Hibari

Hibari is a Marine Commander. She is also a member of SWORD.

Appearance

Hibari is a young woman of regular stature. She has light hair with bangs worn in a ponytail. Her Marine uniform consists of a military pocketed shirt that exposes her midriff, gloves, military boots and camo pants, with the latter’s right side ripped to reveal striped leggings. She also wears headphones over her ears, a belt with heart-shaped buckles around her torso, and a backpack with a hanging teddy bear called “Kopy-senpai” (コピー先輩, Kopī-senpai^?).

Personality

Hibari is an emotional young woman who is willing to put herself in danger for the sake of an ally. She is kind and considerate towards others, but somewhat bashful and embarrassed over how a boy like Koby may interpret her gestures.

She speaks the Hiroshima dialect, for example using the particles kē (けえ^?) and nō (のう^?).

Relationships

Koby

Hibari cares about Koby’s well-being and joined Helmeppo in pleading for Prince Grus to do something about his abduction by the Blackbeard Pirates after Koby’s failed attempted to arrest Boa Hancock. Hibari mentions that Koby has done a lot for her in the past, explaining her gratefulness for him. One such instance was Koby returning to the battlefield and getting injured in order to recover Hibari’s treasured teddy bear accessory, which moved her and caused her to secretly name the bear “Kopy-senpai” after him. It is implied that she may be romantically interested in him.

Abilities and Powers

As a Marine commander, Hibari has power over lower-ranking subordinates. She is also part of the elite Marine squadron SWORD, implying her skills are among the best the Marines can offer.

Marksmanship

Hibari is a highly proficient sniper, wielding a rifle for combat. She holds incredible long-range support abilities, being capable of disarming a whole crowd of gunmen while undetected.

She uses Vegapunk’s gunpowder-modifying GP Flower technology, Flower Bullets, allowing her to neutralize enemy guns by jamming their barrels with blossoming flowers.

History

Past

Not much is known about Hibari’s past yet, but she has treasured her teddy bear accessory as a good luck charm ever since she was little.

At some point after joining the Marines, Hibari lost the teddy bear on a battlefield. However, her comrade Koby returned to the battlefield and recovered it for her, receiving injuries in the process. Hibari was grateful for his help and secretly named the teddy bear “Kopy-senpai” afterwards.

Final Saga

Egghead Arc

At some point after Koby’s abduction by the Blackbeard Pirates, Hibari, alongside Helmeppo, approached and pleaded with Prince Grus to rescue Koby at Hachinosu. However, her requests were deemed unreasonable by Grus, who told her to stay calm. She and Helmeppo went aboard Monkey D. Garp’s ship in their mission to rescue Koby. She later joined the SWORD’s members on the ground ambushing the Blackbeard Pirates on Hachinosu, spotting Koby before shooting with a rifle loaded with Flower Bullets at the pirates, turning their guns’s ammo into flowers.

After they defeated the pirates in front of them, Hibari escorted Koby to Garp but was unable to open Koby’s shackles. She was then, to the shock of everybody present, frozen by Kuzan. Hibari later managed to survive after Tashigi and the other Marines managed to defrost the ice. She asked about Koby and apologized for being a nuisance. Kujaku reassured Hibari that Koby and the others will come back while expressing relief of her welfare as she comforted Hibari. When Koby attempted to deal with Avalo Pizarro before he could reach the ship Hibari was fearful for his safety but was quickly deemed his success at destroying Pizarros island sized hand as incredible and hugged him when he and Grus got back onboard on the marine ship. However Hibari was shocked at the revelation that Garp was not boarding the ship with them intending to stay behind while the rest escaped not before telling them they were the future of the marines.

Trivia

• “Hibari” is the Japanese name of the Eurasian skylark, following Oda’s usual theme of naming female characters after birds.
• Hibari and Sakazuki and are only characters in the series to speak the Hiroshima dialect. Coincidentally, both are Marines.

References