Who is the final villain 3.0

K. Kira XXIII

Exactly, if you cannot paint the final war between three different factions, you aren't reading the clear signs on that confrontation.

3 Ancient weapons, one of them by Luffy's side.

So it is inevitable that the other 2 are in hands of factions that both oppose themselves and Luffy at the same time. The World Government is a clear choice. Whom is the other one?

Well, WB words about Teach not being the one, just means that he isn't the one to carry Joy Boy's will. In meta words, he ain't the hero of the story. Which ..is fine as he isn't the hero. But something you cannot deny he is, a member of the D. Clan same way Luffy is. Blackbeard will not become the hero or the new Joy Boy, but with enough power and ambition, his goal is to sit on the Empty Throne. If you don't see how does Blackbeard overthrowing the government affect/contests Luffy's freedom, well common, a tyrant is replacing a new tyrant. The difference that while the government is shit, they at least try to maintain some order. Blackbeard, would all be chaos, the strong prey on the weak

auem

BB with Pluton would be ideal scenario.

Nilitch

You know, Daenerys had 3 dragons :ninja:

HikaruYami

Thanks for giving in to popular demand I voted for Imu but I am not surprised to still see Blackbeard at the top of the list.

Personally I think Blackbeard will be the last fight before reaching Laugh Tale, maaaaaybe even a fight occuring on Laugh Tale itself, and Imu will be the one fight/war afterwards. Possibly even with Blackbeard as an ally, though I'm not sure Luffy will forgive him for capturing Ace (he definitely won't forgive Akainu for killing Ace, but Akainu will presumably be fighting for Imu).

Edit: also, who is voting for Dragon.

Lord of Chaos

I always been of the opinion a D. betrayed their clan and helped the WG beat AK. Then they were killed by the WG and that D. will was passed on like Joyboy.

GolD.Ace22

It has to be either Imu or BB. Blackbeard is the main enemy but Imu might be final villain due to what he embodies and stands for in the story.

It seems clear that Teach is the final Pirate villain but the WG will be it's own tyrant entirely. Unless, and this is a big unless, but the old theory of Joyboy being the D. that betrayed the D. clan, failed to carry out his promises, and also actually helped the Ancient Kingdom win. A lot goes into this theory and it seems kinda unlikely to me but it requires Joyboy to be the Original Nefertari and Vivi's clan to be D.'s as well as Teach pretending to align with Luffy temporarily, only to of course betray the Strawhats. lol.

=D

HeartOfDarkness

What does he stand for again? Might've missed that during the two panels of his intro:ninja::ninja::ninja:

Kdom

@HeartOfDarkness:

What does he stand for again? Might've missed that during the two panels of his intro:ninja::ninja::ninja:

I really don't understand your point here. What he stand for sounds quite pretty clear. If you mean what is his personality, what is the reason he is at this place of course we have no idea but what he represents does not seems to need that much panel time to understand it.
Do we ask what the Gorosei stand for ? Their panel time is not that much bigger. The only thing is that they appear much earlier in the serie

If I say Donald Trump is the president of the US, is that enough to understand what he represents or do I need to write an essay to explain it ?

HeartOfDarkness

Let me put it this way; whatever Imu stands for, at least according to you guys, doesn't require him to be….well Imu since you are going to refer to an idea that already existed before and someone else embodied it.

Kdom

sorry but i understand even less.

Do you mean that the world government may be represented by someone else than Imu when it is defeated ? Maybe but then what was the point for Oda to create that character

registrare

Hope it's not Blackbeard, he sucks and is kind of boring, I would guess Imu, though I don't pretend to know. The question of "how" is more interesting than of "who" or "what".

Flamin-Fist Ace

In Chapter 224, BB was presented as a very distinguished opponent. He appeared to stand out with more admirable ideals. Almost like a version of Luffy with a bad moral compass. At that time, I would have certainly pegged BB as the final villain. Even as recently as the Impel Down jail break, BB stands out as a master strategist. His improv skills are reminiscent of one Captain Jack Sparrow. Despite all this, I felt Oda backtracked on that reputation when he portrayed BB at Marineford, where we saw BB’s true colors of cowardice. Since Marineford, I’ve had a hard time accepting that a coward like BB is worthy of being the final villain. I want to see BB bring back those original vibes, if he does I could see him fitting the role of final villain. But he was portrayed so in such a bad light at Marineford it almost made me wonder if Oda himself changed his mind and decided to take BB in a different direction. Unless BB gets some good character development, right now my money is on Im.

Monquito

While Blackbeard remains unbeatable, you gotta appreciate how Imu got quite some support in one single appearance.

Cyan D. Funk

Blackbeard has been built up since Drum, is an incredibly good mirror to Luffy in both characteristics and career arc, is compelling as a character let alone a villain, is the prime cause of Marineford and was the actual winner of that war, everyone who underestimates him ends up dead, is named after the most famous pirate of all time, and unlike Ym Teach has actually had interaction with Luffy.

EvoWarrior5

@Flamin-Fist:

Despite all this, I felt Oda backtracked on that reputation when he portrayed BB at Marineford, where we saw BB’s true colors of cowardice. Since Marineford, I’ve had a hard time accepting that a coward like BB is worthy of being the final villain. I want to see BB bring back those original vibes, if he does I could see him fitting the role of final villain. But he was portrayed so in such a bad light at Marineford it almost made me wonder if Oda himself changed his mind and decided to take BB in a different direction. Unless BB gets some good character development, right now my money is on Im.

I don't see how Marineford changes anything in that regard. That scene showed how BB is the one D who begs for his life when it seems like it might be ending. Him being an entirely different D than the others only makes him that much more compelling.

JohnTnaig

Blackbeard being the final villain would be good writing and make sense so Oda won't do it.

It won't be Imu either but another secret alien puppet master controlling Imu.

Dragon D. Luffy

This disagreement between the Blackbeard camp and the World Government camp makes sense because both camps are supported by things Oda has been very clearly setting up for.

First, Blackbeard has been shown as the anti-Luffy, and while that is not guarantee of final villain status (Katakuri is also a mirror of Luffy, for example), it gives him some support. He was also portrayrd as a long term planner, someone with a similar sized main crew that very obviously suggests match ups with Luffy's crew, and Luffy's biggest rival for the title of PK. It makes sense for the manga to end with a series of 1v1 fights between the Strawhats and the Blackbeards.

But on the other hand, the plot has very strongly implied to be heading to a final war against the WG. We have the void century, the rio poneglyph, Luffy being hinted to be a type of chosen one, the WG being responsible for more evil in this manga than any other characters come even close to, and Luffy's ultimate skill of gathering allies anywhere being the key to win such an impossible war.

So it is obvious both confrontations are going to happen. But which one will happen first? Does BB take down the WG by himself and then become the final villain? Is it a three-way war? Or is BB just the penultimate boss?

Personally I lean on BB being the penultimate boss, but I could see the other possibilities. The way Oda is writing it makes a lot of ways possible.

zeff redleg

The way i see it. Imu-sama's only role is to complete the puzzle of story. He has a manipulation fruit but lacks fighting skills.

Blackbeard is the main villain since he was introduced way early.

Dragon D. Luffy

I'm not counting Akainu out, tbh.

After Marineford he's the most personal opponent Luffy could possibly have.

GolD.Ace22

@Flamin-Fist:

In Chapter 224, BB was presented as a very distinguished opponent. He appeared to stand out with more admirable ideals. Almost like a version of Luffy with a bad moral compass. At that time, I would have certainly pegged BB as the final villain. Even as recently as the Impel Down jail break, BB stands out as a master strategist. His improv skills are reminiscent of one Captain Jack Sparrow. Despite all this, I felt Oda backtracked on that reputation when he portrayed BB at Marineford, where we saw BB’s true colors of cowardice. Since Marineford, I’ve had a hard time accepting that a coward like BB is worthy of being the final villain. I want to see BB bring back those original vibes, if he does I could see him fitting the role of final villain. But he was portrayed so in such a bad light at Marineford it almost made me wonder if Oda himself changed his mind and decided to take BB in a different direction. Unless BB gets some good character development, right now my money is on Im.

Teach has probably the best development of any of the minor characters. Arguably more than some of the SH crew. Teach has always shown his cowardice even against Ace.

Roger's spirit lives on in both Luffy and Teach. All share the same goal to be Pirate King so that they can be the most Free. But all went about it differently. Luffy going the most pure straight forward route. Roger was middle of the road, some bad stuff like killing crews but mostly good, likely the line right between Shanks and Buggy honestly. lol. However while Luffy is the most pure and straight forward, Teach is the most corrupted and underhanded. Roger wanted himself to be the most free, Luffy wants the same but he also wants everyone to be free in the process. Teach wants to be the most free by being the one in control, similar to the spot Imu has now.

@Dragon:

This disagreement between the Blackbeard camp and the World Government camp makes sense because both camps are supported by things Oda has been very clearly setting up for.

First, Blackbeard has been shown as the anti-Luffy, and while that is not guarantee of final villain status (Katakuri is also a mirror of Luffy, for example), it gives him some support. He was also portrayrd as a long term planner, someone with a similar sized main crew that very obviously suggests match ups with Luffy's crew, and Luffy's biggest rival for the title of PK. It makes sense for the manga to end with a series of 1v1 fights between the Strawhats and the Blackbeards.

But on the other hand, the plot has very strongly implied to be heading to a final war against the WG. We have the void century, the rio poneglyph, Luffy being hinted to be a type of chosen one, the WG being responsible for more evil in this manga than any other characters come even close to, and Luffy's ultimate skill of gathering allies anywhere being the key to win such an impossible war.

So it is obvious both confrontations are going to happen. But which one will happen first? Does BB take down the WG by himself and then become the final villain? Is it a three-way war? Or is BB just the penultimate boss?

Personally I lean on BB being the penultimate boss, but I could see the other possibilities. The way Oda is writing it makes a lot of ways possible.

I agree. I think BB's only chance for final villain is to align with and betray either the SH's or the WG again in the end.
=D

Lord of Chaos

@GolD.Ace22:

Teach has probably the best development of any of the minor characters. Arguably more than some of the SH crew. Teach has always shown his cowardice even against Ace.

Roger's spirit lives on in both Luffy and Teach. All share the same goal to be Pirate King so that they can be the most Free. But all went about it differently. Luffy going the most pure straight forward route. Roger was middle of the road, some bad stuff like killing crews but mostly good, likely the line right between Shanks and Buggy honestly. lol. However while Luffy is the most pure and straight forward, Teach is the most corrupted and underhanded. Roger wanted himself to be the most free, Luffy wants the same but he also wants everyone to be free in the process. Teach wants to be the most free by being the one in control, similar to the spot Imu has now.

I agree. I think BB's only chance for final villain is to align with and betray either the SH's or the WG again in the end.
=D

Blackbeard isn't a minor character.

GolD.Ace22

@Lord:

Blackbeard isn't a minor character.

The Straw Hats are the only major characters imo.

S.M.I.L.E.

Both BB and the WG will be part of the final arc imo, the main villain being BB, so my bet is on him. It's the final arc and the final war, multiple parties will be involved.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Flamin-Fist:

In Chapter 224, BB was presented as a very distinguished opponent. He appeared to stand out with more admirable ideals. Almost like a version of Luffy with a bad moral compass. At that time, I would have certainly pegged BB as the final villain. Even as recently as the Impel Down jail break, BB stands out as a master strategist. His improv skills are reminiscent of one Captain Jack Sparrow. Despite all this, I felt Oda backtracked on that reputation when he portrayed BB at Marineford, where we saw BB’s true colors of cowardice. Since Marineford, I’ve had a hard time accepting that a coward like BB is worthy of being the final villain. I want to see BB bring back those original vibes, if he does I could see him fitting the role of final villain. But he was portrayed so in such a bad light at Marineford it almost made me wonder if Oda himself changed his mind and decided to take BB in a different direction. Unless BB gets some good character development, right now my money is on Im.

I think that's a strategy for the author wanting us to underestimate BB. Look at his fight wih Ace for example, he was screaming in pain after just one attack.

Then he managed to receuit some of the most dangeours prisoners, and is the only known character to be able to obtain a second power. Two of the strongest abilities, that sounds so much like a final boss trope.

RigaCrypto

Storywise, I think that Imu & predecesor of the guys behind the destruction of the Ancient Kingdom are the main villains, but Strawhats wise it's BB. My guess is that when the shit hits the floor in the end arc, BB being a pirate like the rest of them, will abandon his own pursuit to help the "world". At least that is how I see him, not the big mastermind and opposing force to all of the story. He is a nobody that became a powerful pirate and only wants what other pirates want…. for now.

HeartOfDarkness

not the big mastermind and opposing force to all of the story

Ah, you must mean the time when Blackbeard caused the Marineford war to happen and also was the victor of that war with him declaring in front of the world and Marines that the upcoming age is his age.

But yea, he was just misunderstood and will definitely go back to helping Luffy defeat the World-Government. Totally makes sense for his character and isn't in any way a complete and utter misreading of how Oda has depicted him so far.

Hachibukai

BB is an opportunist, not a mastermind. Remember that first, he just wanted to capture Luffy and became Shishibukai for taking advantage of it. That was his first plan, then we don't really know if the goal was to open the door of Impel Down and recruit…
Ace was targetting BB, not the contrary. Marineford wasn't intentional at first. But he tooks advantages of, that's what he does, always.

Now, he's just waiting. He let Marines, Yonkou fighting each others or whatever, and wait the good moment to strike.
He's pretty smart, but he don't create everything on purpose, he's not a chessmaster some of you think he is.

Somali

I think it is obviously Blackbeard

wolfwood

@Somali:

I think it is obviously Blackbeard

It was obvious you'd say that with that username

uniaka ikuzakas

Dragon and shanks have more votes then akainu.

https://imgur.com/tloJFJq

Somali

Such choices such as dragon are fairly ridiculous. Those who voted for these could you explain

Shiebs

@uniaka:

Dragon and shanks have more votes then akainu.

https://imgur.com/tloJFJq

Have you checked the next crew member thread? A bunch of people voted for Caribou to be the next member, you know the guy who murders innocent people and kidnaps women to sell them and abandoned his own brother at the drop of a hat

Some people just want to watch the world burn

Somali

@Shiebs:

Have you checked the next crew member thread? A bunch of people voted for Caribou to be the next member, you know the guy who murders innocent people and kidnaps women to sell them and abandoned his own brother at the drop of a hat

Some people just want to watch the world burn

A few years ago people were saying Caesar, The guy who experimented on children, should join the crew because he had a dream of being the world greatest scientist.

LightningAce

The world government is the final villain, or whoever this "Im" is.
BB definitely not.

Shiebs

@Somali:

A few years ago people were saying Caesar, The guy who experimented on children, should join the crew because he had a dream of being the world greatest scientist.

Lol the wonder of the Nakama thread

Johnny B. Decent

Well, let's see. If Luffy is the second coming of Roger, then Teach is the second coming of Rocks. Who, wanted to overthrow the World Government and become King of the World, was the most infamous and dangeorus pirate of his time, knew forbidden subjects, and had a gaggle of infamous pirates under him. And who almost killed the Celestial Dragons, and needed both the Marines and Pirates to work together to defeat him.

….Literally, what more does Oda need to say to tell you "THIS IS THE MAIN VILLAIN OF THE STORY!"?

imperioonepiece

@Johnny:

Well, let's see. If Luffy is the second coming of Roger, then Teach is the second coming of Rocks. Who, wanted to overthrow the World Government and become King of the World, was the most infamous and dangeorus pirate of his time, knew forbidden subjects, and had a gaggle of infamous pirates under him. And who almost killed the Celestial Dragons, and needed both the Marines and Pirates to work together to defeat him.

….Literally, what more does Oda need to say to tell you "THIS IS THE MAIN VILLAIN OF THE STORY!"?

Come on, it is clear that Teach is the second coming of Rocks, yes. But even Roger and Whitebeard hinted that there will be a war after Raftel, against the World Government (or rather, Celestial Dragons, Imu, Gorosei, and so on). So yes, perhaps Teach is a "dark Luffy", the exactly opposite of Luffy, but that is not the end of the series. The series will end after the clash against the World Government, making Imu the last boss. Who knows if he/she/it can fight or not, but Imu doesn't have to be a warrior to be the final boss.

HeartOfDarkness

Blackbeard and Rocks are part of the clan that relates so heavily with the actual plot of the series.

Whatever final conflict or fight that you are referring to, involves Blackbeard too. He isn't being setup as some dude who will be bitchslapped by Luffy near Raftel and then be forgotten.

Kdom

but if Blackbeard is a second Rocks, that would mean Luffy would ally to the Celestial Dragon to defeat Blackbeard. I'm not sure this will ever happen and in any case it is not like that Joy Boy promise will be fulfilled.

desa

@Kdom:

but if Blackbeard is a second Rocks, that would mean Luffy would ally to the Celestial Dragon to defeat Blackbeard. I'm not sure this will ever happen and in any case it is not like that Joy Boy promise will be fulfilled.

Replace the celestials with Revos

Kdom

@desa:

Replace the celestials with Revos

Then what do we do of the celestial dragons ?

imperioonepiece

Then if Luffy defeats Blackbeard, is One Piece over? What about the Celestial Dragons, etc?

Unless Blackbeard allies with Imu or the World Government is defeated before Blackbeard, which I consider very unlikely, I really don't see how Blackbeard will be the final boss.

Also, I think there are many fans over here which are very apprehensive regarding Blackbeard being the final boss, aren't there? I'd be happy if Blackbeard is the final boss or not, depending on how Oda handles it, I don't see why some defend it so strongly.

Wintermute

The Revos and CDs will deal with each other.

imperioonepiece

Revos are way weaker compared to the World Government. Sabo is very likely to have been defeated, the three admirals plus Akainu will defeat the revos very easily. You're way overestimating them.

mrsword

@imperioonepiece:

Then if Luffy defeats Blackbeard, is One Piece over? What about the Celestial Dragons, etc?

Unless Blackbeard allies with Imu or the World Government is defeated before Blackbeard, which I consider very unlikely, I really don't see how Blackbeard will be the final boss.

Also, I think there are many fans over here which are very apprehensive regarding Blackbeard being the final boss, aren't there? I'd be happy if Blackbeard is the final boss or not, depending on how Oda handles it, I don't see why some defend it so strongly.

No one who says BB as final boss believes he will go down before the WG.

In case of a war with multiple sides, the WG side can absolutely go down before BB. Whats so hard to get about that?

uniaka ikuzakas

The thing about the iron throne seems to be that the throne is the important thing, not Im. As in someone else could take the throne before the end of the series?

andre

With the chapter showing Roger finding One Piece, I one hundred percent think Luffy and crew will get to it without much Teach interference. Oda wouldn't keep them from such a celebration. I also think that the important thing has to happen after Raftel and that there's a reason that Roger wasn't able to do such a thing. My money is on Blackbeard as the final villain in this scenario, having taken the anti-one piece, whether that's something belonging to the World Government or something else we haven't seen yet.

As for the World Government. They aren't going to go down, though the Celestial Dragons will certainly be taken off their high place. I think we should presume that the Revolutionaries stated goal is what will take place. The system of order around the kingdoms of the world will remain, but the malignant shit related to slavery will be destroyed.

Kdom

@Wintermute:

The Revos and CDs will deal with each other.

Maybe but I think that would underwhelm all the void century part of the story. After all, in this flashback Oda hinted a lot that Luffy will be the one to do what Roger couldn't do because it was to early

I would agree with imperionepiece. Blackbeard makes a great last villain on the paper but I have yet to read a scenario where it makes sense to beat him after the Strawhat have defeated the World Government and free the world of an old tyranny.

MDL

Ever since Enies Lobby and the "genocide the scholar island for knowing too much" flashback,
placing emphasis on a "void century" cover up and putting importance of the poneglyphs and an ancient civilisation that was wiped out…
I've been convinced that the final fight of the series will be against the corruption responsible.
This was only enhanced when we were introduced to the Celestial Dragons and all of the awful shit they've dipped their toes in.
Now we even have Imu, and the fact that every now and then he/it calls for a purge/cleansing of something in the world.

It feels like one of those elements in manga stories that usually overshadows everything the other characters are doing once it explodes.
Things that will suddenly be more important than whatever squabbles the characters were having at the time.
Something that pushes to the front and says "Look at me. I'm the captain now." aka "Look at me. I'm the main conflict now."

One Piece is a story about freedom and adventure.
The main opposition to that is the government, who want to arrest Luffy and stop that adventure outright.
The straw hats live outside the law and the system.
Even at the core of the series, Luffy's main enemy is "the man" (the establishment).

You guys can talk about how Blackbeard and Luffy are set up as exact opposites, and that it's inevitable they'll have an epic clash,
and that much is obvious.

But... consider Light and L from Death Note.
They were on opposite sides, both intellectually compatible, good vs evil, and one side was victorious.
.........but the story didn't finish there. Near and Mello showed up, despite how perfect things were with just Light and L facing each other.

To me, there's no reason Blackbeard can't be the L to Imu's Near/Mello.
Though of course we won't want the protag to lose this time.

Xskart

There currently is still no good reason why exactly the strawhats would actually attack the world government. Everything which seems to be wrong about them is a internal matter which should be resolved by the good sides of the world government (right now its the marines higher up who seem to be good).
Icant imagine anything about the void century or what what One piece actually is which warrents the strawhat going after the world government.

Dragon D. Luffy

Currentlly there is no good reason, but we have seen Luffy decide he wanted to take the villain down very easily many times before. Just seeing the current island's populace suffering will usually do it for him. Just learning what the WG did to take over the world could piss him off, or learning of something the WG is about to do. It could also involve someone he deeply cares about, such as Vivi, Sabo, or some strawhat. There are many ways to push this narrative.

And I guess Luffy hasn't yelled "I will take down the world government!" yet because that job is completely out of his league. It would basically mean interrupting his journey to the One Piece and spending decades pursuing this nearly impossible task. Becoming PK is easier. This will change when he gets access to the One Piece/void century stuff, and then Luffy will have both the motivation and the tools to get the job done, as well as having already fulfilled his previous main dream.