Izou

Izou is the 16th division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and prior to this, a retainer of the Wano Country daimyo Kouzuki Oden. He is the older brother of fellow retainer Kikunojo. Izou is a man with a pale complexion and has his black hair tied up in the manner of a geisha with a lock of long, loose hair falling over the right side of his face. He has the crest of the Kouzuki Family tattooed on his back. He is a man who wears a pink and purple kimono and a scarlet obi with black spots tied around his waist. Izou is very loyal to the Whitebeard Pirates and Whitebeard himself. Izou and his sibling, Kikunojo, were born in Wano Country. During their childhood, they were raised in the dancing school Hanayanagi School (花柳流, Hanayanagi-ryū?), but their family was torn apart after their father was arrested. For the two of them they had to survive on the streets of Ringo, forced to entertain depraved adults. One of the tricks that Izou used was to take precision shots, in which he was impeccable. When Kouzuki Oden arrived about 41 years ago and gave them food, they joined him. One day, Oden separated from his followers and went alone to Kuri, to face all the bandits there. Realizing this, they all ran over with the intention of supporting him. However, when they arrived, they saw that he had already defeated everyone, including Ashura Doji. After Oden became Kuri's daimyo, he decided to turn all of his followers into his retainers. Six years later, Oden brought Inuarashi, Nekomamushi and Kawamatsu to the castle to feed them, where he then made all three his servants as well. One day, Izou and other servants tried to steal money from Shimotsuki Yasuie seeing that they ran out of funds, but were caught. Instead of punishing them, the daimyo gave them more than they were going to steal and encouraged them to use it to become better people for the sake of Oden and the country. Following Yasuie's advice, they educated and trained to become worthy warriors. 30 years ago, when the shogun fell ill, all of Oden's retainers took the latter to the Flower Capital. In the same year, when the Whitebeard Pirates were shipwrecked in the Itachi Port of Kuri, Oden headed there, so his retainers headed to stop him. After the confrontation between Whitebeard and Oden, they had a feast, where the latter wanted to join the crew, but both his servants and the pirates did not accept that. Two weeks later, at night, Oden decided to secretly follow the crew as they left the country, where he clung to the ship with a chain. Izou, who was already suspicious of his intentions, chased after him to bring him back, clinging to him. However, Marco took him to the ship, where he asked Whitebeard to bring his lord as well. But the pirate told him that the latter was still insisting despite the fact that he had already been rejected and that someone as unpredictable as him would only endanger his crew, so he would have to convince him. So he proposed to Oden that if he held the chain for three days he would join the crew. Seeing how Oden was holding up for the three days, Izou angrily told Whitebeard not to forgive him for putting his lord through all that. With only ten minutes left, Oden heard a woman in trouble and broke free to go to the island he was on. The next day, Izou and the crew arrived at said island, where Whitebeard decided to accept Oden on board. So Izou, although not very happy at first, also got on board, along with his companions, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi, who had also sneaked onto the ship; as well as the woman his lord rescued, Kouzuki Toki. One day, when Izou demonstrated his marksmanship to the crew, Vista told him that he should use it to protect others, as there was no point in a samurai obsessively clinging to a sword if he couldn't protect his lord with it. Izou then gave up the sword and began to use the weapon. After two years, Oden and Toki's son, Kouzuki Momonosuke, was born. Because his lord received a reward, Izou urged the latter to return to Wano for the sake of his wife and son, but both Oden and Toki reassured him. Another two years later, the Whitebeard Pirates arrived at an island and noticed a commotion that frightened even the animals. Where they then engaged the Roger Pirates for three days before the skirmish turned into an exchange of gifts. Oden decided to join Gol D. Roger for one year to assist him with his final journey. Rather than follow him, Izou decided that he would rather continue sailing with the Whitebeard Pirates and chose to wait alongside Inuarashi and Nekomamushi for Oden to return, but the latter two left him behind when they snuck onto Roger's ship without him. The Whitebeard Pirates learned about Oden's death several years after it happened. Many times they thought about going to Wano, but they gave up because of the consequences that this would cause in the country. At some point, the crew expanded to sixteen divisions, where Izou became the commander of the 16th Division. Izou oversaw the sake cup ceremony that officially welcomed Portgas D. Ace into the Whitebeard Pirates. Some time after Ace became the commander of the 2nd Division, the latter tried to convince Whitebeard to go to war with Kaidou to liberate Wano Country, where Marco tried to warn him of the consequences if that happened. After Whitebeard beat up Ace for wanting to go alone, both Izou and Marco told him that they would be willing to accompany him when Whitebeard agreed. Ace told them that with them they could defeat Kaido, to which the two told him that he was naive.

Izou is an extremely adept sniper, being able to destroy a person's sword with a single shot. He developed sharpshooting skills back when he was still a street-dwelling child, as part of his entertainment routine. As the heir of a dancing school, where he was raised prior to his father's arrest, Izou was capable of performing traditional dancing routines. As the former 16th division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Izou had authority over the lower-ranking subordinates. Also Jinbe, who was a former Warlord of the Sea, stated that each commander was a very powerful individual. The World Government has given him a bounty of Beli 510,000,000, proving how dangerous he was.

Izou wielded a pair of flintlock pistols.However, despite being a samurai Izou admitted that he was not a very good swordsman and so he heavily preferred to use guns.

Fiercely loyal to the White Beard Pirates and Oden. Suave, confident, a bit flirtatious and playful with those he is close to. A natural-born leader. Not very talkative with strangers, keeps his guard up around those who haven’t gained his trust yet. Amicable and loving to friends and partners, cares a lot about them. Has a keen eye for aesthetics and beauty. Very skilled fighter. Is willing to die for his cause, but refuses to die or get injured needlessly. Very respectful He is 43 years old. He is 192 cm tall. Izou's favorite food is ganmodoki. Fittingly enough, ganmodoki are one of the main ingredients in oden.