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| - Jolly D. Chris was originally intended to be an author avatar, or otherwise known as a character meant to represent its creator in the story. Therefore, Chris had little characterization outside of similiarities between him and Wyvern 0m3g4. In his earliest stages, Chris was created for fun, and was visualised as a character representation of Wyvern 0m3g4 as a member of the Straw Hat Pirates. This idea stayed for one or two years, and was never given any use in a story. When Wyvern 0m3g4 joined Ship of Fools Wiki and learned of its rule against breaking canon, he removed Chris' affiliation with the Straw Hats, and made him the captain of his own crew; The Jolly Pirates. Likewise, out of fear that an author avatar would be frowned upon, and in hopes to make a good first impression, Wyvern removed most traces of himself from the character; but in honor of Chris' roots, he kept pieces of his own personality and behavior in Chris. Thus, Chris imitates aspects that Wyvern 0m3g4 sees in himself, as well as traits he has heard of from his loved ones. Chris' predominant childishness, and his desire to have fun stem from Wyvern's youthful experiences, and his stubborness against growing up as a kid. Additionally, Chris' role as an artist was inspired by Wyvern's then convinced belief that his purpose in life was to entertain others; and thus how Chris also received his main goal and desire in the story. Other character traits, such as his compassion, stubborness, strong emotions, and his loving and caring side all came from various compliments and comments regarding Wyvern throughout his life. Also, Chris' love of sweets and junk food, as well as his flatulence, were derived from usual habits in Wyvern's daily life. Wyvern has expressed on occassion that this was due to him following an important rule in storytelling, 'always write what you know.' His response being, "I know myself more than anyone. So I used myself as the best example I could find." Chris' role as the crew's entertainer, as well as their captain, is a leftover from when he was still an author avatar. Wyvern had originally meant for Chris to be the entertainer for the Straw Hat Pirates, and their 10th member (right after the events of the Thriller Bark arc and before the Sabaody Archipelago arc.) While Chris is no longer affiliated with the Straw Hats, Wyvern thought it would be a shame to take away Chris' original position. And so he simply gave him the new job as The Jolly Pirates' captain, as well as their entertainer. Aside from himself, Wyvern also thought it would be good to have Chris portray an important message to readers. Wyvern hoped for Chris to not only play the part of a Shounen protagonist and be fun to read about, but that he'd show Wyvern's idealized concept of balance and harmony. This was the basis for Chris' dualized behavior, and thus what ended up inspiring Wyvern to make Chris not only childish and fun, but to be mature and serious at times as well. This also made Chris somewhat more flexible for Wyvern to work with, as it meant he could allow Chris to be silly and playful when he wanted him to be, and for Chris to get things done when things turned serious. Chris would later be fleshed out a year later, when Wyvern 0m3g4 felt dissatisfied with how the character turned out. In order to improve upon the original concept for Chris, Wyvern exhaustively detailed every aspect he could think of in regards to Chris' personality, behavior, and interaction with others. Other areas of Chris' character were simply added on. Wyvern took the chance to make Chris what he considered to be the 'ideal' Shounen hero; a character who would be brave, strong, kind, empathic, and friendly. But after witnessing a few instances of backlash against more traditional Shounen heroes, such as Dragon Ball's Son Goku, who were criticized as being unrealistic or hard to relate with, as well as seeing new darker and cynical heroes emerging, Wyvern decided to rebel against the criticism, and make Chris as traditional, idealistic, and optimistic as he possibly could, without sacrificing everything he had already decided for the character. As a result, he ended up making Chris naive, straightforward, and made him be considered an idiot or a moron by those close to him. Wyvern admitted this was rather difficult, as he wanted to portray a character who was smart, but mistaken for being dumb. And so he used Chris' childish attitude to make up for it. And while Chris still carries some of Wyvern's somewhat jaded and realistic views at times, the character mainly stays idealistic and lighthearted whenever possible. Chris' fighting style on the other hand, was more a result of Wyvern 0m3g4's preferences at the time, more than anything. Wyvern considered a hero with no martial arts knowledge to be more relatable and flexible. Though ironically enough, it would be half a year later until Wyvern would find himself interested in martial arts. This was also due to Wyvern's own lack of martial arts training, and was thus again a reflection of himself in his character. Chris' skill in hand-to-hand combat, and his ineptitude in swordmanship and marksmanship was a major preference for Wyvern, as he has admitted to preferring the former and being against the latter two. As for Chris' Devil Fruit, the Clay Clay Fruit, it wasn't the first Devil Fruit Wyvern had in mind. Wyvern originally wanted the Bone Bone Fruit to be Chris' power, as he had taken a liking to the possibilities he could make use of. However, when he realized he couldn't use it, he was later suggested by fellow user, Putridas, to make use of the Clay Clay Fruit, after Wyvern expressed wanting a Devil Fruit that could relate well with Chris' artistry. Wyvern would later state that he was grateful he could use this Devil Fruit for Chris.
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