I FINALLY returned to this forum… and people are already going nuts over this new, way past awesome character, Brooke! So nice to see.
Personally, Brooke is already one of my favorite characters. Generally, there has been a lot of great, strange characters since Skypiea, and I absolutely love it. One of the reasons for One Piece's greatness is the way it completely destroys all limitations on what sorts of characters should be in it. I mean, let's recap on a few of the weirdest things we have seen so far...
- An anthromorphic reindeer who can change into six additional forms (not counting the one we usually see him in)
- A half-dog half-pistol creature with a cold that sneezed explosive baseballs.
- A bisexual transvestite ballerina spy with the ability to copy other people's looks and voices.
- A fire-breathing cola-powered cyborg in a speedo
- And now, a light, perverted british skeleton with an afro and a cheery attitude.
One Piece has a lot of colorful characters, and with Brooke already being so cheery and out-of-the-box as he is, I can't imagine him NOT joining the Straw Hats. He already said yes, and obviously wants to join, much like Chopper did (though Chopper denied his wish at first)... but in his case as well, something is stopping him from doing so... that namely being the lack of a shadow.
Frankly, I had never expected Oda to pull out something like this... a ghost park. I never thought that he would have something in the manga that was supernatural (in this sense, at least), but then again, the possibility that Thriller Park is not exactly 'haunted' and there is a human behind it still exists. We just have to wait and see.
But so far, I see the entire formula for a Straw Hat... A position on the ship they need/want, a very unusual character, good outline for a rather sad backstory, and most importantly, desire to join.
It has been discussed whether or not he will fight... I say of course, but like mentioned earlier, it will be a minor fight much like how Chopper fought against Chessmarimo or Usopp "fought" against Django. But I really don't see how he wouldn't be able to fight... he can jump great distances and is light enough to run on water. That alone leaves a lot of possibilities for an acrobatic fighting style. Add the fact that he carries a cane with him... just because he is a musician does not mean he has to fight with an instrument (Franky is a carpenter, and though some of his attacks are named after carpentry tools (Strong Hammer) and he does spit nails, his general fighting style does not resemble his position much). Imagine it... a villain charges against Brooke who does a triple-salto over his head, repeatedly wacking him with the cane as he does as to compensate for his far too light body (which would not do much damage if he punches or kicks regularily).
In short, I am pro-Brook. I fell in love with him at first sight, and I truly hope he does become a Straw Hat. I would love to see his poster.
"Bag of Bones" Brook.
-Eshbaal who just promoted Brook's immense amounts of awesome