History Recap / OnePieceAlabastaArc

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking:
** Mr. 0/Crocodile fights as expected of his position in Baroque Works and as a Warlord of the Sea, utterly handing Luffy his ass twice--more times than anyone else in the series so far.
** Subverted with Nefeltari Cobra, King of Alabasta. His Minister of War and Chief of Royal Guards do most of the fighting for him. Though a flashback does show that he's more than able to [[PapaWolf personally kick the asses of the men trying to kidnap his daughter]].

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: According to the code of honor of the animals known as Kung-Fu Dugongs, the creature who defeats one of them becomes its master. Luffy defeats about 100. Usopp, however, gets clobbered in mere seconds by ''one.''

** Portgas D. Ace is introduced after [[HeavySleeper falling asleep]] while stuffing himself at an all-you-can-eat buffet, prompting the customers to wonder if he's dead. He then wakes up and wipes his face on a waitress' skirt, then gives a smug smile once Captain Smoker comes in and recognizes him. [[FunnyAneurysmMoment Though it becomes much less funny]] [[Recap/OnePieceMarinefordArc later on.]]

* HeelFaceTurn[=/=]HeroicSacrifice: Bon Clay, after the war, sacrifices himself so the Straw Hats can get away.

* Vivi leaves the crew to help aid her country's recovery. Despite this, she is given a wordless and open invitation to rejoin if she ever meets them again in the future.

* CantDropTheHero: A rare, non-video game variation: Luffy is almost killed by Crocodile and left to die by Crocodile. Zoro and the others head on to Alubarna to try and stop Baroque Works from destroying the country, while Luffy is rescued by Miss All Sunday and brought to Alubarna by Pell.

* TrueCompanions: Fuels this arc as much, if not more than criminal conspiracies. Hell, Mr. 2 Bon Clay (who somehow escaped capture by the Marines) is so moved by this that he pulls a HeelFaceTurn, and [[HeroicSacrifice acts as a decoy for the Straw Hats]] for the Marines, eventually getting arrested. Vivi doesn't officially join the crew, but the arc ends with Straw Hats making it clear they're friends for life.

* Though Luffy got Ace's vivre card, it would not play a role in the plot until Thriller Bark.

* CantCatchUp: When Sanji kicks a giant Bananagator into the air effortlessly, Vivi is further convinced she will be left in the dust with the Straw Hat Pirates. This ultimately serves as partial motivation to stay in her own home kingdom instead of joining them.

* VaguenessIsComing: Smoker advised Tashigi to keep a close eye on the unfolding events, believing something will happen that will begin changing the world. Sure enough, Crocodile is defeated and stripped of his Warlord title, setting up events to come for the remainder of manga's first half.

** Lassiu the rifle dog is seemingly a case of running on nonsensoleum. [[spoiler: It's later revealed during the Wano Arc that Zoan Devil Fruits have a will of their own, leaving the only mystery how they could have infused the power in a rifle.]]

** Lassiu the rifle dog is seemingly a case of running on nonsensoleum. [[spoiler: I'ts later revealed during the Wano Arc that Zoan Devil Fruits have a will of their own, leaving the only mystery how they could have infused the power in a rifle.]]

** Sanji's CodeName when he calls Crocodile is "Mr. Prince". [[Recap/OnePieceWholeCakeIslandArc This later turns out to be more accurate than anyone realized at the time]].

* DishingOutDirt: Crocodile's power, the Sand-Sand Fruit.

* DumbMuscle: Mr. 4.

** Crocodile brags that he isn't like some fools who rest on their laurels with their Devil Fruit powers and he has mastered his, allowing him to instintictively turn into sand to avoid attacks. This is compared to Smoker, who takes a few actual hits when caught off guard. Later parts of the series indicate that people with Logia abilities automatically change into their element when struck, with one extreme example being a man who falls asleep mid-battle yet remains unharmed thanks to his Logia ability.

-->'''Crocodile:''' "You can stop the war this way, You can stop the war that way..." Wake up, Princess! Your aim is not realistic, and [[ThisIsReality this is reality]]! [[MightMakesRight Dreams can only be brought into reality by the strong]]...[[RaceAgainstTheClock 15 minutes left until the cannon fires]], [[GondorCallsForAid and the reinforcements]] [[FalseFlagOperation for the rebellion will arrive soon]]. Your fate is sealed, along the rest within the blast area. If you told the loyalists about the bomb, you could have saved thousands of lives, even if [[YouCanPanicNow they're was chaos]]. [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids You thought you could save everyone? How naive]]. So in the end, you have lead thousands to their deaths. From now on, no one will know the truth...[[TheMole You have worked for us for 2 years]]...I thank you for that. So, [[SadisticChoice in the end you have the choice]]: Saving the country, or rebelling, whichever the foolish ideals...either one will result in more deaths. Listen, Princess, and listen well: '''You cannot save this country!'''

** Subverted with Nefertari Cobra, King of Alabasta. His Minister of War and Chief of Royal Guards do most of the fighting for him. Though a flashback does show that he's more than able to [[PapaWolf personally kick the asses of the men trying to kidnap his daughter]].

** When Cobra says that it is the duty of the Alabasta Royal Family to safeguard the Poneglyph, Robin angrily dismisses that as a lie. Poneglyphs were made by people opposed to the group that would become the founders of the World Government, and the Nefertaris were among those founders. However it would later be revealed that the Nefertiti family had refused to go to Marjorie back in the past with the other royal families who would later become the despicable Celestial Dragons.

* After the defeat of Baroque Works, Nico Robin joins the Straw Hat Pirates. She intended to die in the collapse of the ruins, but Luffy saved her along with King Nefertari Cobra, so she tagged along as "punishment" to Luffy. This would add a third bounty to the crew, though Luffy would not know that until his encounter with Aokiji before Water 7.

** When Cobra says that it is the duty of the Alabasta Royal Family to safeguard the Poneglyph, Robin angrily dismisses that as a lie. Poneglyphs were made by people opposed to the group that would become the founders of the World Government, and the Nefertaris were among those founders.

** And again during their second fight: when Luffy gives himself a BalloonBelly (with water leaking out of his belly button) as "Water Luffy" and contemplates rather comically that he may have drunk too much water, Robin straight-up ''laughs out loud''.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Luffy can be seen joining in with the other men on peeping at Nami while she's bathing and being subsequently floored when she goes full frontal on them, which is quite odd given that the Amazon Lily arc will establish him as being more or less {{Asexual}}. When this was later pointed out in an SBS, Oda gave the {{Handwave}} explanation that Luffy was just imitating Usopp. It's worth noting that Chopper does the same thing with the same results, and he's since been shown to not even be interested in human women ''at all'' (and as such, has been around Nami multiple times when she's naked), and Cobra also joins in even though ''his own daughter'' is in the same bath as Nami, so it's probably not meant to be taken seriously.

* NotSoDifferent: Crocodile and Luffy have a moment of this during their first encounter, both agreeing that those who are naive to war usually get crushed, and without strength, your ambitions fade away. The latter subtly comes up in the final battle, where Crocodile claims that Luffy hasn't got what it takes to last long in the sea and preserve his dreams.

* TrueCompanions: Fuels this arc as much, if not more than criminal conspiracies. Hell, Mr. 2 Bon Clay (who somehow escaped capture by the Marines) is so moved by this that he pulls a HeelFaceTurn, and [[HeroicSacrifice acts as a decoy for the Straw Hats]] for the Marines, eventually getting arrested. Vivi doesn't officially join the crew, but the arc ends with Straw Hats making it clear they're friends for life.

* FreeRangeChildren: {{Discussed}} in Vivi's childhood flashback, where Koza's parents comment on how easily the country's ''crown princess'' can sneak out to visit an ordinary peasant home (though Igaram and Cobra ''are''... erm, [[PaperThingDisguise "secretly"]] following her). This is eventually {{Deconstructed}} when a bandit gang tries to kidnap Vivi for ransom, resulting in a fight that almost gets Koza and his friends killed.