And I Have - Blog Posts

sometimes i sit and wish zoro had a ‘hat moment,’ like nami’s in arlong park, usually just as an extension of me wanting zoro content. but i’ve been thinking about it, zoro and luffy’s straw hat, and realised just how many times he has either caught it or been trusted to hold it.

zoro doesn’t need a shifting character moment that impacts his relationship with the crew because he doesn’t have anything in his backstory that hinders his openness with them. as far as we can tell, there is nothing subdued and hurting in his past that needs addressing. if any of the strawhats asked, i think he would easily tell them about kuina, his parents, the dojo, if they don’t know already.

zoro being trusted to hold luffy’s hat, to catch it over open waters when it’s dangerous for luffy to, etc, it speaks so hugely about zoro and luffy. zoro doesn’t need the anchoring support it has, instead he acts as a person luffy trusts to protect it.

in a lot of ways, luffy’s strawhat is an extension of himself, his strawhat is him. it’s what makes the moment in arlong park so special, it makes every moment it’s in danger so terrifying. he’s straw hat luffy. in fact, many enemies, friends and acquaintances refer to him as just that- straw hat.

luffy’s trust in zoro to hold his treasure, a piece of himself, is so special. it perfectly sums up their relationship, their trust and their willingness for vulnerability with each other. luffy allows zoro to protect him, and zoro would catch him every time.

zoro not having a ‘hat moment,’ instead having multiple where he holds it in tricky situations instead, it makes sense. luffy leans on zoro, he allows himself to be supported. though not shown, i am sure zoro would be equally comfortable for luffy to hold onto wado if he couldn’t.

luffy physically handing over a part of himself to zoro, a part that i am sure he values over a limb if need be, it’s so telling. he repeatedly trusts zoro with his life many times, yet somehow giving him his straw hat feels just as special.

zoro doesn’t need the comfort of the hat, he’s able to offer the opposite instead. luffy is comforted with the knowledge it’s in his hands.

Something I love about Claude Frollo is that when Disney was writing him, they didn't want the audience to like him. It's why his character is very black and white in the movie, so to speak, than the original book by Victor Hugo. But they couldn't just get rid of his motives when it's one of the major themes of the book (religion).

Unfortunately for the writers, that's why he's one of the best written villains- because although dramatized, he's realistic. For some people, religion is incredibly important to them. and as we've seen throughout history, people make incredibly dangerous decisions on behalf of maintaining their values. Any disruption to them is distressing, making them act out. and this goes past religion. think of a time where you were in a situation where something conflicted with when of your core values- it's stressful! you really gotta reflect, and that doesn't always work out thanks to denial and rationalization.

tldr, Claude Frollo is the best Disney Villain ever because not only is he the embodiment of a bad person, you understand his motives (not as in understand and agree, but you understand WHY he does what he does). And the worst part, his thought process is a common one.