Parallels Between Zou and Skypea:

! During their arrival to Zo, Law tells Luffy that Zo is an island that ‘never stays in one place’. Back at Jaya, Cricket tells Luffy that Skypea exists on top a a cloud that ‘drifts’ for all eternity. This drifting feature is common to both Zo and Skypea.
! >!
After their arrival to Zou, the Straw Hats begin climbing Zou’s leg in order to get to the top of the island. This parallels the time when they were riding the Knock-up stream in order to get to Skypea.
! >!
As they were climbing its hind leg, the Straw Hats notice something falling on them. This parallels the scene where the Straw Hats noticed something falling on them from Skypea.
! >!
What was falling on them on their way to Zou turned out to be a monkey. On their way to the next island, a ship was falling on them from Skypea. So there is this parallel.
! >!
After reaching the top of Zou, they get attacked by a resident of the island, Carrot. This parallels the time when the Straw Hats reached the top of Skypea and got attacked by a resident of Skypea, Wiper.
! >!
! Telling her to stop, another resident of the island, Wanda, emerges to stop Carrot’s assault on the Straw Hats as she is riding a crocodile.
Telling him to stop, Ganfall, as he was riding a bird, emerged in order to stop Wiper’s assault on the Straw Hats. In both arcs, a person riding an animal emerges in order to stop an assault.
! >!
Immediately after that, Wanda tells Carrot that the ‘Whale Forest’ has been infiltrated. Back at Skypea, there was a forest called ‘Upper Yeard’ that no one was allowed to enter. In both arcs, a forest into which people are forbidden to enter is present.
! >!
Afterwards, Wanda finds Luffy at the Whale Forest and takes him to their dwelling, from where he gets taken, sometime after his stay, to the peak of a gigantic tree, whereon a ponelyph resides. Back at Skypea, there was a giant beanstalk, on top of which there was a poneglyph. In both arcs, there is a giant plant whose peak contains a poneglyph.
! >!
(The beanstalk was named ‘Giant Jack’, and in Zou we get a ‘big’ antagonist named ‘Jack’.)
! Once inside the Whale Tree, Robin deciphers the poneglyph and discovers that it talks about Raftel. Back at Skypea, the Poneglyph talked about Raftel as well. In both arcs, the ponelyph contains information pertaining to Raftel.
! >!
Quite sometime after that, the elephant begins trumpeting, & Luffy hears its talkative ‘voice’. Back at Skypea, the island’s ringing bell was described as ‘the island’s singing voice’. In both arcs, the island has a ‘voice’.
! >!
Deciding to leave the island and head for their next adventure, Luffy and his crew leave island by dropping from it. The image parallels Skypea’s scene of their leave: they left the island by dropping from it.
! >!
Thank you for reading,

Australopithecus.

Parallels Between Dressrosa, Alabasta, and Drum Kingdom:

! After Caesar’s defeat, the Straw Hats head to Dressrosa. Their arrival to Dressrosa is almost identical to their arrival to Alabasta.
! >!
Once on Dressrosa, Luffy’s top priority is to stuff his stomach. Exactly the same thing happened on Alabasta: once the Straw hats docked their ship, Luffy’s started gunning for food.
! >!
As he was eating on a restaurant at Dressrosa, Luffy stumbled upon a naval power: Fujitora. Practically the same thing happened back at Alabasta: as Luffy was eating in a restaurant, he stumbled upon a naval power: Smoker.
! >!
After leaving the restaurant, Luffy gets whiff of the fact that his brother’s fruit, the Mera Mera, is put as the winning prize for the victor of a coliseum battle. Back at Alabasta, we got introduced to the Mera Mera for the first time. In both arcs, the Mera Mera plays a role.
! >!
Within the coliseum, Luffy discovers that Blackbeard chases down his brother’s power. Back at Alabasta, the opposite happened, and in a slightly different way: Ace was chasing down Blackbeard himself. In both arcs, the noxious bond between Ace & Blackbeard is present.
! >!
Within the coliseum, Luffy also meets the princess of the country, and she confides in him her wish of trying to stop the leader of the rebels’ planned coup d’état. Back at Alabasta, Vivi was attempting to stop the leader of the rebels’ planned coup d’état. In both arcs, the princess is trying to stop the leader of the rebels’ coup d’état.
! >!
The scene then shifts to the rebels of Dressrosa, showing us their leader, Kyros, rallying them in preparation for an attack against the king of Dressrossa. This parallels the scene when Kohza, the leader of the rebels, was rallying the rebels in preparation for an attack against the king of Alabasta.
! >!
During his speech, the leader of the rebels reveals to us that the warlord Doflamingo took over the country in one night. Back at Whiskey Peak, Vivi revealed to us that the warlord Crocodile’s objective was the arrogation of the country to himself. An action, which was about to happen at Alabasta, succeeded in happening at Dressrosa.
! >!
Following that, the leader of the rebels further reveals to us that he is the ‘father’ of the princess of Dressrosa. This closeness between the leader of the rebels and the princess of the country is a parallel between both Dressrosa and Alabasta since Kohza, the leader of rebels of Alabasta, was Vivi’s childhood ‘friend’.
! >!
The scene then shifts back to the coliseum, and Luffy, while trying to leave the coliseum in order to put a stop to Doflamingo, meets his brother, Sabo, to whom he entrusts the victory for the Mera Mera. This parallels Luffy’s meeting of his brother, Ace, at Alabasta.
! >!
The insurrection against the throne of Dressrosa is then launched, and, while close to the King Doflamingo, Kyros finds himself absorbed in past memories, and we get a flashback wherein the princess of the country gets kidnapped and he saves her from kidnappers. This attempt by the future leader of the rebels to protect the princess from kidnappers is a parallel between both Dressrosa and Alabasta because Kohza, the leader of the rebels, during his childhood saved Vivi, the princess of Alabasta, from kidnappers, too.
! >!
The flashback ends, and Kyros gets back to his senses, shortly after which he futilely attacks Doflamingo’s clone, decapitating him. This parallels the scene where Vivi futilely decapitated Crocodile himself.
! >!
Reacting to that, Doflamingo throws him off his castle, and gathers his subordinates, during which he begins plotting the elimination of Fujitora. Back at Alabasta, Crocodile planned to eliminate Smoker. In both arcs, the warlord plans to eliminate the naval power.
! >!
Minutes after that, Sabo, after gloriously acquiring the Mera Mera, is shown obstructing Fujitora’s chase after his brother, luffy. This parallels the scene where Ace was shown obstructing Smoker’s chase after his brother, luffy.
! >!
After a tumultuous clash between him and Sabo, Fujitora decides to turn a blind eye to Luffy. This parallels the time when Smoker decided to turn a blind eye to Luffy back at Alabasta.
! >!
Sometime afterwards, Luffy & Law, after overcoming many obstacles in their paths, finally arrive at Doflamingo’s castle and directly engage with him in battle, and while Law is butting head with him, he begins reminiscing about the past, and we get a flashback. The flashback begins with a dying future doctor (Law). Back at Drum Kingdom, the flashback began with a dying doctor (Hiluluk). In both instances, the flashback begins with a dying person.
! >!
As soon as Law finished talking about his imminent death, a very clumsy person, Corazon, makes his entrance. Back at Drum Kingdom, Hiluluk was also clumsy when it came to the treatment of his patients. So this clumsiness is present in both Hiluluk and Corazon.
! >!
Corazon then throws Law out of a window, and, after some time, Law stabs him with a knife in retaliation. Back at Drum, Chopper tried to kill Hiluluk as well, so there is this parallel.
! >!
Two years following that incident, Law reveals that he is a ‘D’. Back at Drum, Chopper went with a man who is a ‘D’ (Luffy). In both cases, both Chopper and Law’s fates are intertwined with ‘D’.
! >!
Overhearing that, Corazon grabs Law and takes him somewhere private where they engage in a discussion about ‘D’, during which he reveals to Law the identity of the people who carry the name of ‘D’: ‘God’s natural enemies’. Back then at Alabasta, Robin inquires about the identity of the people who carry the name of ‘D’. A question about ‘D’ was asked back at Alabasta and got answered at Dressrosa. In both arcs, the discussion about the identity of the line of ‘D’ is present.
! >!
Deciding to cure Law’s fatal disease eventually, Corazon takes him to numerous hospitals where he gets called ‘White Monster’ due to his ‘White Lead Disease’. Back at Drum, Chopper was called a ‘monster’ as well. So there is this parallel between Law and Chopper.
! >!
During his quest for curing Law’s disease, Corazon gets whiff of the Op Op, ventures into the undertaking of acquiring it for Law, and succeeds in bringing it to him, but at a great price. Back at Drum, Chopper, trying to save Hiluluk from death, brought him a mushroom at a great prince as well. In both flashbacks, a vegetable is brought to save from death the sufferer.
! >!
Wounded from his attempt of bringing Law the Op Op Fruit, Corazon hands Law a small tube that contains information that could save Dressrosa. This parallels Hiluluk’s attempt of trying to save Drum Kingdom. In both arcs, Corazon and Hiluluk try to save a country from a crisis.
! >!
His attempt of saving the country, however, was the spark of his downfall. The same thing happened back at Drum Kingdom: Hiluluk’s attempt of saving the country was what caused his downfall.
! >!
Before his death, Corazon lies to Law, assuring him that everything will be fine. This parallels the moment when Hiluluk, knowing he will surely die, lied to Chopper, telling him that everything was fine.
! >!
The flashback ends, and we get dragged back into the present, shortly after which Doflamingo engages in a fierce battle mainly with Luffy, and while the both of them are fighting, Doflamingo begins recalling Crocodile’s defeat. This parallels in practically every way the moment when Corocodile was recalling Mr.5’s defeat. And in both cases, the perpetrator of the defeat is Luffy.
! >!
Investigating Crocodile’s defeat, Doflamingo stumbled across Luffy’s wanted poster and discovered that he must have been the one who defeated Crocodile, while also expressing his nescience concerning his name. This parallels the scene where Crocodile was gazing at Luffy’s wanted poster while also expressing his nescience about his name.
! >!
As his mind was transitioning from the past to the present, Doflamingo further recalls and also avers that Luffy dropped out of the sky into the Paramount War (where Doflamingo was), following it with a comment expressing his astonishment at Luffy’s ‘survival’. This parallels the final scene in Crocodile’s flashback about Luffy, when Robin tells him that he and his crewmates were ‘alive’, and they are in the town where Crocodile was.
! >!
During his fight with Luffy, Doflamingo uses a technique that transforms the ground and causes Luffy to start losing his footing. The same thing happened back at Alabasta when Crocodile used a technique that transforms the ground and causes Luffy to start losing his footing.
! >!
On the threshold of the conclusive moment of their battle, Luffy and Doflamingo take their fight into the ‘air’. This parallels the scene where Luffy and Crocodile took their fight into the air.
! >!
Before delivering the final blow, Luffy starts preparing his final technique against him in midair. This parallels the scene where Luffy began preparing his final attack against Crocodile in midair.
! >!
Countering Luffy’s forthcoming attack, Doflamingo then launches piercing strings at Luffy, and Luffy’s punch goes right through the tips of his piercing strings. This parallels the scene where Crodile summons sandy battleaxes, and Luffy’s punches go right through the cutting edge of his sandy battleaxes.
! >!
The devastation of Luffy’s punch sinks Doflamingo right through the bedrock of Dressrosa’s ground. This parallels the scene where Luffy’s punches sent Crocodile flying through the bedrock of Alabasta’s ground.
! >!
After his defeat, Rebecca’s mind begins drifting into the memory when Luffy’s promised her to defeat Doflamingo. The same thing happened back at Alabasta: after Corodile’s defeat, Vivi’s mind drifted into the memory when Luffy’s promised her to defeat Crocodile.
! >!
As Doflamingo lies defeated on the ground, the marines begin arresting him. This parallels the scene where Crocodile lay defeated on the ground, and the marines began arresting him.
! >!
Following Doflamingo’s arrest with just a couple of moments, Fujitora prostrates himself in apology to the former king of the country in the name of the government for letting one of their officials wreak havoc at Dressrosa, and, upon hearing that, his superiors contacted him and engaged in a heated dispute with him for not letting the incident be covered up. This parallels the time when Smoker received a call, and started bickering with his superiors for covering up the Alabasta incident.
! >!
After peace and tranquility were brought back to the country, Luffy’s brother, Sabo, asks the Straw Hats to take care of his little brother. This parallels the time when Ace asks the Straw Hats to take care of his little brother as he was leaving Alabasta.
! >!
During the night time of that day, the heroes who fought bravely against Doflamingo are shown sleeping in the castle and the scene then shifts to the princess of the country. The same thing happened at Alabasta: During the night time of that day, the heroes who fought bravely against him were shown sleeping in the castle and the scene then shifted to the princess of the country.
! >!
Three days after the battle against Doflamingo, Fujitora resume his pursuit for Luffy as he is leaving Dressrosa, but, unable to be captured by Fujitora, Luffy successfully leaves Dressrosa and begin heading for the next island, Zo, and on his way there, new bounties are issued by the government for defeating Doflamingo. Back at Alabasta, new bounties were issued by the government for defeating Crocodile.
! >!

Parallels Between Punk Hazard, Longue Town, Whiskey Peak, Little Garden, Drum Kingdom, and Alabasta:

! On their way to the New World, the Straw Hats face the sudden appearance of a storm that bears the name dragon. Back at Logue Town, a storm was brought forth by Dragon.
! >!
Caught in the storm, the Straw Hats get taken all the way into a group of leviathans (island whales). 2 years ago, the storm of Logue Town took Luffy all the way to the Calm Belt where they met a group of leviathans (sea kings).
! >!
Following that, one of the island whales starts carrying Luffy’s ship on top of its head. This parallels the scene where the sea king emerges from underneath Luffy’s ship, causing it to be on top of its head.
! >!
! The island whales carry Luffy all the way to surface, which was also the entrance of the New World. The image parallels the image where we met Laboon at the entrance of the Grand line.
! >!
Once in the New World, the Straw Hats receive a distress signal from Punk Hazard, and Smoker intercepts the communication, discovering a lead on their next destination (Punk Hazard). This parallels the time when Smoker intercepted a communication revolving around Luffy, uncovering a lead on their next destination (Alabasta).
! >!
On their arrival to Punk Hazard, Luffy and some of his crew begin experiencing a scorching heat as they traverse a fiery land. This parallels the moment when they were experiencing the scorching heat of the desert of Alabasta as they were traversing it.
! >!
Venturing further ahead, Luffy and his companions stumble across a supposedly mythical creature: a dragon. This scene parallels the time when they stumbled across a supposedly extinct creature: a dinosaur.
! >!
Without any warning, the dragon proceeds to attack them, a fight breaks out between them and the dragon, and Luffy rockets up to the dragon's back. This parallels the scene where Luffy, using his elasticity, jumped on top of the dinosaur.
! >!
Reacting to that, the dragon tries eating Luffy. This parallels the scene where the dinosaur succeeded in eating Luffy momentarily.
! >!
Trying to take the dragon down, Zoro makes use of the bounciness of Usopp’s attack, Trampolia, to shoot himself into the air, where the dragon was. This parallels the Whiskey-Peak scene where Zoro makes uses of Luffy’s stomach to shoot himself to where Igaram was.
! >!
As a result of that, Zoro lops off the Dragon’s head. This parallels the scene where the giant lopped off the dinosaur’s head back at Little Garden.
! >!
! Meanwhile, the rest of Luffy’s crew mates get sedated by a sleeping gas aboard their ship. This parallels the scene when they were knocked out at Whiskey Peak.
! >!
Soon afterwards, as they were crossing the blazing half of the island, Luffy and company discover a snowy half of the island, separated by a ‘lake’. The lake of Punk Hazard parallels Sandora River at Alabasta.
! >!
A minute later, Luffy’s other crew mates wake up in a cell from which they break out thanks to Franky’s beam, and, on their way out, they stumble across giant children.
! >!
This parallels the giants we met at Little Garden.
! >!
In the meantime, Smoker, as he is heading to Punk Hazard, describes the island as the dueling ground between Akainu and Aokiji. Little Garden was described virtually the same way: it was the dueling ground between Dorry and Broggy.
! >!
! Sometime after that, Luffy and his group begin crossing the lake with a banana boat. This parallels the time when they started crossing Sandora River with the desert crab.
! >!
While crossing the lake, their boat gets capsized by an enemy attack. The parallel for this is when the crab began sinking into the river because of his swimming inability.
! >!
With no other choice at hand, Luffy and his group find themselves forced to cross the lake by swimming. This parallels the time when the Straw Hats found themselves forced to cross Sandora River by swimming.
! >!
While swimming to the other side of the lake, they start getting attacked by man-eating fish. The same thing happened back at Alabasta: the Straw Hats started getting attacked by a man-eating fish while swimming to the other side of the river.
! >!
Once they managed to cross the lake, they find themselves in another precarious situation: suffering from the extreme cold of the other half of the island. This parallels the time when Zoro found himself suffering from the extreme cold of Drum Island after getting hit by an avalanche.
! >!
Encountering their enemies on the other side of the lake, Luffy and his group put in motion their attempt of stealing their clothes for warmth. This parallels the time when Zoro stole clothes for warmth from the enemy back at Drum Kingdom.
! >!
Meanwhile, the rest of Luffy’s group, together with the children, find themselves in a glacial cemetery of a multitude of outlaws that were the failed experiments of the giantification process. This parallels the cemetery of the outlaws that were buried in the cacti of Whiskey Peak. In both arcs, there’s a cemetery of outlaws.
! >!
After that as well as many other events, Luffy engages in a battle against the main antagonist of the arc (Caesar), but he loses and gets captured in a cell along with Smoker. This parallels the time when he got captured in a cell along with Smoker back at Alabasta.
! >!
While inside the cage, Luffy asks a question about the identity of the source of all the trouble that is happening on Punk Hazard, and Law answers the question with the fact that it is one the seven warlords of the sea, Doflamingo. Practically the exact same thing happened at Whiskey Peak: Luffy asked Vivi about the source of all the trouble that’s happening at both Whiskey Peak and Alabasta, and she responded that it was one the seven warlords of the sea, Crocodile.
! >!
Afterwards, Caesar begins broadcasting his experiment, and, within the broadcast, we see the Straw Hats chased by a gigantic amphibian lizard-like creature (the axolotl Smiley). This parallels the time when Luffy was chased by a gigantic desert lizard back at Alabasta (the Sandora dragon).
! >!
Moments after that, Smiley consumes a bait candy & transforms into a massive mass of a deadly gas that causes everyone on the island to start fleeing for their lives from it. This parallels Drum Kingdom’s avalanche scene during which Luffy and Sanji start fleeing for their lives from a huge mass of deadly snow.
! >!
Enveloped by the gas, the victims commence getting petrified. This parallels the moment when Luffy’s crew mates got petrified by Mr3’s Wax ability at Little Garden.
! >!
Breaking out of the cage, Luffy resumes his hunt for Caesar, and the scene shifts to one of the giant children, Mocha, showing her coughing blood as a result of consuming a lethal dose of a drug candy. The parallel for this is when one of the two giants, Dorry, consumed exploding rum, which explodes inside his stomach, causing him to start coughing blood.
! >!
Luffy then finds Caesar, and the last fight between the two eventuates, and, in preparation for defeating him, Luffy stretches his arms exactly like he did on Drum Kingdom before trouncing Wapol.
! >!
Trying to prevent his inescapable defeat, Caesar begins attempting to tempt Luffy by the proposition of working under him. The exact same thing happened back at Drum Kingdom when Wapol, trying to prevent his inescapable defeat, began attempting to tempt Luffy by the proposition of working under him.
! >!
Without any second thought, Luffy lunches an advanced form of his Bazooka, sending Caesar flying through a passageway behind him. This parallels the scene where he sent Wapol flying off Drum kingdom by his Bazooka.
! >!

Parallels Between Fishman Island, East Blue, and Cocoyashi Village:

! As Luffy is readying to begin his new adventure after two years, he puts his Straw Hat back on his head. This parallels the very first chapter when Shanks put his Straw Hat on Luffy’s head for the first time.
! >!
Trying to get back to his friends at Sabaody, Luffy leaves Hancock’s ship on a ‘rowing boat’. This parallels the moment when Luffy left his village on a ‘rowing boat’.
! >!
Sometime after his arrival at Sabaody, Luffy declares his dream to become the Pirate King before his departure to Fishman Island. This parallels Luffy’s departure from his village at the very beginning of the story when he shouts the exact same words with raised arms.
! >!
Afterwards, the Straw Hats reunite, and begin their adventure, and during their travel to Fishman Island, Luffy & company stumble upon a leviathan, the Kraken. During Luffy’s travel to Arlong Park, Luffy and company stumbled upon a leviathan, a gigantic sea cow.
! >!
Luffy then proceeded to both tame the monster and make way for his voyage to Fishman Island by a punch. This parallels the time when he punched Mohmoo on his way to Cocoyashi Village.
! >!
Taming the kraken, Luffy made him pull his ship to Fishman Island. This parallels the time when he made Mohmoo pull his boat to Cocoyashi Village.
! >!
Just as he was about to arrive to the island, the Kraken gets knocked out to the head by a falling rock, causing the Straw Hats to start falling to the bottom of the abyss. Back at Cocoyashi, Mohmo, at the moment of his arrival to the island, knocked himself out by bumping his head into the rocky shore of the island, causing the Straw Hats to fly all the way to Cocoyashi Village.
! >!
Once the Straw Hats arrive on Fishman Island, the author foreshadows a shark fishman (Hody) as the main antagonist of the arc. The same thing happened at Cocoyashi Village: the author foreshadowed a shark fishman (Arlong) as the main antagonist of the arc.
! >!
After the Straw Hats’ arrival to the island, a number of things happened and Luffy ended up taking the princess of the country, Shirahoshi, to visit her mother’s grave. This parallels Nami’s visit to her mother’s grave after her arrival to her village**.**
! >!
While near Otohime’s grave, Jimbei starts narrating to the Straw Hats the past of the Island, and the Flashback begins with a fishman thief who stole money. The same thing happened at Cocoyashi Village: Nojiko gathered the Straw Hats and began narrating to them the past of her village, and the flashback began with a thief (Nami) who stole a navigation book.
! >!
During the theft commotion, a great mother makes her entrance into the story (Otohime at Fishman Island & Bell-mère at Cocoyashi Village) and physically punishes the thief (who was a fishman in Jimbei’s flashback & Nami in Nojiko’s) for stealing.
! >!
As a result of slapping the thief, Otohime breaks her hand due to her body’s fragility. The parallel for this is when Bell-mère got her arm broken by Arlong. In both arcs, the mothers get their upper limb broken.
! >!
! Days after that event, on the verge of the flashback’s end, Hody, using his rifle, robs Otohime of her life. This parallels the moment when Bell-mère got shot by Arlong.
! >!
The flashback ends, and Hody broadcasts the capture of Zoro, Usopp, Brook, and Neptune. Practically the same thing happened at Cocoyashi Village: both Zoro and Usopp got captured by Arlong.
! >!
Trying to save them, Luffy, Jimbei, and Shirahoshi head to the plaza, where Hody was. There, Hody sets in motion his attempt of executing Neptune before his daughter’s eyes, causing her to tearfully call for Luffy’s help against Hody’s impending atrocity. That parallels the scene where Nami was tearfully asking for Luffy’s help against Arlong’s impending genocide of the villagers that were revolting against him.
! >!
As a result, Luffy then emerges from within Megallo’s stomach and kicks Hody, sending him flying into a wall. This parallels the scene when Luffy invades Arlong Park and punches Arlong, sending him flying into a wall.
! >!
A battle royal breaks out, and Zoro uses an advanced form of a technique that was used back at Arlong Park.
! >!
During the battle, Hody tries to summon the Kraken to the plaza in order to clobber the Straw Hats. This parallels the scene when Mohmoo was summoned by Hachi in order to clobber the Straw Hats.
! >!
Dreading the noxious consequences of baring his fangs at the Straw Hats, the Karen refuses to fight. This parallels the moment when Mohmoo refused to fight the Straw hats because of what they had done to him (beat him up).
! >!
Luffy then calls out to the Karen, causing it to switch sides & aid him by both attacking Hody’s gang and protecting Shirahoshi from it, and, shortly after that, Hody begins threatening to eliminate the Karaken's brother. This parallels the moment when Arlong began threatening Mohmoo because of his unwillingness to attack the Straw Hats.
! >!
Yielding to the pressure of threats, the Kraken unwillingly begins squeezing Shirahoshi. This parallels the time when Mohmoo began attacking the Straw Hats, under the pressure of threats.
! >!
Understanding the Kraken’s plight, Luffy targets Hody and furiously begins giving him the beating of his life. During these moments, Luffy used three consecutive attacks against Hody that parallel three consecutive attacks he used on Arlong back at Arlong Park.
! >!
While the Straw Hats are engaged in the fight, Noah’s shadow gets cast over the plaza due to Decken’s ability of throwing object at Shirahoshi. Trying to prevent Noah’s collision with the island, Shirahoshi stands right in front of Noah, earnestly pleading Decken to cease his attack on the island, after which he throws a knife at her shoulder. This parallels the moment that Nami was stabbing Arlong’s insignia on her shoulder with a knife. In both arcs, the heroine’s shoulder is stabbed by a knife.
! >!
Trying to do something about the situation, Luffy gets flung by Sanji to Noah. Once on Noah’s chains, Noah starts leaving the island’s vicinity due to Shirahoshi’s endeavour of diverting Noah’s crash course, and that causes the Noah to drag Luffy into the water. Once in the water, Hody emerges behind Luffy and starts boasting about his superiority underwater. This parallels the scene when Arlong dives into the water and starts boasting about his superiority underwater.
! >!
Sometime after that, Hody brings out a blade fin called ‘Kirisame’. This parallels the scene where Arlong brings out his sword, ‘Kiribachi’.
! >!
Annoyed by Hody multiple murderous attempts using the Kirisame, Luffy jumps on top of him and breaks it. This parallels the scene when he breaks Arlong’s Kiribachi.
! >!
In the heat of the battle between Luffy and Hody, the latter bites Luffy. This parallels the moment Arlong bit Luffy back at Arlong Park.
! >!
At the peak of the battle between the two, Luffy completely vanquishes Hody, bringing peace back to the island, and, some time afterwards, a musical party with dancing is thrown at the Ryuugo palace, celebrating their victory over Hody. This parallels the musical party with dancing that was thrown back at Cocoyashi Village, celebrating their victory over Arlong.
! >!
Afterwards, Luffy begins his departure of the island, and, during that time, the residents of the island congregate at the dock to see them off. The same happened at Cocoyashi when the residents of the village congregated at the dock to see the Straw Hats off.
! >!
As Luffy and his crew were leaving the island, they made a promise with Shirahoshi. Back at Cocoyashi, when Luffy was about to leave, he made a promise with Genzo. In both arcs, a promise is made at the end of each arc.
! >!

@Bartholemew:

How does that imply the WG as final antagonist?

There is only one battle that could make the Marineford arc look like nothing and that is the battle that will engulf the entire world – the battle that threatens the WG, and the battle in which the One Piece was said would play a role.

And since Oda will dedicate to it the final chapter of his magnum opus, it follows that it will be the final battle and its antagonist will be the final antagonist.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Thatanas:

It's the words of Oda combined with the words of Whitebeard, about the WG dreading the day someone finds out the truth and that it will throw the entire world into chaos (or something to that effect).

The implication is there, to say the least.

(16 characters) Indeed.

Both the final war and the WG as the final antagonist are suggested by the author himself:

"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 !"

Here is the evidence:

!
@Monkey:

http://www.arlongpark.net/showthread.php?t=43947&page=10&p=3667095&viewfull=1#post3667095
SBS translations from new volume

Lemme hone in more there.

Blackbeard's interest in history merely makes him the perfect candidate for the battle for One Piece, given that One Piece is most likely the Real Poneglyph.

Were you suggesting that Blackbeard will be the final antagonist because of his interest in history? If so, you need to provide a 'warrant' and an explicit conclusion to your enthymematic argument because it doesn't help your case with its current form.
@Monkey:

SomeWrongGuy strikes again.

Dude, what is the matter with you and name calling? You don't see him calling you 'Monkey Kid' or some other name. Such infantile acts are better left to children.

A question, guys: why are the bounties like that?

I voted for 'san'.

@Monkey:

What the heck could Luffy have said that would cause that reaction? Especially since they already know what we already know, that he wants to be the King of Pirates. Which naturally Oda wouldn't have hidden anyway.
So Luffy said something else...

Proof please.
@Monkey:

The boys are yelling out their ambitions in front of eachother. Ace goes first, then Luffy takes his turn and…
…Oda cuts away ...and cuts back to Ace and Sabo's reaction of confusion and surprise.

What the heck did that boy say.

First thing that we should be on the same page about is this: it wasn’t Ace that started shouting his ambition: it was Sabo. His ambition was to become a pirate, see the world in all its glory, and write a book about it.

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Following Sabo’s declaration of his ambition, Ace then proceeds to state his own: to become a pirate, to beat every last person who stands in his way, and to earn himself the glory that dreams are made off.

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In both instances, their desire was to become a pirate.

Following Ace’s declaration of ambition, Luffy then proceeds to shout his own. ‘Induction’ suggests that what Luffy shouted was his ambition to become a pirate as well, given the fact that such an ambition was exactly what the two before him did declare.

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Also notice how he shouted ‘I’m gonna’. He did it with raised arms. That’s usually the stance that is drawn by the author when Luffy shouts his dream of becoming the Pirate King. And when he does so, he practically always precedes it with his famous opening line ‘I’m gonna’. So these are good reasons to think that what he shouted was his dream of becoming the Pirate King.

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Luffy’s brothers then react in great stupefaction at what was said. One of the things that would surely cause such a reaction is his declaration of his dream to become the Pirate King. It was shown to elicit a similar, if not a stronger, reaction from most people. So, it is reasonable to believe such a conclusion, especially with the given arguments I have just provided.

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After that, Sabo & Ace begin finding the intention of becoming ‘captain’ a problem to them since all three of them share it. This means that what had been just shared by Luffy was the intention of becoming ‘captain’. Given both this and the past repeated declarations of Luffy to become ‘pirate’, it logically follows that what Luffy desired to become was a ‘pirate captain’. That’s partially what was said there.

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At the coliseum of Dressrosa, Barto told Sabo that Luffy is the future ‘Pirate King’, and Sabo said that he has known that since a long time ago. In other words, Luffy told Sabo his dream of becoming the Pirate King sometime in the past, and the time you linked us to provides the perfect setting for such a declaration to be revealed, given both the fact that Luffy hasn’t seen Sabo ever since that time he was supposedly killed & the strong suggestions that what he shouted in that place was his ambition to become a ‘pirate captain’.

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There is nothing odd in the author’s omission of Luffy’s words regarding his declaration of his ambition. That is a literary device called ‘ellipsis’. You omit a certain event(s), and let the reader fill out the gap as he or she reads the story. It could be used either to save time or for stylistic reasons. I believe it was the latter.

If he did indeed say something else, it should then be an addition to that, not a substitution for it.

–

Concerning the argument that what Luffy said here meant becoming Pirate King, that’s not true.

What luffy said there is that he’d be ‘a great pirate’, and he preceded it with ‘I’m gonna be stronger than anybody’.

If being stronger than anybody meant being the Pirate King, then, by this logic, Whitebeard should have ruled the Grand Line as the next Pirate King after Roger, given that he was considered by everyone (including & especially by the author himself) as the ‘Strongest Man in the World’, but he wasn’t a Pirate King, despite reigning supreme in terms of strength.

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When Doflamingo was being taken into Impel Down by a naval ship, he said that Whitebeard never took Roger’s throne, but instead ruled in front of it.

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This proves that standing supreme in terms of strength does NOT make a person Pirate King. Being the Pirate King means far more than just being stronger than anyone.

@Monkey:

Cool, more horrible sophism masquerading as logic and sense.

It is sense and logic. Your judgment about it as a guise of sense and logic merely displays the profound depth of your ignorance about sense and logic.
@Monkey:

From the guy who brought us such classics as:

Ironic coming from the guy who:

**-Thinks the World Government has been in existence for a 1000 years, whereas the facts refute this by outright stating that it has been in existence for 800 years. You’ve generously added 200 years out of thin air. Very well done.

-Believes that the parallels in One Piece are non-existent and utter rubbish. Bravo!

-Keeps making me explain things more than twice, yet in the end he still doesn’t get it at all (geez). With such intelligence, I won’t be surprised if you turn out to be the kind of guy who sits on the TV and watches the sofa.**
@Monkey:

-Doflamingo randomly casually dropped a crazy mega spoiler in dialogue about how all of the WG founders are still alive and rule the WG, and I'm the only one who noticed through my sound socratic method of not actually being able to read the English language.

That’s what ‘that’ translation was conveying. It was ‘ambiguous’. You don’t understand what the word ambiguous means? It means that it has more than one interpretation, and I was not necessarily suggesting that meaning as the correct meaning that could be extracted from that. I just told you not to limit the interpretation of that dialogue to one interpretation because of ‘pronoun ambiguity reference’. Yet here you are, still unable to understand that.
@Monkey:

-The WG has a massive military power that secretly exists and far outnumbers the Marines who are just a tiny part of the WG. And once again I'm the only one who noticed this through my sound socratic method of choosing to interpret vague phrasing in one sentence completely beyond Occam's Razor. Recall I claim to be some sort of student of critical thinking!

See, this is really problematic. This is one of those instances when I explain things, yet in the end you just don’t get it. Just how many times do I have to tell you that being a fraction of the government’s power doesn’t mean that the WG has a massive military power that secretly exists and far outnumbers the Marines who are just a tiny part of the WG.
_@Monkey:

(and my favorite of all, possibly the dumbest thing ever argued on this forum…)_ @Monkey:

-The Marines have been built up as an internally divided organization for the entire duration of the series? I don't know what you're talking about!

Neither do I as it is your own wrong interpretation of things. You are mocking only your own interpretation of my ideas. In other words, you are mocking your own ideas. That’s another intellectually outstanding achievement from your part.

But, hey, quote the part in which I am literally saying ‘the Marines have been built up as an internally divided organization for the entire duration of the series ‘, k? You won’t find it as it was never said. You literally made that up. What the heck?
@Monkey:

Man who can't read on a fourth grade level but writes on a graduate one continues proving inability to read.

Says the guy who’s unable to draw a difference between subject pronouns and possessive pronouns, and still has a lot to learn about run-on sentences, and who puts a period at the end of subordinate clauses –- things that third grades already know by heart.

@KageKageKing:

Did you spend all this time away writting that post?

I just came back to AP two days ago after many strenuous activities that kept me from even reading the manga for all this time. Finding myself quoted, I came to read the posts, but I was not in the mood to respond at the time (two days ago) because I was dedicating that time to creating something, which you will see after it's finished. I spent some 20 minutes or so writing and gathering evidence for this today. Personally, I am amazed you even suggested this
@Tamiel:

Mm okay, but that really doesn't put a face to be punched to end the final war. I think the main idea of this thread is to say Akainu, Blackbeard, any individual member of the Gorosei, Mustache Roger, anyone, ONE CHARACTER, not world government, baroque works, or any other organization or "entity that restricts his freedom".

Well, in that case, it's different. Seeing how the Gorosei literally means the five elder stars (?) is suggested as one villain, I thought that the creator of the thread is using the word villain in a different sense, which is correct as well. In the poll, it doesn't say 'any individual member' of the Gorosei. It suggests the gorosei as one entity, so I assumed that the thread is talking about the word villain in the sense I have just explained :)
@S.C.:

Indeed…..except for the slight problem it's going to be Blackbeard.

Sure, no problem. But thus far, the only reasons I have been given are 'hype reasons'. BB has been hyped; thus, he'll be the final villain. Not convincing, is it?