Minister Ibara (イバラ) is the Minister of the Petrification Kingdom and the main antagonist of the Treasure Island Arc.
Appearance
Ibara is an extremely tall man, standing at almost double the height of Kirisame, and well-muscled, despite his age. He has a thin face with sunken cheeks, a prominent nose, a thin, twirled mustache, and a long goatee tied near the end. He wears a white robe with a stone or metal collar, tied at the waist with a dark sash. He wears two stone pauldrons with spikes around the top edge of them, and a similar-looking hat.
Personality
Ibara is merciless, manipulative, and has no regard for his followers' safety. He also is a dirty pervert, grabbing a woman from the harem and claiming her as his "reward" for all the hard work he has done, despite her obvious protest. In addition, he tried to grab Kohaku to feel her up and almost had his hand snapped by her before Mozu intervened. He is properly paranoid and set out to find the intruder once he realized they were on the island and escaped petrification.
Despite his paranoid nature and not coming across as much, Ibara's true nature shows a dark persona and gives off a terrifying presence. As shown when he confronted Ginro and he realized that the great leader was a statue.
He does not value his followers, no matter their loyalty, as shown when he wanted the entire island petrified despite his own people on it and even petrified Kirisame once his evil nature is exposed. At the same time, he is short-sighted as he planned in forcing the Kingdom of Science to make more revival fluid, despite the fact there may not be any of them unpetrified. Additionally, Ibara seemed unworried about the truth about the head being revealed upon his own death.
Ibara was likely the one who created the rule to not make new things, as this would allow the islanders to fight back and kill him; he additionally forbayed leaving, knowing full well that he would end up dying alone as most of the islands despise him. He is also callous and an "ask questions later" type. Upon finding the boat belonging to the Kingdom of Science off the shore, he has them petrified despite it being obvious they weren't from the island and stole their supplies and clothing.
He displays his cruelty when he shows no guilt or hesitation in murdering infants. He also has limited knowledge of the medusa device. He discarded it in fear when Senku attempted to use the radio to turn the device against him; unaware that the verbal commands must be given in person. Eventually, he is outsmarted by the intelligence of Senku.
Abilities and Skills
As the de facto leader of the Petrification Kingdom, Ibara holds full control over it.
Intelligence
Ibara is an exceedingly intelligent man. He was able to tell there were intruders on the island based on witnessing a piece of glass Kohaku broke which matched the glass on the ship the Perseus which he and his tribesmen invaded after petrifying everyone. He also quickly realized the actual purpose of Kohaku's earring and devised a countermeasure against the Kingdom of Science based on Mozu wearing the same earring.
Unfortunately for him, he is not on par against Senku’s highly leveled intellect.
Physical Abilities
While not as powerful as Mozu or Kirisame, Ibara has proven himself to be a capable combatant, as he was able to overpower and fatally wound Ginro. Later, he was shown to be able to overpower Senku and Ryusui in a tug-of-war.
Equipment
Ibara uses stone claws as his weapons of choice, wearing single parts of them on his fingers.
Stats
History
Ibara managed to steal the Medusa and use it to pertify Soyuz’s father. Whether this came from a personal vendetta or simply to take control of the island is unknown. Despite attempting to murder Soyuz, he was safely sent away to the mainland of Japan. Hiding his evil deeds, Ibara took command of the island, unaware that his sins would one day come back to haunt him.
Synopsis
Treasure Island Arc
Relationships
Senku: Ibara hates Senku, and the feeling is mutual.
Trivia
- His name Ibara イバラ is the Japanese word for Thorn/Thorny/Briar[2]
- While it's not been confirmed, it is heavily implied that after Ibara has his way with women, he'll petrify them once they learn the truth to his schemes. This is further evident when he petrified Kirisame for the crime of discovering the truth.
- Similar to the witch Medusa Gorgon from Soul Eater, whenever Ibara's evil nature is prominent, the whites of his eyes turn pure black.
- He knows how to count very high, knowing timers and radius.
- It would seem he has no knowledge of what the Hundred Tales pertain to; if he does, Ibara doesn't care post-petrification humans are meant to assist Senku (and the Kingdom of Science by extension) with restoring the pre-petrification world.
- His insanity has him falling into the psychopath category.
- Ibara shares both physical and psychological traits with the Disney villain Jafar.
References
- ↑ Chapter 137
- ↑ https://twitter.com/CDCubed/status/1135297904690597888