Rob Lucci

Rob Lucci (ロブ･ルッチ, Robu Rucchi) was first seen as one of the five foremen of Galley-La Company's Dock One. He was a sawyer, treenail & bolt specialist. Later on it is revealed that he is the strongest member of the CP9 operating undercover, in order to obtain the Pluton blueprints from Iceburg.

Appearance
Rob Lucci is a very tall and slim, yet muscular man with arched brows and a close-shaved goatee. He has shoulder length wavy hair that is sometimes tied in a ponytail. When he isn't fighting, his pet pigeon Hattori is usually perched quietly on his right shoulder. He has a tattoo of a crossed-out square on each upper arm, as well as five cannonball scars on his back in the shape of the World Government symbol.

He wore a large black top hat with a sepia band until he lost it during his fight with Luffy. As a shipwright, he wore brown trousers with caramel suspenders over a white tanktop and shoes with black toe-caps. As an assassin, he wore a neat black suit with the sleeves normally rolled up, with black leather shoes and a white tie and handkerchief in the breast pocket.

Galley-La
Lucci never talks, preferring to instead talk through his pet pigeon, Hattori, using ventriloquism. Hattori always rides on Lucci's shoulder until Lucci begins fighting, at which point he will fly overhead until the battle is over. Lucci seems to have a rivalry with Paulie, and often chides him for having money problems. Because of this rivalry, the two often fight; however, the matches generally end before there is a victor. Other than this, however, Lucci appears to be very distant from everyone else, including the other foremen and Iceburg.

CP9
Lucci comes off as a cold and collected CP9 agent, almost never displaying any emotions (nevertheless even HE displayed shock at the knowledge that Franky had the Pluton blueprints the whole time, and is shown smirking when convincing Kaku and Kalifa to eat Devil Fruits as well as when he and Spandam realized Luffy was following them, probably because of his lust for battle). An example is the brutal assault on his friend of 5 years, Paulie, whom he even tried to kill after the CP9's identities had been revealed. He also states that he feels no real bond with the city he's lived in for 5 years, and he seems to have no feelings for his fellow CP9 colleagues, least of all Spandam. Interestingly enough, he does react rather violently if anyone calls him a gakki (slang in Japanese for kid or brat), responding with a kick and a retort both times after Iceburg and Franky referred to him as such. The reason that he killed the 500 soldiers in his past was due to another belief of his - the belief that weakness is a sin. He finds it offensive when someone speaks weakness around him. He also believes if he is involved then the situation means blood will be drawn and that he also does not have to accept other peoples' views and ideals.

He seems to derive amusement and gratification from inflicting physical and emotional pain on others, making him a typical sadist. These scenes, along with when he anticipates battle, are the only times where he smirks. In the Tower of Justice at Enies Lobby, he reveals that he only joined the government so he can be legally allowed to kill people. An example of Lucci's lust for violence is when he compromised the mission of bringing Robin to the Gates of Justice by allowing Luffy to tail him, for the sole purpose of having a battle (even giving a happy yet highly disturbing smirk when Luffy burst through the door). Lucci's violent and predatory nature is also shown when he goes into full-beast mode during battle, in order to attack Luffy more violently. He is also apparently somewhat sensitive in his Devil Fruit's form as Usopp managed to goad Lucci into coming after him (and getting Luffy to continue fighting) by calling him a "worthless little kitten", which noticeably angers him.

His emotionlessness includes anger and distress. Even while taunting or demoralizing Luffy, he keeps a passive face, and refrains from the classic "villain laugh". However, during the final moments of his fight with Luffy, he expresses horrified surprise prior to being defeated.

Despite all this apparent lack of morality, he has displayed some, if very little, sympathy for those he dubs innocent; when the Candy Pirates are attacking a small village, he quickly dispatches the captain to save the people, though his demonstration of Absolute Justice later prompts him and his comrades to leave.

Powers and Abilities
No battle has a certain outcome. (...) Who could have predicted that Rob Lucci would be defeated? Lucci's power is so great that it is acknowledged even by the Shichibukai. Even at the tender age of thirteen, Lucci was already known to be a very capable mass-murderer, having killed 500 soldiers and a crew of pirates single-handedly. It should be also noted that Lucci is the strongest member of CP9 in history by far; with his Douriki at 4000, almost twice that of the next strongest, Kaku's 2200. Franky himself noted that his strength is levels above the rest of CP9, and later remarked that, were it not for Luffy, he wasn't sure how many of them would have been slaughtered. Because of his reputation, he is a very valuable asset to the World Government, almost to the point of legend; the vice admirals even believe that he can survive a Buster Call attack. His (along with the rest of the CP9 unit's) value has been diminished upon his loss against Luffy.

Aside from his super-human strength, Lucci appears to exhibit a rather high level of intelligence. It was he who deduced the connection between Iceburg and Franky, figured out the principles behind Luffy's Gear Second and Gear Third "upgrades", and showed extensive knowledge about Devil Fruits. At Enies Lobby, he even effortlessly jeopardized the lives of Luffy's crewmembers and friends - as well as their mission to save Robin - by flooding the underwater passageway to the Gates of Justice. Although, this might just be yet another display of sadism, where he removes Luffy's chances of "having everything" just for the sake of angering him.

Rokushiki


Lucci has complete mastery of Rokushiki, having used at least one or more moves from each of the different forms, such as Rankyaku Hyoubi and Tobu Shigan: Bachi. He demonstrates this when he unveils the Rokushiki hidden technique, Rokuougan, during his fight with Luffy. The massively powerful technique is so strong that it causes severe internal injury to Luffy's body, who described its effect as an Impact Dial with greatly amplified power; no small feat considering that he's made of rubber. With his complete mastery of Rokushiki, in conjunction with his Devil Fruit ability, Lucci proved to be a resilient and formidable foe, going on even terms with Luffy in Gear Second, and literally forcing him to exert every ounce of strength against him.

Devil Fruit
Rob Lucci ate the Neko Neko no Mi, Model: Leopard, a Zoan-class Devil Fruit which allows him to transform into a leopard and a giant leopard-human hybrid. As Zoan-class Devil Fruits enhances physical capabilities the most, it is most favored by martial artists like Lucci. Also, being a carnivorous animal, Lucci is more bloodthirsty and predatory than a regular Zoan-class user, proven when he mauled Luffy as an actual leopard.

Life Return
It has been revealed that Lucci can perform Life Return, like Kumadori, and use it to alter his body into forms that amplify his skills in a specific Rokushiki ability. However, only the Kami-e Form, which makes his man-beast form smaller and thinner, has been seen.

The Early Years
In Chapter 0 of the One Piece: Strong World, a very young Rob Lucci (alongside a teenage Blueno and Jyabura) was seen training with the other CP9 hopefuls when Gol D. Roger was executed. Notably, Hattori was around back then - he was perched on Lucci's head.

The Island Raid
Lucci's backstory concerning his admission into CP9 is revealed by Vice Admiral Doberman during the Buster Call on Enies Lobby.

According to Doberman, 15 years prior, a kingdom had 500 of its soldiers and its king taken hostage by a pirate crew, with the captain demanding to be made the new king of the kingdom. As the government saw the king beginning to admit defeat, they sent in the 13 year-old Rob Lucci. Lucci snuck into the pirates' hideout and killed all 500 hostages, and mercilessly decapitated the captain, as well as killing the rest of the crew. During his confrontation, the crew scarred his back with a barrage of gunshots.

Galley-La Company
When Lucci is first seen as one of the five foremen of Galley-La Company's Dock One, he appears to be a ventriloquist using his pigeon, Hattori, to speak for him. He also shows very impressive skills when he gets into a fight with Paulie and, later on, Luffy. It is soon revealed he is the unquestioned leader of the Water 7 CP9 unit which infiltrated the Galley-La company, and perfectly capable of speaking for himself. When invading the Iceburg's mansion he was the one wearing the bull mask.

CP9 and Enies Lobby
At the Galley-La headquarters in Water 7, Lucci effortlessly defeats Luffy in a relatively short fight. Later in Enies Lobby, Luffy chases after Lucci and initiates a second fight with him. The two engage in an extremely hectic and boisterous fight from which Lucci still holds a noticeably advantage where Lucci bests, outlasts, and survives Luffy's attacks and counters with twice as much power. Luffy is later joined by Franky but even with the added reinforcement the two of them are still woefully outmatched by Lucci. During the fight, Luffy is incapacitated and Franky is nearly killed by Lucci's Shigan Ouren until Luffy uses his Gear Second technique, to which he promptly began beating on Lucci even in his half-beast form. However, Lucci still manages to gain the advantage when the Gear Second effect wears out leaving Luffy in the same situation. At this point, Lucci floods the tunnels with water by using Rankyaku to break the wall, to stop Luffy's crew from escaping and taunts Luffy, asking him whether he will continue to fight or rescue his friends and promptly escapes to higher ground, Luffy pursues him claiming that if he couldn't defeat Lucci, he couldn't protect any of his nakama. The fight continues with Lucci easily countering every one of Luffy's attacks and thrashes him around so much he could barely stand anymore. Rob Lucci, confident that Luffy used up all his energy using Gear Second, remarks that he is helpless before him like so many other pirates. In response, Luffy chuckles and claims that he is going to use a different strategy and activates Gear Third. Luffy, using the humongous strength of Gear Third, punches Lucci so hard that he is flung all the way onto a Buster Call ship, almost passing out in the process. Nevertheless, he takes advantage of Gear Third's lack of speed to quickly strike Luffy down with another Tobu Shigan Bachi, causing Luffy to deactivate Gear Third. He then uses Rankyaku Gaichou for the very first time in the air while Luffy is down on a Buster Call ship to finish him off, causing an explosion and cutting through steel on the ship. Monkey D. Luffy was fortunate that it was close; had he been actually hit by Lucci's strongest Rankyaku technique, he would have been literally been split in two. Rob Lucci, while using Geppou to hop in the air, comments that, whether Monkey D. Luffy is being serious or joking around, the fact that he is still alive is entertaining - and, if he were to die from such a bombardment, that it would be boring. He then uses Kamisori to get to where Luffy is, and thrashes him again. While Luffy is down and still deflated from deactivating Gear Third, Rob Lucci says that Gear Third is a very unbalanced technique, and uses Seimei Kikan: Kami-e Bunshin to make his hybrid form smaller and thinner. Rob Lucci then attempts to end the fight quickly with Shigan Madara, but suddenly partially collapses, realizing that Luffy had managed to fracture both his legs with Gear Third. Now partially disabled, he is easily beaten down by Luffy until he pulls and uses his trump card - his ultimate move and the most powerful technique in Rokushiki, Rokuougan - to severely injure Luffy, evening the odds once again. Luffy claims that Rokuougan is like an Impact Dial, but with greatly amplified power. Rob Lucci, in his smaller form, then attempts to finish off Luffy with another Rankyaku Gaichou. Luffy continues to press the fight until Lucci unleashes several more Rokuougan in a row landing Luffy face down in a pool of blood. Lucci comments that he would still kill Luffy's crew no matter how hard Luffy tries to prevent him from doing so. Lucci remained confident even after Luffy gets up again due to Usopp's encouragement. Lucci is determined to end the fight once and for all and channels all of his power into his next attack, Saidairin: Rokuougan, but this ultimately proves part of his downfall. Recalling all the pain Lucci had put Robin and his friends through, Luffy unleashes a brutal Gear Second "Gomu Gomu no Jet Gatling" attack against Lucci. Lucci attempts to use Tekkai to deflect the blows, but unfortunately for him, the enormous attack strikes Lucci so hard and fast it's like he's being hit with dozens of fists all at the same time. The attack smashes Lucci against and through a brick wall, leaving him unconscious and defeated.

CP9's Independent Report
Blueno is shown using his Devil fruit's ability, Air Door at Enies Lobby while carrying Lucci. Kalifa and Fukurou are also shown at the back of Blueno. Due to the severe and near fatal injuries he suffered in his battle against Luffy he is still unconscious or even comatose, being carried by Kumadori while the rest are walking along the Sea Train tracks and is in serious need of medical attention. They reach the city of St. Poplar, where the rest of CP9 try to gather money for his medical fees by becoming street performers, with Kalifa becoming a street cleaner. (CP9 is unable to turn to the world government for help, as Spandam has dispatched pursuers to capture them so they could be blamed for the mission's failure. They gather enough money and Lucci is given his much needed medical attention; Lucci finally wakes..

It is interesting to note that, despite Lucci's reputation as a cold-blooded assassin, the rest of CP9 (excluding Spandam) seem to genuinely care for Lucci's well-being, evidenced in their efforts to revive him and their celebration when he is discharged from the hospital Lucci is seen expressing gratefulness for the first time in his known life when he shakes his doctor's hand. He has most recently been seen bowling with the other CP9 members. Along with the rest of CP9, he attacks the Candy Pirates when they start ransacking the island; Rob Lucci knocks out the captain with a kick while the others take out their ship. However, he starts going overboard and tries to crush the skull of the captain, much to the horror of the spectators. This makes the group realize they can't stay on the island much longer. As they make their way to the harbor, a little girl gives Kalifa a flower as thanks for saving them. They depart with the Candy Pirates' ship and eventually settle on the lush forest island where they were trained. They begin watching the CP9's next generation when Captain Very Good arrives, they interrupt his way in a peculiar image showing their animal themes.

As CP9 battled, and eventually defeated the Marine troops led by Very Good, Lucci contacted a physically crippled Spandam using a Den Den Mushi, and promised to come for him very soon. With that CP9 began their aim to eliminate their former director by leaving their homeland and setting sail.

Anime and Manga Differences
They were criminals, so I killed them in name of justice...As soldiers, weakness is a sin. They surrendered to evil, and caused a crisis in the kingdom. That type of soldier doesn't deserve to live. So they're dead. The anime follows the same trend for Lucci's back story, but with several differences and elaborations. After being sent, he approached the king, who begged Lucci to save the soldiers, but Lucci told the king not to question the ways of the World Government. This left the king to wonder what the Government was thinking, sending a young boy to such a dangerous assignment. Lucci stepped into the pirates' ship and claimed to serve justice against them, and they laughed and mocked him. After sarcastically telling Lucci to go home, two pirates attempted to strike him down with swords, but Lucci blocked it with his Tekkai. The crew thought Lucci was using some weird ability, and the captain warned that if Lucci resisted anymore, the hostages would die. Then, with the crew pointing guns at Lucci's head, he ordered his men to take Lucci to the prison along with the other soldiers, as a way to insult the World Government. After the pirates locked Lucci in and mocked him further, Lucci ensured that all the hostages were there - then, using his Rokushiki techniques, he brutally massacred all 500 hostages while the oblivious pirate crew were still enjoying their celebration party.

When one of the pirates came to check out on the prisoners, he ran screaming for his captain - and the entire crew saw, to their horror and fury, all of their precious hostages murdered, with Lucci standing on top of the mountain of corpses, his victims' blood dripping from his finger. After a short argument on the justice of the World Government, the captain angrily ordered his crew to use their mortars - the very weapons that forced the soldiers to surrender - to kill Lucci, with five cannon balls striking Lucci right in the back. The captain said that Lucci deserved it for looking down on them, then complained how their perfect plan was ruined. In the midst of his complaint, he saw, to his shock and horror, that Lucci had survived the blast and had stood back up from the inferno, with his back scarred a shape reminiscent of the World Government's logo. Lucci then used his Soru to swiftly appear before the captain and seized him by the face, then, despite the captain's futile attempt to pry himself free, Lucci launched a barrage of Shigan (much like Shigan Ouren) to brutally shoot the captain to death, letting his corpse crash down onto the ground. Realizing that they were facing a heartless and murderous monster, with hostages and cannons having absolutely no use against him, the rest of the crew screamed in horror and fled. Whether they were pursued and killed is not known. With that, Lucci's mission came to completion.

Regardless of which version, the scar that Lucci gained on his back vaguely resembles the symbol of the World Government.

Merchandise
He featured in the second wave of the One Piece VS Figure Gashapon series and in the Portrait of Pirates: Neo-6 wave of figurines, as well as in a few issued keychain sets.

Translation and Dub Issues
In an SBS, a fan noted that Rob is another word for 'steal' and Lucci means 'light' in Italian. Put them together, and Rob Lucci means "steal the light."

'Light' in Italian is luce, not luci. This is most likely due to fickleness of transferring Japanese to Italian and vice versa. However, when the fan asked if Oda named him this on purpose, Oda had no idea about it - it may have been pure coincidence, similar to how Oda didn't know that there is a Maritime term called a "Luff" until after he named Luffy. As such, though there are many cases of False etymology within the One Piece fandom, this is one of the few addressed by Oda himself.

Trivia

 * Lucci was drawn as a child by Oda after a fan asked to draw the CP9 members as children. However, the anime had also portrayed a 13-year-old Lucci in its rendition of his past story. Though the two portrayals of Lucci are meant to be him, they have different styles to them, mostly because Oda's version was drawn after the anime had already depicted him and not just because they show him at two different ages. Note that Oda did depict the silhouette of 13 year-old Lucci from the backside, though only briefly - this most likely is where the anime design for him originates..
 * Rob Lucci is the only character so far who has been able to bring Monkey D. Luffy to the brink of death through pure physical force, as opposed to Logia powers or life draining attacks.

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