Next chapter will probably be an accumulation of Luffy glaring at Dofla while preparing his final blow and flashback-moments. Most likely including a lot of Rebecca crying for help.

After that, the big post-battle party… despite the fact that people will have to pick up the fine slices of what used to be their loved ones (assuming not everyone escaped the birdcage).

Adding to the bad female characters in this arc: Scarlet was a prime example of the "trophy girl"-trope. You know, how in every "good" action movie, the guy always gets the girl at the end once he's beaten all the bad guys? It doesn't even matter how the girl felt about the hero in the first place, she'll be swooning over the hero soon enough. Scarlet was exactely the same. From "No, i hate you guts!" to "OMG I love you!" in a matter of one page that showed Kyros saving her (and no, implying that some time passed between those two moments doesn't make it better). Hell, her character is even worse considering how stupid Oda makes her look like "I know my sister has the power of clairvoyance, but I still don't believe her when she says Kyros is fine because NAGGY WOMAN."

And this "trophy girl"-trope is exactely what spawned the obnoxious "friendzone"-complaints. Like, it sends the message that women are obliged to fall in love with you once you did enough good stuff. Even if they can't stand you. It's sad that Oda adds to this trope, even though it's probably unintentional.

@P1nk:

I'm not really qualified to analyze tashigi's character, however I can say Rebecca has been solidly represented as a character with consistency. I don't see where it's explicitly stated or implied that pretty women can't be hurt in this chapter given the blood on violet's face.

The point is not about "Women can't get hurt", it's about "Women shouldn't fight". And he had plenty examples of that during this arc.
Jaroda (that art -lady?) - managed to take out some strawhats, but messed the mission up because one of them said "Hey, we're totally cool."
Baby 5 - changed sides and betrayed the people who raised her because someone said something remotely nice. Because, all girls are into that love-schmuck, right?
The lady with the vacuum cleaner - you know how that went
Rebecca - gets destroyed in almost every fight she was in, despite her experience and Haki-abilities. Says she doesn't want to be protected anymore but repeately calls out for people to save her
Viola - challenges an overpowered enemy for no reason (what was she expecting?), only to get destroyed withing minutes to be saved by a guy.

Why was I even hoping Rebecca might redeem herself somehow during that last stretch facepalm Actually, most female characters in this arc were shown in a less-flattering light. Viola was a nice exception, even though she didn't fight that much, she seemed capable. But no, Oda had to make sure that even she gets beaten up at least once and needs to be saved by a guy. Good grief.

EDIT: Also, I'll stay with my statement: The plot would've been much better if Rebecca's role was fused with King Rikku's. She was completely pointless.

EDIT 2:
@carcanclaw:

Her entire character sends the message that pretty women should not be physical fighters which, combined with last arc's deconstruction of Tashigi, really makes it seem like Oda has some very strong political views on the role of female characters in fiction.

My thoughts exactely. WHat also bothers me is how many people said "Nah, she's a fine character." As if they didn't even notice all those underlying themes.

That awkward moment when even the random nameless gladiators play a bigger role than Rebecca XD

@Nex:

Have you read this arc? For one, the reason Luffy's going after Doflamingo is because of her. (To be fair, it's because she bought him lunch.) Also, Kyros's character arc could not exist at all without her.

While she has not actually done all that much (outside of winning Block D) she has been important to the overall story.

Sorry for the late reaction:
Luffy would've gone for Doflamingo anyway, to save Law. And he didn't need to see a crying Rebecca to realize that Dofla is kind of a shitty king, seeing the wounded gladiators should do the job.

Kyros would also make perfect sense if Rebecca never existed, everything he did so far would've been exactely the same without her. Take Kyro's flashback, replace Rebecca with King Riku, alter a few scenes slightly and voila! Things would've turned out exactely the same. Rebecca also isn't important to deliver a "pacifism is cool"-message, King Riku could've easily taken that role as well. Point is, apart from not having done anything to support the story development, her mere existence is pointless. Oda could've easily divided her character onto King Riku and Violet and the plot would've been the same. Oda, as great as he is, has created a pointless character with Rebecca.

I think it's safe to assume now that Rebecca even failed the "Sexy Lamppost"-Test (Can the character replaced with a sexy lamppost and the story would still make sense?). I can't think of any reason why she was actually in this arc. Removing her completely wouldn't have changed any of the plot developments, so calling her "useless" is quite fitting.

Rebecca, please go on ahead and join Rei-chan in the "What was my purpose in life?"-corner XD

@RobZilla:

Well she was described as the "undefeated woman", rather than the "undefeatable woman", there's quite a difference between those two.

Also, there's different types of strong fighter. Rebecca's reflexes have been shown to be rather incredible (possibly due to some latent usage of CoO) and so far is the only person to have dodged an attack from the ultra fast Hakuba.

You're right, I missed out on that on. Still, I know that Oda puts alot of thought into his work, that's why I admire One Piece so much. But somewhere in his thought process, he came up with "I'm gonna introduce a character called "undefeated woman". She'll constantly lose and cry. Her biggest strength is dodging and she actually hates fights." Nothing wrong with having a character like that! Not every character can be tough and a war-machine. But giving this character the title "undefeated" kinda gives me an impression of "this is my definition of how an undefeated woman is like". And it's not a flattering definition.

That's correct, but in a Shonen Manga, where there is no such thing as "ring out", fast reflexes won't win a fight. If you can't scratch your enemy, you'll have a hard time winning… you may count on wearing them out, but I doubt the audience would approve of such a character. She may be battle-ready in a way, but when it comes down to actually "throwing a punch", the essence of shonen, Rebecca can't do much - if anythign at all.

I think everything would've been less troublesome if Oda hadn't introduced Rebecca as "The Undefeatable Woman". If her nickname was "The Pacifist" or something, I think it would've been less of a problem. Of course it sends a bothersome message if you describe a female character as "undefeatable" only to have her getting owned within minutes and reduce her to tears several times. "Undefeatable Woman" paints a picture of a physically strong female, getting the hopes of the female readers up. But instead, we get soemthign among the lines of "This is my definition of "undefeatable woman". Now watch how she fails at pretty much everything". Of course it leaves a sour aftertaste. Instead of implying with her title that she actually might be competent in battle, Oda should've stated right ahead that she isn't strong at all, prefers to dodge and despises violence.

@King:

Maybe because she's a prisoner, she's forced to wear it?

I think that's possible. Dofla said that the gladiator battles are just to satisfy the bloodlust of the audience… and historically, that is correct. Gladiators were more likely to get a mild judgement by the audience if they spilled a lot of blood (even their own was okay). Thus why they didn't have "proper" armor. However, that's why gladiators also used to be quite overweight as well (you can receive more wounds without dying, since your vital organs are well protected).

... or it's just that Oda saw pictures of gladiators, thought "So, apparently, they went to battle half-naked..." and decided that a female gladiator should look just like that as well. As much as I cringed at Rebecca's armor, it's supports what gladiator battles are about. Show skin, show blood, the audience loves you.