By far the most outright evil of the Admirals introduced so far, Aramaki, better known as Ryokugyu, is just the worst. He’s often a hothead, and his sense of justice only extends to those the World Government deems worthy. While he might have a strong Devil Fruit and an even stronger urge to commit war crimes, he’s only just taking the stage. So, who is the infamous Greenbull, Aramaki?
Warning that this contains spoilers for One Piece through the Wano arc! Catch up on Viz or MangaPlus before reading further!
Who is Ryokugyu/Aramaki?
It’s a little confusing since he’s so new to the series still, but the name Aramaki is his real name. Meanwhile, Ryokugyu, or “Greenbull” in English, is his code name. Hopefully, that clears up any confusion, but either way, the guy is just the worst of any Admirals introduced so far. He sucks big time, and will easily destroy anyone if he deems them the slightest annoyance. Insane power from the Woods-Woods Fruit backs him up. This Logia Type Devil Fruit allows him to grow greenery all around while also draining the life energy from any of his root’s touch.
Aramaki becomes an Admiral after the time skip, taking the role once Kuzan leaves and Akainu takes the top spot. He’s a major Akainu fan too, basing much of his sense of justice on his but in a bit more of an extreme way. Determined to be one of the worst in One Piece, he’s a subservient tree to the Celestial Dragon, using his roots to choke countries they don’t approve of. Aramaki follows orders from above without question, but isn’t above taking on some extracurricular justice from time to time. Without orders though, he’s usually much more merciless.
The Woods-Woods Fruit
Ryokugyu devises much of his power from the Woods-Woods Fruit, a Logia type that lets him become nature. His main Logia form is that of a massive tree, with huge branches for arms and legs to facilitate movement. Aramaki’s big weakness comes from fire, of course, which is a huge party crasher when it comes to his mainly plant-based powers. That said, he does have some ways around this through the use of Haki and other abilities.
While the Woods-Woods Fruit does have some upsides, like returning much of the earth to Wano to livable status, it’s also nefarious. The Fruit can pull the life energy from any that the branches get hold of, basically sucking them dry of any sort of hydration. It’s a deadly ability if not immediately treated, and not easy to block for most fighters. Considering he easily takes out Kaido’s remaining forces (though injured) in just minutes, he’s impressive. Taking on Yamato and Momonosuke with some of the other Scabbards further reinforces his power too.
Fight Atop the Red Line
The first signs of Aramaki in the main story of One Piece don’t come until much later in the post-time skip arcs. Hell, he only officially got his onscreen introduction in Wano, but there’s more backstory behind his presence there. Ryokugyu was only in Wano to try and redeem himself in the eyes of his idol Akainu after having a massive screw-up in Mary Geoise. During the Reverie, Aramaki ended up in a major fight with Fujitora, a fellow General who (possibly intentionally) released slaves. His motives still aren’t clear, but Fujitora’s release of the slaves pisses off Aramaki enough to go at it with the blind swordsman.
Not the first clash between Admirals, and won’t be the last either. While Fujitora was already in trouble, Aramaki is now on the Celestial Dragon’s naughty list as well. After that fight, Aramaki is bitter as hell, and devises that he needs to do something to get himself back into Akainu’s good graces. He’s probably terrified of the Fleet Admiral after seeing how easily his magma burned through fire when Ace died.
Raid on Wano
Trying to get back on the good side of Akainu, Ryokugyu goes it alone toward Wano, with no backup at all. He devises that since Kaido is gone, Straw Hat and his allies will still be too weak from the battle to fight back. It’s a solid assumption, but it’s also underestimating everyone on the side of the Straw Hat Pirates. Aramaki flies in on his big flower copter, expecting to kick ass before taking Wano as the newest country for the World Government to subjugate, and get some accolades. The stupid tree has never been more wrong in his life.
Yamato, Momo, Kin’emon, Raizo, Shinobu, and a few others go to confront them. While they put up a good fight, with Momo blasting Aramaki a couple of times with his Thunder Breath, it’s never quite enough to get the Admiral down. He starts to pull their life force as a huge burst of Haki suddenly arcs toward him. Overcome by the huge amount of Conqueror Haki flowing around him, Aramaki sets off, fleeing from Wano and Shanks who appear to back it up in the time of need. It’s a wise decision on his part, and saves his life most likely.
Without a doubt, he’s going to stay just as brash and hateful as ever in the future arcs of One Piece. He masquerades as an Akainu lover, but really he just firmly believes that nobody but the wealthy and powerful have human rights. Hell, he even says as much in the battle with the Wano defenders, telling them they literally have no human rights as a non-World Government country. The guy is really just the worst of the worst when it comes to Navy thugs, with a very high bar set for villainy in the ranks thanks to Aramaki.
