@z911122:
Is there a reason that new teammates are needed? I mean, Luffy wants ten members, which he already does. (I count the ship) No problem with having more, but I still don't see what role any fishmen fill right now. Anyways, I'll just post out some issues I have currently. Please direct me to the correct page if it has been resolved already, I'm not exactly in the mood to flip through the last hundred pages I haven't read.
Is there a specific reason why a new crewmate is needed? Not exactly
Is there a specific reason why they don't need another crewmate? Also not exactly
This is the kind of thing that Oda can make as he likes (or what he thinks the crew needs), so we wont know the reason until its revealed. As for specific role, I think we can all agree that he'll be the underwater specialist. Because if u think about it, having 4 DF user on board, being a pirate and heading to New world. It is kinda silly not to have one already. And I think no one will argue when I say that having an underwater specialist will improve the SH's fighting and survival ability
1. Counterpart to Blackbeard.
It's rather clear that the Blackbeard pirates are bigger, stronger, darker versions of the straw hats. The current lineup is something like this: Luffy to Blackbeard, Zoro to Shiryu, Usopp to Van Auger, Chopper to Doc Q, Robin to Devon, Sanji to Lafitte, Franky to Burgess, and Nami and Brook will somehow be paired up with Vasco and Pizarro.
The last member is San Juan; does Jinbei really offer a counterpart to that?
Blackbeard's crew is the SH's counterpart. The only question remains is who VS who? We have several obvious match-ups, but just take a look at NFP's match-ups and u'll realize how Oda can screw with ur predictions. My point is: who says that San Juan Wolf will be Jimbe's counterpart? With Robin's current progression, I wouldn't be surprised if in the end, she can grow up to Wolf's size. So lets jsut take BB VS SH match-ups with a grain of salt and not make it into a main argument.
2. Family member
The straw hats could also be thought of as a family. Currently they have a mother (Robin), father (Franky), grandpa (Brook), a daughter (Nami), a pet (Chopper), and 4 sons. Kind of a large family already - although I suppose you could always add a grandma, uncle, or cousin in there…
Family member roles are actually fan suggested, Oda just approved it like he did with characters birthdays, and a bunch of other stuff. But if u insist on placing a role for Jimbe, the Uncle slot is still empty so there u go. (having a yakuza uncle is kinda cool u have to admit)
3. Ship role
This is kind of a smaller complaint, since Oda could always add in a role that isn't normally on a ship (as you'd rarely find archaeologists on a ship). What role would a fishman fill? A helmsman?
So far, the main indication shows that he'll be the helmsman. Though we were never shown that the crew needed a great helmsman, or Jimbe shown as this master helmsman. But thats the only position we have any indication of.
4. Attack method
I personally like to think of the group in MMORPG terms. Luffy = single target DPS, Zoro = melee AOE and off-tank, Sanji = Rogue, Nami = long-range AOE, Usopp = hunter, Chopper = cleric, Robin = utility, Franky = main tank, and Brook = buffer (feel free to laugh at the comparison). Anyways, Jinbei and the other fishmen seem to be attacking using the brute force method, which I think Luffy fulfills already. I understand Brook and Zoro are both swordsmen, but I feel like Brook is starting to move away from swords only and is using music a lot now, which could possibly boost the other straw hats when fighting near him.
Well, the crew has been expanding since East Blue so we'll bound to have some overlapping fighting ability. Tho from what I see from Jimbe's ability, its not exactly just brute force. When he's underwater, he can become a powerful long-range fighter; when he's on land his Fishman Karate has this Shockwave-like properties. So I'll just put him under medium range AOE type