Kuro

Captain Kuro (キャプテン･クロ, Kyaputen Kuro), also known as Kurahadol (Klahadore in the English versions), is one of the early antagonists in the series. He is the captain of the Black Cat Pirates and the former butler of Kaya.

Appearance
Kuro is a man of relatively slim build with glasses and slicked green-and-black hair. During his stay on Gecko Island, he wore a black suit with two golden poop-like ornaments on it (as a reference to the fact that he's lying about his true identity) over a white shirt with a curious collar, with spiral-like protrusions on the edges, and a standard black tie. He also sports striped shoes (which he apparently kept from his life as a pirate). During his time as a pirate, he wore a standard black captain's coat with the Black Cat Pirates' symbol on the epaulets over a simple white shirt hanging over a pair of black pants reaching down to his knees, and his trademark shoes. Whichever his persona he is using, he wears round glasses that tends to always slip off, until Luffy knocked them off when he dealt the final blow.

Personality
In general, Kuro is a genius of the highest caliber (having the second highest IQ in East Blue, behind Benn Beckman), whose plans have never failed in the past. He is a master strategist and an accomplished fighter, but he was severely hampered by the fact that he simply didn't have the fortitude to deal with a pirate's life on the run from the Marines.

Kuro seems to be very proud of his plans, which never failed before (hence his nickname, Kuro of a Hundred Plans). When he relived his moments of piracy, he claims his plans were too brilliant to be wasted on his crew. He also said that he would kill his crew if they hinder his plans in anyway. During the final moments before Luffy defeated him, Kuro lost his usual calmness and screamed aloud that his plans would never fail.

He also seems to like the glasses he wears very much, even though they tend to slip down his nose every so often. He pushes them up with his palms so he doesn't scratch his face with his Cat Claws, a symbol of remembering his murderous ways. Even despite the lens being shattered by Luffy's punch, he kept them on. The glasses are his signature belongings, and as such, he destroyed the new ones Kaya gave him (though it may be because he simply hated her). Upon Kuro's defeat, the glasses dropped onto the ground, bent in a symbolic manner.

Kuro follows the role of the evil mastermind and continues One Piece's tradition of noticeably cruel villains. He held himself in very high regard, having a standard for people no one seemed able to live up to but himself. He felt nothing for the lives of others, willingly sacrificing anyone he needed to achieve his goals.

During his three years as Kaya's butler, he acted as a kindhearted (though a little snobbish), trustworthy person who carries a hatred for pirates, and as such, looks down on Usopp. He later admits that, aside his hatred for Usopp, how much he despises this pseudo-personality. Judging by the severe change in personality between Captain Kuro and Kurahadol, it is possible that Kuro has some degree of a split personality, or he is a very good actor. Either way, his sudden change made Merry and Kaya fear him greatly.

Though able to keep himself in check most of the time, he states that seeing a crescent moon drives him wild and even he finds it difficult to resist the temptations of violence brought on by the stage of the moon. The reason is never given for this, though it may be due to psychological reasoning. On the night of the Marine attack, there was once again a crescent moon, which seems to have been the reason why Kuro was so brutal to the Marines on board. As a consequence during the first opening of the anime a red crescent moon can be briefly seen in the scene with Kuro.

Crew
Pirates should be faithful pawns of their captain. They live and die by my command. Kuro had come to the conclusion his crew were nothing but puppets; that pirates were barbarians that stole from people out of greed and nothing more, and that they were buffoons who were nothing without his guidance and direction, and that his brilliance is wasted helping them to plot. He saw his crew as this since the very beginning. He would willingly sacrifice them all and by the time his plan was ready he had already long decided they should all die. This enrages Luffy and makes him even more determined to stop Kuro.

Enemies
His life as a pirate led him to become irritated at the idea that he was forever chased by the Marines, as well as those seeking his bounty. He then began to yearn for a peaceful life, without such bothers.

As Kurahadol he was forced into acting kind natured, to make himself out as Miss Kaya's trustworthy family butler and caretaker. He later admits how much he hated acting out this role for three years, and in the process betrays Kaya's feelings. At one point, he relives seemingly happy memories with her, breaking her heart as he states that he "endured it", and voiced his utter contempt for her. He mocks Usopp when he calls himself a pirate, calling his act a "Childish game", and sees him as equal to an insect. Usopp dislikes him for this, and comes to hate him after realizing what he is planning.

Intelligence
Worthy of his epithet, Kuro is a master strategist who has never once before failed in his village raids, due to him planning brilliantly beforehand. His high intelligence has managed to allow him to outfox the Marines into making them think he died, thus leaving him alone.

Kuro is also knowledgeable about the existence of Devil Fruits, especially as a citizen not from the Grand Line, most of whom would not even know about Devil Fruits, let alone accept their existence as more than a myth, as he knew Luffy's rubber powers derives from it.

Stealth Foot
Kuro has super-human speed with which to deliver his attacks, a technique he named "Stealth Foot". His skill is such that at full speed he is only able to be seen as a vague blur or by the damage his attacks cause. He is able to run 100 meters in between 4 and 5 seconds. While he uses super-human speed, his weakness (being unable to tell what he is hitting) puts him at a set back against other super-speed users who can tell what they are striking, though the fact he can move so fast at his level (which is weak compared to other super speed users) is still impressive. His inhuman speed is due to his powerful legs; therefore, he also possesses powerful kicks, as demonstrated when he kicked Usopp and Luffy sending them both flying for a distance.

Weapons
Captain Kuro uses weapons called "Cat Claws", furred gloves with a full-length katana blades at the end of each finger. He combines these large iron claws with his impressive speed to indiscriminately slash everyone in his vicinity to death at random depths of cuts.

Captain Kuro often pushes his glasses up on his nose with the palm of his hand, a technique he has used since his days as a pirate: straightening them with the fingers would be impossible when the Cat Claws are worn. According to Jango, this proves that even after three years of peaceful life Captain Kuro has not yet forgotten how to kill.

The Black Captain
The dreaded former Captain of the Black Cat Pirates, he is also known as Kuro of the Thousand Plans for his elaborate plans that virtually never fail. However, this proved to have a huge setback; as time passed, he grew tired of setting up schemes for his crewmates and of constantly being hunted down by the Marines. That was when he decided to have an impostor, one of his pirates named Nugire Yainu to take his place as Captain Kuro, and be executed in his stead by Captain Morgan so that the hunt for him would be ceased.

Cunning Plans
Soon after, Captain Kuro set up an elaborate scheme in a small village he came to live in, in order to live free from pursuit with great wealth. He took the name Kurahadol and, for three years, lived as the butler of the wealthy parents of Kaya, who he is believed by many to have killed (this is not yet known to be true, as he denied it when Jango accused him of it, saying that their deaths weren't part of his original plan). He then became the sickly Kaya's caretaker.

When three years passed, he contacted his old first mate, the hypnotist Jango, and arranged for the Black Cat pirates to lay siege to the village, force Kaya to write and sign a will leaving all her wealth to Kuro, and then kill her. He would then kill the pirates who attacked the town to make it seem as though they had killed her in their attack. His plan goes awry when he is overheard by Monkey D. Luffy and Usopp when he speaks to Jango about his plans.

Scratch Marks on the Coastline
Luffy, Usopp, Roronoa Zoro, and Nami fight together against the Black Cat Pirates. This caused the to be delayed from their supposed time of plundering the village, and for Kuro to approach them in fury. He gave his crew five minutes to resolve everything, or be killed by him. However, this changes when Kaya approaches him in an attempt to negotiate for a settlement, after she discovered an injured Merry, whom Kuro slashed the previous night due to his insatiable blood-thirst from a crescent moon. Kuro brutally insulted Kaya, breaking her heart, and evaded Usopp's attempt to attack him. However, Luffy then intervened, and engaged in combat against Kuro.

After a brutal exchange of attacks, in which Kuro had the advantage due to his super speed, he recounted on why he faked his demise to escape the life of a pirate. Luffy retorted that he shouldn't have been a pirate to begin with if it annoyed him so much, and broke his right claws. After that, Kuro revealed that he plotted his crew's massacre from the beginning, and initiated his Shakushi technique, butchering them at random swipes, until Luffy stopped him and smashed him with a Gomu Gomu no Kane while immobilizing his limbs by wrapping around them. After that, Luffy threw Kuro's limp body to the remainder of the Black Cat Pirates, and ordering them to leave the island. The crew dragged Kuro and boarded the Bezan Black.

Major Battles

 * Kuro Vs. Marines (including Morgan)
 * Kuro (as Kurahadol) Vs. Usopp
 * Kuro Vs. Monkey D. Luffy
 * Kuro Vs. Usopp Pirates
 * Kuro Vs. Monkey D. Luffy

Anime and Manga Differences
Kuro was last seen in a cameo appearance on board of his ship, as the captain again, when his crew informed him of Luffy's new bounty.

Translation and Dub Issues
"Kuro" can be written in kanji as 黒, meaning "Black".

Due to his odd alias, Kuro's "butler name" has been translated in a wide variety of ways. The English adaptations use the name Klahadore, possibly a "claw" pun. The pronunciation of "Klahadore" could be compared to "claw-a-door" in English. Most fans of the original version, however, use the term Kurahadol; as it resembles his real name, and due to its pronunciation in the Japanese version of the anime (emphasis on the "ku-ra," a light roll of the "ru" at the end, signifying a Japanese attempt at an L sound.)

Also, in the original version, Kuro's epithet is "Of a Hundred Plans," while the English version changes it to "Of a Thousand Plans".

Trivia

 * When he was in his butler attire, there were strange symbols on his jacket. Oda jokingly explained that these symbols are poop, to signify that he is lying. This directly resembles the American slang term "Bull Shit", meaning lie. Although the answer was obviously a joke (as Oda is known to give joke answers to questions he can't seriously answer), this could be a play on the slang term "full of shit".
 * In an SBS in the manga, Oda stated that the most intelligent person in all of East Blue is Benn Beckman, followed by Captain Kuro in second and Nami in third.
 * In the 4th Japanese Fan Poll, Kuro is ranked the 29th most popular character in One Piece.

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Kuro