This article contains spoilers for One Piece chapter 1054!
Although an unfortunate perpetual trend for years, the World Government's latest stint in One Piece serves as the gravest example of how mangaka Eiichiro Oda has made its members out to be stereotypical villains as opposed to something greater and more nuanced.
The irony is that the World Government was a truly compelling entity before Oda actually brought the organization into the story. What set One Piece apart from other manga initially was how the hero Luffy associated himself with the outlaws of his world: pirates. Even though his innocuous notion of pirating was about the pursuit of freedom as opposed to the more ubiquitous understanding of them as those who plunder innocents, he was still a criminal. Meanwhile, the fact that the World Government opposed them automatically made them into the good guys even though as enemies of the story's heroes they were portrayed as the antagonists. But then Oda revealed the true nature of the World Government, and its members became stereotypical villains.
Chapter 1054 of One Piece now casts the World Government in arguably the worst light ever since Oda began portraying it as a true antagonist. After finally vanquishing Kaido, Admiral Ryokugyu suddenly appears in Wano and starts relentlessly attacking the country's inhabitants. Although his endgame is to flush out Luffy, who's wanted by the World Government, Admiral Ryokugyu is clearly relishing in his destruction. He has no qualms with taking advantage of the fact that the people of Wano have no rights since their country is not affiliated with the World Government and that he can enforce his authority that allows him to do to them as he pleases even though it's immoral.
It was uncharacteristic of One Piece to initially have such a multifaceted villainous organization as the World Government that was, for the most part, ambivalently evil. In truth, the World Government was more of a major adversary than an actual collection of villains that possessed a more nuanced relationship with Luffy than just bad guys wanting to destroy the good guys. But that dynamic clearly came to an end early on when the World Government proved that it would go to any means to eliminate pirating from the world entirely. Oda makes the admiral out to be a dastardly villain who is just as bad as the worst pirates in existence like Kaido and Big Mom. The mangaka could be much more nuanced in his approach by making Admiral Ryokugyu unhappy about having to slaughter innocents, or hesitant to wreak havoc since Wano is unaffiliated. But instead Oda chooses to have simpler villains (and heroes) in a world where everything is in fact black and white with no shades of gray.
Further underscoring Admiral Ryokugyu as a villain is the fact that Wano has just finally been liberated from 20 years of slavery and suffering under Kaido's harsh rule. For the first time in recent history, the people of Wano are truly free, and now this latest threat is now throwing them back into the pits of hopelessness. As near impossible as it was for Luffy to defeat Kaido, it's even less likely that he can now save them from a second enemy who rivals even Kaido. In the end, the World Government, and Admiral Ryokugyu especially, are just your stereotypical villains in a world where everything is unfortunately as it seems in One Piece.