Pandaman

Pandaman is a joke character created by Eiichiro Oda, and one of the most prominent easter eggs in One Piece.

Originally designed for a Shonen Jump character creation contest, Pandaman has gone on to make cameo appearances in nearly every chapter of the manga, every episode of the anime, every film, and more. He is particularly prominent in several of the video games, even being playable in the first Grand Battle! and its immediate sequel.

Due to his status as a joke character, most if not all concrete data on Pandaman has been revealed through the SBS, and may or may not be serious on Oda's part.

Appearance
Pandaman's most distinctive feature is his head, which is stylized to look like his namesake (and sometimes emblazoned with the word PANDA). Whether this is a mask or his real face is unknown.

Meanwhile, his physique can vary wildly from appearance to appearance. Though most "official" portraits (including Oda's original contest submission) depict him as tall and well-muscled, many of his cameos in the actual manga and anime depict him as slimmer, if not outright scrawny, to keep him better-hidden in crowd scenes.

Apart from his black trunks and lace-up boots, Pandaman usually goes undressed, and may bear a pair of heart tattoos on his pectorals, and bamboo tattoos on his arms. At times, however, he has been seen in civilian, pirate, or even Marine attire.

Pandaman does not always make cameos in the flesh. Indeed, cameos of his name have appeared scattered throughout the series in both katakana and romaji script.

Personality
Little has been established about Pandaman's personality in canon - save, perhaps, for his cowardice in constantly fleeing from debt collectors.

In contrast, video games frequently portray him with the boisterous, hot-blooded bravado stereotypical to pro-wrestlers. Apart from eagerly accepting any and all challenges to fight, he also constantly peppers his speech with the vocalization "sasa" (ササ), a reference to the term for bamboo (笹).

Pandawoman
Pandaman is said to be in love with Pandawoman, but it is unknown if these feelings are reciprocated.

Tomato Gang
Pandaman, unfortunately, is also constantly on the run from Tomato Gang, a debt collector to whom Pandaman owes money.

Unforgivable Mask
Pandaman's greatest rival, Unforgivable Mask, is hired by Tomato Gang to track Pandaman down and retrieve the money he owes Tomato Gang.

Abilities and Powers
While Pandaman has demonstrated no combat ability in any of his appearances, he does - according to Oda's contest write-up - have a small repertoire of attacks:
 * S.P.D. - Bamboo Leaves Panda Drop (S・P・D (笹の葉パンダドロップ))
 * G.P.D. - Giant Panda Deathlock (G・P・D (ジャイアントパンダデスロック)).

The same write-up also notes that Pandaman has a strength of "3,300,000 power" after eating bamboo and before meals.

In his playable appearances in Grand Battle! and Grand Battle! 2, Pandaman uses a variety of wrestling-based attacks, with the Giant Panda Deathlock in particular portrayed as a brutal backbreaker drop; aside from these, he also possesses the ability to summon Panda Sharks against enemies. Meanwhile, Gigant Battle! portrays him with the ability to fire an energy beam by crossing his forearms.

History
As an infant, Pandaman was said to have been abandoned in a bamboo thicket, and subsequently raised by giant pandas. Growing up, he was frequently picked on for claiming to have seen Princess Kaguya, and as a result trained to become a "demon superman" (悪魔超人).

Eventually, Pandaman grew into a man of wealth and prestige, supposedly presiding over his own island. Rumors of this island (and its panda-like populace) reached as far as Foosha Village. Some time later, however, Pandaman fell into financial trouble with the debt collector Tomato Gang, who began relentlessly pursuing him, even hiring his rival Unforgivable Mask as an enforcer.

Pandaman first crossed paths with the Straw Hat Pirates during the Baratie Arc, where he witnessed the altercation between Sanji and Fullbody. Since then, he has appeared in the background of every locale the Straw Hats have visited (and several they have not, such as Lulusia Kingdom). The one exception is the all-female isle of Amazon Lily, where Pandawoman took his place; it is said that Pandaman fell in love with this woman, but it is unclear whether she even knows he exists.

Anime and Manga Differences
The anime portrays Pandaman more-or-less identically to the manga - as a background curiosity who interacts with neither the plot nor the other characters in any meaningful way. However, the anime will often insert Pandaman cameos where the manga had none; indeed, the anime Pandaman made his first appearance during the Syrup Village Arc, mixed in among the Black Cat Pirates.

Special Episode
Pandaman's usual status was completely subverted in one installment of the Boss Luffy Historical Special, where he not only interacted with other characters, but played a pivotal role in the plot.



In the alternate Jidaigeki-esque reality known as the Grand Jipang (グランドジパング), Pandaman is a well-beloved townsman known as "Pop" (父さん). This moniker led to much trouble when he fell ill, shortly after being trapped in debt to the gang-leader Buggy. On finding him in the care of a neighborhood girl, the Buggy Gang assumed she was his daughter and schemed to sell her off as collateral, even enlisting aid from a corrupt magistrate. Nevertheless, this scheme was foiled by Boss Luffy and the aristocrat Vivi.

After Buggy's threat was ended, his would-be debtor joined Boss Luffy and several close friends in celebrating the exotic foreign holiday known as Christmas.

Translation and Dub Issues
All English translations generally preserve Pandaman's cameos faithfully, with the Viz manga accurately relaying all of Oda's SBS contributions and both the Funimation and 4Kids anime dubs leaving his cameos unremarked upon. His name, however, is generally written out as two words ("Panda Man") rather than one.

Much larger liberties were taken in 4Kids' localization of the video game One Piece: Pirates Carnival. This game originally featured Pandaman in a minor role, as the focus of a Where's Waldo-styled mini-game; the localization kept this mini-game, but also extended his role into a separate mini-game originally hosted by Blueno (since 4Kids had made no preparations for dubbing the Water 7 Arc). As a result, this Pandaman possesses Blueno's abilities, as well as an unusually dark and vengeful personality, claiming to have trapped the Straw Hat Pirates in a burning maze as revenge for picking him out of crowds.

Anime and Manga Influences
Pandaman was originally conceived for the New Superman Contest (新超人コンテスト), a character-design contest for the pro-wrestling series Kinnikuman. As such, his design is meant to evoke a costumed pro wrestler, with lots of exposed skin, striking colors, and an overall "foreign" theme akin to those used by heel wrestlers in real life.

(Oda would return to pro-wrestling for several later character designs, including Jesus Burgess, Spandam, and the Jeet-Abdullah duo.)

In addition, Pandaman's (supposed) backstory directly references the myth of Princess Kaguya, who was said to have been discovered in a bamboo stalk by a kindly woodcutter.

Playable Appearances

 * One Piece: Become the Pirate King!
 * Grand Battle!
 * Grand Line Dream Adventure Log
 * Grand Battle! 2

Enemy Appearances

 * One Piece: Treasure Wars
 * One Piece Romance Dawn: The Dawn of the Adventure

Support Appearances

 * One Piece: Treasure Battle!
 * One Piece: Gigant Battle
 * One Piece: Gigant Battle! 2 New World

Non-Playable Appearances

 * Birth of Luffy's Dream Pirate Crew!
 * One Piece Grand Battle 3
 * One Piece (Game Boy Advance)
 * One Piece: Grand Battle! Rush!
 * One Piece: Pirates Carnival
 * One Piece: Unlimited Adventure
 * One Piece: Pirate Warriors
 * One Piece Treasure Cruise
 * One Piece: World Seeker

Trivia

 * As of the 6th Japanese Fan Poll, Pandaman is ranked the 51st most popular character in One Piece.
 * Several of his attributes are linked with the number three (三), in a reference to the Japanese term for bamboo. This extends to his (anime-only) bounty of 3,333,333.
 * The anime occasionally inserts Pandaman on items such as shirts, similar to fellow Easter Egg Doskoi Panda. The "official" relationship between these two - if any - remains to be seen.
 * The video game Treasure Battle!, notably, has Pandaman being summoned through a Doskoi Panda token.
 * While no connection has (yet) been made explicit, the Rumbar Pirates once battled a crew with a panda-themed ship and jolly roger.

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