An icy presence in the world of One Piece, with his intentions and motives as clear as an arctic glacier, Kuzan is a former Admiral turned pirate. While he isn’t the first from the Navy to defect for a life of piracy, he is one of the most notable for joining the Blackbeard Pirates. There’s a lot that goes into this complex character, and while his intentions aren’t entirely clear, he’s an incredibly compelling character to watch.
This article contains spoilers through chapter 1097 of the manga. Read on Viz or Mangaplus before moving forward, or beware of spoilers!
Who is Kuzan?
A chilly former Marine with an ambiguous sense of morality, Kuzan is an interesting foil throughout the Straw Hats journey. While he first appears during the Long Ring Long Land arc, he’s only there to warn the Straw Hats about Nico Robin. His flashbacks in Ohara, showing a strange decision to save the young girl from the genocide instead of leaving her to die, set up the real conflict of the character. He’s morally in a middle, very gray area as opposed to the absolute justice of Akainu and the “just following orders” dynamic of Kizaru.
After the Marineford War, he fights with Akainu over the Fleet Admiral position vacated by Sengoku. The two clash on the desolated island of Punk Hazard, scarring it with magma and ice making the island uninhabitable beyond what it was before. After he loses, Kuzan leaves the Navy, deciding he wouldn’t serve under Akainu’s idea of justice. Instead, he joins up with the Blackbeard Pirates, where he serves as a Division Commander.
Apprentice of Garp
When Kuzan first came to the Marines, he was picked up as an apprentice of the Marine Hero Garp. Garp trains him from a young age, taking him on as a protege to make up for not succeeding with his own son, Dragon. It’s arguably his training from Garp that makes Kuzan so tough, as the Vice-Admiral prioritizes training raw strength over anything like Haki. It’s this training that leads to their tradition of punching old battleships every morning, demolishing many in the process.
His defection from the Navy hit Garp the hardest, as Kuzan was seen as his first successful apprentice. It’s this that leads to their showdown later on Fullalead as well, likely ending in Garp’s death.
Vice-Admiral at Ohara
Kuzan was only a Vice-Admiral when he was sent to the Ohara Buster Call. He and Akainu were actually both there, though they had considerably different approaches to the situation unfolding on the island. While Akainu was tossing explosives at every civilian in sight, Kuzan was actually rescuing Nico Robin, despite his orders to not let anyone loose. He even manages to save Jaguar D Saul, though the Revolutionaries are the ones who bring him back from being frozen.
Ohara is likely where he begins to question the moral standing of the Marines. He realizes that they only answer to the World Government and whatever their idea of justice is, not real moral justice. It’s not easy to see women and children bombed out of existence and still think he’s on the side of righteousness in this case.
History with Nico Robin
This history with Nico Robin is what leads him to pursue her throughout her time on the Grand Line. He even shows up at Long Ring Long Land to give this ominous warning, telling them that everyone she allies with dies. It’s not promising, and the Straw Hat Pirates are as hard-headed as ever when it comes to listening. Despite his use of freezing powers on Luffy and Robin, he still lets them go free, only deepening the ambiguity of his standing.
Later after the Enies Lobby incident, he pays her a visit in Water 7. While he doesn’t come to take her in or kill her, he wants to know if she’s found true friends. In a way, Kuzan is the one responsible for bringing Robin into the Straw Hats for real. Now can finally end her cold detachment. That’s not to say he couldn’t have done it in a better way, of course.
Admiral Codename: Aokiji
When Kuzan is promoted to Admiral he receives the codename Aokiji, which means Blue Pheasant. It makes sense considering a lot of his ice attacks utilize pheasant shapes. So they went with giving him a nice bird theme to go with his icy demeanor. Aokiji receives the promotion thanks in part to commendation by Garp. It’s also thanks to his massive strength on the battlefield and cool demeanor. He approaches his problems in a more calm, thoughtful demeanor than most. Instead, he takes time gauging if it really is something that needs swift justice or not.
Aokiji turns into one of the main fighting forces behind the Marineford War, turning the entire battlefield to ice. He’s a fierce fighter, even without his Devil Fruit, as expected from an apprentice of Garp. Kuzan holds nothing back, taking out even the ships in the harbor as he freezes everything in sight.
Chilly-Chilly Fruit
The Chilly-Chilly Fruit is one of the most powerful Logia-type Devil Fruits in the series. It not only allows Kuzan to become a flowing being of ice but also to create massive ice formations. This is his greatest weapon in battle, allowing him to freeze his enemies. Plus he can make different weapons from the ice as he pleases. It’s incredibly overpowered from the start, as he uses it to totally freeze Luffy on Long Ring Long Land. Kuzan even uses it to travel on the seas, creating an ice path as he goes while riding a bike.
A probably an unusual use of his power but one that plays a huge plot point- freezing people. Not just once, but twice Kuzan freezes people before allowing them to thaw, living through the ordeal. This was done to both Robin and Jaguar D Saul. Although only one was in order to save their life from the Marines.
Fighting Akainu
The Chilly-Chilly Fruit, strong as it may be, is still no match for Akainu’s Magma-Magma Fruit. The two come into a disagreement over the succession of Fleet Admiral after Sengoku steps down, with both up for consideration to the Gorosei. To settle things the old-fashioned way, the Admirals head to the desolate island of Punk Hazard, ready for a fight. In doing so, they scar the entire island with ice and magma, the ocean equivalent of an IcyHot pad.
The battle rages for days, too. The fighters each hold their own the entire time, with nothing keeping them back and the Fleet Admiral title on the line. Finally, after an intense span of almost a week, Akainu pulls out the win over Kuzan. He’s victorious, and the flames of absolute justice are now in control of the Marines.
Defecting from the Marines
That just doesn’t sit right with Kuzan, who defects shortly after. He turns in everything to the higher-ups, making it a point to Sengoku and the others that he’s through with the Navy. After seeing their actions at Marineford and the numerous Buster Calls throughout the years, he’s over it. There’s no justice to be found in the Marines, and Kuzan finally sees that clearly after all these years enabling it. He resigns, off the books now as a Navy Admiral, and sets off on his own for a time.
The Blackbeard Pirates
Not long after he’s out of the Navy, the greatest surprise of all comes along. Kuzan is next seen sailing with the Blackbeard Pirates as one of their Division Commanders. Nobody knows how he came to join them, or why his moral compass allowed him anywhere near that crew. If anything, he seems like a voice of reason in a room full of arsonists ready to burn the whole place down. He’s a strange fit, but there may be some ulterior motive he’s after from working with the Blackbeard Pirates.
There’s no real standard shown yet for how he’s looked at compared to the others. Going from a Marine Admiral to a Pirate Division Commander is one hell of a leap, so it’s not like everyone will treat him with respect off the bat. Kuzan has been known to be relatively friendly, but it’s not hard to imagine he’ll immediately freeze anyone who gives him any trouble.
Fighting on Fullalead
While the Straw Hats are busy in Wano, the Marines are going through one hell of a time. Koby has been kidnapped, and he and many other slaves, including Charlotte Pudding, are held prisoner on Fullalead. Kuzan, San Juan Wolf, and Pizarro are just some of Blackbeard’s crew guarding them. When Helmeppo gets SWORD for a rescue mission, it turns to chaos. Kuzan ends up in an all-out brawl with his former mentor Garp. They’re setting the stage for a massive change in the Grand Line’s dynamic of power.
While Garp questions what made him leave the Marines, Kuzan simply says that there was no justice to be found there. It’s just one of many back-and-forths they have, Garp holding off most of the Blackbeard Pirates so the others can escape. Things end with Kuzan standing over Garp though, a massive ice spear in hand, seemingly stabbing him through the chest. It would be a bitter end for the Vice-Admiral, but there may be something else at play here.
What is Kuzan Doing?
It might seem like killing Garp is Kuzan finally turning away from his former life, but he could be doing just the opposite. The members of SWORD have a special covert ops division, which mostly consists of undercover Marines. This is what X Drake did sneaking into the Beast Pirates and Corazon with the Donquixote Family before him. Now, Kuzan could turn out to be the ultimate spy for SWORD by “killing” Garp on Fullalead. It would prove his allegiance to his new captain and definitely wave away any sort of suspicion around him.
It’s not likely this question will get an official answer any time soon. With his moral ambiguity throughout the story though, it seems strange for him to pull this kind of kill-off without a greater motive. He may not have even killed Garp, instead just freezing him like so many others to thaw later. Only time will tell, as even Oda himself seems to be teasing out that Kuzan isn’t truly who he says.
