Scratchmen Apoo

Scratchmen Apoo, also known as "Roar of the Sea", is the captain of the On Air Pirates and an informant for the Beasts Pirates, led by Kaido of the Four Emperors.

He is a member of the Longarm Tribe and one of twelve pirates who are referred to as the "Worst Generation", being one of the eleven supernovas who came to Sabaody Archipelago two years ago with a bounty of over 100,000,000.

Due to his actions and role, he is a supporting antagonist in the Wano Country Arc.

Appearance
Being of the Longarm Tribe from the Grand Line, one of Apoo's distinguishing traits is his incredibly long arms. Each of these long arms possesses two elbow joints instead of just one, making them much longer than a normal person's. These arms make it possible for him to utilize his Devil Fruit powers without the need to contort the said limbs, whenever he converts them into makeshift instruments.

Apoo also has a rather broad chest cavity, which may aid him in producing deep and bellowing drum-like sounds. Apoo's lower jaw is also somewhat wider than the upper half of his face, similar to Itomimizu of the Foxy Pirates. Besides these, his most distinguishing attributes are his unique physical characteristics and the objects adorned on him, all of which are music themed or related. His teeth have a unique look to them as they resemble piano keys. His fighting stance is also music themed as he appears like he's moving his hands in the same way a DJ would move theirs when mixing music on turntables.

He wears a set of orange headphones with his name on either side over his ears and hairstyle similar to Jabra's, where the hair on his scalp has been pulled tightly so that his roots resemble lightning patterns. A red Chinese garb with crew's Jolly Roger 音, at the center of a large flower-like print splayed across the chest area, as well as on his back. Apoo also has a yellow scarf around his waist. He also has what seems to be the design of a green rose sewed on front of his left shoulder.

In SBS Volume 64, Oda drew the Supernovas as children. Apoo is shown with significantly shorter hair and a rounder face. His hair was also combed into a pompadour in the front, with his braid in the back. His attire was a less elaborate shirt and bow tie. His teeth also lacked the dark markings that make them resemble piano keys.

After the timeskip, he wears a set of black headphones, and changed to a different garb that has the kanji moved to the right side of his pants, ropes as buttons for the shirt, and epaulets on his shoulders.

Personality
Apoo is an eccentric, boisterous pirate with an affinity for music and parties. A disc jockey by nature, Apoo employs dancing and music playing in many of his mannerisms, acting like a stereotypical radio personality. One reason he appears to enjoy being part of the Beasts Pirates is because of the "Golden Kagura" celebration they hold annually during every Fire Festival, making sure that he would not miss the latest.

Apoo seems to be a passive individual who would not seek to harm others without a good reason. As a result, he is normally defensive during confrontations, postponing a brawl with Eustass Kid at a Sabaody Archipelago bar because they were about to finally head into the New World. Despite this, Apoo can be very curious at times, meaning he cannot deny himself as audience to an interesting battle should the opportunity present itself. When facing an opponent that is too strong for him, Apoo prefers to run away, although he enjoys provoking and taunting his enemies before leaving.

Apoo is highly opportunistic, preferring to strike from a safe distance and through the element of surprise. Deceitful and treacherous, Apoo is smarter than he lets on. Despite having a bad relationship with Eustass Kid, Apoo was still able to feign cooperation and convincingly play the part of ally to him. Apoo has a low opinion of Pirate Alliances in general, believing that they only lead to eventual betrayal.

In spite of his usually outgoing and reckless character, Apoo can be rather cautious and distrustful of others. At the end of the Battle of Marineford, Apoo couldn't fathom why a pirate like Trafalgar Law would put themselves in potential danger to rescue someone, having been aware of the nasty rumors surrounding the "Surgeon of Death". This mindset has not changed much post-timeskip, especially when he finds himself in territory he perceives as hostile. Apoo wreaked havoc on Kid's hideout under the suspicion that a sniper could have been targeting him. He is also perceptive enough to sense killing intent emanating from others.

Eustass Kid
Kid once got into a fight with Apoo at Sabaody Archipelago, but they both agreed to postpone their fight until after they entered the New World. During their meeting in the New World, Apoo wrecked Kid's hideout and beat up one of his crew members because of the possibility that Kid was hiding a sniper, enraging Kid and resulting in a scuffle. However, it is revealed shortly after that they in fact planned to form an alliance. Despite their differences, they came into an agreement.

Kid and Apoo seemed to have gotten on more amiable terms with each other as they and their crews were able to dine together. However, after the encounter with Kaido, and Apoo's ties with the Beasts Pirates revealed, he broke off his allegiance with Kid. Kid felt betrayed and declared that the alliance was over. Upon seeing Apoo again during the raid on Onigashima, Kid wasted no time seeking revenge against him. Apoo, in turn, was shocked to see him and panicked from Kid's attack. When Kid confronted Apoo for setting him and his crew up, Apoo just mocked him for thinking they had a chance of taking down an Emperor, stating that pirate alliances have no happy endings.

Beasts Pirates
Sometime before meeting Kid and Hawkins, Apoo joined the Beasts Pirates as an informant, scouting powerful individuals to conscript into their crew. He then set them up to force them to join Kaido. Apoo has great faith in his leader's capabilities, stating to Kid that a mere alliance would not defeat him.

Queen
Given their shared music-loving personalities, Apoo is closely affiliated with the All Star Queen, to whom the latter refers to as "brother" and shown when the two perform together at the same concert hall. However, Apoo finds Queen's virus-based weapons repulsive as shown after he witnessed the latter use the Ice Oni virus. In turn, Queen is not above putting Apoo in a sadistic game with the infected people, giving him the antidote to the virus and threatening to kill him if he loses it to the people chasing after him for it, which enrages Apoo.

Abilities and Powers
As part of the Worst Generation, Apoo is a fearsome pirate who, with his crew, was able to survive the Grand Line's first half and ultimately enter the New World. Over the timeskip, his bounty rose from 198 million (sixth highest among the Eleven Supernovas of his generation) to 350 million, indicating his great strength.

Despite his odd, eccentric looks and demeanor, Apoo has proven himself quite competent and no-nonsense in battle, especially with his peculiar yet dangerous Devil Fruit ability. Using it pre-timeskip on Sabaody, he was able to land two effective suprise attacks on (though failed to actually harm) Marine admiral Kizaru when none of the other Supernovas involved in the battle could even touch him.

Post-timeskip on Onigashima, Apoo was able to injure both Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro in succession, leaving the former briefly unconscious from a single attack, by capitalizing on their lack of understanding (and knowing how to guard against) his powers. However, Zoro was ultimately able to take down Apoo with a single, decisive surprise attack using his Ittoryu.

Physical Abilities
Though he is shown to have a strong preference for fighting at a medium-to-long distance using his "Fighting Music", Apoo has some competence in close-quarters combat, specifically while wielding his pair of tonfas, and is strong enough to parry attacks from two physically mighty foes at once. He could even trade blows with X Drake while the latter was in his human-allosaurus hybrid form.

Otherwise, Apoo has displayed impressive agility and acrobatic jumping skills as well as notable durability. He retained consciousness after being kicked down into a multistoried concrete building with enough force to make it collapse and recovered quickly from getting crushed by a palm strike from Kid's giant arm of scrap metal (and, while somewhat injured by the latter, swiftly responded with an attack of his own).

Musical Skills
Apoo has shown extensive musical prowess to go along with his Devil Fruit ability, allowing him to play the various wildly different instruments he can transform into (see below) with casual ease.

True to his name, he is also a skilled DJ.

Devil Fruit


Apoo has a Devil Fruit ability based on music. Within seconds, he is able to morph parts of his body into various instruments he can play (e.g. his jaw into a cymbal or hooting bulb, his chest into a drum, his teeth into piano keys, or his arms into a saxophone or strings to pluck), referring to this as his Tatakau Music (戦う). By playing specific notes and tunes with specific instruments, Apoo releases soundwaves that, apart from seeming to have a hypnotic effect, can instantly deliver different forms of physical (e.g. slashing or explosive) damage to anyone who hears them, determined by what instrument he plays. Additionally, Apoo seems able to limit his music's effects to specific targets of his choosing.

As noted by Killer, Apoo's attacks carry anywhere in hearing range, and as long as his music is heard by his chosen target, its effects are nigh-instant and unavoidable; since the only "traveling" part of Apoo's attacks is the sound itself, they lack any detectable trajectory, and the speed of effect is enough that extremely fast adversaries are unable to react.

The decisive weakness of Apoo's ability is that if one blocks one's ears (even just by covering them with one's hands) before the sound hits, one becomes immune to his techniques (something notably facilitated by the ability to see the future), although such efforts to block out sound tend to inhibit Apoo's opponents from being able to fight properly. Additionally, if one is outside the seemingly predetermined range of the sound (i.e. hearing range) in the first place, one will also be safe. As a result, Apoo's powers seem best-suited for use against first-time opponents or in surprise attacks.

Attacks

 * Tatakau Music: Scratch (戦う スクラッチ): Apoo turns parts of his body into various instruments and starts a dance-like musical number over which he raps, all the while emitting musical sound to carry out his attacks.
 * Shan: Apoo releases a soundwave that, if heard by his opponents, will cause them to be sliced, created by a cymbal that Apoo turns his jaw into (played by him pushing on his head). Said slash is strong enough to potentially cut off a limb and deeply gash highly durable foes. The attack was first seen being used by Apoo against admiral Kizaru. "Shan" is an onomatopoeia that symbolizes quick and silent sounds, like a slash. In the Viz Manga, this is called Slash.
 * Don: By hitting his drum-turned chest with his fists, Apoo releases a soundwave that, if heard by his opponents, will set off an explosion from (seemingly) within their bodies. The attack was first seen used against Kizaru who was blown to literal pieces by it, although while transformed into light to escape the damage, courtesy of his Logia powers. Against Luffy, the explosion proved strong enough to momentarily knock him unconscious, with smoke escaping his mouth. In the anime when used against Kizaru, the soundwave is depicted as turning into rings of fire before the explosion occurs, as a visual effect. "Don" is an onomatopoeia that symbolizes a strong noise, like an explosion. In the Viz Manga, this is called Boom.
 * Bon: By turning his forearm into strings and plucking them, Apoo releases a soundwave that causes the target to suffer a blunt-force impact as if punched. This attack was first seen being used against Luffy, who was send flying a short distance back by the blow, suffering a visible bruise despite being a rubber man. In the Viz Manga, this is called Bop.

Weapons
Apoo wields a pair of tonfas in battle, skilfully enough to clash with proficient sword (and axe) wielders.

Sabaody Archipelago Arc


After a long voyage following one of the Log Pose routes of the Grand Line, Apoo and his crew came to the Sabaody Archipelago to prepare themselves for the New World. While there, he had a little squabble with Eustass Kid in Grove 24. Knowing full well what would happen if they caused an incident in Sabaody, Apoo asked Kid to postpone their battle until they met in the New World, to which Kid agreed.

As Apoo continued his stay in Sabaody, he and his crew witnessed some of the cruelty imposed on the inhabitants by the World Nobles. While witnessing Saint Charlos abuse a citizen, Apoo was suddenly shocked when a newly-arrived Roronoa Zoro tried to defend the man. Fortunately for Apoo and his crew, Jewelry Bonney stopped Zoro and faked the swordsman's death in order to prevent an incident from occurring. Though danger was averted, Apoo sensed a strong killing intent from Zoro as he witnessed the scene.

Upon hearing of Luffy's attack on a World Noble, he seemed reluctant to leave, asking if only the Straw Hat Pirates will be targeted by the coming Marines. Also, like X Drake, he seemed eager to find out which admiral would be dispatched to deal with the Straw Hat crew's actions. Despite the best efforts of his crew to get him off the island, Apoo insisted on seeing the admiral in action and felt that he should anger Kizaru before he runs away.

Later on, a brawl erupted between Kizaru, a Pacifista, Basil Hawkins, Drake, and Urouge, which Apoo excitedly began to watch. As the battle unfurled, Apoo witnessed the three captains' true powers, including Drake's dinosaur Zoan Devil Fruit ability, which he stated he had never seen before.



After Kizaru felled Urouge and blinded Hawkins, he prepared to kill Hawkins, but Apoo intervenes and saved the pirate by emitting sounds played on various body parts, which were being used as instruments as he rapped over the music. His ability not only stunned and mesmerized Kizaru, the other captains, and possibly the Pacifista, but also badly damaged the admiral. Apoo released a sound wave likening to the cutting tone of a cymbal, which traveled down and cleanly sliced Kizaru's right arm off. After this attack, Apoo pounded on his chest, releasing a loud booming drum-like sound which also produced a visible sonic wave. This caused an explosion around Kizaru's midsection and he collapsed on the ground in two parts.

While Kizaru is incapacitated, Apoo attempted to flee the scene; however, the admiral reanimated himself using his Devil Fruit ability, caught up to the pirate by teleporting with his powers, and then kicked him through a building. Apoo was left on the ground, defeated and badly hurt.

Marineford Arc
Apoo watched Ace's execution televised at Sabaody, meaning that he managed to escape capture by the Marines. It is made apparent at the very least that Apoo's crew sailed away from Sabaody and came back because one of his crew mates was complaining how they came back to see Ace's execution only for the broadcast to be cut off. Apoo correctly assumed that the Marines stopped the broadcast because there was something that the Marines did not want society to see.

Apoo was among the Supernova crews that gathered some distance from Marineford to witness the end of the war between the Marines and Whitebeard's forces. After the war ended, Apoo angrily wondered why Trafalgar Law would go save Luffy, mentioning that Law had a vicious reputation and that Luffy was a rival.

Post-War Arc


Weeks later, Apoo and his crew had made it into the New World and stopped at a spring island. They are seen running in fear from a stampede of monstrous boars, running toward the end of a cliff. Apoo commanded his crew to jump off the cliff, but much to everyone's surprise, they ran off the cliff and seemingly on thin air while the boars continued to chase after them.

During the Timeskip
Sometime during the two-year timeskip, Apoo and his crew wandered into Big Mom's territory and were forced to flee. He had also joined the Beasts Pirates, though he kept his allegiance a secret from the public.

Punk Hazard Arc


During the events surrounding Punk Hazard, Apoo arrived (on invitation) at Kid's base in the New World. In one of the main rooms, he tore the place apart, claiming to believe there was a sniper hiding, while Basil Hawkins sat at a nearby table patiently. Once Kid arrived and objected to his treatment of the base, the two captains quickly began fighting, leaving Killer taken aback and trying to calm them down. Hawkins stood to leave, but Killer stopped him. After doing so, Killer then revealed their intention to create an alliance with the On Air and Hawkins pirates.

A newspaper later revealed that the three captains had come to an agreement and formed an alliance. The group was confused on how the information got out, but put that topic to the side. They then started plans to take down an Emperor.

Dressrosa Arc
After Doflamingo's defeat, Kid, Hawkins, and Apoo were dining together when they heard the news of what happened at Dressrosa. They figured that Luffy and Law were after Kaido since Doflamingo was connected to him. They were pleased that Luffy and Law were not after the same Emperor.



Some time later, Apoo and the others were alerted by what seemed to be an earthquake. They quickly investigated the source of the commotion, which was a large human-shaped crater in the ground. A gigantic man emerged from the hole, having jumped and fallen 10,000 meters from Ballon Terminal, a Sky Island. The alliance then came face-to-face with the Emperor, Kaido. At that time, Hawkins, Kid, and Killer discovered that Apoo was already working for Kaido with the intention of setting them up to join him as his subordinates.

Zou Arc
After Jack's defeat, Apoo contacted Kaido and informed him that communications with Jack had been lost.

One Piece: Stampede
He is one of the attendees at the Pirates Festival along with his crew.

Wano Country Arc
After sailing outside, Apoo arrived at Wano and contacted Kaido to inform him of his arrival to attend the Fire Festival along with the Numbers.

Inside Onigashima, Apoo played as the DJ as the Beasts Pirates commenced the celebration.

When Luffy and Zoro began causing a commotion, Apoo leaped into the fray and managed to injure them with his fighting music before Kid flattened the traitorous pirate with a gigantic scrap metal fist. Apoo recovered quickly and retaliated, forcing Kid back. As Luffy, Zoro, and Kid ran to the castle, Apoo tried to attack them again, but his attack had no effect when they covered their ears.

As the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance waged war in Kaido's stronghold, Apoo tried to attack Luffy and Sanji but they covered their ears. Apoo was then distraught over the defeats of Jaki, Goki, and Juki, and he told Hatcha to attack the rebels. As Apoo was running to call in more of the Numbers, Zoro and Drake attacked him, but Apoo dodged their attack.

After Queen unleashed the Ice Oni virus, Apoo attempted to escape the floor, but is blocked by a locked door. Queen tossed the only vial of antidote to Apoo and threatened to kill him if he loses it. For his own twisted amusement, Queen gave everyone the challenge of taking the antidote from Apoo, causing him to be chased. As Apoo fled from his pursuers, he was met by a combined assault from Zoro and Drake. While Apoo was busy defending himself from Drake's attacks, Zoro struck down Apoo and acquired the antidote vial.

Major Battles

 * Apoo vs. Eustass Kid (postponed; Sabaody Archipelago)
 * Apoo, X Drake, Basil Hawkins, and Urouge vs. Kizaru and a Pacifista
 * On Air Pirates vs. Big Mom Pirates (unseen)
 * Apoo vs. Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro
 * Apoo vs. Eustass Kid (Onigashima)
 * Apoo vs. Roronoa Zoro and X Drake

Merchandise
He has only appeared in the Anichara Heroes, One Piece Amazing Log Collection, One Piece Super Deformed Figures and World Collectable series. He has not appeared in any other merchandise yet.

Playable Appearances

 * One Py Berry Match
 * One Piece Thousand Storm
 * One Piece Treasure Cruise
 * One Piece Bon! Bon! Journey!!

Support Appearances

 * One Piece: Gigant Battle! 2 New World
 * One Piece: Super Grand Battle! X
 * One Piece: Burning Blood
 * One Piece: Great Pirate Colosseum

Non-Playable Appearances

 * One Piece: Gigant Battle

Trivia

 * Apoo's surname, Scratchmen, might be a reference to the act of scratching, a DJ technique in which sounds are manipulated by moving a vinyl record upon a turntable.
 * Like many One Piece characters, Apoo has his own unique laugh, which is "Apapapapapapa". His laughter also sounds like scratching a record on a turntable, fitting his character motifs.
 * Said laugh is also used by Apachai Hopachai from the History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi series. Although his usage of the sound isn't actually a laugh so much as it is a noise that he makes at times for comic relief.
 * He is the first member of the Longarm Tribe to appear in the series. He is also the only known member of the Longarm Tribe to have eaten a Devil Fruit.
 * In both episodes 628 and 629 of the anime, Apoo's name is misspelled as "Scratcimen Apoo". This contradicts the manga's romanization of his name.
 * In the 5th fan poll, Apoo ranked 75th.

SBS-Based Trivia

 * Apoo's name was taken with 19th century real-life Chinese pirate Chui A-poo.
 * Apoo's favorite food is tom yam soup, and his least favorite food is mayonnaise.
 * If One Piece was set in the real world, then Apoo would be from China.
 * If Apoo was not a pirate, then he would be a DJ (disc jockey).
 * Apoo's hobbies are disk jockeying and surfing.
 * The latter hobby is somewhat ironic, as Apoo is a Devil Fruit user and surfing can be considered dangerous as Apoo would be at great risk of drowning.
 * Apoo's flower resemblance is a poppy.
 * Apoo's animal resemblance is a orangutan.

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