Bax

Biodata

Background / History

Bax learned swordsmanship after joining his country’s Guard Corps. Brook had already gone to sea by then, so Bax knew him only through stories. Their sword styles share the same institutional foundation, but the guards developed individual variations rather than practicing an identical set of techniques 28 33.

Before meeting Xie Wen, Bax had been defeated by Lafitte, the “Devil Sheriff.” Gang members later taunted him for fleeing his hometown after that defeat. Bax’s own reflections confirm that Lafitte had worn down much of his youthful pride 26 29.

By his first appearance, Bax was serving Cody aboard a merchant vessel in the West Blue. He brought food to the newly rescued Xie Wen and his Palicoes and explained who owned the ship 23.

When Cody later reunites with Xie Wen, he reports that Bax resigned the previous year and returned to his hometown. Bax opened a tavern there, and Cody has heard that its business is doing well 245.

Appearance

• Burly build: His physique initially leads Xie Wen to mistake him for the ship’s boatswain 23.
• Middle-aged: Despite his size, he fights with an agile, thrust-oriented style 26.
• Rapier at his waist: He carries his weapon ready for use while serving Cody 26.
• Strong smell of alcohol: Klee Meow identifies him by scent while he secretly follows the group 25.

Personality

Bax is friendly toward Cody’s guests but strict about professional obligations. He readily allows Xie Wen and the cats onto the deck, asking only that they avoid disturbing Cody and the helmsman. Later, he sharply objects when Xie Wen asks to go sightseeing while employed as a bodyguard 24 35.

His protective instincts extend beyond his employer. When gang reinforcements surround Xie Wen and the Palicoes, Bax retreats to their side and promises to find a way out. He also avoids killing the attackers because doing so could create trouble for Cody 26.

Bax retains a swordsman’s pride, though he can acknowledge his mistakes. After underestimating Xie Wen, he admits the error and turns their spar into an informal lesson. Discovering that Xie Wen had beaten him without using his preferred weapon motivates him to abandon plans for a break and train harder 29 31.

The strength of Xie Wen and his companions can also leave him discouraged. Sanji Meow’s victory over Vito makes Bax lament that he cannot even defeat Xie Wen’s cat, while Xie Wen’s defeat of Bege leaves him feeling as though his own years of sword training have been wasted 42 44.

Abilities & Skills

Guard Corps Swordsmanship

Bax practices an agile sword style built around thrusts. Its foundation developed over generations as Guard Corps captains and soldiers refined their basic techniques 26 33.

• Bullet deflection: Deflects gunfire with his rapier while protecting Xie Wen and the Palicoes 26.
• Controlled counterattacks: Holds back from killing gang members without losing his initial advantage 26.
• Technical finesse: Xie Wen judges his precision superior to the broad, monster-hunting movements of his own style at their first encounter 26.
• Limits: Xie Wen’s strength and speed exceed his own. Later assessments also place Bax below Sanji Meow and Vito in combat ability 29 41.
• Later comparison: Xie Wen judges that a gun-wielding member of the Head-Hunting Pirates could have held his own against Bax, although that pirate is weaker than Vito and is quickly killed by Xie Wen 52.

Requiem BANDOROU

Bax teaches Xie Wen the iai technique originally called Requiem BANDOROU, which Brook adapted and renamed Hanauta Sancho: Yahazu Giri 37.

• Xie Wen uses the technique against Capone Family gangsters after studying Bax’s swordsmanship 36 37.
• Bax cannot reproduce Brook’s delayed effect, in which enemies realize they have been cut only after Brook has taken three steps while humming 37.

Swordsmanship Instruction

Bax recognizes weaknesses in Xie Wen’s attacks and adjusts his sparring to help correct them 29.

• Shifts toward defense and counterattacks only when Xie Wen exposes a significant opening 29.
• Offers formal instruction after their later Long Sword spar, explaining that the Guard Corps style is not secret 33.
• Teaches Xie Wen the basics before Cody’s fleet resumes its voyage; proficient use and integration into Xie Wen’s existing style still require further practice 33.
• His instruction is subsequently passed on indirectly when Xie Wen explains the thrusting style to Meow Jūshirō, who grasps its essence from that explanation alone 78.

Regional Knowledge

As a well-traveled member of Cody’s fleet, Bax supplies practical information about the West Blue 28.

• Explains local gangs’ lack of bounties and the Marines’ reluctance to intervene in gang affairs 27.
• Clarifies the availability of accurate nautical charts and the distinction between sword quality and famous graded blades 28.
• Explains that Cody’s hometown serves as the fleet’s home base and that a nearby Marine Base helps deter gangs and pirates 31.
• Identifies the Buono, Capone, and Shimento Families as the major powers controlling Gures 35.
• Identifies Buono John for Xie Wen at the trade fair 38.

Power Progression

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Rapier — His principal weapon, suited to his fast thrusting techniques 26 29.
• Training equipment — His training space is better equipped than Xie Wen’s improvised arrangements, prompting Xie Wen to train alongside him 33.
• Fleet nautical charts — Borrows Cody’s charts for Xie Wen to inspect or copy, with the explicit condition that they be returned 30.

Relationships

• Cody — Former employer and the focus of Bax’s duties as butler and bodyguard. Bax shields him when violence erupts at the trade fair. Cody later reports Bax’s resignation and successful tavern business to Xie Wen 23 35 40 245.
• Xie Wen — Initially a guest under his protection, later a fellow guard, sparring partner, and swordsmanship student. Bax’s instruction helps him adapt his techniques to human opponents 25 29 33.
• Klee Meow — Protects her from would-be captors, then becomes wary of her backpack after witnessing her bombs flatten an alley 26 27.
• Sanji Meow — Initially protects him alongside Xie Wen and Klee; later feels discouraged after seeing Sanji demonstrate strength beyond his own 26 41 42.
• Brook — A predecessor from the same homeland and Guard Corps tradition, not an established personal acquaintance 28 33.
• Lafitte — Former opponent whose defeat of Bax remains a sensitive subject 26 29.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Paper Lantern Town

• Secretly follows Xie Wen and the Palicoes at Cody’s request, intending to protect them from slave traders and gangs 24 25.
• Confronts three gangs and fights their gunmen until additional attackers block both ends of the alley 25 26.
• Drops his rapier in shock when Klee Meow’s bombing destroys the alley, then acknowledges that he and Cody underestimated the group 26 27.
• Spars with Xie Wen outside town. Xie Wen immediately places a blade at his neck, but their subsequent exchange becomes nearly an hour of technical practice 28 29.

Training and Voyage

• Lends Xie Wen nautical charts, indirectly helping expand the Hunter’s Notes map and scouting range 30.
• Resumes serious training after learning that Xie Wen specializes in a nodachi rather than the two cutlasses used in their first spar 31.
• Loses their next spar to a Foresight Slash and subsequently offers to teach his swordsmanship 33.
• Helps prepare a skiff for Klee’s bomb experiments, lengthening its tow rope after learning that her alley-destroying bombs were her weakest models 34.

Gures Trade Fair

• Warns Xie Wen about the island’s dominant crime families and urges restraint if a confrontation occurs 35.
• Suggests sending Xie Wen away early after Capone Bege’s threat; when Cody rejects the idea, Bax keeps a closer watch instead 39.
• Moves immediately to protect Cody after Buono John’s assassination 40.
• Prepares to help when Xie Wen challenges the Capone Family, but Cody stops him so they can first observe Xie Wen’s intentions 42.
• Witnesses the Palicoes’ and Xie Wen’s victories, leaving him increasingly conscious of the gap between their strength and his own 42 44.
• Notifies Xie Wen when the Capone Family delivers Long Moon and the compensation money, then arranges for his breakfast to be saved 46.

Later Influence on Xie Wen’s Swordsmanship

• Remains a reference point for Xie Wen’s assessment of opponents: Xie Wen compares an armed Head-Hunting Pirate to Bax after leaving Cody’s fleet 52.
• Xie Wen explains the Guard Corps thrusting style to Meow Jūshirō. Seeing the cat grasp its essence almost immediately, he privately jokes that witnessing this might make Bax retire on the spot 78.
• During his visit to Isshin Dojo, Xie Wen recalls having sensed something through earlier sword exchanges with Bax and other swordsmen, though their relative weakness limited what he could learn from those encounters 132.
• The swordsmanship tradition Bax taught contributes indirectly to Meow Jūshirō’s Flying Cat Hiten-Mitsurugi Style: Melynx Flash, which combines Brook’s Arrow-Notch Slash with Kuro’s Silent Step 33 37 78 155.

Return to His Hometown

Cody later informs Xie Wen that Bax resigned the previous year, returned to his hometown, and opened a tavern. According to Cody’s report, the business is doing well 245.

Notable Quotes

“This young man is Mr. Cody’s guest. Would you all do me the courtesy of backing off?” 25

“Stay close to me. I’ll find a way to get you out of here.” 26

“Of course it’s fine. This was never anything we needed to keep secret.” 33

“I can’t even beat Xie Wen’s cat...” 42

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