Moria

Gecko Moria is a former Shichibukai and captain of the Thriller Bark Pirates, infamous for commanding the world's largest island-ship and using the powers of the Kage Kage no Mi (Shadow-Shadow Fruit) to steal the shadows of living beings and reanimate corpses, forming an army of zombies under his absolute control. The author of the work, Eiichiro Oda, often creates unique laughs to differentiate the personalities of the characters in One Piece. The characteristic laugh of the villain Gecko Moria in One Piece is "Kishishishi". Traumatized in the past after his original crew was entirely annihilated by the Yonkou Kaido in the New World, Moria developed a philosophy of profound laziness and dependence, delegating all battles to his undead soldiers under the belief that they cannot be killed again. With a gigantic, pale appearance and bat-like features, his decline in power led the World Government to revoke his title of corsair after the Marineford War, culminating, more recently, in a desperate and reckless invasion of Hachinosu Island, where he ended up cornered by the ruthless Blackbeard Pirates in an attempt to rescue his loyal subordinate, Absalom. Gecko Moria's powers come from the Kage Kage no Mi (Shadow Fruit), a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit. This fruit grants him the ability to manifest, control, and manipulate shadows as if they were physical and tangible entities. The versatility of this fruit makes Moria an extremely dangerous opponent (despite his laziness), dividing his powers into two main fronts: the manipulation of others' shadows and the control of his own shadow. Theft and Use of Others' Shadows: Moria is able to grab anyone's shadow as if it were a carpet glued to the floor and cut it using giant scissors. This generates several effects: Solar Coma and Weakness: The victim who loses their shadow enters a temporary coma. Worse than that, they lose the ability to exist in sunlight; if exposed, their body disintegrates into ashes. Zombie Creation: By inserting the stolen shadow into a corpse, Moria creates a zombie. The zombie inherits the personality, memories, and combat skills of the shadow's original owner, but the physical body defines its brute strength. Over time, the shadow's personality fades, and the zombie becomes 100% loyal to Moria. Personal Enhancement: Moria can insert the shadows of other people into a living body—including his own or those of allies. This grants the person the combat skills and strength of the shadow's owner. Normal people can withstand 2 or 3 shadows before collapsing; Luffy withstood 100, and Moria can withstand up to 1,000. Doppelman: The Combat Shadow Moria rarely fights hand-to-hand. Instead, he uses his own shadow, which he calls Doppelman. It possesses unique wills and abilities: Immortality and Immunity: Doppelman is invulnerable to physical attacks. He cannot be destroyed; if crushed or cut, he simply reforms. Teleportation (Place Swap): Moria can instantly switch places with Doppelman at any time. This makes him almost impossible to hit if he's paying attention to the fight. Metamorphosis: Doppelman can transform into various solid forms to attack. Main Techniques: Brick Bat: Moria transforms Doppelman into a swarm of shadow bats that bite and harass the opponent. It's very difficult to dodge because the bats can constantly regroup. Kage Kakumei (Shadow Revolution): One of Moria's most overpowered abilities. He inserts his shadow into the shadow of a zombie (as he did with the giant Oars). By altering the shape of the shadow, the zombie's physical body is forced to follow that shape. This allowed the Oars zombie to stretch its arms as if it had eaten Luffy's fruit, simply because Moria was stretching its shadow. Shadow's Asgard: Moria's ultimate (and riskiest) trump card. He uses his powers to absorb all the shadows scattered by his zombies at once (up to 1,000 shadows). He transforms into a gigantic monster, with destructive power capable of splitting an island in half with a single punch. Weaknesses: The main weakness of Moria's powers (specifically his army) is salt. Since the power of the Akuma no Mi is neutralized by the energies of the sea, placing salt (or seawater) in a zombie's mouth purifies the corpse, causing the shadow to return to its original owner. Furthermore, in Shadow's Asgard mode, Moria needs absurd physical conditioning to contain so many shadows; if he suffers blunt force damage, he ends up "vomiting" the shadows he swallowed. While he has a partnership and trusting relationship with Absalom and Hogback, the dynamic with Perona is almost familial. Moria found Perona when she was just a child and practically raised her. He allowed her to do whatever she wanted on Thriller Bark, spoiling her as if she were his own daughter. Despite Perona being selfish and "abandoning ship" when she saw that Thriller Bark was going to fall, her affection for him is real. After the time jump, when Perona (who was living with Mihawk) reads in the newspaper that Moria was alive, she bursts into tears of joy and decides to go find him immediately, proving that the bond between them was very strong. Kaido is the figure who defines who Gecko Moria became. In his youth, Moria was a lean, smiling pirate, full of ambition and blindly trusted his crew, even rivaling Kaido in the New World. However, Kaido massacred absolutely all of Moria's companions in Wano. This event shattered Moria's psyche. The pain of losing his friends was so great that he developed his twisted philosophy: "If my subordinates are already dead, I will never again have to suffer the pain of losing them." The entire Thriller Bark plan and the creation of zombies stemmed from his trauma and his morbid desire for revenge against Kaido. Moria was a Shichibukai, but his relationship with the World Government and his colleagues was terrible, marked by wounded pride and humiliation. Bartholomew Kuma: When Kuma was sent to Thriller Bark by the World Government to "help" Moria if he failed to defeat the Straw Hats, Moria took this as a grave personal insult. His pride prevented him from accepting help, which led to his defeat. Donquixote Doflamingo: Doflamingo harbors pure contempt for Moria. After the Marineford War, Doflamingo received orders from higher-ups in the Government to assassinate Moria because he had become "too weak" to hold the title. Doflamingo humiliated him and nearly killed him, but Moria managed to escape (thanks to Absalom's invisibility). Moria saw Luffy only as an arrogant rookie who didn't understand the horrors of the New World. During the fight on Thriller Bark, Moria warns Luffy that he would eventually lose his crew, projecting his own trauma onto the boy. Their relationship is purely antagonistic, with Moria hating Luffy for destroying the zombie army he spent 10 years building. Currently, Teach has taken over as Moria's number one enemy, perhaps alongside Kaido. The Blackbeard Pirates kidnapped and murdered Absalom to steal his invisibility Devil Fruit (which was given to Shiryu). Despite being lazy and cowardly in many ways, Moria's love for his crew led him to invade Hachinosu (Pirate Island) alone and through the front door, demanding Absalom's return. Upon discovering his friend's death at the hands of Catarina Devon and Shiryu, Moria becomes genuinely furious and devastated. Teach then gives him an ultimatum: join my crew or die.