Crocodile

Standing tall with a broad chest, heavy shoulders, and a thick neck, Crocodile has pale skin and black hair of about nape length that he combs straight back, though loose strands spill across his face when he fights. A long stitched gash crosses the bridge of his nose, and where his left hand once was he now bears a hook forged from a durable gold alloy. His deep-set, heavy-lidded eyes (rendered orange in the manga) and his eyebrows, which arch upward toward the center, lend his face a permanently scornful look. He speaks in a low, easy tone and is rarely without one of his company's thick cigars.

The character's wardrobe deliberately evokes an Italian mob boss. His earliest look paired a bright orange vest with black stripes over a long-sleeved peach shirt, finished with a blue scarf, brown suit trousers, and polished shoes bearing gold buckles, all under a long fur-lined coat slung over his shoulders. During his stay in Impel Down he wore the standard striped inmate garb yet was somehow allowed to keep his hook. His clothing after the war, and again following the timeskip, returns to a vest, scarf, suit pants, and draped fur coat in the Arabasta mold, the later version using a purple vest with crossing diagonal stripes. He always wears a single gold hoop in his right ear and rings set with colored gems on every finger of his right hand except the ring finger.

Crocodile is a shrewd, business-minded pirate whose long tenure as a Warlord left him sure of his own superiority. He delights in tormenting weaker foes, smirking and laughing through fights, yet that very arrogance caused him to misjudge Luffy's resolve and brought about his ruin. To the people of Arabasta he played the part of a protector, defeating raiders to preserve his image, while privately regarding the population as fools and orchestrating the collapse of whole towns to spark a civil war he could exploit.

He kills without hesitation and flies into a rage at the slightest mockery, once claiming to have ended everyone who ever insulted him. Despite that thin skin he constantly belittles others, branding their efforts worthless, and he holds trust and shared dreams in open contempt, mocking those who fight on another's behalf. He shows almost no honor, favoring pure power over fame or treasure. A recurring flaw is his habit of leaving angering victims to die slowly rather than finishing them, a carelessness that let Luffy recover and win. After his arrest he grew oddly indifferent, even refusing an early chance to break out, and over time he mellowed enough to shield his allies during the war. He also guards an embarrassing secret weakness that only Emporio Ivankov knows.

Operating under the alias Mr. 0, Crocodile led Baroque Works while posing as a loyal Warlord and a hero to Arabasta. Beneath that facade he used artificial drought and engineered sandstorms to push the kingdom toward ruin and rebellion, all in service of his conquest plot. His power flowed from the Suna Suna no Mi, classed as a Logia, which turns his body into sand and lets him drain the moisture out of whatever he grips. Princess Nefertari Vivi, working with the Straw Hat Pirates, exposed the scheme, and Luffy, after two earlier losses, at last found a way past the sand defense and struck him down. Stripped of his rank, he was confined to Impel Down's Level 6 to await execution.

When Luffy stormed the prison to save Portgas D. Ace, Crocodile won his release by agreeing to help, then carried that fight into the Summit War of Marineford. Though he first wanted Whitebeard's head, his loathing of the Marines pushed him to side with Luffy and Whitebeard's crew, and he repeatedly guarded them in the chaos. Together with his underling Daz Bonez he slipped away afterward and set course for the New World.

Following the abolition of the Seven Warlords, Crocodile founded the Cross Guild together with Dracule Mihawk, installing Buggy as a public figurehead who was mistakenly counted among the Four Emperors. He stands as one of the series' most lasting rivals, the lead antagonist of the Arabasta Arc, an uneasy ally during Impel Down and Marineford, and a supporting threat in the Final Saga. Vegapunk also produced a Seraphim clone of him to replace the disbanded Warlords.