Kuzan, known by his former alias Aokiji, was one of the three Marine admirals and was even nominated by Sengoku for fleet admiral. But after losing that promotion to Akainu, he resigned from the Marines entirely—he apparently wanted the job more than he'd admit, because he was willing to fight Akainu rather than see him take it.
He's famously laid-back, almost nothing phases him. His whole philosophy is what he calls "lazy justice," which makes people constantly underestimate him as a high-ranking marine. But he'll act when something actually matters to him. He once froze a path of ocean so some injured castaways could reach another island, and he helped Tonjit cross the sea using his ice powers.
Fans often note he's the most compassionate of the three admirals. He let Nico Robin escape the Buster Call on Ohara, and he's made it pretty clear he dislikes the Shichibukai—especially Crocodile. He even told Luffy straight up that the only reason he didn't kill him was because Luffy had beaten Crocodile first.
Unlike Akainu, Kuzan actually has a sense of honor. He kept his word not to attack the Straw Hats after they agreed to a one-on-one fight. He was genuinely disgusted by Akainu's brutal methods during the Ohara incident, calling him a fool. Yet he still froze Jaguar D. Saul after Ohara and fought both Luffy and Whitebeard at Marineford when duty demanded it—he understood what his rank required of him.
That's what makes him such a complex character. Despite his rebellious streak against World Government senselessness, he remained a faithful follower for years. His calm demeanor while doing terrible things is eerily similar to Borsalino's. After everything though, he decided he couldn't serve under Akainu and walked away.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
