@Soul_Bassist23:
I personally dont see BM as the Croc of the New World. To me, it feels like an insult for one of the Yonkou, who are supposed to be the four most feared, respected, and successful pirates in the OP world, to be compared to a failed schibukai, who had to use the World Government and deception to get ahead. I think some of you are underestimating the power and influence that comes as being one of the Yonkou.
What you are saying can be applied to the beginning of the Grand Line almost word for word, substituting 'Four Emperors' with 'Seven Warlords'. Back when we first learned of Crocodile, we knew nothing of him other than that he was a Warlord like Mihawk; and Mihawk, at that time, was our reference for the pinnacle of power in the world. We didn't even know the 'Four Emperors' existed, let alone that there were pirates stronger than the 'Seven Warlords'. Granted, yeah, at this juncture we know that the Four Emperors are the most powerful entities in the New World, but that doesn't mean Luffy can't take one of them down mid-way through the New World just like he did with Croc mid-way through Paradise. In that sense I can totally get on board with Big Mom being the metaphorical Croc of the New World, given that a clash with her is already inevitable (like Croc in the GL); she could also easily be the weakest Emperor (like Croc) with Luffy having a difficult fight but ultimately surpassing her (like Croc).
@King:
I feel like people are overestimating Big Mom in this topic.
I agree with what you say here, but for the reasons you listed. I think people see "Four Emperors" and instantly think "STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD" level pirate, which I simply don't agree with. I think Whitebeard was stronger than Shanks, just like I think Shanks is stronger than Kaidou and Big Mom, and I'd be willing to bet that Kaidou is stronger than Big Mom. How staggered their individual strengths are, I have no clue, but overall I don't think it matters. When you think about it, unlike the Seven Warlords, the Four Emperors are known for their overall control and rule over the New World, which to me means combined strength of their crew and influence throughout the area. Shanks has a pretty small crew, but he has an impressive crew, so he doesn't need as many numbers. Whitebeard, on the other hand, had a huge crew comprised of a lot of fodder, so Whitebeard and his commanders made up for the lack in power among their divisions. That said…
Big Mom appears to have a grip of prized "monsters" fighting for her, so her individual strength doesn't necessarily have to be like Whitebeard's or Shanks'; on the contrary, her stronger crew members could compliment her like Zoro and Sanji compliment Luffy, making her total threat and rule plausible despite her being individually weaker than the other three Emperors. Am I saying she's weak? Not at all, but compared to the other Emperors she could very easily be the weakest, and will almost definitely be the first that Luffy fights and takes down.
@phoenix_fire:
Its ludicrous to think that the SH will face a yonkou right when they enter the new world. It would destroy the whole power balance in the series.
Right when they enter the New World, of course. Are people really suggesting that though? I wouldn't ignore dates and foreshadow (see below), but I'd say within two or three arcs.
@King:
Luffy defeating all the Yonko, getting the One Piece and going at war with the WG won't happen in a span of 100 chapters.
^^ This is a good point. If we think of all that is still left in the story, we have to consider the possibility that Big Mom isn't as far away as we think. Luffy still needs to fight Big Mom, Kaidou, Blackbeard, reach Raftel, find One Piece, discover the True History, have another war with the World Government, clash with some of the Supernova, get involved with the Revolutionaries, and still have room for padding in between– IE: non-main event type arcs, like Drum, Skypiea, Long Ring Long Land, etc. Considering the above list, SOME of those have to come sooner than later, and the only two that fit well are Big Mom and perhaps a Supernova. My guess is that the first arc of the New World will be a standard adventure arc, aka padding arc, between the overall story-driven arcs.
@asm00200:
So now Big Mom is gonna be the Crocodile of the new world, eh? Might I add that Crocodile beat Luffy two times before losing, and that Big Mom actually recognized Luffy's name right away which means she won't show any mercy or underestimate him like Crocodile did, and that she's actually a Yonkou (lol), and the fact that Luffy doesn't have to beat her right away since she already changed her target to Luffy rather than FI.
@Ludovic:
Don't forget, Luffy beat Enel who was way overpowered just because he was rubber, that does not mean at that time he could have beaten someone /just/ as powerful as Enel just as easily – infact, he probably would have lost if he wasn't rubber.
@Jules197:
I agree with people saying that Luffy and Big Mam won't fight anytime soon. Just because Oda foreshadowed that those two will fight, that doesn't mean nothing will happen in between. Don't forget that, for example, the Straw-Hats were supposed to go to Fishman Island right after Enies Lobby… And instead what happened? We got Thriller Bark, Sabaody, Amazon Lily, Impel Down, Marineford and a timeskip. So yeah, a lot can happen before they fight.
[hide]@brennen.exe:
Well, if anyone is still interested, I just went back through the events. In Logue Town, Smoker's subordinate says Luffy's bounty was issued "a few days ago". Luffy goes from Logue Town, to Reverse Mountain, and then to Whiskey Peak all in the same day. They reach Whiskey Peak and stay there over night, leaving at dawn. They reach Little Garden the same day they leave Whiskey Peak. There are no direct times listed, but the flow of events suggests it, so there should be no room for error on that end. Anyway, they were on Little Garden for one day, I believe. It only took one day to reach Wapol, and the day after that they arrive on Drum. Drum lasts one day. So, this pretty much means it only took Luffy a week to reach Drum from Arlong Park.
@brennen.exe:
Dates and times shouldn't be ignored, as Oda rarely drops information like that without a purpose. So we know Big Mom was looking to eat Fishman Island candy during a tea party four days from now, and that her two henchman Lion-chan and Egg-chan would be leaving the following day– making the location they will meet at within three days' travel for the crew, which is about the duration of two short arcs or one longer saga. So no, not immediate, but soon, and relevant.
[/hide]
Ugh, this post is getting long, so I'll just have to group the above quotes into one last response. So… @asm you make a good point that Luffy struggled with a Crocodile who was underestimating him, but you overlook the fact that Luffy was unreasonably overconfident. In this case, sure, Big Mom might be taking Luffy more serious, but Luffy has much more credibility to his fame... he's no rookie anymore. Given that, the situation isn't all that different, but I agree Luffy doesn't have to fight her right away. As I said up above, you can easily throw a few padding arcs in between their clash; the important thing, in my opinion, is that Oda l keep the deadline he dropped, or at least keeps it relevant. Who knows, it might be that Kid goes up against her first [at the Tea Party]. Anyway, @Ludovic also makes a good point, noting that Luffy could be a 'natural enemy' of sorts against Big Mom in the sense that Luffy is able to exploit something to gain the upper hand and narrowly defeat her. Kaidou and Blackbeard, on the other hand, could be much more difficult for Luffy, not necessarily for anyone in the world.
So making my final point off of @jules' post, a lot can still happen between Luffy and Big Mom's clash; a lot can happen in just four days (until the tea party). To give an example of Oda-time: Logue Town, Reverse Mountain, Twin Peaks, Whiskey Peak, Little Garden, and Drum all took place during the span of about four days, travel included.
Some of those things may not even happen, which will only lead to disappointment. (For example, I'm not sure why people are so convinced we're going to see Reverie.)
