Marco

Marco the Phoenix (不死鳥マルコ) is the 1st division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. He owes his nickname to his unique Mythical Zoan ability to transform into a phoenix at will.

Appearance
Marco is a lean, yet muscular, blond-haired man of average height with a rather sleepy look and some stubble around his chin. He wears a purple jacket and a light blue sash adorned with an elaborate golden-yellow belt around his waist. He has dark gray knee-long pants and black sandals, and on his left leg he wears what appears to be some sort of straw decoration, in a similar fashion to Arlong. While his chest was bare in his initial appearance, in his subsequent appearances he has the cross and crescent moon mustache symbol that resembles a dark blue silhouette of Whitebeard's Jolly Roger tattooed on it.

Initially in the anime, Marco was given a generic crew member look of a black haired man with pale skin and different clothes. When he later became more formally recognized in the story, his appearance was changed to what is depicted in the manga, along with his light purple jacket, his black pants and his dark red tattoo. Later, starting with with Opening 13 &quot;One Day&quot;, he was given another color scheme. Once again his jacket was recolored in a much brighter purple, his pants were made dark blue, his tattoo blue and his skin a little brighter.

Marco was a member of the Whitebeard Pirates twenty two years ago as well and while how old he was is difficult to ascertain, he appeared for the most part very similar to how he looks in the present.

Personality
Marco appears to be a patient and calm, mild-mannered man. He is knowledgeable in the sense that he was aware of Shanks' powerful Haki and what would happen to his weaker-willed crewmembers if he used it in their presence. He clearly cares for his crew because he warned them to stay back to avoid it. In fact, seeing his captain, Whitebeard, gets stabbed through the chest by a deceived Squardo was enough for Marco to lose his usually unshakable cool-headedness that he immediately flew over to where they were to smash Squardo's head against the Moby Dick's figurehead. He appears to be somewhat playful, pretending to be hurt from Admiral Kizaru's attack with obvious sarcasm, though he can also quickly become serious. When Ace and Whitebeard were killed, Marco (along with the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates) was in tears.

Marco seems to appreciate raw talent, even if it comes from someone whom he had never met before (i.e. Luffy). Because of this, and based on the fact that Luffy intercepted Crocodile's attack on Whitebeard, Marco immediately took a liking to him.

Crew
Being a division head of Whitebeard's crew, Marco had a very strong bond with Whitebeard. So strong was their bond, it seemed very similar to a captain and first mate relationship, much like the one of Gol D. Roger and Silvers Rayleigh. This can be indicated by Marco's position as 1st division commander. Also, during the Battle of Marineford, Marco stood at Whitebeard's side almost the entire time in the early stages of the battle. Marco was also the first and only crewmate who rushed to Whitebeard's aid after the latter's stabbing to Squardo and during his battle with Akainu. Later, Marco attempted to assist his captain in fighting Blackbeard but was ultimately ordered to stand down. Marco, along with his crewmates, considered Whitebeard their "father" much in the same way the great pirate considered them his "children".

Marco also had a very strong bond with the other commanders as well as the rest of the crew. He and Ace seemed to have a close friendship due to him explaining to Ace the bond between Whitebeard and his crew. Marco also trusted Vista enough to protect Luffy from Mihawk. Following Whitebeard's death, Marco now seems to be in control of the crew.

Monkey D. Luffy
That boy's life... is what remains now of Ace's will!!! We will protect him without fail, in place of Ace!!! Having heard stories about Luffy from Ace, Marco was among the first people to recognize the Strawhat captain in the midst of the battle in Marineford despite not having encountered him prior. While no direct interaction occurred between the two to speak of, Marco, under the orders of Whitebeard, was delegated the task of ensuring that Luffy lived through the battle in Marineford. In the anime they both had a short conversation after he saved Luffy from Aokiji, Luffy thanked him for saving him while Marco told him not to worry about it.

Shanks
Marco was initially hostile towards Shanks as he regarded Red Hair as an enemy. After Shanks knocked out some Whitebeard Pirates with his Haki, Marco insulted and scolded him for the damage he had done and even told him to shut up after the Yonkou offered him to join his crew.

After the battle of Marineford, Marco apologized to Shanks for his previous behaviour and genuinely thanked him for ensuring the funerals of both Whitebeard and Ace, finally acknowledging him as more of an ally.

Abilities and Powers
As commander of the 1st division of the Whitebeard Pirates, Marco has authority over the lower-ranking subordinates. Following Whitebeard's death, Marco became the highest authority of the Whitebeard Pirates, and as such the crew was under his command as they retreated from Marineford. He was one of the few men unaffected by the powerful Haki released by the Yonkou Shanks. He is a very experienced veteran, as he was shown as a member of the Whitebeard Pirates from the times of Gol D. Roger.

Marco is one of the strongest characters in the entire One Piece series, as he demonstrated in the war that he was on a similar level of fighting as the three Admirals and even Whitebeard himself. He was fully capable of fighting Admirals Kizaru, Aokiji and Akainu equally. Marco is also most likely the strongest member of the Whitebeard Pirates after Whitebeard, given his position as the highest ranked commander as well as now being the new authority of the crew.

Another indication of Marco's strength is that the Gorosei considered him as one of the few pirates capable of taking down Marshall D. Teach. His name was stated seperately from the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates, thus being acknowledged as a particularly powerful individual even amongst them.

On top of his Devil Fruit powers and Haki, Marco also possesses impressive physical strength and incredible reflexes. He kicked both Admirals Kizaru and Aokiji away great distances. He also appears to possess great stamina and endurance, as he had been pierced by several of Kizaru's laser beams and was still able to stand afterwards, despite being unable to regenerate due to the fact that his Devil Fruit abilities had been disabled by Seastone handcuffs at the time (a noteworthy achievement, as a single laser beam had previously been shown to have been powerful enough to defeat one of the Eleven Supernovas, Basil Hawkins). He is also incredibly fast, as he protected Whitebeard from Kizaru's Yasakani no Magatama in mere seconds.

Marco's fighting style seems to be primarily based on strong leg attacks. He usually switches back to his human form to deliver his kicks, but can also enhance them with the cutting power granted by his hybrid form's talons, as seen when he attacked Akainu after the latter delivered the fatal blow to Ace.

Devil Fruit
Marco ate a Devil Fruit referred to as a Mythical Zoan type, which is an immensely powerful type of Zoan Devil Fruit said to be even rarer than Logia. His Devil Fruit enables him to transform into a phoenix. It is because of this ability that he is identified as "Marco the Phoenix." While this fruit's power is a Zoan, due to the uniqueness of the phoenix, the additional powers it grants may be considered similar to those of Paramecia (the somewhat "superhuman" power that affects the user's body: regeneration) and Logia (the generation of blue phoenix flames that allows him to become somewhat intangible).

This Devil Fruit gives Marco increased physical attributes (as is with all Zoan type) and the rare ability of flight, as well as the possibility of launching aerial attacks. During the Battle of Marineford, Marco showcased his aerial maneuverability by traversing quickly through the battlefield, where he supervised the assault in Whitebeard's place. He can transform his feet into phoenix talons, with which he can slash his enemies.

Like other Zoan users, Marco is able to take a hybrid human-beast form. However, Marco's control over his transformations seems to be the greatest and the most unique than that of any other Zoan user shown so far, as unlike most other Zoan users (Laffitte and Onigumo, if they are in fact Zoan users, being the only known exceptions), Marco can transform selective parts of his body without changing his whole appearance. In his most commonly seen human-beast form, Marco only transforms his arms into wings of fire (sometimes choosing to maintain his hands) so that he can fly and still attack with standard kicks.

The fruit's greatest attribute, however, is that by transforming into a phoenix of blue flames at will, Marco can regenerate any wounds with fire, much like how a phoenix is said to rise from its own ashes. Because of this, Marco is very resilient and can take a huge amount of damage in his phoenix form with no visible consequence other than the time taken to regenerate. He was thus able to block a barrage of simultaneous lasers from Kizaru, and even intercepted, with the help of Busoshoku Haki, Akainu's magma punch, an attack that was so damaging it burned and eventually took the life of the fire Logia-user Ace; the latter feat suggests that phoenix flames are more superior to Akainu's magma and Ace's fire, or this could have just been due to Marco's healing powers. These blue flames are not hot and they do not burn or spread like normal fire; instead, they are what allows him to heal, though there is a limit to the regeneration. Despite the fact that it cannot be used as a weapon, he can still summon the blue flames around his person, in his human form (possibly by partially shifting into his hybrid form or full-phoenix form), as seen when he engulfed his arm with the said flames as he prepared to confront Akainu.

Marco's Devil Fruit gives him a resistance to damage similar to that of a Logia user. In his phoenix form, Marco is intangible just like Logia users as he is a bird made of a certain element (blue phoenix flames). However, unlike Logia users, his body in his human form is not intangible and is, therefore, not immune to damage from enemy attacks. This makes Marco more vulnerable while he is in his human form. However, while Logia users retain their injuries until they heal naturally, Marco can recover from any damage he accumulates in his human form by reverting to his phoenix, or hybrid phoenix form, or just by summoning blue flames around his body. He has even been seen recovering using mere scattered flames and turning into his human form simultaneously, proving that he is quite resilient and calm when prepared for an impact. This allows him to even recover from any injuries taken while touching seastone, but only after he stops being in contact with it. This gives Marco a huge advantage that no Logia user has, this being appropriate due to his fruit being rarer than a Logia.

Other than the aforementioned weaknesses, Marco is also susceptible to the standard Devil Fruit weaknesses like any user.

Haki
Marco was shown to be capable of using Haki proficiently during the Battle of Marineford.

With his Busoshoku Haki, Marco kicked Kizaru away after the Admiral tried to kill his captain. He also kicked Aokiji away to save Monkey D. Luffy's life. After the death of Portgas D. Ace, he and Vista used their Busoshoku Haki against Akainu but did not manage to hurt him even though their attacks did irritate the Admiral. Marco once again used this Haki to block Akainu's attack on Luffy.

Past
Twenty-two years ago, Marco was seen on Whitebeard's ship when Shiki visited the Yonkou to inform him of his plans.

Arrival of Ace
The world hates us for what we are, you know... It makes us happy... Even if it's just a word...

During the first few days days Ace spent on Whitebeard's ship, Marco tried to befriend him. Marco explained to Ace the kind of fatherly relationship Whitebeard had with his crew members. In fact, it was Marco who told Ace to leave the ship and start from scratch again or bear Whitebeard's mark as one of his sons.

Murder of Thatch
After the murder of Thatch at the hands of Teach, Ace decided to search for Blackbeard and make him pay for what he did. However, Whitebeard, who was feeling uneasy, told Ace not to go, something that Ace didn't want to hear. Marco was one of the crew members who protested to Ace leaving the ship and going after Teach, but this was in vain.

Jaya Arc
He initially appeared as a background character; when Rockstar asked Marco if anyone knew him, Marco answered, "Nope, never heard of him".

Post Enies Lobby Arc
He next appeared when Shanks came to visit. He appeared to be knowledgeable and experienced in dealing with Shanks, since he knew exactly what would happen to the younger and weaker crew members while they were in the Yonkou's presence. He also told the members still standing afterward not to worry about their fallen comrades as they were just unconscious. Marco scolds Shanks for what he did to his subordinates, Shanks however recognizes him as the 1st division commander and asked him if he would like to join his crew to which Marco replied by telling him to shut up.

Marineford Arc
Marco showed up at Marineford with the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates and their allies from the New World. He stated that, including him, all of the Whitebeard Pirates were ready to battle anyone who'd dared to lay a single finger on Ace. When Kizaru tried to attack Whitebeard with an array of laser beams, Marco nullified the attack with his powerful Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit abilities. He then proceeded to attack Kizaru, and successfully kicked him a great distance to the ground, although the Admiral did not appear to be seriously injured.

He saw Luffy and his Impel Down team falling from the sky and came to the realization that Ace's brother, whom Ace had always talked about, had arrived. When he witnessed Luffy stopping Crocodile's attempt to kill Whitebeard on the grounds of Whitebeard being important to Ace, he concluded that, "Ace's little brother is not too shabby after all". Just after Luffy dashed off after informing Whitebeard that Ace would be executed ahead of schedule, Marco returned to the Moby Dick to report the same news. Whitebeard, after seeing some of Luffy's resolve to save Ace, told Marco that he would not forgive him if he were to let Luffy die, to which Marco (who appeared to have developed a similar opinion and liking towards Luffy) smiled and replied, "Roger."

Later, after Whitebeard manipulated Buggy into joining his cause temporarily, Marco remarked at how simple-minded Buggy was. When he witnessed Luffy being attacked by Mihawk, he called out to 5th division commander Vista to go and help him out. He found it odd when Squardo appeared next to Whitebeard, and was shocked when Whitebeard was stabbed by him. He was the first one to reach the Moby Dick and to incapacitate Squardo, but he was repelled by Squardo's sword when Squardo told Marco it was also his fault that he had been forced to attack Whitebeard.

After Crocodile yelled at Whitebeard for being weak, Marco commented on how Whitebeard's health was getting worse, since Whitebeard should have been able to stop any attack aimed at him, even if he was caught off guard. After the whole ordeal was sorted out, he saw Squardo crying and deeply regretting his actions, and suggested to him that he should redeem himself. Marco's expression was solemn when he witnessed the Moby Dick being destroyed by Akainu's meteor magma attack.



As Ace was about to be executed, Marco was prepared to swoop in and save him, but noted that he was not needed after Crocodile saved Ace first. After Luffy was heavily injured by the Admirals and was about to be finished off by Aokiji, Marco arrived and kicked Aokiji away a great distance. With (seemingly) only two Marines watching over Ace, Marco flew towards the execution platform, telling Ace that he would soon save him. As he got closer, however, Garp intercepted him with a punch that sent him crashing to the ground. Marco, now in human form, looked up, frustrated and with a bruise on the left side of his chin.



In the midst of battling Akainu, Whitebeard suddenly seized his chest, and Marco, in horror, realized what was happening just as Whitebeard coughed up a massive amount of blood. Marco thought to himself that this was what he was most afraid might happen and rushed towards his captain. However, he did not get very far before Kizaru shot him from behind with two simultaneous lasers, which clearly caused Marco pain, as he was in his human form. Enduring the pain, Marco activated his regenerative powers and continued to run towards Whitebeard, only to have Onigumo seize him and place Kairoseki handcuffs on his right arm. Kizaru then took the opportunity to shoot Marco with two more laser bursts - Marco, badly injured and unable to regenerate, fell.



Later, after Luffy unconsciously used his Haoshoku Haki, the bloodied Marco showed surprise. By the time Squardo entered the battlefield with the paddle boat Oars brought into the plaza, stating that Whitebeard and his allies should grab Ace and leave the enemy to him, Marco was back on his feet. He commented angrily on Squardo's foolish way of redeeming himself and quickly ordered a nearby crewmate to remove his cuffs.

After Whitebeard declared that he would part ways with his sons and stay behind, Marco hesitated, reluctant, as a nearby crewmate urged him to go. He was next seen with Vista and Atmos, shocked by the sight of Ace taking Akainu's molten punch through the chest. When Akainu tried to strike Ace a second time and finish him off, he was stopped by Jinbe; Marco saw this and, desperate now, ordered Mr. 3, who was dragged over to him, to remove his handcuffs immediately.

Akainu turned to launch another attack on Jinbe, and much to his annoyance was repelled by simultaneous attacks from Marco and Vista, who used Haki attacks to drive him away from the injured Jinbe, Ace, and Luffy. Marco, deep in regret, wondered how they could have allowed all this to happen. When Ace spoke his last words to Luffy, Marco joined the battle in order to keep the Marine forces away from Ace. After Ace passed on, Marco was seen crying.



Determined to finish off Luffy, who was incapacitated from shock caused by his grief and anguish, Akainu attacked once again; this time he was again intercepted by Marco, who shouted that Akainu would not touch Luffy. He ordered Jinbe to take Luffy and go. As Luffy was all that remained of Ace's will, Marco declared that they would protect him without fail, in place of Ace; if he too were to die, the Whitebeard Pirates would be put to shame.

When Whitebeard and Blackbeard confronted each other, Marco tried to fly to the other side to assist his captain, but was commanded to stay back by his captain, who said that he would kill Blackbeard as revenge for killing Thatch. When Whitebeard was brutally killed by the Blackbeard Pirates, Marco was seen mourning Whitebeard's death as Whitebeard left the crew under his care.

Marco then witnessed Blackbeard absorbing the power of the Gura Gura no Mi, and when he recognized the stance that goes with the use of the ability he becomes shocked. Marco explained to a fellow crewmate that Blackbeard was no ordinary person. He then joined his fellow crewmates, with some unlikely help from Crocodile, as they prepared to face off against Admiral Akainu to defend Luffy and carry him on to the next era. When Coby yelled for all the combatants to stop, Marco wondered why a Marine was trying to stop the fight. When Shanks arrived at Marineford to stop the war, Marco was told by Shanks to withdraw peacefully from Marineford and avoid prolonging the battle any longer. Marco complied, and was later seen along with the remaining Whitebeard Pirates, grieving over the negative outcomes of the war.

Post-War Arc
Marco was seen again later attending Ace's and Whitebeard's funeral. He thanked Shanks for ensuring that Whitebeard and Ace received proper burials.

Major Battles

 * Whitebeard Pirates and their allies vs. the Marines and Shichibukai
 * Marco vs. Admiral Kizaru
 * Marco vs. Squardo
 * Marco vs. Admiral Aokiji
 * Marco vs. Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp
 * Marco vs. Admiral Kizaru and Vice Admiral Onigumo
 * Marco and Vista vs. Admiral Akainu
 * Whitebeard Pirates Commanders (minus Ace, Thatch and Jozu), Crocodile and Andre vs. Admiral Akainu

Manga and Anime Differences
In the anime when he was first shown, he was replaced with a generic crewmember. This is a common mistake that occurs in transferring a scene from manga to anime and has been witnessed in One Piece before, in particular when characters are first introduced without a formal introduction.

Merchandise


He has been confirmed to feature in the series of Portrait of Pirates figurines.

Trivia

 * Marco shares his epithet "Phoenix" with the anime only character Puzzle; but they each gained the epithet for different reasons.
 * Marco may be named after the famous Italian explorer Marco Polo. This however remains unconfirmed by Oda.
 * It is very possible that Marco is the second-in-command over the entire Whitebeard Pirates crew, as well as the second strongest member, all under Whitebeard himself. This is further supported when Marco becomes the new highest authority of the crew after Whitebeard's death.

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Marco Marco 不死鳥馬可