 Hello and welcome to the Grand Line Review, your source for everything one piece. And today, we are going to be looking back on the individuals of the series who came into our hearts as antagonists, but over time were able to change their ways and own the title of Reformed. Now this series certainly has no shortage of antagonists who fall under this category, some of whom have gone on to become much loved characters and in rare instances have even come to be classified as protagonists. And I think it's about time that they got the respect they deserve. So the criteria for this list is as follows. All candidates must have begun their role in the series as a hostile presence to the straw hats, but over time have come to abandon their antagonistic ties in favor of a much more friendly relationship. Furthermore, all characters on this list must be canon because you simply cannot reform a filler character from their greatest detriment, which is the fact that they never actually existed. But with that out of the way, let's begin. Welcome to the top five Reformed villains in one piece. Number 5 Caesar Clown Starting out a bit shaky here, we have the primary antagonist from the punk hazard arc, a man that I and much of the fan base absolutely detested at the time of his greatest relevance. And that was very much because he was a selfish psychopath capable of grand horrors, all in the name of his twisted experiments, many of which carry the goal of creating weapons of mass destruction. However, after being thoroughly thwarted, Caesar became a fixture amongst our protagonists, forcibly I might add, throughout the dress-roses and whole cake island arcs. And over this truly absurd amount of time, thinking about it's like five years of publishing, Caesar has very, very gradually softened into a character that is now essentially a gag presence. Now, shocking as this may seem, he's very enjoyable to have around these days, but not only that, he was also forced into performing several acts of good, such as saving the entirety of the mink tribe from a weapon he crafted to begin with, I guess, but also going on to play an integral role in the plot to assassinate Big Mom. And while I can't say the word reform entirely applies to Caesar clown as he sees himself, because you know he's still an incredibly selfish prick, I do believe that he has redeemed himself in the eyes of the fanbase and is even now considered a broad ally of the straw hats. It has been an incredible transformation from sadistic scientist to comical dickwad and well worthy of opening this video. Number four, Nico Robin. Now, here's a story we should all be fairly familiar with. As one of the more tragic figures in the series, Robin had a fairly rough start in life which eventually led her to working for the underground organization Baroque Works. As part of this group, Robin generally acted in the interests of its leader, Sir Crocodile, which involved plunging the entire kingdom of alabaster into civil war for the discovery of a super weapon. Not, you know, exactly the nicest of things to do, Nico Robin. And so Robin appeared before the straw hat crew as a striking femme fatale, menacing, dangerous, and yet ever so intriguing. Which made it all the more shocking went after the defeat of Crocodile. Robin just up and barged her way into the straw hats, instantly becoming a key protagonist in the series. So that's a pretty radical reformation right there and one that on paper may even be worthy of the number one spot. However, the key thing that prevents that from occurring is that throughout Robin's involvement in the alabaster saga, she consistently worked to undermine crocodile and even saved Luffy's life. So Robin served as more of an anti-villain in this story, but her journey towards becoming a true protagonist spanned three different sagas as we saw her grow bit by bit, changing from a quiet and cautious member of the crew to an outgoing and warm presence. A stunning tale of reformation. Introduced as an octapot antagonist of the Arlong Ark, Hartchan is rather sadly responsible for an astonishing amount of horrors inflicted onto Nami as well as the citizens of Kokayashi Village. And in fact, you know what? Probably the whole of the Konomi Islands. Now granted, Hartchan did not take part in the direct infliction of said horrors, but as the old saying goes, the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good fishermen to do nothing and a whole lot of nothing is exactly what Hartchan went and did. And not only that, but his own personal lifestyle was allowed to thrive at Arlong Park whilst grave injustices were being carried out around him. And so for Hartchan to receive any sense of redemption, a huge action was required, which would occur hundreds and hundreds of chapters down the line when he tearfully apologized directly to Nami, showing a great sense of guilt and shame for his own inaction. And this honest sense of atonement is what now allows Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hats to go so far as to call Hartchan a friend. Now this one may not strictly speaking be fair, because in the eyes of the Straw Hats, Bond Clay was actually introduced as a friend, someone who initially got along with and easily excited the members of the crew. But underneath all that, he was an antagonist nonetheless. And when push came to shove, Bond Clay stood against him during the Alabaster Ark, only to be convincingly defeated by our resident blonde Sanji. However, these actions went against the core philosophy of the Okama Way, which prioritizes friendship above all else. And when given the chance to redeem himself, Bond Clay excelled. He sacrificed himself not once, but twice to ensure the safe escape of Luffy, once during the tail end of the Alabaster Ark, and the other during Impel Down, in which it became clear that Bond Clay is now one of Luffy's best friends outside of the Straw Hats. And contrary to the popular belief of anime only watches, I am here to deliver the good news that Bond Clay is in fact alive and well, and is serving as the current queen of level 5.5 of Impel Down. And as such, I'm sure that he will have many, many more moments to shine in his glorious glow of redemption. But even then, we still have to examine… Number 1 Bellamy Now I remember quite vividly when I first encountered Bellamy in the series. I was in high school watching the Gyarok, and as soon as he appeared on screen, I said to myself, yeah, this guy's a bit of a dick. And you know what? That proved to be an understatement. Bellamy was more of a despicable antagonist than anybody on this list. And when that list includes a deranged scientist who experimented on children, that's saying a fair bit. And back then, the best part about Bellamy's character was when he got smacked in the face and vanished from the story, seemingly never to return again. Or so I thought. However, after a decade of absence from the story, Bellamy would in fact return during the Dress Roser Ark, and through one simple conversation with Luffy, he was almost entirely redeemed. And you know, seeing a character like Bellamy admit his fault, and in particular saying that he would never laugh at Luffy again is not something that happens every day, and definitely isn't something that a lot of Shonen series could pull off. This shift from one of the most hated villains in the series to a legitimate friend of Luffy is a journey that I personally do not feel is rivaled in one piece. I never would have thought that a character like Bellamy could possibly redeem himself in any way, shape, or form, but I was proved very, very wrong. And that is why Bellamy stands as the prime example in my mind of a perfectly reformed villain. Finally, please do comment with your own favorite Reformed villains in the series. This has been the Groundline Review, and I'll see you next time.