Joke

In life Joke cut a large, bearded figure. Death reduced him to bones, leaving a skeleton lit by glowing red pupils, yet his black beard clung on much as Brook's afro survives the same condition. A bandana patterned in bright colors crowns him, and he wears a red coat that has lost its left sleeve and a chunk of the chest, finished with oversized red shoulder pads and long frills knotted at their tips.

Greed defined Joke, who hungered for nothing but treasure, a fixation that drove his own crew to turn on him. He proved a slippery manipulator, conning the Straw Hats into wiping out the Beasts of God so his scattered bones would return to him while he hid in bat form. When the end finally came, though, he confessed that the prize he had truly craved all along was a loyal, kindhearted crew like the one the Straw Hats shared.

Joke could apparently plant visions directly into other minds, forcing Hamu to relive his mother's death at Joke's hands. For a weapon he relied on a pepperbox revolver capable of loosing several rounds in one burst, the bullets detonating where they struck much like Usopp's explosive shot. He chased a treasure said to grant any wish its holder desired, but as he neared it his crew mutinied and stabbed him repeatedly in the back. By some unexplained turn he survived as a bat tethered to his remains, waiting ten years.

The Straw Hats wandered in and unwittingly slew the monsters guarding his scattered bones as he led them toward the prize, which let his body reassemble and rise again. Hamu, son of an elder Joke had murdered, confronted him; while Luffy, Nami, and Usopp pinned the captain down to stop his gun, Hamu landed the killing strike. As Joke crumbled into dust he gave voice once more to his wish for a crew like theirs.