Questions & Mysteries Did the last 2 chapters change your view about the Final Villain?

[Garp the Fist]

He still has been insisting to make people he likes become pirate and join him
This would be the childish dream of someone that idealizes the pirates.

He doesn’t though. He let Vivi go, he let Yamato go. Despite bugging Sanji all of Baratie to join him in the end he refused to take him unless Sanji himself decided to do it.

 

[park_min young]

Imu is the final villain, the SHs have been fighting oppression for the entire series and Imu is the figurehead for a millenium of oppression. The story is quite literally an epic involving the theme of freedom, the SHs, the D clan and the 20 kingdoms.

 

[Koro]

Already think that Imu is the final villain long time ago.
I forget the time, but at least on Fishman Island arc.

 

[SakazOuki]

Depends how much importance the evil side of the D. clan will get (previously Xebec, now Teach)
For now Imu is more important to the lore, especially since laughtale -> Mariejois is the obvious sequence of events.

However I'm still not convinced Teach is a simple fight for the pirate throne, there has to be something bigger than this.
1. Introduced since chapter ~220
2. Very similar to Luffy in character, both are dreamy & goofy
3. He's an evil D. opposed to Luffy
4. First recorded man to eat 2 devil fruits
5. Never slept in his life
6. "weird body" "they"
7. Heir to Xebec, Roger's strongest rival and the most heinous existance known to man.
8. Like Luffy he's constantly shunned by Oda, like getting low diffed by Magellan, running away from Akainu, kinda scared of Rayleigh, when eventually we all know he's going to surpass all legends. Basically the only villain to receive the usual Shonen mc treatment.
9. Wields the strongest (2nd?) devil fruit in the verse, one as special as the Nika fruit.
10. Scarred Luffy's role model and inspired his jolly roger
11. Captured Ace, already had beef with Luffy
12. Already anounced ambitions bigger than the pirate throne

Currently, imagining Teach as the final villain is as hard as thinking a random Imu can replace Teach, favoring @Blackbeard for now.

 

[GodofDarkness]

Blackbeard is the FV he'll what Rocks couldn't and become KoW. Just like Luffy will do what Roger couldn't and bring the dawn. Oda already confirmed OP ends when the SH find it so their is no final war after it. The final war has already been happening for years now.

 

[Nidai_Kitetsu]

1. Introduced since chapter ~220
2. Very similar to Luffy in character, both are dreamy & goofy
3. He's an evil D. opposed to Luffy
4. First recorded man to eat 2 devil fruits
5. Never slept in his life
6. "weird body" "they"
7. Heir to Xebec, Roger's strongest rival and the most heinous existance known to man.
8. Like Luffy he's constantly shunned by Oda, like getting low diffed by Magellan, running away from Akainu, kinda scared of Rayleigh, when eventually we all know he's going to surpass all legends. Basically the only villain to receive the usual Shonen mc treatment.
9. Wields the strongest (2nd?) devil fruit in the verse, one as special as the Nika fruit.
10. Scarred Luffy's role model and inspired his jolly roger
11. Captured Ace, already had beef with Luffy
12. Already anounced ambitions bigger than the pirate throne

In addition:
13. Yami yami and gura gura represents darkness and destruction, respectively, while Nika is the sun god and represents light
14. Blackbeard crew is the evil mirror of strawhats. If WG/marines are the final opponent the weak trio have to fight some unknown CP0 fodders or some vice admirals like Doberman or Momonga, that sounds very strange to me.
15. In the original setting, yami yami fruit was supposed to be so strong that the wielder could fight 3 admirals at the same time. Oda changed that plan for yami yami, but he still gave Blackbeard gura gura. So Blackbeard still has the potential to be the strongest ever and I am confident he will reach that level.
16. Blackbeard is Oda's favorite pirate

The World Government is the big bad, and they've been so since the very beginning of the story.

Yes, thats why Blackbeard will give Imu the Hancock chokehold treatment

They are a tyrannical empire that is responsible for 800 years of oppression and suffering. No matter how Oda builds up Blackbeard, he just cannot replace that.

What if I tell you it would be more satisfying for the final fights to be between the pirates? Its a pirate story after all and everyone else are side shows.

The big mysteries of the story all tie to them in some form:

• The Void Century
• The Ancient Weapons
• The Ancient Kingdom
• Joy Boy
• The thing Roger could not do
• The promise made to Fishman Island
• Luffy and Roger's dream
• The true history
• The Gorosei

You don't know Luffy and Roger's dream. Its not a surprise Blackbeard loves history. Him being a D makes him relevant to most of the mysteries.

As for Blackbeard? He goes down in the Raftel saga, before the final war to liberate the world.

Ask yourself: will there be a Xebec in the current timeline?
- If your answer is "no", why Oda introduced Xebec's "king of the world" ambition?
- If your answer is "yes", will the new Xebec reach the heights that the original Xebec couldnt?