Shandian Tribe

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The Shandians are a fictional tribe of people from the anime and manga One Piece, playing a major role in the Skypiea arc. They seem to largely be based on Native Americans.

Contents 1 History 2 Beliefs 3 Members 3.1 Aisa 3.2 Braham 3.3 Calgara 3.4 Genbou 3.5 Kamakiri 3.6 Laki 3.7 Nola 3.8 Wiper 4 Weapons

[edit] History

Long ago the Shandians inhabited the island of Jaya. They used to be one of the more powerful societies on The Grand Line, but due to events that, as of yet, have been unexplained, most of their people have been killed off leaving only a relatively small tribe. Since then, the tribe has made it their duty to guard their capital, the city of gold Shandra, killing all intruders. However, four-hundred years before the present timeline, the tribe caught an epidemic that was slowly killing off their people and it seemed as if all hope was lost until Montblanc Norland and his crew arrived. Norland was an explorer from Lyneel and, despite rejection at the beginning, he and his crew managed to cure everyone in the village.

Years later due to "Knock-Up Stream", a large part of the island, including the area where everyone lived, was sent flying into the sky, landing in the White-White Sea. In the sky, soil is considered holy, so the land was taken over by the Sky People, who called it Upper Yard, forcing the Shandians out. Since then, the Shandians and the Sky People have been in constant warfare over control of Upper Yard. After Enel destroyed Angel Island and was defeated by Monkey D. Luffy, the war ended and the two societies began to live together on Upper Yard, which was more than large enough to support both as they found. Both are currently ruled by Gan Fall.

[edit] Beliefs

Originally, the Shandians believed largely in ancestor worship. A large part of their religion centers around a golden bell in the city of Shandra. By ringing it, the spirits of their ancestors can follow its sound back to their island and live in a species of white trees that lives there. In addition to this, they also once worshipped many gods, some of which being a race of giant snakes that inhabited Jaya. Human sacrifice was once practiced, they believed sacrificing their people to their Gods would cure diseases as well as lift many other Omens.

The modern Shandians still worship their ancestors, however much has changed over the passing centuries and they have abandoned many of their tradional beliefs.

[edit] Members

[edit] Aisa

Aisa (アイサ) is a small girl and, since she was born, she could sense via "Mantra" whenever anyone dies or is severely wounded. Because of this, she hates it when people die and will try anything to stop it, even rushing into danger without any plans on what to do. Aisa is good friends with Laki, who despite popular beliefs , is not her sister, and tends to bring her gifts like bags of dirt, which are considered holy and are called Vearth in the sky. Aisa wants to be a strong fighter like everyone else but is afraid of Wiper, though she warms up to him eventually. She is the one who reveals the defeat of both Priest Satori and Gan Fall to the rest of the tribe, and later tries to stop all of the killing by going to Upper Yard, where she meets the Straw Hat Pirates. Though she is initially afraid of them, she soon warms up to the pirates, especially Luffy and Nami. Aisa helps Luffy locate Enel and after the war ends, Aisa no longer has to be a warrior. Though she carries a Burn Blade, she is never shown using it.

It should be noted that Aisa's Mantra is incredibly strong for her age. From as far away as the Shandian Village she could precisely identify Satori and Gan Fall and tell that both had been defeated. She could also tell from a bank of island cloud on Giant Jack that the number of people aboard Enel's ark Maxim high in the sky had changed to where Enel was alone.

Aisa is also a kind of bird in reality.

[edit] Braham

Braham (ブラハム, Burahamu) is one of the Shandian warriors that fought to take back Upper Yard from Enel, and he loses to Zoro in the Survival Game, but manages to give him a hard time with his quick movements and ranged attacks and later recovers as the war ends. He uses guns that produce a bright flash so his opponents can't see the bullets come at them, though he seems to be fairly skilled at close combat, mainly involving the use of Skate-type Wavers to boost the speed of his kicks.

[edit] Calgara

Calgara (カルガラ Karugara) was a hero of the Shandians who lived while Upper Yard was still a part of Jaya (some 400 years ago), and who befriended the explorer Montblanc Norland (the ancestor of Montblanc Cricket). A statue of him was erected after his death as an eternal reminder to the Shandians of his strength and courage, and Wiper is a direct descendant of his.

Originally, Shandians were a viciously xenophobic tribe, and tried to kill Norland's crew immediately, especially after Norland killed a giant snake that the Shandians considered their god (Norland killed it to save the life of a sacrifial offering to the snake, who happened to be Calgara's daughter). However, Norland gained their trust and Calgara's friendship by curing a disease that was plagueing their tribe. Their friendship went as far as Calgara showing Norland the fabled city of gold, and sharing the wealth fully.

However, some tensions ran between the two when Norland cut down an entire forest, whose trees the Shandians believed to hold the souls of their ancestors. Norland did so because the trees were the source of the disease that plagued the Shandians in the first place, and decided to leave anyway, as he and his crew were once again seen as outsiders. However, Calgara realized the truth too late, as Norland's crew was already on their boat, and leaving.

This didn't stop Calgara though, and he rang the golden bell that first attracted Norland to Jaya, promising that he would wait for Norland's return. Sadly that was not to be as one fateful day, the part of the island they were on was shot into the air by the Knock Up stream and into Skypiea where it attracted the attention of the "god" of that timeline who then proceeded to attack it and the Shandians to claim it as his own.

Though it's never revealed how Calgara met his end, the last seen of him was shouting to his warriors that they must protect the land so their friend Norland can return.

[edit] Genbou

Genbou (ゲンボウ) is one of the Shandian warriors that fought to take back Upper Yard from Enel, using a cannonball-firing bazooka as weapon. He loses to Yama in the Survival Game, but later recovers as the war ends.

[edit] Kamakiri

Kamakiri (カマキリ) is one of the Shandian warriors that fought to take Upper Yard from Enel. Kamakiri seems to be one of Wiper's most trusted fighters and is also good friends with Laki and Aisa, acting much kinder than the other warriors. He used a sickle and Burn Blade as a weapons. Kamakiri lost to Enel in the Survival Game, but managed to live and warned Laki that Enel was unbeatable and that she had to tell Wiper. He later recovers as the war ends.

In a recent Japanese Fan Poll, Kamakiri is currently ranked the 45th most popular character in One Piece.

Kamakiri (螳螂) is Japanese for Praying Mantis.

[edit] Laki

Laki (ラキ) is one of the Shandian warriors that fought to take back Upper Yard from Enel. She is good friends with Kamakiri and Aisa. She used a gun as a weapon and lost to Enel in the Survival Game as she tried to warn Wiper that he couldn't kill Enel, but she later recovers as the war ends.

Many fans believe Laki is Aisa's sister, however they are in fact cousins.

[edit] Nola

Nola is a giant snake that lives with the Shandians in Jaya before and after it got knocked into the sky by the Knock Up Stream. At first she was nothing more then a little normal sized snake and named after Montblanc Norland in honor of the explorer (whom she was also friends with). After the Knock Up Stream incident and many years go by, Nola had grown to her current gigantic size. She unknowingly took part in the survival game sent by Enel and is one of the few who manages to reach Upper Yard. During her trip up there she eats Luffy (who at first thinks her stomach is a cave), Nami, Aisa and Gan Fall but eventually spits them out. During the climax where Luffy needed to reach Enel's ship by knocking down the Giant Jack (a giant beanstalk), she helps the heroes by ramming into it, weakening the beanstalk enough for Wiper to give the final blow with his Reject Dial. The people of Skypeia call her the "King of the Sky," or "Master of the Sky," even though she is a female and should be called a Queen or Mistress instead.

[edit] Wiper

Wiper (ワイパー, Waipā) is the leader of the Shandian warriors fighting to take Upper Yard back from Enel, he fights with a Burn Bazooka. He is a direct descendant of Calgara, inheriting his violent tendencies. Wiper is very rough around the edges and has always hated both the Skypieans (despite Gan Fall's best efforts to attain peace between the two people during his time as "god") and anybody from the seas. He fought against Monkey D. Luffy during the survival game yet their match ended in stalemate. Later, he, along with Nico Robin, Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Enel, and Gan Fall, survive Enel's survival game, but Enel defeats Wiper with his Goro Goro powers when Wiper refuses to join him. Wiper uses Seastone and a Reject Dial, a powerful Dial weapon that causes great damage to both the enemy and the user, for the kill. However, Enel simply uses his powers to restart his own heart and strikes the Shandian warrior down once more. Later he uses it for a third time that day-he supposedly should have died after the second use-to help the Straw Hats knock over Giant Jack so Luffy can reach Enel's ship during the climax of the Skypiea Arc. After Enel's defeat, Wiper sees peace finally come between the Shandians and the Skypieans. Wiper fights using a Burn Bazooka and a Reject Dial, though he is skilled at close combat, mainly involving the use of Skate-type Wavers to boost his kicks. Currently, he's helping to rebuild the Shandian's village with the others.

In a recent Japanese Fan Poll, Wiper is currently ranked the 37th most popular character in One Piece. His name was romanized in One Piece: Grand Adventure as Wyper, but in One Piece: Pirates Carnival, he was given a name change of Wyler.

[edit] Weapons

Burn Blade: Essentially a Flavor Dial tied to a stick, a flammable gas is shot out that can turn into a sword of blue fire capable of cutting a large tree in half easily.

Burn Bazooka (燃焼砲（バーンバズーカ）): Inside a bazooka is a Flavor Dial loaded with a flammable gas that, when fires, turns into a massive beam of blue flames that chars through several trees like they were nothing.

Reject Dial: Wiper uses a reject dial to absorb the blows from any of his enemies' attacks and redirects the blows back at them. It works the same as an Impact Dial, only its 10 times stronger, thus proving fatal to both the enemy and the user alike.