For me, Bellamy is one of the characters that makes me the most emotional. It is just a very endearing character and I really loved his self developpement pre and post time skip. 

I- The symbolism of the hyena 

The epiteth of Bellamy "The hyena" is very interesting regarding its symbolism. The hyena is a despised animal in most cultures. It's an animal that originally feeds off other's corpses. It symbolizes rudeness, ridiculousness and cowardice. It's a very pejorative epiteth to say the least. It is also considered as a dark force that opposes to god's enlightment. So, the hyena is included in a system of antagonismes, wisdom, spirituality and enlightment that is represented by gods. 

So it's only clear that Bellamy was introduced this way in the show, he seemed fierce and cruel, provoking in a low manner. His cowardice was shown by the way he didn't hesitate to cheat and steal other's treasure. Just like a hyena, he fed off other people's corpses, chasing pirates that had lower bouties and lower grade than him. 

His character was early one based off antagonisms as well, he seemed to have an obsession with the New age being the age where the era of pirates chasing their dreams ends. He keps repeating that that age is over and that anyone who believes in it is the shame of pirates. 

Bellamy's speech was quite repetitive, his character is dogmatic and fixed on the idea that a new age doesn't exist. Just like a hyena is included in a binary system (Ignorance/knowledge) Bellamy's thoughts are based on a manicheam way of viewing things where he is 100% sure that his values are the right ones. Therefore, Bellamy's identity is solely constructed based off that. He is characterized as an extremist character that defends a cause that isn't even his own. 

When we see Bellamy's past the first thing he says to introduce himself to Doffy is "We are different from these dreamers" that is how he percieves himself and his identity. 

2. Childish beliefs : 

Bellamy was characterized in a very childish way, he was just like one of those primary school bullies that enjoy showing off the amount of power they get and that thrieves off humiliating other people. 

Just like a kid, we later on discover the way Bellamy admires and copies Doflamingo and views him as a role model. At this point Bellamy is seen as a knock off version of Doflamingo, the way he holds himself and repeats the same speech becomes endearing as he looks like a child that is trying so hard to prove a point. He acts like such a delusional character, living in a lie that he perpetuates and in continuous denial. When Luffy takes down Bellamy for the first time he brings him back to the ground and that symbolizes a big shutter in his belief system. 

3. Bellamy's development : 

A huge development happened in Bellamy's demenaour after the timeskip and that is the time I personally started liking him. He wasn't going to laugh at Luffy anymore, he says that he went to the skyp island and that shows that there was a shift in his belief system. As we have already seen Bellamy was a dogmatic character that held onto his beliefs like a "clutch" to make a sense out of his existence. His new goal seemed to become an executive of Doflamingo's pirates. 

4. Dogmastism vs Freedom

The reason why I enjoy this character so much is how tragic he is. At first, Bellamy was characterized as a strong pirate since his bounty was high relatively to other characters when he was first introduced. He was the one humiliating everyone else and he was the one being humiliated by Doflamingo, his role model, in Dressrosa. That proves that all what Bellamy was early on in the series was on for show, it wasn't his true nature, it was just how he acted according to his dogmatic beliefs, just like a kid trying to act cool and show off. 

Why did Bellamy keep on fighting Luffy even after he discovered that Doflamingo didn't give a crap about him ? Well, the answer for me is when Bellamy asks Doffy "Is there any hope left for me ?" Bellamy viewed his belief in Doflamingo as his salvation. I think that at that point he was once again so much in denial that he couldn't accept that his belief system was once again shattered to the ground. He kept saying he admired and respected him but honestly I think that it was more talk once again, Bellamy was all talk from the start, bluffing to keep his belief system safe because Bellamy was scared of freedom of thought. 

The last fight between Luffy vs Bellamy was an allegory for a fight between freedom that is represented by Luffy ; chasing his dreams, being true to himself and thinking freely vs Bellamy that was delusional and scared of thinking for himself, needing a clutch to hold onto. 

Till the end Bellamy tries to hold onto his own lies because it's how he has always lived. He recognizes that he is a fool but keeps going on. The dramatic irony is that at first Bellamy view people like Luffy as fools but that he starts to understand now that he is the delusional fool. The tables are flipped and that makes the character endearing as he is trapped in his own system of belief and unable to snap out of it. 

The final scene is exactly the same as the first first when Luffy punches him into the ground, but this time, Bellamy is basically asking for it. With that final punch the circle is complete, Bellamy finally gives up on his delusions which leads him to give up on piracy. 

To sum this up I like Bellamy's weakness, he represents something very human that is human's desire for stability and strong value systems, he refuses to understand that the world isn't manichean and he is scared of the freedom that Luffy represents.