Minks

The Minks (ミンク, Minku) is a race in the One Piece world. They were first mentioned in the list of slave prices that Duval showed to Sanji. They live in the Mokomo Dukedom on top of Zou, and have largely remained isolated from other human civilizations for 1000 years.

Minks are valued as slaves by humans, and the standard price for a Mink Tribe member is 700,000 berries.

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 * —About Minks.

Appearance
Minks are humanoids with animal features. Similar to mermen, mermaid, and fishfolk, each individual takes after a specific animal. So far, the animalistic traits of the minks have all been fur-covered mammalian. As such, fur, which they also refer to as "mink", covers most of their bodies and is considered their pride and joy. Females tend to look more like humans while males tend to look more bestial. They possess humanoid hands and feet, but those based on animals with paws will also possess paw pads on their palm and up to their first knuckle.

The species that individual minks take after are not hereditary; when Pekoms reunited with his parents, none of the minks in the crowd were lion minks. How mink reproduction works and how each member gains their physical traits has yet to be fully elaborated upon.

Culture
Minks take great pride in their fur, which they refer to as "mink", and it seems to be an important aspect of their race's identity. The Whale Forest is a sacred place that the minks of Zou have revered for generations, and because of this, it is constantly under the protection of one of the rulers of the Mokomo Dukedom, Master Nekomamushi. Duke Inuarashi has also indicated that the minks of Zou revere several deities, though the details of their spiritual traditions remain unknown. Mink's tend to share a unique speech pattern, with females occasionally adding "-teia" and males adding "-gara", mid-sentence, usually attached to a pronoun (e.g.: you-teia, or you-gara).

The minks consider the exchanging of clothes to be a sign of friendship.

Inter-species Relationships
They frequently refer to humans as lesser minks (レッサーミンク, Ressā Minku) because they believe humans are ordinary monkey minks with fewer hairs and thus assume both races are the same. Despite the rumors surrounding them, they do not have a grudge against humans, with some minks even admiring them or at times being attracted to them. The minks are very honest with their desires and naturally pursue things that their animal traits stereotypically like, such as bananas for primate minks, fluttery cloth for bull minks or bones for canine minks. They tend to show affection to others in the form of "minkship", which includes cuddling, nibbling, licking or exchanging clothes.

The Mink Tribe is widely believed to have a closed door policy, isolating themselves from humans for over a millennium. However, they are actually quite welcoming of guests visiting their country, for whom they ring their Bell of Welcome upon arrival. They also have access to newspapers and are thus informed on events occurring around the world. There are even some minks who have left the island to live outside, as evidenced by Bepo, who left at a young age and joined the Heart Pirates, and Pekoms of the Big Mom Pirates. Also, unlike other isolationist countries such as Amazon Lily and Wano Country, minks are very knowledgeable of Curséd Fruit powers, as Nekomamushi knew down to detail that Jack ate an Ancient Zoan variant of the Elephant-Elephant Fruit after witnessing his transformation, although it is possible he gained this knowledge after leaving Zou and sailing the seas with Inuarashi.

The minks of Zou are extremely loyal to their friends, to the point of lying to enemies and sacrificing themselves and their country in order to protect them. This is prominently displayed by their strong bond with the members of the Kozuki Family from Wano Country, long-time friends who they consider family.

The minks do not eat meat from anything with fur due to their own mammalian appearances, but they do not have a problem with eating non-furry mammals like hippos. Their diet also includes amphibians, reptiles, and fish.

While the minks do not seem to differ among themselves, they recognize the different species among their race, as demonstrated when Wanda referred to several members and herself as "Canine Minks" (犬のミンク, Inu no Minku).

Minks are one of the races known to inhabit Totto Land, where they live in harmony with other races.

Overall Strength
Minks have a variety of abilities like humans. Some are very agile and can leap incredible distances while others are incredibly burly and strong. They also possesses considerable stealth capabilities, having completely surrounded Luffy D. Monkey, a proficient user of Observation Haki, without him even realizing it.

All minks are warriors from birth who maintain their strength in old age. Through unknown means, they can produce electric shocks known as Electro (エレクトロ, Erekutoro) from their bodies. Some of them wield weapons through which they can channel Electro. They also possess extremely quick recovery rates and a strong metabolism. Their overall combat abilities are great enough that Bege Capone, a member of the Worst Generation with a bounty of 300,000,000 Berries and a large amount of men and firepower at his disposal, was wary of confronting the minks even though they were still recovering from Jack's assault.

According to Inuarashi, the minks have a special ability, though its exact nature is currently unknown.

Despite their great combat strength, the minks are left weakened by heat due to their thick fur coats.