Charlotte Katakuri of One Piece

Charlotte Katakuri is the 2nd son of Charlotte Linlin and the 3rd child of the Charlotte family. In the Big Mom pirate gang, he is one of the three candy commanders, holds the position of Flour Minister (jap. 粉大臣, Kona Daijin), and manages Flour Island. He, Charlotte Daifuku, and Charlotte Oven are triplets.

Appearance

Despite being one of Linlin’s older children, Katakuri has a relatively young appearance. He has short purple hair and a sturdy build. His clothing style is reminiscent of that of a biker. Thus, he wears a short-sleeved black leather jacket, which he prefers to wear open, with the words “CHARLOTTE” sewn on the back, black pants with studded straps, black gloves, and boots with spurs. A large white scarf covers the lower half of his face and partially covers two scars that run down both cheeks. Later, it is revealed that he deliberately covers the lower half of his face because a mouth with pointed fangs is hidden beneath it. His mouth can take on extraordinary dimensions. On his left arm is a tattoo of a skull pattern, which can also be found on his belt buckle. In addition, he wears bands of spikes on his arms and legs and a light-colored knee pad on his left knee, while there is an additional spike on the opposite knee.

Personality

Katakuri showed himself to be a cold-blooded and very forward-thinking character in his first appearance, when he killed a party guest for Sanji and Pudding’s wedding because he had anticipated his actions of trying to assassinate Big Mom. Also, after the fall of the Whole Cake Chateau, Katakuri was quick to realize that Luffy could become a serious threat to Big Mom, so he wanted to take him out as soon as possible. In this regard, when he fought Luffy, he also mentioned that he did not underestimate him. Apart from that, Katakuri has a calm and level-headed nature and tries to be permanently concentrated. Because of this, he is able to maintain his distinct observation shaki and tries to prevent any possible threat that might hit him and his family in advance. Since he knows exactly what people will say through his observation haki, he has a habit of answering them beforehand. He cares deeply about his family, as he urged Luffy to leave his beloved siblings alone when Rubber Boy was about to attack Mascarpone and Joscarpone. Katakuri also thwarted an attack on Brûlée in time and promptly punished Luffy for the attempt.

His sister Brûlée speaks highly of Katakuri. In fact, he is a perfectionist, because he eats a snack every day at exactly the same time. Just like his mother, Katakuri has a strong affinity for sweets, because sugar is the source of strength for him. For this purpose he creates a small shrine with his devil powers, so that nobody can watch him eating. The fact that his snack is a high priority for him is clearly shown in his fight against Luffy. He was finally going to take his snacks that the cooks had provided for him. But he didn’t make sure Luffy was actually choking on his mochi beforehand, because he was already 40 minutes late and wasn’t willing to delay his snack any further. So it was that Luffy was able to escape from the mochi and disturb Katakuri in his shrine eating. In doing so, Luffy exposed Katakuri’s eating habits, which involved him happily lying on his back and devouring his snacks. This less than elegant behavior was at odds with what Brûlée had previously reported about him.

He is also very sensitive about his mouth, having been scolded and shunned by other children because of it as a child. In his childhood, Brûlée was also attacked as revenge for Katakuri beating up anyone who laughed at his mouth. He did not want his family to be the target of such an act of revenge again, so from then on he hid his mouth under a large scarf, which he only exposes to eat. To keep this secret from becoming public, Katakuri even brutally killed his own cooks who had seen him eating in his shrine. In this upset state, Katakuri is then also no longer able to look into the future through his observation shaki.

When his sister Charlotte Flampe learned the truth about Katakuri’s mouth, however, he did not direct his hand against her. The latter had previously interfered in his fight unnoticed, allowing Katakuri to land a heavy hit against Luffy. Not wanting to win in such a sneaky manner, Katakuri pulled out his trident and inflicted the same heavy injury on himself. He then ripped his scarf from his face and yelled at his little sister not to interfere in a duel between men. He explained that if Flampe was laughing at an idiot like Luffy, she must be laughing at him as well. Despite the fact that Flampe was immediately disgusted by Katakuri’s face, spat at him, and had her subordinates snap photos of him to spread throughout Totto Land, Katakuri remained composed. Instead, he merely had her collapse with his king shaki. Katakuri now decided to acknowledge Luffy as an equal opponent, as the latter had brought his Observation Shaki dangerously close to Katakuri’s level and lasted a long time in this fight.

Skills and strength

One of three Candy Commanders, Katakuri is one of the highest-ranking members of Big Mom’s force. He has been called the strongest of the candy commanders by his subordinates. Brûlée also called him the most powerful offspring produced by the Charlotte family. Katakuri reportedly got up right after he was born and sat down in a chair to sleep. Brûlée claims his back has never touched the ground and he is also considered undefeated. He has precise aim and tremendous strength. He fired several jelly beans with such speed and strength that they were like pistol bullets hitting a man in the head from a greater distance, killing him. In terms of speed and physical strength, Katakuri can match Luffy. Even in the latter’s Snakeman form, Katakuri was still able to hit Luffy, though in this Gear 4 state, he was able to increase his speed considerably.

Katakuri is a master of observation shaki. Not only can he predict the movements of his counterparts, but he can also see the future to a small degree. For example, he foiled a planned assassination attempt on Big Mom by Jigra, or foresaw Luffy going after Carmel’s picture after he jumped out of the wedding cake. He can also predict what people will say. Capone called him the biggest obstacle in his alliance’s plan to assassinate Big Mom. In his fights, his Observation Shaki plays an important role, as he can anticipate his opponent’s movements and act accordingly. However, with his Observation Shaki, Katakuri cannot foresee the effects that his own intervention will have in the future. Because he had seen Sanji dodge the priest’s pistol shot at the tea party, Katakuri unceremoniously fired a shot at the cook himself. However, since Sanji was able to dodge that attack as well, Katakuri hit the priest instead.

That he has a bounty of 1,057,000,000 berries on his head so far shows that the world government does not underestimate him in any way and sees him as an immense danger. He ate of the Mochi Fruit, Paramecia type, when he was five years old, which allows him to create and control sticky mass. Furthermore, his devil powers have awakened, allowing him to turn those around him into mochi as well. He managed to injure Luffy through brute force while trapping him in his sticky mass. However, the weakness of his devil powers is liquid, causing the mass to lose stickiness. According to Jinbe, the mochi fruit is also a “special paramecia” (jap. 特殊な超人系, Tokushuna Paramishia). However, how it differs from an ordinary paramecia fruit is not clearly described. Despite the paramecia classification, however, the mochi fruit appears to be a logia devil fruit. This is due to Katakuri’s distinct Observation Shaki. With this, he accurately anticipates all attacks and reacts accordingly by deforming his body with mochi in the affected areas. In this way, Katakuri dodges any attack, but it acts as if the attacks simply slide through his body. In this way, Katakuri escaped an attack from Ichiji Vinsmoke, who apparently cut him in half with his Sparking Figure attack. Luffy was also unable to hurt Katakuri with a hooked attack. Thus, by Katakuri’s own admission, he did not have to take a single hit for several years. The only time this ability can be cancelled out on Katakuri is when he loses his composure and concentration. Combined with his melee skills, this makes him an almost overpowered opponent. Katakuri’s use of his devil powers makes them seem like a stronger version of the gum-gum fruit. As he himself claims, his armor haki is also superior to Luffy’s. While Katakuri was fighting Luffy, the Candy Commander imitated many of Luffy’s gum-gum attacks. For example, he formed a superior variant of Luffy’s Gomu Gomu no Elephant Gun out of Mochi and Armor Haki, which he used to hurl the gum-man into a wall. Katakuri was also able to counter a Gomu Gomu no Hawk Gatling by creating multiple arms from mochi and reinforcing them with armor haki. Katakuri thus demonstrated that Luffy was inferior to him in terms of devil powers as well as strength and speed. In addition to an above-average Observation Shaki and Armor Shaki, Katakuri is also proficient in King Shaki.

Katakuri is also skilled in the use of a trident. When he is not using it in battle, he hides it in his Mochi body. The trident turns out to be a deadly weapon, for example, in combination with his devil powers, he can make it rotate and advance quickly. In this way, “Mogura” (mole), as Katakuri calls his trident, causes considerable damage.

Past

Katakuri, Daifuku and Oven were born 48 years ago aboard a ship on the Grand Line. Katakuri had unusual eating habits as a child. Due to his habit of eating quickly, at the age of three his mouth expanded excessively when he stuffed too many donuts into his mouth at once. This earned him the ridicule of other children who laughed at him for his mouth. Katakuri therefore beat up anyone who made fun of him. Soon he was known as a monster because of his strength and other children shunned him. Perospero therefore advised him to hide his mouth and then he would make friends, but Katakuri accepted himself as he was and refused. At the age of five he already ate the mochi fruit. However, when he was ten, Brûlée was attacked by Katakuri’s enemies, so to get back at him for what he did, he decided to hide his mouth under a scarf. That way, no one else in his family would be hurt.

Present

The tea party

Katakuri and Smoothie arrived at Whole Cake Chateau the day before the wedding between Sanji and Pudding. On the day of the wedding, Katakuri was present on the roof of the chateau as Capone conducted the security check of the party guests. In the process, Katakuri intervened when Jigra demanded entry to the tea party, having seen that the latter was plotting to assassinate Big Mom. Katakuri killed Jigra with some jelly beans and also prevented two of Capone’s men from being killed.

A short time later, the wedding ceremony began. While Sanji and Pudding stood on the altar, Katakuri was amazed to see Pudding break down in tears. When this event actually occurred, Big Mom ordered the priest to murder Sanji. This prompted Katakuri to launch an attack on Sanji himself, knowing that Sanji would dodge the priest’s attack. However, to his surprise, Sanji also dodged Katakuri’s attack.

After the failed attack, countless Luffys suddenly jumped out of the wedding cake. Katakuri knew that Luffy was after Carmel’s photo, so he temporarily immobilized the Straw Hat captain with his devil powers. After telling Big Mom of Luffy’s plans, Jinbe released Luffy from Katakuri’s black tea mochi. In the ensuing chaos, Katakuri saw a devastating future, so he ordered Capone Bege to kill Luffy. However, the latter revealed himself to be a traitor who had it in for Big Mom. An attack by Bege on Katakuri with pistol bullets was unsuccessful. Luffy then tried to show Big Mom the broken picture of Mother Carmel, which Katakuri was unable to prevent. Big Mom then let out a bloodcurdling scream, which immobilized Katakuri for the time being. When Katakuri regained his composure, he produced earplugs for himself and his family from Mochi to prevent another scream from their mother. Meanwhile, the Fire Tank Straw Hat Alliance had retreated to Bege’s created fortress, as their assassination attempt had failed. Earlier, Katakuri freed Brûlée from the clutches of the Straw Hats, depriving them of their means of escape once and for all. To prevent Bege from attacking Big Mom with his fortress, Katakuri plugged his cannon barrels with mochi. All he and his siblings had to do now was wait for the Alliance’s next move.

A short time later, Bege dissolved his fortress form. While Caesar was flying away with Capone, the Vinsmokes confronted the Big Mom pirates. Katakuri tried to stop Capone and Caesar, but Ichiji stood in his way. Ichiji was summarily defeated by Katakuri. To everyone’s confusion, the Tamatebako suddenly exploded, causing the castle to tilt sideways and collapse. Thanks to Streusen’s devil powers, the Big Mom pirates and the residents of Sweet City were saved. Due to the collapse, the Fire Tank Straw Hat Alliance finally managed to escape. Katakuri immediately tasked Daifuku with forming two teams to pursue the criminals responsible for the commotion.

The cast of the Sunny

After the teams were assembled, Katakuri was about to head out herself to kill Luffy before he became a serious threat. Suddenly, however, Big Mom appeared, who was currently roaming the city in a rage and having one of her hunger attacks. With her own children’s lives now in danger, Perospero made up a lie that the Straw Hats had a second wedding cake with them. She immediately began pursuing them, but Katakuri was worried that her mother would soon see through the lie. If she did, Big Mom would destroy the entire island. Pudding showed up and declared to make a new cake to prevent just that.

Afterwards, Katakuri and some Chess soldiers used Brûlée’s devil powers to cross the Mirror World to the Thousand Sunny, which was still anchored on the coast. Here they lay in wait for the Straw Hats, who were currently on their way to their ship in case they escaped Big Mom alive. When Brook and Chopper showed up with the Shark Submerge, they were also joined by Perospero, who defeated the two Straw Hats. A short time later, the other Straw Hats actually showed up on shore unharmed, which were still being pursued by Big Mom. Katakuri ordered the soldiers who had come onto the ship back to the Mirror World, knowing that otherwise they would be defeated by Luffy shortly. After Luffy destroyed Perospero’s Candy Maiden, Luffy and Katakuri’s fists clashed. Luffy now wanted to push Katakuri off the ship so they could set sail. The fight was cut short, however, as Pedro engaged Perospero in a massive explosion. The Straw Hats used the moment to make preparations for a coup de bust. Katakuri recognized their plan and was about to stop it. However, Luffy grabbed him and dragged him into the mirror world with him. The Straw Hat Captain then destroyed the mirror to the Sunny.

Fight in the mirror world

Luffy and Katakuri now continued their battle in the mirror world. But Luffy was outclassed by Katakuri in both strength and speed. Katakuri imitated Luffy’s attacks, putting a heavy toll on the rubber man. While Luffy lay injured on the ground, Katakuri learned from Perospero that he and Big Mom were currently chasing Sunny. Katakuri then ordered Brûlée to find another mirror to the Sunny in order to set the ship on fire. After Mascarpone and Joscarpone showed up with another mirror, Luffy approached them. Katakuri stopped and reminded him that they were going to fight man to man. The candy commander continued to pummel Luffy, demanding that he keep his hands off his siblings. Meanwhile, the Sunny team managed to escape a gigantic wave from Big Mom, whereupon Luffy continued to communicate with the others via the broken mirror. He moved away from the Big Mom kids, but Katakuri stopped and attacked him again. He then harassed Luffy with his trident and awakened devil powers.

After burying Luffy under a mountain of mochi, the Candy Commander went to his shrine to have his belated snack. However, he did not check beforehand to see if Luffy had indeed been suffocated by the mochi. Luffy escaped and interrupted Katakuri’s meal. Irritated by the sudden interruption of his snack and the revelation of his behavior, Katakuri finally lost his concentration. Unable to see further into the future, Luffy gave him his first heavy hits. However, Katakuri quickly regained his composure, allowing him to once again dodge all of Luffy’s attacks and regain the upper hand. Just before Luffy ran out of breath in Gear 4, the Straw Hat initially retreated to gather strength. With Brûlée, Luffy fled the Mirror World before Katakuri could stop him. A short time later, Luffy returned to the Mirror World to continue his battle with the 1 Billion Berry Man, aiming to surpass him. Luffy took a heavy beating, but he began to see a bit of the future himself in the process. Katakuri noticed Luffy’s progress and wanted to get rid of him quickly. Using his trident, he eventually inflicted a fatal injury on the rubber boy. However, when it became apparent that his sister Flampe had intervened in the fight unnoticed, Katakuri severely injured himself with his trident. Afterwards, he revealed his mouth in front of Flampe and screamed at her not to interfere in his fight. Flampe was shocked at her brother’s face and turned away from her idol in shame. So that they could continue fighting undisturbed, Luffy and Katakuri disposed of their spectators with their king shaki, the latter acknowledging Luffy’s strength.

The end of a legend

The fight between Luffy and Katakuri then reached its climax. After both had taken several attacks, Luffy decided to end the fight with his Gear 4 snakeman. In this form, Luffy managed to hit Katakuri with several surprise strikes right away. However, despite Luffy’s increased flexibility, Katakuri again hit the straw hat several times with his attacks. After a tremendous final exchange of blows, the battle was finally over. Luffy could no longer maintain Gear 4 and fell into a hole seemingly defeated, but Katakuri also slumped forward onto the ground, finished off. After a few minutes, Luffy pulled himself out of the hole, badly injured, only to find that Katakuri had risen in front of him. When he asked Luffy if he would come back to defeat Big Mom, Luffy vigorously answered in the affirmative, saying that he would be the man to become Pirate King. Katakuri commented that this was a rather far view of the future. He staggered in response until this time he fell backwards to the ground. Before the straw hat captain left the battlefield as the victor, the latter covered Katakuri’s mouth with his mafia hat.

When Katakuri woke up again from his faintness, Brûlée was tending to his wounds. She asked him if he fell on his back on purpose, as she had noticed that he staggered forward first. Katakuri now opened up to his sister that the legend that his back had never touched the ground before was one big lie. Brûlée already knew this, however, because she had watched him through the mirrors. This made Katakuri blush. She knew that he had only done this to protect his siblings. Afterwards, Katakuri inquired about Luffy and Brûlée told him about his escape from Deadland. Even though Brûlée could not forgive the Straw Hat for his actions, Katakuri smiled at this news.

Miscellaneous

• Katakuriko means potato starch in Japanese. Thus, Katakuri also carries a food in its name. Katakuri is also the Japanese name of the Erythronium japonicum. The powder of the crushed tuber of this plant was used as a starch in Japanese cooking until it was replaced by the much cheaper potato starch. The Japanese dogtooth is also the reason why Katakuri is often called Dogtooth in English fan translations.
• Mochi can refer to Japanese rice cakes as well as sticky things in general.
• The mochi fruit was classified as a logia devil fruit in the Weekly Shōnen Jump issue. However, in volume 86, this was corrected to include the addition of a special paramecia.
• The scene during his first appearance when he predicted what Capone would say next is very reminiscent of Joseph Joestar from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventurewho also did this to each of his opponents in his youth. Interestingly, Joseph Joestar’s Seiyū Tomokazu Sugita (note: needs link) also voices Katakuri.
• His favorite food is donuts.
• Katakuri came in 46th in the 6th character popularity poll.
• In the seventh character popularity vote, the first worldwide vote, Katakuri ranked 14th.