This Bites / Tropes R To T

Tropes for This Bites!
Tropes A to C | Tropes D to G | Tropes H To L | Tropes M to P | Tropes R to T (A Rare Sentence, Shout Out, Tempting Fate) | Tropes U to Z

R

• Rage Against the Heavens: Cross curses the BROB that sent him into One Piece for his horrible luck twice in Chapter 21, once after the machine-gun-toting Miss Friday traps him in a wide-open area, and once after discovering that said vulture's last action before passing out disabled Soundbite's powers, which means the Straw Hats have no way of stopping the rebellion before Luffy beats Crocodile. The latter is much more blatant:
  Cross: You’re enjoying this, aren’t you? Let me repeat myself: if I live through this, I had better have some damn good form of compensation coming my way, BECAUSE YOU FUCKING OWE ME!
  • Chapter 22 shows that B.R.O.B. heard him, and grants his wish.
• Rage Breaking Point:
  • Enies Lobby is one long series of these for Sengoku, who, just when you think he can't get any angrier...well. Ultimately, this becomes a detriment as, due to his old age, his body can't handle the stress, culminating in him suffering a (non-fatal) heart attack.
  • Kokoro hits hers when, after the Straw Hats have been bemoaning her less-than-beautiful appearance (she's a mermaid who's well past the point where her tail can split into legs, and is rather gonky and overweight, as opposed to the traditionally beautiful younger mermaids they were all expecting) in a rather over-the-top manner, the Marines at the Bridge of Hesitation join in. She promptly snaps and starts beating up said Marines.
  • Doflamingo clearly hits his in the aftermath of the Enies Lobby debacle (where he had to deal with both Big Mom and Kaido) when he finds the Red Hair Pirates in his throne room and the city badly damaged. His underlings start panicking when they notice one of the walls literally coming apart at the seams.
  • Once Luffy's group finally find the Sunny after a week of searching Merveille, one last group of enhanced beasts attacks, but Luffy is so frustrated that he finally tells them off - with Conqueror's Haki.
  • In Chapter 60, Cross himself experiences one of these after Kuroobi and Chew, having all the evidence shoved in their faces, still wonder why Hody became a monster and murdered Queen Otohime. Cross's vision goes blurry and he lunges at them with murderous intent, only held back by Luffy, and proceeds to give them an epic "The Reason You Suck" Speech by pointing out that it was their fault; it was Arlong and them who preached hatred to the children that were Hody and his cohorts, turning them into the hate-spewing next generation that just doesn't know any better.
  • Chapter 64 has Vice-Admiral Strawberry hit Koala's last nerve, by correctly assuming that he was responsible for the death of someone she cared about, and then declaring himself blameless because as a Marine, all his actions are just and his victims fully deserving of punishment. He quickly comes to regret this when Koala proceeds to wail on him.
  • Buggy absolutely hits this in Chapter 80, when he has his past as a Roger Pirate revealed to the entirety of the world in Marineford. Luffy accidentally hitting his last nerve by saying he finally got the fame and respect he wanted only drives him further into this, since in reality what he wanted was to live his days out as a reasonably feared but still below the radar pirate, instead of the absolute insanity and migraine-inducing nightmare that being a New World Pirate entails. His reaction to the Marines and assorted allies converging on him is to go all out, laughing madly as he proceeds to decimate his opponents, much to the interest of Mihawk.
• Rapid-Fire "No!":
  • Soundbite shouts this just before Luffy and Cross jump off the Bridge of Hesitation onto the Rocketman as it was doing a Ramp Jump, taking the other Straw Hats with them.
  • Perona gives one, capped with a Big "NO!", when she hears that Chopper has got his hands on her real body.
• A Rare Sentence: Has its own page. (Now that's a rare sentence.)
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Iceburg quotes the trope by name as part of why he worked with the World Government.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Going off of an impulse, Cross gives one of these to Smoker about the Marines in general and the corruption therein. It's effective enough that Smoker gives him a tactical baton and leaves despite Cross revealing himself to be a pirate. Of course, that changes when he finds out exactly which crew Cross belongs to.
  • Cross's explaining to Ace about his canon fate contains a few shades of this, on account that the reasons he did not run away from an unbeatable enemy badmouthing Whitebeard was his own stubborn pride, and even a lack of faith in his captain.
  • Cross gives Tashigi a brief one of these in Chapter 18 after she corners him.
    • He gives her a longer one in the next chapter when he finally gets fed up with her anti-pirate prejudice.
  • This is the majority of Cross's first SBS broadcast, directed solely at the World Government.
  • Cross gives another one to Enel in Chapter 30 that does not go over well. It gets him electrocuted several times, but he just keeps on going.
    • And the trend continues with Aokiji.
  • Cross gets to give another one to Aokiji after Enies Lobby, telling him that Cross will emphatically not enable his laziness by giving him the answers he seeks and if he wants them that badly he will get up off his ass and look for them himself like everyone else.
  • Cross has a few harsh words for T-Bone when he temporarily lapses into his "all pirates are bad and have no rights" mentality, but some equally harsh words for Bartolomeo to remind him that there are some pirates out there who are just as evil as claimed. Bartolomeo being reminded of his raids on civilian islands really hammer the point home.
  • Luffy delivers one to Moria during his beatdown, that Moria has let his defeat at Kaido's hands consume his whole life until he's nothing but a ghost, and ghosts don't become Pirate King.
  • Chopper to Dr. Indigo about how the man is a failure as a doctor.
    Chopper: "Warmth. Sympathy. Understanding. Hogback only considered the surgeon's knife, and you only consider the chemist's drug. You've forgotten what it means to be a doctor... if you ever were one."
  • Luffy gives Shiki a pretty epic one after his Hannibal Lecture:
    Luffy: "You've had your head in the clouds for so long that you've forgotten all about the sea. It actually shows just how stupid you are: you can fly and you don't even realize the most important thing in the world. You talk about strength like it's everything, but it's nothing compared to freedom. You say that the ocean belongs to you? Belongs to pirates!?"
    "YOU'RE WRONG! THE OCEAN… IT BELONGS TO EVERYONE! There's nothing standing in the way of sailing from your home to the end of the world; you're free to go wherever you want to go. No matter what comes our way, no matter how much it hurts, we can still sail on! THE POINT OF BEING A PIRATE ISN'T TO BE STRONG!"
    "PIRATES ARE FREE! THAT'S WHY I'LL BECOME THE KING OF THE PIRATES! SO THAT I CAN BE THE FREEST MAN IN THE WORLD! ME! NOT YOU!"
  • Cross delivers yet another one to Chew and Kuroobi in chapter 60. Very loudly.
• Reassigned to Antarctica:
  • Dragon, upon getting information about certain WG covert ops, sends Hack and Koala to the South part of South Blue. Needless to say, Koala was not happy with Cross.
  • Akainu and Onigumo, courtesy of Sengoku. After the debacle with Enies Lobby, in response to all the calls for dishonorable discharge and court-martial, he sends the Red Dog and the Spider to the front lines of the New World against the Emperors, to show the public why they still need them. Along with them are other Marines who espouse "Absolute Justice", just to make sure they don't make things any worse than they already have.
• Reassignment Backfire: Unfortunately, Akainu takes advantage of his aforementioned reassignment to the New World by using it as a location to recruit and train new Marines. To elaborate, these recruits are men who have lived and survived in the New World, meaning they are much stronger than Paradise-grade Marines.
• Red Baron: As in canon, all pirates with bounties have epithets, though thanks to Cross's involvement, several are different from canon:
  • Bartolomeo sets sail two years early and gets "Black Bart" instead of "The Cannibal," which becomes his ship's name.
  • Instead of "Cat Burglar", Nami gets "Weather Witch" and has a high enough bounty to make her one of the thirteen Supernovas.
  • Since Cross eased Usopp’s self-esteem issues, he invades Enies Lobby unmasked, making him "Sniper King" Usopp rather than Sogeking.
  • Instead of "Cotton-Candy Lover," Chopper gets "Spark of Genius," recognized as a threat instead of a pet.
  • Of the TB! recruits, we have "Corsair Princess" Nefertari Vivi, "Man of the Sea" Boss Dugong, "Disciples of the Sea" Teenage Dugong Warrior Squad (including "Half-Shell Blade" Leo), "Angel of Destruction" Conis, "Cottontail" Su, "White Menace" Going Merry, and "Voices of Anarchy" Jeremiah Cross and Soundbite.
  • Gecko Moria's epithet hasn't been revealed in canon. In TB!, it's "Umbral Allfather".
  • With help from the Masons, "Devil Man" Gin, to break away from his past with Krieg as much as possible. At some point before Strong World, it gets changed to "Empyrean Envoy".
  • When Perona gets a Warlord seat by taming Shiki's mutant monsters before they can go on a rampage, she gets her epithet changed to "Hellbeast Queen." She doesn't appreciate the change, wanting to be called "Hellbeast Princess.
  • Lola's epithet gets changed from "Marriage Proposal" to "Mist Maiden" after she founds Skelter Bite.
  • Ascended Extra Foxy "the Silver Fox" gets a similar treatment to Bartolomeo sometime after he meets the Straw Hats: his ship, Sexy Foxy, becomes Silver Foxy, while his epithet becomes "Fiendish" Foxy…purely because he begged the Divine to make it that rather than "Split-Head" Foxy.
  • On the Marine side, Tashigi gets an epithet after arresting a hoard of corrupt Marines: "Inquisitor."
• Refuge in Audacity:
  • How do Boss, Zoro, and Sanji win their round in the Davy Back Fight? Beat up the opposition before the game even begins under cover of fog. How do they defend themselves when they're spattered with the opposition's blood? Declare that they went hunting under cover of fog. How do they rationalize that? Easy; they're badasses.
  • Cross bursting into the Franky House, plopping down on the couch, and drinking Franky's cola is odd enough that Franky doesn't react until the Unluckies burst in.
• Related in the Adaptation: A variant. In canon, despite Pell and Chaka likening themselves to Alabasta's guardian deities due to their Zoan Devil Fruits, there is no specific evidence that those particular fruits are at all connected to the kingdom. In this fanfic, they are actually two of six Devil Fruits that traditionally have only ever manifested on Alabasta, and which have thusly become Ancestral Weapons, until half of them were stolen. The other named "Treasures of Alabasta" are the Paramecia "Hot-Hot Fruit", currently consumed by Don Accino, and the Logias "Sand-Sand Fruit" (eaten by Crocodile, which is part of the reason why the Alabastans welcomed him as a hero) and "Gust-Gust Fruit" (a fanfic-created Air Logia, and the last of the three still in Alabastan possession, until it was eaten by Vivi). The Hot-Hot Fruit is known as "The Rage of Alabasta", the Sand-Sand Fruit as "The Desert of Alabasta", and the Gust-Gust Fruit as "The Storm of Alabasta". The last missing Devil Fruit is the Paramecia Cloth-Cloth Fruit, nicknamed "The Grace of Alabasta", and it remains missing to this day.
• Removable Shell: When the Straw Hats first meet Franky, he and Boss Dugong have a flex-off, during which Boss ends up shattering his shell. In the following scene, as Vivi is mentioning this, Boss emerges onto the Merry with a new shell. Vivi decides she doesn't want to know how that worked.
• Removing the Rival: When Cross and Vivi were brought before Don Accino and he tells them about how the Hirunos are encroaching on his family's territory and how he wants the Straw Hats to help with that, Carue initially thought that he wanted the Straw Hats to eliminate the Hirunos. Actually, Don wanted their help to arrange a union between his family and the Hirunos.
• Required Secondary Powers: Bentham shows that in addition to his ability to remember any face he's touched, he has an incredible ability to accurately follow the train of thought of those he's copying through role-playing as them based on his interactions with them, allowing him to make surprisingly correct predictions about them. This is what allows him to figure out that Cross knows about the future by following the breadcrumbs their brief interactions left for him.
• Restrained Revenge: Cross finally repays Robin for almost killing him during their first meeting, letting Chopper almost dissect him, and encouraging the Groin Attacks from the other girls... by giving her a noogie. Albeit one that he broadcasts to the entire world.
• Retroactive Wish: In Laboon's stomach:
  Cross: Well, at any rate… maybe we actually are in the belly of a whale? The walls could be painted or something.
  Zoro: You can't be serious.
  Cross: (taking an oath-taking pose) May a Sea King strike me down should I lie!
  (cue giant squid coming out of the water)
  Usopp: AAAAGH! SEA KING!
  Cross: (panicking) May the Sea King be struck down should I lie!
  (cue three giant harpoons promptly killing the squid)
  Cross: (stares blankly, and then looks up) May a billion berries fall from the sky should I lie!
  (Beat)
  Cross: Seriously? What omnipotent divine being worth their divine salt doesn't do things in threes?
  Soundbite: RIPOFF!
  • But as shown under Brick Joke above, it wasn't quite a ripoff.
• The Reveal: Of the fact that Cross is from another world.
  • The first one, incorporating Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Vivi, and Carue happens in Chapter 14.
    • Offscreen, the other Straw Hats inform Cobra, Igaram, and Lassoo, and they subsequently inform Chaka, Pell, Kohza, and the Supersonic Duck Squadron.
  • The second one, incorporating Boss, the TDWS, Conis, and Su happens in Chapter 38.
  • The third, incorporating Robin, Franky, Iceburg, Zambai, and Paulie happens in Chapter 43.
  • The fourth, incorporating the newly rechristened New World Masons ^note Smoker, Tashigi, Hina, T-Bone, Jonathan, Tsuru, Bartolomeo, Foxy, Dorry, Broggy, Apoo, and Marigold happens in Chapter 44.
    • And one to Dragon and Koala a while before.
  • Different reveal: in Chapter 69, to Cross's shock and disgust, he discovers that Shalria was the one who issued Vivi's bounty.
• Revenge Before Reason:
  • While sailing undercover with the Straw Hat Pirates, Koala finds herself on the same battlefield as Vice Admiral Strawberry, the man responsible for instigating Fisher Tiger's death, and immediately jumps to fight him, potentially revealing the Revolutionaries' association with the Straw Hats be damned. Granted she does call in to Dragon first, and though Dragon gives permission, he says she'll be taking it up with Karasu later, and if need be, he'll sign her burn notice himself.
  • While in Impel Down, Luffy had to hold back Squard and Whitey Bay from going after Blackbeard when the latter ran past them towards Level Six; he personally had the same mindset, but Ace's rescue took precedence over revenge in his mind.
• Rhetorical Question Blunder:
  • Cross wonders during an SBS broadcast who came up with the Davy Back Fight, only for someone to call and tell him: Whitebeard.
  • After seeing Roger in Luffy and Tom in Iceburg, Garp wonders where his incarnation in this new generation is. Cue Coby piping up just behind him.
  • During the Dead End Race, when Itomizu made the mistake of Tempting Fate, Cross sarcastically asked him if he was asleep during his SBS lecture on the subject. Turns out, he was. He got hit in the head by a baseball during the Davy Back Fight the Foxys were having shortly before the Straw Hats arrived at Thriller Bark.
• Right Behind Me: Frequent.
  • Smoker pulls this in Loguetown. Cross and Soundbite are suitably terrified.
  • Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine pull this in Whiskey Peak. Cross and Vivi are suitably terrified.
  • A velociraptor pulls this in Little Garden. Cross and Soundbite are suitably terrified.
  • Kureha pulls this in Drum. Cross is suitably terrified.
  • Smoker pulls this in Chapter 27. Tashigi is... well, you get the idea.
  • Averted during the Skypiea arc. Donny asks if Satori is behind him, but it's just his mass of trick balls.
  • Pagaya pulls this after Enel is beaten. Cross is... startled.
  • Kuma pulls this after Moria is beaten. Cross doesn't even have time to be suitably terrified.
  • Fabre, mayor of Little East Blue, pulls this on Boss. Boss is... not suitably terrified.
  • A variation. Tsuru warns the Straw Hats of Shiki on the SBS with him nearby on the Sunny. The Straw Hats are very terrified.
  • Jinbe appears behind Cross in time to hear him say that Hody Jones is responsible for Queen Otohime's death. Cross is suitably... stunned.
  • Law pulls this on some of his crew during the Dead End Race.
  • Kuma pulls this on Cross again in Sabaody in the middle of his Heroic BSoD. Cross is too overwhelmed to be suitably terrified, instead feeling a strange mixture of dread and relief.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge:
  • Sanji goes on a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Ohm for hurting Conis. It's so much that he actually sets himself on fire.
  • While watching the events of Movie 6 as transmitted by Soundbite, Garp is so anguished at seeing his grandson's pain that he makes plans to go to that island and tear the monster apart with his own two hands, before the biggest Buster Call in history blows the island off the map. To be in the same room as him and his rage during those plans is suffocating, even for the Admirals.
  • The Enies Lobby arc is just one massive finger from the Straw Hats to the World Government, by airing their rampage on the Judicial Island live and encouraging all of their rivals and two of the Four Emperors to wreak havoc all across the Grand Line. Then, they put the icing on the cake by exposing the World Government's deep-rooted corruption and their overall disregard for human life in favor of absolute control, initiating global civil unrest and causing several countries to go Revolutionary (including Water 7). The aftermath is so bad that the Marines have established a task force solely dedicated to dealing with everything having to do with the Straw Hats and their antics.
  • Strong World. After a week of enduring Shiki's many offenses against them, the Straw Hats snap and rip him to pieces. They crash his little victory party, loot his palace, crush his army, steal back the transceiver he stole from them and all in all demolish the plan he had been working towards for the last twenty years. All of that is before Luffy beats his ass into the ground and they send Merveille crashing into the sea. And the worst part? Instead of hearing this beatdown, the world is watching it, thanks to Shiki's Visual Transponder Snails.
• Rousing Speech: During his fight with Lucci, Luffy gets one not only from Cross but also from people all over the world, including all the Supernovas, Aisa, Dadan, Bartolomeo, Hancock, and Gol D. Roger himself.
• Rule of Three: Invoked in Sabaody when Cross meets Shout-Out Expies of Miror B. first, then of Yzma and Kronk, and finally Psycho Mantis. Though the last one wondered why Cross thought of video games when he saw him.
• Rules Lawyer: Played right into the ground during the Davy Back Fight, especially Cross's insistence that Soundbite and Lassoo are full-fledged crew members so that Foxy can't get all three of them in the same round.
• Running Gag:
  • The line "I am… conflicted" seems to be this.
  • Cross setting towns on fire with his antics.
  • Assorted crew members contemplating setting the world on fire.
  • Soundbite interrupting Cross whenever he tries to start the SBS. And after that, other people start interrupting Soundbite interrupting Cross.
  • People shouting "CROSS, YOU SON OF A—!" only to be interrupted or cut off.
  • Cross hitting the foghorn button.
    Cross: I love this thing.
    Everyone else: WE KNOW!
  • Every time someone gets caught cheating at anything.
    "Pi~ra~te."
  • A subtle one, but the name Billy comes up several times as a random person getting hurt.
  • In The Battle of Kinpaku Island, the phrase "(minus Lucci)" is added after anytime CP9 was mentioned while Lucci was still in the hospital.
  • Somebody moaning "Why did it have to be the Straw Hats?"
  • Soundbite trying to sing the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song, only to be stopped by Cross, pointing out there is no talking starfish. He finally gets his wish in Chapter 59 when the crew meets Pappug and Keimi, and unfortunately for Cross, sings the entire song.
  • The phrase "Spin Cycle Sucks" in regards to getting tossed around.
    • Gets a variant in Impel Down's level 3 with "Tumble Dry Sucks".

S

• Sadistic Choice:
  • CP9 faces this in Enies Lobby. Either they do their jobs and try to defeat the Straw Hats who, quite apart from their reputation, treated their third strongest member like a punching bag, or they attempt to flee and risk Lucci's blatant death threat for doing so. They unanimously choose the former, and unanimously regret it. Most notably in the conclusion of Nami versus Kalifa, right before the coup de grâce:
    Kalifa: …I should have tried my luck with Lucci.
    Nami: Considering how you chose to face us instead? Yes. You should have.
  • The Marine fleet sent to suppress the Straw Hats also face this choice, when they see that their own commanders are willing to kill anyone in the way of killing the pirates. Either they stay to do their jobs and possibly get slaughtered in the crossfire, or they try to run and face the wrath of Admiral Akainu. They ultimately choose the former and suffer for it.
    • A similar choice is given to the privateers that the Marines hired to be part of the Naval Blockade of Sabaody Archipelago. They can either take their chances fighting with whatever pirates trying to get past them or fail/refuse and get a one-way trip to Impel Down.
  • When Zoro tries offering his head to Kuma to save both Luffy and Cross, the Warlord tells him that his one head isn't worth both, and tells him to choose who to save. Luckily, he wasn't the only one who stayed conscious during Kuma's first onslaught...
  • Discussed on a much wider scale in regards to the slave trade in Sabaody. Everyone out there who is powerful enough to intervene, possesses knowledge of the problem, and would be inclined to help are all tied up fighting other battles and literally cannot afford the division of resources ending the slave trade would take.
• Sanity Slippage:
  • Over the course of Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island, the Straw Hat crew slowly starts to disintegrate. Cross, in particular, goes from a cheerful, loyal member of the crew to a demented game show host who delights in seeing his friends get ripped apart for ratings.
  • Sengoku does not take the ongoing stress during the Straw Hats' assault on Enies Lobby very well.
• Sapient Steed: Linked with Talking Animal in that every animal, including those used as mounts, is at least smart and capable of conversation if translated with Soundbite's powers, from Carue and Pierre to Funkfreed and Billy.
• Sarcastic Clapping: Mr. 3's entrance in Chapter 19, after Cross's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Tashigi.
• Scare 'Em Straight: In the face of Sakazuki's lava powers and certain death, the Marine T-Bone renounced the betrayal of his flotilla, condemned them all as evil, and swore to be a steadfast, uncrooked pursuer of justice and duty of the World Government. But the deaths of his men and his change in morality slowly ached at him until, in the face of Cross's steadfastness to his ideals, he could not refute the shame of his actions any longer.
• Scream Discretion Shot: When Soundbite hacks in to the various slaver conversations around Sabaody, the last one was the most chilling as a slave was being branded with the sound of the hot iron searing into flesh followed by a scream that was cut off as Shakky had enough. It was enough to sicken and enrage everyone present.
• Screw Destiny: Cross makes it his goal to use his future knowledge to prevent the most tragic events in the canon series from happening, the two biggest of which are Merry's destruction and the War of the Best. While he managed to save Merry thanks to a Devil Fruit that made her human, he was unable to prevent the War of the Best, as the Government hid the warning signs too well. That said, thanks to the timely arrival of Sabo and the Revolutionaries, Ace was at least able to escape with his life.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • Sanji and Luffy escape a group of Marines when the former yells, "Jessica just found out Jonathan threw away a meal she made for him!" Every Marine present promptly sprints out of there.
  • Terry and Isaiah decide to stay at Marine Base G-8 when the Straw Hat insanity grows too much for them.
  • During the attack on Enies Lobby, roughly half the Marines run away yelling things like, "I didn't sign up for this."
  • Cross and Leo try to "de-ass the area with the quickness" when Sanji, Usopp, and Zoro go after them (Cross for making them all see Kokoro's mermaid body, Leo for holding back in their fights). They don't escape.
  • After being warned of the sheer insanity of Cross' explanation for how he knows so much, Mozu, Kiwi, Lulu, and Tilestone all haul ass out of there.
  • At Takoyaki 8, once they hear that Cross has a wild scheme in mind, a present Tashigi, Boa Sandersonia, and Koala all try to vamoose, but Cross is having none of it.
  • Faced with Captain-Governor Lola of Skelter Bite and the menace of the Florian Triangle itself, even New World veterans from the Beast and Big Mom Pirates waste no time scramming once they've caught her ire.
  • Once Hawkins decides to throw the Shichiseiken puppeting a straw effigy into a cage fight, everyone bar Zoro heads for the hills.
• Schmuck Bait: During Su's solo run through Thriller Bark, Soundbite warns her not to go to a certain room if she knows what's good for her. As soon as he breaks contact, Su immediately heads in that direction, only to regret it when she runs into Tararan.
  Soundbite: Dare I ask WHY?
  Su: ...I wanted the challenge?
• Secret-Keeper:
  • Prior to The Reveal in Chapter 14, Soundbite was the only one who knew that Cross knew a lot more than he was letting on, but even he didn't know everything; it seems that somehow his knowledge from the Internet doesn't extend to One Piece itself.
  • Post-Reveal, the crew keeps his secret; the outsiders that have learned the truth about Cross thus far are Ace, Vivi's family, Iceburg, Paulie, Zambai, Dragon, Koala, and the New World Masons.
  • Zoro and Nami also serve as this; whenever there's sensitive information that needs to be handled properly, Cross shares it only with the first and second mate… and Soundbite, of course. Though in Chapter 24, as part of penance towards Vivi, Cross agrees to let her in on it as well, and in Chapter 43, Merry comes in as well, having technically been a part of it all along. He formally adds Robin (who had been not-so-subtly eavesdropping the whole time) in Chapter 59.
  • In Chapter 28, Cross writes down all of his relevant knowledge for the Skypiea arc, knowing that he won't be able to speak freely while Enel is around. He asks Robin to help him out because she's the one with experience in being discreet when one slip-up could mean death because her powers will help him write faster...and because she'd just use said powers to peek at his notes anyway.
  • When the Marine training grounds were moved to Navarone, Jonathan ended up telling Instructor Zephyr about their endeavors to bring down the Government, asking him to be a member. Though Zephyr closes off when he hears they're getting intel from pirates, he is sympathetic enough to their cause to keep their secret.
  • Lassoo and Funkfreed become this to Soundbite after the snail tells him what he witnessed: that both Zoro and Nami find their dreams less worthy than Luffy's and Cross's, and that if they knew, the conflict would tear the crew apart.
  • Garp promises to keep the secret that Perona, the newest Warlord of the Sea, is actually a close ally of the Straw Hat Pirates.
• Secret Test of Character:
  • Porche tries to seduce new crew members to the Foxy Pirates as one such test. She's rather pleased when Cross threatens her over it.
  • When Duval realizes the Macro Pirates managed to escape their bindings with Keimi during his duel with Sanji, he immediately apologizes and offers his help in finding them. Soundbite invokes this trope, saying he passed it and that the Macros were already captured by Chopper & Su and Keimi is safe.
• Seen It All:
  • On hearing Cross's claim that he's not dense, just polite, Dr. Kureha has this reaction and starts cackling with laughter.
  "KAK KAK KAK KAK KAK! A polite pirate! Now I've really seen it all!"
  • The Yagara bulls are experienced enough that not only do they barely blink at attempted hijackings, they consider members of "the Union" to be newbies until they get in their first high-speed chase.
  • Dragon doesn't even blink at the idea of Cross being from an alternate dimension where he read the story of their world. According to him, once you've seen all the seas like he has, nothing really surprises you anymore (except maybe your own father being an unfathomable idiot).
• Self-Insert Fic: Obviously.
• Semantic Superpower: One Piece's use of this trope is discussed in chapter 15 when Cross is giving some of the crew advice on their abilities. They take his advice, and it winds up vastly aiding them in getting stronger.
  "Devil Fruits give powers based around a word. From there, their users can exploit that word to the utmost, pushing it to its limit, and finding copious ways to exploit them. The stupid and ineffective users, they'd do like Usopp did: they'd focus on the obvious effect, the obvious usage of their powers. Now, that might cut it for users out in the Blue Seas... but the ones here, here in the Grand Line?" I jabbed my finger out to sea. "They're the dangerous ones. The strong ones. The smart ones. They're the ones who embrace every aspect of their words and use them to the utmost. They take the words 'paw', 'string', 'love' and 'sand'..." I looked Luffy dead in the eye. "And they use those words to maintain their positions as Warlords."
• Sequence Breaking:
  • Brook meets up and joins the Straw Hat crew as soon as they meet him and Cross tells his story, well before they even reach Thriller Bark.
  • Sanji reveals his heritage as a Vinsmoke prior to the Time Skip.
• Serious Business:
  • The Great Octopus Shogunate takes the sport of surfing very, very seriously.
  • Cross accidentally starts a town-wide brawl when he sics some pirates on Mr. 13 by claiming the Otter said that Kaidou was the strongest Yonkou.
  • Apparently even Kaidou and Big Mom participate in the Davy Back Fight, though they bid entire crews rather than individuals. They do this to bolster their forces and fight each other without destroying most of the New World in the process.
  • After the events of Strong World, where they kicked the ass of someone who had assaulted their crew personally and was targeting their hometown and got away unharmed, Cross suddenly shouts to everyone that if they're not throwing a victory party in less than 3 seconds, they all officially fail at life.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: For all the crew's efforts, Merry's keel still snapped, meaning she's still doomed.
  • But... in the end, Cross found a way to save her, though she'll no longer be the ship of the Straw-Hats.
• "Shaggy Frog" Story: Invoked by Cross when Ms. Valentines Day demands to know the source of his world-shaking knowledge, and he ends his explanation with the American Civil War.
  Cross: ...And so, while the Civil War didn't start out over slavery, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation made it about slavery. Make Sense?
  Valentine: Hm... yeah, when you put it that way, I understand perfectly. Just one question, however... WHAT DID ANY OF THAT HAVE TO DO WITH YOUR UNHOLY KNOWLEDGE!
• Share the Male Pain: Felt by all regardless of gender when Foxy and First Mate Dugong get a female Marine Captain to land split-legged on a wooden horse, with both Cross and Itomimizu agreeing that it's too painful for most living beings.
  • Hilariously, when the scene is watched in Amazon Lily, they find it strange that men can feel that specific pain.
• Sheathe Your Sword: Cross explains to Nami exactly how Luffy and Zoro won by letting Bellamy beat them up: a bunch of nobodies were doing all they could to rile Luffy up and get him to react, to etch themselves into his memory for all eternity... and failed miserably.
• Shed Armor, Gain Speed: During their duel in Thriller Bark, with Zoro able to fight at his full potential this time due to having Funkfreed as a replacement to Yubashiri, Ryumma revealed that his body had been weighted with liquid lead, and decided to release it in order to fight more freely. Upon seeing Ryumma cutting loose, the other zombies in the area promptly take cover.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Boss Kabuto, the mutant beetle from the Little East Blue Arc, doesn't have good memories about Strong World.
• Sherlock Can Read: A variant early in the Navarone arc, where Cross manages to infiltrate Jonathan's office before contacting Jonathan himself. During the ensuing conversation, he casually threatens to inform the Vice Admiral's wife about Jonathan's eating habits (specifically, the fact that Jonathan throws out most of the meals she makes for him, due to the fact that they're full of vegetables — which he hates). Jonathan's right-hand man, Lieutenant Commander Drake, can't help but mutter that Cross is "as impossibly well-informed as he painted himself, too", only for Cross to inform him that he found the food in Jonathan's garbage bin. (Of course, the other reason is that he's seen the anime-only arc that Navarone appeared in and knows about Jonathan's habits from there.)
• Ship Sinking: Word of God states that, for the simple reason that none of the three authors have skill in that particular area, they have no plans of putting any pairings into the story. The closest they ever get is emphasizing the already canon Ship Tease between Vivi and her Childhood Friend Kohza.
• Ship Tease:
  • Sabo/Koala is teased during the Christmas Special, where he tries to get her to kiss him with the old mistletoe routine. She beats him up for it, but it's clear he's interested... and Monkey D. Dragon, half-jokingly, encourages him to try again next year.
  • Cross/Sandersonia and Cross/Koala both get teased during the Road to Sabaody and Sabaody Revolution arcs; in the former, when Cross reveals his plan to lure pirates as a whole into opposing slavery, Sandersonia gets so excited she declares herself ready to bang Cross there and then—Koala knocks the serpent-shifter out-cold to stop her going through with her intention, and then sheepishly admits she's almost as turned on herself. In the latter, when Sandersonia faints after seeing Luffy punch out Saint Charloss, the scene is set for a classic Sleeping Beauty style True Love's Kiss when Cross goes to wake her... whilst it's lampshaded by Cross noting how tacky the idea is and then subverted by him waking her up by booting her off of a table onto the floor, the shipping comes right back when Sandersonia admits to Koala that Cross in his "take charge" mode turns her on. Koala responds by admitting she feels the same way, but now is very much not the time to bring it up.
• Shooting Superman: The newest air Logia Vivi is on the receiving end of a very persistent and pointless bullet barrage shortly after getting her powers.
• Shot in the Ass: Mikey gets stabbed in the ass twice, both by flying objects, in "Road to Sabaody part 4". The first time it's by a skewer that Bonney casually tossed behind her without realizing he was there. The second time is during the Bar Brawl near the end when Hawkins throws a knife at Cross, Soundbite sends it off course and it bounces off a wall and into Mikey.
• Shout-Out: Has its own page.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: When Cross reveals that anyone with a snail can call in and be on the SBS, Doflamingo tries to take advantage of it. Cross hangs up on him. Repeatedly.
• Side Bet:
  • When all of the crew sans Luffy is swallowed by the whale, Cross offhandedly says that he bets ten Berries that Luffy will take another entrance and meet them inside the whale. Nami takes the bet, and after Luffy shows up, Cross grouses about not having wagered a thousand Berries instead before Nami reluctantly pays up.
  • Usopp bet Sanji at one point that Cross was actively trying to get himself killed. In Chapter 24, Sanji pays up.
  • The News Coos apparently have a betting pool going involving the love life/lives Straw Hats in general and/or Cross in particular. When Su says that Conis is (platonically) enamored with Cross, Coo mentions winning the 2000 to 1 odds bet.
  • Foxy wins a bet amongst the New World Masons in that the person they're discussing for the Snake seat is Boa Hancock.
  • Amongst the Supernovas, when it's revealed that Cross and Apoo are good friends and that their rivalry on the SBS was entirely for show, everyone ends up grumpily paying X Drake.
• Sigil Spam: Played with in the Alabasta arc, where Cross asked an arrested Baroque Works agent why the agents had emblem tattoos when their organization was supposed to be a 'cloak-and-dagger' operation. The agent revealed it was a combination of a lot of alcohol, a lot of boredom, and the fact that nobody was even supposed to learn about Baroque Works' existence.
• Signature Laugh: It's One Piece, so this trope is very common. Noteworthy, however, in that Cross has one:
  Cross: PFFFFHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
  • As a Voice Changeling, Soundbite has a lot of laughing styles, but his most common is a combination of 'Hee's, 'Hoo's, and 'Ha's.
  • Lassoo's laugh is "Hweehweehwee", taken directly from Muttley of Wacky Races.
  • Su's laugh is "Tseeheeheehee".
  • The Unluckies have the Evil Laugh of "Tsahahaha".
  • Dragon's is "Shishishishi", just like his son.
  • Hancock's is "Snahahaha".
  • Monet's is "Yukeeheeheehee".
  • Merry's human form is "Mwahahaha".
  • When she laughs genuinely, Robin laughs just like Saul.
    Robin: Dereshishishi!
  • T-Bone's is "Fahahaha".
  • Jewelry Bonney's is "Zazazaza".
  • Capone Bege's is "Gehgehgehgeh".
• Sins of Our Fathers: Brutally deconstructed during the Marineford Misery arc. When Sengoku announces to the world that the reason they're executing Ace is that he's Roger's son, not because of any genuine crimes he committed, Cross deftly points out that they're illegally executing a man over a grudge against a guy who has been dead for twenty years, while at the same time throwing away countless lives and destabilizing the balance of the world by going to war with said man's captain, one of the four most powerful pirates on the planet. Once that's said, all of Sengoku's attempts to justify the execution ring hollow, especially after Ace makes it adamantly clear that he hates Roger and has no intention of following his footsteps.
  • Further deconstructed in the chapter "Denouement". Before the Straw Hats parted ways, Cross outright noted that he couldn't ask Dragon to intervene, despite his ties to Ace, because it risked sullying the message of who the Revolutionary Army are: an opposition to the tyranny of the World Government. As Commander Belo Betty explains to Robin when they meet, the fact that Sengoku admitted that Ace was being executed for his ties to Roger and not his crimes as a pirate immediately changed the context from "legitimate execution" to "another display of tyranny", as being related to a criminal does not make a person into a criminal even under the World Government's laws.
• Skewed Priorities:
  • Nami's misery as they leave Alabasta, not because Vivi is forced to come with them after being assigned a bounty, but because they didn't get the solid-gold crocodile statues from Rain Dinners.
  • When Yasopp finds out that Usopp has become a Straw Hat Pirate from Cross's SBS broadcast, he and Shanks instantly get into a brawl. Yasopp, though proud of his son, is still pissed because Shanks' protégé dragged Usopp away from his quiet, safe life; Shanks is pissed because Yasopp's Spit Take caused him to waste good booze.
  • Despite Arbell wanting the Accino-Hiruno wedding to be sabotaged for the good of their family, Vivi couldn't resist the opportunity to direct the dream wedding she's been planning since she was a child.
  • Even in the midst of a giant Bar Brawl, Zoro and Sanji would still prefer to fight each other rather than anyone else.
  • During a full-on Supernova assault on a Naval Blockade, the Supernovas themselves are still more interested in competing over body counts than following Cross's strategy.
• Slapstick: In addition to the usual hi-jinks with the Straw Hats, Cross ends up being a magnet for this, receiving no shortage of bonks on the head and throat chops. Of course, it goes both ways as Cross isn't afraid to give Vivi a conk on the head in return.
• Slasher Smile: Common. Some examples:
  • Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine have these on Little Garden when they meet Cross alone.
  • Used frequently enough with Kureha that Cross compares her to the Grim Reaper no fewer than three times.
  • At the end of Chapter 19, Cross has this reaction after they leave Luffy behind to fight Crocodile...and the rest of the crew agrees to let him give out some spoilers about the upcoming battles.
  • Smoker, of all people, gives one in Chapter 23, after Hina becomes convinced that he, Tashigi, and Cross are right about the corruption in the people they follow and asks what he has in mind to fix it.
  • Sengoku gets a gold-plated, crazy-ass grin when, amidst all the chaos on Enies Lobby, Spandam idiotically reveals his plan to get control of Pluton and possibly overthrow the Five Elder Stars. The Fleet Admiral takes great pleasure in telling him to report to Marineford to receive "everything he has coming to him".
  • Trafalgar Law and the Heart Pirates get several when they hear Doctor Hogback begin to verbally dig his own grave on the SBS.
  • When Chopper finally gets his hands on Hogback, Cross reminds him not to do anything he wouldn't do. When Lassoo points out his whole "Spandam episode", Cross gets one of these and replies that that's exactly the point.
• Small Name, Big Ego:
  • As Robin puts it, Spandam's delusions of grandeur are so great they actively rewrite his memories, making him see himself as the competent beloved chief of CP9 instead of someone they wouldn't piss on if he was on fire.
  • Largo is convinced that his crew can take on the Straw Hat pirates if they use their "secret weapon". In reality, the entire crew is beaten by Cross and his partners.
• Smart People Play Chess: Zigzagged. Vice Admiral Jonathan and Robin both play chess and play well, but Cross admits to being a beginner at best. There's too many rules for him.
• The Snack Is More Interesting:
  • Instead of paying attention to Perona chewing out Hogback and threatening them after clearing the dining room ambush, Cross, Soundbite, Usopp, Lassoo, Robin, and Conis are busy eating what remains of their dinner.
  • Why Lucky Roux doesn't end up meeting Luffy on Skelter Bite. At least at first.
• Sneeze Cut: A few times during Strong World:
  • Cross insults Hattori by calling him a rat with wings and Sanji, coming across a mutated giraffe, says that nobody in their right mind would make a giraffe a killing machine and last time it happened was stupid enough. Elsewhere, Hattori and Kaku are struck with an inexplicable urge to murder someone.
  • Woop Slap makes a comment about Cross, causing him to sneeze at just the right moment to dodge an attack.
  • After defeating Indigo, Chopper makes a tongue twister based on "How Much Wood". Miss Merry Christmas then sneezes.
• Sole Survivor: Aside from Robin, Moria, and Law, a few other characters have this in their expanded backstory.
  • Marine Captain T-Bone, once of the 13th Royal Marine Flotilla. When his crew protested the excessive force chasing after Nico Robin, one of their own, Vergo, sold them out to Sakazuki, who promptly massacred them to a man.
  • Pickles of the Foxy Pirates. He was taken in a Davy Back Fight from his old crew, right before they were killed in a battle with the Marines.
  • Buggy. His old crew landed on a Secret Island and only the clown made it off alive. Can you blame him for wanting to stay out of the Grand Line from then on?
• Sound Effects Bleep: While Soundbite usually has no aversion to swear words, when Nami when off on a tirade after the use of an Impact Dial hurt her arm, he censored out the majority of her cursing on the SBS.
• Spanner in the Works:
  • The Unluckies. If the For Want of a Nail in Chapter 19 wasn't enough, in Chapter 20, Cross attempts to use Soundbite's powers to stop or stall the Rebel Army outside of Alubarna. Unfortunately, the Unluckies arrive and snatch the snail, scrapping that plan. And even after they're beaten, Miss Friday manages to disable Soundbite's powers until Luffy beats Crocodile.
    • For a while, it actually became something of a Running Gag that the Straw Hats' plans never worked out as planned, to the point that the characters started making note of in their planning sessions. This was particularly frustrating and humiliating for Cross, as he is the official tactician for the crew. But starting after Skypiea, things start going much better.
  • Granny Kokoro proves to be this to Cross's plans. Sloshed out of her mind, she browbeats Iceburg and Franky into feeling the love that the Going Merry has for her crew, and encouraging them, as Tom's apprentices, construct a ship worthy of the Oro Jackson's successor... within earshot of Iceburg's secretary and one of his best shipwrights.
  • Aokiji. Post-Enies Lobby, when he came across an island hosting a big pirate brawl, he decided to halt the whole thing with an Ice Age... giving Blackbeard the perfect opportunity to swallow up his now-frozen opponents.
  • During the Strong World arc, the Straw Hats aren't the only rogue crew looking to snarl up Shiki's plans; Shiki had recruited the Barto Club as their allies without knowing their sea of origin.
  • In Chapter 72, Stussy remarks that the Straw Hats have become so infamous for messing up plans that their involvement in any operation invalidates the results among assassins.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Merry, thanks to Cross getting a Zoan Devil Fruit for her.
  • Yubashiri is damaged by the Rust-Rust Fruit, but still repairable.
  • Played With in regards to Shiki, who Cross-Brain theorized turned his swords on himself after Luffy defeated him^note unable to stand losing to another man from the East Blue, with him instead being captured by Hancock and sent to Impel Down before joining the Blackbeard Pirates.
  • Ace survives his execution, courtesy of the Revolutionaries appearing at the last second to protect him right as Akainu has him dead to rights. Even more amazing is that, if B.R.O.B is to be believed, there was no way Cross could have saved him and Merry as their deaths were fixed.
• Spell My Name With An S: Rayleigh's name is spelt as "Raleigh" on occasion.
• Spit Take:
  • In Chapter 24, Yasopp spits out his grog when he hears on the SBS that Usopp has joined Luffy's crew.
  • In Chapter 31, Robin spits out the jerky she's chewing on when she realizes it came from Nami kissing her, who got it from kissing Cross.
  • In Chapter 32, Sanji chokes on his cigarette when Cross tells him he's glad he's part secret agent.
    • And he does it again in Chapter 43 when Cross talks about sibling relationships.
  • In Chapter 38:
    • The entirety of the Red-Haired Pirates do this (Shanks twice) when Cross succeeds in starting the SBS, recognizing from the previous times he did that that what happens next is likely to be fraught with trouble.
    • Ace also gets this reaction when he learns that the Straw Hats just broke down the gates of Enies Lobby.
  • In Chapter 40, Soundbite does this with Franky's cola when Cross and he see the battleships flanking the Bridge of Hesitation, meaning that Vivi and Conis, who are at the Bridge of Hesitation, have reinforcements to break through to save Robin.
  • In Chapter 41, Cross does this when Vivi says she unlocked a variation of Conqueror's Haki. Once again with Franky's cola, much to the cyborg's ire.
  • In Chapter 43, Robin does a full one (with drink this time) when Cross tells her just what he would've done to save Merry. Photographed for posterity, too.
  • Defied in Chapter 59. When Cross learned from Keimi that Chew and Kurobi were working at Takoyoki 8, he nearly did this with a cola he bummed from Franky, only for Franky to order him to swallow it as he didn't want Cross to waste his cola again.
• Springtime for Hitler: Tashigi tries to invoke a Failure Gambit on the Marines tasked to chasing down Cross, by telling them that the Straw Hats have gone to a complete backwater place that Marine patrols actively avoid: Jaya. Given that this happens during the start of the Skypiea arc...
• Squee: When she first lays eyes on the pillar of gold, Nami gives one so loud it knocks Cross out and sends the rest of the crew reeling.
• Stalker without a Crush: Desire for Bartolomeo, as in canon. She catches up with him at Skelter Bite, berates him for forgetting their promise, admits that being a pirate has done him some good, and declares herself part of his crew whether he likes it or not.
• Stating the Simple Solution:
  • Commander Drake asks why Vice Admiral Jonathan hasn't simply shot Terry and Isaiah, to which Jonathan responds that he can't afford the two million-beri fine.
  • Drake does it again when he asks Jonathan why the Marines haven't dispatched an Admiral to take out the Straw Hat Pirates. Jonathan replies that aside from one of them being a Blood Knight on the other side of the Red Line while the other two are Brilliant, but Lazy, there's also the scenario mentioned under Morton's Fork.
  • When Indigo insists Chopper couldn't possibly know how to cure the Daft Green poisoning that he spent twenty years studying, Chopper replies that he never considered asking the people who live near them and have spent generations figuring out how to deal with Daft Greens.
  • In Chapter 65, Luffy asks Cross why none of the Four Emperors, least of all, Whitebeard and Shanks, have declared the Sabaody Archipelago as their territory to stop the slave trading. Cross speculates it might be because since they're on the other side of the Red Line, any crew members they sent to protect the Archipelago would be an easy target for the Marines, regardless of how powerful they are.
• The Stations of the Canon: Played with. Before Alabasta, Cross makes minor changes but allows all major events to go as per canon. The rails, however, are irreparably broken thanks to two major events at the conclusion of Alabasta: Vivi's bounty forcing her to flee her kingdom and Cross obtaining the Snail Transceiver from B.R.O.B. From then on, the subsequent stations are crossed in outrageous and unpredictable ways. Not that this stops said stations from occurring regardless, such as Luffy still being attacked by the Kuja even though Hancock declared him their ally or the Paramount War going functionally the same as canon^* Ace lives and Teach doesn't get Whitebeard's fruit but otherwise things go basically the same. Even characters like Shanks and Dragon arriving, who possess both the power and desire to kill Teach doesn't stop them from letting Blackbeard's entire crew escape.
• Stealth Pun: In Chapter 16, after Luffy plows through a dozen or so buildings to get to a restaurant, sending Smoker and Ace flying in the process:
  Cross: (referring to Luffy) Are you a human, a monster, or some freak force of nature?
  Soundbite: D: all of the above!
  • The MI4 leaders and Cross all have code names based on the western zodiac. Smoker's? Cancer.
  • Borrowed from canon, Dr. Hogback says that Absalom has a transparent sense of humor.
• The Stool Pigeon: The secretary of Sabaody's government would like to be one. She handles all the dirty money funneled through to her Pointy-Haired Boss and could positively wax poetic on all the sources, shell companies, and everything, but has no idea who to turn to when everyone in the chain, both above and below, is either corrupt as hell or likely to talk to someone who is. Then the Straw Hats arrive with an epic plan provided by Cross.
• Strange Minds Think Alike:
  • When Tashigi gets caught in Mr. 3's wax, her idea to get out is to have Cross cut her arms off. Cross can't help but bring up the fact that Zoro wanted to do same thing to his legs when it happened to him in canon.
  • Lampshaded by Cross when he hears Mayor Fabre says that Luigia from the Little East Blue lives in a shack with a mock-up mansion nailed to it, just like Montblanc Cricket lives in a small home disguised to look like a castle.
    'Cross: Wait, we've meet two loonies with the same delusion?!
• Suddenly Shouting: While calmly summing up Cross, Luffy, and Ace's antics in Nanohana, Vivi suddenly starts yelling demanding to know why the town is on fire.
• Sue Donym: While en route to Skelter Bite, Cross declares Tashigi (who cannot be seen as a Marine) will pose as their new cabin girl, T. A. Shigi.
• Suicidal Overconfidence: Even knowing the Straw Hats are standing in the way of their goal, even knowing they left the governmental island of Enies Lobby a smoking wreck behind them, Captain Largo of the Amigo Pirates still decides to go through them to get their mission, because their benefactor Shiki and the asset he gave them will give them the edge they need to win. He's soon disabused of that notion.
• Super-Empowering:
  • Word of God stated shortly after the release of Chapter 28 that Cross will eat a Devil Fruit. He revealed nothing, however, about which fruit it will be nor when he will eat it, though the second special confirmed that it will be post-Time Skip.
  • At the end of the Enies Lobby arc, in order to stay alive, the Going Merry eats the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Child.
  • During the Strong World arc, Vivi eats the Gust-Gust Fruit, becoming the first Logia of the Straw Hat crew.
  • While in Impel Down, Whitey Bay finds and kills Hiruno, then takes and eats the Cold-Cold Fruit to help with breaking out.
• Super-Persistent Predator: Everything on Merveille, as in canon. It's explained here, though; everything in the place is dosed up on super-steroid toxins, and eating anything with toxins makes the eater even stronger. Animal instincts being what they are, the local wildlife has developed a pattern of always going after the strongest target available... which happen to be the Straw Hats.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • Despite having foreknowledge of the adventure the Straw Hats are on, Cross doesn't recall every little detail immediately as evidenced when Laboon and the chaotic weather on the way to Whiskey peak both blindside him in the space of a single chapter.
  • Despite Cross's foreknowledge, certain situations are set up by the environment and the preparation of opposing forces that they're basically inevitable no matter how he tries to circumvent them, such as the Merry getting her keel cracked and Robin being taken by CP9.
  • As skilled as Kalifa is, she still isn't going to master her new powers in an hour.
  • Carue kicks Funkfreed (whose hybrid body is metal because he's an Elephant sword) at supersonic speeds. Funkfreed is knocked out, but Carue's leg is broken.
  • While becoming a shipgirl gives Merry a chance to heal from her life-threatening injuries, that doesn't negate the fact that she has life-threatening injuries in the first place.
    • More amusingly, while she is transformed into a human, the variant Devil Fruit she ate specifically turns her into a child with all the emotional maturity thereof.
  • After Thriller Bark, Cross realizes he's beginning to forget details of the manga as it's been over half a year since he read any of it. While he still knows the important parts, some of the particulars are starting to fade. Furthermore, his knowledge is incomplete; he only read up to Chapter 800 of the manga and he never saw any of the movies, which hits especially hard since Strong World was part of the canon, meaning he was completely unprepared for Shiki.
  • As strong as Zoro is, even he can't completely recover from near-fatal injuries in a matter of weeks- this is proven when he struggles during the final fight with Shiki's forces.
  • After Cross airs almost the entirety of their security measures, Impel Down upgrades their security heavily.
  • Minotaurus charges Luffy at the same time Sadi realizes Luffy has a counter. She yells a warning to Minotaurus, but the fact is as an awakened cow Zoan, Minotaurus's hooves just can't get the traction needed to dodge, evade, or slow down in time.
    • Of course, it gets right back up for the fourth time, causing Luffy to comment that he finally understands how annoying it is to fight someone like himself.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial:
  • Chapter 13:
  Cross's Narration: I most decidedly did not squeal like a stuck pig when a dozen different scalpels buried themselves in the wood around my head.
  • Chapter 35:
  Cross's Narration: (faced with a furious Sanji) I most certainly did not swallow heavily.
  • Chapter 43:
  Third Person Narration: After a minute or so, Tashigi re-entered the room, furtively swiping at eyes that were pointedly not red or fluffy.
  • Chapter 57:
    • Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine walk—not run—away from Cross after they witness him on a rampage and he calmly advises them not to attack him if they want to live.
  • Chapter 58:
    • When Sengoku confronts Perona after she mentions his bad heart, Perona's reaction is "entirely dignified and not-at-all panicked".
  • Chapter 67:
    • As Bege takes a rescued child slave back to his mother, Hawkins looks on with a totally unchanging expression - and anyone who says he instead has a look of respect and/or approval is a liar.
  • Chapter 70:
    • As X Drake approaches the Straw Hats with murderous intent for getting him and all the Supernovas involved in a battle with Kizaru and were nearly curb-stomped until Rayleigh stepped in, he stops short when he is met with a collective two dozen-eyed Death Glare expression that rivals the one given to "Golden Lion" Shiki. Drake immediately turns around and distances himself from the other pirates (not the monsters, which was crossed out) and quickly leaves the scene.
• Switching P.O.V.: The entirety of the event with Baron Omatsuri is told through the perspectives of people around the world as they listen to the SBS and the horror that the Straw Hats have found themselves in.
• Symbolically Broken Object:
  • After a bitter argument between Tsuru and Sengoku about the morality of the latter's actions (including letting Admiral Akainu escape justice for committing genocide), Tsuru exits Sengoku's office with such force that a picture of her, Sengoku, and Garp falls to the floor and shatters, with a crack in the glass separating the two former friends.
  • Later, in the Denouement, when Akainu announces his plans to become Fleet Admiral, Aokiji shows up and challenges him for the title, having realized the error of his mistakes that led to the Tragedy of Marineford. To showcase his new creed, he freezes his sleeping mask and breaks it, leaving behind his old mindset of Lazy Justice for a new Justice of Atonement.

T

• Take a Third Option: Don Accino finds himself in a dilemma with regards to his bounty hunting rivals, the Hiruno Famiglia: Either he marries his daughter Lil off to cement his alliance with a family he absolutely despises, or have his family's livelihood slip away when the bounties become too strong to capture and cash in. Luckily, Vivi gives him a third way out: with his Hot-Hot Fruit being one of Alabasta's treasures, Accino can become one of Alabasta's Royal Guardians and assure his family's future by protecting a country that has seceded from the Government.
• Take That!: When Robin teases Cross about Sandersonia and Koala almost jumping him because of his plan to take down the slave industry in Sabaody, he threatens to have Soundbite broadcast a documentary about how alien's shaped his world's history, which causes her to leave immediently.
• Taking the Bullet:
  • Both Boss and Robin take Moria's shadow attacks that were aimed at Chopper and Cross. They both at least make it out of it.
  • Cross ends up doing to same for Chew when he's the only one that can. This is despite his disdain for the ex-Arlong Pirate.
    • But in the middle of explaining why he did it, Hachi ends up taking a shot for him.
• Taking You with Me: During Crocodile's arrest, when he is questioned regarding Vivi's connection to the Straw Hats, he tells them exactly what they want to hear to have a bounty placed on her head and drag her down with him.
• Talking Animal: Thanks to Soundbite's voice-granting powers and the ability to communicate with other animals (being a snail and all), he can make any mostly-land-based animal (sea creatures have a different dialect) the crew comes across this... usually with very humorous results.
• The Tape Knew You Would Say That:
  • Early in the Omatsuri Island special, Cross apparently pulls this and then subverts it with Doflamingo and his three executives on the receiving end.
  Cross: (over the SBS) I mean, the advertisement had a lot of flowers on the map, and I'm not seeing a single one of those, let alone any sign of civilization. Which is weird, considering how jungles usually have flowers in them. Believe me, I've had enough experience to know. Still, it sounds like drumbeats are coming from deeper in the island, so here we are wandering through untamed foliage. Not the most exciting thing in the world, even for us.
  Diamante: (dryly) You don't say.
  Cross: I do say, I just did.
  (Doflamingo, Pica, Trebol, and Diamante jump)
  Cross: …And here's hoping that someone in the world actually said 'You don't say' in response to that.
  (Pica facepalms, Diamante growls, and Trebol and Doflamingo chuckle)
  Doflamingo: OK, that was funny.
  • He later plays it straight in Impel Downfall, when he reveals in the letter to Buggy that Luffy is in Impel Down to rescue his older brother Ace, that Ace is Roger's son, and that he knows the Clown was part of the Roger Pirates. Cross then tells Buggy to pick his jaw off the floor when the Chop-Chop user did just that.
• Tastes Like Chicken: Cross says this both for the elephant tuna that Sanji got in Loguetown and the Sandora Dragon that they grill up in Alabasta. He lampshades how very nonsensical it is in the latter instance.
• Taught by Experience: How does Chopper know how to throw scalpels so well? No, Kureha didn't teach him; he just examined all his memories of her throwing things at him, and replicating her technique.
• Tautological Templar: Vice Admiral Strawberry insists he could not possibly have wronged Koala because he is a Marine, justice embodied, and therefore, whatever actions she blames him for were just and his victim(s) got what they deserved.
• Tears of Joy:
  • In Chapter 14, Cross sheds a few after the Straw Hats learn everything he's been hiding from them but they still accept him anyway.
  • In the Omatsuri Island special, Shanks is sobbing after a full night of listening to the SBS, hearing the Straw Hats face down Lily Carnation, and finally hearing Luffy triumph.
  • The SBS's talk about tolerance and the stupidity of hatred for hatred's sake elicits these tears from both Koala and Jinbe, especially when the latter hears some fishchildren say how stupid racism is.
  • In Chapter 42, this is the abundant reaction when Merry lives.
  • In Chapter 47, Brook, Laboon, and Crocus all break down when they learn that the former is alive and the latter two are still waiting for him.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Cross attempts to invoke this trope when he meets Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine again by exposing Mr. 0's identity to them, putting them on Baroque Works' hit list too. Unfortunately, the Unluckies aren’t around to witness it, so all that it accomplishes is reaffirming their desires to kill him.
• Tempting Fate: All the time.
  • One notable instance in Chapter 9: when Vivi is trying to rouse the crew before dawn, Cross begs to be allowed to sleep if it's anything less than falling off the edge of the earth. Not long after that, the Grand Line draws their ship towards an Inevitable Waterfall.
  • Tsuru in Chapter 24, much to Sengoku's ire.
  • Cross of all people makes the cardinal sin to Murphy right before the Straw Hats accept an invitation to a certain festive island, when he says, "What's the worst that could happen?"
  • Spandam, in Chapter 39. Multiple times.
  • Right at the end of Chapter 41, Cross does so and considers afterward that he should have punched himself with his Impact Dial for doing so.
  • One not played for laughs: Cross exults after checking Ace's Vivre Card and finding it still intact, and celebrates over successfully stopping the Paramount War. At the end of the same chapter, he, Squard, and Whitey have been captured by the Marines courtesy of Aokiji giving Blackbeard an unexpected opening.
  • Robin does this near the end of Chapter 25, then again in Chapter 42. Lampshaded on the latter:
  Robin: Why did I open my mouth? I know better by now, so why?
  Lassoo: Infectious insanity?
  Robin: ...yes, that sounds about right.
  • In a canon Omake, Doflamingo states that after the show the Straw Hats put on at Enies Lobby, even after facing Big Mom and Kaido, and knowing that his underlings threw a party in his castle, he can't be bothered to do anything about it. That quickly changes when he sees that said party's guests are Red-Haired Shanks and his crew.
  • Lil Accino declares there's no way the captured Straw Hat pirates would be able to escape their icy prison, let alone find their coffers and loot them. Nami proves her wrong on both counts.
  • More than a few times in Chapter 46, from thinking that the wedding would actually go off alright at the start, to commenting that the chapel was still in one piece at the end of it.
  • In Chapter 47, it's even discussed by Cross giving a lecture on the SBS of everything not to say to tempt Murphy.
  • According to Gin, Krieg declared "Nothing can stop us now!" as they reached the peak of Reverse Mountain. Shortly afterward, they ran into Mihawk.
  • After recovering from his injuries, Lucci finds himself challenged by Captain T-Bone, for him and CP9 to join the New World Masons if he loses. Lucci accepts, thinking it'll be a short fight. No dice.
  • It doesn't take long for Cross to forget his own lecture though, as he proudly states that after Thriller Bark, his actions had already defused the biggest bomb to come and it'll be relatively smooth sailing from there on out.
    Nami: You, who gave a seminar just yesterday about taunting fate, and who just waved the mother of all red capes in fate's face.
    Zoro: You. Complete. Idiot.
  • In Strong World, Robin Face Palms multiple times when Bartolomeo asks how things can get worse.
  • After two very unexpected and confusing visitors to Takoyaki 8, the probationary employee Kuroobi utters, "First an old friend and ex-slave who became a Revolutionary, then a high-ranking member of a Warlord's crew, now all we need is a Marine walking in and this day will be perfect!" Guess who ends up walking in shortly after?
  • Tashigi declares that so long as she is a Marine, she will not set foot on the new pirate town of Skelter Bite. Cross's answer? Disguise her as a pirate and shanghai her onto the crew!
  • Bege invites Nami for a tour of his castle-body, obliquely challenging her by saying that stealing even a spare beri from him is impossible. Nami walks away with a single spare beri, along with Bege's respect.
  • Law tells Cross that he is numb to any more news he could drop on him. Cross tells him Sengoku is his grandfather.
  • Faced with a blindingly-fast skeleton swordsman and a freaking grizzly bear pirate in a cage match, Cross decides to gamble with Murphy to get him out by saying that things couldn't get worse. Hawkins obliges with a cursed sword combatant that sends everyone running for the hills when Zoro realizes he defeated his friend Saga to get it and decides to fight it himself.
  • After Luffy warns Buggy not to do so, Buggy decides to take it up to eleven with yelling that there's no one able to take down Luffy, that no other BioMEGAs will come, that no one else is going to attack Impel Down, and that he's living the best day of his life. The result? Both Saldeath and Smoker discovering him through the security and the Caribou Pirates and the World Pirates breaking into Impel Down.
    • The very next chapter, Luffy mentally likens the whole tirade to 'not just tempting fate, but challenging its manhood'.
  • Crocodile purposely invokes this by stating to move before anything else can go wrong, wanting to face the threat now before later while they're ready.
    Squard: Are you trying to make things bite us in the ass?!
    Crocodile: Yes, so that it happens now rather than later.
    Squard: ...fair point.
  • Subverted on the way out of Impel Down. Galdino says it's the perfect time to say 'nothing can stop us now'. Buggy retorts that if there is anything that can stop them now, they're heading straight for it.
• That Came Out Wrong:
  • When Cross learns Vice Admiral Jonathan conned Akainu, he cheerfully states he knows some people who'd love to hear that (MI4), only to realize his mistake when Jonathan suddenly becomes far more serious.
  • After hearing Cross give his analysis on how Capone Bege would fare against Luffy, Eustass Kid pipes up and asks Cross to "Do him". Cross enters a Heroic BSoD before Kid angrily clarifies himself, while his crewmates break down in hysterics.
• That Man Is Dead: In Chapter 60, when Kuroobi demands to know why was Koala was acting cold to him and Chew, she retorts that her friends, the Sun Pirates Chew and Kuroobi, died alongside Fisher Tiger, and before her were the Arlong Pirates that just happen to have the same faces and names.
• That's No Moon: While descending Reverse Mountain, the Straw Hats begin to see what they think is a mountain, much to Nami's confusion. Cross, finally remembering that particular arc, claims "That's no mountain". Sure enough, what the crew sees is the gigantic form of Laboon.
• That's What She Said: Defied. When Boss tells Cross that the dugongs will go in hard at a moment's notice, Raphey warns Mikey that she'll twist his head a full 360 degrees if he says this line.
• The Big Race: Kid decides to organize a Dead End Race to attract the required Cannon Fodder needed to break through a Naval Blockade.
• The Dead Can Dance: And with the only appropriate song playing courtesy of Soundbite, Cross can't help but join in. At least until Robin cuts in.
• The Ditz: With Vivi now having a permanent place on the crew due to her undeserved bounty, her tendency to act before remembering, considering, or displaying all available information is shown in a lot more detail. An example is how she mistranslated the sign language of an ancient civilization of octopi and got everyone mad at the crew because she failed to read through the whole translation book properly and thus didn't notice the particular dialect for people with joints.
• The Dog Bites Back:
  • Since all the Marines are tied up dealing with the aftermath of Enies Lobby, there is no one left to save Saint Jamolomew from his victims, bystanders, and his own entourage when they've all had enough of his blustering crap.
    One of Jamolomew's entourage: What this is... is Justice.
  • Milder example in that while his siblings and fellow disciples were practicing with Ranged Emergency Weapons, Leo was instead trying to develop Razor Wind with little success. Until that is, he gets his hands on Oto and Kogarashi, and he suddenly remembers all the ribbing his siblings gave him.
• The Door Slams You: Boa Sandersonia opens a trap door on the Sunny, with Boss on the wrong side of it.
• The Dreaded:
  • Upon seeing four of the weaker members of the Straw Hat crew in Enies Lobby, every Marine present freaks out.
  • The Florian Triangle. Even the Four Emperors know better than to actively antagonize it. Which is what keeps Big Mom from storming it to confront her daughter Lola who has since set up shop in there.
• The Faceless: Subverted; for the first twenty-one chapters and the Christmas Episode, the author gives no description what Cross looks like aside from his clothes, but he did have a picture before the story stated that he was around 6' (Chapter 26) with dirty blond hair (Chapter 22).
• The Gadfly: Soundbite. Also, B.R.O.B., the Bastard Random Omnipotent Being responsible for sending Cross into One Piece. Also Cross himself, to a SOMEWHAT lesser degree than Soundbite.
• The Knights Who Say "Squee!": After the Straw Hat Pirates show off the Gaon Cannon for the first time, amongst the Fanboy cheering, Jaw Drops, and Cluster F-Bomb reactions from their peers, Law is just gazing at the sight in star-struck awe.
• The Modest Orgasm: Nami of all people, when Cross tells her, during The Reveal, just how rich they'll get in the future. Her Money Fetish just gets more and more excited until she just can't take it anymore.
• The One Thing I Don't Hate About You: Lucci actually rather likes that Soundbite can make Hattori talk on his own.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Upon talking to T-Bone for the first time, Law says that if he gets the chance to take down Vergo before him, he can have it, but says in no uncertain terms that he won't allow anyone else to defeat Doflamingo. After receiving an "Ahem" from the Straw Hats present, Law concedes to let Luffy be the sole exception.
• The Password Is Always "Swordfish": Chapter 15, after Mr. 2 obtains Cross' face:
  Cross: PASSWORD! NOW!
  Zoro: Okay, how about 'Swordfish'?
  Cross: BETTER PASSWORD!
• The Penance: Cross feels like such a heel for lying to Vivi about the Rebel Army's location that while the crew is in Yuba, he joins Toto in digging up water and doesn't stop until he falls asleep on his feet. And when he wakes up, he would've kept on digging if Toto hadn't called him out.
• The Promise:
  • Cross makes the promise to keep Merry sailing with them when he first meets her Klabautermann. It's a rollercoaster of emotions and trials and many seemingly hopeless moments, but in the end, he does.
  • When Cross and Laki deny Aisa the chance to stowaway with the Straw Hats, she makes this vow as the crew is sailing away.
    Aisa: YOU WON'T STOP ME FOREVER! SOMEDAY, I'LL BECOME ONE OF THE STRAW HAT PIRATES, I PROMISE IT! I PROMISE!
• The Unintelligible: The beasts of Merveille. They're basically evolving so fast that their communication skills are completely foreign to regular animals like Soundbite or the other animal members of the Straw Hats. Soundbite can eventually translate them, but it takes some doing to get a handle on it.
• The Unreveal: Cross's post-Enies bounty amount, other than really, really big. Word of God is that they're waiting for Oda to release one of the Emperor's bounties in order to get a comparison.
  • With the reveal of the Emperors' bounties in Chapter 957 of the manga, the authors edited in Cross and Soundbite's bounty in Chapter 44 - ฿1.5 billion.
• The Voiceless: The Straw Hat crew eventually obtains a Visual Transponder Snail that they name Gif. Unlike normal Transponder Snails, Visuals can't speak and communicate entirely through facial expressions - transcribed in-story via text emoticons.
• The World Is Just Awesome: Cross has this reaction from time to time, such as when entering the Grand Line.
• There Can Be Only One: On Skelter Bite, this is Brook's attitude towards Cross, as the two of them are the only two single sword users in the crew, and challenges him to a duel. Turns out that it was just for show in order for Nami to make money on an exhibition match. Cross was still livid, though.
• There Is No Try: Defied in Chapter 8:
  Soundbite: I'll…try… (Death Glare) Quote Yoda AND DIE.
• These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know: However the hell Luffy can eat so much in the blink of an eye. An attempt to use Foxy's Slow-Slow powers on Luffy to see exactly how he did it forces B.R.O.B. to erase that piece of time from existence.
• This Cannot Be!:
  • Blueno and Fukuro get this reaction: Blueno when Sanji manages to affect the real world while locked in his door dimension (something that can only be done with incredible strength); Fukuro when Boss reveals that within half an hour, he's learned the Six Powers enough to replicate the Six King Gun.
  • Soundbite says as such when Moria's Devil Fruit Awakens.
• This Explains So Much: After being attacked by the Unluckies for a third time, Cross asks them what kind of hell did Crocodile dredge up to find them. Their response? Kuraigana Island. Cross comments that actually fits. In the Rainbow Mist episode, the Unluckies from Twelve Red Lines hear about what their counterparts did, and when they hear where they're from, agree that it explains it.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Very common.
  • Spoken word-for-word before Luffy rockets Cross, Zoro, Sanji, and himself onto the Merry in Loguetown.
  • Cross has a thought process like this as they draw nearer to Little Garden.
  • Cross has a similar thought process as he leaves the safety of his room to stall Wapol from being able to eat the royal armory or the giant cannon until Luffy arrives.
  • In order to get out of Kureha's extortionate medical bills, Cross makes a deal with her that if he can get the armory open, without using the key that Luffy destroyed in his fight with Wapol, without leaving his bed, within five minutes, she'll cancel all of the payments, let them go, and give them free access to the castle's food storage, and if he can't, he'll be her indentured servant for life. Kureha accepts the deal, and she visibly loses all hope as soon as Cross says two words:
    Cross: Hey Luffy!

  He then proceeds to tell Luffy that he can get a lot of food if he can break open those doors. One minute later, the armory doors have been obliterated. Two minutes later, Kureha reluctantly gives them directions to the pantry.

  • In Chapter 16, this happens to Cross…
    • When Smoker and Ace meet up with Luffy.
    • When Luffy begins fleeing from Smoker, and his rubber arm grabs Cross's shoulder.
    • When Luffy recommences fleeing from Smoker, grabbing Cross's ankle.
    • When Cross is about to tell Ace and Luffy that Sabo is alive, knowing that Ace won't believe him.
    • When Luffy decides to use Cross as a human flail to take out the Baroque Works Billions.
  • In Chapter 17, this is Cross's mental state as the crew approaches Yuba, knowing who Vivi is looking for there, knowing she'll not find them there, and knowing that he had lied to her face about it.
    Cross: Pray for me.
  • In Chapter 18, right before, yet again, Luffy grabs ahold of him and begins dragging him as he runs.
  • In Chapter 25, the vast majority of the crew has this reaction once they find out that Luffy has to win a surfing contest against an octopus to save their lives.
  • In Chapter 27, this happens...
    • When Leo realizes that Zoro, who hasn't had a proper swordsmen spar in ages, is about to spar with him.
    • When Vivi and Carue begin to regret their decision of sparring with the Kung-Fu Dugongs.
    • When Donny, who is sparring with Nami, realizes what could happen if Sanji catches him.
    Leo/Donny/Carue: I'm/We're gonna diiiie...
  • In Chapter 30, even after bravely delivering his "The Reason You Suck" Speech while being subjected to Electric Torture by an increasingly frustrated Enel and spitting in his face in response to his final offer to repent, Cross cannot help but flinch before 100 million volts about to be put through him.
  • In Chapter 35, this is quoted...
    • ...by Soundbite when Aokiji challenges Cross to Break Him By Talking.
    • ...by Cross before Chopper explains that his Monster Point was originally controlled by his unconscious mind... which now isn't so unconscious any more.
  • In Chapter 39, Jabra deliberately stomps on Luffy's Berserk Button and has just long enough to think "I just fucked up." before Luffy gives him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
  • In Chapter 40, Tsuru thinks this when she decides to throw in her lot with the clandestine Marine coalition she was looking into to clean up the Marines' act, only to find out what kind of insanity she's stepping into.
  Tsuru: ...bother.
  • In Chapter 41, Carue states this verbatim when he realizes that Funkfreed isn't a Mighty Glacier but a Lightning Bruiser.
  • In Chapter 48, the Marine taskforce created to deal with the Straw Hats adjourns their meeting as soon as the SBS starts with Rear Admiral Brannew outright saying they were giving the eulogy of another island.
  • Quoted by Cross and Conis when Chopper details his plan for neutralizing Oars.
  • Pappug gets this when he hears that Sanji and Hachi are about to serve both Luffy and Jewelry Bonney.
  • Magellan in Chapter 78 when Luffy tells him that the leader of the other break-in is a D like him.
• This Means War!: Listening to the horror happening on the secret island, has virtually every superpower in the world, from Whitebeard, to Ace, to Dragon, gunning to sink the island into the sea, with the Marines planning on sending every Buster Call they have to make sure. And even that pales in the face of Garp's rage.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Cross has a notable aversion to actually killing anyone. He panics initially taking down a Baroque Works Mook in Whiskey Peak, and a Marine Mook in Alabasta, until he confirms that they're alive. It's solidified, however, when he has Mr. 13 at his mercy, the assassin having just tried to kill him. Even considering the fact that he's just an otter ultimately isn't enough, and he settles for simply knocking him out...albeit brutally. Chapter 37 reveals that he's well aware of the fact that he'll need to kill one day, but he refuses to let the Unluckies be the ones that drive him to it.
  • This is eventually invoked twice in Sabaody. First by the slaver doctor who calls Conis's bluff that the Straw Hats never kill their enemies. However, Chopper threatens him with a Fate Worse than Death by being his guinea pig and he quickly cooperates. Next is when Cross reveals himself to a slaver crew and the leader calls his bluff on it. Cross, however, retorts saying that not all present are Straw Hats and reveals one of them to be Eustass Kid, who would be more than happy to kill him. The slavers surrender.
• Threat Backfire: The World Government has decided to find Cross's homeland and destroy it with a Buster Call if the Straw Hats don't turn themselves over to the government. Everyone in the know that Cross is from another world starts laughing themselves sick at the idea, even Robin.
• Timber!: Soundbite yells "Timber!" when Luffy causes him and Cross to fall out of a tree upon first meeting him.
• Tired of Running:
  • After having his country yanked around through the machinations of a Warlord and the negligence of the World Government, Vivi's persecution and bounty is the last straw for Cobra, and through a Rousing Speech, declares Alabasta's secession from the World Government.
  • Watching her mistress be oppressed by a cruel God for several long years, as well as watching her be forced to send innocent people off to be smitten, once she gets the chance to talk without any chance of Enel hearing her, Conis's pet fox Su lets out everything she wants to say, declares Enel a tyrant, and begs the Straw Hats to defeat him.
• Title Drop: Plenty, courtesy of Cross:
  • In the first chapter, after Soundbite chomps on his rearend, Cross weakly says "It's offical. This Bites...".
• To Be Continued... Right Now: In Chapter 36, after Merry heartbreakingly confirmed she was going to die, it seemed like the chapter would end there on a cliffhanger, then the writers pull an Oda-style troll and add a Part 2, stating that while the cliffhanger is their style, the chapter still wasn't long enough.
• To the Pain: Before carving into Cross, mad scientist Chopper explains exactly what he's going to do.
  • Cross lists off his ideas on how he'll torture Spandam to the man. It's enough to impress the wardens of Impel Down, and leaves Sadi giddily taking notes!
    Cross: ...and then I would make you eat the salsa.
  • Moria screaming these at the Straw Hats is the least of his Villainous Breakdown.
• Together in Death: Luffy has Brief and Papa Tearoom bury Baron Omatsuri with his crew, stating that he was alone in life but shouldn't have to be alone in death.
• Toilet Humor: Even discounting Cross's biscuit problem, there was the incident of him getting Primal Cholera that was the reason for going to Drum in this timeline, and an incident involving his face, the camel Eyelashes, and Luffy mistaking it for chocolate.
• Too Dumb to Live:
  • Cross's thoughts on why one of the Baroque Works moles in the Royal Army tattooed the company's emblem on his shoulder. The defeated soldier says it was a combination of a lot of alcohol, a lot of boredom, and the fact that nobody is supposed to know about Baroque Works in the first place.
  • Spandam. The man kept a black book for CP9's operations just to stroke his own ego. The fact that he hid it in a safe doesn't detract from this — the book shouldn't even exist, seeing as CP9 is a covert black ops unit whose own existence isn't even officially recognized as far the World Government is concerned. All reports should have been summarily destroyed once confirmed. Once Cross finds it, it becomes the whistleblowing equivalent of a Golden Transponder Snail.
  • A crew that Foxy assimilated decided to commit a mutiny... but were such sticklers for protocol and following rules that they informed Foxy that they were going to be committing the mutiny three days in advance. Foxy promptly thrashed them and sent them off to help build Skelter Bite so that they'd be out of his hair for a little while, help build the new Pirate Town, and perhaps gain some common sense.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • In Chapter 19, when Tashigi asks Cross if there's any way to break Mr. 3's wax, he informs her that the only swordsmen capable of cutting anything are those capable of cutting nothing. A short while later, after Mr. 3 impales her, she manages to figure out what that means, cutting through Mr. 3 and his wax to defeat him.
  • Vivi and Carue, after joining the Straw Hats full-time, have new weapons made for them by Usopp, a pair of crescent chain-scythes named Lion Cutters for Vivi and armor, including wing and talon-blades, for Carue.
  • Luffy unlocks a prototype Gear Second (Gear 1.5) as far back as Skypiea.
    • And a prototype Gear Third (Gear 2.5) as far back as Navarone.
    • And Armament Haki at the climax of Enies Lobby.
  • Leo learns how to cut steel when Donny suggests that Mikey be the new leader of the TDWS.
  • Nami gets her hands on Ohm's Eisen Whip full of Iron Cloud, and eventually becomes one of the Supernovas.
  • All over during the Enies Lobby Arc:
    • Boss learns and develops his Full-Shell Style, his version of the Six Powers. Even the Six King Gun.
    • Usopp and Carue both learn how to Shave.
    • Soundbite Awakens the Noise-Noise Fruit.
    • Vivi awakens a Compelling Voice that is shortly thereafter confirmed to be a variation of Conqueror's Haki.
  • Villainous example: after waking up and finding his zombie army annihilated, Moria's Devil Fruit does some Awakening of its own.
  • Near the end of the Grand Line, Cross has grown into this, when he takes down the entirety of the Amigo Pirates on his own with minimal assistance from his Devil Fruit partners.
  • In Chapter 57, Vivi crosses the Godzilla Threshold and eats her Gust-Gust Fruit Secret Weapon, becoming an air Logia.
  • Chapter 78, Whitey Bay finds and kills Madame Hiruno (who made Level 5 of Impel Down even colder than it already was), then takes and devours the regenerated Cold-Cold Fruit.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Due to the conveniently timed SBS broadcast, Boa Hancock spares Marguerite after the latter reasons that she has Devil Fruit powers and that it was due to a Dark and Troubled Past. Thinking about the whole thing more, she realizes just how many of the World Nobles' habits she and her sisters had adopted, and decides she should listen to Elder Nyon and seek therapy.
• Totem Pole Trench: In Chapter 69, Leo and Donny do this when the Straw Hats infiltrate the Auction House. Cross thought the gag was too silly to use in such a situation, but he relented to allow them.
• Town with a Dark Secret: Cross describes Sabaody as such after the chilling transmission within the Rip-off Bar as it is the center of the OP world's slave trade despite its "bubbly" appearance and its many tourist attractions.
• Tragic Keepsake:
  • While they aren't actually his, Robin wore cowboy hats to remember Jaguar D. Saul and used them as a source of strength.
  • Nami reveals she kept the old shirt she got as a hand-me-down from Nojiko as it was the last gift Bellemere gave her.
• Training from Hell: As soon as Cross has it hammered home exactly how dangerous being an ordinary human in a World of Badass is, he begins training under Zoro, who proves to be a Drill Sergeant Nasty. Not long after that, he ropes Usopp (and Carue) into joining him and persuades Sanji to train Nami and Vivi. Post-Enies, however, the crew seems to train on their own.
• Training Montage: This is shown while Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper are looking for the South Bird and Masira is busy upgrading the Merry: Zoro and Leo spar to both see how Leo can improve and give Zoro a good fight, Sanji and Boss spar to break in Boss's new weapon, Vivi and Carue spar with Raphey and Mikey to help get the former used to their new weapons, Donny helps Nami with her staff-fighting, Robin "weight-lifts" using her extra arms, Shoujou helps Soundbite hone his Gastro-Blast technique, and Cross goes running with Lassoo in his bazooka form to get used to the weight.
  • In Chapter 35, after gaining knowledge on future techniques and other info that they can use to get stronger from Cross, they enter another one: Zoro perfects the Nine Sword Style: Asura technique and works on Iron Body; Sanji works on Diable Jambe, Tempest Kick, Moonwalk, and Shave; Conis figures out just how much of a Walking Arsenal she can become while Su makes sure she doesn't overload herself; Lassoo joins them; Usopp and Nami work out how to integrate the Eisen Whip into the now Perfect Clima-Tact; Cross tests his new armor and general fighting style with Mikey and Donny's help, the remaining dugongs train in their own way, and Vivi and Carue are...running laps while presumably working with the necklace they gained in Alabasta. Luffy, notably, is absent for the first half of this regime because he's rendered unconscious by Chopper, who worked to lessen, if not outright prevent, the lasting effects that Gear Second or its prototype will have on Luffy.
• Tranquil Fury:
  • In Chapter 2, Cross displays this to Luffy shortly after joining his crew, his face expressionless as he issues a very cold speech threatening to maim him if he steals his meat. To everyone's awe, it works.
  • In Chapter 17, let's just say Vivi's not happy when she finds out that Cross lied to her about where the Rebel Army was in Alabasta.
  • In Chapter 30, Captain T-Bone displays this when talking about the person who sold out his men to Akainu. It's Vergo.
  • In Chapter 32, Jessica finding out that her husband has been throwing out the food she's made leaves her speaking in a tone described as the eye of a hurricane.
  • Three, very notable examples in Chapter 39, all from the SBS broadcasting the Ohara incident, and Spandam taunting Robin afterward:
    • Tashigi goes past horrified and disgusted and reaches the point that she can't feel anything but cold rage.
    • Luffy reaches a whole new level of calmness...which, for him and in this case, is downright scary.
    • Lassoo's reaction is a very steady, "I'm going to eat him."
  • In Chapter 44, Sengoku makes very clear to Akainu that the only reason he's not in the middle of an Unstoppable Rage is that he's too old to do so without heart problems. Nonetheless, he is furious and all but begging Akainu to give him a reason to lock the admiral away.
  • This is Cross' countenance walking into Shiki's throne room for the final confrontation, and Smoker and Tashigi are unsettled at how merciless he looks.
  • Cross is very calm at the start of his argument with Kuroobi and Chew, after the former calls him a Hypocrite for associating with the Marines despite all his talk on the SBS.
    • And Koala, who they still consider a friend and who knows full well of what they did on Conomi Island, goes full-on Ice Queen when finally talking directly to them.
• Trauma Conga Line: Happens to Kuroobi and Chew of all people. They learn Queen Otohime was not killed by a human but rather a fishman that looked up to them, that their misanthropic speeches against humans were responsible for turning that same fishman and his friends into humanity-hating monsters who did the first-mentioned action to destroy any chance of peace between humans and fishmen, and topped off with Koala, the only human they considered a friend, berating them for their bigoted actions and telling them they are no longer friends.
• Trust Password:
  • After the initial encounter with Mr. 2, Cross forms one of these with the rest of the crew, and makes it twofold for extra security. It's utilized in Chapter 21:
    Nami: Who is the second greatest traveler in the world?
    Cross: That would be Pandaman, ranking right below Gol D. Roger!
    Nami: Wrong answer! Pandaman doesn't exist.
    Cross: That's a lie! Pandaman is real, just like the great Goda!
  • Cross finds himself negotiating an armistice with the Sea Kings, and wanting to extend their armistice to his Divine allies in the Marines, the Elder asks for one to identify themselves. Cross has two that also double as a Wham Line for the Elder: "Joy Boy". It finally gets used when Smoker and Tashigi are defending Impel Down from a Sea King attack.
• Twisted Echo Cut: Immediately after Trafalgar Law states that Luffy's fight with Lily Carnation isn't over—this being after Luffy was caught in the middle of a Rain of Arrows—the story cuts to Basil Hawkins wondering how could it possibly not be over despite being many miles away. Law was using Awesome by Analysis while Hawkins was using Tarot Troubles to reach the same conclusion.