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rainsometimesReposting old stuff from Tumblr, somewhat edited.
Something I find interesting about Blackbeard in One Piece: on the one hand, he's the only D we've seen so far in the series who's shown as legit afraid of dying and ready to plead for his life. (While Luffy's shown some fear as well, it's more of a momentary thing on the surface, while his acceptance of danger and smile in the face of death runs deeper.)
On the other hand, this less than heroic attitude of Blackbeard's hasn't seem to hinder him any. Normally, in an action-oriented shonen narrative like this one, being fearful of physical harm tends to hold characters back and/or make them commit mistakes. This has been true for both sympathetic characters like the early Coby (and on-again, off-again for Usopp) and for profoundly unsympathetic characters like Spandam, whose cowardice hinders him almost as much as his refusal to realise his own flaws does.
Not so for Blackbeard. Maybe eventually that will happen - I wouldn't be surprised - but so far this tendency of his hasn't stopped him from laying out his plans or carrying them out. If anything, it seems to work for him, as it makes him more assiduous about planning well before making his move, waiting patiently for the right moment to strike.
Of course, it should still be noted he's got to have a lot of basic courage anyway to do what he does and move in the very high-stake circles where he goes. And he does show acceptance of the possibility of pain with the use of his Devil Fruit. Still, his attitude towards danger and death nevertheless makes him stand out from other characters with D in their names, as does his unabashedly treacherous nature.
Something I find interesting about Blackbeard in One Piece: on the one hand, he's the only D we've seen so far in the series who's shown as legit afraid of dying and ready to plead for his life. (While Luffy's shown some fear as well, it's more of a momentary thing on the surface, while his acceptance of danger and smile in the face of death runs deeper.)
On the other hand, this less than heroic attitude of Blackbeard's hasn't seem to hinder him any. Normally, in an action-oriented shonen narrative like this one, being fearful of physical harm tends to hold characters back and/or make them commit mistakes. This has been true for both sympathetic characters like the early Coby (and on-again, off-again for Usopp) and for profoundly unsympathetic characters like Spandam, whose cowardice hinders him almost as much as his refusal to realise his own flaws does.
Not so for Blackbeard. Maybe eventually that will happen - I wouldn't be surprised - but so far this tendency of his hasn't stopped him from laying out his plans or carrying them out. If anything, it seems to work for him, as it makes him more assiduous about planning well before making his move, waiting patiently for the right moment to strike.
Of course, it should still be noted he's got to have a lot of basic courage anyway to do what he does and move in the very high-stake circles where he goes. And he does show acceptance of the possibility of pain with the use of his Devil Fruit. Still, his attitude towards danger and death nevertheless makes him stand out from other characters with D in their names, as does his unabashedly treacherous nature.