Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 8 - Onigashima)

[Shiebs]

Another thing Odas saving for some epic reveal will definitely be a character with an eyepatch, I mean we’re almost at a thousand chapters of a Pirate manga and we’ve yet to meet a character with an eyepatch

[Deicide]

People were using the parallel of Oden as an excuse for Momo to join.

Now Yamato is a thing.

I will say this, however, Momonosuke:
- Learned about the world and was humbled by his experiences
- Has a trauma to overcome
- Got a DF with effects we don't totally know
- Was able to hear and, more importantly, talk to Zunisha
- Was taunted by Kaido about his lack of a dream of his own.
- Has been teached by Zoro on swordsmanship.
- Has a legendary sword waiting for him.
- Does not feel he can live up to his father's legacy

The boy is clearly on his own personal arc in the background. To me, he's a far more compeling character than Yamato, and while people dismiss Momo due to his weaknesses, it's Momo, not Yamato, the character that Oda has been building up over these years.

Yamato is a strange narrative element. He seems to be usurping Momo's place as Oden's heir. If there's no twist to him, I'd say it's more likely for him to stay in Wano while Momo seeks his own path in the waves beyond.

While I don't think Momonosuke will be a Straw Hat in the full sense, I don't discard the possibility of him still travelling with the crew after Wano.

Kiku asked Momo to not shout "snatch", a word Zoro learned watching older people train in his village and tauch the boy as something to shout to get braver. We later found it means sunacchi, which meant something like "cast aside your name and wits".

To me, that sounds like Momonosuke's destiny.

[JDub]

v interesting that Momo and Yamato seem to resemble each other's father more than their own, between Momo being a dragon like Kaido and Yamato being literally just Oden 2.0.

like a big part of Momo's story arc that's been hammered into our brains at this point is that he is not like Oden, and that's especially so when looking at their goals. Momo wants to be shogun, he wants to rule Wano. Oden, to a fault, abandoned his responsibilities and left Wano because he wanted to see the world. so one has to imagine that part of how Momo will succeed in bringing peace to Wano where Oden failed is that he's actually going stay and rule over it (in much the same way that Kaido stayed in Wano to functionally co-rule it with Orochi).

now Yamato on the other hand, has been in Wano for at least 20 years. you gotta wonder if he found Oden's log book, read about his adventures (among other "very important things"), and then wants to open Wano's borders and carry out Oden's will, in part, to leave and see the world just as Oden did. especially if the will to open Wano's borders is ultimately going to be carried out by the Akazaya and Momo (whose survival is unknown to Yamato) and their allies.

Momo wants to stay in Wano the same way Kaido did
Yamato may want to leave Wano in the same way Oden did?

[Deicide]

Momo wants to be shogun, he wants to rule Wano.

Does he? When he declares to Kaido that he will carry Wano on his shoulders one day, Kaido dismiss it as someone else's dream thrust into him.

Time and time again Momonosuke is shown to doubt his fate as shogun. And I think in the end he won't be it. He has another calling.

[thegab]

v interesting that Momo and Yamato seem to resemble each other's father more than their own, between Momo being a dragon like Kaido and Yamato being literally just Oden 2.0.

like a big part of Momo's story arc that's been hammered into our brains at this point is that he is not like Oden, and that's especially so when looking at their goals. Momo wants to be shogun, he wants to rule Wano. Oden, to a fault, abandoned his responsibilities and left Wano because he wanted to see the world. so one has to imagine that part of how Momo will succeed in bringing peace to Wano where Oden failed is that he's actually going stay and rule over it (in much the same way that Kaido stayed in Wano to functionally co-rule it with Orochi).

now Yamato on the other hand, has been in Wano for at least 20 years. you gotta wonder if he found Oden's log book, read about his adventures (among other "very important things"), and then wants to open Wano's borders and carry out Oden's will, in part, to leave and see the world just as Oden did. especially if the will to open Wano's borders is ultimately going to be carried out by the Akazaya and Momo (whose survival is unknown to Yamato) and their allies.

Momo wants to stay in Wano the same way Kaido did
Yamato may want to leave Wano in the same way Oden did?

You bring up interesting points and it makes me wonder how long Yamato was pre-planned

[otakufan]

Another thing Odas saving for some epic reveal will definitely be a character with an eyepatch, I mean we’re almost at a thousand chapters of a Pirate manga and we’ve yet to meet a character with an eyepatch

Got a bit of a crazy theory that "Eyepatch" is going to turn out to be Vivi, though I freely admit it's based on very little.

[LordButler]

Wouldn't it be hilarious if the only person we see in One Piece with an eye patch was a literal cyclops?

[Shift]

Why Zoro doesn't wear an eyepatch when he could obviously use it is beyond me.

[Claudio]

Why Zoro doesn't wear an eyepatch when he could obviously use it is beyond me.

Because Oda thinks it would be much more fitting for someone else to finally wear such a stereotypical pirate thing? I can't help but think that he wants Luffy to be the one to finally wear it by the end of the story.

[JDub]

Does he? When he declares to Kaido that he will carry Wano on his shoulders one day, Kaido dismiss it as someone else's dream thrust into him.

Time and time again Momonosuke is shown to doubt his fate as shogun. And I think in the end he won't be it. He has another calling.

Momo has gone on record in the present as wanting to be Shogun, and is currently going to great lengths to prove himself as a leader of Wano, and not just a frightened child.

And honestly while I feel that line from Kaido is interesting, you have to remember that
1. Kaido is an antagonist, and so he will ultimately be proven wrong
2. That happens before Momonosuke meets Luffy, and consequently before all the growth that we’ve seen afterwards.

so much of Momo’s character is about a child having to step into the shoes of being a leader. him being kidnapped by Kanjuro and his orders for the Wano samurai to not worry about him, the prisoners of Udon bowing to him, and especially him being the one to make the alliance with the crew (instead of Kinemon). his character development is directly tied to him coming into his own to eventually lead Wano. like Luffy has been instrumental in that development for sure, but he treats Momo as an equal, the leader of his own “crew” so to speak, like Law.

[KageKageKing]

Does he? When he declares to Kaido that he will carry Wano on his shoulders one day, Kaido dismiss it as someone else's dream thrust into him.

Time and time again Momonosuke is shown to doubt his fate as shogun. And I think in the end he won't be it. He has another calling.

It would be kind of a waste after this.

Spoiler:

[Shiebs]

Got a bit of a crazy theory that "Eyepatch" is going to turn out to be Vivi, though I freely admit it's based on very little.

I mean it's possible but I don't personally think that will happen

but he's left it off for so long I assume the reveal of said character will be epic, something special

[Shift]

Because Oda thinks it would be much more fitting for someone else to finally wear such a stereotypical pirate thing? I can't help but think that he wants Luffy to be the one to finally wear it by the end of the story.

But in the context of someone on the crew wearing it, there's not much reason for a new member to be wearing one when Zoro doesn't.

[Robby]

Oda said in an SBS very early on he was holding off pirate cliches. Only one character gets a wooden leg, only one character gets a hook hand, and only one character gets an eyepatch... and he's very much looking forward to drawing that character.

(which makes me think its not any currently existing character, so its not Luffy or BB getting an eyepatch)

To me, he's a far more compeling character than Yamato, and while people dismiss Momo

You're comparing a character that's been around for nearly 8 years to one that's been around for 5 pages. Of course Momo has more going for him.

What's interesting is just how quickly Yamato has packed a lot into a little space that they can be compared at all.

[RomanceDawn]

Maybe the eye patch twist will be that this mystery pirate will have 2 eye patches! Blind Beard!

[Zhenja]

Entrance Pekoms.

[The Spaceman]

Why Zoro doesn't wear an eyepatch when he could obviously use it is beyond me.

hes a swordsman it’s cooler if he has a scar?

Luffy is obviously the eyepatch pirate. He must remove one piece of himself to acquire the one piece.

[ArmamentHero]

Momo'rs growth as a character is directly tied to Wano itself, I don't see why Momo would join when everything attached to him is "Shogun of Wano"

[Shift]

hes a swordsman it’s cooler if he has a scar?

Is one objectively cooler than the other? It's not like I'm hoping he have one, but if anyone on the crew is gonna, it might as well be Zoro because he's already lost an eye. (I'm guessing?)

[Claudio]

What are the odds that Zoro didn't actually lose his eye and has a "tiger eye" or something like that?