02 / A — The character’s story
The kingdom that slipped through his hand
How does a defeated conspirator find another way back to power?
The story here runs through Cross Guild’s formation.
Alabasta
A name behind the conspiracy.
Under the alias Mr Zero, Crocodile directs Baroque Works while plotting to take control of Alabasta. His Sand-Sand power belongs to a man trying to make a whole kingdom answer to him, with the hidden organisation doing work that brute strength alone cannot.
Defeat
A plan ends in a prison.
Luffy defeats Crocodile, ending his bid for Alabasta and sending him to Impel Down. The would-be ruler loses the position from which he managed other people’s lives and becomes a prisoner whose first problem is his own freedom.
Cross Guild
Power rebuilt through partnership.
After escaping Impel Down, Crocodile later forms Cross Guild with Mihawk. The new organisation gives his ambition another structure, carrying him beyond the kingdom he failed to seize without making that defeat the end of his story.
