Smoker's obsession with the Straw Hat pirates.

[Soluzar]

I really don't understand why Smoker is obsessed with Luffy & the Straw Hats. From the point of view of crafting a narrative I understand entirely why it's good for there to be a recurring antagonist who can offer Luffy a decent match. I just question the motivations involved.

Lets recap. Smoker encountered Luffy in Loguetown, and was intrigued by similarities in his personality to that of Gol D. Roger. In spite of that, Smoker was inclined to arrest Luffy as a pirate and have him face justice. This much I get, if you're a marine you make an attempt to arrest the pirates you cross paths with.

What I don't get is why he continues to pursue Luffy. The label of "Pirate" is only a rough fit for the Straw Hat crew. They don't loot or plunder, they don't kidnap or slaughter, they don't besiege or ravage. They pretty much just sail around defeating bad guys. Not exactly high-priority crimes, I'm sure you'd admit.

It is true that Luffy has a 30,000,000 Beli bounty on his head at the time of his first encounter with Smoker, but that seems to have largely been due to the fact that his defeat of Arlong was considered inconvenient by the marines, some of whom are so corrupt they make the pirates look positively saintly by comparison.

So far as I can recall, the Straw Hat pirates have never really done anything to make Smoker consider them a threat, or a high-priority target for arrest. They've defeated villains with his full awareness, and Luffy even asked Zoro to save his life once, as a favour from one "hammer" to another.

I'm not saying I think it's an example of bad writing, or even anything especially annoying, but doesn't it strike any of you as odd that Smoker is so fixated on the Straw Hat crew, when there are plenty of pirates of the more traditionally rapacious variety that he could be going after?

[f2akid]

I always thought he was doing it to keep the crew on their toes, that's his duty as a marine, but also I think he's testing himself. I don't think Smoker's too fussed about how 'good' or 'bad' a person is, for him you're either a pirate who needs to be caught or you're not - in which case you're safe. If he really cared about the crew's intentions then he would have stopped pursuing them straight after Alabasta as he witnessed first-hand that Luffy's intentions aren't like other more notorious pirates. He knows these are the big fish and he probably feels he needs to pursue something worth talking about rather than locking up small-fry because that's way too easy for him and in the long run no one's really going to remember you for something like that.

It's also probably another of Oda's examples where a character aspires to be the best they can possibly be in their chosen path in life. I'm sure Smoker knows that Luffy has the most potential out of all the rookies so it's a win-win situation either way even if it's just to witness Luffy's rise to Pirate King.

[Bernard_Monsha]

I always took it for two reasons, one he was not able to capture them in Loguetown and Alabaster and the fact he associates Luffy as having the same potential as Roger.

[Soluzar]

I always thought he was doing it to keep the crew on their toes, that's his duty as a marine, but also I think he's testing himself. I don't think Smoker's too fussed about how 'good' or 'bad' a person is, for him you're either a pirate who needs to be caught or you're not - in which case you're safe. If he really cared about the crew's intentions then he would have stopped pursuing them straight after Alabasta as he witnessed first-hand that Luffy's intentions aren't like other more notorious pirates.
If we were talking about any other marine, I'd agree with you. Smoker seems to be one of the few exceptions to this rule, Garp being the other notable one. He's pretty much ignored several pirates who've crossed his path in favour of Luffy, and a couple of times he's taken a laissez-faire approach to developing events around the Straw Hat crew when arguably his duty called for him to intervene.

He knows these are the big fish and he probably feels he needs to pursue something worth talking about rather than locking up small-fry because that's way too easy for him and in the long run no one's really going to remember you for something like that.
I acknowledge the basic truth of what you're saying here. It isn't fitting for Smoker's status as a distinguished Marine and highly-skilled Logia user to pursue the small fry, which may account for his eagerness to leave his post at Loguetown.

That said, aren't there countless other "big fish" he could go after? He could have pursued Arlong or Don Krieg, but didn't. After entering the Grand Line, he could have pursued Ace, or the rest of the Whitebeard pirates... and yet chose Luffy instead.

It's starting to seem like a personal fascination with Luffy. In fact it begins to seem almost as though Smoker's stated goal of capturing Luffy and bringing him to justice is really more of an excuse just to follow him because he wants to.

I always took it for two reasons, one he was not able to capture them in Loguetown and Alabaster and the fact he associates Luffy as having the same potential as Roger.
I suppose his feeling of personal failure is probably as good a motivation as any. As for Luffy being similar to Roger, I somewhat wonder if Smoker is just going along for the ride on that one, not entirely expecting to capture Luffy. Basically what F2Kid's last paragraph says.

Effectively though, that's the answer... he doesn't like to let anyone slip through his fingers. That's the primary reason he embarked on his current path, even if I believe his current motivations are somewhat more complex than that.

[f2akid]

That said, aren't there countless other "big fish" he could go after? He could have pursued Arlong or Don Krieg, but didn't. After entering the Grand Line, he could have pursued Ace, or the rest of the Whitebeard pirates... and yet chose Luffy instead.

As I said he knows Luffy has the most potential out of all the rookies, that may be where his fascination with Luffy stems from.

Effectively though, that's the answer... he doesn't like to let anyone slip through his fingers. That's the primary reason he embarked on his current path, even if I believe his current motivations are somewhat more complex than that.

This is the most plausible explanation for it, kind of like a man who will go through any means necessary to fulfil a promise they made (in terms of the determination involved).

[Dark_Knight]

I largely think it's an issue of pride. Luffy evaded Smoker, which I would guess, that up until that point, nobody else had done. For a man like Smoker, that's way too much to swallow, so he's going after Luffy simply to prove that it was a complete and utter fluke that he evaded him in the first place (which it was. If Dragon hadn't shown up, Luffy would definately have been captured.)

[FunnyManRocco]

I largely think it's an issue of pride. Luffy evaded Smoker, which I would guess, that up until that point, nobody else had done. For a man like Smoker, that's way too much to swallow, so he's going after Luffy simply to prove that it was a complete and utter fluke that he evaded him in the first place (which it was. If Dragon hadn't shown up, Luffy would definately have been captured.)

I agree with this on this issue, Smoker even stated in Loguetown "If you can't pass me, then you have no hope of entering the Grand Line." (according to this particular fan sub) Maybe I'm taking it the wrong way. But without Dragon, there wouldn't be a Monkey D. Luffy anymore, all thanks for Commodore (Captain @ this event) Smoker.

He might be in Level 2 of Impel Down right now, kuahahaha! (Crocodile's laugh) otherwise... Smoker's weird. I like his character, and appreciate that he gets screen time for chasing Luffy down, lol.

[Black Cat]

cuz he has lung cancer