Welcome to my series of Ruination of Character where I will go over certain characters in One Piece and how their characters were ruined for ridiculous reasons.
First on the table is my former favorite character Sanji.
I used to love Sanji. Sanji during Pre Timeksip had an unique swag and style to him that non of the main characters could rival him in it. Sanji was damn cool and every sane OP fan can testify that pre Time Skip. During Time Skip for reasons I will get to later Sanji was turned into something I like to call The Predator, The Gag and the Rock Lee of One Piece.
The Predator
Post time skip Sanji has gone from someone that respects women to someone that will literally spy on them naked and grope their bodies when his soul was in their body. That itself is an insane degradation of a character and something that makes a Predator. Now I can't ignore certain moments like him protecting Nami in Punk Hazard or Violet in Dressrosa but compared to sheer moments of him being a predator those moments are absurdly rare compared to what they were Pre Time skip. It got to the point that when Sanji saves a female character I can't but question is it because of his chivalric code or he just hopes for some ass if he saves them.
Sanji spying on women in the bathhouse was the low point for me and what tipped the glass over and made me say : fuck it, I am done. That sheer moment was so utterly dumb - Sanji - the dude that spent months with Nami and Robin, fighting side by side with them and bonding with them like they are his own family - had no problems literally spying on them naked - what the absolute fuck???
Could any of you do that to someone you consider family and not give a fuck? To invade a privacy and decency of someone you pretty much bonded like a family? No, the answer is a big fat no because it is utterly wrong.
Pre time skip Sanji while still a creep to some point it was still very innocent since it was naïve. He never went that far.
If you remember when they found Camie and Brook asked her how does she poop Sanji went mad and didn't let her answer because his code wouldn't allow him? Yea that Sanji now has no problem spying on women he considers family.
Oda doing this to Sanji is borderline sick and not enjoyable at all. I have no idea what was in his head when he decided to make this and think - yep that is fine. And I won't give Oda a pass because Oda. Screw that, it is just terrible writing.
The Gag
Do you remember back in E. Lobby when Sanji fought Khalifa and allowed his ass to get beaten because he refused to hit a woman?
That moment was so bad because Sanji allowed himself and his crew to be put in jeopardy over his morals and code.
Fast forward to Whole Cake Island - Sanji literally punches Big Mom to protect Reiju - Fucking amazing , good shit Sanji, you understand that sometimes morals and code have to be broken to protect ones you love and care about.
Fast forward to Wano, Sanji literally goes to get pussy in the middle of the war and put his crew, himself and allies into danger.
???
What. What the hell is that? You mean to tell that Sanji was about to receive character development only to be thrown into a trash can because of a comedic relief?
That pretty much sums up Sanji The Gag. If the situation demands it Sanji will either keep his morals and code or ignore them. And it is utterly destroying his character. How are we as readers supposed to give a damn about his morals and code if author himself doesn't care?
Either make Sanji dedicated to his morals and code or don't. Don't fluctuate between those two. It ruins the enjoyment of a character.
Perfect example of how properly is done is with the Raid Suit. Yes, It is something Sanji isn't proud to use but he will in order to protect the ones he loves and cares about. I can understand and respect that.... But then Oda made Sanji use Raid Suit to be a tool for Sanji to be pervert and literally prove his family a point. Like come on man, stop sacrificing Sanji's code and morals for comedic relief. It destroys the character and makes him unlikeable even more.
The Rock Lee of One Piece
And now for my favorite part.
Sanji, Zoro and Luffy have always been put forward as the main 3 fighters of the crew. We the readers understood this logic and agreed with it hence we made the term - Monster Trio. And it worked beautifully. All 3 of them got their moments of shine in each arc and we could see a clear display of their power.
Post Time Skip Sanji has been put in shadows while more spotlight was given to Zoro and Luffy.
I believe Oda did this to appease the mainstream fandom and prevent a potential Rock Lee of One Piece. If you would remember at the start of Naruto when Rock Lee bodied Gaara and we believed that alongside Naruto and Sasuke we will have Rock Lee as a third main driving force. Yea no, Kishimoto made sure to gut Rock Lee because 3 is too much. It needs to be 2. Now you might say - But Beky there is Sakura - yeah no man there is no Sakura - there is only Naruto and Sasuke. Same thing is with One Piece, Oda made sure to gut Sanji the same way and make sure there is only Zoro and Luffy wheres Sanji was put with the rest as a back up.
Sanji has clear potential, he could easily be made to be strong as Zoro but Oda doesn't wanna do it like that despite that being the case up until Post TS. He just wants to keep it Zoro and Luffy. Revert Sanji to a comedic gag that sells or holds his morals depending how the wind blows while pumping the other 2 more and more. Doesn't matter if it is Jimbei, Yamato or Sanji, there is no more 3, only 2.
Sanji held a lot of promise post TS. We never saw his skills learned from Ivankov and we even barely saw his cooking talents.
Do you guys remember the fact Sanji's food boosts energy? Yeah, so much for Sanji cooking food for warriors before battle.
The Rock Lee of One Piece
Conclusion
Character of Sanji was gutted and reduced to a comedic gag. His character and skills are wasted and I wouldn't be surprised if his popularity sinks more and more. Oda doesn't want to deliver on the promises he made for Sanji nor does he wanna develop him properly. I used to love Sanji, he was such a bad ass character and while I am sure he had some really good moments post TS they are pale in comparison to his bad moments. I hope Oda proves me wrong and does something good with his character but allas my faith is small
Next up
Zoro - The Emo, The One Trick Pony and Soulless Character
