Brook

ℹ️️**Notice**This character is a **crossover character** and is therefore **not canon to Glad you Came**

"**Soul King**" **Brook** is the musician of the Straw Hat Pirates, one of their two swordsmen and one of the Senior Officers of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. He is the ninth member of the crew and the eighth to join, doing so at the end of the Thriller Bark Arc.

## Statistics

### Alias:

"Hone-kichi" (ホネ吉キチ, Honekichi?, English versions: Bonekichi);"The Starving Skeleton" (がしゃどくろ, Gashadokuro?)

### Epithet:

"Humming Brook" (鼻歌のブルック, Hanauta no Burukku?);"Soul King" (ソウルキング, Souru Kingu?)

### Age:

38 (first death);88 (debut);90 (after timeskip)

## Devil Fruit

### Type:

Paramecia

Brook ate the Yomi Yomi no Mi, which allowed him to return to life after death once. Brook eventually learned to tap deeper into the powers of his Devil Fruit, giving him significant control over his own soul and the souls of others.

Originally a member of the Rumbar Pirates, he died and was resurrected through the power of the Yomi Yomi no Mi. However, due to the amount of time it took for his soul to find his body, it was reduced to a skeleton, keeping only his afro intact. Brook drifted alone in the Florian Triangle for 50 years, eventually meeting Luffy and serving as the Straw Hats' ally during the Thriller Bark Arc before officially joining the crew. His dream is to reunite with his old friend, Laboon, at Reverse Mountain, where he resides with Crocus.

He first gained a bounty of 33,000,000 during his time as a member of the Rumbar Pirates. It later increased to 83,000,000 after the Dressrosa Arc. Following the Raid on Onigashima, his bounty was increased to 383,000,000.

## Personality

Brook is an eccentric character with a distinct personality of his own, like the other Straw Hat Pirates.

While he looks like and fancies himself to be a gentleman, he does possess vulgar and perverted manners and habits such as asking to see women's panties (Although in Camie's case, in a subversion of his usual habit, he asks if she can lend him some money), yelling impatiently for food (a trait shared by Luffy), and occasionally burping and farting conspicuously. Despite this behavior, he still remains very polite, formal, and soft-spoken, usually referring to people using the respectful "-san" ("Sir") and always speaks to everyone, even enemies, in a very courteous manner. He appreciates the simplest of things: from a gesture of kindness, the company of others, and walking in the sunlight after receiving his shadow back. Brook was moved to tears at just being able to share a dinner with people after decades alone in the Florian Triangle.

Despite his eccentric behavior, Brook is an extremely upright and compassionate person befitting of a true gentleman, as Brook utterly disdains wickedness and cruelty. When Zeo began to ruthlessly assault his own men, Brook even defended one of the enemies from Zeo's attack, reprimanding Zeo for his cruelty. Brook's compassion is shown in Zou where he was horrified by the immense devastation the Beasts Pirates caused. He readily helped the badly injured minks along with his crew mates. After Luffy arrived at Zou, Brook gave specific instructions not to mention anything about Wano and samurais out of consideration for the minks. He even beat up Luffy for mentioning Raizo out loud, although it turned out to be for nothing. After Yasuie was executed, Brook was solemn and sympathetic when Hiyori explained how the citizens of Ebisu Town lost the ability to feel or express sadness and despair after being fed faulty SMILE fruits by Kurozumi Orochi as part of his twisted tyranny.

### Skull Jokes

His reactions to different occurrences can be somewhat extreme, often comically so. For example, when the Straw Hats were alarmed at him for being a living skeleton, he forgot the object of fear was actually himself and also began to panic. Although he tends to display more extreme emotions at times, Brook has been known to over-relax when he is told to stay calm. He is also very patient, having stayed on his former crew's ship for years, waiting for the day when he would eventually be reunited with his shadow. However, due to his rudeness, he can also be impatient about things like waiting for dinner to be served. Brook's most notable trait amongst others, however, is that he cracks "skull jokes" about himself being a skeleton complimented with his distinct laughter of "Yohohoho" even if there is no one around to hear him. When Chopper broke one of his jokes by saying what he intended to say beforehand, Brook became temporarily depressed.

While stuck in the Florian Triangle, Brook discovered his skeletal body was now very limber and developed a strange gag to keep himself entertained - going completely rigid and then leaning against a wall or object at a 45-degree angle. Though he mainly uses it to show it off in front of people and his crew just for a laugh, Brook later turned this into one of his signature poses as the Soul King. He has sometimes practiced and attempted to tilt in even further than 45-degrees, but if he makes the angle too acute, he will lose his balance and slip. He can even run around in circles while maintaining this pose- when Nami had him be a lookout as half the crew was headed for Zou, Brook struck his 45-degrees pose and didn't check any other angle, causing Nami to yell at him to look in every direction, so Brook began a 45-degree rotation, annoying her with his antics until she attacked him.

### Love For Music

Brook is a great lover of music. In times of joy or sorrow, music is what generally keeps Brook going. When he was about to die during his first life with his fellow members of the Rumbar Pirates, Brook suggested playing and singing a song with their last breath. As a result, his love for music often reflects itself in various other aspects of his character, such as in his fighting style wherein the names of his attacks are derived from various songs and dances. He gave himself a musical theme so noticeable that while he was alive in his first life, he was called "Humming Brook" by the authorities.

In contrast to the other cowardly crew members' own fears - Usopp's being out of insecurity, Nami's as a survival instinct, and Chopper's from cautiousness - Brook's fear is more down to Earth; he fears the things that are not normal. An example would be that Brook is easily scared by the ghosts and zombies (despite technically being deceased himself). In order to fight the various Thriller Bark creatures without fear when he encountered them, Brook convinced himself that if he sings while fighting, he would not be afraid of them (though he starts running in fear when he stops singing). This singing while fighting, however, had a side effect of making him seem like a more sinister creature to the zombies - a rather ironic fact due to him being the contrary and the fact the song he sings during battle being one of life and joy than one of ominous threat and evil as perceived by them. Because of this, despite his equal fear he was given the name of "Humming Swordsman" by the zombies and was ironically feared by them in turn.

He apparently does not like moving fast, evident when he was in the more intense rides at Sabaody Park. Linked to this is moving at high speeds via the Flying Fish Riders flying fish or theme park rides and fighting a Pacifista cyborg there was little chance to win against. Comically, most of these fears are things he himself has the potential to unintentionally cause, such as being an almost living skeleton that can run so fast that most people would have little chance to win against.

Before encountering the Straw Hats, Brook was very lonely while floating adrift on his ship and longed for the company of other people. He initially accepted Luffy's offer to join the crew and invited himself over for dinner upon arriving on board the Thousand Sunny just so he could interact with the crew and fill the void that he experienced all those years. Also, while possibly one of the oldest pirates "alive", Brook still retains an air of childishness about him that enables him to behave in a manner similar to Luffy and Chopper, noted by the ease with which he participates in their childlike antics.

### Running Gags

His distinct personality and laughter allowed Nami, Usopp, and Chopper question a "guardian" of Hogback's lab, Ryuma, who had Brook's signature laughter and personality. This was because Ryuma possessed Brook's shadow until the samurai was defeated by Zoro, upon which Brook's shadow was returned to its rightful place.

Awkwardly, Brook has a tendency to lack common sense in slightly frantic times. For example, when Luffy falls into the water, Brook (and Chopper for that matter) jumps into the water, despite being a Devil Fruit user himself. He also has a tendency to accidentally go on rides that go obviously fast and sit out on slower rides.

He appears to take offense if someone avoids him because he does not have any "substance". During the Punk Hazard Arc, Brook grew furious at a dragon for rejecting him, claiming that bones have plenty of nutrition. However, during the Zou Arc, most of the canine minks from the Mink Tribe constantly bit Brook due to him being made of bones, which he did not enjoy at all.

### Value on Life

Brook believes in and has quoted the philosophy "Good things come to those who wait", given the years he spent on the ghost ship, joining the Straw Hats, and learning of Laboon's patience.

However, one issue he has stood by is the act of wasting lives. As he had experienced death himself once before, he knows more than most about the consequences of dying. Therefore, he has a deep hatred for those who do not value life whatsoever, whether it's their own, others or both. Also, like his captain, he strongly dislikes leaders who would kill their own subordinates on a whim as well.

He shares a very strong emphasis on keeping promises and friendship, as he would do everything in his power to reunite and fulfill his promise to Laboon his long-lost friend, something Franky had complimented him upon. Though he is prone to being childish, he proves a loyal and fearless friend. An example of this is when he was standing between Usopp and a Pacifista stating that he shall protect him even though he knew his chances of survival were slim. Even Zoro has quietly acknowledged that Brook is a true man to his heart, facing down odds that are near impossible unflinchingly to save a friend. As possibly the ultimate example of this, he shows absolutely no fear in the face of Big Mom, an Emperor, who is specifically able to use an opponent's fear against them. He even goes so far as to call her "young lady" during their fight, an unprecedented sign of contempt for someone of an Emperor's status.

### Amorous Nature

Like Sanji, Brook's mind is often filled with lecherous thoughts. Ironically for his relationship with Sanji, however, two women whose beauty Brook has explicitly complimented are Vinsmoke Reiju (Sanji's elder sister) and Charlotte Pudding (Sanji's arranged bride); in the case of Reiju, Brook even expressed regret at not having lips with which to receive a kiss from Reiju. Brook is also chivalrously protective over women (as is Sanji), as he chastised the New Fish-Man Pirates for aiming their firearms at Shirahoshi. However, unlike Sanji, Brook is not against fighting a woman to protect his friends or to complete an important objective. He defeated Giolla to cancel the effects of her Devil Fruit powers and battled against Big Mom to keep the copied writings of the Poneglyphs safe.

Though he knows other songs, Brook's favorite song to sing is "Binks' Sake" which he was singing upon his first appearance. Even when he asks for requests from the others, he seemed to instantly switch over to singing this song. Other songs Brook sings include "Black Handkerchief of Happiness" and his own originals, "Bone To Be Wild" and "New World".

Brook is also clever enough to trick Giolla into turning his weapon back to normal by pretending to side with her.

He loves to drink tea, as he is often seen holding a cup of tea.

Brook's attitude of waking up the crew in person is seen when he woke the Rumbar Pirates with his song "White Handkerchief", much to his old crew's annoyance. His attitude carries on to the Straw Hats when he woke them up in person, much to their annoyance once again.

## Relationships

### Straw Hat Pirates

The Straw Hats were immediately wary of Brook prior to his initial entry into the crew (save for Luffy, who invited him on board the Thousand Sunny), but this changes after the events of Thriller Bark.

Despite his obnoxious personality, Brook deeply cares for his crew, going so far to protect Usopp and Sanji from Kuma. His eccentric personality often gets on the crew's nerves, showing no appropriate respect for Nami and even Robin when he asks to see their panties, and makes skull jokes in serious situations which often lead to him being beaten up, even shattering Robin's normally limitless patience. This is likely due to his long years of isolation with no real human contact.

Nevertheless, Brook's sense of humor and music can enlighten an organization as big as the Thriller Bark Victim's Association. Franky is moved to tears upon hearing Brook's backstory, and the rest of the Straw Hats gain respect for him, even Usopp and Chopper who were initially afraid of him, after hearing about his devotion to keeping his promise to Laboon.

During Brook's fight with Charlotte Linlin, he says that the "worst case scenario" for the Sanji's Retrieval Team is if Sanji deciding to not rejoin the crew, and when asked about it by Big Mom, he refused to presume that any of his friends would die during their mission.

#### Monkey D. Luffy

Before he officially joined the crew, only Luffy made friends with him, due to finding him hilarious as well as being amazed to see a living skeleton. The two even goofed around in the same manner during their dinner on the Sunny. As Brook explained his thoughts, Luffy was not afraid of him and even offered him a place on his crew. This was enough to make Brook happy after being alone in the dark for so many years.

Brook seems to respect Luffy a lot and unlike most of the crew members, he follows the captain's rules without question, going on record to state that he only follows Luffy's orders.

After the timeskip, Brook gave up the life of a music star to rejoin the Straw Hats as he was indebted to them and Luffy for accepting him. He was also amazed at his captain's improved strength as he defeated Surume. His loyalty still remains and is even fiercer as he told Zeo that his captain will become the Pirate King. After hearing his captain's dream, he wanted to accomplish by becoming Pirate King Brook laughed and said he was too much, but supported Luffy's goal, nonetheless.

During Brook's fight with Charlotte Linlin, he described Luffy as someone who would break through any and all walls in order to pursue his beliefs and ambitions, showing his admiration for his captain's spirit.

#### Roronoa Zoro

In their first meeting, Zoro was very disturbed and confused by Brook's skeletal appearance but after hearing about Brook's connection to Laboon and saving him from Ryuma, Zoro began to enjoy the undead skeleton's company. Brook is indebted to Zoro for defeating the undead samurai which gave Brook back his shadow and Brook was further amazed when Zoro along with Sanji offered their own lives instead of Luffy's to Kuma. Brook also shared a laugh with Zoro about his recent induction into the crew, stating the skeleton had bad luck.

After Zoro recovered from his pain, Brook informed him of his entry in the crew as Zoro jokingly told him to be prepared for the craziness it holds. As the two swordsmen of the Straw Hats, Brook and Zoro get along very well. Brook is in awe of Zoro's sword skills, although Brook is 69 years older than Zoro.

After the timeskip, they still get along though they argued on Punk Hazard when Zoro called him "grandpa". He recently became jealous from seeing Zoro sleeping with Kozuki Hiyori despite Zoro stating that nothing happened.

#### Usopp

Usopp was naturally terrified of Brook when he first appeared on the crew and tried to ward him off with a crucifix, being against the idea of Brook joining the crew even after finding out he was harmless. Usopp at the time stated "*I wouldn't be able to sleep with a skeleton walking around*". Only after hearing about Brook's connection with Laboon and subsequent battle at Thriller Bark, did Usopp finally trust the musical skeleton, accepting Brook as a crewmate. Usopp loves when Brook plays songs, in particular Binks' Sake.

Usopp, like the rest of the crew (except Luffy), finds Brook's skull jokes annoying, especially when they are unbelievable like Brook trying to heal himself with milk, saying that calcium doesn't work that fast. After the timeskip, Usopp admitted to being jealous of Brook's new ability to phase through walls, citing its perversion potential. However, Usopp was angry with Brook when Brook unknowingly made an insensitive joke about Arlong during their first encounter with Hody Jones, as Usopp is aware of the emotional pain Arlong caused Nami in the past, something Brook is unaware of.

#### Sanji

Sanji was one of the first members of the crew to meet Brook. He was shocked to see a walking and talking skeleton, and questioned Brook on how he came to be. Sanji couldn't understand why Brook seemed so constantly upbeat, telling the skeleton that his life was depressing, but the skeleton laughed him off. After Sanji learns about Brook's connection with Laboon, Sanji joined the rest of the crew in supporting Luffy's decision to recruit him into the crew. Sanji still gets irritated at Brook's immature character traits, including his burping and farting during dinner, and by his lame 'skull jokes'. He also once threatened to attack Brook when the latter laughed at the resemblance between Duval and Sanji's first, hand-drawn wanted poster.

However, Sanji has a lot of similarities to the un-dead musician. Both of them wear suits and act like gentlemen and fawn over Nami and Robin, making them the "pervert duo" of the Straw Hats. While they do fight over Nami and Robin's affection, the cook and the skeleton are good friends and were both (along with Kin'emon) very jealous of Momonosuke's "special attention" from the ladies. Brook looks up to Sanji and was in awe when the cook battled Doflamingo and was even prepared to aid him when Sanji was in trouble, but Sanji instead trusted Brook to look after Momonosuke, Nami, and Chopper. Brook was very depressed over the outcome of events in Zou and insisted on joining Luffy in the Sanji Retrieval Team as he felt responsible for Sanji's capture. Like Robin, Brook was aware of the Vinsmokes and never thought Sanji would be connected to such an infamous family. Along with the others, Brook showed great surprise that Sanji turned down Pudding.

Sanji appears to have a lot of trust in Brook's strength as he once entrusted Nami's safety to the skeleton while he went on to explore Claw City. Brook was also the only crewmate Sanji asked to accompany him when he had to deal with Pekoms and Capone Bege.

On a more humorous note, Brook was also very jealous of Sanji after meeting Charlotte Pudding, Sanji's arranged bride.

During Brook's fight with Charlotte Linlin, he described Sanji as a kind man that would refuse to budge once he decided to sacrifice himself for the sake of other, showing his admiration for the chef's spirit. He claims that his mission to retrieve the information from Big Mom's Road Poneglyph is so Sanji wouldn't feel like his friends' journey was for nothing.

#### Tony Tony Chopper

When Chopper first met Brook, he was terrified of him because he was a walking, talking skeleton and agreed with Usopp that he would not accept him as a crewmate. But after hearing the story about Brook and Laboon, Chopper cried and stated he was not afraid of skeletons anymore. Chopper and Brook get along very well despite Brook being the oldest Straw Hat and Chopper being the youngest. Chopper loves the undead skeleton's music and will often dance to it.

When Chopper was infected by the Ice Oni disease during the raid on Onigashima, Brook was afraid that Chopper was going to die.

#### Franky

At first, Franky seemed to be very annoyed with Brook's skull jokes, often threatening to shoot Brook when he did them, as well as beating up Brook on Thriller Bark after he went too far. He soon questioned Brook about his past and after listening to his story, he became rather fond of him. This led Franky into accompanying Zoro to head after Ryuma to help get Brook's shadow back. After the battle against Gecko Moria had ended, Franky, alongside Usopp, built an impressive memorial grave for the Rumbar Pirates which deeply moved Brook. After Brook's entry in the crew, the two get along very well.

After the timeskip, Franky revealed that he was aware of Brook's status as a famous musician, expressing an unsure attitude of him returning to a life of piracy. He was soon surprised that Brook actually gave up such a life and welcomed him back to the crew when they reunited. They still get along and often share jokes.

#### Jinbe

Brook, along with the rest of the crew besides Luffy, met Jinbe first on Fish-Man Island. When Jinbe had retracted his attempt to leave the Big Mom Pirates, Brook thought something was wrong as he thought the Jinbe he came to know is not a coward as the Totto Land News made him out to be and was more understanding of Jinbe's decision than the scorning citizens of Totto Land.

The respect is reciprocated on Jinbe's side, as he complimented on how Brook faced an Emperor and hid the Poneglyph copies from her.

When Jinbe told the Sanji Retrieval Team to press forward after Pedro sacrificed himself, Brook was at first infuriated that Jinbe was acting so insensitively to a comrade's death before being told that it was what Pedro would have wanted.

#### Seia

The two get on extremely well due to their similar personalities. Seia adores Brook because of his music, his humor and for being a skeleton. Brook will often play songs for Seia, Luffy, and the crew with piano, violin, or guitar.

### Enemies

While alive, Brook encountered many enemies during his journey through West Blue and the Grand Line, including the group that killed him and his crewmates.

#### Marines

He also received a bounty from the Marines in this time, and due to his managers betraying him, Brook's existence as a pirate and affiliation to the Straw Hats has been revealed to the Marines. His bounty remains active and following the defeat of the Donquixote Pirates, he receives a new bounty and wanted poster (which uses one of the promotional posters from his concerts) along with the rest of the Straw Hat crew.

#### Charlotte Linlin

When Brook came face to face with Big Mom, he was truly terrified at seeing one of the Four Emperors, whereas Big Mom was very interested in Brook being a living skeleton. During their fight, Big Mom overwhelmed him and soon questioned Brook's motives before ridiculing his optimism. Brook told her not to underestimate the will of his crew before standing firmly to tell her that he will be taking the Poneglyphs in her possession. During the fight, Brook managed to damage Prometheus, a feat which Big Mom unabashedly praised later.

Despite Brook's efforts, he was defeated by the Emperor who mocked him by treating him as if he were a pet as the latter felt humiliated by his loss. Brook was further shocked when he listened as Big Mom conversed with Pudding about their intention to slaughter the entire Vinsmoke Family, Sanji included, during the faux-wedding ceremony. Despite his defeat, Brook was able to create copies of the Poneglyph text before Big Mom caught up with him, and with the help of his comrades, ultimately escaped from her grasp with them. Charlotte Brûlée and Diesel were shocked and horrified at this revelation.

During the tea party, Brook dealt a powerful blow to Big Mom by disguising himself as one of Luffy's duplicates, slipping past her, and destroying the picture of Mother Carmel, her most treasured item. Big Mom was very surprised to see that Brook is still alive after he revealed himself and left her in a state of shock at his action. Linlin swore to never forgive Brook for destroying Carmel's portrait. Despite his animosity towards her, Brook asked to look at her panties as she was chasing the crew.

During the raid of Onigashima, Brook joined Franky in attacking her. While she was angry by his audacity, she still remarked on his uniqueness.