Ashura Doji

Towering and broad, Ashura cut an imposing figure crowned by fluffy, light pink hair bound into a topknot. His kimono, patterned with flowers, hung open to bare his chest, and floral ink decorated both arms and the upper part of his torso. A small tree was famously perched atop his head, a design Oda based on a rakugo tale.

In his youth he was a savage outlaw who openly despised anyone ranked above him and seemed content to live and die by violence. That changed when Kozuki Oden bested him after a full night of combat and, instead of killing him, offered him a peaceful purpose rebuilding Kuri. The mercy turned Ashura into one of Oden's most devoted followers, so grateful that he buckled down to study and better himself, and he kept addressing his lord as Oden-sama long after the daimyo's death.

His courage bordered on recklessness. He flung himself at the All-Star Jack without a flicker of fear, though he stayed wary of Kaido, whose raw might he respected enough to avoid. Beneath the bravado ran a deep streak of loyalty and tenderness. He wept trying to wave off comrades rushing to their deaths at Onigashima, and after losing them he sank into bitter nihilism, returning to banditry as Shutenmaru and writing off the country as hopeless. Even then compassion lingered; he quietly pitied the people of Ebisu Town and grieved Yasuie's execution. Ironically, his very cynicism kept him from being fooled by Kanjuro's fake Oden. He favored alcohol, spoke the old Kuri dialect known as Sunacchi, and once drank blood from a severed serpent.

Long ago Ashura reigned as the deadliest criminal in lawless Kuri, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Oden, son of Shogun Kozuki Sukiyaki. Their clash lasted a day and ended in his defeat, after which he swore himself to Oden and joined the other future Scabbards. When funds ran short, the retainers tried to rob the daimyo Yasuie, who let them keep the money and urged them to grow into worthy men for Oden and Wano. They educated and trained themselves, sailed for a time with Whitebeard's crew, and stood beside Oden through his years of feigned foolishness. Twenty years before the present, the Scabbards marched on Kaido at Onigashima; Oden fell, and his retainers were captured and condemned. Oden bought their lives during his execution and hurled them clear of the boiling pot, charging them to one day open Wano's borders.

A decade after Oden's death, friends Ashura had gathered grew impatient with Toki's prophecy and threw themselves at Kaido, perishing for nothing. Crushed, he abandoned hope, adopted the name Shutenmaru, and built the Mt. Atama Thieves, raiding Orochi's Paradise Farm. When Monkey D. Luffy reached Wano, Shutenmaru robbed food from Okobore Town, tangled with Jack and wounded him badly, and witnessed Luffy unleash Supreme King Haki, recognizing the same power Oden carried. He initially spurned Kin'emon's plea to rejoin the family, but the sight of Yasuie's death and a visit to his fallen comrades' graves rekindled his resolve, and he pledged his bandits to the cause.

As the Strongest Monster of Kuri, Ashura was a master swordsman who could mirror Oden's Two Sword Style, a wielder of advanced Armament and Observation Haki, and strong enough to fight Inuarashi to a standstill and tear into Kaido's hardened hide alongside three other Scabbards. During the raid on Onigashima he stormed the Skull Dome and joined the Scabbards' all-out strikes on the Emperor. After the group was teleported to safety and tended by Hiyori, they were confronted by a figure resembling Oden. Ashura alone saw through it, slashing the impostor and exposing it as one of Kanjuro's drawings. Stabbed through the chest, he still tackled the explosive-laden drawing out of the room, ordering his comrades to protect Momonosuke, and died in the blast. The hole his sacrifice tore in the ceiling later let moonlight reach Inuarashi, enabling the Sulong form that felled Jack, and Kin'emon resolved to honor Ashura with a temple in Ringo.