@Sea:
Then Kaidou would have been called Whitebeard, LOL.
Then you have to build up another personality for the WB that was introduced in Jaya arc. And because he was called the strongest man there, making an arc about him is without question. Someone capable of changing the era has to have an arc for himself. You have to write another arc about him.
Remember: Change the plot is different from changing the character. Assuming that WB is still character like he has been built, you have to change a lot of things if you want to take him out.
Here is the definition of "a character that's important to the plot": The more part of the plot you have to change if you take him out, the more important he is.
You don't understand. As I said the only reason a writer can't do as he pleases is if he does something prior that would result in an inconsistency. But there aren't that many things you have to remove if you don't want a war arc, or you want it.
Let's say we still want a war arc but no WB and we already wrote him into the story.
If I can still change things at any point in the story, then the only thing I'd need to do is omit the mention at Jaya and never give him the title of strongest man in the world. And that's it. This mention that ties him to the story inexorably, it had no further ramifications within the story. Sure, it's tied to it by danger of being inconsistent, but you need only eliminate one piece of information and the change is acceptable. There are no further consequences from knowing this fact that the crew acts upon. That would strengthen his tie to the plot.
However, the reason I think that you think WB is irrepleaceable is because you are saying that Oda wanted to achieve exactly what he did, and for that WB is irrepleaceable. I would agree to this redundancy because it's obvious.
If you simply limit the desired outcomes to Ace dies/Luffy fails and the era changes/strongest man dies, then my alternate scenario is viable.If you don´t care about changing the era, but want a war/Ace Rescue arc, the possibilities broaden.And if you just want a war Arc well then it's pretty damn easy to make one.
The thing that sets apart WB from Rayleigh is that his appearance and everything that followed that was more emotionally charged. That is what feels irrepleaceable. You cannot simply break down what WB did in the War into deeds, or pieces of information that we gained, or new developments etc.
WB did comparatively less than Rayleigh, he simply fought. However his role feels irrepleaceable because it's his relationship and personality with the other characters and what he stood for that made it special. So in a sense, it was his character that made the sequence work and not what he did, which is simply fight and then to die.
With Rayleigh, you argue that this does not happen, and it's mostly true, and because you can break down Rayleigh's importance into things that he DID, as opposed to the effect his character had on us readers and the importance of his personality, you categorize his character as repleaceable as long as another thing does what he did and the story can advance.
But that is just because you didn't feel anything for Rayleigh. This is just because you didn't like his character that much. If his personality had added something to your experience of One Piece, I bet you'd be singing a different tune. It sounds to me like it's your own bias that makes you feel as if the only thing that Rayleigh brought to the story are his actions.
Bottom line, it's pretty easy to write WB off of the story. You won't get the same effects though. And more importantly, it's impossible to write off nearly any supporting role if you want the exact same thing. Otherwise, it's just removing his title and his early mention and you're free.
Characters that are not easy to write off? Character's with interactions that have many direct results on the actions of the main character. Up until Luffy reached the war WB could not have existed. Hard person to write off of One Piece cast in a supporting role? I'll get back to you on that one.
Anyway. I think it's pretty retarded to discuss could'ves. WB is as much of a supporting character as Rayleigh is. WB was just more emotionally involved and a more fleshed out character. That's why he feels irrepleaceable.
God I'm tired of this. Wanna drop it? I'll even let you post last.