The Thing about Law that the Fandom Forgot
With more recent manga chapters revealing Law’s kinder, goofier side, a lot of people began envisioning him and portraying him as a charitable dork who’s genuinely kind but tsundere about it with everyone
And that’s fine and all, of that makes you happy, but it just kinda makes ME feel sad since it forgets and even contradicts some of my fave aspects of his character: his genuine selfishness, cruelty, and sadism
It was NOT a mistake that Doflamingo stated that the two of them were not so different, and it was NOT a mistake that Law begrudgingly agreed with this assessment
Because they both ARE selfish, cruel, and sadistic people
I mean, here are some things he does onscreen:
1. Asked X Drake gleefully about how many people he’s killed
2. Expressed great pleasure over committing all kinds of frightening body horror on Marines
3. Displayed excitement over the idea of performing excruciating surgery on Luffy and Jinbei, who couldn’t fight back (yes, it was overall kind since he saved their lives, but that doesn’t change the fact that he viewed doing painful things to them as a huge perk)
4. Needlessly and sadistically tormented Tashigi while she was down, insulting her and trying to chop her into bits in an attempt to humiliate her
5. Delivered 100 pirate hearts to the WG to become a Warlord
6. Took his damn sweet time in curing CHILDREN on PH, even though he could’ve done it in a matter of mere moments. He even suggested LEAVING THEM BEHIND since they were “too much of a burden to deal with.” (YES, he was disgusted by how Caesar treated them, I know, but it doesn’t change the fact that he didn’t do a damn thing about it and even suggested abandoning them to their horrific fates. And when he did, it was at literally the last moment and was mainly an “ugh, FINE, I GUESS I’ll do it since my ally wants it and I want to establish a good rapport with my allies” type of deal)
7. Planned to screw over every citizen of Dressrosa in his quest to avenge Corazon by killing Doflamingo. (YES, he was disgusted by how Doffy treated his citizens, but it doesn’t change the fact that he nonetheless knowingly tried to screw them all over in his revenge plot, which involved having Kaido come in and massacre thousands of innocent civilians in order to kill Doffy)
8. Outright stated that he would happily destroy the entire world, as well as himself, if it would help him avenge Corazon. In fact, his mere plan of killing Doflamingo showcases this conviction since, when Doffy did go down, it ended up plunging large parts of the world into chaos
9. While he does deeply value the sanctity of corpses (most likely due to Flevance and Cora), he CERTAINLY has 0 moral qualms with committing horrific acts of body horror on LIVING people
And this isn’t even taking into account the plethora of downright horrible shit he might’ve pulled offscreen
Like Apoo called him “infamously cruel” for a REASON
Really, overall, while Law can indeed be loving and kind, his love and care are EXTREMELY and OVERWHELMINGLY rare and selective
The only people he loves are his family, his crew, and, of course, his “most cherished person” Corazon. With them, he’s the dorky goof instead of the “Surgeon of Death.” And regarding this tiny circle of people, in great contrast to his general cruelty and sadism, he loves them to an absolutely obsessive, self-destructive, fervent, suicidal, crazed, and even FRIGHTENING extent, so much so that he’s willing to sacrifice the entire world as well as himself to avenge them/keep them safe. Like, he outright stated that he would joyfully destroy the entire world and himself to avenge Corazon. And WOW, don’t even get me STARTED on the shit he pulled on Dressrosa to avenge Corazon. He was pretty much well past the gates of death, but he STILL managed to stay alive and fight from the sheer force of the love he felt for Corazon. Even LUFFY–goddamn LUFFY–was intimidated when he witnessed just how much Law loved Corazon, THAT’S how overwhelming and scary Law’s love is for his few loved ones
• (This is actually kinda funny because his love for them is so strong that he ends up feeling fondness for THEIR loved ones as well, even if they’re his enemies and hate his guts. Like when he met Sengoku, Corazon’s adoptive father, he treated him with nothing but the utmost compassion and politeness, even when Sengoku was cussing him out, which–when you consider the fact that Law’s a very rude person–is a BIG DEAL)
And the only people outside of his circle of loved ones that he likes and tends to treat kindly are his close allies (the SHs, the Minks to a certain extent, etc). He also loosens up enough to be a bit silly and goofy with them as well. He treats them pretty well, views them pretty highly, and would, on certain conditions, risk his life for their sake (if his allies are risking their lives for a problem that’s his and not theirs, if one of them will die as a result of his issues, etc). Overall, he treats them pretty warmly, but he’s not nearly as kind to them as he is towards his loved ones
Everyone else? He’ll either go out of his way to torture you, or–if he doesn’t specifically go out of his way–if offered the opportunity to hurt you via a requirement of one of his plans, he’ll gladly take it up and view it as a major perk. And if on the off-chance he pities you, he’ll still screw you over and feel no guilt about it if it furthers his plans. Otherwise, he’ll p much only be kind to strangers if he thinks they’ll either be useful to him; be his allies in the future (for example, he saved Jean Bart, instead of any of the other slaves, because he knew he was strong); or if he respects them (he was p polite to Luffy and Kid back on SA, all things considered, since he respected them as fellow driven pirate captains)
So overall, unless if you’re his loved ones or allies, or if he thinks you’ll be useful or he respects you, Law doesn’t give a single FUCK about you and you’re SCREWED if he comes across you in a particular mood
In any other story besides One Piece’s morally ambiguous one, Law would be an unequivocal VILLAIN
And honestly, if circumstances were just a bit different, and if his goals didn’t end up generally aligning with those of the Straw Hats, Law could very well have been one of their greatest enemies
While thinking about him as such a cruel person might make some people sad, doesn’t it make Law a more fascinating and heartwarming character as well?? Isn’t it compelling and sweet how Law, one of the absolute cruelest characters in the series, is capable of the greatest love and kindness as well??
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