Commodore Smoker

Smoker
One Piece character
File:Smoker.png (Then-)Captain Smoker, from the anime and manga series One Piece.
First appearance	Manga Chapter #98 Anime Episode #48
Created by	Eiichiro Oda
In-universe information
Nickname	"The White Hunter"
Species	Human

Commodore Smoker (スモーカー准将, Sumōkā Junshō), until recently holding the rank of Captain (大佐, Taisa), and known in the edited TV version as Captain Chaser, is a fictional Marine officer from the anime and manga series One Piece.

About Smoker

Smoker has the very distinct trait of always being seen smoking two cigars at once, as well as having many cigars on hand strapped to his jacket. He also wields a large jutte tipped with Seastone, a material that affects Devil Fruit users in a similar way to the sea (a person who consumes Devil Fruits becomes weak and unable to move his or her body in the water, and Seastone is, in Smoker's own words, "a solidified form of the sea"), which he uses to subdue criminal Devil Fruit users.

Smoker was voiced by the late Ginzō Matsuo. However, Matsuo passed away on August 25, 2001 of an acute subarachnoid hemorrhage. Since episode 94 of One Piece, Smoker is played by Mahito Ōba, who also voiced the narrator.

In Japanese Fan Polls, Smoker is currently the 14th most popular character. His birthday is March 14th, a Japanese holiday called White Day (coinciding with his smoke powers, and "white" theme to his attack names) as well as Pi Day (3.14).

Personality and Relationships

Smoker is a tough Marine, who, when first was introduced, was trying to track down Luffy in Loguetown. Unlike many other Naval officers in One Piece, Smoker does not follow the rule of "Absolute Justice" and follows his own brand of Justice, which he later preaches to Tashigi about. Smoker's view on justice also allows the Straw Hats to remain free even being pirates during the Alabasta arc, warning Luffy that as a Marine, next time, he will have to try and capture him. Smoker also didn't like taking credit in Alabasta for the Straw Hats work in defeating Sir Crocodile.

Despite his rough exterior, he does seem to be a kind man. One example is when a little girl accidentally spilled ice cream on his pants, he didn't get angry. He actually gave her some money to buy some more ice cream, after taking the blame for the ice cream being spilled. Another example is his respect and slight kindness that he shows to Tashigi.

He seems to know Aokiji though the nature of the relationship of the two men is unknown. He seems to be a close personal friend of Hina, and although it is never mentioned directly, it is implied that Smoker and Hina may have once had a relationship together.

He has also been described as being "used to getting his own way". He will often pull rank to get his subordinates to go along with an unorthodox order, while at the same time ignoring, or even openly insulting, his superiors when he doesn't agree with them. If not for this attitude, it is likely Smoker would have a much higher rank in the Marines than he currently does.

It seems Smoker doesn't like people who yell/shout in front of him or at him and he says shouting interrupts his 'pace'.

History

Very little has been said about Smoker's past, what is known is that he joined the Navy at the same time as Hina. However, it appears that Hina has had to help Smoker before in situations where he was almost kicked out of the Navy. He was also a witness to Gold Roger's execution, although this was not given in great detail as to what exactly happened, except that Gold Roger's final smile before his death made a deep impression on Smoker. However, in one of the Loguetown filler episodes in the anime the execution was expanded upon.

Smoker chased Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates across the Grand Line, after Luffy escaped from him in Loguetown. While trying to capture Luffy, they got into a small duel, where Luffy was clearly at a disadvantage. The only reason Luffy and the crew were able to get away is because of the mysterious "Revolutionary" Dragon, who appeared in a freak storm and seemingly controlled the winds to save Luffy. Nevertheless, he set out after Luffy (along with his subordinate, Tashigi), abandoning his post in Loguetown. From witnessing Luffy's near-execution at the hands of Buggy the Clown, he believes there is something special about him, since he was smiling and seemed happy (just as Gold Roger did) even though he was about to die, to Smoker's surprise. Because he is convinced of Luffy's uniqueness, Smoker is determined to see that the "Straw-Hat Pirate" faces justice.

Smoker tracked Luffy all the way to Alabasta, where he met the second pirate to ever escape his clutches: Portgas D. Ace, Luffy's older brother. He met Ace in a small cafe in Nanohana. Ace has the Mera Mera no Mi Devil Fruit, and when matched against Smoker's smoke abilities, the two men fought to a draw. Smoker now seems to bear a grudge against them both for being the only pirates he could not capture after they faced him.

After the Alabasta arc, and the fall of Baroque Works, the Navy officially declared Smoker as the one who defeated Sir Crocodile, one of the Shichibukai. This was done to cover up the fact that Crocodile was, in fact, defeated by a pirate. Smoker, however, angrily and in not so polite terms, refused both the medals and promotions the Navy offered him and Tashigi. He even openly admitted that it was Luffy and his crew that truly defeated Crocodile and Baroque Works, but the Navy brass refused to listen to him: he ended up being promoted to the rank of Commodore, and Tashigi to Ensign.

Smoker had given Admiral Aokiji a message for Luffy, which Aokiji forgot until after he had beaten Luffy. Aokiji claims that Smoker's message was too stupid to tell, but the actual message has yet to be heard. Smoker made a reappearance in chapter 439, and has gained a large scar on the right side of his chest at some point between leaving Alabasta and being shown again.

Recent Chapters

Smoker has recently reappeared in the manga, along with Tashigi. Just now, Smoker and his crew have just beaten a pirate with a 50 million belli bounty. He swears to Tashigi he will stake his pride on defeating them (the Straw Hats) in the New World. He also tells Tashigi that he needs to form a crew stronger than the Straw Hats and that they will also need higher positions to do so.

Abilities and powers

Smoker has eaten the Moku Moku Devil Fruit. (モクモクの実 , Smoke Smoke/Plume Plume fruit. "Mokumoku" is a phenomime conveying the image of billowing smoke, much as "whoosh" might represent wind in English. It can be a play on "sumoku," the Japanese pronunciation of "smoke.") The Fruit allows him to control any smoke around him; he can also change part or all of his body into smoke at will, like other Logia-type Devil fruit powers. He can also manipulate the smoke to make it soft or hard, allowing him to hold and constrict objects or people within it, and is able to extend his height using a smoke tail to support his partial-body. At this point he doesn't appear to have any exploitable weakness, like Sir Crocodile or Eneru, due to his ability to be intangible (though Portgas D. Ace is able to fight on equal terms with him due to their powers cancelling each other out). However, as he has not trained his power to the extent as Crocodile, he is not always in a perpetual state of smoke, and thus he can be harmed if he is caught off guard. Another weakness was hinted at during the Loguetown Arc in that he dares not use his power during a strong wind or storm, for fear that he may be blown away.

His thick clothes are what allows him to carry around his seastone-tipped weapon, along with the fact that he hangs it off his back so that the tip never comes in contact with him. Naturally of course, like all eaters of the Devil Fruit, his main weakness is the inability to swim. During the Alabasta Arc, he and the Straw Hats had gotten caught in a flood and if it weren't for Luffy ordering Zoro to save him, Smoker would have met his end. Smoker has also displayed an extremely good sense of hearing. In the Rain Diner in the Alabasta Arc, he was able to detect the congruence of the bananadile that swallowed the cage's key among a large group of bananadiles. It is unknown whether all his other senses are equally acute.

Differences between versions

In the 4Kids version of the anime, Smoker's has been renamed to Chaser and his cigars are digitally removed, causing him to have a gap between his top and bottom teeth that appears to expel smoke from his mouth due to the power of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit. However, Smoker in the English editions of One Piece Grand Battle! and One Piece: Grand Adventure has kept the cigars that are strapped to his coat.

FUNimation has stated they will do the opposite of what 4Kids did and remove only the smoke instead of the cigars, making them to appear unlit. These edits will not appear in the official DVD releases.