Borsalino, popularly known by his nickname Kizaru, is a supporting character of the ever-famous manga and anime series One Piece by Eiichiro Oda. Being one of the Admirals of the Marine, Kizaru represents one of the most powerful figures within the military force of the World Government.
Background
Although not much is known about his youth, it is revealed that he has been an Admiral for a very long time, and he was one of the original generation of Admirals, alongside Aokiji and Akainu. Major events have checkered his career in the Marines, notably playing a major role in the Summit War of Marineford, where he inflicted high casualties among the Whitebeard Pirates and their allies.
Appearance
He is an incredibly tall, relatively slim man, rivaling his fellow ex-Admirals Aokiji and Akainu in size. He appears as a middle-aged man and is known to be the oldest among the original generation of Admirals. Distinctive in his appearance, Borsalino is seen wearing a yellow striped suit, fitting his light-based powers, and is almost invariably seen wearing orange-tinted sunglasses. He has a rather long face with prominent cheekbones and a thin mustache with a goatee.
Personal Information
Name: Borsalino
Alias: Kizaru
Position: Admiral of the Marines
Devil Fruit: Pika Pika no Mi (Glint-Glint Fruit)
Age: 58 (pre-timeskip) 60 (post-timeskip)
Height: 304 cm (9'11¾")
Birthday: November 23
Personality
Probably the most recognizable feature of Borsalino's style is his personality. He is an easygoing, relaxed individual, and this very often creates a jarring situation when set against the seriousness of events occurring around him. This attitude often manifests through his very slow speech and a supposedly careless attitude toward combat. This exterior, however, conceals a ruthless efficiency in battle and a strong sense of duty to the Marines. A proof to this can be shown through Borsalino's actions during the Sabaody Archipelago arc, where he relentlessly chases down the Straw Hat Pirates and other Supernovas within the region, thus showing his commitment to being an Admiral even though his nonchalance is evident on the outside.
Motivations and Goals
It seems that the brand of justice the World Government is familiar with is what Borsalino looks out for primarily. Being an Admiral, he is tasked with upholding law and order and fighting piracy all across the One Piece world.
Fighting Styles
Admiral Kizaru, better known as Borsalino, carries one of the most diverse and perilous fighting styles within the One Piece universe. A lot of his fighting prowess comes out from resorting to the Pika Pika no Mi, a Logia-type Devil Fruit that allows its user to create, control, and turn into light at his will.
His flexibility is well-balanced with a fighting style. While some characters specialize only in one form of combat, Kizaru shows skill in many. He's proficient with long-range, close-range, and area-of-effect fighting, making him an extremely formidable foe in many different battles.
One of Kizaru's signature techniques allows him to travel and attack at light speed. His "Yata no Kagami" technique makes him travel instantly over short to long distances by creating a light mirror that helps in teleportation. This technique increases his mobility and has him move very fast, making it hard to get hit, manifested from the fighting against the Supernovas on Sabaody Archipelago.
To top all of this off, regarding offensive abilities, Kizaru wields attacks of a light-based nature. One of his main techniques is the "Yasakani no Magatama," an Area of Effect technique, spitting a vast quantity of light particles to wreak havoc. This attack was especially useful during the Battle of Marineford, wherein one blast could inflict heavy damage on multiple opponents at once.
Kizaru, with his mastery of martial arts, also employed light-empowered kicks. His "Ama no Murakumo" literally means "Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven." He creates a light sword with which he can attack and parry other weapons, not just limited to slashing. With this capacity to forge any weapon, Kizaru can alter his way of fighting in the instance, making his style shift at will between the different forms of combat.
Another feature of Kizaru's fighting style is the ability to work as a sniper. He can focus light into his fingertip and release laser beams from a distance, which are quite precise. This technique—mostly used while saying his catchphrase "Ooh. Scary" (a verbal tic that helps create his nonchalance)—gives him the capability to open fire against enemies with great accuracy.
His Logia powers grant him excellent defensive capabilities. By turning his body into light, he'll be able to move out of the way of physical attacks and nearly become immune to conventional weapons and most forms of Haki-less attacks. This phasing through attacks enhances his already impressive defense.
Worth noting, Kizaru's fighting style is one of not only raw power but also one of psychological warfare. He has always been relaxed during a fight and often taunts his opponents to get them off guard. That, paired with overwhelming power and a carefree attitude, can make him a rather fearsome opponent.
Major Battles
One of the most famous battles of Kizaru was during the Sabaody Archipelago arc, in which he was pitted against four Worst Generation members: Basil Hawkins, X Drake, Urouge, and Scratchmen Apoo. This truly showed just how overwhelming his power really was against such powerful pirates. He has visibly used his Pika Pika no Mi powers to the fullest, such as the enormous speed, great enough that it appears to be at the speed of light, bypassing opponents without a sweat, and releasing devastating light-based attacks. His technique, "Yasakani no Magatama", is useful in firing a storm of light particles, effective in inflicting massive damage on numerous enemies at one go.
Another important battle in Kizaru's career was the Summit War of Marineford. Kizaru played a huge role in this humongous fight, causing the Whitebeard Pirates and all their allies to fall back. He also fought other noted skirmishes, briefly but intensely, against Marco, First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. This battle proved Kizaru to be strong against the top fighters, showing how he could fight against the regenerative powers of the phoenix with light-speed attacks.
At Marineford, Kizaru also showed his tactical prowess by going after key people in the other camp. He tried killing Luffy since he realized that he was the possible enemy of the Future King and was therefore going to be a threat. So now it was a direct confrontation with Silvers Rayleigh, ex-first mate to the Roger Pirates. Although their fight was not fully shown, the fact that Rayleigh was able to hold back Kizaru really testified to just how powerful both these fighters were.
More recently, Kizaru has been involved in the cascading events on Egghead Island. This pits him against a far stronger Monkey D. Luffy. The fight between Kizaru and Luffy on Egghead Island was highly anticipated but surprisingly short. Luffy, with his advanced forms of Haki now mastered and his newly unlocked Gear 5 transformation, easily dispatched Kizaru. The result surprised many of Luffy's fans, showing how much he had grown compared to their last fight.
Though his direct fight with Luffy ended pretty quickly, Kizaru is far from done in this Egghead Island arc. In reality, even after his fight, the Admiral remains a massive threat to the Straw Hat Pirates and their allies, foreshadowing potential future fights.
What stays noteworthy is that, though Kizaru has been portrayed as an extremely powerful warrior who can go one-on-one against the strongest characters in the series, there were definite limits to his power. His abilities with light, though effective, could still be overcome by others who held an adequate mastery of Haki or had other such special abilities. The latter is what stopped him from easily dispatching Rayleigh at Sabaody Archipelago after the man had grown very old.