Sir Crocodile — May, 2018
Was Crocodile Always a Small-Time Villain — or Did Time Shrink Him?
Crocodile sneers at Luffy, calling him a “small fry.”
Luffy fires back instantly: “You’re the small one.”
Years later, Japanese fans are still arguing which line aged worse.
- That Comeback: Cool or Cringe?
- Bounty Numbers and the “Small Fry” Label
- Losing to Early Luffy — Does It Matter?
- Power Comparisons After Alabasta
- Do Bounties Really Reflect Strength?
- Warlords, Government Logic, and Numbers
- Haki, Awakening, and Missed Growth
- Luffy, Warlord Invitations, and Pride
- Long Serialization Fatigue
- Impel Down and Hidden Strength
- Power Levels as Numbers
- Crimes vs Bounty
- Elemental Weakness and Limits
- Awakening Theory Dump
- Final Impressions
- 👉 Why Japanese Fans Think This Way
- 👉This Isn’t About Trash Talk — It’s About ONE PIECE Rewriting Its Own Scale
That Comeback: Cool or Cringe?
1: Anonymous Pirate
Luffy’s comeback was lame…
3: Anonymous Pirate
I thought it was cool though.
Bounty Numbers and the “Small Fry” Label
4: Anonymous Pirate
Bounty: 80 million.
Calling someone “small fry” doesn’t get more ironic than that.
6: Anonymous Pirate
>>4
People say that a lot, but at just 80 million he was already considered dangerous enough by the Marines to be recruited as a Warlord. That means he was competent.
15: Anonymous Pirate
He was only seen as dangerous because he was a Logia.
Losing to Early Luffy — Does It Matter?
17: Anonymous Pirate
Honestly, once he’s on a ship with no sand around, he’s just a weak nobody.
19: Anonymous Pirate
>>17
He got beaten up by still-weak Luffy lol.
27: Anonymous Pirate
>>19
Losing on his own home turf to a no-name with no Haki.
And the Marines still cared about a guy like this lol.
21: Anonymous Pirate
Even though he lost to weak Luffy, his standing in the story didn’t really drop.
Feels like he’d still put up a good fight now.
Power Comparisons After Alabasta
34: Anonymous Pirate
>>21
He went toe-to-toe with Doflamingo, and even damaged Sakazuki.
So power-wise he’s probably around 200 million, maybe a bit more?
36: Anonymous Pirate
>>34
If he can clash with Doflamingo, he’s easily over 300 million.
51: Anonymous Pirate
>>36
Doflamingo wasn’t serious, just messing around.
If he used Haki seriously, Crocodile would probably go down easily.
Still, Crocodile was strong enough that they tried to recruit him again.
Do Bounties Really Reflect Strength?
22: Anonymous Pirate
People say bounties don’t equal strength, but in practice they pretty much do.
You don’t see a 5 million rookie beating a 100 million pirate.
24: Anonymous Pirate
Now he really is smaller than Luffy.
Warlords, Government Logic, and Numbers
25: Anonymous Pirate
I’m not super clear on this, but don’t bounties stop going up once you become a Warlord?
30: Anonymous Pirate
>>25
Warlords are government-approved, so their bounties disappear.
That 80 million was his former bounty.
Haki, Awakening, and Missed Growth
32: Anonymous Pirate
They say abilities can be trained, yet he didn’t even know about Haki.
35: Anonymous Pirate
>>32
So was Crocodile awakened back then?
40: Anonymous Pirate
>>35
Since he was already in a desert, and by Oda-logic removing moisture turns things into sand anyway, awakening wouldn’t benefit him much.
Luffy, Warlord Invitations, and Pride
37: Anonymous Pirate
Come to think of it, Luffy never got invited to be a Warlord.
45: Anonymous Pirate
>>37
There’s no way the World Government’s pride would allow the revolutionary leader’s son to join.
Long Serialization Fatigue
53: Anonymous Pirate
This kind of thing is inevitable when a series runs this long.
Impel Down and Hidden Strength
55: Anonymous Pirate
If he was locked up at the very bottom of the prison, he should’ve been worth several hundred million.
56: Anonymous Pirate
>>55
He was kept there to cover up the embarrassment of a Warlord nearly destroying a country.
Power Levels as Numbers
60: Anonymous Pirate
Turning strength into numbers always ends in failure.
Dragon Ball messed this up too.
61: Anonymous Pirate
>>60
Toriko was even worse.
Crimes vs Bounty
65: Anonymous Pirate
He tried to overthrow a country, yet his bounty was surprisingly low.
66: Anonymous Pirate
>>65
His bounty hasn’t been updated since his prison break.
There’s no way it’s still 80 million.
Elemental Weakness and Limits
68: Anonymous Pirate
Having water as a weakness is rough.
Awakening Theory Dump
72: Anonymous Pirate
Zoan awakening: loss of intelligence, insane recovery and durability
Paramecia (material creation / body change): alters surroundings
Paramecia (specific material control): wider range?
Other Paramecia: unknown
Logia awakening: unknown
Final Impressions
74: Anonymous Pirate
He’s strong.
If he wasn’t a Logia, he’d be dead.
77: Anonymous Pirate
>>74
Yeah… Crocodile’s still cool.
33: Anonymous Pirate
When he shows up again, he’ll be stronger. Don’t worry.
58: Anonymous Pirate
Back when this was serialized, 80 million was insane.
Given that context, Luffy calling him “small fry” was actually pretty cool.
👉 Why Japanese Fans Think This Way
Japanese fans aren’t mocking Crocodile just to downplay him.
They’re measuring him against how One Piece itself taught readers to read power at the time.
When numbers, titles, and dialogue drift apart, lines that once felt sharp get re-examined.
👉This Isn’t About Trash Talk — It’s About ONE PIECE Rewriting Its Own Scale
This argument isn’t really about trash talk.
It’s about how long-running series like ONE PIECE reshape their own past.
Crocodile didn’t necessarily get weaker — the scale around him changed.
Crocodile figure
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