The main villain of Netflix’s anime adaptation comes to the screen with over a decade of solid character acting experience from McKinley Belcher III.

Shōnen anime has a strange relationship with its villains. Every celebrated example will churn through several central antagonists, gradually escalating until the heroes fight god. Though regularly defeated and replaced, the mighty villains often become more iconic than their foes. One Piece has countless big bads, but Arlong is one of the earliest heavy hitters. His transition to live action needed the right performer, and McKinley Belcher III was an excellent choice.

Netflix’s live-action One Piece earned its second season shortly after its release. It upended fan expectations with an enjoyable party celebrating the enduring popularity of its source material. Netflix has canceled countless well-received shows before granting them a fair chance at getting their sea legs. The Arlong Park arc won’t be the end of the live-action One Piece, but it represents an excellent beginning.

Who plays Arlong in Netflix’s Live-Action One Piece?

McKinley Belcher III plays Arlong in Netflix’s One Piece. Belcher hails from Georgia but studied acting at USC in Los Angeles. His TV debut came in 2010 when he appeared on Law & Order: Los Angeles. Belcher has worked on several TV and film projects, proving his talents across roles and genres. Belcher brings intimidation and cruelty to the role. There’s a playful nature to Arlong in the anime. Almost every character in the source material has at least a few silly moments, but Netflix’s One Piece eschews many of those gags. The tone is more consistent, and Arlong is subsequently more threatening. Though Belcher never gets to tell jokes, he’s still endlessly compelling. He feels more straightforwardly villainous, but the live-action take loses the light implication that Arlong is something of a loser. Belcher comes across well, but it might have been fun to see him lose his cool and fly into a rage.

Belcher is also tasked with solving some logistical issues in Arlong’s portrayal. Arlong is an impressive creation of special effects makeup artists. His purple skin, distinctive nose, and shaggy hair feel appropriately ripped from the cartoon. He’s grotesque, but in a way that sells his presence in the show. Arlong’s height is canonically 8′ 7″. Belcher is 6’1″. Eiichiro Oda loves to play fast and loose with his characters’ heights, making some seemingly normal humans tower over their friends and enemies for no reason other than implying power. Some fans took issue with Arlong’s considerable decrease in size, but Belcher fixed that problem by delivering the same implication through his performance. Belcher finds the narrative weight of a minor character and has fun with the role.

Which episodes feature Arlong?

Arlong appears in the sixth, seventh, and eighth episodes of One Piece. Nami contacts him off-screen in the second episode. Arlong properly bursts onto the scene in episode six after Zoro’s fateful duel with Hawkeye Mihawk. Arlong arrives at Baratie, where his fish-man crew assaults the staff and owner. He reveals he found them by kidnapping Buggy’s severed head. Arlong savagely beats Luffy until Nami hands over the map she stole from Buggy. He tosses Luffy into the sea. Sanji saves his new rubber friend and joins the crew. Nami leaves Baratie with Arlong to return to her home village. Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji follow Nami home. They learn her tragic backstory, which does little to change Luffy’s mind. He’s dead set on saving her. He leads the crew into Arlong Park, where they dismantle Arlong’s men and shatter the building. The Marines, led by Luffy’s grandfather Garp, take Arlong and his crew into custody, ending his story.

Where else can you see McKinley Belcher III?

McKinley Belcher III is best known for his TV roles in shows like Ozark, Mercy Street, and The Passage. He portrayed Detective Momodu “G Money” Gondo in David Simon’s excellent HBO series, We Own This City. He’d worked with Simon before in Show Me a Hero. On the big screen, he has small parts in Marriage Story, Trial By Fire, and 2022’s Eraser: Reborn. Belcher only has one known project in production currently. He’ll appear in Abi Morgan’s Eric, set to premiere on Netflix later this year.

McKinley Belcher III brought Arlong to life with impressive success. The entire cast of Netflix’s live-action One Piece embodies the characters, establishing the series as a worthy adaptation. Without the performers, the show would have fallen flat. Fans will forgive changes to their favorite story, but a bad portrayal of the characters they hold sacred could live in infamy forever. One Piece pulled off the impossible by creating a serviceable live-action take on a show that felt so comfortable in animation. Belcher’s Arlong is a fun companion to the original character, selling his strengths while changing him to fit the new medium.