Kurozumi Orochi

For the chapter that also includes his title, see Chapter 929.

Kurozumi Orochi^[4] is the shogun of Wano Country and one of the last surviving members of the Kurozumi Family.^[3] He was allied with Kaidou, one of the Four Emperors,^[2] until the latter betrayed him for his New Onigashima Project.^[6]

Due to his actions and role, he is the secondary antagonist of the first half of the Wano Country Arc and one of the central antagonists of the Four Emperors Saga.

Appearance

Orochi is a rather large man with a big head and stocky build. He appears to be balding, with his dark purple hair being mostly seen on the sides and back of his head, and he has a long topknot in the back, as well as a thin mustache that sticks upward. His two upper canine teeth are longer than his other teeth and are blunt, remaining so in his Zoan hybrid form. He wears a gold kimono with a fan-shaped pattern on it, a blue robe with flowers on it, and a crown on his head.^[7]

In his transformed state, the main head is a darker olive green with red scales while the other heads are a lighter shade with yellow scales. Every head has black horns, orange eyebrows, and light purple scales. Each head also has red eyes with blue irises and purple tongues.

Gallery

Orochi’s color scheme in the manga.

Orochi’s anime concept art.

Orochi as a child during the persecution of his family.

Orochi at age 13.

Orochi at age 24.

Orochi at age 26.

Orochi at age 29.

Orochi at age 34.

Orochi as he appeared upon meeting Kyoshiro.

Personality

As one of the last members of the Kurozumi Family, who were disgraced and stripped of their power and authority, Orochi developed an immense greed and thirst for power from an early age due to being forced to live in poverty since birth. When he worked as a servant for Yasuie, Orochi outwardly exhibited a timid and servile attitude, but this was all an act to steal money by preying on the sympathies of others.^[8][9] Orochi is in truth extremely deceptive and dishonorable, bending laws and rules to suit his own needs and never acknowledging promises or deals to those that he views as a threat.^[10]

— Orochi displaying his arrogance to CP-0.^[7]

Having been twisted by the Kurozumi Family’s unfair persecution since his childhood, Orochi is an extremely cruel and oppressive tyrant who takes joy in making his subjects suffer as revenge for his family’s persecution.^[11] Under his rule, the people of Wano suffered great famines. The officials under him also harshly enforce his regime, and he collaborated with Kaidou to not only kill Kozuki Oden,^[2] but also allowed the Beasts Pirates to turn Wano into a nearly complete wasteland in exchange for borrowing Kaidou’s power and protection, disregarding his country and people in favor of his own self-interest. Due to his power and connections, he is completely fearless and arrogant, proclaiming that he does not fear the Celestial Dragons nor the Marines. He even shot a CP-0 agent, confident that they could do nothing against him.^[7] This arrogance blinded him to the fact that he was in truth just a pawn for Kaidou and that Kaidou only protected him as long as it suited his own interests. Even as Kaidou and the Beasts Pirates turned Wano into a wasteland, Orochi expected that the Flower Capital would remain prosperous and was shocked when Kaidou revealed his intentions of using it to make more factories. He defiantly opposed Kaidou’s New Onigashima Project by reprimanding him for his ingratitude, all while clearly forgetting the fact that he had completely relied on Kaidou’s power for protection.^[6]

Although he hates his country, Orochi desires to create an image of him being a heroic and strong ruler with a happy populace. During his reign, he had schools teach propaganda about him being the one to defeat Oden and maintain the country’s isolation when, in reality, Kaidou was the one to do those.^[3] When meeting with CP-0, he claimed that the citizens around them were happy, although this reality only existed in the wealthy Flower Capital.^[7] To give the impoverished citizens the facade of happiness, Orochi put defective SMILE fruits in their food supply to render them unable to express negative emotions.^[12]

— Orochi’s domineering nature^[13]

Orochi is extremely domineering and unreasonable with absolutely no tolerance to anyone who defies or speaks ill of him, even if it is out of his earshot and in casual discussion. He made those actions a capital crime, which the Gifters enforced.^[14] Orochi is petty enough to kill any man, woman or child who offends him, going to any lengths to see them dead (only showing temporary hesitation towards a woman he held feelings for) and refusing to take responsibility for the consequences of his own actions, preferring to blame others instead by branding them as criminals.^[15] Orochi has an extremely murderous mindset, becoming angry if a target ends up escaping from his wrath and sending countless subordinates or even assassins to deal with individuals he wanted gone, no matter how threatening they may be, as well as those that protect or assist said individuals.^[16][17][18] The subordinates that fail to uphold his rule are callously discarded from his ranks and then punished accordingly.

Orochi is also immensely extravagant and hedonistic, as he loves to hold banquets with luxurious food and drinks accompanied by refined music and dancing. He is picky with his choice of food and extremely wasteful.^[7] Moreover, he employs only the finest geisha of Wano, such as Komurasaki, to perform at his banquets.^[4] Komurasaki in particular was the main target of Orochi’s affections, with the latter wishing to make the former his bride. Orochi’s feelings for Komurasaki, however, were very shallow since he only loved her due to beauty. He thought of himself as the only one with the right to have her as a result of his pride and possessiveness.

— Orochi scorns his retainers for dismissing his warnings^[19]

Though arrogant, Orochi avoids being overconfident out of fear, being a coward by nature. As a highly cautious and attentive man, he takes any and all threats to his rule seriously. To this extent, he prohibited the use of weapons and banned all martial-arts dojos to deprive any dissidents of the means to incite a rebellion.^[20] Orochi also acknowledged the fact that the Nine Red Scabbards and Momonosuke survived, believing his information sources and the fact that their bodies were never found. His warnings about the return of the Kozuki retainers caused many of his complacent servants to view him as a coward, merely overreacting out of fear for Toki’s prophecy.^[21] Though his servants were often afraid to voice this skepticism out loud, Orochi was aware of the fact that he was thought of as paranoid, but overlooked this due to having the authority to have his commands carried out regardless.^[19] Orochi remained resolute in his refusal to release the prisoners in Rasetsu Town despite Yasuie convincing people that everything was a result of Orochi’s mistake,^[22] going as far as imprisoning their families alongside them if they attempted to protest.^[23] Ironically, while he was careful with the Kozuki Family and the rebels, Orochi could be too trustful as he never suspected his subordinate Kyoshiro of being affiliated with either the Kozuki Family or the rebels and never expected Kaidou’s betrayal.

Despite his usual cautious attitude, Orochi could make rash decisions in the heat of the moment as he was willing to execute Yasuie in a public demonstration, without taking into account the latter’s popularity with his citizens and the potential to arouse their dissatisfaction by killing him.^[24] According to Hyogoro, despite all the precautions Orochi took to minimize the chances of his own downfall, he had failed to notice the great flaw in his policy of condemning all his dissidents to life imprisonment in Udon, which allowed hatred to breed among tens of thousands of people for over two decades.^[25] Having lived in safety and protection for twenty years with the help of the Beast Pirates and his countless subordinates such as the Kyoshiro Family, Mimawarigumi, and the Orochi Oniwabanshu, Orochi sometimes lost all sense of danger. When Zoro attacked him, Orochi was deeply shocked that someone had actually tried to kill him despite his authority and power as the shogun.^[26] Orochi’s unexpected complacency also led him to miscalculate the distances of the provinces and region of Wano due to having spent all his time in the Flower Capital as he acted too late in stopping the rebels from gathering.

After being betrayed by Kaidou and having his delusional pride and glory as the shogun completely insulted and humiliated by the latter taking all of his forces through an ultimatum, with the Mimawarigumi and Orochi Oniwanbanshu (with the exception of Fukurokuju) pledging loyalty towards Kaidou instead of punishing the latter for decapitating him, Orochi went insane due to his excessive arrogance and anger, hell bent on taking revenge on his former benefactor for his treachery. He still retains enough reason to know that it is impossible to attack Kaidou himself due to the latter’s power thus he resorted to arson, setting fire to Onigashima’s residence knowing that it would be impossible for the Beast Pirates to escape due to Kaidou leviating the island, though he seems to forget the fact he is also trapped on the floating island himself.

He has a habit of using the phrase “Don’t be reserved!” (くるしゅうない Kurushūnai^? ), an expression used in historical context by people of high social status in response to their servants.^[7][27] Like other characters, Orochi possesses a unique laugh: “Gufufufufu”.^[1] He has also used the variations “Gufuhahaha” (ぐふはははは^? ) and “Guhoho” (ぐほほ^? ).^[28]

Relationships

Family

Kurozumi Family

Orochi was angry that his family was persecuted and hunted down because of his grandfather.^[11] With help from distant relatives Kurozumi Higurashi and Kurozumi Semimaru, he obtained power and took control of Wano. Orochi seemed to care little for Higurashi despite her support, as he did not express any concern over Kaidou killing her.^[29] He also implored an orphan Kanjuro into his services to spy on Oden and Kanjuro loyally followed Orochi’s instructions to the point that he was willing to die to play the role. Although he found Kanjuro’s loyalty to be excessive to the point of disturbing, he saw him as extremely trustworthy as Orochi was willing to vouch for him to Kaidou.^[30] When they met for the first time since his return, Orochi was pleased to see him brought Momonosuke to him. He wanted to offer Kanjuro a drink for his assumed success but became extremely worried and displeased to hear from Kanjuro that their plan had failed to prevent the rebellion.

Allies

Subordinates

Orochi had many subordinates in Wano, including the Kyoshiro Family, a yakuza gang. While all his men appeared to be fiercely loyal to him, they did not have a lot of respect for him as a person. Whenever Orochi brought up the prophecy about the Kozuki Family, his underlings generally did not take him seriously though they tried not to laugh about his paranoia, knowing that they would be executed for laughing at his cowardice. They also talked about him behind his back, such as when Kyoshiro called him a coward.^[21] Despite mocking him, they all watched in shock and horror as Kaidou disposed of him. However, when given the choice to join Kaidou or die, they quickly pledged their loyalty to Kaidou for self preservation instead of opposing him on Orochi’s behalf, showing that they had no conviction for Orochi.^[31] However, although Fukurokuju, the head of the Oniwabanshu, did pledge allegiance to Kaidou after Orochi’s apparent death, the ninja then went on to reunite with Orochi and aid him in his quest for revenge against the Beasts Pirates.^[32]

Enemies

Kozuki Oden

Oden first met Orochi when he was 18 and Orochi was working for Yasuie. He did not think highly of Orochi, calling him a creep when he first saw him and frequently noting his pathetic disposition.^[8] When Oden became a daimyo, Orochi frequently asked to borrow money from him, and Oden always obliged despite never being paid back due to feeling sorry for Orochi and respecting his relationship with Yasuie.^[33] Orochi approached Oden humbly, but in reality considered him to be an enemy, as he was actively working to overthrow the Kozuki Family from the shogunate and rule in Oden’s place, and was spending the money Oden gave him to manufacture weapons.^[34]

When Oden returned from his voyage and found out that Orochi had not only seized the throne but had his allies attack Toki and Momonosuke, he instantly became enraged and attempted to slay Orochi.^[35] With Orochi’s allies preventing Oden from killing him, Orochi put aside pretenses and treated Oden antagonistically, reveling in the trickery he had used to remove the Kozuki Family from power. He took full advantage of his power over Oden by forcing him to humiliate himself in public and to grovel in his presence. Oden felt shocked and aghast at how the Kurozumi Family was unjustly persecuted for the actions of Orochi’s grandfather and he did what Orochi said in the hopes of preventing him from offering innocent people as tribute for the Beasts Pirates.^[36] After executing Oden, Orochi portrayed him to the public as a threat to Wano.^[3]

Komurasaki/Kozuki Hiyori

Orochi originally used to be in love with Komurasaki and desired to make the woman his.^[1][7] However, as Orochi attacked Toko, Komurasaki slapped him, which infuriated Orochi.^[37] Because of her beauty, Orochi gave her a chance to beg for mercy, but she refused, causing him to attack in a fit of rage. However, Orochi was furious when Kyoshiro struck her down on his behalf.^[38]

— Orochi lashing out at Fukuroukuju^[39]

After Komurasaki was presumably murdered, Orochi fell into immense sorrow and depression, crying nonstop in mourning to the extent of lashing out at Fukurokuju for interrupting him and harboring a grudge against Kyoshiro for killing her.^[40]

Unknown to Orochi, Komurasaki is actually Kozuki Hiyori, the daughter of his most hated enemy, Oden. She is shown to be disgusted by Orochi’s cruelty, tearfully saying that his most heinous crime is putting the poor into so much misery and taking away their ability to express sorrow.^[41] Also, she expressed her desire to kill Orochi with her own hands.^[42]

Nine Red Scabbards

Out of all the Kozuki rebels, excluding Kanjuro, Orochi is deathly fearful of the Nine Red Scabbards the most, when they successfully escaped with Oden’s sacrifice, Orochi shivered in fear non stop demanding his subordinates to present their corpses for relief and is absolutely cautious and vigilant of them for twenty years even with Kaido’s protection. When Kozuki Toki gave a prophecy to Wano, Orochi correctly interepret her prophecy that the Nine Red Scabbards will exact vengance on him in Oden’s name. When Kanjuro gave Orochi intel on their movements and plans, Orochi proudly proclaimed they will never succeed in their revenge as he send a large fleet of the Beast Pirates to kill Kinemon, Raizo, Ashura, Inuarashi and Kikunojo after seemingly foiled the rebel alliance’s gathering. Orochi completely enjoyed the Fire Festival banquet in Onigashima to his heart’s content after the Beast Pirates seemingly exterminated the Nine Red Scabbards. Unfortunately, due to Kinemon’s luck in misinforming Kanjuro as well as Denjiro’s deception, Orochi failed to foiled the Nine Red Scabbards’s revolution plan which caused him immense fear and panic when Kanjuro informed him. After Kaido betrayed and decapitate him, Orochi met Kinemon and the Nine Red Scabbards face to face for the first time in twenty years, now deprived of Kaido’s protection, Orochi began to panic, but he put on a brave facade mocking them for being decieved by Kanjuro, ironically despite being cautious of them for twenty years, Orochi underestimated them from their injuries by Kaido and tried to kill them himself only to be ruthlessly decapitated.

Denjiro

After Oden’s death, Denjiro pretended to be Orochi’s ally under the guise of “Kyoshiro”, the head of the Kyoshiro Family. He holds an immense hatred for his master’s death. When he bowed to Orochi as Kyoshiro, it made him feel really disgusted for it. Until the Fire Festival, he maintained his deception to Orochi.

Orochi thought highly of him and his connections, as he praised him during his banquet about the use of force against enemies. However, Kyoshiro had no qualms in speaking badly about Orochi behind his back, calling him a coward. However, after Kyoshiro “killed” Komurasaki, Orochi was furious though Kyoshiro stated that someone who disrespects the shogun must be punished.^[21] Even long after her “death”, Orochi was still enraged at his actions but did appreciate him holding the execution of Shimotsuki Yasuie on the same day.^[43] Because of his trust for Kyoshiro, Orochi left him in charge of the capital, which proved to be a huge error as it put Kyoshiro in a position to free the rebels who were imprisoned in the Flower Capital. When he learn about this, he admitted he was shocked.

Toko

— Orochi’s hatred towards Toko^[18]

Orochi absolutely despised Toko for hysterically laughing at him non stop during his banquet when Orochi cautioned his associates about the return of the Kozuki Family, humiliating him in front of others for his perceived cowardice (ironically partly due to him feeding her a failed SMILE, which led her unable to express any emotions aside from laughter as well as her happy go lucky nature). He mercilessly tried to kill her despite Komurasaki’s pleas over her being a child, and when Komurasaki was seemingly killed by Kyoshiro for defiance in Toko’s defense, Orochi developed tremendous hatred for Toko, blaming her as the main cause for the death of the woman whom he is hopelessly infatuated. After Toko was able to escape, Orochi refused to let her live and hired Kamazo to hunt and kill her.^[17] When he saw Toko again at Rasetsu Town, he still cursed her for Komurasaki’s supposed death and wasted no time trying to kill her. He was further angered to learn that she was Yasuie’s daughter.^[44]

Shimotsuki Yasuie

41 years ago, Orochi was a servant for Yasuie and would act subservient to his master. However, while Yasuie gave Orochi a career and residence, Orochi ungratefully stole money from his master while attempting to blame it on Oden, in order to fund his own attempt to take over Wano Country.

— Orochi mocking Yasuie after his death^[45]

Back when Orochi obtained the status of shogun, he gave Yasuie the chance to serve under him. He and the remaining daimyos refused and tried to fight back only to be defeated by Kaidou.^[46] Upon learning that Yasuie was still alive, Orochi was furious and wanted to make an example out of him by executing him in front of the entire country.^[47] Yasuie on his part harbors scathing hatred for Orochi’s cruel reign and ruining the country through his greed. As a final act of defiance, Yasuie took the blame for the crescent mark on the allies as a joke and to humiliate Orochi as a coward in front of his men and the citizens. Enraged, Orochi proceeded to shoot Yasuie dead.^[48] With the people of Ebisu Town unable to express anything other than laughter, Orochi made a mockery of Yasuie’s death.^[49]

Dissidents

Orochi had countless dissidents who were against his despotic rule, mainly samurai who were former retainers and allies of the Kozuki Family.

Those who openly defied Orochi were either sentenced to death or condemned to life imprisonment in the Prisoner Mine of Udon. Among them are Hyogoro and his fellow Yakuza bosses. According to Hyogoro, over ten thousand dissidents imprisoned in Udon were extremely enraged at Orochi and are fully prepared to revolt if given the right time.^[25] Dissidents who were in hiding chose to bid their time among the Wano residents and were also prepared to rebel, but they are currently being hunted down and imprisoned in Rasetsu Town.

Luffy later persuaded all the Udon prisoners to join the rebellion, and unbeknownst to Orochi, Denjiro (under his alias Kyoshiro) would use the authority Orochi gave him to liberate the one thousand prisoners of Rasetsu Town to join him in the Kozuki Revolution. Thus, all of Orochi’s dissidents finally have the chance to gather together to overthrow Orochi.

Despite thinking of Orochi as thoroughly reprehensible, Hyogoro was nevertheless infuriated and disgusted when the Orochi Oniwabanshu and Mimawarigumi renounced their loyalty to Orochi to join Kaidou out of self-preservation after he beheaded their master.

Roronoa Zoro

As an ally of the Kozuki Family, Zoro was an enemy of Orochi. After Orochi executed Yasuie, Zoro also learned from Hiyori about how Orochi fed the citizens of Ebisu Town faulty SMILE fruits to prevent them from expressing sadness over their suffering from his tyranny. Zoro developed an intense hatred towards the shogun and stood up against him when he tried to kill Toko. In a rash fit of rage, Zoro tried to attack Orochi and then went after the shogun until Kyoshiro interfered.

Beasts Pirates

Over twenty years ago, Orochi allied with Kaidou using the money previously borrowed from Oden,^[50] allowing his crew to take over Wano Country in order to monopolize its immense resources for their own gains in exchange for helping him overthrow the Kozuki Family. In exchange for Kaidou’s support to maintain his political authority and power, Orochi purposely sacrificed most of the territory of Wano to be used by Kaidou for his war preparations,^[51] while also letting the Beasts Pirates enslave his own citizens and subjugate them to harsh labor in weapon factories, forcing them to provide the manpower required to mass-produced weapons for Kaidou’s own goals. Kaidou seemed (with amusement) to regard Orochi as a sickened individual^[52] because of his action of robbing the people of Ebisu Town of their ability to express sadness or anger.^[53]

Despite previously ridiculing him for his paranoia, they followed some of his orders, though some were annoyed after Yasuie made Orochi look like a fool. However, they realize he was correct when seeing some of the Nine Red Scabbards preparing to raid Onigashima.^[54]

— Orochi brazenly reprimand Kaidou for his ingratitude before being executed.

However, Kaidou was merely using Orochi as a pawn, and once Kaidou revealed his New Onigashima Project, Orochi angrily objected to it, reprimanding Kaidou for his ingratitude as it was with his authority and permission that his crew can monopolize the resources and manpower of Wano for mass-producing high-quality weapons for increasing his military power. Kaidou merely responded by decapitating Orochi, claiming he never cared about him and his family’s honor and prestige, effectively ending their alliance. While Kaidou and the All-Stars had no problem with betraying Orochi, the rest of the Beasts Pirates were shocked when they saw their Governor-General decapitate the shogun. Kaidou then attempted to take over the remnants of Orochi’s forces, all of whom are shocked as well, by giving them the choice of submission or death.^[6] Adding insult to his seeming demise, all of Orochi’s subordinates, the Orochi Oniwabanshu and Mimawarigumi readily pledge loyalty to Kaidou as the remaining Beasts Pirates who also once revered Orochi as their leader also accepted Kaidou’s betrayal against the shogun, proving that Orochi’s self proclaimed greatness and glory for twenty five years have been nothing more than a delusional farce.

Unbeknownst to Kaidou, however, Orochi had somehow managed to survived the decapitation. He then became murderously furious towards Kaidou’s treachery and humiliation to his immense pride and glory as the Shogun by stealing his authority over the Wano Country and the obedience of most of his subordinates with the exception of Fukurojuku, but is still fully aware that Kaidou is too powerful to confront personally. Thus, Orochi resorted to setting fire to Kaidou’s residence in an attempt to massacre all his subordinates as revenge.

Other

World Government

Orochi had an arrogant and fearless attitude towards the World Government and its military forces. After the fall of Doflamingo, Orochi negotiated a weapons trade with CP-0 and took advantage of their weak position to make exorbitant requests, threatening to end their main source of high-quality weapons for the Marines. He flaunted his allegiance with Kaidou in their faces, mockingly stating that even the World Nobles are unable to do anything to him.

Orochi seemed to have a great interest in Vegapunk’s scientific capabilities, as he demanded the scientist be brought to Wano in exchange for the next shipment of weapons.^[7]

Wano Country Citizens

— Orochi’s view of the citizens of Wano

A tyrannical and greedy ruler, Orochi held absolutely no concern for the welfare of his citizens, favoring only the rich while oppressing the poor. According to the laws he had set, only wealthy citizens can be considered humans, as all poor citizens are forced to live in wastelands and are allowed to eat only leftovers, which result in many of them dying from hunger. As for the rich citizens, he forbid them from consuming alcohol except during the Fire Festival. He had absolutely no tolerance towards citizens who dared to criticize or insult him, willing to kill Toko simply for laughing at his perceived cowardice. He also allowed most of his poor citizens to be enslaved by the Beast Pirates to hard labor in weapon factories for the sake of his own prosperity in the Flower Capital.

— Orochi explaining the reason of his tyranny towards Wano Country to Oden

Orochi’s cruelty towards the citizens stemmed from his tremendous hatred towards a majority of them for unjustly persecuting his family due to his grandfather’s crimes, even though not all of them were involved in his family’s execution and hunt. Having witnessed most of his family, such as his mother and Kanjuro’s parents, being ruthlessly hunted down and terrorized with unreasonable violence and unfairly killed as sinners simply for being blood-related to his grandfather, had caused him to live in constant fear since childhood. Orochi even claimed that his citizens could all die without a single shred of care. He had no qualms with kidnapping hundreds of innocent citizens and threatened to deliver them to Kaidou as tribute to force Oden to surrender and endure humiliation just to spare their fate. This shows that Orochi’s cruelty is absolutely indiscriminate, as he justified his tyranny to get revenge on the people of Wano for what happened to his family and him, despite the fact that not all Wano citizens were responsible for his horrible childhood.

— Orochi’s twisted mockery of his citizens’ suffering after Yasuie’s death.

In addition to tyrannically oppressing his citizens, Orochi was cruel to the point that he would not even allow his citizens to mourn and cry no matter how much misery he caused them due to finding their sadness and depression disgusting. Thus, he fed them faulty SMILE fruits to rob them of the ability to express sadness.^[53] When the Ebisu Town residents express their devastation towards Yasuie’s death in laughter, Orochi joyfully cheered and danced, claiming that Wano Country is a paradise and that his citizens are “always happy” under his rule.^[49]

Due to Orochi’s horrendous tyranny, all the Wano Country citizens, including those in the Flower Capital, absolutely despised Orochi in secret, but were too afraid to oppose him due to Kaidou’s protection, and they would heartily celebrate during the Fire Festival when he left for Onigashima, as it was the only moment their country was spared from his tyranny. They also secretly longed for the Kozuki Family to return, wishing above all else for Orochi and Kaidou to be overthrown.

Abilities and Powers

As shogun, Orochi has full control over Wano Country and its inhabitants. He has government officials working under him who enforce his rule, and had a group of elite ninja known as the Orochi Oniwabanshu,^[55] as well as samurai known as the Mimawarigumi who served and protected him without question.^[56] He also had the backing of Kaidou of the Four Emperors, so if he and his subordinates were threatened, Kaidou would hear about it and deal with the threat,^[4] which was proven in the past when Kaidou brutally ended a massive rebellion staged by countless samurais banded together led by the daimyos serving the Kozuki Family against Orochi’s new rule. He believed that with Kaidou’s support, not even the World Government nor World Nobles can overthrow him nor topple Wano.^[7] However, with Kaidou having betrayed and attempted to kill him, Orochi lost much of the power that came from their alliance as well as many of his subordinates.^[32]

In terms of personal combat, Orochi has very little to speak of, having always relied on others to protect him and fight his battles.

Tactical Skills

Orochi has an extremely sharp intuition and a strategic cunning, as he orchestrated Kanjuro to infiltrate the Nine Red Scabbards as a mole. Unlike most of his complacent subordinates, Orochi correctly took Toki’s prophecy seriously, which allowed him to correctly deduce that Oden’s son and retainers were still alive and that certain incidents around Wano Country were connected to Kin’emon. He wholeheartedly believed that they were planning to overthrow him and his ally Kaidou, even though there was no concrete evidence to support his suspicions.^[57]

Through his spy, Orochi received information regarding Kozuki Hiyori, the time travel of the Nine Red Scabbards, and the assembly location and numbers of the enemy alliance. This allowed him to correctly figure out their plans and take effective actions to prevent them from mobilizing, by destroying the cave containing the Thousand Sunny and blowing up all the bridges connecting the country’s regions ahead of time.^[58] However, Orochi’s efforts failed due to Kin’emon misreading Yasuie’s message as well as Orochi miscalculating the distances of the provinces, acting too late in stopping them.

Swordsmanship

In the Flower Capital school, Orochi has been lauded as being a powerful swordsman said to utilize a sword-style known as Orochi Nitoryu (オロチ二刀流 Orochi Nitōryū^? , literally meaning “Orochi Two Swords Style”), and according to propaganda, he used this style to defeat Kozuki Oden and his retainers.^[3] However, this is all false information to paint him as being a powerful shogun, as it was Kaidou who defeated Oden, with Orochi not even being present during the battle.^[59] After hearing Toko laughing after his raving about the Kozuki Family, he used a katana to slice wildly through a thin wall while completely missing Toko, displaying little to no skill in swordsmanship.^[60]

Marksmanship

Orochi has great marksmanship skills, having been seen wielding a flintlock pistol and rifle. He was able to quickly draw his pistol and shoot a CP-0 agent in the head with it, although the agent was unharmed by the bullet.^[7] With his rifle, he was able to shoot Shimotsuki Yasuie to death from a great distance away,^[61] and was shown aiming directly at Toko’s head when trying to shoot her.^[62] However, in all these instances, the targets were stationery.

Devil Fruit

Further information: Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Yamata no Orochi

Orochi ate the Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Yamata no Orochi, a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit that allows him to transform into a full eight-headed snake and a human-eight-headed snake hybrid at will.^[63] He primarily uses this power to intimidate people.

As a Zoan user, Orochi receives a boost to his physical abilities, though he has never been seen using his enhanced physical capabilities in battle. In his eight-headed snake form, he was able to deal considerable damage to the room he was in and attack the people who were there with him, though it is unknown exactly how much damage the people took. He was also strong enough to easily lift up a person with just his mouth.

With his multiple heads with long necks, he has the ability to attack in multiple directions at once and reach targets that are farther away than he can normally reach. Furthermore, he is able to attack and trap his targets with his considerably strong jaws.^[63]

After being decapitated by Kaidou, Orochi was later shown to be alive with his body intact and uninjured;^[32] how he managed to survive remains unknown, although after transforming against the Nine Red Scabbards, it was shown that he had one less head than before.^[64]

History

Past

Orochi lived in squalor in his youth after his family lost their power due to his grandfather’s crimes. He and his family were also persecuted and hunted down by ruthless extrajudicial citizens out of self righteousness, causing Orochi to live in fear.^[11] Over time, he gained immense hatred for all the people of Wano, which extended to all those who had nothing to do with his suffering. Over 41 years ago, he was approached by Kurozumi Higurashi, who revealed to him how his grandfather unsuccessfully tried to become shogun by poisoning his fellow daimyo but was ultimately caught and forced to commit seppuku. Orochi was stunned at the possibility that he could have been the shogun and agreed to follow Higurashi’s instructions to obtain the title. She told him to hoard gold and produce weapons in order to gain powerful allies, and gave him the Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Yamata no Orochi to eat to accomplish this goal.^[34]

Sometime later, Orochi found his relative Kurozumi Kanjuro, who had lost his parents due to persecution. Orochi claimed to have killed Kanjuro’s parents’ killers and instructed him to pose as a member of the Kozuki Family until his death. Kanjuro, a skilled actor who sought death, readily agreed, and Orochi gave him a Devil Fruit to eat.^[30]

41 years ago, Orochi worked as a servant for Shimotsuki Yasuie.^[8] When the shogun’s son Kozuki Oden departed Yasuie’s residence after staying there, Orochi stole money and blamed it on Oden.^[9] He later left Yasuie’s residence himself and took the daimyo’s remaining gold. Orochi then went to Kuri, where Oden ruled as daimyo. He got Oden to lend him money many times, promising to pay him back.^[34] Around 30 years ago, Orochi went to the shogun’s castle with Higurashi, who disguised herself as Oden with her Devil Fruit powers. She asked the shogun Kozuki Sukiyaki to give Orochi a job at the castle, and Sukiyaki obliged. Sukiyaki began to fall ill,^[65] and around 28 years before the present, the old woman posed as him and decreed that Orochi would temporarily succeed him as shogun until Oden returned from his absence.^[34]

By the time Oden left his wife and children in the care of his retainers 26 years ago, Orochi had joined forces with Kaidou and constructed weapons factories. With support from the Beasts Pirates, Orochi forced citizens to work in the factories and those who refused would be executed.^[66] He also took over the shogunate’s ninja squad known as the Kozuki Oniwabanshu, with their leader Fukurokuju submitting to him.^[67] When Oden returned to Wano a year later, he went to the Flower Capital and attacked Orochi after hearing about his oppression.^[68] Oden’s attack was stopped by Kurozumi Semimaru, who used a barrier to protect Orochi. With Oden unable to harm him, Orochi then explained how he rose to power. Orochi and Kaidou then made a deal with Oden. If Oden danced naked in the Flower Capital once a week, citizens would be spared.^[36] They also promised to leave Wano in five years.^[11] In the aftermath, Oden started dancing naked in the Flower Capital, causing Orochi to laugh profusely.

Five years later, Orochi had Kaidou capture the yakuza boss Hyogoro and kill his family due to being unable to control Hyogoro. He then traveled to Kuri to inform Oden that he would be building weapons factories in the region and told him about what had happened to Hyogoro.^[69]

On the day of Oden’s execution, Orochi was present at the execution site to witness the execution. Orochi did not object to Kaidou’s deal with Oden to allow those who survive the boiling pot for one hour go free. During the execution, Orochi was displeased that Oden was holding his retainers above him with a piece of wood, but Kaidou did not mind.^[70] After the citizens found out about the deal between Oden and Orochi from five years ago, Orochi ignored their pleas. Even though Oden successfully survived one hour, Orochi decided to execute him and his retainers with a firing squad. As the Scabbards fled, Orochi watched as Kaidou shot Oden in the head.^[71]

Before her death, Kozuki Toki cursed Orochi, which he interpreted as a prophecy that the Kozuki Family would get revenge on him in 20 years.^[21] As his subordinates were unable to find any corpses of the Nine Red Scabbards, Orochi became restless.^[72] He approached the four other daimyo of Wano and gave them the choice to join him or die. All of them refused and staged a rebellion, but were defeated by Kaidou.^[73]

A few years before Momonosuke’s return, Orochi mixed faulty SMILE fruits with the leftovers from the Flower Capital and fed them to the residents of leftover towns, robbing the poor of their ability to express anger or sadness.^[53]

After the Kid Pirates were captured by Kaidou, Orochi offered Killer a chance to save his captain by giving him a SMILE fruit.^[74]

Wano Country Arc

Orochi planned to throw a banquet, and an aide reported that the courtesan Komurasaki was on her way, which made him excited as he planned to make her his wife.^[1] Orochi then held an audience for CP-0, who wished to use him as a new medium for their trade with Kaidou. Delighted by the amount of power he held in this situation, Orochi demanded that they bring him Dr. Vegapunk next time. When one of the agents protested, Orochi shot him and reminded him that he had no fear of the World Government thanks to Kaidou’s protection. Orochi then went to his banquet, where he celebrated with Komurasaki and his guests.^[7]

Orochi listened to Komurasaki playing her shamisen before seeing the new geisha O-Robi and telling her to come talk to him. When he overheard his money changer Kyoshiro talking about avenging his comrades, Orochi expressed his agreement and took the opportunity to warn his guests about Toki’s prophecy and the impending Kozuki Family rebellion. However, he then heard Komurasaki’s kamuro Toko laughing at him and immediately rushed to attack her despite Komurasaki’s pleas. Orochi swung his sword at Toko, but was then slapped by Komurasaki, who refused to apologize.^[75] Orochi transformed into the Yamata no Orochi and tried everything he could to avoid killing Komurasaki, but eventually went and wrested her into his main mouth. However, the ceiling suddenly fell on his head and dislodged Komurasaki from his mouth, and to Orochi’s shock, Kyoshiro struck her down. This made Orochi very angry, and he resumed rampaging after Toko, but was then suddenly struck by a thunderbolt from the intruder Nami.^[38]

The next day, Orochi discovered that a secret message was being passed around loyalists to the Kozuki Family and ordered the mass arrests of anyone with the crescent moon symbol on their ankle.^[76] He also sent his assassin Kamazo after Toko.^[17] The next day, Orochi found out that Kamazo had failed, and he had him sent to the Prisoner Mines for the Beasts Pirates to do what they liked with him.^[77] Fukurokuju then reported to Orochi that they had captured Ushimitsu Kozo, but Orochi was in no mood to hear about it as he continued mourning the loss of Komurasaki. Fukurokuju revealed that Ushimitsu Kozo was Shimotsuki Yasuie, and Orochi ordered for his execution to be broadcast, to which Kyoshiro revealed that the equipment was already set up for Komurasaki’s funeral. Orochi gleefully planned for both of them to be disposed of together.^[78]

As Orochi was brought to Yasuie’s execution platform in Rasetsu Town, he heard the former daimyo insult him and became enraged. Orochi and his guards then shot Yasuie and killed him,^[79] and as Orochi reached the execution platform, he relished in the false laughing of the crowd mourning Yasuie. Orochi then saw Toko at Yasuie’s body and made his way to shoot her, but his shots were blocked by Roronoa Zoro and Sanji.^[80] Orochi ordered his samurai to kill the duo but froze as Zoro sent a deadly air slash toward him, though it was intercepted by Kyoshiro. Orochi was taken back to his castle on Kyoshiro’s orders, and he told his subordinates to kill everyone who stood against him.^[77] Later, Orochi was furious to hear that the Straw Hats escaped. However, Fukurokuju informed the shogun that the Flower Capital was on lockdown with the Orochi Oniwabanshu and the Mimawarigumi on guard. He reassured that he would not let anything harm Orochi until they captured their enemies.^[81]

On the day before the Fire Festival, Orochi received some reports from Kanjuro. He learned about the alliance’s plans and that Kozuki Hiyori is still alive and hiding in Ringo.^[82] During the night, Orochi ordered the Beasts Pirates to destroy the bridges connecting Wano’s regions to prevent the rebels from gathering at their meeting place.^[58] On the next day, he traveled to Habu Port with his entourage and boarded a ship for Onigashima.^[83] At the island, he enjoyed the celebration in the company of women from the Beasts Pirates.^[84]

While enjoying the celebration with Kaidou, Orochi was pleased when Kanjuro delivered Momonosuke to him. However, he was met with disappointing news that the plot to stop the Kozuki rebellion had failed. Despite Fukurokuju’s assurances, Orochi would not be satisfied unless he received reports of the complete destruction of his enemies.^[85] He then tied Momonosuke to a crucifix and proudly put him on display at the Performance Floor in the Skull Dome.^[86] Orochi proceeded to explain to the Beasts Pirates how Momonosuke escaped to the future on the day of Oden’s death, before Kaidou arrived at the stage to announce the “New Onigashima” project.^[87] Kaidou went on to explain his plan, which involves him taking full control and transforming Wano Country into a paradise for pirates and making all of its citizens its slaves, including those in the Flower Capital. As Orochi objected, stating that the Flower Capital was his territory, Kaidou promptly and unceremoniously decapitated him.^[6]

Despite being presumed dead by nearly everyone who witnessed his decapitation, Orochi somehow managed to survive and was rejoined by Fukurokuju. Deciding to slaughter everyone in the Skull Dome to get revenge, Orochi lit a fire to engulf the castle as Fukurokuju took care of any pirates they encountered.^[32] However, they then ran into the Nine Red Scabbards who had at that point sustained significant injures after fighting Kaidou. Fukurokuju offered to deal with them, but Orochi believed he could take them on in their weakened state as he taunted them about Kanjuro, noting also the defection of Kyoshiro who was in reality the Scabbard Denjiro. Orochi transformed into his Yamata no Orochi form and prepared to devour the Scabbards, but they swiftly proceeded to cut off all of his heads with synchronized slashes, causing his body to collapse and lie motionless on the ground once again.^[88]

Merchandise

Video Games

Playable Appearances

• One Piece Treasure Cruise

Trivia

• Orochi means “big snake or serpent” in Japanese, matching his Devil Fruit, the Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Yamata no Orochi.
• Orochi’s favorite foods are Yashiori no Sake (ヤシオリの酒^? ) and Pacific saury. ^[5] Yashiori no Sake is a fictional drink used to kill the Yamata no Orochi.

References

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