Zoro

my very first favorite, back from when i first watched live action one piece. this guy is a stone cold ride or die badass (and has definitely almost died lots of times)

• Why I Love Him: he has the most epic fights 2nd only to luffy. Zoro vs. Mr. 1? Zoro vs. Pica? some of my all time favorite one piece fights.
  
  i also like that it's zoro's job to make sure the crew isn't fucking around, pirate-wise. like in Water 7 when he told luffy he would leave the crew if luffy accepted usopp back without an apology? it was cold-hearted, but it wasn't for nothing. he was thinking about the crew's safety and wasn't afraid to say the truth, which is badass.
• Nitpicks: i wish we knew more about his backstory.

Robin

robin overtook zoro as my favorite character the very instant she joined the crew. the thought of having such a mysterious, dangerous, and frankly untrustworthy character on the ship as an ally was incredibly exciting, plus she's the star of my all time favorite arc: WATER 7.

Why I Love Her: the flower-flower fruit is easily one of my favorite devil fruits, and she uses it in so many creative ways. it's also cool that she's such an important person that keeping her as part of the crew automatically raises the crew's collective notoriety.

at the end of the day tho i'm just in love with her autistic stoicism. her constant smile and morbid jokes make me laugh.

Nitpicks: she really needs more fights!

Franky

the other star of Water 7, is unsurprisingly also another one of my favorites. franky is just a delight. he's positive, funny, strong, and he built the best pirate ship of all time! he also knows when it's time to have fun and when it's time to be an adult, a nuance most of his younger crewmates lack.

Why I Love Him: franky's backstory is one of the best on the whole crew, if not THE best. it's a beautiful story about having pride in your work no matter what anyone says, and it drives the point home by forcing franky to turn his own body into a work of art, so that he can learn to love himself again. everything franky does, from building battleships to nurturing the franky family to reinforcing his own metal body, is a testament to franky's creative mind and kind heart, and i love that.

Nitpicks: his post-timeskip design has grown on me a little bit, but his pre-timeskip design was SOOO good, i miss it so much

Crocodile

one of my top 2 favorite warlords, it's croco-boy. even tho every one piece arc is bigger and more dramatic than the last, i still always think back to baroque works, and to crocodile. the baroque works secret agent aesthetic is so much fun! and he does not disappoint as the first warlord antagonist luffy has to fight.

Why I Love Him: he's not the most dangerous, or the most cunning, but god dammit he has an infectious smile and a flair for the dramatic that gets me every time. this guy keeps an hourglass on his person at all times just in case a do-gooder wants to challenge him to a fight. this guy made a fake key to his prisoners' cell just so that he could make them struggle to obtain it. i am on the edge of my seat just waiting to see what this stupid asshole is going to do next.

Nitpicks: none!

Doflamingo

my other top 2 favorite warlord, the big man on campus, donquixote doflamingo. his smile is almost as infectious as crocodile's. i wanted to know more about this asshole the instant i first laid eyes upon him at the warlord meeting post-alabasta, and boy did oda make me wait. but the wait was worth it, because dressrosa delivers on the buildup beautifully with an unforgettable villain.

Why I Love Him: favorite warlord backstory for sure. a man who had seen both the highest heights of decadence and the lowest lows of persecution, and came out the other end as a madman deciding the world simply needs to burn. not only is he a super fun and charismatic character to watch, but his crew is also made up of really entertaining and memorable characters with interesting abilities. all in all, he's a worthy sendoff to the "seven warlords" plotline.

Nitpicks: none!