One Piece: Who Is Nezumi & What Happened to Him? Is He Dead?

One Piece truly has an amazingly large number of secondary characters that have appeared over the series’ 20+-year run. Many of them have been forgotten because they appeared early in the story, but thanks to the live-action series, there has been renewed interest in them. In this article, we will talk about Nezumi, one such character, as you will find out who this vile character is and what exactly happened to him in the One Piece series.

Nezumi is a highly corrupted Marine captain who appeared as a secondary antagonist during the Arlong Park Arc. He operated in the East Blue and was bribed by Arlong to keep his criminal activities on the Conomi Islands hidden from the world, which he successfully did. He also stole Nami’s loot, with which she would free herself and her village from Arlong’s influence. The Straw Hats ultimately defeated him but would go on to be remembered as the first Marine to issue a bounty for Luffy, officially making him a wanted pirate.

The rest of this article will focus on the character of Nezumi and his ultimate fate in One Piece. Nezumi is a secondary character but an interesting one, nevertheless. While a lot of the fans have forgotten him because he appeared early on in the story, there is renewed interest in him and his story, and that actually motivated us to write up this article, in which we will reveal everything that is known about his fate, which is revealed later in the manga. This article might contain a significant number of spoilers, so be careful while you’re reading.

Nezumi survived the events of Arlong Park, but not much has been revealed about him since that moment

Nezumi joined the Marines and was placed in command of the 16th Branch after he reached the rank of captain. At an unspecified point in history, Nezumi made a deal with Arlong, who bribed him with money and revealed the existence of Nami’s treasure so that he would not inform the Navy headquarters of what was happening in the Conomi archipelago.

When he is first seen, Nezumi arrives with some Marines at Arlong Park to collect the money from Arlong. When he starts to leave so as not to be seen, the Fish-Man invites him to stop and drink, but the captain refuses. Arlong later tells Nezumi about the treasure that Nami is keeping from Cocoyasi, telling him to find it and that he will be able to keep 30% of it. He reaches the village with his ship and asks Genzo to take him to Nami.

Once he finds her, Nami tells him that she is part of Arlong’s crew and that if he lays hands on her, the Fish-Man will not be happy, asking him what he wants. Nezumi pretends not to understand what the woman means and states that he doesn’t care about pirates, but he has learned that she is a thief, so what she stole from the pirates must be given to the World Government, demanding that she hands it over to him.

Nezumi orders them to continue searching for the treasure, and when a marine replies that perhaps what they are looking for is on the plantation nearby, he orders them to start digging. Nami objects by hitting that marine and saying that she will never let them have that money. When Genzo reveals that all the villagers know about the money and that it is meant to liberate them from the Fish-Men, Nezumi mockingly asks if they are all saying they are thieves and asks if he should arrest them.

When Nojiko arrives, she says that if the marines don’t want to help them, they must leave because their ship will soon be attacked. Nezumi then sneers, asking if she means Arlong, and then turns to his men, asking them if they found the 100,000,000 Berrys. Nami, Genzo, and Nojiko then understand that Nezumi is in cahoots with Arlong, so the vessel’s captain orders his subordinates to look after them because they are hindering the search.

After finding the treasure, he takes it to his ship, where he discovers that it amounts to 93,000,000 Berrys. A subordinate points out that the bills are stained with mud and blood, so Nezumi replies that they are still money. He later secretly assists his subordinates in the fight between the Straw Hat Pirates and Arlong’s crew.

At the end of the battle, they come out into the open, and Nezumi points out that an unknown crew was able to win against the Fish-Men. He then addresses the people of Coco, stating that all the money they owe Arlong and the treasures contained in Arlong Park will be his, adding that he will take credit for what happened. However, Zoro reaches him, and together with the other members of the crew, they beat up the marines.

The captain of the vessel threatens them by saying that if they hurt them, they won’t get away with it, but Nami hits him in the face with her staff for shooting Nojiko and destroying the tangerine field, causing him to end up in the sea. Nezumi clings to the edge, and Nami tells him that he and his subordinates will have to fix everything, help the citizens rebuild Gosa, leave the treasures contained in Arlong Park to the island’s inhabitants, and return her money. The captain accepts.

Then, he and his subordinates swim away. Nezumi then turns to Luffy, telling him that he will have his revenge. Returning to the 16th Branch, he contacts the Navy headquarters, claiming to have been threatened by the boy and his four companions, who defeated the Arlong Pirates.

He then requests that a bounty be placed on Luffy’s head, ordering one of his subordinates to send a photo of the boy. Seeing the latter, he asks him if a better one isn’t available, getting a negative answer. He, therefore, remains dissatisfied because it does not convey the idea of the pirate’s dangerousness. And that is about it; he is alive but hasn’t been seen or mentioned later in the story.

Is Nezumi a Mink in One Piece?

Before we actually explain this, let us first explain what Minks are in One Piece, as the concept was introduced much later into the main plot, so fans of the live-action series might be a tad confused about what we’re talking about.

In the world of One Piece, the Minks are actually a tribe of humanoids that have furry mammalian features and that live in the Mokomo Dukedom on top of Zou. There, the whole tribe has been more or less isolated from the rest of the world for roughly 1,000 years. Their appearances range from smaller to larger mammals, and they can do everything that regular humans can do.

Now, with the answer in front of you, we can actually confirm that Nezumi is not a Mink in One Piece. He is, in fact, a regular human, as confirmed in the series. He does have mous-like whiskers, and his name, Nezumi, is actually the Japanese word for mouse, but this is only a pun by Oda, who wanted to portray him as the scheming character he is via his appearance and his name. So, no, he is not a Mink.