BB palmed the (allegedly) near top tier Boa Hancock but shat bricks against Chibi Mihawk, so now we have 2 Mihawks that shit on Kata level pirates. Noodles must be happy that a Mihawk the size of Katakuri's hand stalemated BB and got the feats he said Kata was going to have.
Happy Halloween, everyone! I finally finished this post! Please enjoy this overanalysis. This film was hugely influential in creating the public's image of how Dracula acts and looks. At least visually, Mihawk's design is a product of the way Lugosi portrayed his Dracula.
Universal Picture's Dracula came out in 1931, and unlike Nosferatu, it wasn't sued for copyright violation. The 1931 movie was based on a Dracula play from 1924 that was, in turn, based on the original 1897 novel. In many ways, the movie keeps a lot of the feeling of a play-- from terrible stage effects to super-dramatic overacting performances.
Dracula had sound, though it didn't have a soundtrack. It's full of awkward silences, ...just ...like ...Mihawk. The lack of background music adds to the feeling of a play, plus the sound effects we do hear, like wolves howling or someone's death scream, are hilariously overdone.
Dracula is criticized for being old-fashioned, hokey, corny, weird, flat, cRiNgE, self-important, overly dramatic, ridiculous, boring, and stilted, which tbf are a lot of the same things small-minds think about Mihawk, both in the fandom and in-universe.
Today, the Dracula 1931 film is viewed as the definitive, essential Dracula upon which countless other Draculas are based. Lugosi's performance is haunting, weird, mysterious, and creepy; from his accent to his movements to his awkward-yet-menacing stare, he invented most of the modern Dracula tropes, many of which are reflected in Mihawk. (There's also the Dracula as played by Christopher Lee, which is really great and I might make a post about that someday.)
"I have charrrrtered a ship. To-take-us to Eeeeeengland. We-will-be-leeeeeaving. Tomorrrrroooow. Eeeeevening.
"...sore dake da."
Plot-wise, there aren't a lot of parallels between this film and OP, so I don't believe it's a good source to try to predict anything about what Mihawk will do in the future or what happened in his past. However, in terms of visual style and personality, they share quite a bit!
In the movie, a man named Renfield comes to Transylvania bc Drac wants to buy a property in England. Of course, the locals try to warn him, but Renfield is a doofus and by the time Drac is heading on the ship to England, Rennie has been put under his spell and is a raving lunatic who eats spiders and flies. Once in England, Dracula moves into an abandoned abbey. He preys upon three women, meets Professor Van Helsing, turns into a bat a lot, and generally slinks around until Van Helsing kills him in the end, saving one of the women. Also, Dracula has three random "wives" who basically just hang out and never do anything.
Lugosi had played the part of Dracula on stage for several years before the movie, which again, leads to the play-like feeling of the movie. His thick Hungarian accent is imitated by almost all Dracula remakes. His voice sounds regal, strange, a bit evil, and his phrasing is odd. He emphasizes strange words and delivers his lines almost like a robot. Often, we sense an incongruence between the words he's saying and the situation. Like Mihawk, he's not great at reading the room.
As you can see, one of the main differences between this Drac and Mihawk is that Dracula actually likes playing host to his guests! Still, there are some visual references in Drac's homes in the film that line up with Mihawk's castle.
First of all, the abbey in England is decrepit. Just like Mihawk, he took over an abandoned property that's basically falling apart around him. But both of them are perfectly fine living among the ruins.
Furthermore, one of the women is charmed by the idea of life in the creepy abbey, just like Perona imagined she would be.
Both his castle in Transylvania and the abbey in England are in disrepair, which is one of the differences between the 1931 Dracula and the later Christopher Lee movies, in which Drac's furnishings are more lavish. Lugosi's lives among spider webs and ruin, and he's happy that way.
The abbey is full of grand staircases, archways, huge windows, and broken columns.
Big empty rooms
(^ yeah that's filler, but we never see Mihawk's stairs in the manga)
The way the light streams in through floor-to-ceiling windows is emphasized in both.
The 1958 Christopher Lee Dracula (The Horror of Dracula) has much nicer furnishings and is a classier guy. His castle looks a bit more like our Mihawk's. (1958 trailer here)
Visually, Dracula is often associated with fog, just like Kuraigana Island.
Twice, his victims emphasize the fog that accompanies him, along with his terrifying red eyes.
The red eyes, the cape, the wine, formal speech, implied wealth, possible royalty, snobbiness-- all of it matches up with Mihawk. Even Mihawk's coat is the same type of riding coat/tails that Drac wears!
Physically, they both have black, straight, slicked back hair, a riding coat, a tall collar, a medallion (the kogatana), and red eyes.
^ That quote is especially significant for our purposes. Like Dracula, Mihawk is both alive and dead. He symbolizes transcending the division between life and death, experiencing both at the same time.
As Zoro said at the Baratie, to be a great swordsman, one must give up one's attachment to life. From the moment we meet Mihawk, we realize that he's both living and dead. Add in the facts that Mihawk resembles a crucified man when he has Yoru on his back, plus he sails around in a coffin, and it's obvious that he's fully solidified his self-image as being mou shindeiru. Furthermore, he has the power to decide who lives and who dies.
Like Dracula, he moves between the normal daytime human world and the mysterious world of the dead. He's conquered both sides of it and like Dracula, Mihawk is surprised to find a potential rival who understands this other world.
Despite all the similarities, Count Dracula is not the same as Mr. Dracule. The count has three wives; he drinks blood; he doesn't fight; he likes to host; he participates in society, and he can shapeshift. The biggest difference between them, though, is that Dracula needs people in order to live, even to the point of trying to charm people into liking him! Mihawk would never! Unless...
While Dracula is a surprisingly social creature, Mihawk would rather be left alone in peace and quiet-- the "blood" that keeps him alive is the dream of a rival who can surpass him. Until then, he's content to just exist in paradox of being the living dead.
The design of Anderson in Hellsing is based on the Van Helsing from this movie, played by Edward Van Sloan. He also carries a small crucifix in his pocket, similar to the kogatana.
The ship Dracula takes to England is called The Vesta
A lot of the "Dracula" that Oda put into Mihawk's character comes directly from this performance. Most of all, the sense of regality, creepiness, strange language, anachronisms, and formal attire are heavily inspired by Lugosi. Personally, I think he's fascinating!
Happy Halloween, everyone! I finally finished this post! Please enjoy this overanalysis. This film was hugely influential in creating the public's image of how Dracula acts and looks. At least visually, Mihawk's design is a product of the way Lugosi portrayed his Dracula.
Universal Picture's Dracula came out in 1931, and unlike Nosferatu, it wasn't sued for copyright violation. The 1931 movie was based on a Dracula play from 1924 that was, in turn, based on the original 1897 novel. In many ways, the movie keeps a lot of the feeling of a play-- from terrible stage effects to super-dramatic overacting performances.
Dracula had sound, though it didn't have a soundtrack. It's full of awkward silences, ...just ...like ...Mihawk. The lack of background music adds to the feeling of a play, plus the sound effects we do hear, like wolves howling or someone's death scream, are hilariously overdone.
Dracula is criticized for being old-fashioned, hokey, corny, weird, flat, cRiNgE, self-important, overly dramatic, ridiculous, boring, and stilted, which tbf are a lot of the same things small-minds think about Mihawk, both in the fandom and in-universe.
Today, the Dracula 1931 film is viewed as the definitive, essential Dracula upon which countless other Draculas are based. Lugosi's performance is haunting, weird, mysterious, and creepy; from his accent to his movements to his awkward-yet-menacing stare, he invented most of the modern Dracula tropes, many of which are reflected in Mihawk. (There's also the Dracula as played by Christopher Lee, which is really great and I might make a post about that someday.)
"I have charrrrtered a ship. To-take-us to Eeeeeengland. We-will-be-leeeeeaving. Tomorrrrroooow. Eeeeevening.
"...sore dake da."
Plot-wise, there aren't a lot of parallels between this film and OP, so I don't believe it's a good source to try to predict anything about what Mihawk will do in the future or what happened in his past. However, in terms of visual style and personality, they share quite a bit!
In the movie, a man named Renfield comes to Transylvania bc Drac wants to buy a property in England. Of course, the locals try to warn him, but Renfield is a doofus and by the time Drac is heading on the ship to England, Rennie has been put under his spell and is a raving lunatic who eats spiders and flies. Once in England, Dracula moves into an abandoned abbey. He preys upon three women, meets Professor Van Helsing, turns into a bat a lot, and generally slinks around until Van Helsing kills him in the end, saving one of the women. Also, Dracula has three random "wives" who basically just hang out and never do anything.
Lugosi had played the part of Dracula on stage for several years before the movie, which again, leads to the play-like feeling of the movie. His thick Hungarian accent is imitated by almost all Dracula remakes. His voice sounds regal, strange, a bit evil, and his phrasing is odd. He emphasizes strange words and delivers his lines almost like a robot. Often, we sense an incongruence between the words he's saying and the situation. Like Mihawk, he's not great at reading the room.
As you can see, one of the main differences between this Drac and Mihawk is that Dracula actually likes playing host to his guests! Still, there are some visual references in Drac's homes in the film that line up with Mihawk's castle.
First of all, the abbey in England is decrepit. Just like Mihawk, he took over an abandoned property that's basically falling apart around him. But both of them are perfectly fine living among the ruins.
Furthermore, one of the women is charmed by the idea of life in the creepy abbey, just like Perona imagined she would be.
Both his castle in Transylvania and the abbey in England are in disrepair, which is one of the differences between the 1931 Dracula and the later Christopher Lee movies, in which Drac's furnishings are more lavish. Lugosi's lives among spider webs and ruin, and he's happy that way.
The abbey is full of grand staircases, archways, huge windows, and broken columns.
Big empty rooms
(^ yeah that's filler, but we never see Mihawk's stairs in the manga)
The way the light streams in through floor-to-ceiling windows is emphasized in both.
The 1958 Christopher Lee Dracula (The Horror of Dracula) has much nicer furnishings and is a classier guy. His castle looks a bit more like our Mihawk's. (1958 trailer here)
Visually, Dracula is often associated with fog, just like Kuraigana Island.
Twice, his victims emphasize the fog that accompanies him, along with his terrifying red eyes.
The red eyes, the cape, the wine, formal speech, implied wealth, possible royalty, snobbiness-- all of it matches up with Mihawk. Even Mihawk's coat is the same type of riding coat that Drac wears!
Physically, they both have black, straight, slicked back hair, a riding coat, a tall collar, a medallion (the kogatana), and red eyes.
^ That quote is especially significant for our purposes. Like Dracula, Mihawk is both alive and dead. He symbolizes transcending the division between life and death, experiencing both at the same time.
As Zoro said at the Baratie, to be a great swordsman, one must give up one's attachment to life. From the moment we meet Mihawk, we realize that he's both living and dead. Add in the facts that Mihawk resembles a crucified man when he has Yoru on his back, plus he sails around in a coffin, and it's obvious that he's fully solidified his self-image as being mou shindeiru. Furthermore, he has the power to decide who lives and who dies.
Like Dracula, he moves between the normal daytime human world and the mysterious world of the dead. He's conquered both sides of it and like Dracula, Mihawk is surprised to find a potential rival who understands this other world.
Despite all the simlarities, Count Dracula is not the same as Mr. Dracule. The count has three wives; he drinks blood; he doesn't fight; he likes to host; he participates in society, and he can shapeshift. The biggest difference between them, though, is that Dracula needs people in order to live, even to the point of trying to charm people into liking him! Mihawk would never! Unless...
While Dracula is a surprisingly social creature, Mihawk would rather be left alone in peace and quiet-- the"blood" that keeps him alive is the dream of a rival who can surpass him. Until then, he's content to just exist in paradox of being the living dead.
The design of Anderson in Hellsing is based on the Van Helsing from this movie, played by Edward Van Sloan. He also carries a small crucifix in his pocket, similar to the kogatana.
The ship Dracula takes to England is called The Vesta
A lot of the "Dracula" that Oda put into Mihawk's character comes directly from this performance. Most of all, the sense of regality, creepiness, strange language, anachronisms, and formal attire are heavily inspired by Lugosi. Personally, I think he's fascinating!
That's right, girl! You tell her! We like our weirdos weird and our WSS to be vampires. Or at least vampire-adjacent.
Aw, thanks There's a lot of good Mihawk posters here! We're all just kind of sporadic like the man himself. We're the most patient fans, for sure lol
But yeah, thanks so much! There's more gifs here if anyone wants them
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There's a lot of good Mihawk posters here! We're all just kind of sporadic like the man himself. We're the most patient fans, for sure lol
