Really inspired by @Jo_Ndule and @The Penguin 's posts, but I wanted to throw my own perspective on why its very possible how one more piece of evidence will solidify this idea. This will involve some other things people have yet to talk about.
I want to first explore the idea that Oda absolutely does not forget about character designs when used. Either through foreshadowing or just typical consistency, he still manages to remember things he drew 100, 200, 500 chapters prior, and even nearly two decades before!
- Take Rayleigh, the most famous example, nearly 500 chapters before an actual introduction:
- An even longer one would be Scopper Gyaban, more than 900 chapters before being loosely introduced in Oden's flashback.
- Or the fact that Izo was used in Marineford and nearly 400 chapters later he completely tied Oden's story with Wano and made it feel organic.
- Some the interesting ones come from the pages Big Mom was teased during Fishman Island with Pudding:
Introduced as a nameless, 3 eyed character with a blob on her shoulder (who we would know later to be possessed by a spirit), Pudding's evil side was generally guessed due to the way she dressed here and the fact that she hid her 3rd Eye from the crew to almost feel like a different character.
An interesting one I just saw, that while small, @SmokedOut made this post not too long ago on the chapter thread: https://worstgen.alwaysdata.net/for...8-introducing-the-tobi-roppo.4186/post-363795 highlighting that Oda almost NEVER forgets about established designs.
There other examples but without bloating the thread, I'll go straight to the one a few people have been bringing up as a possible foreshadowing:
Lets talk about the features of this man. Contrary to what we see, there is actually a lot we CAN talk about here:
- He's a beasts pirate member, obvious right? In fact, he's the first one we actually see (not including Scotch, who seems to be an ally Pirate).
- He's bald, I believe the only other bald beast pirate we've seen is Queen. Keep this in mind. Already makes him not Who's Who.
- He has a slim figure, unlike Queen, so already this strikes as a new character.
- He's wingless, so not King.
- He wears a feathered coat or cape, to which the only other Beasts pirate that does this is Kaido
- Additionally, he sits in room watching underworld trades, clearly indicating he is not a low-level Beast Pirate by any means. The place he is sitting in looks somewhat fancy, specifying that he may be a higher level Beast Pirate.
- The kicker is the dialogue: He tells a nameless henchman to TELL Jack about this problem. Indirectly, he is shifting responsibility over to Jack, who was eventually blamed for losing Doflamingo and not being able to find Raizo ("Jack the Dragdown" as Queen and King put it). This right here should tell you that this person is above Jack in some form.
- He walks away from the screen while nameless henchman wonders if that is okay. There is "commanding" demeanor about him here.
NOW, admittedly, Oda has changed designs of characters around before, such as the Yonko's original silhouettes vs. their teased appearances, but I want to stress that by chapter 693, Oda already solidified the designs of the Yonko, as teased in this color spread:
So this character appeared before and after this double spread with consistency. Kaido himself didn't appear for another 100 chapters after this, and Big Mom still had another 150 chapters (200 from her FI tease) before she was featured. I think it speaks to the overall consistent nature of Oda and how he maintains designs of these characters.
Now, just who is this Beasts Pirate? We've got a few pieces of evidence, but so far, not the best as of yet (but some help):
- The latest Chapter (978), just entirely debunked this character being anything Tobi Roppo related or below (which was an argument I've heard). A few people were drawing conclusions that he's Who's Who in the spoiler and chapter threads, but as you can see, Who's Who wears a mask with horns and has long hair. He also lacks the trademark, feathered coat.
- A typical card suit consists of a 2-10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace. When the Jack was introduced, people were speculating another card motif due to Sheepshead and Ginrummy being accompanying headliners, as well as Doflamingo's relationship with Kaido and being called "Joker". Then other card playing headliners names were introduced, as well as Queen and King later on, further solidifying that. After this, we pretty much argued about the inclusion of cards 2-10 for a solid half a year before getting additional confirmation that the Tobi Roppo do not represent numbered cards, but the Numbers are implied to. Chapter 978 proves that the Tobi Roppo have to do with card games and Page 1/X Drake are merely coincidences to their names.
- So with that, leaves the Ace value. An Ace can be a 1 (lowest value) or the above the King (highest Value). Typically, it is the latter but we need to wait for proof. If the Numbers are introduced as 2-10 soon and not Ace-10, then it further implies that Kaido has an Ace somewhere in his crew. This to me will help solidify that fact.
- Another interesting tidbit is that Kaido now dropped the bombshell that he has a Son. Before this we had no other additional indications that there was someone else important to his crew.
Regardless of what people think, drunk here Kaido talks about his son like if he's a grown man who should show his face once in a while. I do believe that this person is someone Kaido at least seems to "respect" and warrants an appearance at the Party.
So is Kaido's son the Ace? Is this Ace the man seen during Punk Hazard, reclusive and dealing with important matters for the Beasts Pirates? I think now is a pretty big deal to have a discussion about it because this will likely be answered in a few weeks time.
Anyway, just something I've been thinking about. Thanks to @Jo_Ndule and @The Penguin for really starting the conversations earlier, just wanted to really dive deep with my take on it.
I want to first explore the idea that Oda absolutely does not forget about character designs when used. Either through foreshadowing or just typical consistency, he still manages to remember things he drew 100, 200, 500 chapters prior, and even nearly two decades before!
- Take Rayleigh, the most famous example, nearly 500 chapters before an actual introduction:
- An even longer one would be Scopper Gyaban, more than 900 chapters before being loosely introduced in Oden's flashback.
- Or the fact that Izo was used in Marineford and nearly 400 chapters later he completely tied Oden's story with Wano and made it feel organic.
- Some the interesting ones come from the pages Big Mom was teased during Fishman Island with Pudding:
Introduced as a nameless, 3 eyed character with a blob on her shoulder (who we would know later to be possessed by a spirit), Pudding's evil side was generally guessed due to the way she dressed here and the fact that she hid her 3rd Eye from the crew to almost feel like a different character.
An interesting one I just saw, that while small, @SmokedOut made this post not too long ago on the chapter thread: https://worstgen.alwaysdata.net/for...8-introducing-the-tobi-roppo.4186/post-363795 highlighting that Oda almost NEVER forgets about established designs.
There other examples but without bloating the thread, I'll go straight to the one a few people have been bringing up as a possible foreshadowing:
Lets talk about the features of this man. Contrary to what we see, there is actually a lot we CAN talk about here:
- He's a beasts pirate member, obvious right? In fact, he's the first one we actually see (not including Scotch, who seems to be an ally Pirate).
- He's bald, I believe the only other bald beast pirate we've seen is Queen. Keep this in mind. Already makes him not Who's Who.
- He has a slim figure, unlike Queen, so already this strikes as a new character.
- He's wingless, so not King.
- He wears a feathered coat or cape, to which the only other Beasts pirate that does this is Kaido
- Additionally, he sits in room watching underworld trades, clearly indicating he is not a low-level Beast Pirate by any means. The place he is sitting in looks somewhat fancy, specifying that he may be a higher level Beast Pirate.
- The kicker is the dialogue: He tells a nameless henchman to TELL Jack about this problem. Indirectly, he is shifting responsibility over to Jack, who was eventually blamed for losing Doflamingo and not being able to find Raizo ("Jack the Dragdown" as Queen and King put it). This right here should tell you that this person is above Jack in some form.
- He walks away from the screen while nameless henchman wonders if that is okay. There is "commanding" demeanor about him here.
NOW, admittedly, Oda has changed designs of characters around before, such as the Yonko's original silhouettes vs. their teased appearances, but I want to stress that by chapter 693, Oda already solidified the designs of the Yonko, as teased in this color spread:
So this character appeared before and after this double spread with consistency. Kaido himself didn't appear for another 100 chapters after this, and Big Mom still had another 150 chapters (200 from her FI tease) before she was featured. I think it speaks to the overall consistent nature of Oda and how he maintains designs of these characters.
Now, just who is this Beasts Pirate? We've got a few pieces of evidence, but so far, not the best as of yet (but some help):
- The latest Chapter (978), just entirely debunked this character being anything Tobi Roppo related or below (which was an argument I've heard). A few people were drawing conclusions that he's Who's Who in the spoiler and chapter threads, but as you can see, Who's Who wears a mask with horns and has long hair. He also lacks the trademark, feathered coat.
- A typical card suit consists of a 2-10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace. When the Jack was introduced, people were speculating another card motif due to Sheepshead and Ginrummy being accompanying headliners, as well as Doflamingo's relationship with Kaido and being called "Joker". Then other card playing headliners names were introduced, as well as Queen and King later on, further solidifying that. After this, we pretty much argued about the inclusion of cards 2-10 for a solid half a year before getting additional confirmation that the Tobi Roppo do not represent numbered cards, but the Numbers are implied to. Chapter 978 proves that the Tobi Roppo have to do with card games and Page 1/X Drake are merely coincidences to their names.
- So with that, leaves the Ace value. An Ace can be a 1 (lowest value) or the above the King (highest Value). Typically, it is the latter but we need to wait for proof. If the Numbers are introduced as 2-10 soon and not Ace-10, then it further implies that Kaido has an Ace somewhere in his crew. This to me will help solidify that fact.
- Another interesting tidbit is that Kaido now dropped the bombshell that he has a Son. Before this we had no other additional indications that there was someone else important to his crew.
Regardless of what people think, drunk here Kaido talks about his son like if he's a grown man who should show his face once in a while. I do believe that this person is someone Kaido at least seems to "respect" and warrants an appearance at the Party.
So is Kaido's son the Ace? Is this Ace the man seen during Punk Hazard, reclusive and dealing with important matters for the Beasts Pirates? I think now is a pretty big deal to have a discussion about it because this will likely be answered in a few weeks time.
Anyway, just something I've been thinking about. Thanks to @Jo_Ndule and @The Penguin for really starting the conversations earlier, just wanted to really dive deep with my take on it.
Last edited: