Arlong

Appearance

Arlong is a large bluish saw fish Fishman whose most distinctive trait is his saw-nose. He wears what appears to be a brown Ushanka. On his hands are what appear to be rings. According to Oda in response to a fan about these rings, these aren't rings at all but more like piercings that go straight through Arlong's fingers, as his hands are webbed and are incapable of wearing rings.[1] His Sunny Pirates tattoo is on the left side of his chest, while his own Jolly Roger is on his lower left arm.

Personality

“ Money is the best, you can trust it more than the human.

-Arlong Deals with Nezumi
”

Arlong considers humans to be inferior beings, and is very cruel to them. He thinks nothing of killing a town full of humans, although he seems to prefer controlling people with money and deals (like Nami and Nezumi[2]). He is also rather easy to anger, going berserk after he was attacked by Usopp and having to be dragged back to his base by his crew to prevent him from destroying the whole town.

He does not seem frightened by anything, and his Fishman strength has made him extremely confident that he and his crew are virtually invincible. After Nezumi told Arlong he as a Marine wouldn't stay for fear of being seen in Arlong Park, at this point Arlong invited the Marine to a meal and offered to kill anyone who dared report him.[3] He also has an eye for spotting exploitable talent that he can use for his goals and is an excellent planner; he spent years using Nami and her maps to plan their takeover of the East Blue. Nevertheless, any promise about money he makes, he keeps (The best example is when his crew urged him to keep Nami even if she brings the Image:Bsymbol.gif100,000,000. However, Arlong states he can't go back on his word), however, he has no qualms about exploiting loopholes in his deals to unfairly get his way.

Crew

He cares for his own crew (shown when he says he's sorry for accidentally biting them and becoming enraged at Luffy for using one as a Fishman shield), while many of his crew share his ideals. They would call him "Arlong-san" while Arlong would call his crew his "brethren". He can be very angry when someone hurts his crew rather similarly to Luffy's feelings towards his crew. However, this is exclusive to Fishmen.

Of humans, the only one he ever had respect for was Nami.[3] However, this was simply because of her skill to draw maps and mistreated her constantly while she was on his crew. Despite his treatment, Arlong considered her as one of his brethren and always celebrated her return to Arlong Park. He would even have his crew celebrate when Nami 'came home' as greeting their returning sister.[4]. Nami was expected to act how he wanted her to. However, this led him to misjudge her character. This was mostly because of his own ideals based on materialistic values. He could not see how she wouldn't be happy unless she had clothes, money and a place to sleep. He also didn't see her betrayal happening until it was too late. Even at the final stages of his fight against Luffy, he still stated that he considered her a nakama.

Enemies

As a pirate with a bounty, he is the enemy of the Marines and had the highest bounty in the East Blue until the Straw Hat pirates were announced to the world. As he had been paying off the Marines to keep quiet, it's likely that his bounty did not fully reflect all of his crimes. His cruelty against Nami and her village as assured him an enemy of all of them, as well as the Straw Hats who defeated him.

Other

It is unclear about any feelings between him and his "equal" Jinbei as of the current storyline. The precise circumstances that led to Jinbei's decision to leave and become a Shichibukai while Arlong took over islands in the East Blue are also unknown. It is possible that his extreme hatred towards humanity might have been caused by being a slave of the Tenryuubito before he was freed and became a pirate. However, while it's possible to confirm he was a Sunny Pirate due to the mark on his chest, it's unclear as of now if he was a slave or not as all members of the Sunny Pirates bore that mark regardless of their pasts[5]. It is also possible that since his (former) captain, Fisher Tiger, also hated humans, that trait might have rubbed off on Arlong.

In the fourth movie, Arlong has seen to have a rival named Willy.

When dealing with Nezumi, Arlong tells him that he doesn't like humans, with the exceptions of Nami and those who understand how to do business like Nezumi.

Abilities

Arlong is one of the Fishmen, massive humanoids that are taller and stronger than any normal human. Arlong, however, is a giant even among Fishmen. His power was remarked to be greater then Don Krieg, the strong (military) force in the East Blue.[6] He is seen lifting a house with his bare hands in pursuit of Usopp, and his powerful shark-like jaws are capable of rending metal, stone and flesh alike. Predictably, as formidable an opponent as Arlong is on land, in the water he is nearly invincible.

It is said that Arlong was once Shichibukai Jinbei's equal. Whether this means strength or status is unknown.

Attacks

Shark on Darts (鮫・ON DARTS (シャーク・オン・ダーツ, Shāku On Dātsu) ) / Shark Darts (Shark Awe): Arlong shoots at his opponent like a torpedo with his apparently unbreakable nose. This attack is simply called Shark Darts in the Viz English Manga and FUNimation dub and Shark Awe in the 4Kids dub.

Tooth Gum (歯ガム (トゥースガム, Tūsu Gamu) ) / Tooth Attack: Arlong pulls out his own teeth and puts them in his hand to use them as a weapon, immediately growing another pair in his mouth. He usually uses one set of teeth in each hand. In the Viz Manga and FUNimation dub, this is called Tooth Attack.

Shark on Tooth (鮫・ON 歯車 (シャーク・オン・トゥース, Shāku On Tūsu) ) / Shark Tooth Drill (Shark Destroy): Arlong opens his mouth and starts spinning towards the opponent and bites down on them. The kanji used for Tooth is that of Haguruma which means "gear" in Japanese in the manga. This is called Shark Tooth Drill in the Viz Manga and FUNimation dub and Shark Destroy in the 4Kids dub.

Weapons

Arlong's weapons are mostly natural features of his sawfish Fishman body. With his great strength, something as harmless as a handful of water can strike as hard as a bullet. Even his nose is a weapon. It is over a foot long and lined with razor-sharp points, and more than sturdy enough to use as a melee weapon. Swinging his head back and forth, Arlong defeated even Zoro (who was weakened by the massive wound given to him by Mihawk previously and his fight with Hatchan) in a swordfight with this natural blade. He is very proud of his nose and claims his nose is unbreakable. However, Luffy managed to twist his nose in another direction during the fight with pure physical strength. In addition, he can remove his massive, needle-like teeth and use them as hand-held weapons, snapping them at opponents like castanets. The teeth are replaced by a new set in mere moments, each regrown mouthful stronger than the one before. Luffy demonstrated, however, that these teeth can also be used against Arlong, either by holding them in his hands or as he chose, fitting them in his mouth and bitting his opponent with them. However, Arlong states that only a Fishman can fully utilize the strength of the teeth as he possesses much stronger jaws than a human. Also, Fishmen are apparently ten times stronger than men from birth.

Near the end of his battle with Luffy, he uses a massive sawlike sword called the Kiribachi.