So is Blackbeard evil or what?

[mysteryguy12]

Is it just me, or is Blackbeard one of the most bewildering characters in the entirety of this series? For the life of me, I can't figure out where his loyalties lie. Is he he good? Is he evil? Is he just trying to stir things up? Or does he have some kind of terrible master plan in store for the world? Let's take a look at the stats:

Bad points:
---Killed a former nakama in order to get the Yami Yami no Mi. (thats a big one)
---Sent Ace to Impel Down in order to get into the Shichibukai.
---Crew has murdered people for no reason. Like the doctor and his apples back in Jaya, or the sniper and those seagulls for no reason at all. And Laffitte is supposedly known for his brutality.

Good points
---Respect for another man's dreams (big one in the One Piece Universe in my opinion)
---Cares about his current crew. At least enough to shield them from Ace's attacks and tell them to back off so they'll survive.

Neutral or WTF points:
---Showed up at Impel Down and beat up some marines. Doesn't seem to be hostile toward the rest of the rebellion yet.
---Has the powers of Darkness. Sounds like the epitome of evil, but doesn't actually mean anything in specific.

So with all that, I've composed a three theories.
Number one: Blackbeard is evil. He owes allegiance to no one and has an intricate and genius plan to do something big and huge in the future for his own gain. He used Whitebeard to get the fruit, perhaps he is using the Marines and his Shichibukai status to gain something else and for some reason at this point he doesn't need them anymore which is why he is turning on them and attacking Impel Down. He and his crew will manipulate events from behind the scenes, such as bringing Whitbeard in a clash with the World Government, splitting the Yonkou and causing havoc and somehow, he will rise above it and achieve something great.

Number 2: Blackbeard is good. In spite of everything, the cunning man is hoping to set the world straight somehow. He has killed nakama for his goals and even sent Ace to prison in order to break in himself and somehow instigate a riot. Perhaps he even works for the revolutionaries and has been working behind the scenes all this time. He still has a great and intricate plan, only he seeks no power from it, but instead hopes to create something great.

Number 3: He just wants to have fun! This age of piracy is too boring for him and he wants to shake things up! Once he has his favorite fruit, he goads Whitebeard into fighting the World Government, gets Shanks and Kaidou to duke it out, release all the prisoners from Impel Down. Hell, that sounds like a pretty shook up world to me. And he loves it!

But I have no idea. They could all be true or it could be something totally different. I have no idea...but I can't wait to find out. What do you guys think?

 

[BlackHair]

BB is a man who lives for his dream to become PK. Just like Luffy. U can't call that being evil. Yet in his case, he does things ruthless. Such as killing his own nakama to get the fruit or rampaging at drum island for yet unknown reasons. Luffy wouldn't do such sort of things.

To become PK, he gathered strong companion. Which he needs for his dream. That would explain his care for the crew. Also I don't think he cares for Luffy's dream. He just protected himself, since Bellamy called ppl who live for their dreams stupid (context).

He knows the world and knows how it works, that's why he took side with the WG, to shield his ass from WB and marines. He is a planner, thus his current intrude in ID must have some sort of reason.

Anyway he is a pirate who would do everything to become the PK. Well and everything means without morale, therefore he is the perfect opposite from Luffy. Who wants to be the PK, who has morals and a own view of justice. Now comparing BB with Luffy he is evil - the antagonist. Actually every pirate is evil in the one piece world.

btw we have already a Blackbeard thread.

 

[Onomatopoeia]

Well evil is such a vague term, what exactly makes you evil? Killing a person because of greed should alone make you evil. Hell being a pirate in its own right should make you evil (Luffy evil *gasp*).

And yet here we have this thread.In the end whether BB is evil or not depends on what you think and how you define the term. However, one thing I'm quite sure of is that BB doesn't see himself as evil. In fact he probably scoffs at the term.

If anything I would argue that BB is a more chaotic character then simply being defined as good or evil. He's not doing this for the sake of being evil he's doing all this for his dreams like Luffy but he's taking a different path then Luffy. In the end it's all for his dream, he isn't interested in simple terms like good or bad.

I don't really have time to do this thread justice so I'll probablly post later to give a more detailed viewpoint on this.

 

[bittman]

As said above: Define evil

In the scale of evil in One Piece however, where the Gorousei and Tenryuubito are a 10 and Chopper is a 0, Blackbeard would be a 7.

I'm sure somewhere in there beats the heart of a good man and proud middle-initial-D, however he reaches his ambition through means you could tag as evil. Deceit, theft, murder and betrayal are just some of the boxes he could tick. Still, despite being a man who can be classed as evil, his dreams can be easily paralleled to that of our pure protagonist Luffy.

For the purpose of One Piece, if you only class things as good neutral and evil, then Blackbeard is evil I suppose.

And yeah, Blackbeard thread + final boss discussions are good reads for this type of topic.

 

[ofir271]

the way i see it its more about different ways.luffy and BB.
even their goal is different.maybe the name is the same but pirate king in luffys world is about freedom,while in BB world its somthing powerfull of a ceotic nature.
luffy doesnt see himself as the center of the world.he is flexible by nature and need a brigt world to florish.bb in the ather hand seems drker by nature and more self cenrured.they are both selfish but luffy s selfish is about helping his friends cause they are dear to him while BB doent seem to care too much about that.
i like BB just prefer luffys way.BB like advantures, he is acting on a wimp,he got that huge pirate spirit and he doesnt seem to be mean.
he is not evel by that sence of wanting to heart people or holding grudge.he take things more lithly and seem to enjoy life,in a way that mean poeple dont.

so my answer is that he is not evil but his dids may cause a lot of unnessacerry pain to others.

 

[Razh]

If I'd have to choose his alignment, I'd say he's chaotic neutral, if it weren't for the fact that he planned in advance. But he's pretty close to it, with the fate stuff and all.
He doesn't kill just for the sake of it, like that Shiryuu guy. He mentioned that killing Satchi was a spur of the moment. Doesn't necessarily mean that he is evil, even though some of his actions are.

So yeah, I'd say he's an chaotic neutral guy with a plan.

 

[GreyEidolon]

Well, in my opinion (which is really all it comes down to), he is evil. I mean, granted, he's jovial and lovable, but he's also a power-hungry nakamacidal oppurtunist. And I don't understand how anyone can suggest that killing in order to gain power is at all more noble than killing for the fun of it. The end result is the same.

Perhaps he's not the most evil dude in all of One Piece, but he's up there. At least in my eyes.

 

[Razh]

And I don't understand how anyone can suggest that killing in order to gain power is at all more noble than killing for the fun of it. The end result is the same.

It depends on the environment. If you're going to be a pirate you have to be aware that you might have to take lives in battle. Doesn't necessarily mean that you're evil.
Even Luffy and Zoro never worried too much in some of their battles. They fought with a lethal force. Luffy didn't pull back his punches so Lucci would survive. Zoro was using his best techniques in every battle.

As far as we know, Blackbeard only killed one man. And he said it was a spur of the moment.
There's a big difference between him and Doflamingo, for example, because that guy is obviously evil. Made one of his subordinates kill his own friend because the latter disappointed him.

 

[GreyEidolon]

The problem isn't that Blackbeard killed, it's that he killed someone because they had something he wanted. Not to defend or save anyone, not because he was provoked, because he wanted that power. Spur of the moment or not, it happened, he did it and he does not seem remorseful.

Though I agree, what Doflamingo did was comparatively more cruel.

 

[Razh]

Spur of the moment or not, it happened, he did it and he does not seem remorseful.

Yeah, that's why I'm leaning towards the chaotic neutral alignment.

 

[zelllogan]

BB is a psychopath for whom neutral, good and evil have no meaning.

 

[cheaptrick]

bb in 2 words: evil luffy

 

[Rotten The Wizard]

hm, I'd just say He's an opportunist. He's displayed some values and principles so you cant really tag him as an evil bastard.

He's just an opportunist. He doesnt wish to rule or terrorize, he just wants fame and fortune (OP).


and By that, Oda is a genius.

 

[gao_dargon]

bb in 2 words: evil luffy

ya i get you, but not so much as evil, but he has another sense of freedom and fun, also he does makes plans, wich Luffy don't

 

[Franckie]

BB's "evil" in the sense he's willing to sacrifice a nakama to achieve his goals. That's the key difference between him and Luffy.

 

[Gecko Moria]

BB's "evil" in the sense he's willing to sacrifice a nakama to achieve his goals. That's the key difference between him and Luffy.

It's no wonder he has a crew of equally vicious individuals. Shiryuu (the former chief warden who slaughtered many prisoners in Impel Down in cold blood), Van Auger (killing seagulls for enjoyment), Lafitte (who was known to be a very violent policeman). However, as others have said, Blackbeard is not evil in the sense of "murderer" evil. He has dreams that he aims to achieve (like Luffy) and would do anything to achieve those dreams.

 

[gao_dargon]

It's no wonder he has a crew of equally vicious individuals. Shiryuu (the former chief warden who slaughtered many prisoners in Impel Down in cold blood), Van Auger (killing seagulls for enjoyment), Lafitte (who was known to be a very violent policeman). However, as others have said, Blackbeard is not evil in the sense of "murderer" evil. He has dreams that he aims to achieve (like Luffy) and would do anything to achieve those dreams.

And Fighter was kicking mayor but just for fun, pumelling his oponets down and laughin about it, and the doctor was giving exploding apples to random ppl on the street just to test their "luck and fate", so yeah they are vicious, but if you think about it, wile they were doing that, BB himself was just enjoying some pay and a drink, so that gives you mixed thoughts about him


P.D I think Shiryuu was vice chief

 

[Lord Rayleigh]

BB is not evil, his objective is not to do the worst possible things he could do, he is just a guy that cares about himself and his dreams.
I think that what he said during the ID incident defines him well : " This talk of justice and evil, no matter where you search, there's no answer to be found. "
He thinks by and for himself and feels free and does not care if his behavior is said to be evil or immoral.

 

[gao_dargon]

BB is not evil, his objective is not to do the worst possible things he could do, he is just a guy that cares about himself and his dreams.
I think that what he said during the ID incident defines him well : " This talk of justice and evil, no matter where you search, there's no answer to be found. "
He thinks by and for himself and feels free and does not care if his behavior is said to be evil or immoral.

that my friend strikes me as a very selfish and egotistic person, perhaps even megalomaniac, and if he es enough of any of thouse things to kill a nakama, then that to me es evil, he might not be intentianly evil (like many american comics villasn who take pleasure in being bad) but evil is evil non the less

 

[Lord Rayleigh]

Yes, but he will not do bad things if he has not got some good personal reasons. That is the main difference with the classical pirates that kill and destroy for pleasure.
And he has a smart behavior, just remember in Jaya, he was not like Bellamy for example. But people do not say Bellamy is evil.