The world ofOne Pieceis populated not only by humans but a wide variety of otherraces, all of which have their own powers, history, and cultures. Jinbe, a whale shark fish-man is the second non-human member of the Straw Hat Pirates, having joined recently after serving as captain of his own crew, the Sun Pirates, and a former member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Despite his recent addition to the crew, Jinbe has been an important part ofOne Piecesince the Battle of Marineford, when he helped Luffy in his attempt to rescue the latter’s brother Ace. Jinbe’s impressive bounty of 438 million Berry is the second-highest in the Straw Hat crew after Luffy’s 1.5 billion, and the power that led him to that acclaim is Fish-Man Karate.
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What Is Fish-Man Karate?
Fish-Man Karate, as its name implies, is a style of martial arts utilized primarily byFish-Men, a race of underwater dwelling humanoids that individually carry the properties of different real life fish. Instead of relying on brute force, Fish-Man Karate involves controlling the water in a user’s vicinity, primarily by impacting the water that makes up their opponent’s bodies, liquid water in the general area, and in the case of advanced users like Jinbe, the very moisture in the air itself.
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In the lattermost case, this creates shockwaves that can damage opponents without a strike physically connecting with them. In terms of other techniques, Jinbe and Hody Jones, the man villain of the Fish-Man Island arc, were able to use Fish-Man Karate to fling drops of water with bullet-like force. Perhaps the mostpowerful techniquein the Fish-Man Karate arsenal is Jinbe’sBuraikan, or Vagabond Drill in the dub, which had enough power to knock theYonkoBig Mom off the Thousand Sunny (the Straw Hats' ship). Also commonly used are the Brick Fist techniques, which range so far from the Hundred Brick Fist to the Five Thousand Brick Fist. As the names imply, these strikes purportedly have the power to shatter a number of bricks equal to the techniques' name.
Who Uses Fish-Man Karate?
While Jinbe is currently the strongest known user of Fish-Man karate, he’s far from the only individual to use it. The first user of Fish-Man Karate was the ray fish-man Kuroobi, way back in the Arlong Park arc. Kuroobi and Jinbe were once crewmates before the former joined another fish-man, Arlong, after the Sun Pirates fragmented. Kuroobi foughtSanjiand used Fish-Man Karate to devastating effect against the cook while underwater, though Sanji eventually won out by blowing air in Kuroobi’s gills and forcing him to surface.
Hody Jones, a great white shark fish-man, was another skilled user of the technique, although his power was amplified in part by steroids. Hack, a Japanese soldierfish fish-man and a friend of Jinbe’s, uses Fish-Man Karate to serve the Revolutionary army. Two other fish-men are confirmed users of Fish-Man Karate. The first is Capote, a member of the Foxy Pirates, and the second is Tansui, a member of the Macro pirates and also a former Sun Pirate.
While this Fish-Man Karate was created by and for Fish-Men, it is not exclusive to that race. Aladine, the Sun Pirates' former doctor and a Merman (a similar but different race) is also proficient in Fish-Man Karate. Even humans like Koala, a soldier in the Revolutionary Army, and Straw Hat archeologist Nico Robin have learned Fish-Man Karate. So far, Robin is the only user to have combined the technique with herDevil Fruitpowers.
With Jinbe’s addition to the Straw Hat crew and Nico Robin’s recently revealed ability to utilize it, Fish-Man Karate is becoming a more and more prominent power inOne Piece.It’s safe to say that fans can expect to see even more new techniques and creative uses of the martial art down the line.
