was critically injured and would die no matter what he did.

During the Timeskip
Despite Doflamingo's assertions, several people have reported they have seen Gekko Moriah alive. He is currently in hiding somewhere in the New World.

Major Battles

 * Gekko Moriah vs. Kaido (past battle, unseen)
 * Gekko Moriah (with Doppleman) vs. Monkey D. Luffy
 * Gekko Moriah and Oars vs. Straw Hat Pirates (minus Luffy) and Brook
 * Gekko Moriah and Oars vs. Nightmare Luffy
 * Gekko Moriah vs. Straw Hat Pirates
 * Gekko Moriah (Shadow Asgard form) vs. Monkey D. Luffy
 * Shichibukai and the Marines vs. Whitebeard Pirates and their allies
 * Gekko Moriah, Bartholomew Kuma and Donquixote Doflamingo vs. Little Oars Jr.
 * Gekko Moriah vs. Jinbe
 * Gekko Moriah vs. Curiel
 * Gekko Moriah vs. Donquixote Doflamingo and the Pacifista army

Early One Piece
One Piece Green: Secret Pieces revealed early concepts of Moriah. We can see how Moriah underwent many transformations before becoming his official appearance. One picture shows us an early concept of Moriah that looks nothing like his current look, with him wearing a strange mask and a hood. The other shows how first, Moriah was supposed to be a pastor who had a split personality, and even after his appearance became closer to that of what he is now, his setting was a schemer that sets traps.

Translation and Dub Issues
In the characters description and summary of Volume 47 (page 5) Moriah is stated as 元七武海 "moto Shichibukai", which can be translated to "former Shichibukai" which is inaccurate. However this never appeared in the actual chapters.

Another common mistake is that his nickname is believed to be King of the Depths. In reality, the full name for the Shichibukai is "Below King Seven Armed Seas". It was the "Below King" part that caused confusion to many people, thus giving the impression that "Below King", or "King of the Depths", is his nickname.

It is also possible that the character's name makes reference to the novel "The Island of Dr Moreau", by H. G. Wells, in which a man gets stranded on an island in which a scientist by the name of Doctor Moreau makes experiments, creating monsters by mixing body parts of animals and men. The similarities between the plot of the novel and the elements of the Thriller Bark arc, along with the similar sounding names of the masters of the islands, seem to confirm the idea that at least in part Moriah's name is a reference to Moreau. His surname is not only based on the Japanese word for moonlight, Gekkou, given his nightmare theme, but it is also a pun on the word gecko. Also, Mori is Latin for "to die". Example: Memento mori ("Remember you must die"). However saying "Moriah" is base on this word it could be considered a case of False etymology as Oda has never confirmed this.

Anime and Manga Difference
In the anime, Jinbe claimed that Moriah's dependence on absorbing other people's shadow does not actually make himself stronger.

Merchandise


As a prominent character, he has been featured in the fan merchandise. Gekko Moriah has been featured with the Shichibukai in the series of One Piece Shichibukai Cellphone Strap and twice in the One Piece Super Deformed Figures. He was recently released in the One Piece DX Figure models. He is set to be released in the One Piece World Collectable Figure series in July 2010 along with the rest of the Shichibukai.

Trivia

 * In a series that usually prides itself on continuity and foresight, Moriah has the dubious honor of having some of the most noticable plot discrepancies in One Piece surrounding him, namely, his power and the contradictions of the rules given to it. Though a good deal are anime only, Oda has ignored the rules on at least one occasion, a blatant example would be during the Whitebeard War when he summons zombies to his aid.
 * Anyone whose shadow is taken would die in the sunlight, yet the shadows were taken on the battlefield where their owners would be unable to avoid sunlight. This would turn the zombies into corpses again since the shadow leaves the zombie when the original owner dies, yet none lost their shadow.
 * As recent casualties they shouldn't possess the myriad of stitches and scars that they have, which normally originate from Hogback's surgeries to make the corpses functional. Even if they were otherwise dismembered before their death, Hogback was not there to reattach their limbs or sew up other injuries.
 * They rose up from the ice, which was made by Aokiji freezing a section of the bay. Zombies are cleansed of their shadows if they come into contact with salt, so they should have lost their shadows before they were even resurrected.
 * At Thriller Bark, he told Luffy that with his current strength, he would lose his crew. Not long after that, the Straw Hats did indeed suffer a crushing defeat and separation at the Sabaody Archipelago, thus beginning a training period of two years to prepare themselves for the New World.
 * Moriah and fellow ex-Shichibukai, Crocodile, share the same birthday, September 6th.
 * Ironically, Moriah and Jinbe now have the same Japanese voice actor after the death of Jinbe's original voice actor Daisuke Gōri.
 * In the 4th Japanese Fan Poll, Gekko Moriah is ranked the 44th most popular character in One Piece.
 * In Oscar Wilde's short story the fisherman and his soul, the fisherman had to remove his soul by cutting off his shadow with a pair of scissors in order to live with the mermaids. Ironically the Straw Hats were on their way to Fishman Island before their shadows were cut off by Moriah.
 * Moriah is currently the only known Shichibukai (current or former) without a known epithet.
 * Both parts of his name may support his theme: Gekko, in Japanese means "moonlight" (which suits his horror theme as well), sounds like the English word gecko, a type of lizard, and "Moriah" may come from 蠑螈 which can be read as "imori", meaning "newt". And the bolded letters of Gekko Moriah, which makes Komori, means "bat" in Japanese.
 * Gekko Moriah was the oldest and tallest of the Shichibukai; both statuses are now passed onto Kuma, assuming that no new recruits transcend him.

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