Taiyou (Main)

Taiyou, nicknamed Taiyou the Corpse (日本語: 死体を 太陽/ Romaji: Shitai o Taiyou) is the present Vice-Captain of the Yokai Pirates and former Second-In-Command of the Black Sun Syndicate. He is Jacquotte D. Anne's right hand man and the first to accompany her on her conquest to conquer the world. His epithet comes from his rotten, corpse-like appearance while fighting, owing to his advanced usage of Haki.

Appearance
Taiyou is a lean, youthful man, roughly six feet tall. He has short, messy, gold-coloured hair, and eyes to match. Taiyou's sense of style usually leans towards colours such as gold and black, and towards casual styles. however, he has worn different outfits on different occasions.

While still a resident of Loguetown, Taiyou wore ragged, torn clothes. After setting sail with Anne, however, his appearance grew neater. His most common ensemble consisted of a gold-coloured t-shirt, black trousers, sneakers, and a black jacket, prior to the timeskip. After the timeskip, and his sneakers for black boots, but kept everything else the same. He has also added a black-and-gold striped scarf to his ensemble.

Personality
Taiyou is a very methodic, cool-headed person, usually with a realistic view on life. Amongst the Yokai Pirates, he is generally considered to be a person one can safely confide in.

Taiyou's most defining trait is his loyalty, best demonstrated by his loyalty to Anne and his loyalty to the crew. He joined the Black Sun Syndicate when Anne was sixteen, and is still by her side six years later. He stood against Akainu, risking his life, to protect her in the Paramount War, and was by her side as she recovered from her coma. All this was because she paid his debts took him away from Loguetown.

Taiyou, initially, was cowardly, nihilstic, and never stood up for himself, even when he was getting beaten up by loan sharks. He dismissed Anne's ambition and flat-out refused to join her crew. However, he then had a change of heart and agreed to go with her. Slowly, Taiyou became more courageous and started enjoying his life.

Taiyou truly does enjoy combat, and he takes great pride in the fact that he is regarded the best fighter amongst the Yokai Pirates, second only to the captain. He is highly skilled in the usage of Busoshoku Haki, and also a skilled swordsman.

Taiyou is an animal lover, but is very fond of cats in general, to the point where he adopts a cat and names it "Mini-Taiyou-chan" much to his captain's dismay.

Interestingly, Taiyou is one of the few male characters in the series to use the pronouns "Boku-Kimi" as opposed to the more common (in the series) "Ore-Omae."

Haki
Taiyou is renowned throughout the world for his mastery of Busoshoku Haki. While fighting, Haki takes over his body, staining it gunmetal black. This gives him a rotting, corpse-like appearance, hence his epithet, "the Corpse." Taiyou also has average command over Kenbunshoku Haki and no command over Haoshoku Haki

Swordsmanship
Taiyou is also a very skilled swordsman. He uses Ittoryu, one-sword style, and the name of his sword is Kokkaku (Lit: "Skeleton). His sword skills, used in combination with his Haki, are strong enough to cleave large ships in half. Though Taiyou is very skilled in the art of swordplay, he has expressed no interest in becoming the greatest swordsman in the world.

Early One Piece
Taiyou was originally named Makoto. Though his colour scheme didn't change much, his wardrobe did. Makoto sported a police officer-esque get up, complete with a cap. Makoto also has tattoos on his face, as well as a ponytail. Makoto was also especially tall and supposed to be in a romantic relationship with Lara, Anne's earlier version.

Anime and Manga Differences

 * In the manga, when Taiyou pulls Anne away from Ace's "corpse," she punches him and tells him that Ace is not dead. In the anime, she simply pulls on his collar instead of punching him.

Trivia

 * The name of Anne's devil fruit comes from Taiyou's name, and Taiyou's name comes from her epithet, Black Sun/ Kuroitaiyou.