Kuro (Alphadhbeta)

Property of Alphadhbeta

Introduction
Kuro, also known by his epithet Kuro of a Hundred Plans, is the main antagonist of the Cresceluna Arc. Though believed to have been dead by the Marines, he showed them otherwise through his attack driven by the bloodlust of seeing a crescent moon.

Appearance
Kuro is a slim man with glasses and slicked green-and-black hair, though during his fight with Luffy, and later Alpha, strands fell off onto his face.

During his time as an active pirate, he wore a standard black captain's coat with the Black Cat Pirates' symbol on the epaulets over a simple white shirt hanging over a pair of black pants reaching down to his knees, and his trademark striped shoes.

During the Captain Kuro Arc, he wore a black suit with two golden ornaments on it over a white shirt with a curious collar, with spiral-like protrusions on the edges, and a standard black tie. He also sported striped shoes.

During the Cresceluna Arc, he wore a white shirt and black tie, black pants, and his trademark shoes. He also kept on his bent and shattered glasses, despite being unable to see correctly at times. Apparently, the left side of the shattered lens resembled a crescent moon.

Personality
In general, Kuro's intelligence is of the highest caliber, whose plans have never failed in the past. He is a master strategist and an accomplished fighter, but he was severely hampered by the fact that he simply did not have the fortitude to deal with a pirate's life on the run from the Marines.

My plan cannot fail! Kuro seems to be very proud of his plans, which had never failed before. When he relived his moments of piracy, he claims his plans were too great to be wasted on his crew. He also said that he would kill his crew if they were to hinder his plans in any way. During the final moments before Luffy defeated him, Kuro lost his composure and screamed aloud that his plans would never fail.

He also seems to like the glasses he wears very much, even though they tend to slip down his nose every so often. He pushes them up with his palms so he doesn't scratch his face with his Cat Claws, a symbol of remembering his murderous ways. Even despite the lens being shattered by Luffy's punch, he kept them on. The glasses are his signature belongings, and as such, he destroyed the new ones Kaya gave him, though it may be because he simply hated her. Upon Kuro's defeat, the glasses dropped onto the ground, bent in a symbolic manner.

Kuro follows the role of the diabolical mastermind and continues One Piece's tradition of noticeably cruel villains. He held himself in very high regard, having a standard for people no one seemed able to live up to but himself. He felt nothing for the lives of others, willingly sacrificing anyone he needed to achieve his ambitions.

During his three years as Kaya's butler, he acted as a benign (though a little snobbish), trustworthy person who carries a hatred for pirates, and as such, looks down on Usopp. He later admits that, aside his hatred for Usopp, how much he despises this pseudo-personality. Judging by the severe change in personality between Captain Kuro and Kurahadol, it is possible that Kuro has some degree of a split personality, or he is a very good actor.

Though able to restrain himself most of the time, he states that seeing a crescent moon drives him wild and even he finds it difficult to resist the temptations of violence brought on by the stage of the moon. The reason is never given for this, though it may be due to psychological reasoning. On the night of the Marine attack, there was a crescent moon, which seems to have been the reason why Kuro was so brutal to the Marines on board. Another example is his attack on Cresceluna; it is an island famous for clear crescent moon nights, and is even shaped like one.

Master Strategist
Worthy of his epithet, Kuro is a master strategist who has never once before failed in his village raids, due to him planning skillfully beforehand. He is the second most intelligent man in East Blue, and was skilled enough to have tricked the Marines into making them think he died, thus leaving him alone.

Stealth Foot
Kuro can run at blinding speed, with which to deliver his attacks, a technique he named "Shakushi". His skill is such that at full speed he is only able to be seen as a vague blur or by the damage his attacks cause. He is able to run 100 meters in around 4 seconds. While he uses super-human speed, his weakness (being unable to tell what he is hitting) puts him at a set back against other super-speed users who can tell what they are striking, though the fact he can move so fast at his level (which is weak compared to other super speed users) is still impressive, as well as the fact that he doesn't really care about anyone around him and feels no remorse for killing his crewmates, counteracting this weakness. His inhuman speed is due to his powerful legs; therefore, he also possesses powerful kicks, as demonstrated when he kicked Usopp and Luffy sending them both flying for a great distance from him.

Weapons
Captain Kuro uses weapons called Cat Claws, furred gloves with full-length katana blades at the end of each finger. He combines these large iron claws with his impressive speed to indiscriminately slash everyone in his vicinity to death at random depths of cuts.

Captain Kuro often pushes his glasses up on his nose with the palm of his hand, a technique he has used since his days as a pirate: straightening them with the fingers would be impossible when the Cat Claws are worn. According to Jango, this proves that even after three years of peaceful life Captain Kuro has not yet forgotten how to kill.

Crew
Pirates should be faithful pawns of their captain. They live and die by my command. Kuro had come to the conclusion his crew were nothing but puppets; that pirates were barbarians that stole from people out of greed and nothing more, and that they were buffoons who were nothing without his guidance and direction, and that his skill is wasted helping them to plot. He saw his crew as this since the very beginning. He would willingly sacrifice them all and by the time his plan was ready he had already long decided they should all die. This disgusts Luffy and made him even more determined to stop Kuro.

Enemies
His life as a pirate led him to become irritated at the idea that he was forever chased by the Marines, as well as those seeking his bounty. He then began to yearn for a peaceful life, without such bothers. Though he managed to succeed in living a peaceful life for three years, after his uncontrollable attack on Cresceluna, he accidentally made a return to piracy.

As Kurahadol he was forced into acting kind natured, to make himself out as Miss Kaya's trustworthy family butler and caretaker. He later admits how much he hated acting out this role for three years, and in the process betrays Kaya's feelings. At one point, he relives seemingly happy memories with her, breaking her heart as he states that he endured it, and voiced his utter contempt for her.

Past
The dreaded former Captain of the Black Cat Pirates, he is also known as Kuro of the Hundred Plans for his elaborate plans that virtually never fail. However, this proved to have a huge setback; as time passed, he grew tired of setting up schemes for his crewmates and of constantly being hunted down by the Marines. That was when he decided to have an impostor, one of his pirates named Nugire Yainu to take his place as Captain Kuro, and be executed in his stead by Captain Morgan so that the hunt for him would be ceased. Soon after, Captain Kuro set up an elaborate scheme in a small village he came to live in, in order to live free from pursuit with great wealth. He took the name Kurahadol and, for three years, lived as the butler of the wealthy parents of Kaya. He then became the sickly Kaya's caretaker.

Captain Kuro Arc
When three years passed, he contacted his old first mate, the hypnotist Jango, and arranged for the Black Cat pirates to lay siege to the village, force Kaya to write and sign a will leaving all her wealth to Kuro, and then kill her. He would then kill the pirates who attacked the town to make it seem as though they had killed her in their attack. His plan goes awry when he is overheard by Monkey D. Luffy and Usopp when he speaks to Jango about his plans. Luffy, Usopp, Roronoa Zoro, and Nami fought together against the Black Cat Pirates. This caused them to be delayed from their supposed time of plundering the village, and for Kuro to approach them in fury. He gave his crew five minutes to resolve everything, or be killed by him. However, this changes when Kaya approaches him in an attempt to negotiate for a settlement, after she discovered an injured Merry, whom Kuro slashed the previous night due to his insatiable blood-thirst from a crescent moon. Kuro brutally insulted Kaya, breaking her heart, and evaded Usopp's attempt to attack him. However, Luffy then intervened, and engaged in combat against Kuro.

After a brutal exchange of attacks, in which Kuro had the advantage due to his super speed, he recounted on why he faked his demise to escape the life of a pirate. Luffy retorted that he shouldn't have been a pirate to begin with if it annoyed him so much, and broke his right claws. After that, Kuro revealed that he plotted his crew's massacre from the beginning, and initiated his Shakushi technique, butchering them at random swipes, until Luffy stopped him and smashed him with a Gomu Gomu no Kane while immobilizing his limbs by wrapping around them. After that, Luffy threw Kuro's limp body to the remainder of the Black Cat Pirates, and ordered them to leave the island and never return. The crew dragged Kuro and boarded the Bezan Black, and left.

Cresceluna Arc
Kuro, after waking up from his injuries, left the crew behind on an island in East Blue. He then continued his life as a pirate, training constantly under the shadows. Eventually, he entered the Grand Line, and took the path to Cresceluna, unaware of Alpha and Kazar's presence...

Major Battles

 * 1) Kuro  Morgan
 * 2) Kuro  Usopp
 * 3) Kuro  Monkey D. Luffy
 * 4) Kuro  Usopp Pirates
 * 5) Kuro  Monkey D. Luffy
 * 6) Kuro  Alpha D. Beta

Trivia

 * Kuro's name means "black." It is also a way of saying "claw" in Japanese.
 * When he was in his butler attire, there were strange symbols on his jacket. Oda jokingly explained that these symbols are poop, to signify that he is lying. This directly resembles the American slang term bullshit, meaning lie. Although the answer was obviously a joke, this could be a play on the slang term full of shit.
 * Due to being thought of as dead and the events surrounding him largely unwitnessed outside of those involved, Kuro was not considered when the Marines gave Luffy his first bounty.
 * He was, however, considered when the Marines gave Alpha a promotion, as he was comfirmed to be alive. He was given a bounty of 30,000,000 as a result.
 * Kuro is the first person in the entire One Piece series to have his bounty earned, revoked, then earned again (excluding the Shichibukai).