The story doesn’t dwell on it, so neither should you
Dwells on it enough to show it happen twice as the main interactions between the two, but we’ve to pretend it didn’t happen and that Rocks is a cuddly hero?
Alright then.
It is no different from Garp beating Luffy black and blue every day.
Clearly is, given one was comedic training complete with the cartoon lump, and the other was a vicious beating for no cause that left Loki in a heap.
But again, we must pretend Rocks was a cuddly hero.
You only think it looks worse when Xebec sticks a sword in kid Loki, but Oda already made it clear that Loki is absurdly tough.
I think it’s worse because Oda made it clear that taking a blade to a kid is obviously wrong.
Something I would like to think that readers could find obvious for themselves, but, well…
but Oda already made it clear that Loki is absurdly tough. This is someone who survived a gargantuan fall as a baby then went on to tear apart Elbaf bears.
”The child is tough, so he’ll get over being left in a crumpled bloody heap.”
Jeezo.
You are also wrong about Xebec. He has never relied on cheap tricks in a fight or even in recruitment. Everything he does is about proving strength and flexing, he beats you clean in a Davy Back
You don‘t actually know any of this.
We‘ve see a Davy Back fight, and there was cheating throughout it. They’re pirates, they are
meant to cheat. Why would Rocks’s be any different? Because he’s oh so noble? The man’s a pirate. Of course he’s going to cheat.
Like, you know he betrayed the government to get Pirate Island, right?
He tears down a Gate of Justice which is larger than islands, and you still claim that is not a strength feat lol. Killing an admiral was a pure hypetool moment.
It’s not, it’s like Kaido lifting an island. I thought we’d all moved on from being impressed by DC rather than fights.
And it’s not portrayed as a hypetool, because it’s offpanelled. That puts a stink of doubt over the entire thing. The clash with Harald is hype, the killing of the Admiral, we still need to see about that.
It might be pure hype, if indeed Rocks has just destroyed an Admiral in a straight fight. But he’s just as likely not to have done.
He did not use hostages beyond trying to extort Imu unless stated outright.
“Yes, he’s used underhanded tactics like hostages
before, but why would you think he would do it again?”
Lol.
Oda is clearly hyping his strength, yet you twist it for the sake of an argument. Again, this is exhausting atp.
Where have I said he’s not strong? The argument is over his personality and the loyalty his crew, specifically Whitebeard, has for him. Not his strength. Whether he killed the Admiral clean or not, whether he plays dirty or not he’s obviously one of the strongest characters we have seen.
You are also making Whitebeard one dimensional. Just because he said he had bad experiences does not mean he felt nothing for the crew especially the OG core whom he travelled with for more than a decade.
What’s making him one dimensional is this bonkers idea that the Rocks Pirates all really care for each other and just like any other crew.
A crew that pretty much despise each other, don’t work together, don’t even like their captain, and are all only in it for their own reasons is actually unique in One Piece. Your sanitised cuddly buddy version? Not interesting in the slightest.
His conversations with them and the way he followed Xebec’s orders show the opposite
He’s barely spoken in this flashback, where are you getting this idea that he’s showing this undying loyalty to them all?
Xebec has not done anything especially evil outside of the usual pirate plundering. They even “sacked” a town full of corrupt schemers lmfaoo. Oda also deliberately contrasted how honorable and honest Xebec is compared
When the actual fuck was Rocks portrayed as honourable and honest, man?
Like, you can barely go a sentence without “the honourable Rocks, the noble Rocks”, you sound like a medieval courtier.
In the actual series his best friend relentlessly calls him a villain lmao. Sure, he‘s robbed some bad people. But do you really think every one of his multitude of crimes has been so peachy?
Overall, Xebec is honorable. He never even forced Harald to join and even kicked Kaido in the face for suggesting otherwise.
What says he has the capability of forcing Harald to do anything? Also, whatever his plan, he
needs Harald for it. It puts a slighlty odd cast on their friendship.
Up to now, Oda has only shown how upfront Xebec is with everything.
Apart from the occasional child beating, hostage taking and betrayal, sure.
Plus, do you really think that Whitebeard was a hypocrite? He took part in all those same crimes and was probably the one sinking islands in the first place lmfao. Nothing Xebec has done so far heavily clashes with Whitebeard’s morals, which makes it clear that the breaking point is being saved for God’s Valley. Or there might not even be one. Whitebeard could just watch Xebec fall and the crew dissolves naturally without him.
Uh, yes, absolutely? Of course Whitebeard is a hypocrite. If you are talking about how he is causing misery to islands despite what happened to his own, absolutely. That was a point in Marineford, people are terrifed of him and what his powers do. Whitebeard‘s earthquakes must have killed hundreds of people’s children in his time. That’s what Marco and Neko‘s conversation was about, it’s a dirty world, and Whitebeard did what he could in it for his own people. He wasn’t some sort of saint, and certsinly Rocks wasn’t either.
You seem to have this bizarre fixation on the Rocks Pirates being this morally upstanding crew that all loved each other, and that’s absolutely terrible that they betrayed their brave and noble captain.
The reality is far more imteresting and that’s why the Rocks Pirates are actually interesting. They
aren’t just a Strawhats redux.