General & Others Details you may have missed in One Piece designs

#1
Hi, Worstgen!

Come around to share a cup of disgusting horchata while we share those details, references, inspirations... that may have been missed in the designs from our beloved story. I'm quite into design and I enjoy analyzing the concepts, shapes, rhetorics... of the characters conceived by Oda, and I thought it would be interesting to open this thread and share my observations. Some are obvious, some aren't, and of course they're all my assumptions behind Oda's work; but I hope you will enjoy reading them and discussing their plausibility. I won't post them all right now and I will keep updating the thread, and of course you're all free to share your own findings. That said, let's start with the first bunch!

Shanks appearance is probably based on an illustration of a pirate by Howard Pyle. Here in the spoiler you can check the similarities:


Jozu's anatomy is designed after the shapes of a rhombus following his diamond theme.

Kanjuro's mane is shaped after the hair of a paint brush like the one he uses.

Buffalo is the tallest member of the Donquixote Pirates and ate the spin fruit in reference to the mills that Don Quijote de la Mancha mistook for giants in the novel from Miguel de Cervantes that inspired Doflamingo and his crew. Buffalo's hair also looks like the blades of a mill. In spoiler, an illustration of Don Quijote facing the "giants":


Ashura Doji's hair is shaped after the mount Atama he lives in.

When he was still alive, Brook used round dark glasses that hid his eyes and reminded of the sockets of a skull.

It is ironic that Mont-d'Or's fruit is the Buku Buku because books symbolize wisedom and intelligence yet the Scarecrow from "Wizard of Oz" (the likely inspiration behind this Charlotte) was looking for a brain to solve his stupidity.

Kaido's hair has a characteristic appearance reminiscent of the haraegushi ("lightning wand"), a ritual wand decorated with shide papers that are compared to lightning bolts because of their zig-zag shape and usually hang from a shimenawa rope that represents the storm cloud; precisely, Kaido's belt is one of these. All of it could be stressing Kaido's celestial idiosyncrasy, from his dragon form to the word "sky" written on his sake bottle. Here you can see what a haraegushi (also called onusa) looks like:


The sheath of Smoothie's sword has an spiral relief to remind of a juizer, since she uses her weapon to squeeze people out.

Sopper Gaban's hair locks are long, thin and slightly curve as they are meant to rhyme with the blades of his axes.

Similarly, Bartolomeo's pair of hair locks are obviously intended to rhyme with his fangs.

If we combine Bobbin's mask with his eyes, nose, pointy ears and wide smile, we will notice the figure of an owl: bright round eyes, a nose like a beak, smile-like wings and ears like horns. In Japan, hypnotic powers are attributed to this animal, hence the character's ability.


So that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed it, and don't forget to share your opinions!
 
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#7
When I compare Poire and Galette side by side. I see a subtle animal theme with the latter. While with Poire the panda theme is there, I do think Galette has a subtle fox theme going on with her horns. She certainly does have a fox like face going on with her.
More than her horns, which seem artificial to me, I find more interesting her eyes. They have that touch of animality you're indicating, I think.

The shanks one:whitepress:

Now he looks like a fodder to me:milaugh:
Hahaha, well, at least Shanks's current design has a bit more going on about it. I guess Oda decided to use Howard Pyle's pirate (if he truly did and it isn't a coincidence) for his design during Luffy's flashback, which is almost the same as the illustration's attire.
 
#9
Hey guys! I'm back to share some more details I hope you find interesting too. Thanks a lot to everybody who is partipating in the thread! That said, here we go:

X Drake's mask suggests an X shape consistent with his name, tattoo, and scar.

Mont-d'Or's clothes's color scheme (dark green with white stripes) not only represents a skeleton but also reminds of the colors of blue cheeses like the Roquefort (following his cheese ministry). This is probably the reason why his clothes aren't completely black but have a green tone quite similar to that of said cheese, as you can see here:


Corazón's real name, Rocinante, is quite an ironic choice: Don Quijote gave that name to his horse because it'd sound way more powerful than simply "rocín" (a word used in Spanish for low-class horses). Contrary to such a sonorous name, Corazón faked to be mute and had the silence fruit.

Daz Bonez's only eyebrow looks like a blade, following his devil fruit power.

The beards of the giants from Little Garden resemble their weapons of choice: Dorry's looks like a sword and Brogy's like an axe.

When we see Kuroobi diving from a high-angle shot he reminds a lot of a ray, his fishman species: his pair of topknots work as the fish's eyes and his ponytail as its tail. Here you can check a panel showing this:


Urouge's perpetual smile could be a reference to the Angelman syndrome, whose symptoms include recurring smiles and laughs (and Urouge, as a skyperson, strongly reminds of an angel).

It is interesting how, in spite of being based on a yakuza, Jinbe's tattoo is located on his chest and is easily visible even when he's dressed. In case you didn't notice, yakuza's tattoos cover the arms, sides and, ultimately, those areas of the body that could be hidden under traditional Japanese clothing. This is the reason why the central part of the torso, hands, etc. were never tattooed, because tattoos revealed your mafia connections and it was better to keep them hidden. On the contrary, Jinbe's tatoo is on a "forbidden area".

Vergo's color scheme consists of black and white, a clear reference to the fur of panda bears (following the theme of his bamboo stick).

Tamago and Pekoms are very likely based on the Jubjub bird and the Bandersnatch from the "Alice in Wonderland" universe. More specifically, odds are Oda took as inspiration an illustration by Peter Newell in which both animals appear together in the exact same fashion as the two Big Mom pirates did in Fishman Island. Not only that, but the Jubjub has long legs, a "moustach" and a hat similar to that of Tamago (conveyed by his teacup). Here you can check the illustration; you will rapidly notice Tamago and Pekoms in it:



So that's it for today. Hope you liked them!




Even though the cream from his powers makes him look messy, Opera's outfit really reminds one of the musical conductors. Fitting his double musical namesake.
I've always liked Opera's design. The fresh cream beard, the glove-like hands, the tiny ribbon... And, as you said, it has an outfit that gives a certain classical music vibe.
 
#11
Hey, guys! I'm back with some more details. As usual, I hope you find them interesting, and I'd appreciate to hear your opinion on them! That said, here we go:

Inazuma's gender duality is expressed in his/her color scheme: one half orange, the other white.

Doflamingo's glasses are shaped after the neck and beak of a flamingo.

Hody Jones's cap has the drawing of three prongs. The fishman's long lock of hair seems to almost perfectly connect with those prongs, resembling a sinuous handle and forming all together the complete trident. Here you can check what I'm describing:


Baron Tamago's long legs visually rhyme with his equally long and thin cane.

Ikaros Much receives his name from Icarus, a figure from Greek mythology who, along with his father Daedalus, tried to escape from Crete by flying with wings of wax they made themselves. Icarus was warned not to get too close to the sun but he did, his wings melted and he fell to his death. In One Piece, Ikaros is afraid of heat because his good squid friend Daidalos came too close to the sun and dried out.

The first time we saw Toki (chapter 920) she was about to send Kin'emon and company to the future. Interestingly, whatever is under her (be it her dress, a sit or whatever) seems to be melting. Such detail could be a reference to the well-known metaphor that understands time as a fluid, such as "The persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dalí. Here's the panel I'm referring too:


So that's it for today! As I said, I hope you liked the new details. Had you noticed them? Share your thoughts!




Nougat, one of the youngest Charlotte sons, is depicted with a scarf that is strikingly similar to his big brother Katakuri. This might indicate that he's a big admirer of his big brother.
It would be nice to know a little bit more about this guy, because he certainly resembles Katakuri. Imagine a conflict with Flampe, it'd a good way to develop him.
 

Warchief Sanji D Goat

Ubel > Frieren and Fern
#12
Hey, guys! I'm back with some more details. As usual, I hope you find them interesting, and I'd appreciate to hear your opinion on them! That said, here we go:

Inazuma's gender duality is expressed in his/her color scheme: one half orange, the other white.

Doflamingo's glasses are shaped after the neck and beak of a flamingo.

Hody Jones's cap has the drawing of three prongs. The fishman's long lock of hair seems to almost perfectly connect with those prongs, resembling a sinuous handle and forming the complete trident. Here you can check what I'm describing:


Baron Tamago's long legs visually rhyme with his equally long and thin cane.

Ikaros Much receives his name from Icarus, a figure from Greek mythology who, along with his father Daedalus, tried to escape from Crete by flying with wings of wax they made themselves. Icarus was warned not to get too close to the sun but he did, his wings melted and he fell to his death. In One Piece, Ikaros is afraid of heat because his good squid friend Daidalos came too close to the sun and dried out.

The first time we saw Toki (chapter 920) she was about to send Kin'emon and company to the future. Interestingly, whatever is under her (be it her dress, a sit or whatever) seems to be melting. Such detail could be a reference to the well-known metaphor that understands time as a fluid, such as "The persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dalí. Here's the panel I'm referring too:


So that's it for today! As I said, I hope you liked the new details. Had you noticed them? Share your thoughts!




It would be nice to know a little bit more about this guy, because he certainly resembles Katakuri. Imagine a conflict with Flampe, it'd a good way to develop him.
Very interesting :leohah: Thanks for sharing:cheers:
 
#15
Nice catch! A similar example is the snake-neck sisters (Amande and company), who all wear a hat, and the detail of both Brûlée and Broyé wearing an elegant long dress, yet the first is deteriorated and the second looks great following their own wearers beauty.

Very good thread @Charlotte Horchata :cheers:

You might want to check the new One Piece Magazine, there will be an explanation about character design :sabogood:
Thank you a lot! I'm certainly looking forward to the new OP Magazine, yes, and I hope the authors share some interesting and even technical information on their creative process when designing a character.
 
#17
Diamante is one of my favorite designs in the series.
In the Spanish-themed Dressrosa, he's the matador of the Colosseum who performs as the champion of the crowd. Destined rival to Kyros. He's dressed in crimson red, like the red cloth a matador uses to attract the bull's attention. Fights with a rapier. His Flutter-Flutter power makes anything he touches wave around like the cloth a matador controls with finesse. His name is Diamante, so naturally all the compressed weapon trinkets he carries are diamond shape. He has a thin, lanky body with a very tall frame and a yellow sunflower collar on top. Diamante is practically a sunflower himself. Consequently, he is defeated in a field of sunflowers.

Oh, and throw in a Steven Tyler face just to make it believable he has musical talent.
 
#19
This is a weird thing that seems to never come up: around the time that Oda developed and produced Wanted, a major DBZ RPG came out. On Namek, the gang winds up grinding through a cave and suddenly encounters Freeza.


After beating him in a tough battle that isn't extremely difficult, he dissipates as a fake. Sound familiar?
How Doflamingo's clone ambussed Law and Luffy in Dressrosa, maybe?

Diamante is one of my favorite designs in the series.
In the Spanish-themed Dressrosa, he's the matador of the Colosseum who performs as the champion of the crowd. Destined rival to Kyros. He's dressed in crimson red, like the red cloth a matador uses to attract the bull's attention. Fights with a rapier. His Flutter-Flutter power makes anything he touches wave around like the cloth a matador controls with finesse. His name is Diamante, so naturally all the compressed weapon trinkets he carries are diamond shape. He has a thin, lanky body with a very tall frame and a yellow sunflower collar on top. Diamante is practically a sunflower himself. Consequently, he is defeated in a field of sunflowers.

Oh, and throw in a Steven Tyler face just to make it believable he has musical talent.
I really like Diamante too. In fact, the whole crew of Doflamingo and especially his top officers are awesome in terms of design. I will address some interesting details about them in my next compilation, but since you mentioned Diamante I'd like to add two more things to your great analysis.

First, Diamante wears a bicorn hat. This hat used to be associated with the matadores, and in fact there's a famous cabezudo (literally "big headed", which are popular characters people dress as during traditional Spanish festivals) called El Torero (The Bullfighter) who wears one of these:


Diamante's hat is peculiar, though, since it seems to be smaller than a traditional bicorn and even padding. This is probably because it is merged with another typical hat used by matadores called montera. Here's an image of it:


On the other hand, Diamante means diamond and, just like Jozu, his body seems to be designed following the shapes of a rhombus. We can basically draw all kind of diamonds connecting the different protrusions of his body:


Truly a great design.

baby 5 is literally baby number 5
I'm not quite getting this, could you elaborate, please?
 
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