One Piece 723: Change of plans

[Blueno]

You come at the King, you best not miss

[Monkey King]

Especially by 10,000 meters.

[TheGreatestSwordsman]

I'm not sure why some people discuss who will be the final villain in absolutes, we really cannot say for certain yet. It might be Akainu, it might be Blackbeard or it might be a curve ball and either turn out to be a higher up in the WG or someone we already know. We simply do not know some of the major plot points towards the end or some potential shocking set of events that flip the story upside down. I think Blackbeard is likely to be beaten at/right before Raftel and then the SHs fight the WG, but it may end up completely different.

[DARK_RITUAL]

@Monkey:

Eventually it would have to focus and wind down with only some combatants left.
And this would be more like an actual war, rather than the single battle we keep calling a war for no good reason.

Exactly, the final battle will be a war not against BB and his crew only and BB will get his arc before the war happens.

[Monkey King]

@DARK_RITUAL:

Exactly, the final battle will be a war not against BB and his crew and BB will get his arc before than war happens.

BB will be fully involved in the war, taking advantage of some of the demons in the can of worms Luffy opens, in the conflict that follows the WG as we know it will fall, likely the ideological split in the Marines will rupture and result in civil war, the Revolutionaries will be dealt with in some regards. And BB and his crew, at their moment of ascendancy will be taken down by the Strawhats.

Basically, put into thematic terms…
The old order will fall (WG, Akainu side Marines).
And in their dust the battle for definition of the new order will be what the final battles between the Strawhats and Blackbeards will be all about.
The fight for the new era.
The WG can never be that villain, they're a neutral villain, they're the guys holding the can of worms shut. They are without principal, just a bunch of realpolitikers afraid of change. Some change the AK represented that threatened the WG founders. That change carried down, the will of D.
In the end the WG will be blown away by the emergence of the new order.
They without ideas.

What REALLY matters, is the villain with ideals. The villain with their own ambition. The villain that also wants to stake a claim in the new order, that represents the dark side in the can of worms. That's the villain that must be fought to decide the outcome of the mega plot of the series.
Luffy has to make the change good change, and establish a good new order rather than let Blackbeard establish a bad new order.

[indigoink]

It could be something like what happened with Whitebeard's death. The Marines vs Whitebeard results in Whitebeard's era coming to an end. But his death is only the beginning of the change, as the entire world is engulfed in turmoil to settle the imbalance in power and determine the look of the new era.

In other words, the World Government is defeated, putting an end to their previous era of control. Then the final battle is to decide the outcome of the new era. This could be Luffy vs Blackbeard - who is to be the "Pirate King", and will it be an era of freedom or of oppression?

Edit: ninja'd, at least I was on a similar track lol

Edit again: relating to earlier discussions, Blackbeard has stated outright that he wants to be Pirate King. The point of difference is more about what "Pirate King" means for him, compared to Luffy. Again it makes sense from a plot perspective that the final fight to establish Luffy as Pirate King is against his most powerful/threatening individual rival; and their respective views on what being the Pirate King entails pretty much embodies the outcome for the rest of the world, depending on who wins that final fight.

[Monkey King]

@TheGreatestSwordsman:

I'm not sure why some people discuss who will be the final villain in absolutes, we really cannot say for certain yet. It might be Akainu, it might be Blackbeard or it might be a curve ball and either turn out to be a higher up in the WG or someone we already know. We simply do not know some of the major plot points towards the end or some potential shocking set of events that flip the story upside down. I think Blackbeard is likely to be beaten at/right before Raftel and then the SHs fight the WG, but it may end up completely different.

It's definitely not Akainu, that much is sure. Or a curve ball.
I mean so long as Oda is a good writer and doesn't turn into Tite Kubo those won't be the case.
Akainu involves a two major conflicts.
1. Ace revenge with Luffy.
2. The reactionary violent side of the WG's armed forces.

As Luffy is the main character, and number two ultimately isn't even his fight…. it can't be the final subject of conflict.
If anything that's Coby's fight, and Coby/Smoker/Aokiji's roles in the climax of the story. To take down that side of the Marines.
As for number one, maybe it will be that Luffy does take him down. But the subject of avenging Ace absolutely is not the main point of the story. So there's no way Akainu is the final villain.

The wild card? Come on now. One Piece is way too structured and purposeful, it's not Bleach or Dragonball that just freely pull new villains out of the blue. For such a purposeful story it would be the epitome of sloppy to just randomly make some uber bad guy show up out of nowhere. Like a revived evil king, or the hidden king jerkface who is secretly above the guys we were directly told were at the top, or Mr.2 is secretly the descendent of a ancient evil D, or some bullshit.
Those would all suck.

We simply do not know some of the major plot points towards the end or some potential shocking set of events that flip the story upside down. I think Blackbeard is likely to be beaten at/right before Raftel and then the SHs fight the WG, but it may end up completely different.

Ah, so you don't NOTICE the purposefulness. That's your problem not ours. Get with the program. There's ample evidence that Blackbeard is it.

[DARK_RITUAL]

@Monkey:

BB will be fully involved in the war, taking advantage of some of the demons in the can of worms Luffy opens, in the conflict that follows the WG as we know it will fall, likely the ideological split in the Marines will rupture and result in civil war, the Revolutionaries will be dealt with in some regards. And BB and his crew, at their moment of ascendancy will be taken down by the Strawhats.

Basically, put into thematic terms…
The old order will fall (WG, Akainu side Marines).
And in their dust the battle for definition of the new order will be what the final battles between the Strawhats and Blackbeards will be all about.
The fight for the new era.
The WG can never be that villain, they're a neutral villain, they're the guys holding the can of worms shut. They are without principal, just a bunch of realpolitikers afraid of change. Some change the AK represented that threatened the WG founders. That change carried down, the will of D.
In the end the WG will be blown away by the emergence of the new order.
They without ideas.

What REALLY matters, is the villain with ideals. The villain with their own ambition. The villain that also wants to stake a claim in the new order, that represents the dark side in the can of worms. That's the villain that must be fought to decide the outcome of the mega plot of the series.
Luffy has to make the change good change, and establish a good new order rather than let Blackbeard establish a bad new order.

I will like to agree with you but the way your saying it is like- BB against Luffy will be the final battle of one piece… But when we look at Oda's interview

! Nakata: Many are looking forward to what happens next in One Piece. Could you give us a message for them ?
Oda : One thing that motivates me to keep drawing One Piece is that I want to draw the last chapter. The last chapter is amazing ! I imagine a final chapter that will make the Marineford arc look like nothing.
Nakata : Seriously ?!
Oda : The Marineford arc really felt like a side trip to me. I didn’t expect it to be so popular. So I don’t know how readers will take this one. But the thing I think is really interesting will be in that last chapter. Until then, I’d like as many of the fans as possible to stick with me.
Nakata : Believe me, they will. I’m looking forward to finding out what happens next, too !
Oda : Yessir ! "a final chapter that will make marineford arc look like nothing" we know marineford is all about war, war, rescue, war. So this last chapter will be a war greater than that of marineford war and I don't see Luffy vs BB and allies being enough to make WB + allies vs Marines + shchibukai vs escapes look like nothing..

[Aaronrules380]

Have you considered that by "final chapter" he means last arc and not the literal final chapter?

[CCC]

"make marineford look like nothing" is simply a statement about scope/scale/motivation.

Luffy's gathering of allies and armies' support all over the world has to lead to a massive conflict in which that magnetic aspect about him that Mihawk mentioned pays off big time.

[Juvar]

To be fair, not seeing the Red Line from Shabondy is a mistake on Oda's part, not an indication for their proximity (unless we've just had shots from the wrong angles).

Since our perception of visuals is pretty damn amazing, if something stands 10km tall, you would see it from, and I'm really bad at giving an exact number, at least some hundred kilometres away. It's like Mount fucking Everest + some, except you actually see it from sea level. They should have been able to see the Red Line from any point past Thriller Bark, and possibly even before that, if you want to think about it logically. The only thing that is restricting our line of sight is the globe's curvature, meaning that for anyone NOT to see the Red Line, the OP globe has to be pretty small.

Just meant as a response for all those comments saying "Dudz you can't even see red line there, so it's far away" <- wrong.

[TheGreatestSwordsman]

@Monkey:

It's definitely not Akainu, that much is sure. Or a curve ball.
I mean so long as Oda is a good writer and doesn't turn into Tite Kubo those won't be the case.
Akainu involves a two major conflicts.
1. Ace revenge with Luffy.
2. The reactionary violent side of the WG's armed forces.

As Luffy is the main character, and number two ultimately isn't even his fight…. it can't be the final subject of conflict.
If anything that's Coby's fight, and Coby/Smoker/Aokiji's roles in the climax of the story. To take down that side of the Marines.
As for number one, maybe it will be that Luffy does take him down. But the subject of avenging Ace absolutely is not the main point of the story. So there's no way Akainu is the final villain.

The wild card? Come on now. One Piece is way too structured and purposeful, it's not Bleach or Dragonball that just freely pull new villains out of the blue. For such a purposeful story it would be the epitome of sloppy to just randomly make some uber bad guy show up out of nowhere. Like a revived evil king, or the hidden king jerkface who is secretly above the guys we were directly told were at the top, or Mr.2 is secretly the descendent of a ancient evil D, or some bullshit.
Those would all suck.

Being a good writer or not has absolutely nothing with Oda throwing a curveball, especially since we are 60%-70% through (roughly) into the story and really do not know enough. A lot of hints and information given on what may happen, but nothing is certain.

So what now that Akainu has killed Ace, there's no way that he will do anything bad again? The conflict in the future will be only a simple revenge story, even though Akainu has the power to force some of the biggest changes in the future? He could just as easily do something in the future that could force Luffy to fight him as the final villain. I don't see Coby beating Akainu, Luffy and Akainu will have their tango the question is whether it's at the end or an arc or two beforehand. All I am reading here is a lot of "I think it will be this and if you disagree you're an idiot". You have several hypothesis and are proposing them as facts, which is quite amusing.

I do agree with you that One Piece usually is very predictable, Oda doesn't really do wildcards but we are talking about the end of the series. While I see this as unlikely, it is not out of the realm of possibility. I am personally hoping the end won't be too straightforward, but we will have to wait several years before we can even have a better idea about this. As for what the wildcard could be, lets leave that up to Oda if it happens, I am sure he can think of something better. I think it will be either Blackbeard or Akainu personally.

Ah, so you don't NOTICE the purposefulness. That's your problem not ours. Get with the program. There's ample evidence that Blackbeard is it.

Please Oda, tell me more! :D I wonder if you were one of the people that said there's no way Luffy would ever join Law in an alliance because you can apparently read Oda's mind. I remember quite a few people with absolutes then writing pretending to be Oda online.

Notice that your theory is very solid and I'm not disputing it won't happen, it's just that it's not the only way it can go.

[DARK_RITUAL]

@Aaronrules380:

Have you considered that by "final chapter" he means last arc and not the literal final chapter?

Are you for real?? Is not like he can draw something that will be better than marineford arc in one chapter, like seriously dude, who would think "last chapter" is literally "last chapter?".

[Monkey King]

@DARK_RITUAL:

"a final chapter that will make marineford arc look like nothing" we know marineford is all about war, war, rescue, war. So this last chapter will be a war greater than that of marineford war and I don't see Luffy vs BB and allies being enough to make WB + allies vs Marines + shchibukai vs escapes look like nothing..

Did you not read what I posted closely?
The Blackbeards Vs. Strawhats would be the final event in a huge war that by that point would already have featured…
-A Marine Civil War
-The fall of the WG and Gorusei
-Rampant use of all three Ancient Weapons
-Open rebellion by the Revolutionaries
-Probably an assemblage of Strawhats allies from the world over namely Vivi at the head of the Alabastan army

And god knows what else might be thrown in.

If that doesn't sound like it makes Marineford look like a joke I don't even know what's wrong with you.
All I'm suggesting is that it woul ACTUALLY be a war.
Marineford was not a war. It was a single battle.
This time would be an actual war. And the final battle of that war would be BB Vs. SH.

[valiantt]

Pfft…every time I see anyone mention Akainu as the potential final villain...i just...laugh. Akainu would be a final villain for a "lesser", well developed serie, but in OP, Akainu is certainly NOT the final villain by any means. Maybe in something like Bleach, Akainu would be the ideal final villain candidate but...yeah. Not here.

[DARK_RITUAL]

@CCC:

"make marineford look like nothing" is simply a statement about scope/scale/motivation.

Luffy's gathering of allies and armies' support all over the world has to lead to a massive conflict in which that magnetic aspect about him that Mihawk mentioned pays off big time.

Now tell me, how will it feel if Luffy is gathering all this people just to fight Blackbeard or after the epic war Luffy will come and face BB and his crew?

[Juvar]

Just tried doing some maths, but the Red Line has to be visible from any place 200+ kilometres away (on sea level)..

My apologies, after some more calculations it's actually exactly 386km from any sea leveled point. Thought this might be interesting, despite not related to the chapter -but a bit to the previous debate. Go figure.

Edit: this applies only if the OP world's globe has the same curvature as our earth. In the case of a globe with smaller volume (smaller planet), you need to be closer to see it, if it's a larger planet, you can be even further away and still see the Red Line.

[DARK_RITUAL]

@Monkey:

Did you not read what I posted closely?
The Blackbeards Vs. Strawhats would be the final event in a huge war that by that point would already have featured…
-A Marine Civil War
-The fall of the WG and Gorusei
-Rampant use of all three Ancient Weapons
-Open rebellion by the Revolutionaries
-Probably an assemblage of Strawhats allies from the world over namely Vivi at the head of the Alabastan army

And god knows what else might be thrown in.

If that doesn't sound like it makes Marineford look like a joke I don't even know what's wrong with you.
All I'm suggesting is that it woul ACTUALLY be a war.
Marineford was not a war. It was a single battle.
This time would be an actual war. And the final battle of that war would be BB Vs. SH.

Well your wording of the last post wasn't clear enough lol…

[Aaronrules380]

@DARK_RITUAL:

Now tell me, how will it feel if Luffy is gathering all this people just to fight Blackbeard or after the epic war Luffy will come and face BB and his crew?

Or you know, Blackbeard will be directly involved in said epic war, but as one of the most major players and not the only player. It really isn't that hard to figure out.

[DARK_RITUAL]

@valiantt:

Pfft…every time I see anyone mention Akainu as the potential final villain...i just...laugh. Akainu would be a final villain for a "lesser", well developed serie, but in OP, Akainu is certainly NOT the final villain by any means. Maybe in something like Bleach, Akainu would be the ideal final villain candidate but...yeah. Not here.

Well the final villain(to me) will be Strawhats against the World(by world you know what I mean).

[Monkey King]

@Juvar:

To be fair, not seeing the Red Line from Shabondy is a mistake on Oda's part, not an indication for their proximity (unless we've just had shots from the wrong angles).

Since our perception of visuals is pretty damn amazing, if something stands 10km tall, you would see it from, and I'm really bad at giving an exact number, at least some hundred kilometres away. It's like Mount fucking Everest + some, except you actually see it from sea level. They should have been able to see the Red Line from any point past Thriller Bark, and possibly even before that, if you want to think about it logically. The only thing that is restricting our line of sight is the globe's curvature, meaning that for anyone NOT to see the Red Line, the OP globe has to be pretty small.

Just meant as a response for all those comments saying "Dudz you can't even see red line there, so it's far away" <- wrong.

No one said it was far away, but you're fooling yourself if you think Oda intends us to think it's right next to it. If he wanted that to be the case (you know, if he was setting up it's destruction?) he would have gone out of his way to show the Red Line nearby.
But he didn't, did he.

[CCC]

@DARK_RITUAL:

Now tell me, how will it feel if Luffy is gathering all this people just to fight Blackbeard or after the epic war Luffy will come and face BB and his crew?

It'll feel reeeeal satisfying because it's pretty clear that that's what this 25 year journey (give or take 5 years) is leading to.

And you know deep down that we're all going to be shitting ourselves with excitement and anticipation as the series approaches its end, no matter who's fighting whom.

[Juvar]

@Monkey:

No one said it was far away, but you're fooling yourself if you think Oda intends us to think it's right next to it. If he wanted that to be the case (you know, if he was setting up it's destruction?) he would have gone out of his way to show the Red Line nearby.
But he didn't, did he.

Wasn't ever my point.

[indigoink]

My prediction is… Firstly, will be the battle against Marine HQ/Mariejois/the corrupt side of the Marines and World Govt, led by Akainu and his "absolute justice" who are aiming to preserve the old world order and class systems. This will be the "huge war" aspect of the final storyline and will involve the Revolutionary Army and Luffy's allies. Then, once the World Government have been dealt to, Blackbeard will swoop in and try to capitalise on everyone already being injured/weakened/tired to destroy any enemies (i.e. Strawhats) and make the new era his own (kind of like how he killed Whitebeard when he had already taken on all of Marineford, and with the help of all his crew... i.e. following his tradition of being dishonourable for his own gains)... which results in the final battle of Luffy vs Blackbeard to determine the new era.

Well anything is only speculation at this stage. I'm happy for it to stay that way really, it's fun to think about these kind of theories, but when it comes down to it I'd rather just wait and enjoy however it plays out without stressing too much about it beforehand.

[DARK_RITUAL]

@Aaronrules380:

Or you know, Blackbeard will be directly involved in said epic war, but as one of the most major players and not the only player. It really isn't that hard to figure out.

Yeah which I agreed on… But when you think how BB and his crew are being developed then one will think, Oda will make the BB vs SH's fight each other one on one, no outsiders involved, each member full on strength going one on one with their opponent... But if this a huge war then the Strawhats won't solely focus on fighting BB pirates alone, like marineford war- Marco, Jozu clashing and fighting different people no specific opponent..

[valiantt]

Oh boy! Maybe then we will see Gin and Krie shot

[knceng]

@Aaronrules380:

Or you know, Blackbeard will be directly involved in said epic war, but as one of the most major players and not the only player. It really isn't that hard to figure out.

Which side he'll take part? Marine lead by Akainu?

[Aaronrules380]

@knceng:

Which side he'll take part? Marine lead by Akainu?

Why can there only be two sides?

[Monkey King]

@TheGreatestSwordsman:

Being a good writer or not has absolutely nothing with Oda throwing a curveball, especially since we are 60%-70% through (roughly) into the story and really do not know enough.

We know QUITE a lot. You're absolutely fooling yourself to hell if you don't think so.
I mean I find this kind of sad honestly.
Like I'm seeing the subtext here. You aren't satisfied with any of the options are you. Well have fun sitting waiting annnny day now for some other mondo major villain to rear their nevergoingtoexist head. It will be a sad and lonely vigil.

A lot of hints and information given on what may happen, but nothing is certain.

We can knock bullshit suggestions off the block though, like MYSTERY OPTION lol.

So what now that Akainu has killed Ace, there's no way that he will do anything bad again?

You really aren't on the playing field here bucko.
Explain to me Akainu's symbolic significance. What force does he represent. Why is that more important than Blackbeard, LET ALONE the Gorusei.
He does have room to worse things, I think it even goes without saying. But lo and behold I'm not just going off actions! If you want to argue me on this you have to go beyond that stuff too. You have to think symbolic.

The conflict in the future will be only a simple revenge story,

ahahahahahahahahahahaha

even though Akainu has the power to force some of the biggest changes in the future?

He has less ability than…

1. His bosses, the Gorusei.
2. An evil version of the protagonist who is a D.

Seriously, he's just the Gorusei's attack dog when you get down to it.

He could just as easily do something in the future that could force Luffy to fight him as the final villain.

Thematically how? Explain that one.
And explain how all that thematic weight Oda gives Blackbeard matters less.

I don't see Coby beating Akainu, Luffy and Akainu will have their tango the question is whether it's at the end or an arc or two beforehand. All I am reading here is a lot of "I think it will be this and if you disagree you're an idiot". You have several hypothesis and are proposing them as facts, which is quite amusing.

You have zero grasp of the symbolic side of things. You're not on the level to even know if what I'm suggesting is amusing or not.

I do agree with you that One Piece usually is very predictable, Oda doesn't really do wildcards but

Yeah here we are again in fiction writing amateur hour.
Structure and purpose are good, not "cliche". I'm not talking about tropes. I'm talking about the damned reason Oda is telling this thing.
Going against expectations has to have a reason, just pulling some big bad out of fucking nowhere when he has spent time setting up something else carefully. To just rush out a villain with none of the build up he's craftily been giving BB? Or even the Gorusei? That's bad writing.
It's surprising us JUST to surprise us.

[DARK_RITUAL]

@CCC:

It'll feel reeeeal satisfying because it's pretty clear that that's what this 25 year journey (give or take 5 years) is leading to.

And you know deep down that we're all going to be shitting ourselves with excitement and anticipation as the series approaches its end, no matter who's fighting whom.

Well I don't see how an epic war will happen then next the Strawhats faces off with Blackbeard pirates, that will contradict Oda's "will make marineford arc look like nothing".. Let's assume after this "epic war" it will transits to Strawhats clashing with BB pirates on their way out, this is good and bad-
Bad: Blackbeard pirates will be facing off against Strawhats who are already tired and coming out of war(BB will be the Kaido here as Luffy will be the WB here, just that Shanks stopped Kaido while no one will stop BB)
Good: It will be part of BB cowardice, using any means necessary to win.

[Primo11]

Anyone remember the thing about a person with an eye patch appearing near the end of one piece? Was that really something oda said, and if so was it referring to an antagonist?

[Monkey King]

@DARK_RITUAL:

Well I don't see how an epic war will happen then next the Strawhats faces off with Blackbeard pirates
, that will contradict Oda's "will make marineford arc look like nothing".. Let's assume after this "epic war" it will transits to Strawhats clashing with BB pirates on their way out, this is good and bad-

IT.IS.PART.OF.THE.WAR.L.O.L.

How many times does someone have to tell you that?? Geez dude.

Bad: Blackbeard pirates will be facing off against Strawhats who are already tired and coming out of war(BB will be the Kaido here as Luffy will be the WB here, just that Shanks stopped Kaido while no one will stop BB)

WARS.DO.NOT.INVOLVE.ONE.BATTLE.OR.TAKE.PLACE.AT.THE.SAME.TIME.

[indigoink]

I hope Luffy has an immunity to Blackbeard trying direct attacks on his body using the Gura Gura no Mi. Presumably a normal body being attacked by an "earthquake" shockwave would experience significant displacement as the shockwaves travel through them, which would result in brittle failure of bone structure i.e. bones cracking/fracturing/shattering; internal organs being perhaps torn apart… Ok this is too graphic for a cartoon. But my point is, all of Luffy is rubber, including bones and internal organs, and rubber is used to absorb earthquake shocks in buildings. Unlike concrete for example it has an elastic behaviour which allows it to accommodate these vibrations without structural failure - for example how rubber base isolators are used to protect buildings in earthquakes by absorbing the movements of the ground. So his body due to its elastic properties would "snap back" into place after the shockwave.

Just an architecture student's two cents lol. It would be cool if Oda is aware of this stuff as it gives a clue as to why Luffy in particular might be able to take BB down.

[Aaronrules380]

@indigo~ink:

I hope Luffy has an immunity to Blackbeard trying direct attacks on his body using the Gura Gura no Mi. Presumably a normal body being attacked by an "earthquake" shockwave would experience significant displacement as the shockwaves travel through them, which would result in brittle failure of bone structure i.e. bones cracking/fracturing/shattering; internal organs being perhaps torn apart… Ok this is too graphic for a cartoon. But my point is, all of Luffy is rubber, including bones and internal organs, and rubber is used to absorb earthquake shocks in buildings. Unlike concrete for example it has an elastic behaviour which allows it to accommodate these vibrations without structural failure - for example how rubber base isolators are used to protect buildings in earthquakes by absorbing the movements of the ground. So his body due to its elastic properties would "snap back" into place after the shockwave.

Just an architecture student's two cents lol. It would be cool if Oda is aware of this stuff as it gives a clue as to why Luffy in particular might be able to take BB down.

Well that might be something if it weren't for Blackbeard's other power allowing him to completely nullify DF abilities when he's in contact

[Kurloz]

@Primo11:

Anyone remember the thing about a person with an eye patch appearing near the end of one piece? Was that really something oda said, and if so was it referring to an antagonist?

It doesn’t really matter if you know or don’t know the thing called the One Para Column, but this appears to be last of behind the scenes talk. The last story to tell is more of a behind the scenes policy, rather than a behind the scenes story. So what is a "pirate"? If you ask someone with artistic talents to draw a pirate, you will normally get a sketch that looks like this… or this ....

Indeed, a pirate. Very easy to understand, but if you take off the eye patch, there's a big difference to one with, and one without (the one without looks like a normal middle-aged man). So then, that means, eye patch = pirate. It’s just like, afro = champion type thing… so have you noticed yet? Well, you probably haven’t. That in One Piece, there has not been one single pirate with an eye patch! ... yes i know, who cares right? But this is my secret "behind the scenes policy". It’s not like every pirate has an eye patch!!! ... right? You can totally draw pirates without an eye patch!!!!

And with that thought in mind it all began; the story of a normal looking boy's pirate story.

I thought, if there's an image in everyone's head about what a pirate is, then I thought I would write/draw about the process of the boy getting there. But its not like I dislike eye patches, so in the final scenes of One Piece, there is one pirate who appears with an eye patch.

I'm itching to draw this character.

Eiichiro Oda - 2007.06

I'm getting strong hints that BB is gonna claw Luffy's eye out personally.

[Aaronrules380]

@Kurloz:

It doesn’t really matter if you know or don’t know the thing called the One Para Column, but this appears to be last of behind the scenes talk. The last story to tell is more of a behind the scenes policy, rather than a behind the scenes story. So what is a "pirate"? If you ask someone with artistic talents to draw a pirate, you will normally get a sketch that looks like this… or this ....

Indeed, a pirate. Very easy to understand, but if you take off the eye patch, there's a big difference to one with, and one without (the one without looks like a normal middle-aged man). So then, that means, eye patch = pirate. It’s just like, afro = champion type thing… so have you noticed yet? Well, you probably haven’t. That in One Piece, there has not been one single pirate with an eye patch! ... yes i know, who cares right? But this is my secret "behind the scenes policy". It’s not like every pirate has an eye patch!!! ... right? You can totally draw pirates without an eye patch!!!!

And with that thought in mind it all began; the story of a normal looking boy's pirate story.

I thought, if there's an image in everyone's head about what a pirate is, then I thought I would write/draw about the process of the boy getting there. But its not like I dislike eye patches, so in the final scenes of One Piece, there is one pirate who appears with an eye patch.

I'm itching to draw this character.

Eiichiro Oda - 2007.06

I'm getting strong hints that BB is gonna claw Luffy's eye out personally.

Yeah, the fact that it says final scenes and the general reasoning leads me to believe it'll probably be some epilogue future Luffy

[CCC]

Again, I think we need to differentiate "chapter" from "arc" and "battle" from "war."
Marineford was a battle. It lasted like, what?- a few hours in in-world time. People showed up, got their shit wrecked, and then it was over.

The introduction of 600+ characters in OP spread all over the whole world is not leading to a single battle, in a single location. Cobra, Dalton, Ganfall, Tonjit, Paulie, Lola, and Rebecca are probably not going to show up on Raftel right when Luffy gets there. This hypothetical war will involve multiple battles all over the place. SHs might be involved in some; not in others. There are going to be multiple fronts and factions, on at least the scale of the Naruto war except nothing like that at all (that is- claustrophobic, shrinking down the whole world to a single boring wasteland environment that makes it feel like nothing else exists) because Oda isn't fucking terrible at what he does.
The SHs don't have to be "tired from coming out of the war." Their battles WILL be against BB and crew. And maybe a bit of fodder leading up to that, for whatever reason.

[DARK_RITUAL]

@Monkey:

IT.IS.PART.OF.THE.WAR.L.O.L.

well that's my problem, I want SH's vs BB to be a fight of one on one, each crew member in their full strength clashing with others but if they meet in this war then we will have interruptions here and there…..

WARS.DO.NOT.INVOLVE.ONE.BATTLE.OR.TAKE.PLACE.AT.THE.SAME.TIME

sigh seems to ignore my point.

[indigoink]

@Aaronrules380:

Well that might be something if it weren't for Blackbeard's other power allowing him to completely nullify DF abilities when he's in contact

Lol true dat, small problem. Okay I have a question - does that mean that Luffy can't land a hit on BB without momentarily turning "non-rubber"? Is it a matter of "dodging" the Yami Yami no mi powers, or are they activated at all times even when BB isn't concentrating on absorbing others' devil fruit abilities? My theory about the Yami Yami no Mi is that if it can absorb something as abstract as devil fruit powers, it could similarly absorb the negative effects of eating two at once… so if the fruit is doing that i.e. keeping BB alive at all times, that level of concentration is not necessary. Because if that is the case, how Luffy is going to beat BB is a big question mark at this point, unless it is with plain old brute strength...

Oh ma gaad Luffy is totally wearing an eyepatch in the final scenes and becoming that stereotypical pirate. Awesome. New headcanon thanks guys

[Sereques]

@indigo~ink:

I hope Luffy has an immunity to Blackbeard trying direct attacks on his body using the Gura Gura no Mi. Presumably a normal body being attacked by an "earthquake" shockwave would experience significant displacement as the shockwaves travel through them, which would result in brittle failure of bone structure i.e. bones cracking/fracturing/shattering; internal organs being perhaps torn apart… Ok this is too graphic for a cartoon. But my point is, all of Luffy is rubber, including bones and internal organs, and rubber is used to absorb earthquake shocks in buildings. Unlike concrete for example it has an elastic behaviour which allows it to accommodate these vibrations without structural failure - for example how rubber base isolators are used to protect buildings in earthquakes by absorbing the movements of the ground. So his body due to its elastic properties would "snap back" into place after the shockwave.

Just an architecture student's two cents lol. It would be cool if Oda is aware of this stuff as it gives a clue as to why Luffy in particular might be able to take BB down.

My hope is by then Luffy would be some kind of Haki monster. The best option he has is Busoshoku Haki IMO.

[CCC]

@Primo11:

Anyone remember the thing about a person with an eye patch appearing near the end of one piece? Was that really something oda said, and if so was it referring to an antagonist?

It was something he said. A reader very early on asked if we'd see an eyepatch; Oda said he was saving it for someone very important.

No word on whether or not it'll be a villain.

[DARK_RITUAL]

@CCC:

Again, I think we need to differentiate "chapter" from "arc" and "battle" from "war."
Marineford was a battle. It lasted like, what?- a few hours in in-world time. People showed up, got their shit wrecked, and then it was over.

The introduction of 600+ characters in OP spread all over the whole world is not leading to a single battle, in a single location. Cobra, Dalton, Ganfall, Tonjit, Paulie, Lola, and Rebecca are probably not going to show up on Raftel right when Luffy gets there. This hypothetical war will involve multiple battles all over the place. SHs might be involved in some; not in others. There are going to be multiple fronts and factions, on at least the scale of the Naruto war except nothing like that at all (that is claustrophobic, shrinking down the whole world to a single boring wasteland environment that makes it feel like nothing else exists) because Oda isn't fucking terrible at what he does.
The SHs don't have to be "tired from coming out of the war." Their battles WILL be against BB and crew. And maybe a bit of fodder leading up to that, for whatever reason.

Now you making sense, will be a world war in one piece(that we know, WB said so)… SH's vs BB happening somewhere and maybe the revolutionaries will be fighting the WG at the sametime etc kinda stuff... That will mean Luffy would've dealt with Akainu and probably a little bit chitchat with Gorosie..

[desa]

@indigo~ink:

I hope Luffy has an immunity to Blackbeard trying direct attacks on his body using the Gura Gura no Mi. Presumably a normal body being attacked by an "earthquake" shockwave would experience significant displacement as the shockwaves travel through them, which would result in brittle failure of bone structure i.e. bones cracking/fracturing/shattering; internal organs being perhaps torn apart… Ok this is too graphic for a cartoon. But my point is, all of Luffy is rubber, including bones and internal organs, and rubber is used to absorb earthquake shocks in buildings. Unlike concrete for example it has an elastic behaviour which allows it to accommodate these vibrations without structural failure - for example how rubber base isolators are used to protect buildings in earthquakes by absorbing the movements of the ground. So his body due to its elastic properties would "snap back" into place after the shockwave.

Just an architecture student's two cents lol. It would be cool if Oda is aware of this stuff as it gives a clue as to why Luffy in particular might be able to take BB down.

Whitebeard didn't seems to produce that kind of effect so I doubt blackbeard will.

[TheCrystalShip]

@CCC:

It was something he said. A reader very early on asked if we'd see an eyepatch; Oda said he was saving it for someone very important.

No word on whether or not it'll be a villain.

I could see it being Blackbeard. A testament to Shanks' strength.

[Panda Bear]

@indigo~ink:

Lol true dat, small problem. Okay I have a question - does that mean that Luffy can't land a hit on BB without momentarily turning "non-rubber"? Is it a matter of "dodging" the Yami Yami no mi powers, or are they activated at all times even when BB isn't concentrating on absorbing others' devil fruit abilities? My theory about the Yami Yami no Mi is that if it can absorb something as abstract as devil fruit powers, it could similarly absorb the negative effects of eating two at once… so if the fruit is doing that i.e. keeping BB alive at all times, that level of concentration is not necessary. Because if that is the case, how Luffy is going to beat BB is a big question mark at this point, unless it is with plain old brute strength...

Considering that Teach specifically held out a hand, and called out a named move, when he 'blocked' Whitebeard's quake attack, I would say that his power-cancelling ability is definitely something he has to consciously activate. This is only further reinforced by the fact that, immediately after that, when Newgate simply attacked Blackbeard with his weapon, he then proceeded to grab his face and use his quake powers on him, so the simple act of touching his body pretty clearly didn't negate his powers.

[DARK_RITUAL]

@TheCrystalShip:

I could see it being Blackbeard. A testament to Shanks' strength.

Or Scopper or the other one.

[indigoink]

@desa:

Whitebeard didn't seems to produce that kind of effect so I doubt blackbeard will.

It's true, and I did think about that; but Whitebeard never attacked Luffy directly; and did he attack any normal person's body directly? Rather, when attacking masses of marines etc, the effect was to shatter the stone everywhere and destroy people's footing, which is also how Luffy could suffer damage from the fruit. However he did attack Akainu directly, which resulted in a "shatter" effect reaction scene… but Akainu is a logia, so (in my head at least) it still doesn't show the destructive effects of an earthquake attack directed specifically at someone's body, but it does show that it is possible to direct the focus of the shockwave.

Anyway it's probably too obscure, I do realise that... although really, something like this seems an obvious connection to make for me because I am from a seismically active country where I'd expect the earthquake-resistant properties of rubber to be well known amongst the general public; and Japan of course is in a similar situation. I would expect it to be a more logical train of thought than for people who haven't grown up with earthquakes in the back of their minds.

I think the eyepatch has to be for Luffy. It makes so much sense that the single most well-recognised symbol of a pirate would go to "an important character" i.e. the main protagonist and Pirate King. Even goes with the whole following-in-Shanks' footsteps thing as Shanks himself almost got an eye clawed out by BB. BRB having a fangirl moment and updating my sig art lol

[desa]

@indigo~ink:

It's true, and I did think about that; but Whitebeard never attacked Luffy directly; and did he attack any normal person's body directly? Rather, when attacking masses of marines etc, the effect was to shatter the stone everywhere and destroy people's footing, which is also how Luffy could suffer damage from the fruit. However he did attack Akainu directly, which resulted in a "shatter" effect reaction scene… but Akainu is a logia, so (in my head at least) it still doesn't show the destructive effects of an earthquake attack directed specifically at someone's body, but it does show that it is possible to direct the focus of the shockwave.

Anyway it's probably too obscure, I do realise that... although really, something like this seems an obvious connection to make for me because I am from a seismically active country where I'd expect the earthquake-resistant properties of rubber to be well known amongst the general public; and Japan of course is in a similar situation. I would expect it to be a more logical train of thought than for people who haven't grown up with earthquakes in the back of their minds.

I think the eyepatch has to be for Luffy. It makes so much sense that the single most well-recognised symbol of a pirate would go to "an important character" i.e. the main protagonist and Pirate King. Even goes with the whole following-in-Shanks' footsteps thing as Shanks himself almost got an eye clawed out by BB. BRB having a fangirl moment and updating my sig art lol

Well he attack a giant who was a VA directly same for Akinu and Blackbeard.

[TheGreatestSwordsman]

@Monkey:

We know QUITE a lot. You're absolutely fooling yourself to hell if you don't think so.
I mean I find this kind of sad honestly.
Like I'm seeing the subtext here. You aren't satisfied with any of the options are you. Well have fun sitting waiting annnny day now for some other mondo major villain to rear their nevergoingtoexist head. It will be a sad and lonely vigil.

Who says I'm not satisfied with what could happen? It would be interesting if something unexpected happens, doesn't mean that if something predictable happens it will be horrible. Breaking Bad's finale for example was pretty straightforward in many aspects yet still a fantastic episode. I'd like not to be able to predict everything, but I am confident Oda will surprise me one way or another.

We can knock bullshit suggestions off the block though, like MYSTERY OPTION lol.

The mystery option could be the Gorossei or someone pulling their puppet strings. Could be a D., this ideal that the story is already foretold just past the half way line is beyond ludicrous. Oda stated just 2-3 years back that the story is over half way there and with the way he keeps pushing it, it might take even longer to get to the final arc. The only thing you have going for your absolute theory is that Oda doesn't write red herrings and what is foreshadowed nearly happens every time. That's it. The rest of the time you seem to be making a pompous attempt at pretending we have enough of the plot points (we don't, as adorable as it is that you try to make it so).

You really aren't on the playing field here bucko.
Explain to me Akainu's symbolic significance. What force does he represent. Why is that more important than Blackbeard, LET ALONE the Gorusei.
He does have room to worse things, I think it even goes without saying. But lo and behold I'm not just going off actions! If you want to argue me on this you have to go beyond that stuff too. You have to think symbolic.

Why do we have to think symbolic? This is starting to turn more and more into "I think I can read Oda's mind and understand how characters will act at all times". We had Crocodile one of the biggest character shifts in anime history when he decided to help Luffy of all people. We know the Marines themselves are preparing for something. Akainu at the moment is already set up as one of the final villains for taking away Luffy's most important person from him. Revenge is certainly a strong factor at this point, that doesn't mean that it will stay only as such. You can bet that whatever Akainu will do in the future will only escelate now that he is in charge of the Marines. Whether it is enough to warrant final villain status it's unknown. Unlike you, I don't pretend to have all the major pieces of Oda's puzzle.

Were you one of the people that said Luffy would never become allies with Law because you "knew how he was". This seems so much in character with the way that you are, that's why I'm asking.

ahahahahahahahahahahaha

He has less ability than…

1. His bosses, the Gorusei.
2. An evil version of the protagonist who is a D.

Seriously, he's just the Gorusei's attack dog when you get down to it.

Ok so he has to be a D? Do you send notes to Oda by any chance telling him how it has to be written or do text him instead? Akainu could just as well do his own thing by the end of the series by moving away from the WG. Even working under the Gorossei doesn't mean that his value is less relevant if he is the strongest Marine/WG has to offer depending what their final plans are and how it is written.

Thematically how? Explain that one.
And explain how all that thematic weight Oda gives Blackbeard matters less.

I never said it mattered less regarding Blackbeard. So you don't think that Akainu cannot do something in the future that could make him a more threatning villain to Luffy and/or the world .. really? I do not know what he could do, but the idea that he cannot do anything that will make him as relevant as Blackbeard because Teach is the complete opposite of Luffy excluding their dream ideals and that they both have history due to the D is narrow minded. I'm not the writer, but taking away the possibility that he could do something when he is in control of the Marines on top of being a crazy bastard based on what we witnessed during the war and Robin's flashback is just putting your head in the sand. You just don't want there to be an option where there certainly could be.

You have zero grasp of the symbolic side of things. You're not on the level to even know if what I'm suggesting is amusing or not.

Thank God you are here with your teachings. Please make a class so everyone can learn how pretend they can read a mangaka's minds. I need to learn how to pretend.

Yeah here we are again in fiction writing amateur hour.
Structure and purpose are good, not "cliche". I'm not talking about tropes. I'm talking about the damned reason Oda is telling this thing.
Going against expectations has to have a reason, just pulling some big bad out of fucking nowhere when he has spent time setting up something else carefully. To just rush out a villain with none of the build up he's craftily been giving BB? Or even the Gorusei? That's bad writing.
It's surprising us JUST to surprise us.

We are not anywhere near the God damn ending of this story, how would he be pulling this out of nowhere? The big, bad wolf doesn't have to be the character that has been shown since the beginning of the storyline. This is obviously something that you want to happen and are trying to make it seem as such by downplaying any other option. Blackbeard or Akainu can get their conclusion before the end of the series. If Blackbeard doesn't end up being the final villain, he can still get a very satisfactory conclusion. The same with Akainu. Personally, I don't give a damn who the final villain is. I hope for some nice surprises here and there at the end, as long as it's written well, it can be anyone. This idea that if there is a new villain he would be rushed is so ridiculous considering the story isn't anywhere near the end, and we may have about 10 more years of Oda writing the manga before it finishes. Yet, it might be rushed if it's not Monkey King's personal favorite choice. Oh no!

[indigoink]

@TheGreatestSwordsman:

…

Hmmmmm why would Oda introduce a new character at this point and try to build him up into something worthy of the final battle, when he has already developed an antagonistic character over the past decade or so? Said antagonist has done many things to get him offside with the main protagonist, including being responsible for the capture and resulting death of his only [known to be alive] brother. He also stands directly in the way of the protagonist's dream (also wants to become Pirate King) which is the entire reason Luffy is on his journey i.e. the reason the story exists at all.

I mean Teach was introduced as a villain back in Alabaster with Ace saying he was chasing him down… and think back to the pie vs drink thing in Jaya, Luffy and Teach clashed from the start. It's just too great and also Oda-like to have such important things foreshadowed and planned out way, way ahead of time. It would also be much more rewarding to the readers for this to be the most momentous battle as we have followed the development of Blackbeard as an antagonistic character for so many years already.

Well, Akainu just doesn't seem like a final villain either. Sure he will be a formidable foe, I'm not arguing that. But when you think about the "underlying themes", the final battle being about revenge instead of his dream just doesn't seem like Luffy at all.