Shinami/Personality and Relationships

Personality
If there was a word that could sum up the entirety of Shin’s personality, it would probably be “selfish”. Ever since his first meeting with his future captain, Shin has expressed a desire to do things that will provide benefit for himself and the thought of helping others is a foreign concept to him. Shin’s life up until has all but been a battle of survival and he’s had to climb his way up a steep ladder to obtain his current position working for the marines, even if it means turning a blind eye to the injustices. Like Rio, Shin looks at life with a very bleak outlook and doesn’t waste his time dwelling on things that have already happened, choosing to move forward with his life whenever he can. This was evident when Rio basically forced him to join and become a wanted criminal and while Shin did express his dissatisfaction, he quickly got over it when he realized there was nothing he could do. Though he does prefer to spend most of time drawing and inventing new weapons in his free time, Shin won’t pass up the opportunity to join in on the crew’s crazy antics whenever the situations calls for it. He has a good sense of humor and will usually join Rio and Bryan in having on board the ship, which earns quite the spiteful words from Hibiki who has to remind him he’s supposed to be navigating. Angela noticed that there was emptiness in Shin’s heart when she first met him during Rio’s raid of Marine Base Alpha and that he was lonely. Though he’d never admit it out loud, Shin believes that his encounter with these crazy group of pirates was the best thing that happened in his life and that for the first time in his life, he’s found people who he can truly call friends. Ever since he was young, Shin didn’t have anyone he could really call a friend so it’s understandable that he’s come to care for his friends this much. Shin may have said in the beginning that he prefers to be alone and would rather do things by himself but deep down, anyone can tell that these words are false and he himself doesn’t believe them. Being an artist, Shin’s paintings are his life and he can express himself when he draws. Rio (and even Hibiki) was impressed with his work when they first gazed upon his gallery but at the same time, they felt there was something missing. Shin noticed it as well and noted that he didn’t feel as if his art was at a level that he could call a master piece and strived to become a better artist. It was only after discovering his passion in wanting to travel the world with a group of close friends that Shin’s paintings start to come alive and Rio immediately picked up on it and was blown away with a sketch Shin drew during their early voyages. Unlike Rio and Hibiki who have shown breath taking courage and fearlessness, Shin doesn’t display the same traits and has admitted that fighting for his life terrifies him. He doesn’t particulary like fighting but he does enjoy sparring and training his body and preferred to use a set of tonfas as he believed they looked cool. When faced with actual danger, Shin does his best to ensure his survival and won’t fight unnecessary battles unless he has no choice. Angela believes this makes Shin a smart person as an idiot can’t see when they’re outclassed and that Shin’s acceptance of his weakness will make him think clearly in desperate situations. Shin is easily the quickest thinker and can come up with tactical plans and strategies with great efficiency. He has analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of each crew member and can come up with the perfect ways to utilize them to make the best out of any scenario. Out of all the members of the crew save for Tidus, Shin expresses the most desire in the opposite sex and is actively searching for a girlfriend. Angela finds him weird but Shin comically expresses that for a boy his age, it’s quite normal and that he’s surprised they’re not the same as him. Unlike Tidus however who shows interest in anything that basically moves, Shin is only looking for the perfect girl to meet and wants to eventually get married and start a family someday. Rio’s natural or selective obliviousness to a woman’s affections irritate Shin to no end and he believes all the girls that are in love with him are wasted on someone like him. Little does Shin know however that Rio chooses to be oblivious and actually does notice but couldn’t care less.

Like Hibiki, Shin is chivalrous and prefers not to strike woman as he learned from his mother at a young age. Even if those woman are trying to kill him (such as Kenra), he refuses to lay a hand on them and will try to avoid battle and run away. However, Shin does have his limits and if pushed to a certain point he will drop his code and try to quickly and painlessly knock them out. This was shown during his battle with Kenra as he defeated her by moving so fast that she didn’t even see the palm strike he landed on her abdomen. Shin isn’t a killer like Hibiki nor does he leave his enemies a bloody mess like his captain. Shin prefers the simple method of incapacitating his enemies by knocking them out with enough force. He’d prefer it if he didn’t even have to fight such a desperate battle at all but that is a foolish wish that could someday get him killed.

Crew
Being one of the prime members of the crew before they entered the Grand Line, Shin is incredibly loyal to the team and just like any other member, would gladly risk his life to ensure that they’re safe. He (at first) he had absolutely no interest in joining a pirate crew and was only interested in using Rio and Hibiki for their strength to retrieve the Adamantine Tonfas. He needed a way to distract the marine soldiers and Captain Saser while he used the opportunity to swoop in a steal the tonfas. By being forced to join, Shin’s loyalty to the crew was solidified and Shin would rather die than betray his friends.

Scott D. Rio
Thinking of him as nothing more than a mere pirate, Shin initially disliked Rio for a number of reasons. His lack of respect in regards to someone else’s home and is carefree attitude threw Shin off as he didn’t expect a pirate to act anything like that. Shin began to take a slight interest in Rio when off handily mentioned that Shin’s paintings were missing something in them and made him think that Rio was more intuitive than he thought. During the invasion of the Marine Base, Rio saved Shin’s life when he was branded as a thief when he tried to steal the tonfas. Grateful for his assistance, Shin began to see Rio in a different light and his view of pirates was changed. After the battle had concluded and Shin obtained basically nothing from the thief attempt, he almost regretted pulling it off until Rio brought the tonfas he was after with him and gave them to him in exchange for him joining the crew. Shin was shocked to say the least and annoyed that Rio has the balls to try and black mail him until Shin realized that because of what happened, the Marines would now be after him as well and Rio was offering him protection along with the item he was searching for and a chance to explore, killing three birds with one stone. Shin didn’t express the same loyalty towards Rio that Hibiki and Angela showed and was quick to insult the young captain whenever the chance appeared, but he did respect him. As time went on and Shin witnessed Rio’s amazing power and has charisma, his insults morphed into light teasing and Shin began to take Rio’s orders more seriously and while he may question his sanity, will never question his authority as his captain. Shin began to open up more to Rio and even joins in on his crazy antics every now and then along with Bryan. A quirk about Rio that pisses Shin off is that Rio hasn’t noticed the affections the girls around him show him, such as Angela and Isabella who are very clearly in love with him. Because Shin is actively trying to search for a suitable wife, he feels jealous that someone who doesn’t notice that he’s popular can be such a chick magnet.

Hibiki Mikigami
Hibiki and Shin aren’t on the friendliest of terms and have a hard time not getting infuriated at the other. In Shin’s case, he finds Hibiki’s reckless nature and code of honor ridiculous and even called him a true idiot, while Hibiki finds Shin’s selfish personality and lack of concentration in regards to navigating the ship annoying. In fact, during their first encounter Shin and Hibiki engaged one another in a brawl as this was when Shin still had a general dislike for pirates. Despite their arguments, they have come to a mutual friendship and would risk their lives to save the other.

Angela Maybel
Shin only knew Angela by her reputation in town for being a saint and paid her no mind even when she was taken in by the marines. When Rio, Hibiki, and Shin invaded the Marine Base, his only objective was taking the Adamantine Tonfas and didn’t care a single bit about Angela. After Rio invited her to join the crew (along with Shin), it seems the two are in a stable friendship but they don’t interact very often. Shin constantly tries to find ways to annoy Angela and comically has her chase him around the ship in an adorable rage. Nevertheless, Shin treats Angela like a precious younger sister now that he’s gotten more accustom to the crew and will risk his life to ensure her safety.

Bryan and Tidus
Shin has a mutual friendship with these two and hasn’t been seen to interact with them very often. Even still, they consider each other important friends and would risk their lives to help one another out. Shin does seem to be annoyed by Tidus’s perverted nature and calls him “scum” whenever he gets the chance and he gets along with Bryan just fine but he finds that Bryan tends to be a bit too scatter brained and expresses annoyance at his lack of intelligence.

Isabella and Alidia
Alidia doesn’t interact with Shin as often as the other boys but they do have a stable and friendly relationship. Shin does show that he has a softer side to women and expressed a great desire to save Alidia when she was captured and taken to the Tower of Judgment. This is notable as he didn’t show the slightest interest in rescuing Angela (though that can be understandable as this was quite awhile ago). Still, Shin is their friend and he would jump in harm’s way to make sure they’re safe.

Shin is (or to say was) very attracted to Isabella and thought she was one of the most gorgeous woman he had ever laid his eyes upon but upon discovering her hatred of men, relished these thoughts. After Isabella became a permanent member of the crew, Shin has shifted his thoughts from asking her out to becoming good friends with her when he noticed her infatuation with their captain and the two have conversations about getting the opposite sex to like every now and then.

Beaman
During their first introduction when Bea was out of control, Shin suggested to retreat as he could easily observe that Bea was a monster that was very dangerous and should not be provoked. His warnings were ignored by Rio however and when Angela suggested a joint attack to disable him, Shin provided the necessary support and succeeded. After finding out Bea’s true motives and being on the same ship as him, Shin has come to be protective of Bea (as he is an animal) and Shin has shown to trust animals and paints several drawings of Bea whenever he has the chance.

Zoy
Shin and Zoy are good friends and comrades and while Shin didn’t like Zoy at first for endangering the life of his friends, her dedication to protect them changed his mind and he no longer bears her any ill will. After Zoy joined the crew, Shin along with the others enjoy listening to her sweet melodies and the two sometimes discuss artistic topics and Shin became impressed with Zoy’s in depth viewing of paintings. In terms of romance, Shin did note in his mind that Zoy was quite the beauty but when he accidently blurted out that she was old (when she revealed that she was 28), he received a comical beating and swore to never utter it again.

Amanda
Amanda is a former pirate that lived in Antitlos Island and Shin seemed to have no resentment towards her (as her actions in town far outweighed her previous life of piracy). After the island was liberated, Shin thanked her for the ship and left the woman with some of his earnings from his job as a sea chart drawer for the marines.

Kekai
Though they were off to a bad start (what with Kekai trying to kill him right off the bat), it seems the two of them built a mutual friendship and Kekai even apologized to Shin for his early attempts at trying to murder him. Shin and Kekai became well acquainted with another after the battle between their crews and the two of them were seen laughing with one another after the banquet.

Kenra
Shin and Kenra first met one another in Water 7 when Kenra and the rest of the Diva Pirates wanted to capture and eliminate the Crimson Wing Pirates. During their conflict, Kenra constantly insulted Shin and stated that all men were filthy, disgusting, and greedy pigs that weren’t allowed to live. These comments did not anger Shin and he was not hell bent on using full force on women but finally decided to take the battle seriously and defeated her with moderate effort. After the battle and Marika ordered her crew to work together with the Crimson Wing Pirates, Kenra apologized for her previous actions but Shin forgave her and the two formed a bond when they helped eradicate the other Checkmate Pirates. It was evident to some of the members of both crews that Shin and Kenra had developed feelings towards the other and teased them when they were alone talking during the party. When asked upon it, Shin blushed and mentioned that he thinks that Kenra is quite amazing and that she’s also pretty good looking too which led to a serious teasing session by Rio, Angela, Bryan, and Isabella. Whenever he can, asks the girls advice on how to make a good impression on Kenra to win her over, not knowing that Kenra also holds the same feelings for him.

Splitfire
Splitfire acted as Shin’s mentor during the time skip when Shin wanted to learn how to master his new fighting style. Having a huge debt to not only Scott D. Misty but also her Scott D. Rio, Splitfire accepted and took Shin under his wing and taught him the basics of the Reverse Ski’s and even enhanced them to match the way his own work so that he could produce friction and create fire. After two years had gone by and Shin returned to his original crew, Splitfire gave Shin an emblem of his crew and reminded him that even though they’re no longer on the same ship, they’ll never forget him and will come to his aid if he ever needs help. Shin is eternally grateful and promised that he’d see them again before returning to the Crimson Wings.

Kazumi
Shin and Kazumi became crew mates when Shin was allowed to join the Ignition Pirates. Though they didn’t start off on good terms, Shin’s dedication and natural aptitude for learning the Free Breeze touched Kazumi and she dropped her hostility towards him and they get along much better. Kazumi even taught Shin some of her capoeira fighting style to incorporate into his own unique skills. After the two year time skip, Shin said good bye to Kazumi who wished him luck on his journey and was rooting for him.

Enemies
Despite being a fairly skilled weapon user, Shin has not made that many enemies in the Grand Line (excluding the World Government) and is usually the only Crimson Wing to go behind the scenes and use his brain instead of his brawn to outsmart his enemies.

World Government
While at first he did work for the Marines, Shin betrayed them and made himself an enemy of the World Government by stealing a famous weapon known as the Adamantine Tonfas that were crafted by Dr.Vegapunk himself. Since then, the Marines along with the World Government see Shin as a threat that they need to erase as his ability of drawing sea charts in dangerous and shouldn’t be in the hands of pirates.