@Greg:
[hide]Akainu IS just doing his job.
He's one of the few Marines that seems to know what duty means. He gets the job done. Of course this means following orders blindly and if you're working for a 'crooked' cause then…
But honestly? Who was the one in Ohara that knew 'No survivors' REALLY MEANT 'No survivors'.
Who was the ONE Marine that said, "Fuck honor! This is my damn job and I'm going to do it!", when it came to Ace.
As a villain, I respect that and I don't necessarily think that makes him despicable. I'm interested in what makes him tick, what crawled up his ass and blinded him to any trace of pity.
The problem is, he's working for what appears to be a dangerous cause.
I really enjoy how Oda's crafted the Marines. Their loyalties are all OVER the place which is realistic as HELL.[/hide]
For me, the Marine I see as the biggest wild card is Kizaru.
I simply CANNOT gauge the guy.
He's vicious and dedicated to his job like Akainu but just something about him that isn't as mechnically inclined towards blindly following orders to the T as Akainu does. I'm interested to see where his loyalties will wind up at the end of all this.
What were we talking about?
Oh yeah, Arlong.
Probably the biggest difference between Kizaru and Akainu is their attitude. Kizaru is surprisingly laid back, to the point where he'd stroll around a warzone in an invasion by his OWN LEAD and ask common thugs and pirates for directions. He's also somewhat dimwitted, just ask Sentoumaru.
Akainu is the exemplar of vigilance and duty. That is a certain honor that Akainu takes pride in. He not only gets the job done, but he does it as fast as possible, even if it means to sacrifice a few innocents.
Unfortunately, what's dispicable is his rejection of compassion and mercy. Then again, Coby embodied that idea too much.
I find the Tenryuubito, still, to be the worst. Complete intolerance to whatever that doesn't come their way, and yet have no duties whatsoever. Treats the world as toys, good or bad, working or broken. It's like what the world would be like if Viacom, BP, or Fannie Mae institute themselves as the word of law and have the executives' descendants ordained as gods to be worshipped.
Arlong was pretty bad, soliciting the hopes and dreams of a little girl until she's almost a grown woman just to take it away when she almost had it is disgusting. But that's a local gang boss mentality, and is actually still restrainable.
Crocodile gets my respects for being a mastermind that nearly caused the degradation of one of the most peaceful cultures and societies in the world. First he acted as a superhero who protects weak from the brutes, then exposed and encouraged people to yield to greedy desires in the form of gambling and extravagance, then he orchestrated a counterfeit plot of royal treachery and dishonor, then plainly attempted to rob the country of its most guarded national secrets, just to get directions to find history's most powerful WMD. Naturally even Robin would have none of that. As a side note, Robin was pretty concieted to play along up to the very end of his plot.
Enel was more like a space invader who uses superior powers to take over a civilization, steal its resources, and then blow it up. At the same time, he believes that he's invincible. Oh wait, that's Freeza. It's an interesting combination, but it's been done before in the exact same way. But Oda layers a clash of cultures on top of that during the Sky Island adventures, and the interaction of all parties become an awesome symphony (a fugue, I think).
Why is Foxy in there? He's not a villain so much as a competitor in piracy.
Moria's entire Thriller Bark is more like a predator on the high seas, not unlike a giant Sea King. All he's trying to do is get humongous and then eat some more. Of course, when Luffy defeats his whole operation from inside out, he ends up fragile and lumbering. Kind of sad that Luffy inadverdently kills him, but that's like being sad that Spinosaurus is extinct.
Blackbeard is a pirate to the core. He never really had loyalties. He's greedy, selfish, ignorant, and cowardly. Why was he in Whitebeard's crew? Because he fit in, and was cool with everyone until he killed Thatch. He would be as dispicable as the Tenryuubito, but he lets loose phrases like "MAN'S DREAMS NEVER DIE" that make ambitious people feel he's cool to be around.
I'm surprised Doflamingo isn't in this list, but we don't have much information on his operations. I think he's like a drug dealing gang leader in a third-world country, based on what he says.
And Spandam is just like the Tenryuubito, but has a job. And is very bad at it. I think of him as a VP of a company who is about as competent in his job as a 15-year-old new hire in a retail store.