Nekomamushi

Master Nekomamushi is a feline mink and the guardian of the Whale Forest on Zou, dubbed the "Ruler of Night". He rules over the Mokomo Dukedom during the night hours, from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM. He serves as a retainer for the Kozuki Family of Wano Country alongside Inuarashi.

Alongside Inuarashi, he was once a member of the Whitebeard Pirates and Roger Pirates, serving under Kozuki Oden. For some reason, Pedro stated that the world was waiting for him and Inuarashi and so they must not be allowed to die.

Appearance
Nekomamushi is a large, yellow feline mink with sharp teeth, claws, and a very thick striped tail. He has wild, bushy blonde hair resembling a lion's mane running around his neck and down his back, and has a scar running from the left side of his forehead down to his cheek. His outfit consists of a large robe with circle designs on it, a haramaki around his waist, sandals, and light colored pants and shirt. In addition, he smokes with a kiseru.

While being tortured by Jack, he lost his left hand and part of the forearm.

Personality
Nekomamushi is the other ruler of the Mokomo Dukedom, alongside Duke Inuarashi, and takes great pride in it by proclaiming the country to be his when the night comes during his first encounter with Jack.

Unlike his former friend Inuarashi, Nekomamushi is aggressive and merciless. Inuarashi has described him as an "obstinate and stubborn imbecile", comparing him to Jack himself. Nekomamushi can be stubborn even when not angry, as he kept ignoring Chopper's orders to recuperate in order to have fun. He does not like to be ordered around, as shown when he stated that he went to bed of his own volition rather than on Chopper's orders, and describes himself as a "freedom-loving man". Despite his bravado, he is shown to be afraid of needles.

He took care of Bepo and the other Heart Pirates when they arrived on Zou, indicating a welcoming personality. He does not expect guests to help him defend Zou. He is also a firmly loyal person with an incredibly strong will, absolutely refusing to reveal that Raizo is on Zou despite extensive torture at the hands of Jack, and was fully willing to risk the kingdom's destruction to protect that friend. However, he does not look kindly upon intruders, having claimed he will devour any that catch his sight.

Just like a cat, he likes to lick his paws, play with balls and cat toys, and eat catnip; at times, his feline behaviors can get the better of him. Unlike most cats, however, he loves taking baths. His favorite food is lasagne.

Like many characters, he has a unique laugh, "Goronyanya".

Kozuki Family
Nekomamushi is a servant of the Kozuki Family and will do anything to protect its members and fellow servants. He was willing to give up his life and kingdom in order to protect Raizo, a retainer of the family. He even made a truce with longtime rival Inuarashi in order to appease Momonosuke, the heir to the daimyo. However, it was hinted that Kozuki Oden is the cause of his feud with Inuarashi.

Heart Pirates
Nekomamushi took the Heart Pirates under his wing as even though they were pirates, Bepo is a native of Zou. He did not expect them to help fight Jack, but Bepo insisted on defending his home, which made Nekomamushi smile.

Pekoms
As with Bepo, Nekomamushi cares for pirate Mink Pekoms. He gave Capone Bege a threatening look when confronting him in regards to Pekoms being heavily injured from gunshot wounds, even standing forward despite his own injuries.

Straw Hat Pirates
Like the rest of the Mink Tribe, Nekomamushi is very grateful to the Straw Hats for saving them especially Sanji. When the cook was taken by Bege, he understood the crew's pain and asked Wanda and Pedro not tell anyone what had happened, Nami thanked him for his understanding. However he is not completely compliant  as he has a tendency to ignore Chopper's orders for him to recuperate due to them restricting his freedom.

When Nekomamushi learned of Robin's abilty to read ponegylphs he feared for her saftey, but Robin assured him the crew would protect her. He later became shocked to learn that Franky was Tom's apprentice along with how Brook was the sole survivor of the Rumbar Pirates that Crocus had looked for.

Jack
Upon night falling, Nekomamushi was immediately aware of Jack's invasion. He wasted no time in rushing to the scene and immediately attacking the pirate. When Jack destroyed the Mokomo Dukedom with poison gas and crucified Nekomamushi, he swore to never forget Jack's face even in death and that his malice would follow the pirate until death.

Inuarashi
Though they were once friends, Nekomamushi and Inuarashi are currently on very bad terms with each other. Because of this, they avoid meeting face-to-face. It was hinted that their feud was related in some way to Kozuki Oden. When they did meet, they exchanged words of hostility before preparing to enter a battle to the death despite their respective injuries. However, they reluctantly agreed to a truce in order to appease Momonosuke.

When reminiscing about their adventures in the past, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi became very jolly around each other again, surprising Usopp.

Abilities and Powers
As the leader of the Whale Forest Guardians, he has authority over the forest's inhabitants. During night time, he also becomes the main authority figure of the Mokomo Dukedom.

His fighting ability is said to be equal to his daytime counterpart and former friend Inuarashi. Indeed, both were shown to be able to fight on even footing with one of a Yonko's three strongest subordinates for an extended period of time, further proving their combat abilities. His presence alone was enough to make Sanji feel confident of leaving his comrades to his protection from the Firetank Pirates, while Capone Bege felt wary of facing him despite the clear severe injuries that Nekomamushi had.

Nekomamushi possesses incredible physical strength, as he was able to flip Jack over in his mammoth form. He is also extremely fast, as he was able to travel from the Whale Forest to Kurau City in a matter of seconds. Like all minks, he is capable of using Electro.

Weapons
Nekomamushi wields a staff which has a fire-shaped trident on each end. It resembles a Juumonji Yari, a samurai trident.

Past
In the past, Nekomamushi and Inuarashi were friends. They formed a pact with the Kozuki Family and traveled the seas together with Kozuki Oden. They had been on the ships of both Whitebeard and Gol D. Roger. However, Nekomamushi and Inuarashi never went to Raftel.

Some time later, after returning from a voyage barely alive, they started hating each other to the point that they could not stand seeing the other. They decided that Inuarashi would rule Zou during the day and Nekomamushi would rule during the night.

When Bepo and the Heart Pirates arrived, Nekomamushi took them under his care because even though Bepo is a pirate, he is still a native of the island.

When Jack and the Beasts Pirates invaded the Mokomo Dukedom, Nekomamushi arrived to challenge Jack when dusk arrived, flipping him over and forcing him to revert to human form.

Nekomamushi also told Bepo that he did not mind if he and his crew choose not to fight, but the Heart Pirates were willing to help. The battle against the Beast Pirates lasted for five days with Nekomamushi and Inuarashi taking turns fighting against Jack. Even though the Mink Tribe had the upper hand, they could not defeat Jack.

On the fifth day of the battle, Jack lost his patience and used one of Caesar's poison gas weapons. With the Mink Tribe rendered helpless, Jack tortured the strongest of them, including Nekomamushi and Inuarashi. During the torture, Jack's men cut off Nekomamushi's left forearm. The torture ceased when Jack heard about Doflamingo's defeat and capture, causing Jack to leave Zou in order to rescue him, leaving behind some of his subordinates.

After Sanji's group arrived, they forced the Beasts Pirates to retreat and Caesar to neutralize the poison gas. The Mink Tribe was saved when Sanji's group tended to the wounded.

While Capone Bege was dealing with Sanji inside his body, Nekomamushi confronted Bege for harming Pekoms, prompting him to flee with Sanji and Caesar. Nekomamushi then asked Wanda and Carrot to keep quiet about the incident as that was what Nami and her friends wanted. He also decided to look after Pekoms.

Zou Arc
After Luffy and his group arrived at Zou, Chopper went to check up on Nekomamushi after visiting Inuarashi. When Chopper found Nekomamushi in the bath eating lasagna, he berated the feline mink for ignoring his medical instructions, telling him that he was not allowed to take baths, as his wounds would reopen, and was supposed to eat light foods. Nekomamushi replied that he loved freedom as he walked out of the bath, and Chopper yelled at him for ignoring his orders. Nekomamushi then gave Usopp and Robin a hug when they arrived, thanking them for saving his tribe and promising them to repay them one day. Once he saw a bouncing ball, he tried to play with it, causing further injury to himself. Nekomamushi ended up in bed, which he claimed was because he wanted to be. He told Robin to grab a foxtail, playing with it as Chopper gave him his injection. Nekomamushi claimed that he felt better already, but Chopper smacked him and told him to lie down.

Nekomamushi then left his bed and went to meet Luffy and Zoro. After Law warned Luffy about the threat of Kaido, Nekomamushi decided to party with both the Straw Hats and Heart Pirates.

On the next morning, Nekomamushi was alerted by Bariete ringing the town bells. After arriving at Kurau City, Nekomamushi was displeased to meet Inuarashi face-to-face. After insulting each other and commenting on how the other lost a limb during Jack's invasion, they had a brief fight. The fight stopped when Kin'emon and Kanjuro revealed themselves. After they asked about Raizo, Nekomamushi and Inuarashi both kneeled and revealed that Raizo is safe and they had been waiting for the samurais.

While conversing with Kin'emon, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi began arguing again. Momonosuke stepped up and begged them to cease their quarreling. Not wanting to disappoint Momonosuke, whom they recognize as their lord, the two rulers complied. Inuarashi and Nekomamushi then called a truce and took the samurais and the Straw Hats to a secret area in the Whale Forest where Raizo was hidden.

After Robin deciphered the red poneglyph hidden inside the Whale Tree, Nekomamushi revealed that the poneglyph is the reason why the Whale Forest is sacred and that the Guardians were tasked in protecting it. Once Inuarashi explained about the four Road Poneglyphs that can reveal the location of Raftel, Nekomamushi proceeded to explain that Kaido and Big Mom each have one Road Poneglyph, much to the shock of Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and Brook. Nekomamushi then assured them that they can copy the information of a Poneglyph using gyotaku. He then commented that he was worried about Robin since there are people who would come after her for her ability to read poneglyphs, but Robin assured him that her crewmates will protect her. With Momonosuke's permission, Nekomamushi explained the history of the Kozuki Family and their creation of the poneglyphs. After finishing with his explanation, Nekomamushi and Inuarashi expressed sorrow when the samurais explained Lord Oden's execution at the hands of Kaido and the shogun of Wano Country.

Right after the revelation that Oden was part of Roger's crew, the samurais and the two rulers of Zou revealed Oden's will to open the country of Wano to the world. Inuarashi and Nekomamushi agreed to help the Kozuki Clan fight Kaido and the shogun of Wano Country.

After leaving the secret room, Nekomamushi commented that Luffy's straw hat was familiar before Inuarashi revealed that they traveled with Oden and had been on the ships of both Whitebeard and Roger, but never went to Raftel. Nekomamushi and Inuarashi expressed joy from thinking about their days of adventure. Nekomamushi promised to one day explained their adventures in its entirety. When they went back to the discussion of defeating Kaido, Nekomamushi suggested finding Marco and the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates. After the event known as the Payback War was explained, Nekomamushi commented that he might know where Marco is. The alliance decided to split up with Nekomamushi planning to search for Marco with his Guardians and they all planned to meet in Wano Country. As Raizo went to meet the other minks, Zou started shaking and Nekomamushi heard Zunisha crying.

As everything shook around them, the Mink Tribe heard from Momonosuke that Jack returned to Zou and started attacking Zunisha. However, on Momonosuke's command, Zunisha sank Jack's fleet with a single blow. With the threat of Jack gone, Nekomamushi commented that if they do not figure out how Jack found Zou, the island will not be safe.

Later on, Pedro and several other minks volunteered to join the Sanji retrieval team and Nekomamushi decided to only allow Pedro to go. As Luffy's group depart Zou, everyone, except for the Straw Hat members left behind, were shocked when Luffy jumped off Zunisha with his party.

Major Battles

 * Mink Tribe and Heart Pirates vs. Beasts Pirates
 * Nekomamushi vs. Jack (multiple times)
 * Nekomamushi vs. Inuarashi (interrupted)

Trivia

 * "Neko Mamushi", although not written in kanji, means "Cat Viper", which the VIZ translation used as a title, under the impression that his real name had not yet been revealed. The title of "Master" was added on later.
 * Brook's voice actor, Chō, made-up a song about "going off to meet the Cat Viper." It impressed Oda enough that he decided to integrate Cat Viper into the manga, as well as the song itself.
 * His relationship with Inuarashi seems to be based on the idea that a cat and a dog cannot get along well with each other, evidenced by their rocky relationship.
 * His design is similar to the Cheshire Cat from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
 * His love of lasagne is similar to the comic strip cat Garfield, created by Jim Davis.

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Nekomamushi