Strange little girl, where are you going? sang Tori Amos�Elt;br>
�End I thought of Vivi.  Vivi is an interesting character, a strange little girl.  On the surface, she's a nice, polite princess.  She's the feminine one on the Going Merry Go, if labels must applied.  She's a counter to Nami's general kick-ass attitude towards the crew; she's the first to get anxious if there are quarrels between her friends and is kind of a worrywart.   

Because of this, many people discount her.  They call her 'weak' and 'uninteresting.'  But there is a dichotomy in Vivi.  Outwardly, she is the proper princess - inside there may be something different entirely.  And this is what makes Vivi a strange little girl.

At the age of fourteen, she went off with the Captain of the Guard to join a shadowy network of assassins and bounty hunters in order to discover what heinous acts were occurring in her kingdom.  This is definitely not the course of action taken by a retiring, shy princess.

Vivi's years as the BW agent Miss Wednesday are surrounded in mystery.  We know the organization was peopled with some nasties; from nun bounty hunters to Devil Fruit powered assassins.  How did a fourteeen year old girl manage to insinuate herself into this organization - and then become a leading agent?  No doubt Igaram, who had years of experience as Captain of the Guard for the kingdom of Alabasta, had something to do with her acceptance and initiation into the organization, but Vivi, as Miss Wednesday, had to keep up the appearance of being a tough, cold blooded killer�Eecause that's what BW agents were.

Information suggests that she and Mr. 9 worked more as 'odd job' agents; getting food by killing Laboon is one example.  When Mr. 9 was writing his report, he mentioned that they had led pirates (Luffy and Co.) to Whiskey Peak.  This makes one think that the Mr. 9 pair weren't expected to actually collect bounties, but instead lure potential bounties to the island where they were dealt with by the other members of BW.

If Vivi did witness or participate in the bounty hunting, what did she think? It's hard to imagine the same Vivi who didn't want anyone to get hurt in a war standing by while the agents of BW did their dirty work. Then again the organization was hunting pirates; perhaps her conscience didn't twinge so hard when she considered the fact that she was ridding the sea of the vile scum.

But was Vivi being vicious enough to be a bounty hunter?  It's not such a stretch.  Vivi has a mean streak when the right buttons are pushed.  She didn't think twice about hitting Luffy in the desert or knocking Mr. 7 and Miss Father's Day off of a clock tower.  She definitely had the ability to kill those she thought who deserved it; had she had the opportunity, I think she would have merrily choked the life out of Crocodile with her bare hands.

Continuing in this thread, when we first meet her as Miss Wednesday, she and Mr. 9 are getting ready to blow Laboon, a helpless and mentally disturbed whale, wide open.  In contrast, Vivi beat the crap out of Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy for raising a hand against the gigantic Sea Cat that appeared near their boat.  Vivi qualified her actions by saying that since the creature lived in the waters near Alabasta, it was under her protection - perhaps she didn't feel the same about a whale living near the Red Line.  Or perhaps Vivi wasn't worried about hurting Laboon because she knew she couldn't - more on that later.

Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 appear quite incompetent and silly when we meet them. Crocus says that it wasn't the first time the pair had tried to kill Laboon, so they must have been thwarted before.  During the fight at Whiskey Peak, Zoro mentions that he's embarrassed for them.  And Vivi's friend and ride, Carue, can't seem to follow directions at all, leaving Vivi looking like a fool.

But BW agents don't last very long by being incompetent - the Unfriendlies, Mr. 13 and Miss Friday, were always around to drop 'messages' for those that couldn't carry out their orders to Mr. 0's satisfaction.  So what was the deal?  Once again Igaram, as Mr. 8, could doctor reports and accounts of the duo's misadventures and keep Vivi safe.  I also believe that there was self-sabotage on the part of Vivi.  Two cannon balls were fired at Crocus; but the old man seemed no worse for wear in later scenes.  Were the shots 'doctored' so that they would do little damage? Just a little less explosive, just a little less powder, and the cannon balls couldn't have gone through soft butter�Elt;br>
It also would have been very easy for Carue and Vivi to work out a system where he would 'misbehave' when she was Miss Wednesday.  That way Vivi would be safe from Mr. 0's wrath - how could she be blamed for the actions of a stupid duck?

I have no doubt that Vivi, with the help of Igaram, would have been capable of working out and maintaining an elaborate scheme of sabotage and misdirection while hiding her identity and being true to her values.

Considering how Oda-sensee ended the Alabasta Arc, I don't believe that he will be revisiting Vivi's past to answer these questions.  We are left to fill in the blanks on our own and that is what I have tried to do. Vivi is definitely nice, very caring, and a bit of a worrywart, but she should never be considered stupid or weak.  I hope others will consider the case of the 'strange little girl' and give Vivi the credit she deserves.

To April - because your first impressions are always right.

back