Karoo is Vivi’s pet. He is a racing duck and even has his own troop, the Super Spot-Billed Duck Troops.
Contents
Appearance
Karoo is a man-sized racing duck, has yellow plumage and black tail feathers. He also has a half-orange, half-black bill. Karoo’s blue bobble hat and pink glasses with blue lenses are also particularly striking. He wears a green saddle with two pink saddlebags, which Vivi sits in when she rides him. A small water barrel with a straw hangs from his neck.
Personality
Karoo is basically very shy and timid, which is probably why he gets along so well with Usopp. Basically, however, he has a sunny and happy disposition, which he then shows to people he knows. But it also happens that the race duck takes all his courage together and bravely faces an order or the enemy, like against the officer agents on Little Garden.
Karoo is devoted to Vivi. Besides, his friendship with the Straw Hat Pirates means a lot to him. However, the race duck reacts very differently to instructions. For example, he takes Vivi’s literary instruction that he should give her a hand literally and extends his hand. On the other hand, he sometimes does the exact opposite of the command, such as sitting down in a fight against Zoro instead of running.
Skills and Strengths
Being of the racing duck species, Karoo is faster than a leopard, according to Vivi. His speed makes him indispensable to the princess in surprise attacks or escape. Most of the time, the two fight as a team. However, the assumption that they would work perfectly together as a team was proven wrong in the fight against the Pirate Hunter. For example, Usopp has also fought together with Karoo on Little Garden, riding him as a gunner. He also possesses extreme endurance and stamina. For example, he protected Vivi from being trampled to death by the mounted rebels and carried her on afterwards. While fleeing from Mister 2, he was even able to fly for a brief moment.
Past
Childhood
Karoo was already a constant companion and friend in Vivi’s childhood. He was given to Vivi by her father for her birthday. Since then, the two are inseparable.
Joining the Baroque Company
One day, when Vivi learned from her loyal bodyguard Igaram that a conspiracy was afoot by a group called the Baroque Firm in Arabasta, she persuaded him to go undercover together to infiltrate the association. By doing so, the two hoped to gain new information, stop the conspiracy, and thus save their country. The two succeeded in infiltrating the Baroque Works, so they were stationed on Whisky Peak Island under the aliases Miss Wednesday and Mister 8. Of course, Karoo was in on it too. He and Vivi had to accept and carry out assignments in the spirit of the company. However, Karoo wasn’t on every assignment. For example, when the princess and Mr. 9 were supposed to catch Laboon.
Present
Meeting with the Straw Hat Pirates
Just before arriving at Whisky Peak, Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 said their goodbyes, jumped ship, and swam to the nearby island. While the bounty hunters disguised as harmless citizens threw a big party in honor of the pirates, Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 wrote a letter to the boss informing him that while they couldn’t kill the whale, they had tricked a few pirates. Except for Nami and Zoro, all the crew members had fallen for the trick as well. After Roronoa Zoro unceremoniously finished off most of the Baroque agents from Whisky Peak and even Miss Monday, Miss Wednesday, Mister 8, and Mr. 9 prepared to attack him. To do so, Vivi summoned her pet to help. After a brief exchange of blows between the four of them against Zoro, Mr. 9 had caught him with a steel cable, holding him down. At the same time, Vivi and Karoo had taken the sleeping Luffy hostage. However, Zoro managed to take out the rest of the Baroque agents as well.
Shortly after, Mister 5 and Miss Valentine suddenly appeared, tasked with taking down the spies who had gotten behind the Boss’ secret and identity. The spies in this case were Vivi, disguised as Miss Wednesday, and Igaram, aka Mister 8. After it was clear that the opponents were far too strong for her, Vivi fled on Karoo. Realizing the hopeless situation, Igaram asked Zoro and Nami to bring the princess home safely.
The two officer agents were eventually able to catch up with the princess and the race duck, however Zoro came to their rescue in time. Afterwards, Luffy also showed up, but a misunderstanding caused a fight between him and Zoro. Despite their dispute, the two were able to defeat the two officer agents on the side. Nami eventually ended the fight. Vivi was saved for the time being. The latter first enlightened Luffy, Nami, and Zoro about the Baroque Company’s plans to conquer Arabasta, and that she as well as Igaram joined this organization to save their country. Furthermore, she also mentioned that the boss of the organization, Crocodile, is one of The Seven Warlords of the Seas. That’s why the unlucky ravens showed up. However, since the unlucky ravens had already drawn phantom pictures of Luffy, Nami, and Zoro, Igaram, disguised as Princess Vivi, was going to set out with some straw dolls to throw the Baroque Company off the scent. However, shortly after he set sail, an explosion occurred. Due to this, Luffy’s crew as well as Vivi assumed his death. He was apparently the victim of an attack by Miss Bloody Sunday. The Straw Hats, Vivi and Karoo could only watch helplessly and fled Whisky Peak. The next destination was Little Garden.
Little Garden
Arriving at the mysterious island of Little Garden, Luffy wanted to explore. Vivi joined him and Karoo had to reluctantly follow. They found out that the island was still in the age of dinosaurs. Besides dinosaurs and ammonites, they also met a giant named Dorry, who claimed to be the strongest warrior of Elbaf. The three quickly made friends with him and accompanied him to his home. There they ate and drank with relish, and Dorry told them of his home of Elbaf, his religion, and a friend he has been fighting for 100 years. A volcano erupted in the distance, which is the sign for the two giants Brogy and Dorry to go to battle. When Dorry returned, the three learned that the log port would take an entire year to locate the nearest island. Afterwards, the giant indulged in a barrel of rum, but its contents exploded in his stomach, much to everyone’s horror. The giant raged, blaming his guests, and attacked. A fight ensued, but the straw hat lost. Meanwhile, out of fear, Karoo fled into the forest.
There he met the two officer agents from Whisky Peak Mister 5 and Miss Valentine. Their plan was to torture and torment the race duck until it cried out for help, allowing the agents to capture Luffy and Vivi. Karoo, however, persevered. The Officer Agents eventually found Dorry’s living place, where Luffy, Vivi, and Usopp were located. Vivi and Usopp were quickly defeated by the two. Meanwhile, Luffy was stuck under a skeleton thanks to Dorry.
Karoo eventually freed Luffy from the skeleton and Usopp from the hole in the ground. Together, they then attacked the officer agents. While Luffy fought, Usopp and Karoo were able to run away from Miss Valentine and Mister 5 the entire time. However, after Luffy was stopped by Miss Goldenweek, Usopp and Karoo then had to destroy the wax candlestick. First, Usopp burned Luffy’s clothes with a fireball to make Miss Goldenweek’s symbols ineffective. After that, he tried to run away on the race duck while coming up with a way to destroy the candlestick. The two received a few hard attacks, but Karoo was able to wrap a rope soaked in oil by Usopp around the candlestick. This Luffy then lit and with it all the wax became liquid. Afterwards Karoo and Luffy pursued the fleeing Mister 3 into the forest. He had set up a veritable waxworks in the forest and there were now countless Mister 3s standing in front of the straw hat and the race duck. With a well-aimed gum-gum stamp, Luffy attacked the real officer agent and defeated him.
The Straw Hats left Little Garden victorious. However, Nami had caught an infection and needed treatment. Due to this, they had to go to an island, their destination was going to be Drum.
Drum
After the Straw Hat Pirates arrived on Drum, all but Zoro and Karoo went in search of a doctor for Nami. Meanwhile, the pirate hunter meditated barefoot and topless. The race duck was shocked since they were on a winter island. After Vivi and the Straw Hats returned to the Going Merry with their new member Chopper, they found Karoo floating frozen in the river. Zoro said that Karoo, the klutz, must have fallen into the river. However, Chopper told them that Karoo had jumped into the river after Zoro. Nami then chided Zoro for being responsible and Vivi asked the reindeer if he could really understand Karoo, which he confirmed.
Battle for Arabasta
Shortly after the Straw Hat Pirates arrived on Arabasta, Vivi wrote a letter to explain the situation to her father and tell him that Crocodile was responsible for the rebel uprising. She tied the letter to Karoo and asked him to take it to Arbana to her father as soon as possible. It took him several days to get to Arbana, and he finally arrived there only after the Straw Hat Pirates and Vivi had already arrived at Rainbase. The news of his daughter caused the king to mobilize the troops and leave for Rainbase with them immediately.
On the way from Rainbase to Arbana, Vivi and the Straw Hats had crossed the Sandora River without Luffy. As they were talking about how to get to Arbana as quickly as possible, Karoo suddenly appeared with the racing duck corps, seven ducks in all, the fastest animals in Arabasta. With the help of the racing ducks, the Straw Hat Pirates finally reached the gates of Arbana, where they split up to confuse the Officer Agents. Vivi posted herself with Karoo outside the south gate to stop the rebels. However, both the rebel ranks and the Royal Army contained members of the Baroque Company, so their attempt failed. On the contrary, Vivi was almost trampled by the rebels, but Karoo protected her. After that, Mister 2 disguised as Usopp appeared and the two fled from him. The princess asked him to stop so she could fight Mister 2 herself. However, he ran up the vertical cliff face to the city. At the top, he fell away backwards and threatened to fall down. With desperate effort he managed to fly a short distance. Already the two thought they had shaken off the officer agent when he suddenly ran up the cliff. Vivi and Karoo made their way to the palace. The running duck made his way through the fighting and although he was hit by a bullet, he gritted his teeth and kept running pursued by Mister 2. In an alley, however, he finally collapsed completely exhausted. With his last strength, he put himself between Vivi and the charging opponent. However, the latter was pushed away by the racing ducks Iwan X and Cowboy. Sanji thanked them and Karoo. The two racing ducks then carried their captain away.
Victory and farewell
By the time of Luffy’s victory over Crocodile, Karoo had halfway recovered. Along with the racing duck corps, he was looking up at the sky when it started to rain. After all straw hats had recovered in the palace, a banquet was held. Karoo also helped himself to the food. As the day of departure drew near, the Straw Hat gang gave Vivi the choice of either living a quiet life in Arbana or traveling on with them and having new adventures. The princess wavered, but ultimately stayed in Arabasta. Together with Karoo, she bid a tearful farewell to her friends in Tamalisk, wondering if she would be part of it again when the Straw Hat Pirates returned one day. Signaling by the cross on her left arm, the crew gave her confirmation.
On Ukkari Hot Spring
After Gedatsu and Goro finished bathing Ukkari, they visited Yuba. A short time later, Pell as well as Chaka, Igaram, Terracotta, Vivi, the racing duck corps with Matsuge and also the Kung Fu seals again visited the bath and inaugurated it.
News about the Straw Hat Pirates
When Vivi was seen again in Enie’s lobby after the announcement of the new bounties on the Straw Hat Pirates after the fights, she was cleaning Karoo’s feathers. She indicated that she had known for a long time that Nico Robin, once Miss Bloody Sunday, had become a member of the Straw Hat Pirates. Amazed by her father, Igaram, Chaka and Pell, she said that one could never know what Luffy was up to, but he would have had his reasons.
After the incident on Marine Ford, Karoo and Vivi were seen reading the newspaper. She tried to decipher Luffy’s secret message to his crew members, but was unsuccessful.
Two years later, Vivi was again seen holding a newspaper which reported on the return of the Straw Hats. She was accompanied by Karoo and Matsuge while shopping for her father.
The next spectacular news about the Straw Hats was not long in coming. Luffy was victorious over Donquixote Doflamingo on Dress Rosa and received a bounty of 500 million berries. Vivi looked very pleased at this news. Karoo carefully cut out the newspaper article as a souvenir.
The Levely begins
The Arabasta Kingdom also participated in the latest reverie. Pell, Chaka and Karoo accompanied their king and princess on the journey to Mary Geoise. Once there, Karoo was present when Vivi befriended Rebecca, Leo and Shirahoshi. He was also present when Mjosgard stopped Charlos from enslaving Shirahoshi and made a promise to protect them at the Levely.
Various
- Karoo is derived from the Japanese word karugamo, which means spot-billed duck. Spot-billed ducks are found in Asia (including southern Japan); see Indian spot-billed duck.
- Its favorite dish is balti (note: needs link) and cold water to go with it.
- In the character popularity votas so far, Karoo achieved the following ranks:
