Contemporary One Piece fans likely to remember Monkey D. Luffy's incredible battles against figures like Charlotte Katakuri, Donquixote Doflamingo, and most recently, Luffy's miraculous victory over Kaido at the conclusion of the Wano Arc. After all this time, it's easy to forget about Luffy's earlier victories in the series, but at the time, those battles were instrumental in his journey toward becoming the next King of the Pirates. A major example of an instrumental conflict from early in One Piece is Luffy's ongoing effort to vanquish Sir Crocodile in the Alabasta saga.

In many ways, Luffy's feud with Crocodile was a major step forward in his journey as a shonen hero. Until then, Luffy had fought small fry like Captain Kuro and Don Krieg, so Crocodile — a Warlord of the Sea — represented a whole new class of strength when the pair fought. Luffy's continuous efforts to fight Crocodile represented...