Shyarly

Madame Shirley (マダム・シャーリー) is a shortfin mako shark mermaid. She is a fortune teller living on Fishman Island, the proprietor of the Mermaid Cafe, and Arlong's younger sister. Madame Shirley accurately predicted the dawning of the Great Age of Pirates, as well as the outcome of the Battle of Marineford and Whitebeard's death.

Appearance
Madame Shirley is a very tall (or large) mermaid with purple nails, sharp teeth, and blue eyes with slanted pupils that resemble shark eyes. When angry, her eyes take on an ominous appearance. She has short black hair that is covered by a hood. She also has a fin on her lower back where her human and fish halves meet.

She wears a purple blouse that is only buttoned in the middle, revealing her stomach and chest and has a string of beads around her waist. When introduced, she was seen smoking a pipe.

In her youth, her blouse was lighter in color.

Personality
Madame Shirley is a very kind woman, as she lent the Straw Hat Pirates a room in which they could take care of Sanji, even though said crew defeated her brother. She also gave Keimi the rest of the day off so that she could spend time with her friends. She apparently doesn't like rudeness or vulgarity as she became very angry when Luffy asked if mermaids poop. However, her anger seems to be shortlived, as she calmed down and returned to her normal self almost instantly after Luffy apologized.

Even though she is a fortune teller, Madame Shirley regards her gift as a burden, since most of her visions are of bad things. As a consequence, she thinks that the future is better left unknown. When she had a vision of a man in a straw hat who will be responsible for the destruction of Fishman Island, she went into a state of panic screaming that Luffy should be banished from Fishman Island. When the New Fishman Pirates started taking over the island, she calmly told their captain, Hody Jones, that he (Hody) won't be destroying Fishman Island, but Monkey D. Luffy will, showing that she is willing to believe her own fortune telling over any other apparent predicaments.

Unlike her brother, Arlong, Shirley isn't prejudiced against all humans as she even encouraged the Fishman Island children to see with their own eyes instead of just listening to the opinions of others.

Abilities and Powers
As the proprietor of the Mermaid Cafe, she has complete control of the restaurant.

Being a mermaid, she has several abilities unique to her race. It is not yet shown but she may have the ability to talk to fish and call out to them using sonar waves, which is one of basic ability found in all mermaids. Apart from the ability to breathe underwater, as a mermaid she also has the ability to swim very quickly at speeds much faster than the flying fish used by the Flying Fish Riders. However, like any mermaid, she is vulnerable on land.

Scrying
As a fortune teller, she has the ability to see the future. She is also very accurate in her predictions as she predicted the Great Age of Pirates as well as Whitebeard's death. She was seen screaming in agony when a prediction came from nowhere about a man in a straw hat, who she presumes is Luffy, destroying Fishman Island.

She seems to use a crystal ball as a medium to look into the future. Since it was seen on a giant clam, it is unknown if it is an actual crystal ball or a giant pearl used as one. The one drawback to her power is that she cannot predict the exact time period when her predictions will happen, but only that they will happen.

Past
In her younger years, she made a prediction about the coming of the Great Age of Pirates and many pirates indeed came to the island one year later. At some point, she listened to Hatchan's story about Silvers Rayleigh. Before the Whitebeard War, Shirley predicted Whitebeard's death and he indeed met his end.

The Straw Hats and a Grave Prediction
She is first seen when the Straw Hat Pirates are in the back of the Mermaid Cafe, taking care of Sanji. She was the one who allowed them to use the back room. She asked Keimi about Sanji's recovery status. After Keimi's report, Keimi asked her not to go back and check on Sanji, as her beauty could be harmful to him, and to not let him know they are in the back of the Mermaid Cafe for the same reason.



When Luffy and Usopp found her crystal ball, Shirley told them not to touch it. She went on to say that she had quit fortune telling, as the future was best left unknown. When Luffy asked if mermaids pooped, Shirley became furious at him, but was immediately quelled when Luffy apologized at the urging of Keimi. She then said that Keimi could take the rest of the day off, saying the cafe had enough staff so that it would not be a problem. After Keimi remembered she had to bring a clam to Pappug, Shirley told her that he was in the cafe, making quite a ruckus with an old friend of his.

Later, she is seen shouting in the streets of Coral Hill about an impending doom. She had looked into the future after she felt something about Luffy. She goes on to say that Luffy must leave, as she saw a man wearing a strawhat destroying Fishman Island in her prediction. The three princes of the Neptune Family soon come to visit her. Having calmed down, Shirley tells Prince Fukaboshi about her prediction.

The Battle for Fishman Island
Shirley appears again after the New Fishman Pirates defeated and captured the three princes and placed them beside Neptune in Gyoncorde Plaza. Shirley interrupts Hody Jones as all of his subordinates assemble in the plaza. She calmly and boldly tells him that he will not be the one destroying Fishman Island, and the one to destroy the island would be Straw Hat Luffy. Out of anger, Hody strikes her with a water shot and she falls down. He then exclaims that he is not like her brother, Arlong. He says that Arlong is nothing more than an empty symbol to unite under and that the New Fishman Pirates have obtained power. Shirley gets assisted by a nearby mermaid.

Later, while being helped by a doctor, she is approached by some children who ask her when Luffy is supposed to destroy the island. She tells them that she doesn't know since she can't tell exact dates from her predictions and tells them it could be anytime between a day or a year from then. Much to their joy, the Straw Hat Pirates arrived, saved Neptune and the princes, and started fighting the New Fishman Pirates. She was last seen looking up into the sky as Luffy and Hody took the fight outside Fishman Island.



While Luffy attempts to stop Noah falling, the rest of the New Fishman Pirates and the Straw Hats continue fighting, with Hody's crew attempting to martyr themselves in the name of spreading their grudge. Shirley convinces a group of children to judge based upon only what they see (forming their own opinions), rather than what they hear, upon the nature of humans.

After the Straw Hats defeat all the leaders of the New Fishman Pirates, Shirley and the other citizens look up into the sky as Luffy tries to destroy Noah. When the Sea Kings appear and stop Noah from falling, saving the ship and the island at the same time, everyone on Fishman Island celebrates.

Translation and Dub Issues
A possible alternate romanized spelling to Madame Shirley's name begins with Shyar, as shown in Chapter 610.

It is shown to be Shyarly in Episode 529.

In the FUNimation subs, Shirley's name is romanized as Sharley.

Trivia

 * As noted, the events of the Fishman Island arc draws many elements from "The Little Mermaid", Shirley can be considered a parallel with the sea witch in the storyline, whose magic had been responsible for the events within the storyline just as it is Shirley's prediction that is responsible for elements of the events of the arc. In some cultures, fortune telling is seen as a part of witchcraft and black magic.
 * Shirley's prophetic ability also has a predescent in Japanese folklore. The Amabie is a mermaid who could prophesize both good and bad fortune, though it seems that she thinks that she is capable of foretelling only bad events.

Site Navigation
Madam Shyari