In the vast world of One Piece, where pirates seek the treasure left behind by Gol D. Roger and Marines struggle to oppose their might, there is a man whose past is a mystery and whose name earns both fear and respect from friend and foe alike. That man is Marco The Phoenix.
Commander of the first out of sixteen divisions of the legendary Whitebeard Pirates, Marco was a key part of Whitebeard’s crew since his first sighting in the One Piece series. His loyalty to Whitebeard is so strong and unshaken that he is able to gain the trust of Whitebeard and become his right-hand man and confidant. Along with his calm disposition and strategic mindset, his character is one of the most underrated in One Piece.
Who is Marco The Pheonix Aka Pineapple Head?
With little to no backstory prior to his life of piracy, Marco has been a part of the Whitebeard Pirates from a very young age. Before attaining the position of commander, he was but an apprentice and a primary healer for the crew. His most distinctive physical feature, by which he can not be easily forgotten is his pineapple-like hair shape with a bright yellow color on his head. This portrays his carefree and calm character even more.
Despite all his features, his powers are beyond imagination and are even reflected in his bounty, which stands at a large amount of 1,374,000,000 Berries. This alone is enough to make rival pirates, marines, and others shiver to their very bones. He has stood time and time again to protect Whitebeard’s legacy wherever he goes, even after the crew’s disbandment.
Marco’s Role In The Whitebeard Pirates
Whitebeard said there is no rank for commanders in his crew, and they are equally powerful, but being the first out of sixteen is worthy of note. Upon the death of Whitebeard at the hands of the Blackbeard Pirates at Marineford, he assumes the role of captain and, with remorse, orders a retreat from Marineford to protect the rest of the crew members. Feeling vengeful, Marco decided to gather the remnants of the crew and launch an attack on the Blackbeard Pirates. As expected, it didn’t go as planned as the Blackbeard pirates completely overpowered them. After this huge defeat, the remnants of the Whitebeard pirates disbanded.
What is Marco’s Devil Fruit?
Marco possess the powers of the Mythical Zoan-type fruit Tori Tori no mi (Bird-Bird fruit), Model: Phoenix. This is one of the most powerful Devil Fruits to ever exist in the vast seas. The fruit allows him to transform into a large phoenix or human-phoenix hybrid covered in flames at will. Even though the fruit is a Zoan type, it also possesses some logia properties.
What Are Marco’s Powers and Abilities?
With the beauty of the azure flames that cover him upon transformation, the powers that come with it are also terrifying and make him an insanely powered character. Regeneration is the most useful ability of his devil fruit. He can regenerate at nearly impossible rates, making it look as if he takes next to no damage during fights. Even though Oda states that there’s a limit to his regeneration, it almost seems like there is no end to it. However, he is unable to regenerate without the presence of those flames that shroud him.
He is also able to heal others by passing the flame to them. Marco possesses exceptional skill over these flames and can use it on offense and defense. He can use his flames to heal people as he uses them to attack others simultaneously. As we all know, the fruit is the Bird-Bird fruit, it will surely grant him flight as well. He can fly at high speeds and over long distances, which grants him versatility in fights. Marco can also carry significant weight during flight. He flaunted this when he carried Izo and Nekomamushi to meet up with the rest of the Red Scabbards in Wano.
Marco is also a highly skilled user of the Busoshoku Haki, as he uses it to make physical contact and deflect attacks from Logia users. He used this to deflect an attack from Admiral Kizaru aimed at Whitebeard. Like most Devil Fruits, the Tori Tori no mi also comes with an immense boost in physical strength, endurance, and speed. Marco’s mastery of his powers and abilities, and combat strategy when facing off against other strong characters throughout the series helped him become a big asset to Whitebeard, Luffy, and many others.
Sightings And Feats In Key Arcs
After the grand entrance made by the Whitebeard Pirates with the aim of rescuing Ace at Marineford, Admiral Kizaru decided to attack Whitebeard. The attack was deflected by Marco, after which he said, “You can’t just go after the king, you know!”. Later on in this same war, Admiral Aokiji delivers a dangerous blow to Luffy, and before being able to do more damage, Marco rushes in to protect Luffy.
Upon losing his brother to Admiral Akainu, Luffy enters a state of unconsciousness from the shock of it. Akainu decides to take that chance to finish Luffy off as well but is protected again by Marco. In the Wano arc, Marco comes to the aid of Straw Hat Pirates after finding out from Nekomamushi (Cat viper) that they formed an alliance with the aim of defeating Kaido and restoring Wano to its former glory.
On his journey, he encounters the Big Mom Pirates, which Perospero led then, and slows them down by pushing their ship back down the waterfall. He then reaches Onigashima and faces off against King and Queen, two of Kaido’s right-hand men. He was able to deal damage to both of them while taking close to none with his regeneration abilities till Zoro and Sanji took on each of them, respectively. While fighting them, he was slowing down the infection launched previously by Queen by sharing his flames with the infected people.
Marco’s Pain
Despite Marco’s Feats, there’s only so much he can do with his skill set. His inability to save Ace in the Marineford arc is something that will remain with him for a long while. Not long after Ace’s death, the betrayal of Marshall D. Teach, also known as Blackbeard, a former member of Whitebeard’s crew and now the captain of the Blackbeard pirates brought about the Death of Whitebeard. Marco retreated for a while but launched a payback fight against the Blackbeard Pirates which he still lost.
He was grateful to Shanks for burying both Ace and Whitebeard properly in Whitebeard’s home village on Sphinx later on in the series. He also lost Izo during the raid of Onigashima at the hands of Kaido’s men. Izo fought for the liberation of the land of Wano to the death, and his efforts were not in vain. Marco later arranged with Kin’emon to have him buried in Ringo (Izo’s homeland) along with his pistols.
Why Is Marco An Underrated Legend?
Most fans tend to judge him based on the fact that he doesn’t win his fights. But in most of them, he has a different purpose than winning. Marco has faced so many immensely powerful opponents to the point that Oda has powerful characters praising his strength. Even Big Mom was unwilling to take him on because she thought it would take too long to defeat him. This is impressive in its own right, considering Big Mom’s attack output. He is more of a character who makes things work and isn’t always at the forefront of the fight.
Fans were quick to judge that Marco couldn’t defeat King and Queen in Wano Arc, but he wasn’t taking them on to defeat them, but rather holding them back as he didn’t see himself as a main fighter in that war, which is why he called Zoro and Sanji the stars in chapter 1022 of the One Piece manga. He has gone head to head with Admirals, overpowered Yonkos, and manhandled commanders even when outnumbered. Pineapple Head Marco was just designed to be a humble and loyal character, which is why he tends to be underrated but still one of the greatest characters in One Piece.
Where Is Marco Now?
After contributing to the raid on Onigashima as an ally of the Ninja-Pirate-Samurai-Mink Alliance, Marco permanently retired from his life of piracy. He also hinted to return to Whitebeard’s homeland to continue his duties as a doctor.
