Crocodile

Sir Crocodile is the president of the secret criminal organization, Baroque Works, and the major antagonist of the Baroque Works Saga. He was originally introduced as a Shichibukai but was stripped of his title after attempting to take control of the desert kingdom, Arabasta. Crocodile is usually mentioned when Luffy's reputation is mentioned, as defeating Crocodile was what caused the World Government to really start to taking Luffy seriously. He is also quite commonly mentioned when the Shichibukai are mentioned.

Appearance
Crocodile is an enormous man, standing at almost twice Luffy's height which is 172cm (5'7½") and is clearly much taller than Robin who stands 188cm (6'2"), with a wide chest and broad, shoulders, comparatively thin arms and legs, and thick neck. He has flushed white skin, as well as dark purple hair, which is combed back but dangles loosely from the back of his head. Crocodile has various battle scars, most notably a long stitch above his nose that stretches across his whole face, as well as a missing left hand, which has been replaced with a large hook made from a tough gold alloy. He has sunken eyes and thin eyebrows. Crocodile speaks with a deep, relaxed voice, and he is usually seen smoking a thick, buck cigar produced by his company.

His theme of dress is meant to convey the idea of an Italian mafia boss; he sports a long, thick and dark fur coat, as well as polished Italian shoes with golden buckles. He wears various jewelry, including several golden rings with various rare gemstones on his fingers and a rectangular earring that clips onto his right earlobe. Crocodile wears an indigo velvet scarf, as well as a long-sleeve orange shirt, which are covered by a darker orange button-up vest adorned with a striped black pattern, and dark brown suit pants.

Every Shichibukai member has a animal theme. His animal theme is the crocodile, which reflects in his name, the Bananawani he kept as pets and his large scar (which resembles a "crocodile's smile") are reflections of his theme.

Personality
Crocodile was the Shichibukai with the lowest bounty at the time, and was likely the only one known to have a bounty of less than 100 million Belli, although had his bounty represented his threat level at the time he met Luffy it would have more than doubled and broken the 100 million mark. He is very intelligent and cunning (one of the smartest in the series) which is apparent from his ability to mastermind Baroque Works while at the same time keep the World Government completely in the dark about what he was doing while making himself a hero of the people. He also has a skill for making flawless plans (similar to Kuro and like Kuro these plans were revealed when he encountered Luffy) and seeing things that would escape most others attention and deduce a correct conclusion from nearly no information (ex. seeing the white wrapping on the Straw Hats arm and almost instantly figures out it is a safe guard against Mr. 2's infiltration).

Like many villains Luffy has met, Crocodile is confident in himself and in his abilities (although unlike previous villain's such as Don Krieg Crocodile's confidence comes from skill and power. His power is shown when he beats Luffy twice, nearly killing him both times). However, due to his confidence, he underestimated Luffy's willpower, which eventually led him to his defeat. His willingness to kill displays his coldhearted nature and will not think twice about sentencing another to death.

He also lacks almost any code of honor and does not see the point in offering those who about to die a chance of dying honorably. One of the few signs of honor he displayed at all was in his third fight with Luffy; he states that Luffy deserves an honorable death from his venomous hook. However, due to the situation at the time of battle, this could be considered more an act of cruelty then honor. However, it's also possible that due to the fact that he almost never fights with his poison hook, it is a tribute to Luffy's tenacity, as he stated himself.

If Crocodile is extremely angry or annoyed with his victim, he will rarely kill them outright, often leaving them for dead and suffering. This proves to be a bad habit of his as it lead to his defeat. The first two times he fought Luffy, instead of killing him out right, he leaves him suffering, which allows Luffy to come back and finally defeat him. This habit is the only reason Luffy lived through any of his fights with Crocodile.

He may very well have been the same happy, carefree person as Luffy once. They even shared the same dream. Despite this, his time in the Grand Line has corrupted him and jaded his personality causing him to turn into the cruel person he is now, causing him to let go of his dream.

Crew
Crocodile's connection to Robin was a strictly business-related one; he did not consider her a friend, only a tool for his own ambitions. He never once showed her compassion, she was just expected to follow orders. He held no pity for her when she failed to deliver Pluton and didn't think twice about striking her, although he did admit she had been a good partner to him moments beforehand.

He also did not refrain from acts of cruelty towards the other Baroque Works Agents under his employment, especially those that failed him (ex. feeding Mr. 3 to his bananawani).

Enemies
Crocodile is an enemy of Alabasta because of his attempt to conquer the country. He especially is on bad terms with Vivi for the chaos and crimes he committed towards her father and country. As of the end of Baroque Works he is now an enemy of the Marines and the World Government for potentially causing a rift to form in the balance of the 3 Great Powers of the world. He remains a major enemy of the Straw Hats and his defeat at their hands is considered one of their greatest achievements.

Abilities and Powers
Crocodile is one of the strongest characters in the One Piece world as well as a (former) Shichibukai.

Devil Fruit
He mastered the Devil Fruit Suna Suna no Mi to the point of perfection where he can turn into sand reflexively if attacked and while in a desert area his powers make him unbeatable. Crocodile has the ability to create huge sand storms, make multiple bladed weapons out of sand, create quicksand and, by using his hand, to suck all moisture out any object, dead or alive, even those that are inanimate.

Weapons
Despite being one of the few characters to master his Devil fruit, Crocodile can fight very effectively using his hook. In his third fight with Luffy he almost only uses his hook and doesn't use his powers until the end of the fight at which point it was to late for them to make a difference (in movie 8 he does use his powers to dodge and fly on one occasion). His hook is made mostly of an extremely tough golden alloy. The golden part of the hook is hollow and can be taken off to use a poisonous hook with powerful Scorpion venom strong enough to melt through rock. If the hook somehow breaks off, he has a knife hidden away in it that can be used in its place.

Early Years
Crocodile was once carefree and optimistic. It was stated by Crocodile himself that he was not much different from Luffy once, and he also wanted to become the Pirate King and have adventures. As time went by, he grew in power and experience and his once optimistic outlook faded. Crocodile came to let go of his dreams, eventually becoming one of the Shichibukai. At some point, either before he became one of the Shichibukai or after, Crocodile learned of a weapon called Pluton and became very interested in it.

Baroque Works
Crocodile secretly started a mysterious group, called Baroque Works. Being careful not to attract too much attention to himself, he gathered some of the best bounty hunters in the world, and gave them code names based on power. His plan the whole time was to capture Arabasta and read the Poneglyph there to find the ancient weapon, Pluton, and gain what he desires, Military Power.

It is known that he found Nico Robin at the age of 24, and made a deal with her. He'll protect her and give her a home, and she can be his partner. In return Robin will read the Poneglyph and find the location of Pluton.

Project Utopia
After years of planning, all the Baroque Works agents finally met Sir Crocodile, and were given their final assignments. Crocodile, fighting and defeating Luffy twice, nearly killing him each time, finally believed himself to be rid of Luffy. Nico Robin and Crocodile were brought to the Poneglyph Chamber in the Royal Mausoleum Grounds by the king, Cobra, who was forced to lead them there. Crocodile was betrayed by Robin who reads off history she knows, of both Arabasta and other points in the world. Luffy caught up, and finally defeated Sir Crocodile, with a super version of his Gatling Gun, Gomu Gomu no Storm. With that came the end of Baroque Works, and Crocodile.

Tashigi, going by her own justice as Captain Smoker ordered, arrested Sir Crocodile, who was stripped of all titles and permissions granted by the Marines and the World Government.

Life after Defeat
He was taken to a prison, and after all of the other Baroque Works members were broken out, he refused to go and instead stay behind enjoying one of his cigars smiling as he watches his former agents escape. Crocodile, Mr. 1, Mr. 2 and Mr. 3 are currently being transferred to Impel Down.

Major Battles

 * Crocodile vs. Luffy (1) (victory)
 * Crocodile vs. Luffy (2) (victory)
 * Crocodile vs. Luffy (3) (defeat)

Other Battles

 * Crocodile vs. Puppuh (victory)

Translation and Dub Issues
In the dub, Crocodile suffered a few edits. After his first fight with Luffy, Crocodile was edited so that instead of impaling Luffy with his hook, he instead dangles him upside down by it. Strangely, in the next episode of the dub, Luffy was right-side up with Crocodile's hook being around his neck. Another edit Crocodile suffered was that instead of being weakened by Luffy's blood in the final fight, he was instead weakened by his sweat.

Additionally, scenes with Crocodile smoking cigars were cut, however, in one episode, 4Kids forgot to edit his cigar at one point.

Cultural References

 * In a mock-movie in the anime series Gintama, a Sir Crocodile lookalike is seen charging towards one of the characters to fight. He is knocked away by a "Gomu Gomu" move pulled off by one of the characters.

Trivia

 * In a Cover Story Mini-Arc, Crocodile was originally drawn with both hands, and no hook. This was corrected for the release of the volume and is now published with the hook correctly placed on his left arm.
 * In a recent Japanese Fan Poll, Crocodile is currently ranked the 25th most popular character in One Piece.
 * Crocodile's design may have been inspired by Captain Hook from the story Peter Pan.
 * The soundtrack playing during Crocodile's defeat is the Czech symphony Dvorak's New World Symphony.

Related Articles

 * Luffy
 * Shichibukai
 * Pluton
 * Nico Robin
 * Pirate King