SERGEANT MAJOR TASHIGI
PROFILE
NAME: Tashigi (name meaning: common
snipe)
AGE: 21
BIRTHDAY: October 6th
HOMETOWN: Loguetown Island
JOB: Marine's Sergeant Major in Loguetown
HAIR COLOR: Bluish black
EYE COLOR: Black
HEIGHT: 170 cm
OTHER FEATURES: Short hair, red square glasses.
DEAREST THINGS: Swords (especially katanas)
DREAM: Find all the best swords in the world that are in evil hands
(pirates or bounty hunters) and confiscate them; become a strong swordswoman
to achieve that goal
ENJOYS: Sword fighting, justice, doing what is right, learning about
legendary swords
HATES: Evil pirates and bounty hunters, being underestimated for being
a woman
SKILLS: Sword fighting, knowledge of swords, sense of justice
WEAKNESSES: Clumsy, always trips on things and falls down, somewhat
naive
WEAPON: Her katana named Shigure
PERSONALITY: Serious, responsible, polite, strong sense of justice,
righteous, determined, clumsy, somewhat innocent...
JAPANESE VOICE: Junko Noda
ABOUT TASHIGI
SPOILERS: Episode 49-53
Tashigi
is a Sergeant Major of the Marine Armada. She's also a great swordswoman
- to be exact, swords are her passion, and above all, she masters the katana
fighting style. She works with Captain Smoker in Loguetown Island,
trying to capture pirates, bandits and criminals in their area.
She first appears in the series in episode 48, when the Straw Hat Crew reach Loguetown - Zoro meets her when she was walking down a street and she's attacked by two bandits. He's about to help her, but she draws her sword and beats them in a moment. Tashigi then trips and falls down and loses her glasses, and when Zoro returns them to her and sees her face, he's totally shocked: Tashigi happens to resemble his childhood friend Kuina, who died a long time ago, after promising him they'd become the greatest swordsmen in the world.
He's so shocked he accidentally breaks Tashigi's glasses, and then she asks him to pay for them... since he doesn't have much money, she takes him to the Marine building and puts him to clean floors and work for them (poor Zoro!)... but he manages to run away after Tashigi goes to teach some kendo lessons to her men.
Later
the same day, Zoro and Tashigi meet again in a sword shop...
Zoro had lost two of his katanas and needed to replace them in order
to use his three-sword techniques; while Tashigi just went to pick
her own katana, Shigure, which she had left in the shop to be sharpened
by the owner. She doesn't know Zoro is actually the famous bounty hunter
and pirate Zoro Roronoa, and tells him "I'm glad you're OK,
I was worried since I heard Zoro Roronoa was in this town!" She then
admires Kuina's sword and shares her swordscraft knowledge with Zoro,
telling him about
her dream: to find all the legendary swords in the world, that are mostly
owned by pirates, bounty hunters and criminals, and confiscate them so they
can't be used for evil purposes... She then helps Zoro choose his new
sword, which happens to be one of the legendary katanas as well, but it's
cursed!!
Zoro decides to test his luck against the katana's curse, risking his
own life, and wins. The shop owner, impressed, gives him another legendary
sword for free, as well as the cursed sword. And Zoro leaves... leaving
a deeply impressed Tashigi behind.
But,
of course, the Marines are after Zoro and the Straw Hat Crew,
and Tashigi doesn't take long to find out that the green-haired man
in the sword shop is actually the pirate Zoro Roronoa. She then thinks
Zoro fooled her and, angry, challenges him to a duel. She can't forgive
him for using not one, but three legendary swords to make money and do evil
things (according to her, of course), and she can't forgive him for cheating
her and making her believe he was a good guy (according to her again). They
fight, Zoro beats her easily and turns around to leave... which only
makes things worse, because Tashigi, really angry and hurt in her pride,
asks him: "Why don't you kill me? Is it because I'm a woman? Do you
know how hard it is for a woman to become a swordsman? I hate being a woman!"
Now
the angry one is Zoro, because she's saying exactly the same things
his childhood friend Kuina used to say when she was alive... both Tashigi's
face and personality resemble Kuina's too much... and he shouts to
her, saying he hates her because she stole Kuina's face and personality.
And so, he leaves a shocked Tashigi, hurt in her pride and angrier than ever. She swears she'll chase Zoro, no matter how far, to take her revenge in a fair duel, beat him and confiscate the legendary swords that he owns. And she and Captain Smoker get a ship to go after Luffy's pirates to the Grand Line...
