Arlong
Template:Infobox OPchara/Header Template:Infobox OPchara/Footer "Saw-tooth" Arlong is a fictional anthropomorphic fish-man from the anime and manga One Piece.
History
Arlong was a feared and ruthless pirate, once considered the most dangerous cutthroat in all of East Blue. The Saw-Fish Fish-Man once held First Mate as a member of the Fish-Man Pirates, of which Jimbei was captain. When Jimbei left to join the The Seven Warlords of the Sea (Shichibukai), Arlong assumed control of the renamed "Arlong Pirates," and left the Grand Line for easier targets.
Arlong set up his domain on one of the larger islands in East Blue, with a number of smaller villages in the vicinity under his control. Arlong dismantled his original galleon and used the materials to build Arlong Park, an eight story building that served as his headquarters. From Arlong Park, Arlong hoped to conquer all of East Blue using superior underwater tactics through maps drawn by Nami that charted underwater terrain.
When Arlong and his crew (consisting of Hachi, Chuu, and Kuroobi), first arrived on the island that would someday become Arlong Park, the first village he encountered was Cocoyashi Village (Coco Village in the English version), the home of Nami. Arlong then proceded to extort money out of the residents of Cocoyashi Village. Adults would have to pay 100 thousand Berries, children would pay 50 thousand or be executed by Arlong's men. Bellemere (Nami's adoptive mother) only had 100 thousand Berries so she decided to pay for Nami and Nojiko and sacrifice herself. Arlong shot her in front of her children as an example of disobedience and then kidnapped Nami. Later he forced her to become a part of his crew as a map maker, and told her that if she brought him 100 million Berries (this setting's monetary unit) he would free her village and everyone in it, including her adoptive sister Nojiko.
Years later, when Nami was about to fulfill her end of the bargain using money she stole from Monkey D. Luffy, Arlong arranged to have a corrupt Marine captain confiscate the money from her so she would be forever under his control.
Luffy, who followed Nami after he was robbed by her, saw Nami brutally stabbing Arlong's tatoo on her arm in desperation. Angered by the obvious suffering Arlong had wraught against her, Luffy stopped her from hurting herself and unquestioningly accepted her plea for help. What ensued was a long and arduous battle between Luffy, Arlong, and the elites of their crews.
By the end of the fight, only Luffy and Arlong were standing and Luffy was taking a beating from Arlong's high-speed diving attack Shark On Darts and his sword Kiribachi (Saw Shaped Sword), which resembled a long steel saw with teeth shaped like a shark's. Luffy seemed on the verge of defeat until the battle moved into the top of Arlong Park, where Nami slavishly made her maps for Arlong as a child.
After feeling the turmoil and desperation that had seeped into the room over the years, Luffy became enraged and the tables turned dramatically.
Using the full power of his attack Gomu Gomu no Ono (Axe), Luffy managed to send the full force of Arlong's attack Shark On Haguruma (Gear) attack through to the bottom of Arlong Park, breaking Arlong's cartilaginous back and destroying the building in the process. Given his strength of body and will, however, it is unlikely that the blow was enough to kill him outright, and he may return to wreak his revenge.
Arlong makes a reappearance in the "Ocean's Dream" filler arc for the One Piece anime, but this is not considered canon in relation to the manga. His reappearance was in image only, the actual Arlong did not reappear.
Abilities
Arlong is the leader of a race calling themselves "Fish-men", massive humanoids that tower over normal humans in size. As Arlong notes, they are evolved forms of a human and various species of marine organisms, imbuing them with massively superior strength and speed to normal humans. Arlong 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.
Arlong's nose is among his favorite weapons. Over a foot long and lined with razor-sharp points, his nose is more than sturdy enough to use as a melee weapon. Swinging his head back and forth, Arlong defeated even Roronoa Zoro in a swordfight with this natural blade (though to be fair Zoro was badly injured from his previous loss to Mihawk and isnt trained to use single swords). In addition, he can remove his massive, needlelike teeth and use them as handheld 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.
Predictably, as formidable an opponent as Arlong is on land, in the water he is nearly invincible. He uses an arrowlike diving maneuver called the "Shark on Darts" (or "Shark and Awe" in the American dub) to propel himself towards his opponent, piercing him/her and anything else in the way with his nose. An advanced version of this attack, "Shark on Gear" (or "Shark and Destroy"), substitutes his teeth as the weapon.
Trivia
- Fish-men (often called "mermen" by English-speaking fans, though the author stresses that they are two different things) are a race of anthromorphic fish people with both lungs and gills. They are said to be stronger than humans above water, and ten times stronger and faster than humans under water. Fish-Man species are based on many different types of fish in the oceans. The difference between the Fish-men and Mermen also carries onto their view on other life in the sea: the Mermen try to befriend the fishes of the sea while the Fish-men try to rule them.
