Sandbox / One Piece: Jimbei

"First Son of the Sea" Jimbei

Voiced by: Daisuke Gōri [2009], Katsuhisa Houki [2010-present] (Japanese), Daniel Baugh (English)^note Other languages: Víctor Hugo Aguilar [OP: Red] (Latin American Spanish), Sylvain Lemarié (French); Willi Roebke (German)

Age: 44 (Pre-Timeskip), 46 (Post-Timeskip)

Debut: Chapter 528 (Manga), Episode 430 (Anime)

"It's not my flesh that hurts! It's my heart, Ace... because I'm not able to do what's right!"

—Chapter 528

The last of the Seven Warlords to be formally introduced, and the 10th member and helmsman of the Straw Hat Pirates. Jimbei is a whale-shark Fish-man and the former captain of the Pirates of the Sun after the death of Fisher Tiger. His becoming a Warlord eight years before the events of the main story saw the crew split up, with one faction headed by Arlong. Unlike Arlong, Jimbei's time with the Sun Pirates changed him for the better, as his dream is to have peace between humans and fishmen. He is also the series' most skilled practitioner of Fish-man Karate.

He's first seen locked away in Impel Down due to his protesting the execution of Ace. Jimbei feels indebted to Whitebeard and his crew, thanks to Whitebeard's putting Fish-Man Island under his protection from marauding slavers, and has a friendship with Ace, despite fighting with him in the past. Luffy ends up setting him free, and the two work closely together to rescue Ace.

Two years later, Luffy and Jimbei meet again on Fish-Man Island. Having gotten close to him during the ordeal there, and as well as their previous encounter in the Paramount War, Luffy asked him to join his crew. However, Jimbei turned him down for the time being, stating that he had some unfinished business to attend to. That business was severing his ties with the Big Mom Pirates, which he does eventually do, and later meets up with Luffy and company in the midst of doing so, helping to arrange the necessary players to crash Charlotte Linlin's tea party so they could rescue Sanji from harm. He left his captaincy of the Sun Pirates to Aladdin and Praline, with the intention of fully joining up with Luffy at the end of this situation. He does indeed join the crew as their official Helmsman, but as Big Mom and her crew bear down on them, he stays behind to help Aladdin and the Sun Pirates escape, with Luffy giving him captain's orders to survive and rendezvous with them in Wano Country. He eventually survives the encounter with Big Mom, and is able to come to his captain's aid in Wano. He is thus the first and so far only person to officially join the crew as one of its core members (Grand Fleet notwithstanding) after the time-skip.

He has a bounty of 1,100,000,000 berries.^note It began at 76,000,000 over 15 years ago for joining the Sun Pirates and having various battles with the Marines; it rose to 250,000,000 for unspecified reasons before being frozen as a Warlord; it raises to 438,000,000 for deserting the Warlords and aiding Luffy and Whitebeard during the War. After declaring himself to be under Luffy's command and officially joining the Straw Hats, his prior influence as a former Warlord, his defeat of Who's-Who, and his role in helping to undermine Big Mom and Kaido, his bounty raises to 1.1 billion berries.

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A-K

• Acrofatic: Jimbei is a big, but nimble Fish-man, able to keep up with speedsters like Luffy and is an excellent martial artist.
• Actually Pretty Funny: Jimbei seems amused that S-Snake inherited Hancock's crush on Luffy.
• Animal Motifs: The shark, being a whale shark Fish-man.
• The Atoner: For inadvertently allowing Arlong to rampage in the East Blue, Jimbei decides to make amends. Nami even notes how much it was eating him up inside.
• Badass Driver: He's a phenomenal helmsman, able to steer an entire ship through the green room of a massive wave and make it look easy.
• Bait-and-Switch: Considering that he was Arlong's former captain and the one who let him run wild in the East Blue, it seemed like Oda was setting Jimbei up to be a major villain. Who would've thought that he would not only be one of the Straw Hats' biggest allies, but also become the 10th member of the crew?
• Baritone of Strength: Initially with Daisuke Gōri, who had a natural tough sounding voice. After Gōri's death, Katsuhisa Houki (who originally voiced the higher pitched fellow Warlord, Gecko Moria) manages to pull it off well. Also very present in the English dub.
• Beware the Nice Ones: For all his kindness and gentleness, you do not want to piss him off. Jimbei flat-out admits that if he had any idea what Arlong had been up to in the East Blue, he would've killed his "brother" and quite possibly the other Fish-Man's entire crew.
• Big Damn Heroes: He has a growing habit of these moments.
  • He appears just in time to free Luffy and Nami, right before Nami is about to be tortured by Charlotte Opera.
  • Jimbei does it again during the Wano arc, where he saves the samurai fleet (Including Straw Hat crew, Kid Pirates and Hearts Pirates) from being sunk by the Animal Kingdom Pirates' long distance cannonballs, by sinking their ship with a well placed water attack.
• Blow You Away: His Arabesque Brick Fist technique (Karakusagawara Seiken) creates a shockwave that blows away enemies.
• Blue Is Heroic: Jimbei is a blue whale-shark Fish-man known for his bravery, nobility, and kindness.
• Breakout Character: Ever since his debut during the Impel Down arc, he became very popular with the fanbase, despite not being a Straw Hat. And then during the end of the Whole Cake Island arc, he officially becomes a member of the Straw Hat crew, 9 years after his debut (and 20 years after his first mention).
• The Bus Came Back: Jimbei returns just in time during the Wano arc to take part in the battle against Kaido and Big Mom. Jimbei's appearance is Big Damn Heroes moment as he sinks a warship singlehandedly and giving a badass introduction.
• Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit": He looks less like a whale shark and more like a guardian lion with gill slits and blue skin.
• Chekhov's Gunman: He's mentioned by Johnny and Yosaku at the end of the Baratie Arc, as the one who, supposedly, sent Arlong in the East Blue, but makes his proper debut in the Impel Down Arc, hundreds of chapters later, where he allies himself with Luffy for the escape and during the Paramount War. Later, he becomes one of the Straw Hat Pirates.
• Close to Home: Jimbei doesn't like when someone talks down about the slavery of Fishmen and assumes all were slaves at one point. Who's-Who touches a major nerve when he insinuates that Jimbei should know about a legend within the species by assuming he was a slave at one point. Jimbei responds by cranking up the durability of his Armament Haki, breaking Who's-Who's fingers when he tries to pierce him with Finger Pistol attacks. Followed by crushing his wrists and finishing it with a Fishman Karate punch that not only hits Who's-Who but demolishes the area behind him.
• Cool Old Guy: He's like a third dad to Luffy.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Although he resembles an oni (traditional Japanese ogre) with a whale shark motif, he's far from a bad guy.
• Declaration of Protection: Ace's last request to Jimbei is to protect Luffy in his place. Jimbei stands up to Akainu all for Luffy's sake, and even tanks a lethal blow to protect the boy.
  "Strike me as many times as you like. I will shield him as long as I live."
• Delayed Causality: His Arabesque Brick Fist technique (Karakusagawara Seiken). After throwing the punch the shock wave takes a couple of seconds to take effect. In the anime, this is stretched out, and has the shock wave build up to its full effect.
• Deus Exit Machina: As a former Warlord of the Sea, Jimbei would have tipped the scales of power for the Straw Hats too far if he had joined up earlier in the series. Therefore, despite the fact that Luffy asks him to join the crew at the end of the Fish-Man Island arc, Jimbei turns him down until he can settle things with Big Mom. It's pretty telling that Jimbei doesn't officially join the crew until the Straw Hats begin actively fighting against the Four Emperors and their crews.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Jimbei is one of the few people to stare down Big Mom and tell to her face he's not afraid of her. His courage is proven when Big Mom fails to steal his lifespan.
• The Dreaded: While the public fears him as a (former) Warlord of the Sea, he's also a feared name among the Arlong Pirates, who were all former crewmates of his in the Sun Pirates under Fisher Tiger. One of the reasons why Arlong and his crew set up shop in the East Blue is to avoid Jimbei's wrath, and they support that by trying to keep as low a profile as possible. This includes bribing the Marines in the immediate area to ignore their activities and making no major moves for eight years after conquering Coco and its surrounding villages and enslaving the populace. Their fear is well-justified; Jimbei himself says that if he had known what they were doing, he would've killed all of them without a second thought.
• Easily Forgiven: Nami forgives him for indirectly causing Arlong to make her childhood a misery. This is justified in that Jimbei had no intention in letting it happen or even any idea that it would, and Nami had already forgiven Hatchan, another member of Arlong's own crew who did have a more direct hand in the matter, though in his case far less easily than Jimbei.
• Escort Mission: He finds himself on one in Caribou's cover story, in that he finds him in the process of trying to kidnap mermaids again, beats the tar out of him, and then promptly takes him to G-5.
• Famed In-Story: As a (former) Warlord of the Sea and a well-known ally of Whitebeard, Jimbei is easily the Straw Hat with the most pre-crew fame. When his decision to join Luffy as an official member of his crew becomes publicly known, it causes major waves across the world and heavily boosts Luffy's already notorious reputation, playing a part in his promotion to being "The Fifth Emperor".
• Fangs Are Evil: Subverted. He has a mouth full of fangs (though real whale sharks have small teeth), and his lower canines even stick out prominently from his closed mouth, but they're round instead of sharp, indicating he's not a bad person like the rumors say.
• A Father to His Men: His compassion for his crew outstrips that of Arlong. His decision to accept the government's offer to become a Warlord was at least partially motivated by a desire to allow members of his crew to return home to their families without fear of punishment by the law. And he primarily backed down from Big Mom's roulette not because of the threat it presented to his own life, but because a number of his crew would've been killed alongside him.
• Gentle Giant: He's 9'8'' and a Nice Guy all around. The trope goes along with his basis; whale sharks are the largest fish, but are quite docile.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: To Luffy, to make him realise that even if he has lost his brother, he still has to get his crew back together.
• Good Is Not Dumb: His gentleness makes people underestimate his intelligence. He was smart enough to back off from his request to leave Big Mom's crew, as she only would have willingly let that happen if he had spun her roulette, which would have very likely killed him and his crew. He instead frees Luffy and Nami when they are captured and decides to openly rebel against Big Mom.
• Good Is Not Soft: He was actually much more ruthless back in his youth, to the point that it even gave Arlong pause at times for some of his acts of brutality. While he gradually softened up during his time as part of Fisher Tiger's crew, when he became a Warlord after Fisher Tiger's death and arranged Arlong's freedom, the latter made it clear that he'd continue his ways unless Jimbei killed him right then and there. Jimbei beat him to a pulp and didn't kill him only because Hatchan pleaded for him to stop.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has lightning-shaped scar over his right eye and he's quite noble.
• Heart Is an Awesome Power: As he explains to Luffy during their skirmish in the Fish-Man Island arc, the principle of Fish-man Karate is that the user can manipulate water for their attacks, even if that water is in the atmosphere or in a person's body. Which means his very punch can create shockwaves potent enough to hurt Luffy, whose rubber body normally makes him immune to blunt attacks.
• Heroic BSoD: He goes into a brief one when Sanji reminds him about what Arlong did to Nami.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Jimbei himself claims that he's not very impressive on dry land, which is technically true compared to his capabilities in the water, but it is a bit misleading, seeing as he can still outfight his fellow Warlords on land.
• Honor Before Reason: Zigzagged with his departure from Big Mom's crew. At first Jimbei insists on approaching the infamously temperamental Big Mom and formally withdraw from her crew face to face. When it becomes clear this departure would cost him years of his life and an unknown number of his own crew's lives, he relents and chooses to instead quietly start a rebellion against her by joining forces with Luffy and Bege. But when this rebellion leads to him coming face to face with Big Mom again, Jimbei does formally quit her crew, complete with returning his ceremonial sake cup in the middle of a battle.
• Inconsistent Spelling: Due to different ways you can romanize Japanese, his name can be written as either Jinbe (used in the French official translation), Jinbei, or Jimbei. The One Piece Databook Green decided to go with "Jinbe", while Viz and Funimation use "Jimbei", which is the spelling used on this very wiki.
• Ki Manipulation: He demonstrates Armament Haki during the Whole Cake Island arc, and according to Vivre Card — One Piece Visual Dictionary (card #0010), he's got Observation Haki as well.

L-Z

• Large and in Charge: He's a whale-shark Fish-man, so naturally he looms over most normal characters. And on top of being a former Warlord, he was also the captain of what remained of the Sun Pirates after Captain Tiger's death
• Lightning Bruiser: Obviously he becomes very strong and fast underwater due to being a Fishman, but this applies even in land battles. He's able to blitz Gecko Moria with a powerful gut punch, the latter lampshading how Jimbei's is "fast for a big fellow". He is also able to keep up with Luffy in their brief skirmish, although to be fair, neither opponent really wanted to seriously injure the other.
• A Lizard Named "Liz": He is a whale-shark fishman named after the Japanese word for his species, jimbei-zame.
• Lost in Translation: His title is a pun on a Yakuza title and the word for a channel. This doesn't carry into English, leading to the "First Son of the Sea" approximation.
• Made of Iron:Jinbe is very though and survives Akainu's lava fist through the chest, the same attack that previously killed Ace.
• Making a Splash: When he gets into the water, he uses his karate moves to throw around torrents of water as if they were silk.
• Manly Tears: Although Jinbe is a strong and imposing fish-man, he still cries when his captain Fisher Tiger dies, when Ace dies, and when Nami forgives him for Arlong's deeds. All these moments don't detract from his badassery.
• Master Actor: He pulls a very convincing act when infiltrated into Kaido's crew by laughing at a crucified Momonosuke.
• Mr. Exposition: He's a very knowledgeable man and he often explains pivotal background information on things to Luffy.
• My God, What Have I Done?: He let his hatred for humans get the best of him and wound up indirectly responsible for Arlong committing his atrocities, which includes causing Nami's tragic past. He feels quite ashamed of this.
• My Greatest Failure: This is how he feels about how his becoming a Warlord allowed Arlong to run free in the East Blue. When he meets Nami, the biggest victim of Arlong's rampage, he doesn't hesitate to beg for her forgiveness and asks her not to place the blame of Arlong's actions on the entire Fish-men race.
• Nerves of Steel: Not only is he completely and utterly unafraid when facing down Big Mom (which saves him from her Touch of Death powers), but he even takes a moment to lay down a cup of sake and formally leave her crew with a sincere thank-you. She's so dumbfounded that it actually takes her a brief moment before she tries to kill him again.
• Never Gets Drunk: Never demonstrated, but Oda states that he has the highest alcohol tolerance among the Straw Hats, above Zoro and Nami, who certainly can hold huge amounts of alcohol.
• Nice Guy: Despite his somewhat intimidating appearance, he's the nicest pirate warlord there is, and fits right into the Straw Hats.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • His actions in sparing Arlong during the breakup of the Sun Pirates ensured that Arlong would enslave Nami's village and make her life a misery.
  • At one point during the breakout at Impel Down, he's fighting to take over a Marine battleship alongside Crocodile and Mr 1. He tries to support them with his Fish-man Karate, only to wreck the ship instead.
• Normally, I Would Be Dead Now: As mentioned, he takes a magma fist through the chest yet turns out just fine after resting up a bit.
• No-Sell:
  • He shrugs off Big Mom's attempt to steal his lifespan, since her powers require fear to work. And Jimbei will bow down to no less than the King of the Pirates.
  • During their fight, Who's-Who tries to hit Jimbei with a barrage of Fang Pistol and Finger Pistol, but Jimbe covers himself with an Armament Haki strong enough that he doesn't even flinch under his attacks.
• Not Afraid to Die: Jimbei is a man of conviction and does whatever he thinks is right. After breaking out of Impel Down, Jimbei was willing to lay down his life for Whitebeard for protecting Fish-Man Island. When Big Mom demands his lifespan for leaving her crew, her powers fail to work, as Jimbei doesn't fear her.
• Not So Stoic:
  • While usually one of the most focused characters in the series, he can occasionally lose his cool, as shown in how he dealt with Ace's death. On a lighter note, see the Oh, Crap! entry below.
  • In Chapter 650, after telling the Straw Hats some vital information, he gets a face fault at Luffy being more concerned about food. When he berates Luffy for not taking the news seriously and Luffy cheerfully replies that he likes to leave things to chance, Jimbei bemoans to the others how hard it must be to have Luffy as a captain.
    Luffy: Chill out Jimbei! I like taking my chances when it counts!
    Jimbei: (To the other assembled Straw Hats) Oh, you poor souls.
    Sanji, Nami, Usopp & Chopper: Yeah, we know.
  • Chapter 899, right after Luffy misinterprets every last insult Judge sent at Sanji as compliments and wondering why he'd do that, Jimbei actually bursts out laughing, knowing he's gonna have a good time aboard from that moment on.
  • Chapter 1060, after a moment of shock, he bursts into loud, amused and fond laughter (with tears of laughter in his eyes) when Luffy reveals what his true dream is. He both looks and sounds utterly gleeful when affirming he joined the right crew.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • His Wild Take after the timeskip when he sees Shirahoshi and a wounded Hachi with Luffy.
  • A more serious example is shown in the anime, when Sanji reveals to him how badly Nami had suffered under Arlong's tyranny.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: At first, he seems to feel this way with regards to Hody Jones, as he feels if a human (Luffy) were to defeat him, the Cycle of Revenge would create some new tyrant like Jones was when Arlong was defeated. It turns out that he's merely opposed to Luffy beating up Hody without the support of the citizens of Fish-Man Island. If Luffy can come out of the ordeal looking like a hero to Fish-men and merfolk, and not like a domineering human (the kind with which the island has plenty of experience), then Jimbei has no problems whatsoever.
• Only Sane Man: After Fisher Tiger's death, he and Hatchan become the only voice of reason left for the Sun Pirates as everyone else has become fixated with waging war against humans for their crimes against Fishmen.
• Pacifism Backfire: In sparing Arlong during the confrontation that led to Fisher Tiger's crew splitting up, Jimbei was indirectly responsible for, among other things, Arlong enslaving Nami's hometown and making her childhood a living hell. He does not take this discovery well at all.
• Perpetual Frowner: He's usually seen with a frown on his face. Later downplayed, as he smiles a lot more often after he officially joins the Straw Hats in Wano.
• Prongs of Poseidon: He wielded a trident during his days in the Neptune Army.
• Protectorate: This is Played With during the events of Impel Down and Marineford in regards to his protection of Luffy. Before being send for his execution Ace asks Jimebi to look out for Luffy. However Jimbei gently refuses, telling Ace that while he owes Whitebeard a great debt and considers Ace to be his friend, that doesn't necessarily mean he is going to put his life on the line for someone he doesn't know or respect. Nevertheless Jimbei staunchly protects Luffy with his life during the Paramount War, internally noting that his thoughts on the matter haven't changed since then, the difference is that he's come to respect Luffy and now wants to protect him.
• Put on a Bus: While, as of the conclusion of Whole Cake Island, he is officially a Straw Hat Pirate, he stays behind to help his former crew escape. Luffy orders him to survive and rendezvous with them on Wano. He keeps his promise, arriving just before the Alliance arrives at Onigashima, ready to fight side-by-side with his captain.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni:
  • He's the Blue, Ace the Red.
  • He's also the Blue in relation to Arlong's Red. Jimbei decides to take a reasonable approach to help the Fish-men/Merfolk relations to accept the World Government's request to be a Warlord, while Arlong chose to make himself "the wrath of the Fish-men" to humanity. Interestingly, they were both pretty firm Reds in the Sun Pirates, with Arlong being the calmer one.
• The Reliable One: Jimbei is a stolid and straightforward man who can be counted on to do more than his part whenever he's around. Sengoku says that Jimbei's refusal to fight in the Paramount War is surprising, as he is usually so dependable when it comes to fighting pirates. One of his best attributes is his ability to keep every aspect of a situation in mind so he keeps ahead of his enemies. He's the member of the Impel Down escape crew to keep in mind that they will need a ship to leave the prison and goes to get it. Baron Tamago says that Jimbei timing the Fish-Man Pirates' departure from Totto land to coincide with the chaos of the Tea Party assassination attempt is the kind of meticulous planning they can expect from Jimbei.
• Sand In My Eyes: In the anime, he denies shedding Tears of Remorse after Nami forgives him for indirectly letting Arlong into her life when Luffy (who slept through the explanation) asks why he's crying.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Really, this is what Jimbei is all about:
  • In full defiance to Fish-Man Island's laws, Jimbei donates blood to Luffy. He lampshades it himself while stepping forward, reasoning that since he is a pirate, he really shouldn't be expected to follow the rules anyway.
  • He refused to answer the World Government's call to fight Whitebeard because his homeland owed a debt to Whitebeard, which leads to him being arrested and sent to Impel Down. But by doing so, he befriends Luffy and defects to help Luffy and Whitebeard in rescuing Ace from his execution.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When he tries to leave Big Mom's crew, she tells him that he has to stay or spin her wheel and pay a price. Jimbei originally is perfectly willing to spin it as he realizes that the price is likely to be his life regardless of where the pointer lands. However, when he knew that the wheel also dictate certain number of his men that also going to be sacrificed, he decides to Take a Third Option and back out of leaving long enough to just up and run later. Pedro later commends him for doing so.
• Shark Man: Specifically whale shark.
• Sinister Shades: When playing the part of an Animal Kingdom pirate, Jimbei wears a pair or round dark-shaded glasses to be more into the role.
• Sixth Ranger: He formally joins the Straw Hat Pirates in the Wano Arc as their Helmsman, much later than the previous official Straw Hat, Brook. For this reason, he's initially unaware of the full dynamics of the crew and a bit of a fish out of water.
• Skewed Priorities: Downplayed. When discussing a plan with the Straw Hats on how to face Hody Jones, he stops to ask them what they should name their plan before they actually carry it out.
• Slave to PR: Downplayed, but Jimbei is very aware of how public image is important in dealing with the Fantastic Racism from humans towards Fish-men and vice versa. One of his reasons for joining the Seven Warlords was it would be a good gesture of inter-species cooperation. When confronting Hody, he makes a point of arranging the Straw Hats' counter attack in a way that wouldn't look like humans oppressing Fish-men yet again.
• Speaks Fluent Animal: He can communicate with whale sharks, a trait that's unusual for Fish-men to possess.
• Staring Down Cthulhu: When Jimbei openly declares that he intends to leave Big Mom to join the Straw Hats, Big Mom demands a price and Jimbei offers his lifespan. However, while most people cower in fear of death, her powers don't work on Jimbei, because he is not one bit afraid of Big Mom.
• Stout Strength: He's real stocky, but he's also very strong even by the impressive standards of his race, and as a Fish-man karate master, he can use his punches and kicks to propel jets of water fast and hard enough to destroy warships in a single blow.
• Strong and Skilled: All Fish-men have innate Super-Strength by human standards, and Jimbei is strong even for a Fish-man. He's also a master of Fish-man Karate, an undersea variant of the martial art that uses the force of its blows to create devastating shockwaves in the surrounding water. Even on dry land, Jimbei's mastry of Fish-Man Martial Arts is potent enough that he can use his techniques to manupulate the water molecules in the air to generate devestating shockwaves with his techniques.
• Take a Third Option: Big Mom gives him a choice: Stay with her crew or spin her wheel and pay a price, and then he can leave. Jimbei ultimately does neither. He refuses to spin the wheel, as he knows the price would certainly cost his and his men's life, no matter where the pointer lands. He then decides to just openly rebel against her.
• Take This Job and Shove It: In the Paramount War, Jimbei leaves the Warlords for good so he can support Luffy and Whitebeard's efforts to rescue Ace.
• Takes Ten to Hold: During the Battle of Marineford, the Marines tries keeping Jimbei down with chains without success.
• Taking the Bullet: During the eleventh hour of the Paramount War, Jimbei vows to protect Luffy from Akainu's wrath and, when the insane admiral tries to kill Luffy with a magma punch, Jimbei uses his own body as a shield to save Luffy from the brunt of the attack.
• Team Dad: After he officially joins the Straw Hats in Wano, Oda gave him this title in the crews family dynamics. In terms of temperament he serves as a reliable rock for the Straw Hats even before he officially joined the crew, and Luffy in particular wouldn't have survived Marineford or its aftermath without his strength and guidance.
• Tempting Fate: His most common Running Gag is that he's immune to this trope. He'll do or say things that should result in his immediate injury or death by all narrative logic, and come out without a scratch.
• Third Time's The Charm: Luffy first asks Jimbei to join at the end of the Fish-Man Island arc, to which the latter declines due to having to deal with Big Mom first, since she is in charge of protecting Fish-Man Island in exchange of sweets and Jimbei has sworn loyalty to her. Jimbei returns during Whole Cake Island, resolves the Big Mom situation and declare his loyalty to Luffy only to remain behind to protect his former crew, the Sun Pirates. When he returns for the third time in Wano, Jimbei has finally officially joined the crew as the helmsman.
• Threatening Shark: Subverted. He's the only shark Fish-man thus far that hasn't been a villain. He used to be hardcore to the point that even Arlong used to think he was too brutal, but has considerably softened up, thanks to Koala's innocence and Fisher Tiger's death and final words. Still a threat to his enemies, though. This is downplayed since the whale shark, Jimbei's fish-type, is pretty innocuous and eats krills.
• Token Good Teammate: Among the Warlords, Jimbei is the only one that isn't cruel, out of his mind, a prick, or not caring about anyone. The reason he joined the Warlords in the first place was to prevent the World Government from interfering with Fish-Man Island.
• Token Non-Human: He’s the only one of the original Seven Warlords to be explicitly non-human and, upon, joining the crew, becomes its only fish-men, even when counting the Grand Fleet.
• Took a Level in Idealism: He grew up in a disenfranchised neighborhood embroiled by violence and saw many of his fellow fishmen enslaved by human nobles. He served the Ryugu kingdom and Sun Pirates already disillusioned with human-fishman relationships. But thanks to the teachings of both Tiger and Otohime, he realized what he truly desired was peace, and so shifted his goals to achieving peace between the races.
• The Unfettered: Jimbei is an honorable guy, but he proves he's a true pirate in that he's willing to do the dirty business if he has to. Case in point; knowing that he and the Straw Hats need firepower, he's willing to disregard Pekoms' wishes and fight Big Mom alongside a scoundrel like Capone Bege if it means that the Straw Hats get to accomplish their goals.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He becomes a Warlord and spares Arlong during the confrontation leading to the dissolution of Tiger's crew. This causes Arlong and his crew to go rogue in the East Blue, leading to Belle-Mère's death and the enslavement of Coco Village.
• Visual Pun: The type of traditional Japanese tunic he wears is called a jimbei. In Japanese, whale sharks are called jimbei-zame (jinbei-shark) because the patterns on their bodies resemble those weaved into jimbei.
• Warrior Therapist: His consoling of Luffy after Ace's death shows that Jimbei has a deep understanding of pain and coping with trauma, no doubt having lots of it of his own from his own experiences. His words help Luffy realize that he still has a future and people who love him, even when lost in deep grief.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He was one when he was a member of the Sun Pirates, championing Fish-man/merfolk rights, and he in particular was especially brutal during their battles with the Marines to the point where even Arlong thought he was too rough.
• We Will Meet Again: Heroic version done thrice. First was when Jimbei said he'd see Luffy on Fish-Man Island. Second, when he said he'll be back to join the Straw Hats. Third, when he promises to reunite with the rest of the Straw Hats in Wano.
• What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: He considers himself useless on land. This is not really true despite him being a One Piece version of Aquaman –- even without water to throw, he is still a huge Fish-man karate master capable of taking on top tier pirates and Marines.
• Worthy Opponent: He considered Ace one, as they fought for five days straight to a standstill.
• Would Hit a Girl: To send Linlin away from the Thousand Sunny, Jimbei hits her with a full-force karate fish-man hit, without holding back. Justified since a little less effort and the hit would do nothing to Big Mom.
• Yakuza: It's in his full title, a translation of which could be "Jimbei, Yakuza of the Sea". Despite this, he's a benevolent person.
• You Shall Not Pass!: In the anime, he tries this on Mihawk, who is in the process of curb-stomping Luffy. Keyword being "tries".

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