Ichiji Vinsmoke , also known by his alias“Sparking Red“(jap. スパーキングレッド, Supākingu Reddo), is the first son of the Vinsmoke family and commander of the crime organization Germa 66. However, as a descendant of the Vinsmokes, he is also a prince of the Kingdom of Germa just like his quadruplet brothers.
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Appearance
Ichiji Vinsmoke is a young slender man. Just like his siblings, Ichiji’s eyebrows are curled in a spiral at their ends, but in the exact opposite direction of Sanji’s. What stands out about him is his red hair, which is formed into three strands. His hair and a pair of red sunglasses cover his eyes. As the commander of Germa 66, Ichiji wears a Raid Suit like his brothers and father. This one is red, with the numbers “66” written on the chest. His suit is held up by a yellow belt. He also wears white boots and gloves, and a white cape with a red one printed on it. On his right arm, Ichiji has a strikingly patterned tattoo of flames with a one in the center.
During their stay at Big Mom’s castle, Ichiji changes his clothes. There, he wears a dark shirt with a neckerchief and white pants. For his brother’s wedding ceremony, he chooses a light-colored shirt and cape, as well as dark gloves and pants.
Personality
Ichiji is proud of his royal lineage, which is why he considers his servants inferior. Therefore, sacrificing the lives of his subjects is not a problem for him. In his childhood, Sanji was teased and brutally beaten by him and his other brothers for being too meek and not treating others without royal lineage like dirt. He also had no sympathy for Sanji’s passion for cooking. Being a killer and a warmonger, he also doesn’t care about human lives at all. Due to his father’s genetic manipulation, he became a cold-hearted and fearless person who cannot feel empathy or sympathy. Even in the eye of death, Ichiji casually commented on their seemingly hopeless situation, calling his father’s tears pathetic. In general, Ichiji usually seems very calm and hard to get upset. Even when his sister was attacked by Big Mom, Ichiji only urged his brother Niji to focus on their mission, since weaklings have only themselves to blame.
Despite his lack of empathy and disdain for Sanji, Ichiji and his other siblings made their way to Cacao. There, they repaid their brother for saving them at the tea party by rescuing Sanji and Luffy from the Charlotte offspring and getting them off the island.
One of the few things he has in common with Sanji is his fondness for attractive women.
Skills and strengths
Ichiji is a trained assassin as a family member of the Vinsmokes. He is also skilled in the use of the Vinsmokes’ advanced war technologies. His father’s clone troopers are programmed to obey him without resistance, even if it costs them their own lives.
As an unborn child, his father used his genetic technologies to give his sons and daughter superhuman strength. Since then, they have been training their abilities and were stronger than the average adult even as children. In addition, the children formed an exoskeleton, which makes them more resilient and similar to the technology Tekkai protects against blunt force trauma. Not even normal pistol bullets can damage his body, which is why Charlotte Pudding was also equipped with special ammunition for her revolver to be able to penetrate the bodies of the Vinsmoke offspring. Ichiji also showed high mental strength as he didn’t collapse due to Big Mom’s Haoushoku. He is an excellent hand-to-hand fighter and managed to deliver a strong hit to Charlotte Perospero and later break through the latter’s Candy Wall. Ichiji also demonstrated strong resilience. After being defeated by Katakuri, he and his family made it back to the Kingdom of Germa where they were able to defeat Nutcake, Basskarte, Dosmarche as well as their armies. Even a volley of Candy Jacket pistol bullets made for the Vinsmokes didn’t get him down.
Ichiji also possesses a custom-made Raid Suit. With the help of this special battle suit, Ichiji can fire energy beams from his fingers that even pierced Charlotte Oven. This ability earned him the name “Sparking Red”.
Past
Ichiji was born as the first son of Vinsmoke Judge in the Kingdom of Germa. Noble blood flows through him, and since early childhood, he and his siblings trained to one day lead the Germa 66. To that end, his genes were modified by Judge to develop an extremely robust exoskeleton as a young boy. The training would eventually turn them into superhumans. Unlike his siblings, Judge’s gene modifications did not work on Sanji. This made him a target for ridicule and beating by his brothers. Since Sanji was far behind his brothers physically and was also passionate about cooking, Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji bullied him regularly. Just like their father, they felt Sanji was a disgrace to the Vinsmoke family. That’s why they didn’t mourn him when he ultimately left Germa. Instead, they imagined with amusement how Sanji might have died.
Present
Broc Coli – The End of the War
Three days before the wedding ceremony between Sanji and Pudding, Ichiji and Niji led an army of Germa 66 on Broc Coli. The army was hired by the people of the island, as it was in a two-year civil war and the country stopped receiving arms shipments after Doflamingo’s arrest. The Vinsmoke brothers and Germa 66 brought the situation under control within four hours. They then made their way to Whole Cake Island.
Whole Cake Island – The Arrival
Two days later, the Germa 66 ships arrived in Charlotte Linlin territory. A short time later, the entire Vinsmoke family reunited in the Germa’s throne room and dined together. While there, an argument ensued between Sanji and Niji, with Ichiji stating that he had never understood the Cook and his views. When Judge threatened Sanji with Zeff’s murder, the Vinsmoke children left the room. The four twin brothers then met again in the Germa’s secret lab, with Sanji wanting to punish Niji for his offense to Cosette. However, Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji still outdid their brother and beat him up several times. Ichiji warmly welcomed Sanji to the Kingdom of Germa, where he was still considered a failure even after all these years.
Finally, the Vinsmoke family made their way together towards Whole Cake Chateau. The carriages encountered Luffy and Nami, who had just come out of the Forest of Temptation. When Sanji turned down Luffy’s request to come back with them, Ichiji smiled. After their fight, Sanji and his family continued on their way to the castle. Once there, they met Big Mom, with whom they ate some food. Afterwards, Big Mom led them to her library, where she had locked up her collection of extraordinary races. After moving into their guest room alone, Judge announced to his sons that Sanji and Pudding would be living in the Kingdom of Germa after the wedding, so that he could take Pudding hostage if necessary. Though Niji was initially worried that Big Mom might try the same thing with Sanji, Ichiji reminded him that she wouldn’t care at all. That night, the Vinsmokes were already celebrating the imminent recapture of the Northblue, toasting Sanji for finally being of use to them.
The plan to destroy the Vinsmokes
The next morning the Vinsmokes prepared for the wedding ceremony. They were taken to the roof of the castle by Big Mom’s underlings, where they were seated at their table. Yonji was envious of Sanji for marrying a pretty woman like Pudding, but Ichiji commented that with that also came a life under Big Mom’s rule. When the bride and groom were finally to be married, Charlotte Katakuri suddenly intervened as he had been looking into an uncomfortable future. As a result, things escalated on the rooftop as countless Luffys stormed out of the wedding cake. After Brook destroyed the image of Mother Carmel, Charlotte Perospero jumped into action and bound the Vinsmokes to their seats with his devil powers. As a result, the Vinsmoke family was surrounded with guns. Big Mom had planned to wipe out the family and claim their technology all to herself. When Judge realized what Big Mom had in mind, he began to cry. Ichiji found the sight of his father crying pathetic. Big Mom then realized that the image of Mother Carmel was broken and began to let out a bloodcurdling scream. Her haoushoku also caused her children, who surrounded the Vinsmokes, to collapse. Sanji freed his family from Perospero’s shackles and Nami handed Ichiji his Raid Suit.
After donning their battle suits, they rescued the Straw Hats from the Big Mom pirates. They then retreated to Capone Bege’s fortress for the time being. However, since Bege was completely defeated by the Big Mom pirate gang and also attacked by Big Mom himself, the Vinsmokes decided to fight. Bege wanted to break up his fortress and escape with the help of Caesar, while the Vinsmokes backed them up. Perospero built a Candy Wall to stop Caesar and Bege, but the Vinsmoke brothers were able to destroy it with their combined forces. Ichiji then confronted Katakuri, but lost out. Before Big Mom could execute her enemies, the Tamatebako filled with explosives suddenly exploded at the base of the castle. This caused the Whole Cake Chateau to collapse. In the confusion, Germa 66 finally managed to escape.
Final Battle on Cacao
The Germa 66 made it back to their kingdom still anchored in the Apricokko River. They defeated Nutcake, Basskarte, Dosmarche and their armies and threw them into the sea. Via Den-den Mushi they fooled Mont d’Or into thinking the Germa 66 had been completely dealt with. Having learned where the Straw Hat Pirates was sailing to, the Germa 66 now set sail again as well. The next morning, they arrived in time at Cacao Island, where most of the Charlotte family had gathered.
Just as Sanji and Luffy were surrounded by the Charlotte siblings, the Germa 66 fleet interfered and destroyed several ships at the harbor. The Vinsmoke siblings, on the other hand, showed up on the island and protected Luffy and Sanji from a volley of pistol bullets. Ichiji announced to his brother that they still had something to settle with the Big Mom pirates. As Sanji tried to escape with Luffy, Charlotte Oven grabbed his naginata and set to attack. To his surprise, he was suddenly pierced by Ichiji’s energy beams. The Vinsmokes assisted the Straw Hats in their escape from the island and fought the Big Mom pirates. In order to take on the superhumans, the pirates finally used their Candy Jacket ammunition. Regardless of their injuries, however, the Vinsmokes continued to fight until they received word that the Straw Hat Pirates had escaped Totto Land. Ichiji then ordered their army to retreat, but just then the reinvigorated Big Mom landed on Cacao.
Miscellaneous
- The names of the Vinsmoke quadruplets include the numbers one through four. Ichi means one in Japanese, indicating that Ichiji is the eldest son.
- The hues of Ichiji’s clothes are mostly inverted to his brothers’ clothes.
- In the sixth character popularity vote, Ichiji ranked 57th. In the seventh vote, the first worldwide, he ranked 115th.
- His favorite foods are strawberries and whiskey.
- According to One Piece Magazine Vol. 3, his alias was originally supposed to be Fire Red (jap. ファイヤーレッド, Faiyā Reddo).
