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Captain Smoker (スモーカー大佐 Sumōkā Taisa), known in the English anime as Captain Chaser, is a fictional Naval officer from the anime and manga series One Piece.
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 Fruit users.
Character history
Currently, Smoker is chasing Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates across the Grand Line, after Luffy escaped from him in Rogue Town. While trying to capture Luffy, they got into a small duel, where Luffy was clearly disadvantaged. The only reason Luffy and the crew were able to get away is because of the mysterious revolutionary Dragon, who appeared to cause a freak storm, and warned Smoker not to interfere with Luffy's destiny of becoming the King of the Pirates. Nevertheless, he set out after Luffy (along with his subordinate, Master CPO Tashigi), abandoning his post in Logue Town. From witnessing Luffy's near-execution at the hands of Buggy the Clown, he believes there is something special about him, since he laughed (just as Gold Roger did) even though he was about to die. Because he is convinced of Luffy's uniqueness, Smoker is determined to see that the "Straw-Hat Pirate" faces justice.
Smoker tracks Luffy all the way to Alabasta, where he meets the second pirate to ever escape his clutches: Portgas D. Ace, Luffy's older brother. Ace has the elemental power of fire, and when matched against Smoker's Moku-Moku abilities, the two men will always fight to a draw. Smoker now seems to bear a grudge against them both for being the only pirates whom he could not capture after they faced him. He meets Ace in all small cafe in Nanohana.
After the Alabasta arc, and the fall of Baroque Works, the Marine officially declared Smoker as the one who defeated Sir Crocodile, a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. This was done to cover up the fact that Crocodile was, in fact, defeated by a pirate. Smoker, however, angrily refuses both the medals and promotions the Marine offers him and Tashigi. He even openly admits that it was Luffy and his crew that truly defeated Crocodile and Baroque Works, but they refuse to listen to him.
He hasn't been seen ever since the Alabasta Arc.
Abilities and powers
Smoker has eaten the Moku-Moku(Smoke-Smoke) Devil Fruit. (モクモク "Mokumoku" is a phenomime conveying the image of billowing smoke, much as "whoosh" might represent wind in English. It is also an anagram of the Japanese word "Kumo" meaning "cloud" and 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. He can manipulate the smoke to make it soft or hard, allowing him to hold and constrict others within it. At this point he doesn't appear to have any exploitable weakness. However, it's possible that high wind-velocities can prevent him from turning into smoke or water could possibly stop him.
Trivia
- In the Japanese anime, Smoker was originally voiced by Ginzo Matsuo. However, Matsuo died on 25 August 2001 of an acute subarachnoid hemorrhage. Subsequently, Mahito Oba (the voice of the Narrator) took over the role of Smoker, beginning with episode 94.
- 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.
- It seems Smoker doesn't like people who yell/shout in front of him or at him. As seen in Episode 49, he says shouting interupts his 'pace'.
- In the US version of the anime, Smoker's cigars are removed and smoke comes out of his mouth due to the power of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit.
- Smoker has his cigars strapped to his coat even in the English video game, despite the previous editing of cigars.
- In Japanese Fan Polls, Smoker is currently the 14th most popular character.
- Despite his rough exterior, he does seem to have a soft side. One example is when a little girl accidentally spilled ice cream on his pants, yet he didn't hurt her. He actually gave her some money to buy some more ice cream. Another example is he seems to act kindly to Tashigi at certain times.
- A running gag with Smoker is usually when he sits down and talks about how he'll catch Luffy, Luffy appears to order food and/or drink. And the two don't notice each other even when Luffy sits down next to him.
- Smoker is 34 years old according to Oda. He joined the Marines at the same time as Hina (who is 32). The difference between the two of them is that Hina is the Stella student and Smoker is the problem child. Hina apparently also tends to save Smoker at times from being kicked out of the Marines.
"Smoker (One Piece)"