One Piece: The Impact of Introduction

Sorry for how long this took, I got sick! Hope it's at least enjoyable!

Artists:

0:00 Intro (I swear it's a One Piece video)
4:54 Factors of Introductions
7:21 Mihawk (and Doffy)
12:37 Zoro
19:40 Sanji
24:59 Honourable Mentions
26:18 Ending

[TunaDMoney]

The introduction of the Celestial Dragons had to break a world record on how fast it gets you to hate them. That one sticks with me the most.

[dbzbourgheim]

My favourite introduction is SMOKER.
The guy's pre-introduction is one of a ruthless captain holding Logue Town with an iron grip.
Given the East Blue context, you expect it to be another Morgan.
And then you see him piling rocks because the guy is BORED AS FUCK in this town, the pile falls when a subordinate slams the door open, and he's so annoyed, but you only see his eyes.
And then, you meet the guy, you understand he's got things VERY WELL organised in there, knows where each of his troops are and knows to give clear and fast orders.
Then, he goes into town, salty about Tashigi not being around, and the little girl bumps into him with her icecream. Here, when we see the way that the dad reacts, absolutely TERRIFIED, and begging for his forgiveness, you still have the memory of his pre-introduction as a very scary and unyielding guy, and you get the same parallel to Morgan: girl, food, what's he gonna do?
"Oh, seems that my pants ate your icecream. Here, some money so you can buy yourself 5 scoops."

This guy.
In maybe 5 pages, you understand that:
- he has a terrible reputation because he does what needs to be done, and because he's ruthless against the pirates flocking in his town, he's really terrifying to the population.
- he is BORED. He hates it there, because it's a sort of outpost in an insignificant sea where you wouldn't be able to go beyond captain, and he is ambitious. He WANTS to have an out.
- he is very competent at leading men, and he takes responsibility by giving clear orders, giving clear objectives, explicit ones under his voice.
- he is KIND to the people. He wants the children in particular to feel safe, around and thanks to him.

He's an amazing character, and just like you said, Oda knows how to lay all the elements you need to understand each of his characters. Smoker is an excellent example of that.

[kirashadowmoon]

Melon: I hate Doflamingo
Also Melon with every Dof clip possible: Im gonna milk you

[Dreamfillah]

Mihawk's introduction solves the power-escalation syndrome for good. From the moment he casually slices that mountainous galleon, the only opponent the Straw Hats face that /maybe/ stands a chance until the introduction of Haki is Enel -- so Oda is free to go as creative and crazy as he wants with the abilities because the ceiling of 'WORLD'S STRONGEST' was so definitively set from the get-go.

Then, once we get to Marineford, Mihawk does it /AGAIN/ by slicing a mountain from a mile away, just as casually -- his throne as the strongest remaining mostly untarnished from his initial inception in the series.

[iamdivan]

I too think that Mihawk's introduction perfectly prepares us to see him 1000 chapters later enter poly gay relationship with Luffy's mom and an actual clown

[RiveroftheWither]

Doctor Kureha's intro is my personal fave. Shes honestly one of my top 5 favorite side characters. In part because she defied expectations where as characters like Mihawk met them. Another testament to Oda's writing, he seems to know exactly which characters should meet expectations and which should defy them.
For Mihawk it was "Hey did you hear about badass sword guy?!" And badass sword guy appeared. But Kureha?
"Hey did you hear about that witch doctor with the monster that lives in the mountains?"
*Enter 139 year old woman with the body of a 20 year old, dressed in bellbottoms, crop top, bellybutton piercing and leather jacket in a land thats always cold. Kicking ass and curing a kid before gouging the dad for money*

[iamdivan]

The reason Zoro ate the rice balls is not because he was hungry (even if he was), but because he didn't want Rika's work go to waste (yes, I do know her name off the top of my head), so he wanted her to know that he ate those rice balls and that he liked them. But he didn't want to be a liar, so he first ate them, even if they were gross. It shows that he both kind and honourable

[nova]

I’m surprised you didn’t bring up Blackbeard introduction because of how it set up luffy biggest enemy without anyone knowing with how luffy hates the pie while teach loved it vice verse with the drink showing there opposites then teaches speech shows us they have the same ideas but are opposites in how to go through with those ideas

[evelynarhondi]

About Zoro's introduction:

We first hear about him from Alvida and Koby, how he is a top bounty hunter, "the Demon of the East Blue", and us western audiences had no reason to doubt this when we first get a glimpse of him; his design may seem simple but we get the feeling that he is indeed strong.
But!
This is not the case for the original Japanese audience, since Zoro's clothes are extremely similar to an old farmer.
I can imagine young Japanese boys finally seeing Zoro and be like: "This guy is supposed to be strong? He dresses like my grandpa!" 😂
Personally, I adore everything about this! How Zoro kept defying people's expectations from the very beginning.
(My little marimo is amazing ❤)

[Tessaalera]

I really also love Fujitora's introduction. Showing him him at first as an innocent victim, only for him to be shown to be a total badass. Then after that, shown to be one of the strongest men in the Marines.

[derkrischa]

I will never forget the Introduction of Silvers Rayligh.
instead of hyping him up with rumors and name dropping, we got the opposite. He DID things we didn't understandf, he was unimaginable powerfull when he took the stage, he made everyone stop, without wanting it and THEM there was the drop who he was!
It worked so well in an Arc with so many characters

[cascade]

I think the best introduction HANDS DOWN is blackbeard, such a simple, comedic yet efficent scene that manages to introduce such a big and important character in a brilliant way that I think no other mangaka could pull off

[Krytyk]

Sanji's introduction (at least on me the first time) left additional impact that grew throughout Baratie - "Why is he dressed so well? Why does he have such advanced table manners?". Looking at other Baratie chefs I could not figure out where he picked that up. Then WCI happened...

[MmMm-mrtf]

Mihawks introduction is so good
It breaks our bubble and the fact that he just randomly came here makes it scarier
That's why I don't like it as much in the live action because they made it so that he came for Luffy specifically which made the world feel a lot smaller

[Aeistheticism]

Borsalino(Kizary)'s introduction in Shabondy Archipelago right after Luffy punched Charlos is up there with the flashiest introductions. His struggle with the various Den-Den Mushi both establishes he is a bit slow and is someone Sentomaru considers his uncle, his riding a cannonball to the archipelago shows his lunacy, his encounters with the Supernovas showcase how he does his business, and his struggle to keep Rayleigh off him demonstrates his power. Like Kuzan(Aokiji)'s introduction, Borsalino was shown to do business his own way while being a menace to everyone not a marine in his vicinity.

[Raph___A]

As an anime only, Luffy's introduction has stuck with me these past 3 years ever since I started watching. I still find myself saying I love that scene so much, man.

[_Zushi_]

I really think Ace’s introduction was well done. At first i thought he was some mysterious dude out for Luffy’s head. But then by the end of Alabasta he had become one of my favorite characters. Oda trolled me a little there.
I almost forgot but Blackbeard’s and Smoker’s introductions are great too. Before meeting Smoker most marines seemed snotty and egoistic but Smoker was the first marine to show a strong sense of justice. He might have been against Luffy but he actually showed care for the citizens.
And then theres Blackbeard. Im sure most fans can agree that he has one of the best introductions. The way he and Luffy had opposite opinions is great way of showing that they’ll be rivals. One of my favorite scenes is Blackbeard telling Luffy “A person’s dream…has no end!”. It sends chills down my spine. You can immediately tell that their dreams are so similar yet so different.
Thats the end of my ramble. Thanks for reading!

[Mr.Prideguy]

Brook and Smoker's introductions have always stick on my head, making them my 2 favorite Characters.
The Way we can see Brook's Spooky appearence from far away, to then hearing the MOST friendly salutation possible shows how he tries to give a good impression despite his looks.
Smoker on the other hand shows a giant intimidating sillhouette covered in Smoke, to then Cut into a Sunny day and a Girl with and Ice Cream, (purest shit ever) and when they collide that giant man puts himself to that girls height, gives her a pat on the head, a coin and an apology because "His Pant ate her ice cream" (cutest thing ever).
That is Peak

[SubparO]

Mihawk's intro was the scene that made me love One Piece. It was the moment I understood why people liked this show so much. His line "I'm not the type of beast who goes all out when hunting a rabbit" and pulling out the tiniest knife you've ever seen to 'fight' Zoro is one of the coldest lines I've ever heard. With a character intro like that it never felt like an asspull that he was so strong, the way he completely dominated the Baratie battlefield once he showed up sets such a good precedent for his following appearances.

[VaultN]

There is a reason why fellas like Smoker or Jack have fans (Me included).
Sure, they were absolutely violated by the story but man, they are all the real bosses with introductions that showed us just how much of bosses they truly were in situations where they aren't severely outmatched.