Koby is quite an intriguing character in Eiichiro Oda's One Piece. He was introduced at the very beginning of the story when Luffy set out on his journey to becoming the Pirate King. At the time, Koby was working as a chore boy for Alvida. It was Luffy who ended up freeing him from his slavery, giving him a dream to chase in the process. Shortly afterwards, on Shell's Town, the two went on to rescue Zoro, and eventually, Koby joined the Marines and declared that one day, he wanted to capture every bad pirate, all the while saving lives.
Since then, Koby has grown incredibly and has been trained by Garp, the Hero of the Marines. He has himself made a reputation as the Hero of the Rocky Port and become extremely powerful. In the Marines, he has advanced to the rank of Marine Captain and has also become a part of a secret unit within the organization, called SWORD. Koby was in charge of the attack on Amazon Lily, where he confronted not just Boa Hancock but also Blackbeard. In the aftermath of the events, it was revealed that he had been kidnapped.
Koby And Blackbeard
As revealed in One Piece 1059, Koby was kidnapped by none other than one of the Four Emperors of the Sea, Blackbeard himself. Interestingly, the two share quite a bit of history. Blackbeard first took notice of Koby when he tried saving lives on Marineford by confronting Akainu. Immediately afterwards, Shanks saved his life, and the situation on the island de-escalated. It was during the two-year timeskip that Koby and Blackbeard truly came to know each other. On the Pirate Island, the Rocky Port Incident was orchestrated by none other than Trafalgar Law, who then went on to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Koby was also present on the island and saved quite a lot of lives. Interestingly, Blackbeard was also a contender in the Rocky Port Incident. He managed to defeat Wang Zhi, who was the ruler of the island, thanks to Koby's help. It is possible the two work together in some way to make quick work of Wang Zhi and his men. Koby managed to save a lot of lives, while Blackbeard defeated Wang Zhi and ended up acquiring the position of the Boss of the Beehive Island. Later, Blackbeard ended up becoming one of the Yonko while Koby received the title of "Hero of the Rocky Port," which is associated with his name even today.
Why Koby Was Captured
In One Piece 1059, it was revealed that Blackbeard had captured Captain Koby of the Marines for some reason. The Navy made this known to the headquarters near the Red Line and the newspapers carried this message as well. By the looks of it, Koby is the only member of the Marines who Blackbeard captured. As fans know, Blackbeard is quite a calculating person. As such, he wouldn't make a move unless it benefited him somehow. In terms of strength, Koby is not really beneficial to him in any way. After all, he is just a marine captain and even ranks below X Drake in SWORD. However, Koby could be a valuable pawn in one of Blackbeard's grand schemes.
Perhaps, he wants a Devil Fruit that belongs to one of the Marines and wants to lure them out to his location somehow. At the same time, it is also possible that Blackbeard will turn him into the Cross Guild as there is likely to be a bounty on his head. As such, Koby could soon be a trigger for a massive war. It must be remembered that Koby is a member of SWORD and, being a Yonko, Blackbeard's intelligence network is likely to be quite diverse. Information about this organization could also be acquired through Koby, making him a valuable pawn.
The Seraphim
Perhaps the biggest reason why Blackbeard captured Captain Koby is because of the Seraphim. As fans saw in the previous chapter, the Seraphim are human weapons created by the World Government, specifically Vegapunk. These weapons are clones of the Shichibukai with fearsome combat abilities that resemble their powers, along with the abilities of those of the Lunaria. In the previous chapter, fans saw the Seraphim in action on Amazon Lily and they even clashed against Blackbeard at one point and fared quite well. Seeing that they are quite powerful, Blackbeard would want these weapons for himself.
However, he most likely lacks the ability to control them. Fans saw Koby being able to command the Seraphim in the previous chapter, which is why Blackbeard could have potentially captured him in an attempt to transfer the control of these monsters to himself. Doing this would give Blackbeard a powerful army and would explain why the capture of Captain Koby would become a big deal for the Navy as well. This could well prove to be a breaking point for a war between the Navy and the Blackbeard Pirates, and fans could well be in for some incredible action very soon.