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This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
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| “ | What do you know of death?!! Have you ever died?!! You think death will preserve your cause forever?!! Ridiculous!! Death leaves nothing behind!! Once a person passes on, nothing remains but dead bones!! If there is one thing I can’t stand, it is a person with no respect for life!! | „ |
| ~ Brook |
| “ | This short time we have now is without a doubt just a break that will lead into our next adventure. Yes. Time to rest one's bones. Laboon. It seems that next time we are to meet, I will have many stories to tell. I hope you are still waiting and are looking forward to it. | „ |
| ~ Brook about his main goal; reunite with Laboon. |
Brook, also known as Dead Bones and later, Soul King, is one of the main characters of the One Piece franchise. He is the ninth member of the Straw Hat Pirates and the eighth to join, serving as the musician of the crew.
Originally serving as the leader of Esperia's Battle Convoy and later a crew member of the Rumbar Pirates, he and his crew had gotten lost in the Florian Triangle years prior and ultimately died. Brook was able to return to life after consuming the Yomi Yomi no Mi, a Devil Fruit that granted him a second chance at life. His body however had been reduced to a skeleton due to taking too long to find it, leaving him as an undead skeleton.
After drifting alone in the Florian Triangle in the coming years, he was eventually discovered by the Straw Hats and would join their crew, hoping to see Luffy become the Pirate King, before reuniting with his past friend, Laboon.
He is voiced by Chō in the Japanese version of the anime, and by Ian Sinclair in the English version.
Appearance
Before Death
As a child, he already had his afro and was seen wearing a black shirt with number nine and orange pants. His clothes were tattered while living as a street urchin.
As a young man, Brook was a tall, skinny man who had a rather distinctive face. While in Esperia, he wore the royal guard uniform, which was mostly a dark coat with fancy decorations, a light frilled shirt and a cravat, light high pants and thigh high combat boots. He was also seen with his sword on his side. Notably, he was seen without his glasses and he lacked the scar on his head.
Upon becoming a pirate, Brook had a slight goatee on his chin and some sideburns. He typically wore shades never revealing his eyes. On his forehead was a scar that slightly resembles a diagonal omega sign (Ω). This scar was retained in his skeletal state as a distinctive crack across his skull. Brook's facial appearance, accompanied with his style of clothing, resembles a type of appearance and style that is commonly associated with various music artists such as Ozzy Osbourne, Jimi Hendrix, Slash, and other musical celebrities with similar features.
Before the Timeskip
Brook is an extremely tall skeleton dressed in formal attire complete with top hat and cane. Standing at 266 cm (8'8½") in height, he is the tallest member of the Straw Hat crew. Despite having no skin, he still has an afro which he says is because his hair has very strong roots. Brook's style was that of a gentleman consisting of a coat, top hat, trousers and afro, which were black, while the inner linings of his coat were yellow-orange. The cravat that was tied in between his coat and around his neck was blue. The outer covering of Brook's cane sword which he carries was purple. Also, due to his many years of seclusion his clothes were somewhat tattered.
After the Timeskip
He has now changed to more colorful and high-end clothes, as though to represent a rock star. He has heart-shaped sunglasses, a yellow feather boa, a top hat with a giant crown on the brim and orange red trousers with a floral design. Despite being a skeleton, he grew to 277 cm (9'1"), and remains as the tallest Straw Hat member before Jinbe's induction.
During the Punk Hazard Arc, he wore a flashy striped coat, after taking it from a member of Brownbeard's Centaur Patrol Unit.
During the Dressrosa Arc, he wore a dark magenta long-coat with an upturned collar in addition to yellow pants. While shown on Zou during this arc, his second outfit consisted of a pink shirt with a white polka dot pattern (which resemble the circles on the SMILE fruits), orange and yellow striped trousers, and pointed dark colored shoes. He also donned his original pre-timeskip top hat, a blue bead necklace, and he swapped his heart shaped sunglasses for a more traditional black pair.
During Tottoland Arc, he wore a long fancy overcoat with puffy sleeves and black boots. He also wore a decorative scarf around his head and black shades. After being captured by Big Mom, he was stripped of his clothing and reduced to wearing a simple cloak with rope tied to his neck. When meeting the Firetank Pirates, he was given a new outfit, which consisted of a new fedora, a red and black vest along with a dark shirt, yellow ascot, and brown trousers. At one point, he disguised himself as a Luffy clone (created by Brulee's power) that was mostly an oversized mask of his captain.
During the Zou Arc, he added a dark colored coat with a fluffy lining to his second Dressrosa outfit along with a larger top hat embellished with beads. Due to being chased and chewed on by his canine Mink admirers, his coat had become somewhat tattered by the time he met up with Luffy's group.
During Wano, Brook would wear a white damaged Samurai Kimono. He wore a dead spirit headband and has arrows around him.
Personality
Brook is whimsical, jovial, and usually tries to prove himself to the Straw Hat crew. He sometimes shows improper manners and is a slight bit childish, like when he, Luffy, and others chanted for Sanji to hurry with the meal or when he burps or farts after saying "excuse me," sometimes both at once, which annoys Sanji and Nami. However, this could be attributed to him spending decades in isolation and not adjusting to interaction.
One of his major running gags is Brook politely asking women to show him their panties. In the event where the target says no (usually loudly), he drops it entirely, but if they say yes, he is still polite. Another is how he loves making skull jokes, like if something scary "chills me to the bone" or if it "makes my skin crawl, but alas, I don't have any!" and he sometimes annoys others with this. Brook also shrieks in fear when he sees his reflection and showed genuine fear of the monsters on Thriller Bark. He is also extra protective of his afro, as not only will it not grow back, but Laboon wouldn't recognize the dead and skeletonized Brook by anything else.
He has a perverted habits of asking women to show him their panties but only to be beaten up by the women (most of the time by Nami when he always asked her to show him her panties and sometimes to the other women). He even had fanatical love towards his Queen Candelle, despite his loyalty to his king. His shred of basic decency was declaration to wait for his king to pass and by his refusal to take his young princess as a bride. Brook even reprimanded Shuri for acting unlady-like when discussing her growth but hypocritically proved himself no better when flirting with a passing beautiful woman.
Brook typically shows proper manners when in serious or certain moments. He speaks quietly, never interrupts, and rarely insults others for no reason. He can also be too calm, like when he and Tony Tony Chopper were waiting for Usopp on a mangrove island in the Sabaody Archipelago and he convinced his reindeer friend to wait in tranquility, much to the annoyance of Usopp once he got there and saw the pair sitting quietly.
He is very loyal and sometimes emotional, as he has kept his promise to see Laboon again ever since he left the whale at the start of the Grand Line for over fifty years. Brook also swore allegiance to Luffy and has been very loyal since. He uses his comedy to cope with his grief for losing the Rumbar Pirates (whom he loved like family) and being alone for so long. He showed great rage at finally recognizing Shuri, while condemning her for murdering her father. However, he was willing to put aside that feeling after realizing she may have been brainwashed when seeing her personality shifts and taking into account of the giants turning into demons.
Brook is quite dedicated to those he cares for, as he called his former king his benefactor and was distraught by his demise, mourning the loss of his captain and old crew and played a song at their graves. He showed loyalty to the Straw Hats after they were the first people to befriend and openly accept him. Two years later, Brook shows his devotion to his crew by willingly leaving his life of a rockstar to rejoin his crew in piracy. He also refused to be the personal musician of Gunko, despite being flattered a World Noble was a fan of his, stating his loyalty to his Captain.
Abilities and Powers
As a musician, Brook has tremendous talents of playing instruments such as a violin and guitar. He became a famous musician that traveled the world, even gaining a mad fan in the form of Gunko.
In his previous life, he was the leader of a battle calvary and became the acting captain of his former crew, showing his capability as a warrior. He also gained a high bounty in his captaincy but was rendered inactive after decades. After the timeskip, his bounty was re-activated after his connection to the Straw Hat Pirates was revealed. Following the Wano Arc, Brook has been recognized as one of the Straw Hat Pirates' senior officers. Although Brook was defeated by Big Mom, he held his own against the Emperor.
He is quite clever, as he successfully deceived Giolla into returning his blade back to normal, so as to land a surprise attack on her. Another time. he easily used Pedro's attack as the perfect distraction to retrieve a sketching of a poneglyph and hide them in his skull, before Big Mom arrived while impressing his friends and surprising the captive enemies. Finally, he used Luffy's plan of sending multiple copies of himself to run wild in the Tea Party to advantage by disguising himself as a copy and destroying Big Mom's picture of Mother Carmel.
He has strong will, as he kept fighting Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors while wounded until he was defeated. Brook also remained conscious from Haoshoku Haki. He has healing factor of recovering from injuries even drinking milk to heal his wounds from Big Mom.
Devil Fruit
Brook ate a Devil Fruit called Yomi Yomi no Mi (Revive Revive Fruit) and died but return as an undead skeleton and cannot aged. His durability that he cannot be burn due to him no longer having flesh. Even with his head cut off, he still lives and reattached into his body with his soul. His body became light allowing him run across the ocean without falling off to drown.
After the timeskip, he has mastered his devil fruit and in his fight with Zeos, he showed that he can reattach himself with his powers. He can use his powers to turn into a ghost, though he is still visible to people. In conjunction with his powers and swordsmanship, he can generate ice base attack and freeze enemies.
Swordsmanship
As a swordsman, Brook is very skillful with his sword, Soul Solid and easily defeats several enemies such as Zeo and several of Big Mom Pirates' lackeys, impressing Katakuri, one of her Sweet Commanders in the process. He has great strength, as he was able to clash with Kin'emon's torso and counter a strike from Sheepshead to protect Nami and Kozuki Momonosuke, despite the latter holding a size advantage.
Immortality
Due to eating Yomi Yomi no Mi, Brook gained the ability to come back to life. Since he couldn't locate his body immediately, it was reduced into a skeleton but can still feel human things. In a way, Brook is ageless and a pseudo-immortal. Despite this immortality, Brook still feels pain as humans though he is already dead.
Hypnosis
Brook has learned to combine his music with his devil fruit and leave people in a dazed state.
Weaknesses
- Inability to swim: Due to being a devil fruit user, Brook lost the ability to swim and will be susceptible to drowning.
- Bone breaking: Brook suffers damage if his bones would break. He would completely die if his entire bones are destroyed.
- Seastone: Like other devil fruit users, Brook is vulnerable to seastone due to ability to draining devil fruit ability.
- Afro Protectiveness: He would rather die than lose his hair for the aforementioned reason, which can lead to emotional bias.
- Body dependences: Brook's devil fruit grant him the ability to leave his body. However, he is vulnerable to being attacked should he do so and requires an ally to protect him.
Audio Samples
Brook's Theme
Binks no Sake/Bink's Brew (Brook's Song)
Quotes
| “ | YOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! | „ |
| ~ Brook's signature laugh. |
| “ | Pardon me for not introducing myself properly before, I am known as Dead Bones Brook, and I'm a wanted man. My nickname is the "Humming Swordsman". I have a bounty of 33,000,000 Berries on my head. I was the leader of a battle convoy in the kingdom of my origin, afterwards I served a as musician and swordsman in the Rumbar Pirates, later succeeding Yorki as captain of the crew until their demise. But now I pledge my life and my services to captain Monkey D. Luffy of the Straw Hat Pirates! I shall do my best to make you proud. That is to say I shall work myself to the bone! Yohohohoho!!!!! | „ |
| ~ Brook officially joining the Straw Hat Pirates. |
| “ | May I see your panties? | „ |
| ~ Brook's catchphrase to women (including Nami) |
| “ | Death is never an apology! Because when a man makes a promise, he doesn't stop fighting until he fulfills it! | „ |
| ~ Brook's resolve. |
Trivia
- His first bounty was 33,000,000 Berries, before being raised to 83,000,000 Berries following the events of Dressrosa. His current bounty now is worth 383,000,000 berries after he fought against the Beast Pirates and preventing CP-0 from capturing his crewmate Nico Robin.
- Brook's designs are inspired by a combination of Oda’s favorite musicians, music genres and movies, including rock stars like Ozzy Osbourne, Jimi Hendrix, and Slash, as well as films like Seven Samurai and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
- According to Oda, he drew inspirations from The Nightmare Before Christmas, particularly for the Thriller Bark arc, and that Brook's appearance and attitude were influenced by Jack Skellington.
- His laughing style of “Yoho” is a stereotypical pirate line commonly found in various pirate related pop culture and it originates from Dead Man’s Chest in Robert Louis Stevenson’s book, Treasure Island.
- Brook‘s backstory is possibly inspired by the poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
- His English voice actor, Ian Sinclair, also voiced Kureno Sohma in Fruits Basket, Mezo Shoji in My Hero Academia, Yu Kanda in D.Gray Man, South Italy in Hetalia, Ginei Morioka in Rosario + Vampire, Daikoku in Noragami, Baldroy in Black Butler series, Akane☆Hoshi in Soul Eater NOT!, Kazuichi Banjou in Tokyo Ghoul series, Juzo Sakakura in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School series, Lawless in Servamp, Whis in Dragon Ball Super, Lawless in Servamp, Mitsuhide Lowen in Snow White with the Red Hair, and Dandy in Space Dandy.
- His favorite foods include tea and takoyaki. He doesn't like lemons, claiming there is no point in eating something sour when it cannot change your expression.
See Also
- Brook on the One Piece Wiki.
  
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Four Emperors New World Straw Hat Grand Fleet Whitebeard Pirates Red Haired Pirates Heart Pirates Roger Pirates Giant Warrior Pirates Sun Pirates Others Groups Kozuki Clan Mink Tribe Revolutionary Army Skypeia World Government Seven Warlord of the Sea ‡ Special Science Group Impel Down Royalties Arabasta Ryugu Kingdom Donquixote Family Drum Island Esperia Kingdom Void Century Others See Also | ||