Dalton

Towering and broad, Dalton keeps his black hair slicked back and wears a goatee. His usual dress is a long green tunic lined with white fur, with plates of armor on his arms that carry over to his forelegs in Beast Form, and he favors tall boots. A flapped green-and-white fur hat shields him from Drum's brutal cold, and an oversized spade rides in a sheath on his back. In Chapter 0 he appears in more ceremonial armor with his hair parted into three points rather than one. Once crowned king, he adds a fur-trimmed cape bearing the kingdom's crest over his everyday garb.

Courage and compassion define Dalton, who holds Drum's people dear and has earned their trust in return. He has repeatedly risked his own life for the nation, defying Wapol even while gravely hurt. A man of strong honor, he loathed his service under Wapol and wept openly for Dr. Hiriluk, afterward urging Chopper to live on and carry out the doctor's dream of healing the kingdom. As Sakura's king he keeps a humble life, declining the castle to dwell among ordinary islanders. He is fond of Bighorn's chestnut rice and has a quirk of volunteering trivial, unrequested facts whenever he explains a subject. His regard for Princess Vivi, Dr. Kureha, and the Straw Hats runs deep, while his bitterest history is with Wapol and the loyal officers Chess and Kuromarimo.

From the age of thirteen Dalton already served Drum's royal house under Wapol's father, growing close enough to act as the old king's confidant. He rose to captain of the royal guard, ranking beside ministers Chess and Kuromarimo, yet came to despise Wapol's cruelty, a feeling cemented when he watched Wapol strike the ten-year-old Vivi at Levely. When Wapol moved to execute Hiriluk, Dalton protested in vain and was forced to witness the doctor's self-sacrifice; his subsequent attempt to turn on Wapol ended in his defeat and imprisonment. After the Blackbeard Pirates raided Drum and Wapol fled, Dalton was freed and rebuilt the leaderless land, winning the people's faith.

When the Straw Hats arrived seeking a doctor for the dying Nami, Dalton's militia nearly came to blows with them before Vivi calmed the standoff, and the sight of Vivi and Luffy pleading moved him to relent. He guided them toward Kureha, then faced a returning Wapol in full Beast Form, even cutting him down, only to be outmatched, buried by an avalanche, and dug out by villagers and the Isshi-20 who had come to admire him. Resolving to end Wapol's threat, he was carried toward Drum Castle, but Luffy felled Wapol first. Later elected king of the renamed Sakura Kingdom, Dalton continued to follow the Straw Hats' exploits from afar. At the post-war Levely he reunited with Vivi and drove off Wapol when the disgraced ex-king insulted her, declaring the two of them equals while shifting into his Human-Beast Form.

In combat Dalton is formidable. His Ushi Ushi no Mi, Model: Bison grants bison and minotaur-like forms whose chief asset is astonishing speed, ideal for travel and for dodging gunfire, and his Human-Beast Form can halt Chopper's Heavy Point. He wields an unusually shaped oar-like spade, and his Fiddle Banff spins the blade as he charges, shredding ranks of enemies. He is also a gifted leader who kept Drum from chaos after its abandonment. Notably, he is the first Zoan user formally introduced in the series.