Brook

Brook is the musician of the Straw Hat Pirates, wherein he is the very oldest member of the crew, and the former captain of the Rumbar Pirates several decades ago. He is a skeleton that the Straw Hats found on board of a ghost ship after drifting into the Florian Triangle. He is also one of the two swordsmen onboard their ship, with the other being Roronoa Zoro.

Profile and Stats

• Alias: Soul King, Gentleman Skeleton, Dead Bones, Humming Swordsman
• Origin: One Piece
• Age: 90
• Birthday: April 3
• Classification: Living Skeleton (previously a Human), Undead, Straw Hat Pirates Musician, Swordsman, Former Rumbar Pirates Captain, Former Battle Convoy Leader, Paramecia Devil Fruit User
• Gender: Male
• Height: 277 cm (9'1")
• Weight: 25 kg (55 lbs)
• Hair Color: Black
• Attire: Dark top hat with a giant crow on the brim, black jacket with inner linings being white, blue cravat, yellow feather boa, orange red trousers with floral patterns, black leather shoes, and purple Cane
• Alignment: Good
• Status: Active
• Powers and Abilities: Revive-Revive Fruit, Master Musician, Master Swordsman Specialist, Enhanced Strength, Immense Speed, Enhanced Endurance, Enhanced Durability
• Standard Equipment: Soul Solid
• Notable Attacks/Techniques: Three-Verse Humming: Arrow Notch Slash, Lullaby Parry, Party Music, Aubade Coup Droit, Gavotte Bond en Avant, Moonlight Lullaby: Night Slash, Quinte Tierce Fantasia, Song of the Wind: Icy Storm, Drawing Song: One-Joint Slash, Song of Scratches: Blizzard Slice
• Weaknesses: Brook cannot swim and becomes immobilized if more than half of his body is covered in water.

Power Ranking

• Class: A-Class
• Attack Potency: City Block level. Can also bypass conventional durability to a limited extent with his freezing capacity.
• Speed: At least Hypersonic+ with High Hypersonic attack and reaction speeds
• Lifting Strength: At least Superhuman
• Striking Strength: Class GJ
• Durability: Likely Multi-City Block level
• Stamina: Nigh-Infinite
• Range: Melee
• Intelligence: Average (Skilled combatant with decades of battle experience. Also a master musician who is able to play any musical instrument. He usually uses a violin to play his music, though after two-years he switched his main instrument to a guitar. His musical abilities are so good that Laboon used to sing along to his music when they were together. His music also shows capabilities to change its listener's attitude and emotions)
• Fighting Ability: Master (Brook is well versed in swordplay. Despite his usual goofy personality in battle, he is extremely capable and can do more than hold his own. His fighting style resembles a combination of classical fencingand iaidō. Although an extremely fast swordsman, his skills are not of the same caliber as Zoro's, the Straw Hats' other swordsman; or Erza's Fairy Tail best swordswoman)

Appearance

Brook is an extremely tall skeleton dressed in formal attire complete with top hat and cane. Standing at 277 cm (9'1") in height, he is the tallest member of the Straw Hat crew. Despite having no skin, he still has an black afro which he says is because his hair has very strong roots. Brook's style was that of a rockstar/gentleman, consisting of heart-shaped sunglasses, a black jacket with inner linings being white and the cravat that was tied in between his coat and around his neck was blue, a yellow feather boa, a dark top hat with a giant crown on the brim, orange red trousers with a floral design, and black leather shoes. The outer covering of Brook's cane sword which he carries was purple.

Personality

Brook is an eccentric character with a distinct personality of his own, like the other Straw Hat Pirates. While he looks like and claims to be a gentleman, he possesses very bad manners such as asking to see ladies' panties (although in a mermaid's case he asks if they can lend him some money - however, he asked this question to the Mermaid Princess anyway), yelling impatiently for food (a trait shared by Luffy and Natsu) and occasionally burping and farting conspicuously. Despite this behavior he still is somewhat polite, usually referring to people using the respectful "-san" ("Sir" and "Miss"). He appreciates the simplest of things: from a gesture of kindness, the company of others, and walking in the sunlight after receiving his shadow back.

His reactions to different occurrences can be somewhat extreme, often comically so. For example, when the Straw Hats were alarmed at him for being a living skeleton, he forgets the object of fear is actually himself and also begins to panic. Although he tends to display more extreme emotions at times, Brook has been known to over-relax when he is told to stay calm. He is also very patient, having stayed on his former crew's ship for years, waiting for the day when he would eventually be reunited with his shadow. However, due to his rudeness, he can also be impatient about things like waiting for dinner to be served. Brook's most notable trait amongst others, however, is that he cracks "skull jokes" about himself being a skeleton complimented with his distinct laughter of "Yohohoho" even if there is no one around to hear him. When Chopper broke one of his jokes by saying what he intended to say beforehand, Brook became temporarily depressed.

While stuck in the Florian Triangle, Brook discovered his skeletal body was now very limber and developed a strange gag to keep himself entertained- going completely rigid and then leaning against a wall or object at a forty-five degree angle. Though he mainly uses it to show it off in front of people and his crew just for a laugh, Brook later turned this into one of his signature poses as the Soul King. He has sometimes practiced and attempted to tilt in even further than forty-five degrees, but if he makes the angle too acute, he will lose his balance and slip.

Brook is a great lover of music. Whether it be through happy or sad times, music is what generally keeps Brook going. As a result, his love for music often reflects itself in various other aspects of his character, such as in his fighting style wherein the names of his attacks are derived from various songs and dances. He gave himself a musical theme so noticeable that while he was alive in his first life, he was called "Humming Brook" by the authorities.

In contrast to the other cowardly crew members own fears - Usopp's being out of insecurity, Nami's as a survival instinct, and Chopper's from cautiousness - Brook's fear is more down to Earth; he fears the things that are not normal. An example would be that Brook is easily scared by the ghosts and zombies (despite technically being deceased himself). In order to fight the various Thriller Bark creatures without fear when he encountered them, Brook convinced himself that if he sings while fighting, he would not be afraid of them (though he starts running in fear when he stops singing). This singing while fighting, however, had a side effect of making him seem like a more sinister creature to the zombies - a rather ironic fact due to him being the contrary and the fact the song he sings during battle being one of life and joy than one of ominous threat and evil as perceived by them. Because of this, despite his equal fear he was given the name of "Humming Swordsman" by the zombies and was ironically feared by them in turn. He apparently does not like moving fast, evident when he was in the more intense rides at Sabaody Park. Linked to this is moving at high speeds via the Flying Fish Riders flying fish or theme park rides and fighting a Pacifista cyborg there was little chance to win against. Comically, most of these fears are things he himself has the potential to unintentionally cause such as being an almost living skeleton that can run so fast that most people would have little chance to win against.

Before encountering the Straw Hats, Brook was very lonely while floating adrift on his ship and longed for the company of other people. He initially accepted Luffy's offer to join the crew and invited himself over for dinner upon arriving on board the Thousand Sunny just so he could interact with the crew and fill the void that he experienced all those years. Also, while possibly one of the oldest pirates "alive", Brook still retains an air of childishness about him that enables him to behave in a manner similar to Luffy and Chopper, noted by the ease with which he participates in their childlike antics.

Awkwardly, Brook has a tendency to lack common sense in slightly frantic times. For example, when Luffy falls into the water, Brook (and Chopper for that matter) jumps into the water, despite being a Devil Fruit user himself. He also has a tendency to accidentally go on rides that go obviously fast and sit out on slower rides.

Brook believes in and has quoted the philosophy "Good things come to those who wait", given the years he spent on the ghost ship, and Laboon's eternal patience.

However, one issue he has stood by is the act of wasting lives. As he had experienced death, he knows more than most about the consequences of dying. He shares a very strong emphasis on keeping promises and friendship, as he would do everything in his power to reunite and fulfill his promise to Laboon his long lost friend, something Franky had complimented him upon. Though he is prone to being childish, he proves a loyal and fearless friend. Standing between Usopp and a Pacifista stating that he shall protect him even though he knew his chances of survival were slim. Even Zoro has quietly acknowledged that Brook is a true man to his heart, facing down odds that are near impossible unflinchingly to save a friend. Also similar to Sanji, while both of them are womanizers with lecherous thoughts, Brook is also very protective over women (as is Sanji), as he chastised the New Fishman Pirates for aiming their firearms at Shirahoshi.

Though he knows other songs, Brook's favorite song to sing is Binks' Sake which he was singing upon his first appearance. Even when he asks for requests from the others, he seemed to instantly switch over to singing this song. Other songs Brook sings include Black Handkerchief of Happiness and his own originals, Bone To Be Wild and New World.

Powers and Abilities

Revive-Revive Fruit: A Paramecia-type Devil Fruit which enhances the user's soul to the point where they can come back to life after dying once, remain alive until their body is sufficiently damaged, and to use several other soul-based abilities. The power that allows him to live in the human world is not organs nor muscles: it is his soul.

• Astral Projection: A new ability Brook demonstrated after the timeskip. Brook is able to separate his body and soul, and move his soul everywhere he wants to, even through walls. When Brook is in spectral form he is both visible and audible to people. It is currently unknown as to how far the extent can Brook maintain this separation of his soul from his body.
• Soul Energy: After two years of training, Brook has mastered the use of this Devil Fruit to the extent of knowing its true nature. He reveals that in order for his soul to remain here in this world, it produces a unique and powerful energy that is almost physical in form. He has also mastered the energy his soul emits to the extent that he can reattach his bones by using this energy such as when he is beheaded he then attaches his head back with the help of it.
• Chills of the Underworld: Through his soul, Brook is able to summon the very cold of the underworld, which he utilizes in conjunction with his sword, Soul Solid, to generate freezing attacks.

Music: Brook's devotion to music not only helped him to pass the lonely days during his long isolation, but also serves as a combat tool. His technique, "Lullaby Parry", shows this, where he strums his violin with his shikomizue like a violinist's bow, creating a soothing tune that makes anyone who hears it immediately fall asleep.

• Lullaby Parry: Brook swipes his weapon over his violin like a fiddle and plays a soothing melody which makes his opponents fall asleep.
• Party Music: Brook uses his music to hypnotize his opponents into believing they are at a night festival. This way, his opponents not only drop their guards, but they are also made vulnerable to suggestions.

Fencing: Brook uses an unnamed form of swordsmanship that resembles classical fencing. It specializes in speed and thrusting techniques.

• Three-Verse Humming: Arrow Notch Slash: A high-speed technique where Brook swiftly cuts his opponent(s) as he approaches them and then re-sheathe his blade.
• Aubade Coup Droit (Dawn Serenade: Right-Handed Strike): A ranged thrusting technique that creates a highly compressed blast of air.
• Gavotte Bond en Avant (Gavotte: Leap Forward): A thrusting technique in which the user propels himself forward in order to strike an opponent.
• Swallow Bond en Avant (Swallow Leap Forward): An aerial version of Gavotte Bond en Avant.
• Moonlight Lullaby: Night Slash: A ranged technique which involves a high-compressed air slash after spinning Soul Solid in a circular motion.
• Quinte Tierce Fantasia (Fifth Parry and Third Parry Fantasy): Typically used in conjunction with Party Music, Brook uses a swift draw-and-sheathing technique while his opponents are still under the influence of the hypnotic nature of the musical technique.
• Song of the Wind: Icy Storm: Coating Soul Solid with freezing energy, Brook spins around in 360 degrees as he generates a giant icy wind that freezes a specific number of targets within a wide radius.
• Drawing Song: One-Joint Slash: A swift draw-and-sheathing technique that slices the opponent's torso with three horizontal freezing cuts.
• Song of Scratches: Blizzard Slice: Combining Three-Verse Humming: Arrow-Notch Slash and his Devil Fruit ability, Brook does the same thing Arrow-Notch Slash does but he sheaths his sword from top to bottom and the streak mark he creates with his "chilled" sword freezes the opponent's blood.
• Winds of Hades: Brook uses his Soul Solid in conjunction with his Devil Fruit ability to fire freezing winds at his opponent.

Trivia

• Brook is the oldest member of the Straw Hats, being 38 (dying 2 years after leaving Laboon, then spending a year seeking his body) at the time of his death and 88 years old when he meets the crew (most likely a reference to the number of keys on a piano).
• Brook is currently the only member of the Straw Hat crew that was a pirate captain of his own seafaring pirate crew.
• Before Brook fulfilled the position of musician, there was a running gag of the need for the position to be filled that was always being brought up by Luffy during important meetings with his crew on who should join next. Whenever the Straw Hats hold a serious meeting about a situation they are in that might require the addition of a new crew member with skills to aid in that situation, or anything similar like that, Luffy would always bring up the need of getting a musician. His reasoning is that pirates love to sing and a musician is essential to a pirate crew. Luffy's request however would always be turned down by his crew for more practical solutions to the situation.
• Brook is the only Straw Hat to have never ridden aboard the Going Merry.
• He loves the smell of tea.
• Brook bathes once a week.
• Brook's least favorite food is lemons.
• Brook typically sleeps at 12 AM and wakes up at 5 AM.