Nezumi
Captain Nezumi is a Marine captain of the 16th Branch in the East Blue. Highly corrupt, he covered up the vast majority of Arlong’s actions in the Conomi Islands in exchange for bribe money.
Due to his actions, he can be considered the secondary antagonist of the Arlong Park Arc. He is also the one responsible for officially making Monkey D. Luffy a wanted criminal to the World Government by requesting his first ever bounty.
Appearance
Nezumi is a slim, dark-haired man with—appropriately for his name—a strongly mouse-like appearance. His eyes are constantly narrowed, while his facial hair consists of a thin goatee and six long, wire-like whiskers on his upper lip. His Marine uniform is heavily customized, with the standard cap converted into a mouse-eared cowl, connected to a buttoned-up greatcoat that reaches to his feet, accessorized with a belt and blue epaulets.
His coat carries a blueish-grey color in the TV anime, which is dulled in the digitally colored manga and Episode of East Blue.
Personality
As his mouse-like appearance suggests, Nezumi is craven, opportunistic, and utterly without integrity. His greed is so strong that he will conspire long-term with criminals, suppress his personal revulsion of Fish-Men, and even directly attack civilians at the prospect of money. Ordinarily, he displays a smug, supercilious air, expecting his rank alone to command respect and obedience; if overpowered, he will immediately cower and beg, until he has managed to retreat to a safe distance.
His signature laugh, “Chi chi chi chi” (チチチチ?), mimics the standard onomatopoeia for mouse squeaks.
Abilities and Powers
As a Marine Captain and head of the 16th Branch, Nezumi has authority over (at minimum) dozens of armed subordinates. However, he appears to rely solely on his rank against threats, and has demonstrated no personal combat capabilities; at most, he has some swimming ability, enough to make an escape through Arlong Park’s harbor.
The following events are Non-Canon and therefore not considered part of the Canon story.
Weapons
In the anime, he carries a pistol, and appears relatively competent in its use.
Concludes non-canon section.
History
East Blue Saga
Arlong Park Arc
For a time, Nezumi and his unit deliberately ignored the Arlong Pirates’ tyranny over the Conomi Islands in exchange for monthly cash bribes. While Arlong took great pride in the arrangement and considered the Marines “honored guests” (even volunteering Hatchan as a private ferry for them), Nezumi always kept his time at Arlong Park to a careful minimum, partly because he found the Fish-Men unsettling.
One day, after a routine payoff, Arlong informed Nezumi of a treasure buried in nearby Cocoyasi Village: the cash and valuables that Nami had been hoarding for eight years to buy freedom from Arlong. Knowing the hoard qualified as stolen property, Nezumi eagerly brought his unit there, and commandeered Genzo to lead them to Nami’s house. To the outrage of Genzo, Nojiko, and especially Nami, the Marines ransacked the entire property, intent on nothing beyond confiscating Nami’s efforts.
When Nami and her guardians furiously realized that the Marines were allied with Arlong, Nezumi ordered his men to respond with armed force; though Nami and Genzo avoided injury, Nojiko was shot in the waist. Soon after, Nezumi uncovered the hoard—93,000,000 in total—and reveled in it, heedless to the fact that he’d spurred Nami and Genzo to their breaking points. Their reactions, borne of sheer desperation, would ultimately lead to the Straw Hat Pirates storming Arlong Park and completely crushing the Arlong Pirates.
On witnessing the fall of Arlong Park, Nezumi tried to hijack the Straw Hats’ victory and claim all the credit—as well as Arlong’s private coffers—for himself. However, he and his unit were soundly beaten by Roronoa Zoro and the rest of the Straw Hats; Nami herself delivered the final blow, then “requested” that he return the stolen money and help the local communities (especially the decimated Gosa Village) recover from Arlong’s reign. Helpless and terrified, Nezumi quickly agreed, before retreating to a safe distance and swearing revenge against the Straw Hats’ captain Monkey D. Luffy.
Some time later, Nezumi returned to the Branch 16 base and reported the incident to his superiors; to his annoyance, his subordinates could only supply a photograph of Luffy with a completely harmless smile. Nevertheless, the report prompted Marine Headquarters to issue a 30,000,000 bounty for Luffy—unprecedented for the East Blue.
Anime and Manga Differences
In the manga, Nezumi orders his subordinates to “disperse” Nami, Nojiko, and Genzo before finding the buried money, and one of these subordinates is implicitly the one to shoot Nojiko. In contrast, the anime has Nezumi discovering the money first, then personally drawing a pistol on Nami when she tries to attack—and shooting Nojiko as she tries to restrain Nami.
Translation and Dub Issues
His name, following the theme set by his appearance and character, refers to the Japanese word for mice, rats, and similar rodents (鼠, Nezumi?).
Per standard policies, the 4Kids-dubbed anime edits his uniform’s “MARINE” emblems to “NAVY”. His pistol is recolored to seem more toy-like, and his shooting of Nojiko is heavily condensed (though not wholly removed).
In both the 4Kids and Funimation-dubbed anime, his rank is given as Colonel rather than Captain.
Merchandise
Video Games
Playable Appearances
- One Piece Treasure Cruise
Enemy Appearances
- Set Sail Pirate Crew!
- One Piece
- One Piece: Pirates Carnival
Non-Playable Appearances
- One Piece: Become the Pirate King!
- Aim! The King of Belly
- One Piece: Grand Battle! Rush!
- One Piece: Dragon Dream!
- One Piece: Grand Adventure
Trivia
- Nezumi’s Marine identification code is 00733.
- Nezumi is the only person known to have personally requested that someone be assigned a bounty.
- Nezumi’s favorite food is cheese, per pop-culture stereotypes of mice.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 8 Chapter 69 (p. 12-16) and Episode 31, Nezumi makes his debut.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Vivre Card – One Piece Visual Dictionary (Card #0093), Information about Nezumi is revealed.
- ↑ One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 8 Chapter 69 (p. 15) and Episode 31, Hatchan mocks Nezumi’s look due to his mouse face.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 11 Chapter 94 and Episode 43, Nezumi tries to commandeer Arlong’s defeat, and is immediately beaten into submission by the Straw Hats. He then tearfully agrees to Nami’s demand to clean up the Arlong Pirates’ reign.
- ↑ One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 9 Chapter 80 (p. 6) and Episode 36.
- ↑ One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 9 Chapter 76 (p. 19) and Episode 34.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 9 Chapter 80 and Episodes 36–37.
- ↑ One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 11 Chapter 96 and Episode 45.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 11 Chapter 94 (p. 16-17) and Episode 43, Nezumi reports to Marine HQ.