INSOMNIAC SO YOU GET THIS
One Piece subreddit is wanking over Croc's past again (I say this semi-fondly/sarcastically, it's a tame thread really, and I generally like the community over there although it's deteriorated some since the influx of younger teens/Naruto fans ~_~).
Which motivates me to reconsider the FtM!Croco theories, this time in depth.
There are a couple theories about Croco's past, most of them variations on two major themes:
- Whitebeard kicked his ass
- Croco was born biologically female and asked Ivankov to swap him
That he has a grudge against (but also respect for) Whitebeard is canon. There's not much you can spin from that, imo. One predominant theory in J-fandom is that he was originally part of WB's crew. The predominant idea in English-speaking fandom is that WB destroyed his dreams of making it big. Both of which I have stated before seem too "easy" an answer to me, and also not really that satisfying from a narrative standpoint, especially the latter (we already have Kaido/Moriah for that). Although I have no doubt Croco was heavily influenced by his loss to WB, we've seen that he's not the kind of man to just give up after a single defeat (he's one of the few villains we've seen really regroup himself post-defeat rather than get redeemed or get shunted off to the moon or jail or whatever). In that, he actually rather resembles Luffy. Also, as I have stated before, I'm pretty convinced that Croco was already pirating prior to Roger's execution -- he speaks of being a "silver medalist" to both Roger and Whitebeard (aside from Shanks and Buggy, who else in his age bracket openly talks about Roger that way?), and doesn't sound at all hypothetical about it. Also, he's canonically one of the few people in existence to be aware of the Poneglyphs' existence -- as well as their significance. There has got to be much, much more going on than a simple "WB kicked his ass and he gave up on his dreams."
FtM!Croco is far more interesting to theorycraft from. It's the "obvious" conclusion to make -- Ivankov has some dirt on him, powerful enough to blackmail him into cooperating, Ivankov canonically uses hir* hormonal powers on people for this exact purpose, the SBS illustration of Croco as a child is arguably gender-ambiguous (it doesn't look that way to me, but it does to a lot of folks), and Oda very deliberately does not show his face (or any part of him but his back for that matter) in the Roger execution flashback from the movie tie-in prologue chapter.
* okama aren't necessarily trans, but pronouns in Japanese are weird, I haven't watched the arcs in question to know which Iva prefers, and zi's certainly gender-fluid.
Some of the more interesting variants:
- Croco is Luffy's mom and had some sort of falling out with Dragon. This is mostly crack, but actually I kind of like it as a serious theory too because IMO it gives better emotional ammo against Croc aside from "oh noes used to be a chick." Still... crack. (Considering what Robin was up to during timeskip, one wonders about the kind of conversations she would've had with Dragon [assuming they met] if this were the case.... XD)
- Croco wanted to join WB's crew, but WB doesn't allow women on his ship. This is a more recent variant, arising from the SBS revelation that WB refused to let his nurses fight at Marineford. This theory ties in both the major things we know about Croco's past and so is tempting in that sense, but IMO it has no real legs to stand on from a characterization standpoint. (Yo Croco's original dream was to be pirate king. Like hell he'd sacrifice so much just to be on some other guy's crew)
- Croco shared Kuina's belief that women cannot achieve true power/strength in this world and will always ultimately be outclassed by men. Being the pragmatic person he is, he chose to switch. This would be great to re-address thematically someday (was always hoping Tashigi would take part in this, but seems not).
But all in all, it does annoy me a little that the only "dark secrets" people can come up with for Croco are all sexual/gender-related, just because Ivankov's involved. (Other theories about his secret that I tend to roll my eyes at: Croco's gay and lost his lover [oh pls], Croco fell for a Trap, Croco got Sanji-ed...)
And as much as FtM!Croco theories make me smile, I don't actually think they hold much water in serious analysis.
1. Gender-ambiguity as a child: not really, imo. He's a very pretty boy :), but still recognizably male in Oda's style (giveaways: body stance and eyes. Compare Hancock right next to him -- or even better, equally ambiguous bb Koala in the manga [1, 2], and adult female Croc [link below]). Still, I think this could go either way.
2. Oda happily drew genderswapped Shichibukai in the same SBS that talked about WB's nurses, and I don't think he would have teased us with a femme!Croco design there if he actually intended to make this reveal later on.
3. While we're still talking visuals, although things can change drastically from early concepts, it seems Crocodile has always been one of the more consistent designs. (See: early concept.) This isn't really proof in either direction, but it tells me that Croco is one of those characters who's been with Oda for a very, very long time. And as a writer, I know that the "core" of characters like this just doesn't change all that much. And I have always gotten the feeling that he's one of the characters Oda has been laying plans for since forever (like Doffy) -- all of the original Shichibukai have such layered histories, after all, that Croco can hardly be an exception.
4. Ivankov's involvement: Iva isn't just an okama with hormone powers, you know? Zi's also a key Revolutionary. I think this is a more likely basis for whatever secret Croco has.
(I am 90% positive Croco has revolutionary ties as well -- it completely slots with the headcanon that I mentioned amid the blues meta in my previous post, that he's got working class/street roots. His pic as a kid isn't as rough and scrabble as some of the other child illustrations, but I get the feeling that he really learned how important image is from a very young age.)
Besides, we also have two other options for "trauma": whatever lost him his hand, and/or whatever gave him that scar on his face.
5. Croco canonically doesn't like being mocked or looked down on, which on a shallow reading makes it seem like it's reasonable to expect that he would feel shame for having originally been a woman.
And yet I'm not so sure: he's one of the most egalitarian leaders we've seen in the series -- deliberately designing Baroque Works to have a 50/50 gender balance. He has a healthy amount of respect for Robin (and as I pointed out in my reread analysis, actually seems to have WANTED to be able to trust her/saw her as a true partner), and never once does he scorn Vivi for being a helpless girl either. (He scorns her for other reasons, but NOT for her gender.) He also, as I amusedly pointed out, gives Nami a backhanded compliment when he's got all his captives in the cage.
(You'd expect someone with lingering shame over his femininity to swing waayyyyyyyy over to the other direction.)
All in all, it's really hard imagining him being bothered by gender issues -- as I've mentioned before, a key comparison to make would be equally Manly Man!Smoker's non-reaction to being stuck in a female body during Punk Hazard. Maybe as a younger person he might have been embarrassed about it. But for a secret like this to still hold sway over him now that he's well into his 40s, and been living in this body for at least two decades? (He met Iva as a rookie, and as I keep saying, it's NOT likely that he was one of the post-execution bandwagoners; even if he were though, that's still twenty years or so...) Ehhh. Not that likely IMO. One Piece world may still be slightly patriarchal in the way our modern world is patriarchal, but societally they're also a lot more open and accepting of other stuff. Croco seems to me more the type who'd go "yeah, so I was a woman, so what? I'm still stronger than you"
I mean really, in OP world, one of the few majorish characters I can imagine really having a sex-change related Issues is Paulie (lmao). Both Croco and Smoker I feel identify as male and are thoroughly comfortable with their masculinity. I mean, they're logias. They probably have a totally different perspective on their bodies already. IMO if he'd wanted a sex change (and was in the position to get one) he would've just gotten one without much fuss.
(I want to note here that Oda's concept of ideal masculinity is precisely this sort of attitude where it doesn't matter what others think of you, but in being true to oneself. see also: Mr. Hardboiled, Doffy rocking it in fluffy pink, too many examples to state... hell, even Sanji's ridiculous chivalry. Which sorta leads into my next point.)
6. The main recurring theme with Croco in Alabasta is NOT, as I also pointed out in my reread meta, his trust issues -- but rather his utter confidence in himself. Over-confident, you may say, but it's not a baseless confidence. He knows who he is, how powerful he is, where he stands, what he wants. He has no reason to doubt himself. His belief in himself and his own strength is what he values the most (arguably) -- his one greatest conviction is that one MUST have strength in order to even pursue an ideal, and as I said, he's not "wrong" in this (Luffy blatantly agrees with this sort of sentiment -- where they differ is that Croco thinks he needs to do everything alone because he CAN'T trust anyone even if he wants to, whereas Luffy understands all too well that there are things he needs to rely on other people for, and in turn they will rely on him -- and also in Croco's pursuit of strength/power, he seems to have completely forgotten or at least buried his ideals). I see no room for gender identity crises in that sort of natural assurance.
This is a man who, as I say a lot, takes PRIDE in his complete mastery of his own powers, and in his knowledge and understanding of the world. (see: the role he serves as a convenient worldbuilding mouthpiece during Impel Down.) He knows himself inside out, both his strengths and his limitations -- and he's much, much too proud of what he's made of himself to be ashamed of something so relatively trivial as having once been biologically female. (It's not like he's a brawler or a primarily physical fighter for whom the limitations of a female body might theoretically cause problems, like Kuina. He's thoroughly reliant on his fruit powers and on being Well Prepared. It wouldn't really make a difference if he were a chick.)
7. That said, I note he's only temporarily pissed about this secret of his when Iva brings it up (he gets over it within one page or so), which is an interesting reaction. I'm tempted to say that it's not so much the secret itself he's sensitive about as it is the fact that Iva knows and is threatening him with it. (He REALLY doesn't like being looked down on.) I mean, he goes along with them without much/any antagonism at all throughout the next arc and a half, and none of his behavior really seems like he would have acted differently if Iva hadn't threatened him. So it does still leave a possibility that his secret is indeed something as trivial as "was originally female" without breaking consistency in his characterization.
Buuuut I don't think Oda would have brought this up unless it had some sort of future narrative significance. (Because really, would anyone actually be all that surprised if femme!Croco were revealed? Not really I don't think! XD And Oda NEVER goes for the obvious answers.)
So what do I think his secret is? Like I've said before, probably something related to the revolutionaries. I wouldn't be surprised if the revolutionary connection is how he learned about Poneglyphs and got started on his whole "get Pluton" plot to begin with.
I think the scar on his face must be significant too. Hence the back shot only of him. (i.e. not to hide boobs. ~_~ This, I assume, is the same reason Shanks's face is shadowed -- so that we can't pin down more precise info about Blackbeard and Shanks's scars.) Although a lot of scars can be chalked down to "rule of cool", facial scars are almost always emotionally significant in the series (the way tatts are): Luffy's being a sign of his childhood determination, Sabo's is obvious, Shanks's are obviously plot-significant since we know Blackbeard gave them to him, Zoro's eye is up in the air though as a possible exception -- and well, Croco's scar is just such a strange one. Straight across his face like that, from ear to ear, and so precise. As if he were at someone's mercy and getting carved up. It's just not a natural sort of scar to come by in the heat of battle. It's the sort of scar one would give as a way of shaming the other party, of basically declaring "you're not worthy as an opponent". Very deliberate, and very cruel (i.e. NOT something Whitebeard would do). And very tempting to point to as the source of his obsession with strength and his hatred of being mocked, especially now that we know Law and Doffy's backstories and KNOW how dark Oda can get.
Besides, he's a logia. To scar a logia, one REALLY has to wonder... (whether or not it happened before or after he ate his fruit, there's a lot of potential for interesting reveals!)
Why not his hook/lost arm? Because IMO the hook was just a thematic design choice -- Captain Hook who lost his hand to a crocodile and all. Doffy's flamingo design and Mihawk's hawk eyes seem to be purely aesthetic too; same with Hancock's snake theme (aside from the minor worldbuilding deets). Maybe he lost the hand in the same incident, but I'm betting it's the scar that will be the key to the backstory.
- - -
tl;dr my conclusion remains unchanged: although it'd be pretty amazing if it turned out Croco were born biologically female, given the sort of universe Oda's built up + Croco's already quite delightfully complex characterization, this sort of thing doesn't seem powerful enough as ammo to be blackmailed over, or indeed, as a bombshell to drop on readers later on. Personally, I think it has to do with his facial scar (reasoning under cut).
I fucking love that it's such a widespread theory though, and that it's not complete crack...
comments at the original Dreamwidth post
Which motivates me to reconsider the FtM!Croco theories, this time in depth.
There are a couple theories about Croco's past, most of them variations on two major themes:
- Whitebeard kicked his ass
- Croco was born biologically female and asked Ivankov to swap him
That he has a grudge against (but also respect for) Whitebeard is canon. There's not much you can spin from that, imo. One predominant theory in J-fandom is that he was originally part of WB's crew. The predominant idea in English-speaking fandom is that WB destroyed his dreams of making it big. Both of which I have stated before seem too "easy" an answer to me, and also not really that satisfying from a narrative standpoint, especially the latter (we already have Kaido/Moriah for that). Although I have no doubt Croco was heavily influenced by his loss to WB, we've seen that he's not the kind of man to just give up after a single defeat (he's one of the few villains we've seen really regroup himself post-defeat rather than get redeemed or get shunted off to the moon or jail or whatever). In that, he actually rather resembles Luffy. Also, as I have stated before, I'm pretty convinced that Croco was already pirating prior to Roger's execution -- he speaks of being a "silver medalist" to both Roger and Whitebeard (aside from Shanks and Buggy, who else in his age bracket openly talks about Roger that way?), and doesn't sound at all hypothetical about it. Also, he's canonically one of the few people in existence to be aware of the Poneglyphs' existence -- as well as their significance. There has got to be much, much more going on than a simple "WB kicked his ass and he gave up on his dreams."
FtM!Croco is far more interesting to theorycraft from. It's the "obvious" conclusion to make -- Ivankov has some dirt on him, powerful enough to blackmail him into cooperating, Ivankov canonically uses hir* hormonal powers on people for this exact purpose, the SBS illustration of Croco as a child is arguably gender-ambiguous (it doesn't look that way to me, but it does to a lot of folks), and Oda very deliberately does not show his face (or any part of him but his back for that matter) in the Roger execution flashback from the movie tie-in prologue chapter.
* okama aren't necessarily trans, but pronouns in Japanese are weird, I haven't watched the arcs in question to know which Iva prefers, and zi's certainly gender-fluid.
Some of the more interesting variants:
- Croco is Luffy's mom and had some sort of falling out with Dragon. This is mostly crack, but actually I kind of like it as a serious theory too because IMO it gives better emotional ammo against Croc aside from "oh noes used to be a chick." Still... crack. (Considering what Robin was up to during timeskip, one wonders about the kind of conversations she would've had with Dragon [assuming they met] if this were the case.... XD)
- Croco wanted to join WB's crew, but WB doesn't allow women on his ship. This is a more recent variant, arising from the SBS revelation that WB refused to let his nurses fight at Marineford. This theory ties in both the major things we know about Croco's past and so is tempting in that sense, but IMO it has no real legs to stand on from a characterization standpoint. (Yo Croco's original dream was to be pirate king. Like hell he'd sacrifice so much just to be on some other guy's crew)
- Croco shared Kuina's belief that women cannot achieve true power/strength in this world and will always ultimately be outclassed by men. Being the pragmatic person he is, he chose to switch. This would be great to re-address thematically someday (was always hoping Tashigi would take part in this, but seems not).
But all in all, it does annoy me a little that the only "dark secrets" people can come up with for Croco are all sexual/gender-related, just because Ivankov's involved. (Other theories about his secret that I tend to roll my eyes at: Croco's gay and lost his lover [oh pls], Croco fell for a Trap, Croco got Sanji-ed...)
And as much as FtM!Croco theories make me smile, I don't actually think they hold much water in serious analysis.
1. Gender-ambiguity as a child: not really, imo. He's a very pretty boy :), but still recognizably male in Oda's style (giveaways: body stance and eyes. Compare Hancock right next to him -- or even better, equally ambiguous bb Koala in the manga [1, 2], and adult female Croc [link below]). Still, I think this could go either way.
2. Oda happily drew genderswapped Shichibukai in the same SBS that talked about WB's nurses, and I don't think he would have teased us with a femme!Croco design there if he actually intended to make this reveal later on.
3. While we're still talking visuals, although things can change drastically from early concepts, it seems Crocodile has always been one of the more consistent designs. (See: early concept.) This isn't really proof in either direction, but it tells me that Croco is one of those characters who's been with Oda for a very, very long time. And as a writer, I know that the "core" of characters like this just doesn't change all that much. And I have always gotten the feeling that he's one of the characters Oda has been laying plans for since forever (like Doffy) -- all of the original Shichibukai have such layered histories, after all, that Croco can hardly be an exception.
4. Ivankov's involvement: Iva isn't just an okama with hormone powers, you know? Zi's also a key Revolutionary. I think this is a more likely basis for whatever secret Croco has.
(I am 90% positive Croco has revolutionary ties as well -- it completely slots with the headcanon that I mentioned amid the blues meta in my previous post, that he's got working class/street roots. His pic as a kid isn't as rough and scrabble as some of the other child illustrations, but I get the feeling that he really learned how important image is from a very young age.)
Besides, we also have two other options for "trauma": whatever lost him his hand, and/or whatever gave him that scar on his face.
5. Croco canonically doesn't like being mocked or looked down on, which on a shallow reading makes it seem like it's reasonable to expect that he would feel shame for having originally been a woman.
And yet I'm not so sure: he's one of the most egalitarian leaders we've seen in the series -- deliberately designing Baroque Works to have a 50/50 gender balance. He has a healthy amount of respect for Robin (and as I pointed out in my reread analysis, actually seems to have WANTED to be able to trust her/saw her as a true partner), and never once does he scorn Vivi for being a helpless girl either. (He scorns her for other reasons, but NOT for her gender.) He also, as I amusedly pointed out, gives Nami a backhanded compliment when he's got all his captives in the cage.
(You'd expect someone with lingering shame over his femininity to swing waayyyyyyyy over to the other direction.)
All in all, it's really hard imagining him being bothered by gender issues -- as I've mentioned before, a key comparison to make would be equally Manly Man!Smoker's non-reaction to being stuck in a female body during Punk Hazard. Maybe as a younger person he might have been embarrassed about it. But for a secret like this to still hold sway over him now that he's well into his 40s, and been living in this body for at least two decades? (He met Iva as a rookie, and as I keep saying, it's NOT likely that he was one of the post-execution bandwagoners; even if he were though, that's still twenty years or so...) Ehhh. Not that likely IMO. One Piece world may still be slightly patriarchal in the way our modern world is patriarchal, but societally they're also a lot more open and accepting of other stuff. Croco seems to me more the type who'd go "yeah, so I was a woman, so what? I'm still stronger than you"
I mean really, in OP world, one of the few majorish characters I can imagine really having a sex-change related Issues is Paulie (lmao). Both Croco and Smoker I feel identify as male and are thoroughly comfortable with their masculinity. I mean, they're logias. They probably have a totally different perspective on their bodies already. IMO if he'd wanted a sex change (and was in the position to get one) he would've just gotten one without much fuss.
(I want to note here that Oda's concept of ideal masculinity is precisely this sort of attitude where it doesn't matter what others think of you, but in being true to oneself. see also: Mr. Hardboiled, Doffy rocking it in fluffy pink, too many examples to state... hell, even Sanji's ridiculous chivalry. Which sorta leads into my next point.)
6. The main recurring theme with Croco in Alabasta is NOT, as I also pointed out in my reread meta, his trust issues -- but rather his utter confidence in himself. Over-confident, you may say, but it's not a baseless confidence. He knows who he is, how powerful he is, where he stands, what he wants. He has no reason to doubt himself. His belief in himself and his own strength is what he values the most (arguably) -- his one greatest conviction is that one MUST have strength in order to even pursue an ideal, and as I said, he's not "wrong" in this (Luffy blatantly agrees with this sort of sentiment -- where they differ is that Croco thinks he needs to do everything alone because he CAN'T trust anyone even if he wants to, whereas Luffy understands all too well that there are things he needs to rely on other people for, and in turn they will rely on him -- and also in Croco's pursuit of strength/power, he seems to have completely forgotten or at least buried his ideals). I see no room for gender identity crises in that sort of natural assurance.
This is a man who, as I say a lot, takes PRIDE in his complete mastery of his own powers, and in his knowledge and understanding of the world. (see: the role he serves as a convenient worldbuilding mouthpiece during Impel Down.) He knows himself inside out, both his strengths and his limitations -- and he's much, much too proud of what he's made of himself to be ashamed of something so relatively trivial as having once been biologically female. (It's not like he's a brawler or a primarily physical fighter for whom the limitations of a female body might theoretically cause problems, like Kuina. He's thoroughly reliant on his fruit powers and on being Well Prepared. It wouldn't really make a difference if he were a chick.)
7. That said, I note he's only temporarily pissed about this secret of his when Iva brings it up (he gets over it within one page or so), which is an interesting reaction. I'm tempted to say that it's not so much the secret itself he's sensitive about as it is the fact that Iva knows and is threatening him with it. (He REALLY doesn't like being looked down on.) I mean, he goes along with them without much/any antagonism at all throughout the next arc and a half, and none of his behavior really seems like he would have acted differently if Iva hadn't threatened him. So it does still leave a possibility that his secret is indeed something as trivial as "was originally female" without breaking consistency in his characterization.
Buuuut I don't think Oda would have brought this up unless it had some sort of future narrative significance. (Because really, would anyone actually be all that surprised if femme!Croco were revealed? Not really I don't think! XD And Oda NEVER goes for the obvious answers.)
So what do I think his secret is? Like I've said before, probably something related to the revolutionaries. I wouldn't be surprised if the revolutionary connection is how he learned about Poneglyphs and got started on his whole "get Pluton" plot to begin with.
I think the scar on his face must be significant too. Hence the back shot only of him. (i.e. not to hide boobs. ~_~ This, I assume, is the same reason Shanks's face is shadowed -- so that we can't pin down more precise info about Blackbeard and Shanks's scars.) Although a lot of scars can be chalked down to "rule of cool", facial scars are almost always emotionally significant in the series (the way tatts are): Luffy's being a sign of his childhood determination, Sabo's is obvious, Shanks's are obviously plot-significant since we know Blackbeard gave them to him, Zoro's eye is up in the air though as a possible exception -- and well, Croco's scar is just such a strange one. Straight across his face like that, from ear to ear, and so precise. As if he were at someone's mercy and getting carved up. It's just not a natural sort of scar to come by in the heat of battle. It's the sort of scar one would give as a way of shaming the other party, of basically declaring "you're not worthy as an opponent". Very deliberate, and very cruel (i.e. NOT something Whitebeard would do). And very tempting to point to as the source of his obsession with strength and his hatred of being mocked, especially now that we know Law and Doffy's backstories and KNOW how dark Oda can get.
Besides, he's a logia. To scar a logia, one REALLY has to wonder... (whether or not it happened before or after he ate his fruit, there's a lot of potential for interesting reveals!)
Why not his hook/lost arm? Because IMO the hook was just a thematic design choice -- Captain Hook who lost his hand to a crocodile and all. Doffy's flamingo design and Mihawk's hawk eyes seem to be purely aesthetic too; same with Hancock's snake theme (aside from the minor worldbuilding deets). Maybe he lost the hand in the same incident, but I'm betting it's the scar that will be the key to the backstory.
- - -
tl;dr my conclusion remains unchanged: although it'd be pretty amazing if it turned out Croco were born biologically female, given the sort of universe Oda's built up + Croco's already quite delightfully complex characterization, this sort of thing doesn't seem powerful enough as ammo to be blackmailed over, or indeed, as a bombshell to drop on readers later on. Personally, I think it has to do with his facial scar (reasoning under cut).
I fucking love that it's such a widespread theory though, and that it's not complete crack...
comments at the original Dreamwidth post