Maybe I’m alone in this, but I actually would rather (at the moment) prefer it if Vegapunk stays as an antagonist. Yes, we’ve already had 3 (or 4, if you count Hogback as well) immoral scientist characters (no Oda, Judge is not a good person and nothing you do is going to change that) but the way I see it, Vegapunk (who at the moment I see as amoral) makes a great foe for a possible Franky centric arc. After all, it’s Vegapunk’s designs that Franky incorporated into his body while also being a great way to show that Franky has surpassed Vegapunk as the better inventor/tinkerer (after all this opening showed that right now, Vegapunk is far better given how helpless the Strawhats were). Plus come on, who doesn’t want to see General Franky and Vega Force 12 go at each other, rock-em sock-em robot style and I’m sure Oda would love to draw giant robots fighting.
Chapter 1061: Future Island Egghead
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Unless there’s a council of Vegapunks and one or more chamge sides, I don’t see Vegapunk being anything other than an antagonist.
It doesn’t mean he will be the main threat himself, but he will likely be the brain behind it.
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I see Vegapunk more as the amoral 'Science is everything' type of character. They were fine on Baltimore running experiments by themselves but hit a wall and so teamed up with Germa and formed MADs so they had other scientists to work with. There, they were antagonists to the world government but Judge then sold MADs out so he could get Germa rerecognised as one of the worlds Kingdoms. While Queen and Caesar hated this, and both eventually left to become criminals again, Vegapunk stayed behind because working for the WG was no different to him than working in MADs.
But we saw in the brief Caesar flashback that even Vegapunk has his limits, as he felt Caesar was too immoral, and it's why he banished him in the first place. So he's clearly being set-up as the least villanous of all the MADs members, and that makes me think by the end of it he'll be more pro-Straw Hats than anti-Straw Hats.
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Franky has no chance against Vegapunk. This will be looney tunes Gear 5 vs mad scientist.
And Vegapunk right now is essentially one of the 3 powers of the OP world considering the Seraphim are the substitutes of the Shichibukai. This is no small task for our Emperor crew.
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Like it or not, Luffy will always be the main protagonist, so if Vegapunk is the main antagonist and he has to be seriously dealt with this arc, it will be Luffy who ultimately deals with him.
If you don't think Vegapunk has the "power level" for that or whatever, just remember that he is supposed to be on another level than Caesar, and Caesar gave Luffy problems.
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If Vegapunk isn’t a fighter, there’s always the possibility of Luffy fighting “Vegapunk’s greatest creation”, while Franky plays a role by helping reach/capture/confront Vegapunk himself.
Kinda like Lucci/Spandam. The boss was Spandam, but the big fight was Lucci.
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I can hardly even think Vegapunk is supposed to be a Spandam type character.
I see him more as a Caesar/ Judge/ Queen type character x10.
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Of course Vegapunk is a fighter. He is piloting the gundam, and who knows what other weapons he's got.
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I'd personally love it if this turns into a canon G8-arc with Vegapunk playing the role of an even more effective vice admiral Jonathan.
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That doesn't mean the mecha or himself is his best invention.
Wano predictions: There will be 5 acts; All Straw Hats will get fights, some in Act 4; Big Mom Pirates will arrive; Carrot will have her moment, but won't join; Yamato will be a Kouzuki samurai and Wano's Guardian; Shanks will visit Luffy in Act 5; Next arc is Mary Geoise.
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@Deicide Right. And I'm saying I don't believe Oda will do Vegapunk like that. I don't buy that Vegapunk will have a creation or underling that is a bigger threat than him in a fight.
I honestly wouldn't mind if that's the case but I just can't see it considering all the hype behind him. He should put the likes of Caesar, Judge, and Queen to shame!
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@danie said in Chapter 1061: Future Island Egghead:
@Deicide Right. And I'm saying I don't believe Oda will do Vegapunk like that. I don't buy that Vegapunk will have a creation or underling that is a bigger threat than him in a fight.
I honestly wouldn't mind if that's the case but I just can't see it considering all the hype behind him. He should put the likes of Caesar, Judge, and Queen to shame!
Exactly this.
It's not only the hype around Vegapunk (which is a point in itself), but it's not Oda's style to not make the main antagonist the strongest of the bunch. We can talk about Lucci, but even though he was a subordinate, he was clearly more prominent as a character than Spandam.
And whatever creatures Vegapunk creates, I believe he could make better for himself.
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I'd also like to see Vegapunk as the main antagonist full of weird creations and a big robot fight angainst Free Luffy.
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A random thing, Franky broke his robot last arc, and notably that thing had fought in the New World with mostly a winning record until Sasaki came around. Yet still, this Vegapunk robot is like 10 times bigger and probably a lot stronger. So, I'm assuming that if Vegapunk has a creation stronger than a yonkou commander than he's probably got a lot of other crazy inventions that could shape and influence the New World despite all that we've seen. It puts things in perspective. Also, Sasaki saved Franky from being embarrassed here.
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On the Vegapunk main antagonist thing, I still think that there's a chance he/she ends up being a good guy actually. Would be weird if all scientist in OP are bad guys. Not to mention that it would be a bit weird for the Strawhats to run into the main antagonist of an arc this early.
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@Ivotas said in Chapter 1061: Future Island Egghead:
On the Vegapunk main antagonist thing, I still think that there's a chance he/she ends up being a good guy actually. Would be weird if all scientist in OP are bad guys. Not to mention that it would be a bit weird for the Strawhats to run into the main antagonist of an arc this early.
There's certainly some ambiguity about Vegapunk's morals since Vegapunk has shown in the past some hints of ethical behavior...
However, on a meta level, I think it would be harmful for the story if one of the WG's main assets suddenly changed sides. Sometimes it already feels like Luffy has far too many allies for the WG to handle in the final war, and then they lose one of their main players? That's bad, IMO. It's better if Vegapunk remains in villain to be defeated.
That said, what I can envision is Vegapunk having a redemption scene before defeat, like regretting his research for their effects on the world, and then he self-destructs. Who knows.
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I think Vegapunk might be a good guy….. or girl I guess
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Yeah, I don't think Vegapunk has been set up as just some evil scientist, but if we actually got characterization for him this chapter, he doesn't strike me as a saint either.
And just looking back at the stuff with Kuma, the Seraphim, etc., the guy is definitely questionable.
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I think Vegapunk is a self-absorbed jerk.
Not evil, not willing to hurt people for nothing, still under some ethics.
But what he cares about is proving himself. He sets a goal, he will lose sight of everything else.
Like, why did he fix the climate in Egghead but not Baldimore? Because all he wanted was prove to himself he could. So, once his work was done in Egghead, he totally forgot Baldimore and went on to other endeavors. That's pretty much what I expect him to be.
Likewise, I think he will challenge the SHs because it's an opportunity to test his inventions against real targets. They are pirates, who care? This is the chance to prove the power of his creations!
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@theackwardstation
I don't think it would be harmful to the story to have one big scientist to be a good guy in the end. Also in terms of bringing down the WG, it's not necessary that everybody in the WG is a villain. Just as we see some good guys amongst the Marine it would be good to have some guys affiliated with the WG be good in the end too.I agree that Vegapunk has done some morally ambiguous things with Kuma but we don't know the full story behind it. Why did Kuma allow that to happen? Was it a plan to win Vegapunk over for the Revulotionist Army? Or is Vegapunk already one of them and it's a big undercover thing only he, Kuma and Dragon are in the know about? Or can we really just take it at face value and he turned a perfectly capable warrior into the same thing as his copies for no reason at all?
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The possibility of Vegapunk being an antagonist didn't really crossed my mind, to be honest. Oda seemed to have dedicated some effort in PH to make sure he would be the "good scientist" that actually has a functioning moral compass as a contrast to Caesar's complete lack of ethics and morality.
I expect Vegapunk throwing some "morally grey" statements, but more as a quirk and funny trait of his personality, but ultimately always be depicted as a good guy when it comes to actions (not unlike the SH).
If he really turns to be the antagonist of this arc, I could see it playing out as as facade to just some kind of test.
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I think Vegapunk is the perfect set up for a morally gray character.
Someone who thinks they are making the world better through their sicence, and who is about to face a harsh reality.
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Oh yeah, the talk about Luffy whooping Smoker reminded me that I want see Luffy whoop that punk Sentomaru! If I remember correctly, he is very much tied to Vegapunk, so he should be in Egghead more than Smoker should... Let's see him use that axe now!
He seems like a good opponent for Jinbe though.
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The only problem with NOT having Vegapunk as an antagonist is that we are already in their territory, and they're the only ones with any potential to actually challenge the SH because of crazy science shenanigans. We already saw a creation of theirs completely outclassing the Thousand Sunny simply because it was a vastly superior watercraft, so it's not difficult to imagine more robotic weapons akin to that. The Giant Robot alone is Oars-sized compared to the Franky Shogun.
Plus, Bonney considers Vegapunk her personal antagonist, and Luffy will likely side with her. It would be awkward for this whole thing to be resolved peacefully.
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@Dragon-D-Luffy said in Chapter 1061: Future Island Egghead:
I think Vegapunk is the perfect set up for a morally gray character.
Someone who thinks they are making the world better through their sicence, and who is about to face a harsh reality.
He seems to have been set-up so that he either does acts of kindness where he can or that he just does things that happens to be kind so long as it's not too much trouble for him.
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I don't think Vegapunk can do as much as he's done for the World Government's dominion of the world and still be an all-around good guy unless a strong case for duress is made immediately. I think he's most likely to be too caught up in his work to care about how it's used, a morally bad position, but one that leaves him potentially redeemable with a bit of nudging.
Don't say that he's hypocritical,
Say rather that he's apolitical.
"Once the Pacifistas are up, who cares where they come down?
That's not my department, " says Wernher von Punk -
@Captain-M said in Chapter 1061: Future Island Egghead:
I don't think Vegapunk can do as much as he's done for the World Government's dominion of the world and still be an all-around good guy unless a strong case for duress is made immediately. I think he's most likely to be too caught up in his work to care about how it's used, a morally bad position, but one that leaves him potentially redeemable with a bit of nudging.
Don't say that he's hypocritical,
Say rather that he's apolitical.
"Once the Pacifistas are up, who cares where they come down?
That's not my department, " says Wernher von PunkAt this point, after the questionable lab-grown baby Lunarian Pacifista clones, the only way to keep Vegapunk as a genuine good guy would probably be to portray as someone doing things under intense pressure.
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Vegapunk’s seen as a youngish girl. So it is Usopp’s time to shine as a fighter.
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@King-Cannon said in Chapter 1061: Future Island Egghead:
The Giant Robot alone is Oars-sized compared to the Franky Shogun.
If we trust Oda's scaling in this chapter, the giant robots is many times Oars' size. I mean, the Sunny has the same height as Oars, and the robot is many times bigger than the Sunny.
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I've seen this point being brought up a lot since even before the chapter but I'm not sure I really get it. What exactly is it Vegapunk supposedly did by creating the Seraphim that makes him have questionable morals? Not saying there is nothing, but there's various ways one could see a problem here. So I'm curious what exactly is considered the big deal here.
@King-Cannon said in Chapter 1061: Future Island Egghead:
The only problem with NOT having Vegapunk as an antagonist is that we are already in their territory, and they're the only ones with any potential to actually challenge the SH because of crazy science shenanigans. We already saw a creation of theirs completely outclassing the Thousand Sunny simply because it was a vastly superior watercraft, so it's not difficult to imagine more robotic weapons akin to that. The Giant Robot alone is Oars-sized compared to the Franky Shogun.
Plus, Bonney considers Vegapunk her personal antagonist, and Luffy will likely side with her. It would be awkward for this whole thing to be resolved peacefully.
Antagonist doesn't equal bad guy. Also being in their territory means not there won't be something else going on which could create another obstacle for the Strawhats. Especially since Vegapunk is the first person from Egghead the Strawhat's encounter. Of course there's a first time for everything but so far it hasn't been Oda's style to have the arcs main antagonist be the first person they meet.
I consider a Skypiea scenario more likely, where Wiper was the first person the Strawhats met. He was pretty much an antagonist throught the large part of the arc and only truly saw the Strawhats as good people right there at the climax. When I say Vegapunk is not a bad guy, I think of something like this. Antagonistic but neither the big bad nor a bad person.
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Sentomaru should be in this arc, right?
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Egghead = Smarty Pants = Vegapunk island. Knew it the moment it was mentioned.
Seeing the shark rise up like that gave me such early Grand Line to Jaya vibes! Seeing how goofy it was after the fact gave me such Impel Down, Minotaurus vibes. Looks extra scary in the shadows but eventually revealed to be what only could be described as totally One Piece.
Seeing that Vega Force bot with those big round arms just remind me of what could have been with Franky. The blocks aren't without their charms but the round Popeye's maybe turned Mega or X Busters would have been preferred in my book. But still regular Franky has those good ol' Varia Suit shoulders. Not those stinky, lesser quality, Dark Suit wheel shoulders that Vega bot is sporting.
Also if Franky is anything to judge by the hands of the big robot are used as wheels when traveling across land at high speeds.
For a good while I kept thinking Vegapunk was waiting to see the Straw Hats. To see her now in a totally antagonistic role(at the moment) is not what I expected. Initially I figured "oh good ol' Vega wanted to help Kuma help the Straw Hats, what a good guy!" Now it's like yeah ok, was that just part of the deal? If those Straw Hats cross my path I won't hesitate to put laser beam between their eyes?
Seeing the prime antagonist at the very start is odd to me so I don't expect this arc to be too long too battle heavy or Punk even staying purely antagonistic. A part of me feels like Vegapunk, Chopper and Sanji are going to hit it off and that's going to completely change the course of the arc. Maybe not but I'm expecting them to learn quit a bit about themselves.
Vegapunk giving answers and/or reactions Rumble Balls, Wapol Metal, Radical Beam, Exoskeletons(grrrr), Lunarians and of course Devil Fruits just makes me so excited. Now we very well could get Fishman Karate Dojo'd or Zora at Ryuma's grave'd but the potential has me excited.
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Man so the only reason koby is still in the marines is because he is dating akainus daughter.
H: nooo daddy, please keep koby, don't fire him....pleaseeeee -
@zorosempai
Akainu seems like the kind off guy who would immediately magma fist anybody who even so much as thinks about talking to his daughter. -
If Vegapunk is an antagonist, I wonder how Oda will handle the fact that this arc is supposed to reveal how Devil Fruits are working and other lore subjects.
Also seing the kids back, we are starting the new saga in a similar fashion as with Punk Hazard. Will there be more parallel ? I hope we will learn more about the MADS team that Oda has foreshadowed.
In fact there are so many things to reveal, add it a bit of action and we may be in Egg head more time than people thinks -
Honestly I hope he isn't, at least not in the combat sense, and if it must, then have it tied to specific circumstances/misunderstandings. We've had years of Wano, evil overlords and big battles: right now I would welcome a Zou-like arc, compact and focused on adventure and lore.
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@Kdom she seems chatty enough to reveal stuff even to strangers. Other than that, it's possible one of SH just happens to overhear stuff. Or VP sees Chopper in action and gets super into his transformations and reveals stuff about DF in general. Or anything.
Not sure how much of a reveal to expect really. We just ended an arc with a super hyped boss who was said to be unkillable, no matter the situation, basically attempting suicide for sport. And all the hype ended with an afterthought of a flashback and getting punched really really hard into a pool of lava. Not saying Kaido should survive getting dipped hard into lava, but it was a lame end after the original introduction listing examples of his survival feats. Welp, guess he never met Akainu before!
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Reminder that Edward Weevil exists and no one cares about him, lol.
If he doesn't appear in Egghead island and is revealed as a failed WB clone, I can't imagine what role he will have in the future.
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@Deicide said in Chapter 1061: Future Island Egghead:
Reminder that Edward Weevil exists and no one cares about him, lol.
If he doesn't appear in Egghead island and is revealed as a failed WB clone, I can't imagine what role he will have in the future.
As whitebeard's son he is related to the blackbeard's plot, so maybe he shows up in some BB related arc that is either the final or some smaller one like beehive island. He did say he wants revenge on BB.
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Dunno if anyone's brought this up already,
but a part of me wonders if Chopper and Luffy are in the same group because they're BOTH Hito Hito users,
so they can both witness information at the same time if Luffy's fruit gets more discussion/elaboration.
Would be interesting to get Chopper's comments on it,
as someone who experimented with his own fruit and broke the three transformations rule. -
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This post is deleted!
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I would find it more interesting if Hibari is an Akainu spy, rather than his daughter. (It could be both of course, I just find the idea that she is yet another rebellious child of a major villain not very appealing).
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At least it's clear what Franky based his after TS design on.
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Luffy is aware of his transformation into Nika form. But I'm still not sure what is necessary for him to transform whenever he needs to. Does he have to die everytime? Or he just needs to find the rythm in his heartbeat again? Maybe Vegapunk can show him how to use Rumble Balls, since he is also a Hito Hito user
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@Chams-0 said in Chapter 1061: Future Island Egghead:
Luffy is aware of his transformation into Nika form. But I'm still not sure what is necessary for him to transform whenever he needs to. Does he have to die everytime? Or he just needs to find the rythm in his heartbeat again? Maybe Vegapunk can show him how to use Rumble Balls, since he is also a Hito Hito user
He lost it against Kaido and managed to get the rhythm going again. I imagine he just has to give his heart the proper rhytm which he has experience with gear second.
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Anyone else bothered that this is Jinbei's debut as Straw Hats' helmsman from island to island and he already abandoned the helm before reaching the land?
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@Ivotas said in Chapter 1061: Future Island Egghead:
I've seen this point being brought up a lot since even before the chapter but I'm not sure I really get it. What exactly is it Vegapunk supposedly did by creating the Seraphim that makes him have questionable morals? Not saying there is nothing, but there's various ways one could see a problem here. So I'm curious what exactly is considered the big deal here.
Their technology is helping preserve one of the biggest and bloodiest dictatorships in fiction, one may have killed more people than all of real life's dictatorships combined, given its longevity and its pechant for large scale genocides.
It's the same problem Franky faces, tbh. Which is imo why he has gotten a fight almost every arc since he joined.
