akaiamedama - Tumblr blog

[akaiamedama]

Oh you mean the Impel Down squad? I LOVE that color spread. :)

Always love seeing Crocodile on cover pages. He’s killing it everytime. XD 

Now that Oda is doing requests again, I pray for another Crocodile cover for my collection. :D

[akaiamedama]

Some colouring practice with my favourite OP baddies. Starting with Mr.0 himself, gotta love those Bond villain vibes

[akaiamedama]

He's so extra. 😅

not only does he have windows allowing him to look at his bananawani aquarium, he needs a painting of one too

[akaiamedama]

The funny thing isn't that he went to get his clothes coz they aren't his. That's the funny thing. XD Now imagine Crocodile checking all the clothes they had stored there for something he could wear that would suit his style and size.

IMAGINE.

Dress shirt, pants, a belt, a vest, of course a kickass coat... shoes... rings too of course. XD

Probably took him ages. XD

I’m rewatching one piece, currently the Impel Down arc

They just arrived at Level 6 and met Crocodile, and I couldn’t help but notice something 

Here we see him first, of course in the black and white prison cloth every prisoner wears…

But only minutes later: 

he’s in his usual damn outfit??  You’re telling me that they just started their escape and are terribly stressed out to reach Marineford in time, but Sir Crocodile somehow found the time to figure out where they kept his stuff? 

“Can’t break out looking like some prisoner, I have Standards.”

Damn this bitch is so extra, why am I surprised lmao 

[akaiamedama]

What good are your happy ideals if you can’t do anything to make them a reality? They’re nothing but dreams, and your dreams don’t stand a chance

sir crocodile requested by @gentlebastards

[akaiamedama]

For some reason the fact that someone with such a low tolerance for bullshit like Crocodile switches from calling Luffy “Mugiwara” like he always does to “Mizu Luffy” in that fight will always humor me greatly. Like, Luffy said he wasn’t the same anymore and here Crocodile just ... goes with it. XD

[akaiamedama]

IIRC Crocodile doesn't even land a single hit on Luffy in the third fight except grazing him with his poison hook, which makes his portrayal at Marineford even more ridiculous.

I wouldn’t call it ridiculous, personally. By all rights Croc should have killed Luffy three times over, Luffy just had the stronger dream. By Marineford Croc had rekindled his own ambition and was a new man, so to speak. Narratively speaking, it works

[akaiamedama]

You definitely could be onto something here. Nice catch!

The panel on the right is interesting, because even though Croc is laughing, he’s not smiling and he kinda has that bulging neck vein thing Oda does when his beefy characters get angry. The shadowed eyes likewise make it difficult to read Crocodile’s expression. Maybe I’m reading too much into it (Crocodile’s backstory would be much appreciated, Oda) but I think there’s something to his ‘don’t take life for granted’ line that goes beyond simple posturing

[akaiamedama]

That panel is so beautifully drawn. I love how Oda drew Crocodile in Alabasta. So many creepy facial shadows and slasher smiles. Man, I miss that.

In retrospect, it really is interesting to me how many of the original warlords were genuinely respected and admired, at least in the counties they hail from. Hancock, Jinbe, and Doffy are all august figures even outside a pirate’s normal sphere of influence, and depending on Kuma’s story he might be, too. You can see why Crocodile might be jealous, and spurned by the bitterness of his failed attempt at the New World it’s easy to understand why he might want a little bit of that type of glory for himself.

But even without that backstory, even without being able to hear the scorn brought by the voice acting, this expression just drips irony and derision. The speech bubbles are also drawn with thicker lines than usual, which I think is the little detail that you might not notice, but really adds to the ambience of the scene. 

[akaiamedama]

The fact that he starts grinning after Luffy manages to cut him gives off the impression that Crocodile is actually enjoying himself a little bit here. Wonder how long it’s been since he’s had the thrill of a proper fight

[akaiamedama]

Still one of my absolute fave team-ups in all One Piece. The Impel Down Monster Trio how I call them. :D

Seeing those three fight side by side really gets you so excited. Who would have thought we’d ever see something like this during Alabasta, huh?

Also, I swear, Barchan is probably my absolute fave move in One Piece. It’s so beautifully deadly.

[akaiamedama]

Always love seeing Crocodile on cover pages. He’s killing it everytime. XD 

Now that Oda is doing requests again, I pray for another Crocodile cover for my collection. :D

[akaiamedama]

Of crocodiles and rings and a possible connection to a teased weakness

Crocodile is a guy that is real extra and dresses sharp and loves his bling bling, right? He’s a man of high standards, so of course, he’s gotta wear bling to show that. Other bling loving characters are Capone Bege and Blackbeard for example. All three of them like to show off that bling. Now why do I mention the other two? Coz look at these three bling loving gentlemen, wearing rings on every finger and tell me where the difference lies. I’ll wait.

Exactly!

As opposed to Bege and Blackbeard, Crocodile doesn’t wear a ring on every finger. Obviously he cannot wear 10 rings coz he only got one hand with 5 fingers but he also never wears 5 rings. No, no. This guy, ladies and gentlemen, kinda makes it a point to always leave out one finger and that’s the ring finger. Ha- interesting.

Now, of course this could be mere coincidence. But let’s be realistic here, it’s Oda. He clearly has a reason for it as he’s been true to this detail ever since Crocodile was introduced over a decade ago and the only real question is ‘why’?

Why would Crocodile do that? He clearly loves wearing rings so why not wear them on every finger? Why leave out the ring finger for crying out loud? If one wanted to leave a finger without a ring, one would probably leave out the pinky or the thumb but who puts rings on every finger and leaves out the ring finger? I tell you who.

Crocodile. That’s who.

If you’re one who believes in symbolism and all that stuff, then you’d probably find it interesting that the ring finger symbolises releationships with others especially romantical ones as it is seen closest to the heart and therefore or because of it is the finger a wedding ring is worn on. In most cultures the engagement ring is worn on the right hand and the wedding ring on the left as the right hand is often the ‘physical’ one and has a greater visibility. It’s probably interesting to note that the left hand is considered to represent your character and beliefs. Ha. Interesting that Crocodile is missing that one, huh? Anyhow, in Crocodile’s case left or right hand doesn’t really matter as he only has one left (duh) so an argument can be made that sides don’t matter and the importance lies on the finger itself.

The way it looks right now is that he’s making a statement leaving out the ring finger and there are a few possibilites here. Of course it could be a family ring and he could be from an important family but really, not only would that be a bit to similar to Doflamingo, it would also not make sense to not just replace the family ring on the occations he’s not wearing it. But he never wears a ring on that finger so one can only come to the conclusion that there’s some sentimental thought behind that.

The most logical would be that there is a ring he believes should be on that finger. Either he’s keeping it free for a future event coz he doesn’t have the ring yet (which I doubt) or he’s keeping it free coz technically there already is a ring for the finger. This could be a ring he doesn’t have anymore and regrets it (like he lost it with his left hand or threw it away) or a ring he does have but decides not to wear for his own reasons. Whichever it is, it clearly has such an important value that he doesn’t just covers it up or replaces it. 

Now, given the ring finger and it’s symbolism the thought of a wedding ring isn’t too far fetched. We don’t know enough about his past to say that he could never have been married so I think it’s worth looking into.

Let’s just imagine for a second, that the ring missing is indeed a wedding ring, what could that mean?

He could have had a wife but she died and even though he’d technically not be married anymore, people who lost their partner almost always keep their wedding ring as a memento. If they move on, they don’t wear it anymore but they often keep it. This could give another perspective to the ‘wounds’ Daz was referring to after Marineford as he was clearly not talking about Luffy’s physical wounds but about the emotional wounds that came with losing a loved one.

Crocodile could have had a wife but she betrayed him and he took the ring off as to break the relationship and connection. Then the choice to not wear a ring on that finger in the future could serve as a reminder to himself not to trust people, not even those close to you. This could possibly explain his huge trust issues.

However, these two scenarios, while possible, don’t strike me as the most likely simply due to the two following scenes:

“If you want to protect something, do it right!!” 

This could be totally random and only refer to the moment at hand but it could also indicate that he knows a thing or two about how to successfully protect someone. Which leads us to the infamous

“I know one of his weaknesses ...!! But if he cooperates with us ... then I won’t say anything about it!!”

Think about it, the biggest weakness ANY pirate of Crocodiles caliber could have is a loved one or people they care about and their identity and location to be known by the public or enemies (marines, pirates etc.) because no matter how powerful a pirate you are, if information like that was to spread and reach the wrong ears, this could have catastrophic consequences for you and the people you care about. It’s used over and over in OP stories like when the marines hunted down Gol D. Rogers offspring and slaughtered all newborn who could potentially have been Roger’s child or when the marines swore to kill Luffy for being Dragon’s son or when Zeff was used as leverage to force Sanji to comply. I doubt anyone knows Usopp is Yasopp’s son or that he had a woman and child in Syrup village otherwise someone would have probably attacked them to get back at Yasopp. Maybe that’s one of the reasons he left them. As to protect them.

Ivankov and Croc met years ago when Croc was still considered a rookie, so in his early/mid twenties. If there is indeed a ring to that finger and the person is still alive, Ivankov could know her identity or location and this could totally be the weakness Ivankov was refering to. Of course this only works if the person is still alive. 

Now I know, you’re probably scratching your head, thinking I might be a bit nuts going this direction considering it’s Crocodile we’re talking about but really, think about it. His choice of jewelry is mega weird so what could be the reaaon for it? Also it’s hardly the weirdest theory out there (looking at you femCroc theorists).

This would also tie in neatly with why he decided to have his Baroque agents working in teams of two with male/female. I mean, unlike other characters, he clearly doesn't seem to see women as the weaker sex and him having his agents work in pairs has to be grounded somewhere. Maybe he was raised like that and his parents where a good example of how well men and women complement each other or maybe he made the experience himself. If so, I tend to think that he wasn't betrayed by the woman... or maybe he was and that's one of the reasons why he was so paranoid and basically expected Robin to betray him. All possible, really.

It’s also apparent that Oda incorporates marriages a lot more often nowadays than he did in the early years of One Piece. Mr 9 and Mrs Mondey got married on a cover page and have a baby, Capone got married and his henchman Gotty married too, Sai and Baby 5 married, Sanji and Pudding were meant to marry and let’s not forget poor Senior Pink’s backstory. 

Last but not least, I’d like to point out a seemingly random fan question Oda answered in an SBS which seems just kinda odd once you consider everything I said above.

Now the question focuses on “they never had a child” and “I wonder what faces their children would have”, yet Oda starts with “They’ve been to weddings before ...” ... WOW. Really? Why would he say that? XD No one even asked about weddings. Funny. So they’ve been to weddings, huh? As what? Guests? Grooms? You know? It doesn’t seem to mean anything but if you consider Crocodile’s rings and such imo it’s just a weird thing to say. Then the mysterious “I wouldn’t say whether they had children or not ...” ..... 

Note: Especially during Alabasta Oda often forgets to draw Croc’s rings at all or accidentally leaves out the wrong finger but he is consistent with the rings since Impel Down. He still forgets them from time to time but he doesn’t switch the fingers anymore so one could reason that he had a vague idea of Crocodile’s reasons behind the rings when he introduced him but only solidified it or gave it more details once Croc showed back up. The anime and games however often just leave out the wrong ring probably thinking that it doesn’t matter.

[akaiamedama]

In fact, he's got 2. :D

cROCODILE HAS A SONG??? WHAT

CAN SOMEONE JUST TELL ME WHO DOESN’T HAVE A SONG???

[akaiamedama]

Doflamingo: [to Crocodile] How is the most beautiful person on earth doing?

Crocodile: I don't know, how are-

Hancock: [from across the room] I'm great, thanks.

[akaiamedama]

//Thought of this earlier. I have no regrets. Tagging @ask-sir-crocodile cause this seems like something that would happen a lot. lol

[akaiamedama]