Black Maria is a star of the Beasts Pirates. Within this group she is one of the strongest, the so-called “flying six”. She also runs a brothel on Onigashima.
Contents
Appearance
Black Maria is a huge woman with long blonde hair, which is elaborately pinned, similar to a geisha. There are also two swords, a kushi and Kanzashi woven into her hairstyle. In addition, she has two long horns at the hairline. She wears a dark kimono with a low neckline and floral pattern, with it always hanging off her right shoulder. An Obi (sash) is also tied around her waist. On her back, she has a tattoo of the kanji 女難 (“woman problem”). Her Zoan form also features tattoos of her personalized Jolly Roger on her front legs, implying that they are also tattooed on her human body. In addition, she is often seen with a long pipe.
Personality
Black Maria seems to take a liking to Ulti’s forward nature and reaffirms her in speaking her mind. However, when she then spoke ill of Kaidou, Black Maria was shocked. Moreover, she seems to have an empathetic side, so she took the badly battered Momonosuke in her hands and seemed concerned for him. Still, she didn’t shy away from mercilessly beating up Sanji to trap Robin. She seems to see men in general as her playthings and dubbed Sanji as such as well while catching him, torturing him, and showing other men she has subdued. While she was beating Sanji up, her brutality was also shown.
Skills and strength
Due to her position within the Beasts Pirates as a member of the Flying Six, she must have tremendous combat strength. She also has several Smile users under her command, including Wanyudo, which she uses as a staff weapon.
She has eaten from an Ancient Zoan Fruit, which allows her to transform into a tarantula or intermediate form. This has given her the ability to cling to or move along walls and create spider webs that she can use to immobilize her opponents. Her cobwebs are also flammable. In addition, her spider legs have poisonous tips.
Furthermore, she showed that she relies on tactical confrontation rather than brute force. She lured Sanji into a trap and used illusions in the fight against Nico Robin and Brook}}, but if it comes to a direct confrontation, she shows that she also knows how to use weapons. Thus, she beat up Sanji with brass knuckles. In the fight against Robin and Brook, she again brought out a staff weapon.
She is also proficient in armor and observation haki.
She also seems to be good at playing Shamisen and singing.
Present
Search for Yamato
Black Maria and her fellow Flying Six were summoned to his fortress by Kaidou without giving more specifics. When they got there, however, they had to wait for their captain, chatting about who would be next in line of rank in the event of a main representative’s sudden demise. Initially taken with Ulti’s cheeky manner, she was shocked to hear her speak ill of Kaidou. Afterwards, the meeting with Kaidou took place, with King and Jack also present. It turned out that King was in fact summoning them, but Kaidou continued that they were to find his son Yamato and a fight against one of the main representatives for their position would be the reward. However, while the others went on their quest, Black Mario stayed by Kaidou’s side and snuggled up to him. Kanjuro then presented the badly battered Momonosuke, whereupon she took him in her hands. However, Orochi snatched it from her again and planned to crucify him.
Raid on Onigashima
When the chaos, triggered by the enemy alliance, really started, the flying six were informed by King that the search for Yamato should be called off. Instead, they were to keep the enemies from reaching the roof. However, instead of going to direct confrontation, she retreated with her subordinates and sang a song about a pair of lovers. Shortly after, she lured Sanji into a trap, allowing him to be captured effortlessly, and he naturally fell in love with the beautiful pirate.
Afterwards, Black Maria noticed the tremor and seemed to know about Kaidou’s plan to take Onigashima to the Flower Capital. When Sanji then tried to escape, Black Maria showed her devil powers and she and her subordinates were easily able to catch up with the still bound fugitive. Black Maria then tried to get Sanji to lure Nico Robin here by having him scream for help, which would have been heard throughout the castle due to Caimanlady’s abilities as Mary. She then received a call from King, offering to eliminate the red sword scabbards once she was done with Sanji. To her amazement, she didn’t have to torture Sanji for long before he screamed for help, at which point Robin appeared with Brook as well.
Quickly, the two Straw Hats were able to free their comrade, after which Black Maria was called by Jack to stay where she was, as he was going to take care of the sword scabbards. Black Maria then prepared to fight Nico Robin and Brook, while Sanji escaped. During this, she angrily heard the news of the defeat of her comrades Page One and Ulti. In the fight itself, she was assisted by her subordinates who tried to fool the opponents with illusions, but the two Straw Hats saw through this and defeated them easily. Afterwards, Black Maria confronted them with her polearm Wanyudo, a Smile user, but Brook took care of Wanyudo and the rest of the subordinates while Nico Robin took on Black Maria and defeated her with a new technique.
Miscellaneous
- Its name probably comes from the British card game of the same name.
- The name could also be a reference to the Latrodectuswhich eats the male after a sexual encounter.
- Her favorite dish is Mitarashi dango.
- She was ranked 168th in the 7th Character Popularity Poll, the first global poll.
- In SBS Volume 100, Oda explains the reason why her animal-human form looks like a form from a Smile user. Black Maria took drugs to change her transformations like Chopper. The background was that her original animal-human form was too ugly for her.
- Black Maria seems to be based on the Yokai Jorōgumo. Earlier sketches of Oda from Road to Laugh Tale also confirm this.
- In the special chapter Road to Laugh Tale, Part 2, it is mentioned that Black Maria, like all Flying Six, was originally supposed to have a Dinosaur Fruit, and was planned to transform into a Stegosaurus. At another stage of creation, however, Black Maria was intended to have the Obi Obi no Mi (Sash Fruit).
