Dr. Hogback
From One Piece Encyclopedia
| Dr. Hogback | |
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| Japanese Name: | ドクトル･ホグバック |
| Romanized Name: | Dokutoru Hogubakku |
| English Name: | Dr. Hogback[1] |
| First Appearance: | Chapter 446; Episode 340 |
| Affiliations: | Mysterious Four |
| Occupations: | Doctor |
| Japanese VA: | Hiroshi Iwasaki |
Dr. Hogback (ドクトル･ホグバック Dokutoru Hogubakku?) is a skilled surgeon, who gained fame through saving thousands of lives with his miracle operations. His mysterious disappearance led many believe he had been kidnapped, his name eventually fading into legend. However, in truth he had met the pirate Gecko Moria, who offered him the use of his powers, in exchange for his help in creating an undead army. He resides in his mansion in front of the main mast of Moria's ship, Thriller Bark. He is primarily responsible for creating the zombiefied bodies of all the creatures that reside on Thriller Bark. Hogback is one of the major antagonists of the Thriller Bark arc, and one of the Mysterious Four.
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[edit] Appearance
| “ | Oh yes, and he also said that he would love for you to give one of your special belly dances at the banquet one hour from now.
-Hildon to Hogback[2] | ” |
Hogback has a rotund body shape which contrasts sharply with his extremely thin limbs. He wears a fishnet vest, purple leather pants, a large dark tie, and a pair of purple gloves, which cover his long claw-like fingers. He also wears a white doctors mask under his chin, to highlight his status. Hogback's nose resembles that of beak, his sharp pointed teeth and ears also augment his slightly monstrous visage. His mouth is usually etched in a permanent grin, along with a scar that starts from one corner of the smile, goes above his eyes and ends at the other side of his mouth. On the left side of his neck is a black tattoo consisting of two slashes that goes down to two swirls found side-by-side on his shoulder. Hogback also wears a pair of very small black gold-rimmed sunglasses. His black hair is slicked black. Its style has changed over the years. Ten years ago, his hairstyle had a small swirl sticking out from his front. Five years ago, his hairstyle was tied in a knot in the back. Hogback also wears a violet feathery cape that is black on the inside.[3] Though at other times, Hogback is seen wearing more appropriate attire when conducting surgery.
[edit] Personality
Hogback is immensely arrogant and is extremely proud of his reputation as a genius. However, despite curing numerous people with his abilities, Hogback considers his patients a necessary nuisance in order to acquire greater wealth and power. His personality contrasts sharply with that of Chopper's, which leads to eventual conflicts between the two.
Hogback also believes that through the use of Moria's power he has finally managed to overcome death, restoring corpses to life as his zombified slaves. Hogback dismisses the fact that the personality of the zombie is vastly different from the way they acted in life. He cares little for the fate of his undead creations or the people whose shadows were stolen to create them. Despite insisting they are alive, Hogback has no respect for his creations, viciously demeaning the re-animated Victoria Cindry during his fight with Chopper and Robin.
Hogback was an obsessive fan of the famous celebrity, Victoria Cindry, to the point of giving up his medical career out of depression when she died. After allying himself with Moria, Hogback dug up her corpse and re-animated it using the shadow of another woman. However, when her revived corpse was given a different personality from when she was alive, Hogback revealed that he shallowly cared only for her physical beauty. Despite his "love" for her, Hogback was not above abusing her, and brutally treats her like a slave.
Hogback's overall personality is comparable to that of the Mad Scientist archetype commonly found in other works of fiction. Like many of the One Piece Characters, he has a distinct laughter. His is "Fosfosfosfos".
A gag in the anime is that every time he starts a dramatic speech or conducts a theory, Cindry walks in front of him and blocks him from the viewers, causing him to panic slightly.
[edit] Abilities and Powers
Hogback is a surgeon whose knowledge of the body and skills are astonishing; with this profession, he was able to treat and cure practically every patient who ever came to him. During his career, he cared for anyone who came to him, which brought him fame and fortune. His incredible skills allowed him to create the many creatures on Thriller Bark and even merge some beasts together to strengthen them. He is also responsible for increasing Absalom's fighting potential.
Of the Mysterious Four, he is the only one who has no abilities that give him a fighting edge (he is also the only one to not have a Devil Fruit ability). He relies on the zombies he created to fight for him; however, he does not have absolute command over them. Gecko Moria is their true master, so Hogback only has command over them if Moria allows it.
[edit] History
[edit] The Genius Surgeon and the Tragic Actress
Hogback was once a genius surgeon renowned for saving thousand of lives with his miracle operations. He was also a big fan of Victoria Cindry, a famous actress, for many years. However, his love for her was unrequited as she refused to marry him when he proposed to her (she already had a fiance). One day, ten years ago, Cindry died in an accident. Hogback was so deeply saddened by the incident that he left his profession. It was around that time that he then met Gecko Moria, who promised Hogback to help him bring Cindry back to life. Hogback then stole Cindry's corpse and together with Moria's Kage Kage no Mi powers, produced a zombie created from Cindry's remains. Since then, Hogback decided to work for Gecko Moria by stitching up more bodies to be created as zombies.[4]
[edit] Thriller Bark arc
Hogback, along with the zombies under his control, had subdued Robin and Chopper. He was then asked about Chopper concerning what he was actually doing on Thriller Bark. Hogback then explained his past to Chopper and why he was using his skills to help Moria.[4] The fight was interrupted by Oars destroying the main mast. During the giant zombie's rampage, Hogback was pinned under a fallen piece of ceiling. Hogback pleaded with Cindry to save him, but Cindry's memories of her former life had been rekindled by Chopper, and she simply stood and smiled as Oars' massive foot seemingly crushed both of them.[5] Hogback was later shown to be alive but bruised and was seen waking Absalom up and announcing to him that Gecko Moria has been defeated.[6]
[edit] Major Battles
[edit] Trivia
- Dr. Hogback's apparent demise when Oars seemed to crush him is a reflection on the end of many mad scientists in horror. The madman was destroyed by his own creation as a form of irony.
- He is also the only member of the Mysterious Four to not use a Devil Fruit.
[edit] References
- ↑ Shonen Jump December 2009 Issue
- ↑ One Piece Manga - Vol.48 Chapter 460, Hildon relays Absalom's request if Hogback would do a belly dance for his wedding banquet.
- ↑ One Piece Manga - Vol. 47, Hogback's colorscheme is revealed on the cover.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 One Piece Manga - Chapter 468, Hogback's past with Cindry and Gecko Moria is explained before Chopper and Robin.
- ↑ One Piece Manga - Chapter 469, Hogback's and Cindry are seemingly crushed by Oars.
- ↑ One Piece Manga - Chapter 483, Hogback is alive but bruised, wakes Absalom up
[edit] External Links
- Mad Scientist - Wikipedia article about the character type
- Victor Frankenstein - Wikipedia article about the famous fictional scientist
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