Mercury Goodman

Introduction
Mercury Goodman (マーキュリー・グッドマン, Mākyurī Guddoman) is the captain of the Goodman Pirates. Originally coming from the North Blue, he formed the Goodman Pirates in the hopes of forming an entire orchestra of pirates to help him in his quest to make the world truly at peace. And to do this, he also plans to find the One Piece while he's at it.

Appearance
While Goodman may be a pirate, he certainly doesn't look it. He has long, brown hair that, had he not showered any of it, you'd swear he was a bum on a boat. Besides his long hair, he also has the beginnings for an equally long mustache, and wears an old, bright yellow suit similar to an old, British army uniform. Lastly, regarding apparel, Goodman never went anywhere without his purple-tinted sunglasses, which looked similar to those you would find on a 60's hippie. Around his equally yellow pants' waist is a belt with a clarinet in the holster. As for why that is, see the Weapons section for details.

Personality
Despite this seemingly ragged appearance, he's actually very pleasant to converse with. Often, he'll try to negotiate peace terms before going to battle; the only exception being with the Marines, for obvious reasons. His behavior is surprisingly laidback, yet strategic; similarly to former Admiral Aokiji, in a way. However, do not mistake this peaceful nature as a sign of weakness; mess with him, his crew, his ship, or anyone else he cares for, and he will gladly slice any enemy in his path. Because, hey, it's easy to make peace in life, if you have the strength to back up that peace. Because of this, he is both hated, and at the same time respected by some of the Navy's top brass.

Swordsmanship
Though he uses mainly words to work out conflicts, he's never above fighting to prove his point. His swordsman skills are taken at least in part from his idol, Brook of the Straw Hat crew; and has learned to incorporate music into his sword-fighting. Unlike Brook, however, he never uses a violin, nor freezes his opponents. This also isn't to say that he copied Brook's attacks down to the letter; he mainly used his principals of fair fighting, and made up the rest on his own.

Physical Strength
Because he uses a mix of words as well as his sword, he's well-balanced in his strength. His sword can cut through whole tree trunks and certain rock sizes with ease; however he can't cut through everything/anything he wants, as his skills aren't refined enough yet for that.

Agility
His speed is fairly average compared to most other pirates, and despite not being a fan of conflict, he never runs from a fight for his friends. In sword-to-sword combat, he can usually dodge pretty easily, but is not the best when it comes to fancy footwork.

Endurance
Because of his highly laidback attitude, he can fight for a very long time if it's 1-on-1. He often takes his time, is patient with how his enemy reacts, and can endure many hits from seemingly tougher foes (i.e. kicks, punches, etc.). However, despite all of this, as said, he prefers to not fight; believing that needless conflict only brings about the devastation of that which pirates and navy men alike try so hard to achieve. Hence, he often needs other crewmates to back him up in battle; and it's this need that brings him to first gather a decent crew before heading off to parts unknown.

Weapons
Here is where things get interesting. As noted in his appearance, he has a belt with a clarinet in a holster. You want to know why? He uses that as his sword, with surprisingly powerful results! The fun of its origin will be saved for a bit later, but suffice to say, it's both a tool for peace, and self-defense as Mercury leads his crew to the many isles of the world. Nicknamed the Burbank Albert, this strange sword is Goodman's item of choice no matter where he goes; able to both calm normally hostile men and beasts, and also kill those who harm him and anyone he loves.

Noted attacks include the Burbank Rhapsody, which slashes two to three enemies at once with a single attack; Albert's Peacekeeper in Blue, a cavalcade of tunes that lull enemies long enough to be slashed; and his ultimate move, The Promise of Kite; a melodious attack that calls upon the strength of his old friend and mentor, Pallas T. Kite, to rip through a small group of foes.

Crew
Goodman Pirates

Family
Eustace Goodman (Brother)

Taya Goodman (Mother)

Joseph Goodman (Father)

Allies/ Friends
Lisa Armstrong (Musician/Demolitions Expert)

Vincenzo Baradelli (Swordsman)

Paula Toulouse (Navigator/Doctor)

Louis W. Lovelace (Guru/Advisor)

Pallas T. Kite (Friend and Mentor)

Enemies
Ulysses Black (Marine Captain) Otto Matro (Captain of the Timepiece Pirates) Platonia Zigra (Former King of Tempozua Island) Dr. Melissa Barnabus (Former Marine Doctor-turned Pirate Captain of the Madness Pirates) Captain Vicerous Morgue (Pirate Captain of the Morgue Pirates)

History
Mercury Goodman was born in the North Blue roughly fifty years after the execution of pirate king Monkey D. Luffy. It was hard to believe that, at the time, such a seemingly clueless, stretchy man would be able to achieve what seemed to be impossible. However, the damage made before his crowning was clear; and many pirates gave up reaching for the heights of glory, even after Luffy's execution. Many after were too scared to even try finding the One Piece again after his death. This was especially the case because, at the time, crackdowns on pirates became more and more harsh afterwards; paranoia of potential new pirate kings became so great, that the World Government itself wanted to find the One Piece so they could end what seemed to be the encouragement of corruption.

However, this didn't scare off everyone interested in piracy; and the Marines never could find where Luffy left the One Piece. In secrecy, many pirates took a page or two from former warlord Crocodile's book and made secret organizations of pirates that were meant to carry on what seemed like a dying profession.

So, where does Mercury fit into all this, you ask? Well, at the time, he lived in Orlean Village; a place that was so drunk on booze and music that even the local Marine base seemed intoxicated on celebrations. Now of course, they were not literally drunk 24/7, but they were laid back enough to be one of the easy-going towns ever conceived. But not all is joyous here; for in the case of the Goodman family, the father, Joesph Goodman, and former mayor of the village, died due to an unintended riot by some drunken parade patrons after they mistook him for a bandit. Even those who remembered all that happened that fateful night aren't sure how the came to such a conclusion.

This left only his mother and brother to comfort the then 12 year-old Mercury. This needless bloodshed got him thinking, however. And despite his grieving, he consulted his childhood friend and playmate, Pallas T. Kite, about the future. Pallas suggested that he express his feelings in music.

For the next five years, he and Pallas would travel throughout the town, doing various shows for the crowds and gaining a bit of revenue in the process. But then, when he turned 17, tragedy struck yet again.

A notorious Marine Captain named Ulysses Black appeared and began to close down much of the village's establishments; mistaking the place for a pirate hangout. When the villagers protested, he had many of them arrested for the flimsiest of reasons. In response, an angry revolt began, with Goodman and Kite at the head of the mob. They stormed the Marine ship and freed many of the people there. But sadly, Captain Black killed Kite in the confusion with his Devil Fruit powers, and would likely have killed Mercury with him, had not one of the prisoners freed stood up for Mercury and beat Ulysses.

This second tragic bloodshed got Mercury thinking, and asked the former prisoner to help him fix this broken system that the world seemed to be ruled by now. After all, if Marine Captains are fueled by such flimsy propaganda as to believe that a party-happy town is automatically a pirate hangout, then clearly peace must be restored as quickly as possible. The prisoner agreed, and revealed himself to be Mercury's first crewmate; a former Marine helmsman/drummer named Vincenzo Baradelli.

He also discovered that, during the battle, he seemed to have the ability to tame the normally hostile, as he was able to persuade the Marines to help fight Black when Vincenzo was injured in the fight.

Together, the two set out with what Beli that Mercury made during his time in Orlean Village, and pursued both a dream of a full on orchestra band/bringing peace to the world through their music. Not long into his journey, he also realized that in order to bring peace to all, he would also need to find the One Piece so as help end the madness that was being caused by both Marines and what few pirates are left in the world.

Character Design
As you may have noticed from this page, he's based off of several real-life people, much like with Louis W. Lovelace. In this case, his design is based off of the immortal John Lennon; or more specifically, his persona of Sgt. Pepper. Admittedly, Sgt. Pepper played a coronet and not a clarinet, but the clarinet was necessary for the name to make sense. Speaking of, his name is based off of both Freddy Mercury; the immortal singer of the rock band, Queen; and 20th century clarinetist, Benny Goodman. Incidentally, many of his mannerisms come from the Beatles, as well as the mindset of many 60's music sensations during the times of the Vietnam war. The name of his weapon's named after fellow clarinetist, Albert Burbank; and his attacks are named after various jazz pieces, such as the Rhapsody in Blue, among others.

Major Battles
Pallas T. Kite/Mercury Goodman/Vincenzo Baradelli vs Ulysses Black (Won/Pallas T. Kite killed) Goodman Pirates vs Otto Matro (Won) Goodman Pirates vs Platonia Zigra (Won) Goodman Pirates vs Dr. Melissa Barnabus (Won) Goodman Pirates vs Vicerous Morgue (Won)

Quotes
"Listen here, mate, you can bark orders as much as ye want; but nobody, I mean nooooobody messes with me friends!" Mercury Goodman vs Otto Matro

Trivia
Despite being surrounded by alcohol most of his life, Mercury has never tasted a drop of it before he went out to sea. This is mostly at Pallas' behest, as he felt that it would put Mercury in a shallow grave if he tried it. And since most of the musicians of Orlean Village are drunken dullards, he was probably right.

His favorite food is lobster (lobster thermadore especially); and his least favorite is ironically, given his origins as a character design, eels.

Despite being a clarinetist by trade, his favorite instrument is the piano. He never took lessons because he couldn't read music well. Speaking of...

Despite being an accomplished musician back home, he has never read a single sheet of music to practice. He felt such sheets as needlessly complicated, and prefer to make up his own songs/notes without need of such a thing. Many of his friends have pointed out how problematic that is, but he shrugged them off saying, "I'll get a conductor to deduce that out when I retire, lads. No need to fret about it now."

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