Shout out to my bro @stormylife who requested me to post this thread here.
Mysteries Surrounding Blackbeard:
Mystery 1: How did Blackbeard consume two devil fruits? Its not possible under normal circumstances.
Mystery 2: How and why is Blackbeard's body structure abnormal?
Mystery 3: What did Luffy and Zoro mean here by saying "its not just one guy, theres more than one"?
Mystery 4: Why Blackbeard's jolly roger has 3 skulls?
Mystery 5: Now this is where things get really interesting. Its stated in databook Green,
"The only way so far to figure out Blackbeard's mystery is to think about Ace's words regarding Blakbeard's age."
What did Ace say to him?
However, this part gave translators a big headache. According to Sandman (a native Japanese, who is a popular translator in the One Piece community lately, his twitter: https://twitter.com/sandman_AP), its really impossible to accurately translate this part because of its ambiguity. There was a huge discussion in Aarlong Park forum years ago and Stephen Paul (the current official translator of One Piece, his twitter: https://twitter.com/translatosaurus) gave a detailed opinion about this sentence.
In short, Stephen translated this part as,
"You've lived TWICE the life I have; you know what my being here means."
Sandman, a Japanese speaker, was also unsure about it,
"You've lived twice the life I (OR normal people? I'm not sure) have."
What is this "twice the life" Ace was talking about? And how does it help us to figure out Blackbeard's mystery?
Updated Info:
Mystery 5b: Buggy states that Blackbeard doesnt sleep:
This is probably linked to why Ace says he lived twice the life. Still doesnt explain why he cant sleep or how is his body different
My Favorite Theory:
Did you guys watch episode "Hambug" of X-files? If you havent, then let me explain what a parasitic twin is. Parasitic twins occur when a twin embryo begins developing in mother's womb, but the pair cannot fully separate. Its an anomaly of nature where one embryo keeps developing at the expense of other. The undeveloped twin is sometimes conjoined and dependent on the body function of the developed twin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasitic_twin
In its extreme cases the parasitic twin can live inside the body of the dominant twin for years after years. This is not a fiction, this kind of cases can be found in real life. You can read such a case in this article "Man with twin living inside him -- A medical mystery classic"
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2346476&page=1
If Blackbeard has a parasitic twin living inside him, that probably explains most of the mysteries. Conjoined parasitic twins are treated as freaks in the society and can be a reason why Blackbeard had a sad childhood.
We have always seen him eating when he is not in action, probably he needs to consume more to support the parasite living inside.
Recent popular theory:
I will update the thread with a theory which is getting popular these days and it makes a lot of sense also. This theory says Blackbeard is from snow islands and suffers from Central hypoventilation syndrome (CHS), also known as Ondine's curse.
CHS is a respiratory disorder that causes ineffective breathing, apnea, or respiratory arrest during sleep
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_hypoventilation_syndrome
One of the main symptom of CHS is the inability to sleep.
In chapter 134, Luffy said that people from snow island dont sleep. If they sleep, they will die
Thats why this theory speculates the Blackbeard is from snow island. This theory also states that Blackbeard attacked Drum island to kidnap doctors to treat him. We have already seen a glimpse of his sad childhood, probably caused by Ondine's curse.
Its a nice piece of theory, but doesnt explain how he consumed two fruits.
Speculation:
Many people speculate that Blackbeard will get a third devil fruit because of his jolly roger with 3 skull. If Blackbeard has parasitic triplets, instead of a parasitic twin, then it would be possible for him to consume another fruit.
Blackbeard already has the strongest paramecia and strongest logia. If he gets a third fruit, it will definitely be the strongest zoan, probably Kaido's fruit. The question is whether it makes sense from powerscaling standpoint. Isnt Blackbeard already overpowered?
I think it depends on how strong Oda is actually planning to make EoS Blackbeard. A very interesting statement from Databook Green states that,
"In the original setting of Blackbeard's Yami Yami no Mi, perhaps he was even unbeatable to the three admirals."
If Oda really wants to make EoS Blackbeard as strong as 3 admirals and somehow nerfed yami yami no mi, then its possible that EoS Blackbeard will get 3 overpowered fruits instead of one in the current setting.
Whats your favorite theory or speculation that explains the mysteries surrounding Blackbeard?
Mysteries Surrounding Blackbeard:
Mystery 1: How did Blackbeard consume two devil fruits? Its not possible under normal circumstances.
Mystery 2: How and why is Blackbeard's body structure abnormal?
Mystery 3: What did Luffy and Zoro mean here by saying "its not just one guy, theres more than one"?
Mystery 4: Why Blackbeard's jolly roger has 3 skulls?
Mystery 5: Now this is where things get really interesting. Its stated in databook Green,
"The only way so far to figure out Blackbeard's mystery is to think about Ace's words regarding Blakbeard's age."
What did Ace say to him?
However, this part gave translators a big headache. According to Sandman (a native Japanese, who is a popular translator in the One Piece community lately, his twitter: https://twitter.com/sandman_AP), its really impossible to accurately translate this part because of its ambiguity. There was a huge discussion in Aarlong Park forum years ago and Stephen Paul (the current official translator of One Piece, his twitter: https://twitter.com/translatosaurus) gave a detailed opinion about this sentence.
"My reading of the line is that it is totally ambiguous. I can see equal arguments for it being either a veiled statement about some unique properties of Blackbeard, or a straightforward fact that Blackbeard is an older man and is smart enough to understand the significance of Ace's presence there.
My choice in my own personal translation (which will obviously never see the light of day now) was something along the lines of "You've lived TWICE the life I have; you know what my being here means." Let me clarify that a bit in a spoiler, because I'm going to get in-depth and confusing and it may actually just make things worse if you're not able to follow along with the way I'm parsing the Japanese. I feel like this will be the best way to definitively clarify exactly what the line is saying, however."
My choice in my own personal translation (which will obviously never see the light of day now) was something along the lines of "You've lived TWICE the life I have; you know what my being here means." Let me clarify that a bit in a spoiler, because I'm going to get in-depth and confusing and it may actually just make things worse if you're not able to follow along with the way I'm parsing the Japanese. I feel like this will be the best way to definitively clarify exactly what the line is saying, however."
The literal phrase in Japanese translated into English is "You've walked double the life of another/a person." In this case, the word "another/person" is actually a very common one in Japanese used to refer to the concept of a "norm" or "standard," much the way that in English we have, say, very nebulous definitions for "they" (bad economy? they'll figure something out. who is "they"?). In other words, when Ace says "double the life of another," he is not explicitly referring to any specific person or an individual at all. the only way to properly phrase that statement without excluding any particular interpretation is simply as, "You've lived twice the life." Of who? It sounds cryptic when I put it that way, but outside of the context of this particular scene, it's not a cryptic statement in the original Japanese, just very very general. Ace could be, hypothetically, referring to himself as the standard. The same phrase ("hito no ~" = "~ of a person") could easily be utilized in the following way: a guy and girl are on a date, and guy #2 walks up and tries to hit on the girl. guy #1 says, "don't hit on another man's girlfriend." It's a general statement, but of course what he's really saying is, "don't hit on MY girlfriend." Given the lack of more context, you could argue that Ace is referring to Blackbeard's "double the life" in relation to his own lifespan. And while I'm not personally convinced that this is actually EXACTLY what Ace means, as a translator who is not privy to the full import of the statement, I think it's the one that best encompasses all possibilities without fully committing to a context that may turn out to be wrong. Let me explain why:
- As Aohige said, the dots over "twice the life" is suspicious. That is used in Japanese text for emphasis, but it's not always a direct analogue to the way we would, for example, bold-italicize emphasized words in English comics. I've seen it used in subtle ways, and I've also seen it used in really obvious and redundant ways (yes, even by Oda) where you wouldn't think it needed emphasizing at all. While on the surface of things, the dots make it seem like Ace is adding a portentous insinuation to his statement, I can't also rule out the fact that Oda might have found a poetic way to refer to Blackbeard's age and then THREW SOME DOTS ON THERE just so you noticed how cleverly poetic he was being. There's also my next point, which is that:
- In the context of their conversation, the mundane explanation actually makes more sense. Blackbeard is playing dumb about Ace being there to see him, and Ace is telling Blackbeard that as a wily veteran, he ought to know damn well what Ace is there to do. In that context, why would Ace need to leap to a double-life/reincarnation/dual-personality jab to make his point? Blackbeard is clearly much older than Ace and a longtime veteran of Whitebeard's crew who is familiar with their ways. Therefore:
- If it wasn't for the dots, we probably wouldn't even be having this debate now (we'd be talking about Marco's comments about his body). Yet without Blackbeard's full backstory to clarify the possibility that it means something or not, I don't see enough evidence in the text to conclusively rule in either favor, even though public opinion may be strongly on one side. But as the translator, you HAVE to cover your own ass to ensure that, if any kind of crazy plot loopholes or inconsistency exist, it's the fault of the author and not the one who turned it into your language. So having said alllllll of that, let's look at my English sentence.
"You've lived TWICE the life I have; you know what my being here means."
Whether you think Blackbeard has crazy two-life powers or not, this sentence fits both possibilities retroactively. Just from visuals alone, its easy enough to imagine that if Ace is (was) just over 20, Blackbeard could be in his 40s. And if it turns out Blackbeard has some crazy anti-aging ability or double-whatever, then the general statement of "you've lived twice the life of (others)" isn't contradicted by having inserted Ace as a specific example, and the bolded emphasis on "TWICE," while not as direct a hint as the original Japanese would seem to be, still contains the nugget of foreshadowing truth that one can recognize while re-reading and at the very least, say, "Aha! Oda mentioned it all the way back here and I never noticed it!"
- As Aohige said, the dots over "twice the life" is suspicious. That is used in Japanese text for emphasis, but it's not always a direct analogue to the way we would, for example, bold-italicize emphasized words in English comics. I've seen it used in subtle ways, and I've also seen it used in really obvious and redundant ways (yes, even by Oda) where you wouldn't think it needed emphasizing at all. While on the surface of things, the dots make it seem like Ace is adding a portentous insinuation to his statement, I can't also rule out the fact that Oda might have found a poetic way to refer to Blackbeard's age and then THREW SOME DOTS ON THERE just so you noticed how cleverly poetic he was being. There's also my next point, which is that:
- In the context of their conversation, the mundane explanation actually makes more sense. Blackbeard is playing dumb about Ace being there to see him, and Ace is telling Blackbeard that as a wily veteran, he ought to know damn well what Ace is there to do. In that context, why would Ace need to leap to a double-life/reincarnation/dual-personality jab to make his point? Blackbeard is clearly much older than Ace and a longtime veteran of Whitebeard's crew who is familiar with their ways. Therefore:
- If it wasn't for the dots, we probably wouldn't even be having this debate now (we'd be talking about Marco's comments about his body). Yet without Blackbeard's full backstory to clarify the possibility that it means something or not, I don't see enough evidence in the text to conclusively rule in either favor, even though public opinion may be strongly on one side. But as the translator, you HAVE to cover your own ass to ensure that, if any kind of crazy plot loopholes or inconsistency exist, it's the fault of the author and not the one who turned it into your language. So having said alllllll of that, let's look at my English sentence.
"You've lived TWICE the life I have; you know what my being here means."
Whether you think Blackbeard has crazy two-life powers or not, this sentence fits both possibilities retroactively. Just from visuals alone, its easy enough to imagine that if Ace is (was) just over 20, Blackbeard could be in his 40s. And if it turns out Blackbeard has some crazy anti-aging ability or double-whatever, then the general statement of "you've lived twice the life of (others)" isn't contradicted by having inserted Ace as a specific example, and the bolded emphasis on "TWICE," while not as direct a hint as the original Japanese would seem to be, still contains the nugget of foreshadowing truth that one can recognize while re-reading and at the very least, say, "Aha! Oda mentioned it all the way back here and I never noticed it!"
In short, Stephen translated this part as,
"You've lived TWICE the life I have; you know what my being here means."
Sandman, a Japanese speaker, was also unsure about it,
"You've lived twice the life I (OR normal people? I'm not sure) have."
What is this "twice the life" Ace was talking about? And how does it help us to figure out Blackbeard's mystery?
Updated Info:
Mystery 5b: Buggy states that Blackbeard doesnt sleep:
My Favorite Theory:
Did you guys watch episode "Hambug" of X-files? If you havent, then let me explain what a parasitic twin is. Parasitic twins occur when a twin embryo begins developing in mother's womb, but the pair cannot fully separate. Its an anomaly of nature where one embryo keeps developing at the expense of other. The undeveloped twin is sometimes conjoined and dependent on the body function of the developed twin.
In its extreme cases the parasitic twin can live inside the body of the dominant twin for years after years. This is not a fiction, this kind of cases can be found in real life. You can read such a case in this article "Man with twin living inside him -- A medical mystery classic"
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2346476&page=1
If Blackbeard has a parasitic twin living inside him, that probably explains most of the mysteries. Conjoined parasitic twins are treated as freaks in the society and can be a reason why Blackbeard had a sad childhood.
Recent popular theory:
I will update the thread with a theory which is getting popular these days and it makes a lot of sense also. This theory says Blackbeard is from snow islands and suffers from Central hypoventilation syndrome (CHS), also known as Ondine's curse.
CHS is a respiratory disorder that causes ineffective breathing, apnea, or respiratory arrest during sleep
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_hypoventilation_syndrome
One of the main symptom of CHS is the inability to sleep.
In chapter 134, Luffy said that people from snow island dont sleep. If they sleep, they will die
Its a nice piece of theory, but doesnt explain how he consumed two fruits.
Speculation:
Many people speculate that Blackbeard will get a third devil fruit because of his jolly roger with 3 skull. If Blackbeard has parasitic triplets, instead of a parasitic twin, then it would be possible for him to consume another fruit.
Blackbeard already has the strongest paramecia and strongest logia. If he gets a third fruit, it will definitely be the strongest zoan, probably Kaido's fruit. The question is whether it makes sense from powerscaling standpoint. Isnt Blackbeard already overpowered?
I think it depends on how strong Oda is actually planning to make EoS Blackbeard. A very interesting statement from Databook Green states that,
"In the original setting of Blackbeard's Yami Yami no Mi, perhaps he was even unbeatable to the three admirals."
If Oda really wants to make EoS Blackbeard as strong as 3 admirals and somehow nerfed yami yami no mi, then its possible that EoS Blackbeard will get 3 overpowered fruits instead of one in the current setting.
Whats your favorite theory or speculation that explains the mysteries surrounding Blackbeard?
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