Maro

 Maro is a villain who appears in the manga Black Cat and its anime adaptation. He is a Tao Master from the continent of Yamto, and a member of the Apostles of the Star, which he helped to create alongside his lifelong friend and fellow Tao Master Shiki and the serie's main villain Creed Diskenth. Maro is a big and very fat man who looks like a sumo wrestler. He and Shiki want to reshape the world so that the Tao would be known and used worldwide. Despite being a Tao Master and one of the founders of the Apostles of the Star, he hasn't got a particularly high position among them, and while he is one of the four most powerful among them, the difference in power between him and the others isn't as obvious as with Creed or Shiki.

Background
Maro was born in the "other continent" of Yamto, a faraway and mysterious island inhabited by Taoists, who mastered the mystical art of Tao, which consists in mastering the ki (life energy) to use special powers and spells. Maro along with Shiki were part of the main Taoist clan, which was somehow involved with Chronos, a powerful secret organization which controls one third of the word's economy and politic. The exact relationship between Chronos and the clan of Taoists are unknown but 25 years before the start of the series, a war broke out between the two factions. Apparently, the Tao Masters wanted to overthrow Chronos and rule the world with the power of Tao but this was never fully explained. Chronos sent out all his assassins in this war, including the thirteen Chrono Mumbers, the world's strongest fighters. After an entire month of fights, the Taoists were nearly wiped out and only three Chrono Nubers were left.

Maro and Shiki wandered around the world looking for a way to fulfil their goal until two years before the start of the series where they met Creed Diskenth, a renegade assassin from Chronos. Shiki revealed Creed's own power of Tao and they offered their support to the demented swordsman, helping him to create the Apostles of the Star. Their ultimate goal was to destroy Chronos and to take over the world, so that they could reshape it following their ideals.

Personality
Maro heights above two meters and weights more than three hundreds kilograms, he is apparently very proud of his body, which serves as a natural shield against bullets and attacks. He knows Shiki since he was born and as two of the few remaining Tao masters, they are very close friends. He is the only one who ever saw Shiki's face before she revealed it. Maro appears to follow Shiki but the two are seen discussing about their own goal. Maro also gets along well with the other Apostles, namely Sharden, Kyoko and Leon, with whom he is seen discussing. (and sometimes berating when it comes to Kyoko) Like Shiki, Maro is extremely proud of his status of a Tao Master and he considers any other fighting style (and their users) as inferior to the Tao. But unlike Shiki, this pride often leads him to underestimate his opponents and to pay the price. Maro hates being mocked around or underestimated and he is very prone to anger. Contrary to Shiki who is never ridiculed for her dwarvism, Maro is often called "fastso" or "sumo wrestler" by his foes, when they don't burst of laughing upon seing his traditional clothes from Yamto.

In spite of his arrogance and these comedic aspects, Maro is pretty clever and observant. He knows how to analyze a fight and he usually waits to know before judging anything, save from when he is fighting.

Power and Abilities
Maro has extreme physical strenght, being able to to crush someone's head with bare hands and to expel a bullet in his leg by contracting his muscles, and in spite of his weight he is very fast and agile. He can "turn" himself into a ball and perform a devastating, boulder-like rollout attack. He also use his massive size to overwhelm his enemies and harrass them with a barrages of swift and fast blows. Maro can also use his ki to feel other's and locate people and use of Tao in a defined perimeter, or to increase his own physical abilities. He is also likely able to detect a power of Tao dormant in someone.

Maro's power of Tao is called "Gravity." He can disrupt the flow of ki that runs the ground to increase and manipulate the earth's gravity and by extension the weight of every object as he pleases. He mostly uses his power to increase his own weight and magnify the strenght of his blows and his rollout attack. His signature technique is called "Gravity Harite" he concentrates gravity in his hands to increase tenfold the weight of his blows and delivers a barrage of attacks, that cause enough pressure to strike at distance. He can also vastly increase the earth's gravity in a defined perimeter around him, which he uses to crush everything around him (including tanks and armored vehicles) or more simply to make projectiles fall on the ground before they reach their targets. (usually him) Maro's most powerful attack is called "Gravity Bomb:" He creates a gravity field in his hands and he compresses it into a huge ball that crushes everything on a large perimeter. He can fire several ones in rapid succession and he can even fire several ones at the same time or a barrage of smaller ones.

Maro is only seen increasing the gravity but he may be able to decrease it as well, for he is seen to stand on the very top of a tree with his three hundreds kilograms. Given Maro's overconfidence, one can think that he never uses his power to the maximum. Despite this, he is clearly above the other Tao-Wielders of the group (except Creed, Shiki and Doctor) even if the gap of power isn't very big.

Being a Tao Master, Maro is very likely able to use the Fuda techniques and to brew potions but perhaps not with the same proficiency as Shiki. Given that he is never seen using it, no one can really know.

Role in the Manga
Maro is first seen in the manga guarding the entry of the Lunafort tower along with Sharden and Kyoko, while Creed is having a meeting with his former partner, the primary protagonist Train Heartnet. He is seen wondering wether Train will agree or not to team up with Creed again. He later berates Kyoko for her laid-back attitude.

Maro is next seen discussing with Shiki about the beginning of the revolution on Clarken Island, before the Apostles of the Star's gathering. He later takes part in the terrorist attack on the World Conference, and the many other attacks on several Chronos bases. He then witnesses Durham's execution without objection and he is seen discussing with Sharden in Stoke Town.

Maro later "greets" the Chrono Numbers V, VII and XI when they invade the Apostles of the Star's castle, along with Sharden and Leon. Maro underestimates the Numbers and mocks their "primitive" weapons, only to be sent flying away. A short skirmish then begins but the Numbers manage to escape, much to Maro's anger. When Shiki asks Echidna about Creed's experiments on nanomachines, Maro seems as pissed of as Shiki by Creed's disrespect of the Tao. Maro laters goes with Shiki and Echidna where the Numbers are batling Creed and joins the fight, pushing the Chrono Number XI into a corner. However, the battle is ultimately interrupted by Train Heartnet and all the Apostles leave the castle before it's blown up.

When the Sweepers League invade Clarken Island, Shiki asks Maro to get rid of Train and he quickly finds him, alongside another powerful bounty-hunter named River Zastory. Upon seeing him, both sweepers burst of laughing because of his clothing. Angered, Maro attacks Train and starts the first fight of the final battle, while River is challenged by Preta Ghoul. Maro attacks Train an manages to wound him, but he shoots him in the leg with a bullet filled with a paralizing product, ultimately winning the fight. Some time later, when Train is battling Shiki, Maro recovers from the paralysis and head towards the manor to get his revenge. He is later seen with Shiki, as they witness the blast caused by Creed's and Train's ultimate attacks colliding.

After Creed is defeated and the Apostles disbanded, Shiki and Maro departs to travel around the world.

Role in the Anime
Maro's role isn't very different from the manga and the anime, yet he ironically appears more collected and less prone to anger in the later; Maro is still Shiki's comrade and he still helps to create the Apostles of the Star. We will never know for sure as he meets his demise on Clarken Island but given his friendship with Shiki, it's almost sure that he was among the Tao Masters who came to an agreement with Mason Ordrosso to create the Zero Numbers.

Maro participates in the Apostle's terrorist attack on the World Conference, and as with every other Apostles he watches from the sidelines the confrontation between Creed and Train. Maro hinders Train at first, by increasing the weight of his Black Gun "Hades" to two hundreds kilograms but Train still manages to wield it normally thanks to his unfathomable physical strenght. Maro also takes part in the showdown of the old castle and the war of Clarken Island. However, contrary to the manga, he engages a battle against the (anime exclusive) Chrono Number IX David Fapper. Maro gains the upper hand at first, and hurls countless "Gravity Bombs" towards his foe, but David manages to push him to a corner. (Curiously,when Maro fires a Gravity Bomb, his body deflates.) Maro ultimately fires a huge "Gravity Bomb" in the sky and restrains David as the "Gravity Bomb" is falling on the both of them, killing them both.