Captain Kuro

"Pirates should be faithful pawns of their captain. They live and die by my command."

- Kuro on his crew. "I, who was once the dreaded Captain Kuro, bowed and scraped to a spoiled little girl, and catered to her every whim... Can you fathom my humiliation?"

- Kuro's true contempt for Kaya. "My plan cannot fail!"

- Kuro's desperate last words before losing to Luffy.

Captain Kuro is the main antagonist of the Syrup Village Arc. He is the captain of the Black Cat Pirates and the former caretaker of Kaya.

Personality
In general, Kuro's intelligence is of the highest caliber, (having the second highest IQ in East Blue, behind Benn Beckman), whose plans have never failed in the past. He is a master strategist and an accomplished fighter, but he was severely hampered by the fact that he simply did not have the fortitude to deal with a pirate's life on the run from the Marines.

Kuro seems to be very proud of his plans, which had never failed before (hence his nickname, Kuro of a Hundred Plans). When he relived his moments of piracy, he claims his plans were too great to be wasted on his crew. He also said that he would kill his crew if they were to hinder his plans in any way. During the final moments before Luffy defeated him, Kuro lost his composure and screamed at the despair of his precious plan failing.

He also seems to like the glasses he wears very much, even though they tend to slip down his nose every so often. He pushes them up with his palms so he does not scratch his face with his Cat Claws, a symbol of remembering his murderous ways. Even despite the lens being shattered by Luffy's punch, he kept them on. The glasses are his signature belongings, and as such, he destroyed the new ones Kaya gave him (though it may be because he simply hated her).

Kuro follows the role of the blasphemous, diabolical, and sarcastic mastermind, and continues One Piece's tradition of noticeably manipulative and cruel villains. He held himself in very high regard, having a standard for people no one seemed able to live up to but himself. He felt nothing for the lives of others, willingly sacrificing anyone he needed to achieve his ambitions.

During his three years as Kaya's butler, he acted as a benign (though a little snobbish), trustworthy, respectful, charming, honest, fearless, and well-mannered man who carries a hatred for pirates, and as such, looks down on Usopp. He later admits that, aside his hatred for Usopp and piracy, how much he despises this pseudo-personality; his hatred of piracy standing, the true reason is very different than that of his false persona. Judging by the severe change in personality between Captain Kuro and Klahadore, it is possible that Kuro has some degree of a split personality, if not simply being skilled in acting; the anime exemplifies the former by "Klahadore" speaking in a lighter and a very formal tone while "Kuro" has a deeper and much colder voice. Either way, his sudden change made Merry and Kaya fear him greatly.

Though able to restrain himself most of the time, to the point of appearing to be a civilized person who abhors senseless violence, deep down Kuro is a very bloodthirsty and dangerous man, a trait that comes to full effect upon seeing a crescent moon which drives him wild and even he finds it difficult to resist the temptations of violence brought on by the stage of the moon. He never really kept this trait hidden during his time as an active pirate, as his crew fear him for his ruthlessness at all times. On the night of the Marine attack, there was once again a crescent moon, which seems to have been the reason why Kuro was so brutal to the Marines on board. Even after yearning a peaceful life devoid of the needless violence associated with piracy, Kuro still found the sight of a crescent moon an irresistible lure to his old ways, leading him to unnecessarily attack Merry simply to satisfy himself; his habit of pushing his glasses up with his palm instead of his fingers, whether as a pirate or butler, is prove that he has not forgotten his killing methods. As a consequence during the first opening of the anime a red crescent moon can be briefly seen in the scene with Kuro.

Physical and Mental Abilities
Genius Intellect: He is the second most intelligent man in East Blue. He also, even though Devil Fruits are rare in East Blue, Kuro calmly came to acknowledge it as a fact when Luffy had demonstrated the powers of eating one, while many others (including the rest of the Black Cat Pirates) would be shocked to see what they believe to be a mere myth come to reality.
 * Master Strategist: Worthy of his epithet, Kuro is a master strategist who has never once before failed in his village raids, due to him planning skillfully beforehand, and was skilled enough to have tricked the Marines into making them think he died with a decoy, thus deactivating his bounty and infamy.
 * Master Tactician: His epithet is "Kuro of the Hundred Plans", and he is shown to be well-versed in tactics: he has the patience and determination to carry out a three-years plan right down to the most minute detail.
 * Master Manipulator: He managed to perfectly blend into his "alias" Klahadore (winning the respect of the townspeople, the care of his adoptive family and managing to convince Syrup Village that the liar Usopp was of malicious intent).

Leadership: He is feared by all his subordinates, all of whom obey him out of his well-known ruthlessness to both foes and allies alike. Despite the Nyaban Brothers believing that his skills dulled over the three years as a butler and tried to kill him, he proved that he is still superior by easily overwhelming them at the tip of his claws. He also considered Zoro as "soft" in comparison for not successfully killing Buchi in one strike.

Lunar Mind: Kuro can effectively enter a state of automatic blood-lust during any phase of a "crescent moon", leading to an increase in brutality.

Above-Average Endurance: He possesses a good level of endurance as shown during his fight against the Straw Hats.

Enhanced Kick: He possesses powerful kicks, as demonstrated when he kicked Usopp and Luffy; sending them both flying for a great distance from him.

Stealth Foot
Enhanced Speed: Kuro can run at blinding speed, with which to deliver his attacks. He is able to run 100 meters in around 4 seconds.
 * Flash Step: His skill is such that at full speed he is only able to be seen as a vague blur or by the damage his attacks cause; his speed is such that he can kill a group of 50 skilled assassins before any of them would even take notice.

Weapons
Cat Claws: Captain Kuro uses furred gloves with full-length katana blades at the end of each finger. He combines these large iron claws with his impressive speed to indiscriminately slash everyone in his vicinity to death at random depths of cuts.
 * Pussyfoot Maneuver: An ability in which Kuro moves to a certain location (usually behind an opponent) very quickly, moving about 100 meters in 4 to 5 seconds, almost looking like he teleported. He initiates this move by performing several quick foot movements to propel himself to another location.
 * Out of the Bag Attack: Kuro's ultimate technique. A fearsome attack that allows him to sweep a large area, killing anything his claws connect with at random, including his own crew. The order in which he inflicts his attacks are so random that they range from mediocre scratches to fatal evisceration to both friend and foe alike. He moves so fast even he does not know what he's attacking, and only stops when tired out (or when someone can catch and physically stop him, as Luffy did). He initiates this move by swaying back and forth sideways in a fluid manner — this is necessary in order to enter the "trance" needed to perform the move. The side-effect of generating purple clouds of smoke to rise from the ground as Kuro moves at his topmost speed.