Zeo

Zeo (ゼオ) is an officer of the New Fishman Pirates. He is a Japanese wobbegong fishman and the self-proclaimed "Noble of the Fishman District" (魚人街の貴族).

Appearance
As a Wobbegong shark, Zeo is a tall and thin fishman with a strange body, covered in wavy light blue and indigo stripes, and "02" tattooed on his chest. Tentacle-like whiskers hang from his face, and unlike other fishmen, Zeo does not seem to have ears nor a nose, nor does he have a visible mouth. However, as he is able to speak, listen, and consume Energy Steroids, it is obvious that he has them. He sports a dorsal fin, and gills on his long neck.

His legs are covered by what appears to be some sort of long inducement, with a pattern identical to his body's and the New Fishman Pirates' Jolly Roger in correspondence of his right knee. Around his waist is a belt with a round buckle, and his feet seem to be covered by dark boots.

As a teenager, he looked almost identical, with the only differences being the smaller size, the lack of the number tattoo on his chest, not having the gill marks on the side of his neck yet, the simpler belt around his waist and the pair of loose pants he wore back then.

After the negative effects of the Energy Steroids appeared, his body became old and weak; now sporting a beard resembling his tentacles and something of a pot belly.

Personality
Zeo has a calm and serious demeanor and appears to be one of the most intellectual members of Hody's crew, as he was responsible for the mass-production of the Energy Steroids, and also behind swaying Wadatsumi to their cause. Like his colleagues, he believes humans are cowardly creatures. Zeo also despises humans and Otohime's ideals as much as Hody Jones and the other officers. Zeo appears vicious using threats to force the Fishman Island citizens to comply with the New Fishman Pirates and accept that they can never co-exist peacefully with humans. His hatred is empty (due to being raised to hate humans but lacking actual experience) yet intense, and believed that even if they died in failure, they can leave a grudge against humanity for the next generation of fishmen to pick up.

Naming himself the Noble of the Fishman District, he seems to be overly committed to the morals of the Fishman District. Even after being beaten by his subordinates (unintentionally) he still kept preaching about how their views of Otohime were wrong. He also expressed great happiness and pride when he thought that he defeated Brook.

He also has a habit of making excuses when he makes himself look foolish, such as when Brook accidentally stepped on his face due to his camouflage. Zeo claimed he was "headbutting" Brook's foot. Later, after getting stabbed, he claims it was his plan to dull the blade. He showed it again after he (along with the other officers) grew old from the effects of the Energy Steroid, saying that he grew old on purpose.

Abilities and Powers
As an officer of the New Fishman Pirates, Zeo has command over lower ranking subordinates. As a fishman, he is born with the strength ten times that of an average human, and even more underwater; in fact, as an officer of the crew, his strength may be even higher.

As a wobbegong fishman, he also has the power to perfectly camouflage himself to blend in with the environment. This allows him to carry out sneak attacks on unaware opponents; he tends to approach his targets while laying flat on his back upon the ground close to where his targets are. Pinpointing his location through the sound of his voice also seems rather difficult, as neither the citizens of the island nor his own underlings managed to discern his position while he was speaking loudly. Only Brook was seen being able to determine where he was in this manner. In the anime, his camouflage is depicted as turning invisible, in a manner similar to Absalom's invisibility.

He also seems quite resilient, since he was (unintentionally) pummeled by his own henchmen while being invisible, due to the fact a cockroach was on his head, and despite that he still remained conscious and was willing to proceed to Gyoncorde Plaza without losing time, still voicing out the crew's ideals loudly. He was also able to stand up without too much of an effort after Brook impaled him.

He also appears to be a skilled chemist (in making medicine at least), as Hody put him in charge of replicating and mass-producing the Energy Steroids.

However, after the negative effects of the Energy Steroids took effect, he became weak and old, stripping him of all his strength.

Attacks

 * Camouflage Carpet (カムフラージュ・カーペット): Zeo camouflages himself and then slides towards his opponent, attempting to catch them by surprise. However, since he tends to announce the attack's name out loud, his opponent usually can discern his location and even attack him. The pun is that, by sliding across the ground, Zeo is basically acting as a carpet, as well as the fact that another name for his breed of shark is "carpet shark".
 * Kamigakure Flail: 66 Kubi (神隠れフレイル 66首): Zeo, while camouflaged, wraps one of his chains around his opponent's neck, and then loads the full weight of his body in the opposite direction, attempting to decapitate or break the neck of his opponent. This is called Hidden Flail 66 Neck in the FUNimation sub. Rokuro-kubi is a long-necked yokai.

Excuse Attacks

 * Super Sole Head-butt (超足裏頭突き（スーパーソールヘッドバット）): Not a real attack, when Brook accidentally stepped on his face due to his camouflage, Zeo claimed he was "headbutting" Brook's foot.
 * Body De Sword Crush (ボディDEソードクラッシュ): Another excuse "attack", when he was impaled by Brook's sword, he claimed that he was "destroying" the sword's tip with his body. This is called Body Sword Crush in the FUNimation sub.

Weapons


Zeo's weapons of choice seems to be two large weighted chains he apparently employs like a pair of bolas, as seen in the Marine Shopping Mall on Fishman Island, where he accurately threw one of them to wrap around a citizen's throat, causing his target to be choked, all the while remaining completely unseen due to his camouflage abilities.

Energy Steroids
Like the rest of the crew, Zeo has taken the Energy Steroids during the battle against the three princes of Ryugu Kingdom, who are crowned the strongest soldiers in the entire island, and was able to overpower them due to this. The drug doubles his strength per pill, but shaves off a portion of his lifespan. He is also able to mass produce them through unknown means. This also had another side effect of making him old and weak after he was arrested, which lost him the strength he naturally had.

Past


When Zeo and the future officers were children, they witnessed human oppression against fishmen. While they were growing up in the Fishman District, they only learn one thing: hate humans. When they were teens, they read about Fisher Tiger's exploits at Mariejois. They cheer the Sun Pirates on thinking that their goal was to destroy humans.

After Hody joined the Neptune Army, the officers became a terrorist group that would kill any fishmen who sympathize with humans, especially those who willingly donate blood to them. After the assassination of Otohime, the officers celebrated. Hody then presented the Energy Steroids to the group and asked Zeo to mass-produce them.

The New Fishman Pirates' Coup d'État
He was first seen in Noah, along with his captain and fellow officers, commenting on how humans escape so often after Gyro and his crew attempt to flee from the clutches of the New Fishmen Pirates. He is later seen again when Jones and Vander Decken IX formed their alliance. He commented on how they are now invincible on the ocean floor. Later on when the New Fishman Pirates and Decken's men head for the Ryugu Palace, Zeo is seen counting people such as King Neptune and the three princes, possibly trying to figure out how many people would be difficult to defeat.

The New Fishman Pirates split up to go to different places. Zeo goes to the Marine Shopping Mall at the west side of Fishman Island. As the invasion commences, Zeo is seen telling the citizens that coexistence with humans is impossible and forcing them to step on a fumi-e of Queen Otohime. While using his camouflage ability to blend in with his surroundings, Zeo tells the citizens that they have no hope.



While he is laying on the ground being invisible, a bug crawls beneath him. Some of the New Fishman Pirates try to smash the bug, but they also unintentionally smash Zeo as well. After Zeo becomes visible again, the New Fishman Pirates are shocked at their mistake. Zeo then gets back up and tells his comrades to go to Gyoncorde Plaza, where King Neptune will be executed.

Battle for Fishman Island
The New Fishman Pirates soon gather at the plaza and the Neptune Army's attempts to save the king have been thwarted by the Sea Beasts. Zeo notices that a defeated guard is trying to do something with some dynamite. Hody stops the soldier's attempt with Water Shot. Afterword, Zeo points out the physical changes his captain underwent and asks him how he feels. Hody replies that he feels incredible. After the three princes arrive and defeat the sea beasts, Zeo and the other officers prepare for battle.

Initially, the princes have the upper hand, but the officers turn the odds against them by taking Energy Steroids. They then defeat the princes and capture them. The New Fishman Pirates celebrate as the princes are placed right next to their father. After Jinbe and Shirahoshi are captured as well, Hody reveals to everyone that he was the one who truly killed Otohime. The officers already know about the truth. Zeo just laughs while the royal family, the citizens, and the lower-rank subordinates are stunned.

When the Fishman Island citizens can not stand watching Hody's cruelty any longer, they start crying out for Luffy to destroy the island. Zeo comments on how desperate they are. When Hody prepares to kill Neptune, Luffy (who has been hiding inside Megalo) suddenly appears and kicks Hody away. Zeo is shocked at Luffy's unexpected appearance.

As the citizens cheer for Luffy, Zeo comments on how popular he has become. He tries to tell the Straw Hats not to get carried away, but they ignore him. After Luffy takes out half of the New Fishman Pirates' army, Zeo rallies the rest of the crew by saying that there are still 50,000 of them and only ten enemies (Straw Hats and Jinbe).



Zeo later convinces Wadatsumi into fighting the Straw Hats and gives him an Energy Steroid. After Nami uses an attack that electrocutes enemies, Ikaros becomes enraged. Zeo calms him down and points out how Sanji reacted when she lost her footing after Wadatsumi falls to the ground. Zeo figures that Nami is the crew's weakness. He camouflages himself and grabs Nami by the legs, setting her up to be speared by Ikaros's squid spears. Brook steps in between her and Ikaros, taking the hit from the spear instead. However, the spear has no effect on Brook. After Franky punches away Ikaros, Brook accidentally steps on Zeo's head. After revealing himself, he berates Brook and prepares to fight him.

Zeo used his camouflage in an attempt to catch Brook by surprise, but by yelling out his attack name, Zeo revealed his location and got stabbed by the skeleton swordsman. Zeo then managed to catch Brook off-guard again, and managed to decapitate him with his chain. However, to Zeo's shock, Brook used his newly trained powers to bring himself back together, then launched an icy blade against the fishman.

After the report of Hody's defeat is heard over the island, some of the Fishman pirates start running away. Zeo responds by attacking them, telling them that if they do not fight, they can die in the name of their grudge. Brook stops him and chastises Zeo as he does not really know what dying is like. Brook goes on saying that he hates people who waste lives. Zeo retorts that even though the Straw Hats have remained calm with the threat of Noah, he still believes that they will die. Brook counters that they believe that Luffy will become the Pirate King and in that belief, there's nothing to be afraid of.

Defeat and Imprisonment


Zeo then draws a circle on the ground around himself, declaring it as his "space" and states that Brook's bones are going to be crushed to bits if he enters it. Undeterred, Brook starts humming a song and passes the circle and Zeo in an instant. As Zeo wonders how Brook get passed him, he is then cut down by Brook's "Kasuriuta: Fubuki Giri". As the cold of the attack freezes Zeo's blood solid, the fishman falls to the ground, defeated. After the battle for Fishman Island has ended, the officers of the New Fishman Pirates are locked up in the palace prison.

Sometime later, he became conscious along with the other New Fishman leaders, and his body was old and weak like the others due to the Energy Steroids. He stated he grew old on purpose.

Major Battles

 * Zeo and the other New Fishman Pirates' Officers vs. Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi and Manboshi (unseen)
 * Zeo vs. Brook

Anime and Manga Differences
In the manga when fighting Brook, Zeo uses two chains, but in the same scene in the anime, he uses only one chain.

Trivia

 * His name may be derived from ōse (オオセ), the Japanese name for the Japanese wobbegong.