Hogback

Dr. Hogback (ドクトル･ホグバック) is a skilled surgeon who entered the employment of Gekko Moriah, assisting him in creating his undead army. He was one of the major antagonists of the Thriller Bark arc, and one of the Mysterious Four. With Moriah's fate unknown, the condition of him and Absalom is questionable.

Appearance
Hogback has a rotund body shape which contrasts sharply with his extremely thin limbs. Hogback's nose resembles that of beak, his sharp pointed teeth and ears also augment his slightly monstrous visage. His mouth is usually etched in a permanent grin, along with a scar that starts from one corner of the smile, goes above his eyes and ends at the other side of his mouth. On the left side of his neck is a black tattoo consisting of two slashes that goes down to two swirls found side-by-side on his shoulder. His black hair is slicked black. Its style has changed over the years. Ten years ago, it had a small swirl sticking out from his front. Five years ago, it was tied in a knot in the back.

He wears a fishnet vest, purple leather pants, a large dark tie, and a pair of purple gloves, which cover his long claw-like fingers. He also wears a white doctors mask under his chin, to highlight his status. Hogback also wears a pair of very small black gold-rimmed sunglasses. Hogback also wears a violet feathery cape that is black on the inside. Though at other times, Hogback is seen wearing more appropriate attire when conducting surgery.

Personality
Hogback is immensely arrogant and is extremely proud of his reputation as a genius. However, despite curing numerous people with his abilities, Hogback considers his patients a necessary nuisance in order to acquire greater wealth and power. His personality contrasts sharply with that of Chopper's, who believes that a true doctor must save any and every patient regardless of rewards, which leads to eventual conflicts between the two.

Hogback also believes that through the use of Moriah's power he has finally managed to overcome death, restoring corpses to life as his zombified slaves. Hogback dismisses the fact that the personality of the zombie is vastly different from the way they acted in life. He cares little for the fate of his undead creations or the people whose shadows were stolen to create them. Despite insisting they are alive, Hogback has no respect for his creations, viciously demeaning the re-animated Victoria Cindry during his fight with Chopper and Robin.

Hogback was an obsessive fan of the famous celebrity, Victoria Cindry, to the point of giving up his medical career out of depression when she died. After allying himself with Moriah, Hogback dug up her corpse and re-animated it using the shadow of another woman. However, when her revived corpse was given a different personality from when she was alive, Hogback revealed that he shallowly cared only for her physical beauty, and that he had no use of the personality that rejected him. Despite his "love" for her, Hogback was not above abusing her, and brutally treats her like a slave.

Despite being one of the more comedic villains revealed so far, Hogback can be serious at times and has been known to think several steps ahead, as seen when he requested from Moria control of some of the zombies that were normally not under his (Hogback's) control, choosing Jigorou and Inuppe, as his personal bodyguards in case he encounters the Straw Hats, and was able to use them to great effect against both Chopper and Robin.

Hogback's overall personality is comparable to that of the Mad Scientist archetype commonly found in other works of fiction. Like many of the One Piece Characters, he has a distinct laughter. His is "Fosfosfosfos".

A running gag in the anime is that every time he starts a dramatic speech or conducts a theory, Cindry would walk in front of him and block him from the viewers, causing him to panic slightly.

Abilities and Powers
Hogback is a surgeon whose knowledge of the body and skills are astonishing; with this profession, he was able to treat and cure practically every patient who ever came to him. During his career, he cared for anyone who came to him, which brought him fame and fortune. His incredible skills allowed him to create the many creatures on Thriller Bark and even merge some beasts, along with inanimate objects, together to strengthen them. He is also responsible for increasing Absalom's fighting potential as well as modifying Oars's body with a cockpit system for Moria to pilot in.

Of the Mysterious Four, he is the only one to not have a Devil Fruit ability. He is also the only one who has no abilities that give him an advantage during a fight and relies on the zombies he created to fight for him. However, he does not have absolute command over them. Gekko Moriah is their true master, so Hogback only has command over them if Moriah allows it. When the Straw Hats began their counterattack on Thriller Bark, Hogback showed a degree of strategic aptitude by asking Moria for control over some of Absalom and Perona's zombies, namely Jigorou and Inuppe, using both to briefly overpower Robin and Chopper.

The Genius Surgeon and the Tragic Actress
Hogback was once a genius surgeon renowned for saving thousand of lives with his miracle operations. He was also a big fan of Victoria Cindry, a famous actress, for many years. However, his love for her was unrequited as she refused to marry him when he proposed to her (she already had a fiance). One day, ten years before the start of the series, Cindry died in an accident. Hogback was so deeply saddened by the incident that he left his profession.

It was around that time that he then met Gekko Moriah, who promised Hogback to help him bring Cindry back to life. Hogback then stole Cindry's corpse and together with Moriah's Kage Kage no Mi powers, produced a zombie created from Cindry's remains. Since then, Hogback decided to work for Gekko Moriah by stitching up more bodies to be created as zombies.

Thriller Bark arc
Hogback, along with the zombies under his control, had subdued Robin and Chopper. He was then asked about Chopper concerning what he was actually doing on Thriller Bark. Hogback then explained his past to Chopper and why he was using his skills to help Moriah.

The fight was interrupted by Oars destroying the main mast. During the giant zombie's rampage, Hogback was pinned under a fallen piece of ceiling. Hogback pleaded with Cindry to save him, but Cindry's memories of her former life had been rekindled by Chopper, and she simply stood and smiled as Oars' massive foot seemingly crushed both of them.

Hogback was later shown to be alive but bruised and was seen waking up Absalom and announcing to him that Gekko Moriah had been defeated. He was later seen escaping Thriller Bark with Absalom and an unconscious Moriah. They left without Perona as they couldn't find her anywhere.

It is unknown what will become of him now that Moriah's title has been revoked and he has apparently been eliminated after the war at Marineford.

Major Battles

 * Dr. Hogback, Victoria Cindry, Inuppe, and Jigorou vs. Tony Tony Chopper and Nico Robin

Trivia

 * Hogback is the only one of the Mysterious Four without a Devil Fruit power.
 * Dr. Hogback's apparent demise when Oars seemed to crush him is a reflection on the end of many mad scientists in horror films. The madman was destroyed by his own creation as a form of irony.
 * Dr. Hogback's morbid obsession for a beautiful patient that carried on well after her death is similar to that of real-life Dr. Carl Tanzler's.

Site Navigation
赫古巴庫