How One Piece Failed Its Greatest Villain

[@TheSkullivan12]

Another interesting point to bring up with Hody is his ultimate fate. Physically decrepit, heavily imprisoned; Oda did something he almost never does, and unambiguously closed the door on Hody ever being able to return or even move forward on his own. I think it’s a very good metaphor for how the path of blind hatred Hody was walking down led to nowhere, and how there’s no hope for a future with that kind of ideology.

[@chiatzu1337]

Thank you for pointing that out so clearly.

[@Dunge0n]

Free Palestine.

[@anglosaxiphone8246]

​@@Dunge0n*Free Fish Palestine.

[@andrewalochner]

@@Dunge0n Nah, I'd win.

[@superzilla784]

There's a saying about hatred taking a lot from you and you feel like you've wasted a lot of time over nothing. Looks like Oda has heard of this too, and took it literally, turning Hody into an old man. Hody's fate is really deep if you think about it. he threw away his entire life to kill people he's never even met. When Hody's body finally fails and his life flashes before his eyes, all he'll see is himself trying and failing to accomplish a pointless goal and his name going down in infamy. I can't think of a life more wasted than that.

[@Skaty89]

I haven’t thought about Hody in a long time, but he and his followers represent a type of mentality that is very relevant today. The act of radicalizing someone with misinformation and hate is all too common now and throughout history. People are struggling, so you convince them that there is some group that’s completely responsible for all of their problems or that there is one person who can fix everything. It’s so much easier than actually fixing real problems. People will just give everything they have to their cause and follow blindly, even if it means doing terrible things and causing real harm. We’ve seen this over and over again throughout history, and it’s happening again right now. I don’t ever comment on videos, but this has given me a new appreciation for the FMI arc. It not only touches on some of the complexities of racism but also gives a glimpse of how some of the worst groups in history become what they are.

[@chiatzu1337]

I applaud to you, thank you for your point of view. I fully agree, especially with the context you've given with our world. To me Hody is just like the kids that grew up during nazi time Germany. Because of misinformation, negligence, division, hatred, they became the fiercest soldiers.

[@KingBrachion92]

The "what did humans do to you?" "Nothing." conversation is very real. What did so-and-so type of person do to you? "Nothing, but they COULD. Someone like them could hurt me, or take something from me, or even worse--my child could fall in love with one. So I have to hurt them first."

[@ElmokillaXDK]

@@chiatzu1337 makes you want to have a real life luffy out there

[@goazer2]

Yeah I sometimes wonder if this guy even watches one piece or if he's just in this beyond spot where he missed obvious things because he over analyzes so much. Because they straight up tell you that that's what this arc is about.

[@gabrielgoes0]

​@j.b.5422yes

[@nathanl8622]

The "what did humans do to you?" moment is still one of my favorites in the series. The tricky thing about fishman racism is you can sort of understand it (Arlong was a monster, but it makes sense that an oppressed people to have a chip on their shoulder), but Hody's hatred is entirely divorced from reality.

[@16m49x3]

parallels real life a lot

[@Zeckenschwarm]

Hody is like someone who lives in a small village in the countryside and hates foreigners he's never met just because the people on TV told him to.

[@16m49x3]

@@Zeckenschwarm People living in the countryside these days usually moved there to get away from the foreigners that are taking over their country

[@michaellane5381]

It isn't racism, it's Xenophobia. Racism would be the mistaken belief one race is superior, but in universe Fishman are numerically superior on their physical stat-block, humans just have the numerical superiority and Haki is an equalizer

[@16m49x3]

@@michaellane5381 hody jones isnt afraid of humans

[@skatinwhenican]

Bro was a perfect representation of how drug addiction, ego, & ambition can be a persons downfall.

[@radaro.9682]

Eh, maybe steroid addiction but I don't really see much equivalent. I see why you'd say that but the tul experience of addicts compared to Hody's behavior......the drugs weren't the reason or his motivation. They were a tool used in specific cases. He wasn't dosing randomly cause he felt like it and his and violence exited before the drugs.

[@maximillion322]

@@radaro.9682not to mention that he doesn’t really have any ego or ambition. Just hatred. It’s not like he thinks of himself personally as factoring into the situation, he thinks he’s just doing what “must be done” by his personal beliefs

[@elywahl9520]

​@maximillion322 "he doesn't have ego or ambitions" tell me you skipped Fishman island without telling me you skipped that shit... mate he was ambitious asf he literally wanted to slaughter all humans so Fishman could be free and his ego had him believing that not only Arlong was right but that he was destined to finish what Arlong started... That's pretty damn egotistical and ambitious if you ask me mate 😂😂😂 fucking actually read one piece it's not just a picture book mate there are words too 😂😂😂

[@elywahl9520]

​@@radaro.9682one of his main motivations was literally getting the tamate box, also it wasn't steroids it was a mix of methods and coke, something that can keep your body moving even after it's basically dead already, and it's makes you unbelievablely angry, and steroids don't have an immediate effect on the user like meth and cocaine does, just saying

[@elywahl9520]

​but the drugs amplified it and he wouldnt have A. Been as strong so his plan would have failed much earlier without the drugs, and 2. He was popping pills for the fuck of it what are you talking about mate 😂😂😂

[@animefan77]

If Arlong found out that his actions created Hody Jones’ monstrous nature, it’d be one thing to finally humble his mindset.

[@itsblitz4437]

I wonder how Arlong would react to that?

[@SuperFlik]

The New Fishmen Pirates were never a physical threat to the Straw Hats, but an ideological one

[@RoronoaZoro-ur6hr]

Doffy served as a better foil of an ideological foil to the Strawhat Pirates than Hordy Jones did.

[@ArcCaravan]

Felt more like an ideological threat to Jonbei. Luffy didn't seem to care beyond what Hody was doing to his friends.

[@silverlightsinaugust2756]

They’re an ideological threat to the island. The villains are always threats to the island first. Then the straw hats appear.

[@AeneaSXI]

Or lets say they were no threat to the Srawhats whatsoever in any way, shape or form. They also only were a threat to the Island because of the drugs they took. Without the drugs they were no match for the royal family as evidenced by the fact that the hammerhead shark was easily defeated by one of the princes and only got the upper hand again after getting drugged. To be honest even if they overtook the island they wouldn't have been a threat for long since we all saw what the drugs did to them by the end of the arc. And that was only a very short timespan. So they would have overtaken fishman island for a week and then would have easily been ousted again and life would have returned to normal. Would the royal family have been killed? Yeah possibly. But royal families get ousted and overthrown all the time in one piece and the countries carry on just fine with other rulers afterwards. Worst case Jinbe would have restored order once they aged up and would have put things in order again. Its not like they showed any true capability of taking Jinbe's life. All they could have possibly done is make him flee for a while.

[@rexlumontad5644]

Even if Hody Jones somehow succeed in his plans, he and his New Fishmen Pirates would get casually taken down by the Big Mom Pirates as Fishman Island was under Linlin's protection and that they destroyed her candy making factory in the first place.

[@maximillionpegasus5160]

It's not like he expected to be taken down by Luffy either, definitely just thought that Fishmen > Humans meant that Big Mom wasn't going to be a problem. Just part of his ignorance

[@Kaisona2017]

Even without Big Mom, the drugs would’ve eventually made him a crippled old man. From there, Pekoms and Tamago would’ve made quick work of them.

[@RoronoaZoro-ur6hr]

@@maximillionpegasus5160 , I don't know much about Big Mom, but Hordy and his pirate crew would get one-shotted by the Beast and Redhaired Pirates no difficulty at all, so yes Hordy was foolish in thinking he could take over the world since he couldn't even beat a Luffy that wasn't even a Yonko yet, so I don't know how he thought that he was going to win to the likes of Kaido, Shanks, Admirals, Gorosei, etc etc.

[@jalene150]

@@RoronoaZoro-ur6hroh trust me. The big mom pirates would absolutely destroy them just as easily as the other yonko. All of them just hit different

[@CedLove]

To be fair, you can say that about any character. If Vegeta manage to defeat Goku, I still bet Frieza would have swooped in and gave Vegata the business (again). One thing about long stories, certain villains will win the battle, but they will not win the overall war.

[@Mushly17]

I believe Hody was the first ever villain to represent how 'will' passes on through time to others and eventually stacks up. He was the villain who literally had 0 motivation other than his existence, which was non other than hatred itself. Just like how the will of D is a huge thing in the One Piece World, I feel like Hody could've shown the true depth of what it truly means for any type of 'will' to gain power, from the side of an antagonist. Sadly, his entire character was soon just a sorry sack of sh*t for how bad he was. Burning down up to weed, and more weed.

[@FirstLast-wk3kc]

He's about how hatred and etc is spreading onto young men and eat their youth. Literally so here.

[@ShadeKirby500]

It also shows how a will can be distorted. Arlong definitely wouldn't have supported him with how callous he was against other fishmen, but Hody was definitely inspired by him, he inherited the will he spoke about.

[@MoostachedSaiyanPrince]

​@@ShadeKirby500I feel like Arlong would've fully supported Hody at first, but would have doubts as the arc goes on that steadily grew, and eventually he would outright turn on him. It's really a shame Arlong wasn't there, because I feel like that would've been a really good moment for his character. It definitely wouldn't redeem Arlong, but it would give him a really strong realization that this blind hatred he was perpetuating only creates more blind hatred that eventually consumes everything.

[@Dunge0n]

Free Palestine. Israel must pay.

[@silence6813]

If Arlong found out that hordy killed the queen and almost destroyed Fishman Island, he definitely would try to kill Hordy. Arlong may hate humans but he would harm any of his king even if they side with human, however to Hordy it a different ball game.

[@BraceDecades]

The Sun Pirates flag covers the hatred underneath it. The New Fishman Pirates flag shows it openly. They're hollow on that front, too.

[@joaogorgulho2536]

I've never understood people who criticize the fact that the character Hody Jones has "no motivation" when that is the whole point of the character

[@chiefdenis]

Exactly, he's one of my most hated villians but i wouldn't call him a bad character because that's the point, he was always meant to be an empty character

[@Gundamman]

fishman island is a big part of the overall theme but at the same time its all metaphor and people just want to see a good fight. but I think the biggest reason is hype.

[@RoronoaZoro-ur6hr]

@@Gundamman , metaphors only works well in Seinen series because even Wano an arc that was supposed to be Zoro's arc ended up with Luffy beating Kaido one v one.

[@mr.p215]

@@RoronoaZoro-ur6hr Why was Wano supposed to be Zoro's arc?

[@RoronoaZoro-ur6hr]

@@mr.p215 , every Strawhat Pirate got their own arcs in One Piece but Zoro, and since Wano is Japan, and Zoro is a Japanese swordsman means he should've defeated Kaido on his own without Luffy and the Strawhat Pirates.

[@nykki21]

I think Hody’s motivation hits too close to home for many of the people that “hate” him as a villain. The brilliance of Hody is that any one of us could be him. Holding beliefs that have no basis in our own lived experiences.

[@jusferstuff4597]

Hody is the most realistic arc villain, ironically the most human. Hody is someone whos existed in all countries at some point and one who exist today

[@Jussay03]

Art imitating life

[@RealMilester1]

@@Jussay03 And life influencing Art

[@naushabatalat1332]

Tobirama is also racist uchiha racist

[@Smooby_Dooperson]

0:30 Tbh he wasn’t as bad as people say he is … he just suffered from post-timeskip 1st villain who is there to just show the strength of the Straw Hats … I don’t think pre-time skip Straw Hats could beat him

[@mehmedcavas3069]

I think they still could win in a mid-hard level

[@spbot2]

He is just male fish alvida then???

[@joinmarch76]

The sad part is, considering his addiction to Energy Steroids, you're probably right.

[@killingsworth1253]

​@@mehmedcavas3069oda has said that post timeskip usopp was as strong as zoro pre timeskip. Luffy almost bled out fighting Hody Jones, I genuinely don't think the strawhats could fight him pre timeskip

[@orbboom6119]

​@@killingsworth1253nah that aint right

[@conormurphy4328]

“Where are his chains Luffy? What do you mean he’s your helmsman Luffy?”

[@eliaspanayi3465]

Is this shanks

[@lali5152]

@@eliaspanayi3465nah this is Zoro

[@anyoneatall3488]

​@@eliaspanayi3465it is Garo

[@tobiaswedin]

@@lali5152 The only one on the crew that kept calling fishmen "fish" post Arlong Park is Sanji. I know you want to be "funny" with a very old and stupid "minority hunter" gag, but looking at the actual content Zoro is the least bigoted out of them all. Even Luffy puts his foot in his mouth more.

[@teIekid]

​@@tobiaswedin Old? Bro is still catching minorities in Egghead

[@emanfuks2203]

Ive been rewatching your older videos and I just wanted to say that your current videos re sooo much better! The way you sound and speak is leagues better than before. I can feel your love for one piece and your personality

[@GrandLineReview]

Thanks for the kind words! :D

[@Hakari_TheGambler777]

Quick question im going through the series of you ranking the one piece villains and I saw Big mom is on the tier list at the end but I can't find the video 😭😭 Has it not been uploaded yet?

[@SoulXCross.]

I. Love. EVERY. Arc. Of. One Piece. Seriously, I truly love the literature of the story as a whole. I don't think any (canon) arcs are skip-able. They are each important to the story at large and are necessary to be consumed to be a part of the true depth of this story. ESPECIALLY the arcs that people (wrongfully) call "slow"; Skyoepia, Fishman Island, Punk Hazard, Dressrosa. All amazing arcs for sure. The One Piece is Real.

[@cubedude8690]

gaimon maybe not

[@aarcade6676]

skypiea and FMI are both top arcs for me, but cmon. you don't have to pretend with long ring.

[@cubedude8690]

@@aarcade6676 don't need to pretend, it was great for showing insight into the characters

[@formerctgovernordannelmall1452]

​@aarcade6676 I'll scream it to the sky a million times: Long Ring Long Land is great. Toei's adaptation* of it is just about the worst arc in the anime. There's a whole slew of bullet points you can name off of ways in which the anime adaptation of that arc is specifically, OBJECTIVELY worse than the manga

[@jeremyabrahamson2872]

Long Ring Long Land is entirely setup for the end of Water Seven, the idea of a captain seriously taking the responsibility of losing crewmates. Its possible to take Water Seven in a vacuum, but its far better noticing the parallels with LRLL.

[@nicholasconder4703]

Hody Jones was a well-written character who epitomized what terrorists usually are: people who love to hate. All Hody lived for was to hate; feeding and stoking that hatred was all he ever did. His biggest problem as a character was that it was not the kind of villain you would expect to see in One Piece.

[@faize4764]

Yep for example the IDF!!

[@drewpatterson9712]

It's weird to me because when I read fish-man island I really enjoyed it. It was a story of overcoming generational trauma that I really sympathized with. As for the power levels maybe this is because I wasn't reading weekly, but I was happy to see the Strawhats more or less having no problem. It showed how much they had grown in two years. When I started going online and consistently saw the arch in the bottoms of a lot of tier lists I was really confused.

[@quintingigax5912]

kind of unrelated, however you mentioning the sun pirates jolly roger made me think of something. What are the chances that we never touch the Noah again, and the "destruction" of fishman island happens when the seas are finally drained and all of the fishmen are suddenly trapped at the center of a gigantic pangea, literally the exact opposite problem they have now.

[@MoostachedSaiyanPrince]

I used to think Fishman Island would've been a better arc if you just replaced Hody with Arlong. Basically just bring Arlong back with a power boost and a newer, stronger crew. But in the years since then, I've come to understand this arc and it's theme better, and now I've changed my mind. I still think Arlong's presence on the island during this arc would have made it better, just not as the primary antagonist. Like, just imagine the kind of impact it would've had if Arlong himself had a moment where he realized what an empty monster Hody was and how he contributed to that, and that men like Hody were the end of the path of hatred he'd been walking. I'm not saying redeem Arlong or anything like that, but just have him there, taking part of the arc in some way, and break down that ambition of his even further than Luffy broke it as a result of his own ideals and actions. I dunno, I just feel like having him there to witness the end result of his ideals manifesting in Hody would've been a really great moment that added to both him and Hody, and not having that happen was a missed opportunity.

[@Drums_of_Liberation]

Arlong I think should have been in the arc for Nami to have final closure by beating him herself only for Hody to kill him afterwards to show he truly "outgrew" him.

[@regiman222]

I think This Bites either did that for their version of this arc, or at least did as a hypothetical.

[@sonicboom2468]

@@regiman222well more for Chew and Kuroobi during the pre Sabaody arc (it only went until the pre time skip war)

[@DanteYewToob]

The annoying thing about the Shirahoshi reveal is that hate has nothing to do with doing the right thing… How many lives would have been saved if she told someone what Hody did, and he was arrested or taken down much sooner. They could’ve brought the full force of the Fishman royal army down on him before his influence grew out of control and he kept murdering more people! Whether you hate someone or not, it’s just the right thing to do…. That’s so stupid to say that you just kept his secret and acted as an accomplice to years of violent crimes because your mom said not to hate the person who killed her. It made no damn sense and I don’t mind Shirahoshi but that seriously annoyed the shit out of me.

[@chiatzu1337]

You got me thinking. Maybe that is one point of her character, that you are basically turning yourself into an accomplice, if you don't point out the wrong doing and let it grow to an enormous problem. In this case due to toxic positivity, if I'm using this term correctly.

[@silence6813]

I agree even Hordy said she was a fool by not revealing he killed her mom and he also thanked her by not speaking out about it. Crazy as this sounds I agree with Hordy on that.

[@FrancisR420]

This comment is very relevant today.

[@ploopyfudgewink9207]

I actually really like him. He has no intention of living in the world that his movement would create, he is simply naively acting on a dream against insurmountable odds and taking every opportunity to improve those odds immediately. Why does he rush it? Because he sees living as a constant battle, one that fishmen fight constantly. He will make it so or die a martyr. He is absolutely a good villain with powers that represent his ideals well.

[@J0SEPH_J0EST.R]

"The arlong we have at home" killed me

[@izzynextdoor1]

i applaud your consistency brother. Longtime viewer/fan of your work. Thanks for keeping up the good work

[@rexlumontad5644]

Hody Jones is just Discount Michael Jackson from Under the Sea. Change my mind.

[@glenncooper6512]

Michael Jackson on his daily case of Bud arc

[@poly_propylene]

I feel like Michael Jackson is more like Vander Decken if you know what I mean 😭😭😭

[@Zajarism]

No, I refuse 😂

[@KelvinOneDrive]

yall forgot Jango

[@RoronoaZoro-ur6hr]

@@KelvinOneDrive , Jango is more like the Michael Jackson whenever he was black whereas Hordy Jones is more like the MJ whenever he became white.

[@CoreyATyler]

I am so glad that someone finally talked about Hordy like this. He isn’t the villain, he is a vessel, and that’s why he’s not charismatic or even really interesting. The point of him is that he is hatred personified. There’s no logic, there’s no understanding, because he is wrath. He destroys everything, because that’s the point of him.

[@EbToX]

Unfortunately for hody he was the sacrificial lamb used to showcase luffy's power increase post time skip. Someone had to do it.

[@massiveoakwoodtree2092]

Not what the video was about

[@OskarL47]

You watch video?

[@massiveoakwoodtree2092]

@@OskarL47 apparently not

[@IIYamiSanII]

He lost to Zoro before he lost to Luffy in the same arc.

[@massiveoakwoodtree2092]

@@IIYamiSanII okay??

[@sparxskywriter2589]

I agree completely, Hody as a vessel for a message is absolutely stellar, the themes and nuance portrayed through him and the arc are stellar and underappreciated. Hody Jones is still the worst fucking villain in One Piece

[@AshleeMckay-tr1ql]

Your videos are a breath of fresh air, always enjoy watching

[@googlyguys]

The villain of fishman island is society but that’s hard to see because every other arc can be summed up to one bad man making everyone suffer for their own gain

[@laurocoman]

3:42 Prison of ideas would be known as Ideology. Paul Feyerabend said that ideology is merely the "defense of ideas" and that it can only work as bias and some sort of pollution in the way of science. Many people in the scientific community is willing to defend a scientific paradigm beyond reason when they've suscribed to it. Science can become ideology very fast, and a scientist can become a fanatic verey easily.

[@chiatzu1337]

Thank you for your point of view, I learned something new. My main comparison point of this arc is the nazi time in Germany, during which the kids grew up to be taught nothing else than the racist core concepts of division and hatred and thus became the fiercest soldiers.

[@laurocoman]

@@chiatzu1337 Well, sure. Nazism IS an ideology.

[@Blextine]

i over all enjoy the fishman island arc but do think hordy doesn't really fit as the big bad for a reintroduction arc, the problem with treating hordy as a metaphor for hatred is that it is arguably much harder to overcome hatred in society then a traditional big bad, so if hordy was supposed to represent hatred then he sould have been a hell of a obstacle/big bad, but he just not and thats the problem, he represents a concept that doesn't fit as a obstacle in this reintroduction arc. i honestly think that if oda wanted hordy to represent such a major theme then he should have saved hordy for later and maybe used vande decken as the main fishman island villan while hinting to hordy and his crew being out in the grand line plotting something big.

[@Glockenspheal]

I think being a "big bad" in this context was not meant to be overcome, sure, Luffy defeats him and some of that hatred gets snuffed out, but in the great scheme of things, those ideas cannot be overcome until a big change to the whole world is enacted and a long time passes. The arc was but a bit of a set-up, if there is one true embodiment of that concept and that is being saved for later, I'd say that's the Celestial Dragons/World Goverment, and even after Luffy kicks the living s**t out of them, the same general issue will remain in the world, it's such a deep-rooted sickness that just beating any one person is not going to solve anything.

[@irem7651]

Aint no way he said greatest villain Edit: ok so I watched the video and while I appreciate fishman island more, I appreciate him even less now, as you said he is a vessel for an idea, an empty shell, so in my eyes he doesn't deserve to be even called a villain, he lacks his own ideals, he lacks charisma, he lacks strength, what does he have then that makes a good villain, idea of hatred incarnate is great, but you cant call that a villain, in other shows these kinds of villains are at least strong but its a first post time skip arc and you cant have luffy struggling, I think he would fare much better if he was at least strong, maybe being the first arc after the time skip is what gimped him, I don't know if it was right idea to start ideologically heavy arc right after a time skip when people expect hype over anything else

[@yashsalunkhe9499]

Probably Bcoz It Was High Hopes After TimeSkip

[@krrishivmr4946]

Lots of buildup due to his psycho personality and hype of first post timeskip arc Bro was underwhelming and didn't live up to being arlong 2.0

[@Alcatrazrezz]

He was still better than Foxy

[@massiveoakwoodtree2092]

You're still seeing it wrong . I don't know why you are still trying to put hody in a box he doesn't fit. The point of hody and the arc as a whole is to show how generational hatred can build up into almost unstoppable and inevitable evil. One that doesn't have an underlying meaning other hatred for hatred sake is pointless. This is what makes one piece so great, not the flashy battles.

[@irem7651]

​@@massiveoakwoodtree2092 as I've said I appreciate fishman island arc much more because of that, but that doesn't mean he isn't a bad character, there isn't a box, he is a villain and when we talk about villains he should be treated as one

[@ufapmc]

Amazing work. This is deep and important for everyone who likes OP.

[@supremecai5857]

0:10 huhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh? He's definitely not the worst especially out of those listed on the wheel what LMAO

[@silverlightsinaugust2756]

I think those are the ones people tend to not like. Idk

[@raimondibro]

Thanks for this. This is long form version of a comment I left on one of your villain videos awhile back. I loved fishman island and felt it was the perfect introduction to the post time skip. A “subpar” villain to the current straw hats that’s pushing the new narrative forward on ideas especially when oda is beginning to really push the world governments actions to the limelight. It bridges a lot of arlongs concepts forward as well as introducing ancient weapons, joyboy, and ideals of villains which we later see in doflamingo

[@EliTheWizards-yh8lg]

was waiting for this one

[@Adam9496]

Although I still don’t see myself warming up to Hody, you definitely have opened my eyes to a different perspective on him and fish man island. For sure will be a fun conversation piece to discuss with my friends. Thanks for the video!

[@firstnamelastname503]

"It’s" should not have an apostrophe, as in this context "its" should be in the possessive form.

[@PisserFartShitt]

Go outside

[@AudreyYun]

thanks for making this video. media literacy is lacking in the fandom sometimes and it was frustrating to look at reddit threads and forum posts and youtube comments completely misunderstanding the point of this arc

[@callumstewart6686]

This man on the internet can make a brick interesting

[@ShadeKirby500]

You did not let me down with the Hody Jones spotlight, this is a great read on him.

[@iCeeYouP]

Imo Hordy Jones is like a Black radical extremist and the story of the Fishmen, the prejudice they faced, & the ripple effects it had on creating problems like ghetto slums&figures like Arrlong & Hordy Jones hit too close to home for a certain demographic of One Piece fans. I always wondered why they called Fishman island “boring” until I watched it all and realized that Fishman island arc had a lot of parallels of Black American history. A certain demographic couldn’t relate to the plight of the Fishmen at all & it reminded them of something very uncomfortable. You can even see clear inspirations between FisherTiger- Malcom X & The Fish Queen- Martin Luther King Jr.

[@chiatzu1337]

Thank you for your point of view, I learned something. Hody's story growing up is also an exact description of the kid's life in Germany during the nazi times. Only being taught division and hatred, they could not grow to be anything else than racists and fiercest soldiers. In your comparison, I would rather compare the figure Malcolm X to Hody instead of Fisher Tiger. The latter condemned any violence, whereas Hody and Malcolm embraced it.

[@jacktaylor6155]

As an African American decedent the idea of hatred is still very real to me. I have many friends and had family that portraits this idea very well. They don't want to know whites because of stories passed down from generations past but in the current don't realize that those times are over, to some degree. The life they live doesn't have to be the life their ancestors endured and they allow ignorance to get taught to their kids and it's sad. I like that onepiece seemingly relates to some of the historical events throughout the world instead of just being a goofy story about pirates. I definitely saw Hodi as Malcolm X. A very "by any means necessary" freedom fighter. Sorry if my comment isn't relatable but I am also mixed (African American Czechoslovakian and Native American) so it was always strange to be black in America and see tye hatred from both sides but to live in a family where there was hatred for none.

[@Doobsia]

This is exactly why I will never give blk ppl a chance.

[@Foyay_Red]

14:19 bro we need more super sayin art

[@RedWolf542]

I just Finished fishman island arc and it was a chore to get through

[@mandogarcia8861]

Just wait until you get to Dressrosa 😭😭😭

[@RedWolf542]

@@mandogarcia8861 but I think that will be a fun arc because of Dofi

[@kiyahforever]

I would say I'm a more "literary" OP reader, and Hody Jones absolutely landed for me. Since he was the embodiment of hatred, the exact antithesis of what Luffy stands for, I was more than happy to see him wiped off the sea's underbelly by the newly powered-up straw hats.

[@nerdcorner2680]

I think most people don’t like Hody unironically because he is a bit too deep and complex. Not too deep for people to understand, but deeper than the series is expecting to show. Before him villians were silly, over the top, and had a bit of depth if you really looked for it. So being thrown a shakespearean tragedy of a character is so unexpected that it is easy to skim over his importance. That being said I don’t think he’s the best villian because he is missing a good bit of personality. Something to make you really enjoy when he’s on screen (like Doffy’s larger than life personality, or Big Mom’s unpredictability)

[@IIYamiSanII]

Not even remotely close. What a miserable assumption. Too deep for One Piece? The series where a teenage girl was maiming herself to get rid of a tattoo she got after seemingly betraying her only remaining family and working for the pirate that killed their mother in front of them? Like, what? Deep?

[@nerdcorner2680]

What are you are describing isn’t deep it’s just a sad event. As I said before you can look deeper into that and find more that the story has to offer, but it isn’t needed to understand Nami. I don’t really need an example of why Hody is so deep because of the amount of hate “nothing” gets in the community. Every single person who hates that line doesn’t understand what the story was trying to say because it was the perfect cap stone to that storyline and everything it was trying to say. Im sure the depth came easy to you, but to many people it did not

[@RoronoaZoro-ur6hr]

@@nerdcorner2680 , Boa Hancock is everything Hordy Jones character is supposed to be, and she does it better than him to the point I actually bought a Boa Hancock figure after I got back from the Cherry Blossom Festival Convention, so yes IlYamiSanIl is entirely correct on their stances of Hordy Jones as a character.

[@Kohle-c1y]

He was talking about Nami goon​@@RoronoaZoro-ur6hr

[@LachskoenigIV]

Nah, its the exact opposite. The whole framing of this arc and Hody is supposed to make it feel deeply meaningful, but in the end its one of the most shallow backstories to any character.

[@lonku4788]

Hody feels like that one weird, edgy kid that unironically says that Hitler did nothing wrong and starts repeating a bunch of racist stuff without even knowing what they mean

[@gdulheflljasduhdzccvm9926]

unc wildin in the title💀

[@SuperSupper2]

I remember Merphy's take on Hody when she was first reading through the series. Totally changed my perspective, gave me a new respect for the arc, and inspired me to re-read the entire series as a weekly venture

[@Aether_GM]

I think it's partly inherent guilt that people rate orochi and hody as badly written villains. They're both products of the evils as others. Humans dont like to acknowledge villains they themselves made. Like when a bullied person suddenly snaps you hear things like "they're crazy" or something along those lines. Anything to distance themselves from the part they played

[@PlanetZoidstar]

Plus Orochi 'was' mistreated by the people of Wano and the genocide of his family was swept under the rug. Killing him solved the problem that killing his family caused. So in Wano, Genocide is the cause of, and solution to, the Kurozumi problem.

[@dontgetmarried]

I actually think Orochi was slightly justified in his hatred. He was literally just a child held responsible for his family's mistakes and they tried to KILL him. I don't agree with his actions but I do pity him in a strange way

[@RoronoaZoro-ur6hr]

@@dontgetmarried , Orochi is a weak ass bum coward that I'm glad died from Hiyori cremating him.

[@abdulalsabbagh6523]

honeslty on rewatch, Fishmen Island is one of my favorit arcs (aside from Sanji's bloodloss plotline... which was also plot relevant). And Hody, like you said, achieved his purpase as a villain perfectly. Another Ponint you forgot to mention is how Otehime protected the cilistial dragon because children were watching. People (and apearantly fishmen) love to talk about shared hatered of something more than a shared intrest. They love to crtisize everything and Oda tackled this issue perfectly

[@KushalSathish]

Do Foxy next Also are you just doing villains luffy fought or will you do other villains like kaku or mr 3

[@TristanButler23]

It’s so interesting because coming into it and watching the anime, I absolutely LOVED the fish man island arc. I’ll never forget luffy using conquerors haki to knock out half the army or Zoro beating hody underwater, and i absolutely love the setting/environment that fishman island is. It’s so radiant and beautiful. Plus seeing everyone’s new powers and how easily they defeat their next threat post timeskip made me feel like the straw hats had progressed to a completely different level. I guess it’s all about how you look at the arc, or how you experienced it. I could imagine it maybe being underwhelming waiting week by week for the new manga chapters tbh

[@Kaisona2017]

I was bored from just how long the big fight was.

[@foogieishere]

Great vid!

[@aviculor]

It's actually incredibly smart that the first (real) post-timeskip arc dealt not with Luffy having to punch the big bad guy to save the day but instead with the deeper sociopolitical ramifications that come with punching the big bad guy to save the day. What happens after Fishman Island? Punk Hazard- immediately setting the stage for the "topple the Yonkou" narrative which lasted all the way through Wano. And the stakes only became even more global-scale now on Egghead island. Luffy, whether he realizes it or not, is not just sailing around aimlessly having fun anymore. He's moving with an agenda, even if other people like Law and Bege are the ones actually thinking up the plans. Which narratively is the exact reason why Jinbei joined the Strawhats, he's a diplomat and a voice of reason who tries to focus Luffy on the bigger picture.

[@StyxUchiha]

Nah I still think he's bad. There are plenty of antagonists and villains who argably serve the same purpose of being the single minded vessel of an incendiary idea (Killmonger, Stain, the Joker, all very charismatic and memorable characters, I'm sure you'll notice), but Oda's very choice of emptying that vessel of substance is basically the equivalent of posting a wojak of your adversary and saying "i have drawn you ugly and so I win :)". He chose to disqualify the idea that hatred should not be forgotten from the get go and so he disqualified the character instead of sublimating the idea of inherited hatred through Hody and making FI his personal tragedy as his comment on the idea. Which is a choice. I don't like it and I don't think it's good though. Especially by comparison with characters with similar concepts, who achieved a lot more in both memorability and catharsis. We could have felt bad for Hody. We could have felt the choices he made for himself were a waste. Instead when he goes to jail and grows old we feel nothing. Except perhaps "kwab" in low caps.

[@Dofladingus]

I'll always defend the themes of Fish Man Island. The plot wasn't my favorite, but Fisher Tiger was one of the absolute best flash backs and the writing around generational hate was some of Oda's most insightful to date

[@LostieMJ]

I completely agree with you. Fishland island arc is not about racism, but about hatred, indoctrination and discrimination: them vs us. Not getting that is like watching Jojo Rabbit thinking the movie is about nazism and not about how people are taught to hate one another. Any family, school, church, political party or organization may cause something like this. Everything people do has a background and inherited ideas, but is up to us to scrutinize what we are told or taught and question this kind of things. I watch one piece for the plot, not for the battles since all of them come down to who punches, kicks o slashes the hardest. One piece doesn't have a hard magic system that would make me care much obout how the villain is phisically defeated. They are just a wonderful and flashy bonus, specially after gear 5th

[@chiatzu1337]

I have to disagree. Those points you mentioned are parts of the core concepts of racists. Division, discrimination, fear mongering, hatred, destruction, annihilation, them vs us. The rhetoric tools used for this are oftentimes picked up from religion, thus its apparent semblance to religion, but it's at most only comparable. Hody's story of growing up is an exact description of what happened during the nazi times here in Germany with all the kids. Hence why during the last two years of the war the German soldiers fought the fiercest of any involved party, matched only by the Japanese. The ongoing wars in our world are always because a group of people think they have to assert dominance above all others, i.e. racists. May they claim it in the name of religion, state, tradition, or whatever. It's always the racists that see through with the systematic brainwashing into all daily matters of the subordinate people, teaching, news, history, art, conversations, everything. And here again, a very stark semblance to religion, but it is not the same. I am not trying to bash you, I am trying to emphasise the distinction between racists and religion. Racists lead in all cases at least to conflicts and almost always to war. Religion, albeit with its own set of very serious and many problems, does not. I am writing this with the recent polls in Europe and specifically Germany still fresh in my mind, still concerned, still fearful. I apologise, if I offended you in any way. Please feel free to answer, thank you.

[@LostieMJ]

Thank you for that answer! It's important to broaden our perspectives and yours helped me see that independent of what I think, i should handle the topic with better care. That is part of why this discussion, and particularly the fishmen island arc should be analysed thoroughly. Racism is a real problem and I understand where you come from. In my personal experiencie, I didn't place the problem only on the racism angle because I'm from latin america (chile), where the cold war and its influences tore the continent apart between everyone, independent of race. Dictatorships ruled with pure terror imposing an idea where race was irrelevant. I picked religion among many angles because in my country it is deeply linked with certain political groups. I'm fortunate to still have my family with me (my family's circles where infiltrated by spies disguised as friends or work partners) but many people I know lost friends and family and have no idea what happened to them, and in many other cases those who lived where exiled or tortured. The wound in this country is still open after decades and is still part of today's problem's debates. In this regard the problem of hatred and indoctrination surfaces. Phrases like "kill all the -insert your ideological opposite-" are incredibly common. Also, this turns the discussion around societies problems around political partys and not about what is best for the people. We should not forget or forgive what happened, but hatred, both justified and inherited, exists and tends to guide the discussions. Thats is why, in my opinion and among many other reasons, Fisher Tiger is such an incredible and complex character, and Hody represents the subsequent problems perfectly.

[@chiatzu1337]

@@LostieMJ Thank you very much for your answer! It helped me understand your reasoning. My parents are from Portugal and some family lives in Venezuela, and so deeply rooted religion is not foreign to me. Just like in fishmen island, our surroundings had a massive influence in what we individually prioritise and how we perceive the problems and its sources at hand. Only through exchange and communication we can hope to broaden our perspective and see a betterment. Again, I thank you. :) Que tienes mucha salud, prosperidad, suerte, y alcances tus suenos. (Hoping my pt is enough, never took es ^^)

[@LostieMJ]

@@chiatzu1337 I wish you the very best too! And I hope that things in your current country progress and evolve into something better!, even if it is an slow process. It's great to see other people appreciating the value in what Oda is trying to portray in his series instead of thinking that the themes are cheap because it was an "easy" win for Luffy, which as Liam stated in the video, ideologically it wasn't easy at all.

[@generaledelogu1892]

I'm glad you're defending Hody, he's actually a pretty good villain and whenever i see him mentioned online it's usually in a negative light. Glad you pointed out that the whole point is he's essentially not of substance, he's going off the rage and hatred built up in him without anything ever happening to him in his childhood. The whole ideal-war is perhaps a bit too high brow for a lot of one piece readers and watchers, so i get why he's usually shafted as far as villains of one piece go, but it's very important we get explanations like this video on his character and value to the arc

[@ObitoUCH99]

Grandlinereview D.Goat

[@ericl9130]

I’m glad that this video came out when it did. I’ve been watching the anime with my daughter for her first time and we just got through the time skip. I admit I haven’t thought about Hody at all since my initial read/watch so it’s nice to have some of my notions on him challenged.

[@HariharasudhanC867]

I love this Series!!! ❤❤from India

[@jf_kein_k8590]

I'm always up to defend Hody (and Drum Island Arc Wapol) And you did a great job explaining him.

[@deletedTestimony]

Now thats some Sea King level click bait

[@JorgePerez-xm2bf]

Thank u for this vid grandline, Fishman Island is actually one of my favorite arcs because of the themes and u were able to explain why I still liked him despite not being the best villain

[@PedroDragonNest]

I think that there's still something fishy about Hody Jones. I mostly agree with the video, but that scene where he states that no human ever did anything to him is at least strange. AT LEAST. Because if you understand that the fishmen are representing racialized people in the world and you understand that racism is something way bigger than someone on the streets calling me a monkey or whatever, it's not a stretch to understand that no one needs to specifically do anything to Hody Jones for him to hate humans, even more so considering the points that you present here in the video like the demonization of his hero and his people by the world government media. Great video tho, people don't usually go that deep on him

[@jackbaccarat4084]

More than any other villain I always thought hordy was the anti luffy. Both luffy and hordy admired and aspired to be like their pirate heroes, shanks and arlong. Both built a crew from their respective regions: east blue and Fishman island. Both had similar outfits. Both achieved a form of roided body at the cost of health. The steroid pills and gear 2nd. Both are the counter to the other. When looking at it as a timeskip luffy fighting his east blue self, or equivalent, it makes hordy a bit more interesting if not a return to form.

[@ioel902]

Gecko moria video when ?

[@MarcusLSchneider]

Something I have wondered for a while is if Hody's transformation is Oda's nodding at Peter Benchley's novel White shark.

[@Donquixote_doflamingo164]

Dirty ass fishman

[@BananaNation250]

Real

[@dindong5396]

Smelly ass fishers

[@anime_world6684]

Crazy statement lol

[@testicuslargus6477]

Coming from Doffy too, lol!

[@MisterPrince01]

Racist mofo

[@dustgun3861]

Hody is a twisted form of inherited will

[@dex2834]

Hody really feels like V from 'V for vendeta' "it dosn't matter who is behind the mask"

[@muhammedahmed3771]

I saw the title and wanted to hate but I gotta say it’s a really solid view point. Most to all villains in one piece and monsters in their own rank defeated by Luffys strength and friends. But Hody really is a description of hate in its self and even just beating up Hody wouldn’t really solve the problem. And that’s why at the end of the arc when Luffy had even fishmen rooting for him it made the victory a whole lot better.

[@MrGalRoz]

I said that for years, Hody is a perfect villain from a thematic and narrative perspectives, but as an ejoyable entertaining villain- he fails hard. Sadly this is also a bit of a telling about the OP fandom, which are for the most part young people who likes cartoons and punchy slashy kicky pirates, rather than a more mature and educated audience about literature.

[@SirEvilestDeath]

At least he was stronger than Arlong. Dude struggled against time skip crew but could have wiped the floor with pre time skip crew when Arlong didn’t even get to experience basic things like Gear 2.

[@Jolfgard]

Dude, just because the topic and the motivation of the villain is an allegory to a RL problem that's important to you, doesn't mean that the villain himself is great in any way. Ffs, Hody is INTENTIONALLY written so flat that Kuro looks deep next to him. Hody is not even going hard on the "I'm gonna ride this racism wave to wealth, fame and power" angle. The dude just hates because he likes to hate. And no, Hody is not complex just because I can't make sense of his way of thinking.

[@arthurwerneck4150]

Next Antagonist: The Empty Chests of Gaimon Arc. The deep and dark nilistic philosophical reality that dreams can be empty and unattainable.

[@dyenobot]

Yeeeha

[@kylejoseph5600]

I saw the news bird in a bubble....so is that how the fish men get their news paper.😂

[@BananaHoardX]

So basically like Shigaraki in BNHA. Readers of BNHA also didn't seem to understand the true problem was society and not just the villian. Nothing but a bunch of Spee D. Reader's

[@jive238]

Hody's single defining moment IS when he says that humans have done nothing to him. It shows him for what he truly is, pure generational hatred, that the fishmen despite being victims of oppression doesn't make them without fault. Fisher Tiger was a noble man who ultimately died because he could let go of all his hatred and accept the blood

[@SirEvilestDeath]

If we had this amount of buildup for Fishman Island and Wano imagine what has to happen on Elbaf just to make it worth the wait…

[@dimmadome2631]

I recently reread fishman island for the first time in over a decade and and my experience was night and day. When i first read it i was like 15 and had the mindset of your average shonen fan -big bad must be strong relatable edgy and cool - and quite frankly i didnt understand much of this arc and its message at all. When fukaboshi told us the truth about hody i quite literally didn't get it and just waited for the fight to resume. Now having reread it in my mid 20s its safe to say fishman island and its messaging has landed a spot in my top 5 arcs and hody is a big part of that decision. Ive rarely seen Systemic racism being handled so well and it was honestly so refreshing to see someone like hody. The drug chugging shenaningans were whack tho

[@chiatzu1337]

Thank you for your point of view. I agree and mainly compare this arc to the nazi time in Germany, during which the kids grew up and were only taught division and hatred, in order to become the fiercest soldiers.

[@reek3685]

Fish man island was my favorite arc on my first watch. Full of so many ideas and concepts that can apply to the real world

[@Phuzzi]

@11:33 lol the Patrick Star easter egg.

[@sohamdeshmukh5670]

Thanks a lot for this perspective that I didn’t know I needed. After your explanation, it feels like it is the One Piece community that failed Hody than One Piece failing to deliver (such as in case of Kaido ). Also, in your video title, “Its” by itself has the same meaning as an apostrophe. “It’s” refers to “It is” or “It has”. Normally I wouldn’t mention nitpicks such as these to anyone even if I notice these all the time. However, I think someone like you, who goes to great lengths to use right words and convey the right meaning, would not mind.

[@TenebraeXVII]

Fishman Lives Matter were some of the best villains in the series because of their thematic depth which was far more prescient for our own society than anyone could have realized at the time

[@codyjacobs6899]

I think the problem with fishman island is that the release schedule made it lose it's build up. The fishman hatred had been a concept building up since the very beginning. It seems to me that i view fishman island way better than many and I only binged most of it in the past few years. Although, the amount of "this is gonna happen just so the main characters can't win on arrival" was annoying. Even being a short arc, it had a lot of garbage pacing it out. Hody isn't just an empty vessel though, he was told his entire life that his position in life was thanks to humans and was told constantly that humans did X terrible thing, he was an angry, sociopathic child that was told humans were the root of all his problems so any time someone sympathized with humans he took it personally. P.s. I would love to see Arlonh again after Luffy saved and became the protector of Fishman island. I'm curious at whether he would be thankful or resentful. Plus Nami was alot more understanding of the fishman pirates after talking to jimbe.(they would never forgive him, but neutrality and an alliance through necessity would go a long way.)

[@KingArthur097]

I don't know if You did this but I would love a similar video analysis about Shirahoshi because I personally never hated her as some of the fanbase do and You saying she is the counterpart to Hody so I would love to see a video analysis of her

[@felixsh9975]

I guess I need to suggest the wonderful and hilarious Foxy once more. Also, I appreciate when people talk positively about Fishman Island and it's characters. So, nice video. I didn't care too much for it, when it came out, but when I reread it in one go, it was great. So much better, if you don't have to wait a week between chapters. I still think it's a bit of a mess, but there is so much good stuff in there.

[@menchacism5327]

I’ve been saying this 🤷‍♂️ reading comprehension is just at an all time low

[@mattb8412]

I’m surprised Hody was so disliked. I thought his whole bit was kinda clear, though I can understand how it might been a bit too d&m at that particular time. On another note, I did honestly think this was gonna be a crap farm but you really stuck to the points and expanded for impressive effect. You’re right that it got a bit wanky there, but in a sophisticated way, a scented candles and expensive lotion kinda way. 🤣

[@FotisSora]

Fishman island was when I stopped watching one piece way back when ... untill 2-ish years ago when I finally read and now I caught up with the manga

[@halagaafar9448]

When I read the fishman arc for the first time, I wasn't following any one piece fandoms and had no idea it wasn't a popular arc. For me, it was such a good arc on all levels; Oda artistically presented the theme of racism in such a fantastic way, the art was of course top-notch with the new designs of the post-timeskip and I loved seeing the crews' new attacks. And of course, seeing Jimbei and Hachi again. The mystery of Noah and the message on the poneglyph also added more significance to the arc for me. I loved the message Oda gave at the end with how Shirahoshi & co decided to honor Queen Otohime's wishes and decided to be strong and choose forgiveness over hate, as well as how Arlong's own half sister Sharley told the children to stop listening to what the adults kept saying about the humans and judge with what they saw with their own eyes. Jimbei breaking the taboo and giving his blood to save Luffy was the icing on the cake. Luffy himself is the best character to handle this situation here because he carries himself in the simplest way that all people would understand. I saw how another manga "Billy Bat" also presented racism and while I liked both, I loved Oda's more because it was much more simple, heart-warming and is more likely to reach a bigger audience, mostly young people. The extra message with how the New Fishman Pirates withered away after abusing drugs is also on point. One Piece is a fun manga that also explores such deep and real world issues while still being light-hearted and that is why I love and appreciate it.

[@SpaceBiscuits]

Hody Jones isn’t fat, he’s build like a powerlifter/world’s strongest man. Where Arlong is more like a bodybuilder.

[@gijsvanosdeman938]

I still remember taking a OP break when this arc started. I continued it once they finished Punk Hazard

[@RudeBoyDrift]

For real,i only understood racism as a complex system through this arc and hody Jones And its so real so reaaal

[@austinbender8333]

The entire reveal of Hody Jones not actually having any sort of motive or reasoning is legitimately one of my favorite one piece moments. Like just the idea of him essentially being hate incarnate actually gave me chills.