Ten

Ten is a young woman who had it rough growing up. From escaping slavery, being rejected by the kingdom she grew up in, and left for dead all by the age of 15, she eventually found her home aboard the crew of the Straw Hat Pirates, having been rescued from Impel Down by their captain, and fighting alongside him in the Marineford war. Joined by her adoptive father, Ten now resides aboard the Thousand Sunny as the crew's biologist.

Personality

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Due to her background, Ten presents as very closed-off and private, often prickly and untrusting towards strangers. She prefers to keep to herself, though with those she's closest to, Ten's surprisingly cheery and warm. While it did take a while, with the help of her crew, Ten's finally grown out of her shell around them, even feeling comfortable enough to expose the sun-shaped mark on her back.

History

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Past

Born a slave in the Holy Land of Marie-Geoise, Ten was originally fed her devil fruit by the Celestial Dragons who enslaved her for entertainment. She bore witness and experience to the horrors of slavery until the age of 8, when the Sun Pirates led a raid on Marie-Geoise, freeing her in the process alongside a young girl named Koala. The two were re-branded with the mark of the Sun Pirates to hide their slave marks, and raised side-by-side, with whale-shark fishman Jinbe taking a particular liking to a young Ten. The young girls sailed alongside with the Sun Pirates, forming a familial relationship with each other and with the other pirates aboard until Koala was to be returned to her homeland, and the marines were called to ambush the pirates.

Upon the death of Fisher Tiger and Jinbe’s taking of the Captain mantle, Ten was sent back to live in the Ryugu Kingdom on Fishman Island for her own safety, where she was placed with a foster family that cared very little for her, and with the tensions between humans and fishmen at an all time high, her life there was miserable. After fleeing the kingdom at 15, Ten would encounter a small band of pirate-hating adventurers, who she would journey with for a short time until they discovered the pirate's mark on her back, again abandoning her and leaving her for dead. After months of being on the run, committing various petty crimes and racking up her first bounty, Jinbe finally came back for her, and the two would sail together until being imprisoned in Impel Down.

Present

Jinbe and Ten were held in the government prison for ages, having to endure the torture of listening to the other be relentlessly abused by the prison staff. Upon being freed by Monkey D. Luffy, Jinbe and Ten would assist in the prison breakout, and in the Marineford War. Fighting side-by-side until Ace was freed, things began to go awry when Admiral Akainu ended the life of Ace in front of his very brother, and very nearly ended the life of Jinbe as he and Ten took Luffy and fled the scene on the Heart Pirates’s submarine. Aboard the Polar Tang, Jinbe and Luffy’s lives were saved by Trafalgar Law, and the crew was left to recuperate on Amazon Lily. There, Ten was able to find out her mother hailed from the very island she was given sanctity on, and spent her time learning about her past with the native women. Upon her father’s full recovery, Ten and Jinbe bid farewell to Luffy, with a promise to meet up on Fishman Island after two years had passed.

During those years, she'd spend her time studying and training with her father, until the day that the Straw Hat pirates arrived on Fishman Island. In the end, Ten would assist in the defeat Hody Jones, earning her the right as an ambassador between the Straw Hat Pirates and the Fishman people, finally bridging the gap between the two species. Entrusting his daughter’s safety to the pirates that liberated their island, Jinbe would allow Ten to join the Straw Hat Pirates as their biologist, with the promise he would soon join her.

From there, she would go on to sail with the Straw Hats on the rest of their adventures, modifying her body with gills on Punk Hazard, facing off against black market broker Donquixote Doflamingo, helping finish off the fight on Whole Cake Island, supporting the team’s raid on Onigashima, and exploring the futuristic Egghead Island, among many other adventures.

Relationships

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Initially having kidnapped her, Ten was shocked to discover she and Víbora were actually cousins, as her father was Víbora’s uncle. Bonding over their shared blood and love of the sea, their connection only strengthened after Víbora saved Ten’s life on Dressrosa. After finding the Fude Fude no Mi regrown on Wano County, Ten silently shipped it over to Víbora, as a repayment for the debt she owed.

After a less-than-pleasant introduction to each other, Ten would eventually warm up to the chef in time. Spending time bonding over their rough childhoods as well as their affinity for seafood, the two would become close enough to where they became romantically involved. They share the same dream of discovering the All Blue, a section of ocean where every species of marine life can coexist.

Jinbe took her in when she was 8 years old, fresh off the coast of the Holy Land, and loves her like a daughter. Despite having to be apart for a good amount of her teenage years, Ten is still deeply grateful to him for saving her life and raising her until he couldn't anymore, and is very defensive of anyone speaking ill of him.

Trivia

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• Ten has a habit of stealing and hoarding things, picked up from her time as a slave.
• While Ten is able to turn herself into paper as well using her devil fruit, she often refuses to do it unless absolutely necessary because it’s “embarrassing”
• She doesn’t know what day she was actually born, so instead she celebrates the day Jinbe saved her from Marie Geoise