TV-Series
Description
Oars is an ancient giant who lived roughly five hundred years before the events of the main storyline and became a key antagonist during the Thriller Bark arc. In his lifetime he was a feared conqueror known by several titles, including the Continent-Puller and the Demon of the Frozen Land. Legends say he pulled entire defeated countries and islands toward his own territory in order to build a nation of villains, and he was remembered as a berserker warrior who rampaged across many lands. His body was eventually discovered in the Land of Ice, where he is believed to have died from exposure after being without clothing.
After his death, his enormous corpse was recovered by Gecko Moria, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and kept in a special freezing chamber aboard the ship Thriller Bark. Dr. Hogback prepared the body and turned it into the nine hundredth zombie, the only one given the classification of Special Zombie. Moria then implanted the shadow of Monkey D. Luffy into the corpse, reviving Oars and earning him the nickname Luffy's zombie. Because the shadow carried Luffy's personality, the revived Oars adopted several of Luffy's traits, including his loud ambition to become the Pirate King and his excitable, reckless behavior. In this form he was a simple-minded and free-spirited fighter who acted on the instincts of the shadow, and he caused considerable trouble even for Moria until the warlord brought him under full control.
Physically, Oars is far larger than an ordinary giant, standing roughly sixty meters tall, about three times the height of a typical giant. He has red skin, a pair of horns on his head, and a build so massive that his body could be mistaken for a wall. Despite his size, he is extremely fast, able to move so quickly that he appears to vanish for an instant before striking. His body is also highly durable, and small amounts of salt, the standard weakness of zombies, have almost no effect on him because of his scale. As a vessel for Luffy's shadow, Oars gained access to many of Luffy's signature techniques, including moves such as the Gum-Gum Gatling and Gum-Gum Bazooka, though he could not initially stretch his limbs. When Moria used his Kage Kakumei technique to directly manipulate the zombie, Oars gained the ability to stretch his body like rubber and could even be transformed into a large ball for attacks such as Oars Ball. Because his body behaved like rubber, blunt force was less effective against him, while electrical attacks were a noticeable weakness.
In the Thriller Bark story, Oars serves as Moria's ultimate weapon and the central obstacle of the final battle. Moria, who planned to use powerful shadows gathered from defeated pirates to achieve his own goals, regarded Oars as his masterpiece and intended to use his strength to dominate the seas. The entire Straw Hat crew had to cooperate to fight Oars, since no single member could match him. Their combined attacks gradually weakened him, and Nightmare Luffy, a powered-up form of the captain, dealt him a severe blow. Oars rose again but was finally brought down through the coordinated efforts of the whole crew, and the battle ended when Moria absorbed the shadows of all the zombies aboard Thriller Bark, causing Oars to collapse.
Oars' most important relationships center on those who used or opposed him. Gecko Moria is the man who revived him and controlled him as a weapon, while Dr. Hogback is responsible for creating his zombie body. Monkey D. Luffy shares a direct link to him, since Luffy's shadow gave Oars his new personality and battle style, making the giant a distorted mirror of the protagonist. The Straw Hat Pirates are his principal adversaries in the arc. Oars is also the ancestor of Little Oars Jr., a pirate who later fights alongside the Whitebeard Pirates during the war at Marineford, and many of his descendants carry horn-like traits that mark them as related to the ancient giants.
Oars does not undergo personal growth in the usual sense, since his original soul is gone and his actions are driven by the shadow inside him. His development within the story is defined by the arc itself: he awakens as an uncontrollable force, becomes a controlled puppet under Moria, and is ultimately destroyed. His historical legend, however, has lasting significance in the wider world. He is one of the few ancient giants whose deeds are recorded in legend, and his connection to Little Oars Jr. keeps his legacy alive long after the Thriller Bark battle ends. Within the series' supplementary materials, his birthday is listed as October 4.
After his death, his enormous corpse was recovered by Gecko Moria, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and kept in a special freezing chamber aboard the ship Thriller Bark. Dr. Hogback prepared the body and turned it into the nine hundredth zombie, the only one given the classification of Special Zombie. Moria then implanted the shadow of Monkey D. Luffy into the corpse, reviving Oars and earning him the nickname Luffy's zombie. Because the shadow carried Luffy's personality, the revived Oars adopted several of Luffy's traits, including his loud ambition to become the Pirate King and his excitable, reckless behavior. In this form he was a simple-minded and free-spirited fighter who acted on the instincts of the shadow, and he caused considerable trouble even for Moria until the warlord brought him under full control.
Physically, Oars is far larger than an ordinary giant, standing roughly sixty meters tall, about three times the height of a typical giant. He has red skin, a pair of horns on his head, and a build so massive that his body could be mistaken for a wall. Despite his size, he is extremely fast, able to move so quickly that he appears to vanish for an instant before striking. His body is also highly durable, and small amounts of salt, the standard weakness of zombies, have almost no effect on him because of his scale. As a vessel for Luffy's shadow, Oars gained access to many of Luffy's signature techniques, including moves such as the Gum-Gum Gatling and Gum-Gum Bazooka, though he could not initially stretch his limbs. When Moria used his Kage Kakumei technique to directly manipulate the zombie, Oars gained the ability to stretch his body like rubber and could even be transformed into a large ball for attacks such as Oars Ball. Because his body behaved like rubber, blunt force was less effective against him, while electrical attacks were a noticeable weakness.
In the Thriller Bark story, Oars serves as Moria's ultimate weapon and the central obstacle of the final battle. Moria, who planned to use powerful shadows gathered from defeated pirates to achieve his own goals, regarded Oars as his masterpiece and intended to use his strength to dominate the seas. The entire Straw Hat crew had to cooperate to fight Oars, since no single member could match him. Their combined attacks gradually weakened him, and Nightmare Luffy, a powered-up form of the captain, dealt him a severe blow. Oars rose again but was finally brought down through the coordinated efforts of the whole crew, and the battle ended when Moria absorbed the shadows of all the zombies aboard Thriller Bark, causing Oars to collapse.
Oars' most important relationships center on those who used or opposed him. Gecko Moria is the man who revived him and controlled him as a weapon, while Dr. Hogback is responsible for creating his zombie body. Monkey D. Luffy shares a direct link to him, since Luffy's shadow gave Oars his new personality and battle style, making the giant a distorted mirror of the protagonist. The Straw Hat Pirates are his principal adversaries in the arc. Oars is also the ancestor of Little Oars Jr., a pirate who later fights alongside the Whitebeard Pirates during the war at Marineford, and many of his descendants carry horn-like traits that mark them as related to the ancient giants.
Oars does not undergo personal growth in the usual sense, since his original soul is gone and his actions are driven by the shadow inside him. His development within the story is defined by the arc itself: he awakens as an uncontrollable force, becomes a controlled puppet under Moria, and is ultimately destroyed. His historical legend, however, has lasting significance in the wider world. He is one of the few ancient giants whose deeds are recorded in legend, and his connection to Little Oars Jr. keeps his legacy alive long after the Thriller Bark battle ends. Within the series' supplementary materials, his birthday is listed as October 4.