#and we don't know each other but we're all connected on an unexplainable level

[flora-builds-an-ocean]

I'm pretty sure that screaming "I write little poems each day inside my head, my only conclusion I DON'T WANNA DIE YET" at the top of my lungs altered my brain chemistry or something

[moongothic]

So I have a Crocodile theory that I've been sitting on for a while. I have absolutely nothing to prove any of it whatsoever, and the only thing that really propels me to believe in it is that I think it would be cool if it were true.

I think Crocodile may have gotten his start as a cabin boy for the Rocks Pirates the same way Shanks and Buggy got their start with Roger. The trust issues would naturally follow from the way the Rocks Pirates probably turned on each other immediately following Rocks' death during the God Valley Incident. Seeing the crew you grew up on turn in on itself would make anyone wary of trusting others I think. It might also explain a portion of the animosity he had for Whitebeard as well. Obviously a lot of it comes from their clash during Croc's warlord days, but it might explain why he was so eager to go after Whitebeard in the first place. Him being at God Valley would also provide a solid point where he could have run into Ivankov, and potentially where Ivankov could have gotten some dirt on him, depending on whatever that dirt ends up being in Canon.

Even wilder speculation, but I think Mihawk might have been there as well. The two just seem to have this weird, unexplained rapport that doesn't yield itself to a whole lot of options other than a previous connection. They get in a fight at Marineford, and Crocodile walks away alive despite him being well below Mihawk's level. Croc feels it's enough to just let Mihawk know he's "in a real bad mood" and that seems to do the trick. Mihawk is the first person Crocodile talks to about his Cross Guild venture, and Mihawk doesn't take long to take him up on it. And Mihawk, in general, also just kind of lets Crocodile talk at him a lot for someone who was introduced to us as a person who would hunt you down for just interrupting his nap.

Like I said, I don't have a shred of evidence for any of this at all, but I do think it would be cool, and might explain a few things.

"Would be cool if true" THIS IS WHAT FUN THEORIES ARE BASED ON 👏👏👏 We're HERE to get EXCITED about COOL IDEAS

Honestly I much prefer "random cabin boy for Xebec" over Xebec's son on just vibes alone, but also it'd make Crocodile losing interest on Whitebeard in Marineford much more palatable. Because if Whitebeard betrayed his dad on top of kicking his ass then surely he wouldn't assist in saving Ace, regardless of what his relationship with Luffy and/or the Revs may or may not have been. But if he was a cabin boy, yeah, that'd give him the trust issues but without it being THAT personal

Not sure if Mihawk would've been on the same ship though... IDK looking at the bby Shichibukai art, bby Hawk looks quite messy and disheveled compared to bby Croc- if they were raised in similar circumstances on Xebec' ship you'd think their art would look about the same. Also if I'm not misremembering, Crocodile would've been 9 during the God Valley incident, and Mihawk is 3 years younger than him so he would've been just 6. I dunno, if anything I'd be more willing to bet money on Moria having been on the ship with Crocodile instead (since he would've been like 13, and based on bby Moria's art he looks like he kinda matches with Crocodile, that said there's nothing to prove the two have any kind of shared history whatsoever)... But yeah, if Mihawk was 6 at the time, I kind of doubt they were BOTH on Xebec's ship

That said. I'm fucking sure Crocodile and Mihawk have SOME kind of shared history. There's gotta be fucking SOMETHING, at SOME POINT, because yeah, as you said

Crocodile telling Mihawk he's in a shit mood is a passable warning to give to from like One Dangerous Warlord to Another, but it takes on a whole different tone if they knew each other a bit closer

Who knows, maybe they were both cabin boys on the same ship for someone else a few years later though, hell, for all we know Mihawk could've been on Crocodile's crew for a time

Also based on Kuma's flashback, we do see Kuma visit Mihawk's island in chapter 1099, and in 1100 when Mihawk sees the news of Kuma joining, he's awfully quiet. So if Mihawk and Kuma may have known each other even just briefly, yeah. Why the fuck couldn't Mihawk and Crocodile have some history too.

There's also this bit from Croc and Hawk's phonecall that interests me

The "..." in the flashback panel

Like it's very normal for Oda to signal a character is thinking about something without saying anything about it by doing the little "..." (for example, Robin would've been well-aware of Moria as she did work for a Warlord herself, making this panel from Thriller Bark quite interesting), hell the phonecall flashback both begins and ends with Mihawk having simple "..." thought bubbles as he's thinking back to it

But the fact that he's Having A Thought about Crocodile being like "we're the same bro"... Oh they gotta have somekinda shared backstory somewhere, they've gotta, surely

And indeed, despite the fact that the two aren't supposed to trust anyone, they sure seem to trust each other enough to start a marine hunting organization together

(Also an interesting detail that, since we know they both hate the Marines a lot, so them starting an organization with that shared goal is just. Yeah. Interesting.)

One additional note I wanted to make because I just noticed this while browsing the Wiki; of the OG Warlords Mihawk is one of the few who we have no idea when he joined the Shichibukai, the only other one being Moria

I really would be curious to hear when and how Mihawk joined, 'cause for all we know, he might've joined around the same time Crocodile did, which would definitely be interesting...

Man. Like I'm not particularly interested in Mihawk's backstory on its own, but if his backstory was somehow tied to Crocodile's... Oh I'd absolutely love to hear it. ODA PLEASE, SPILL THE BEANS