Who will be the Next Strawhat?


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A poll for which crew position(s) are the most likely to join...this may help or hurt this current batch of candidates...

Ninja
Lookout
Ship Guard
Night Watchman
Explorer
Apprentice
Cabin Boy/Girl
Scientist
Surgeon
Master-at-Arms
Boatswain
Sailmaker
Powder Monkey
Diplomat
etc...

Some of these roles could be argued that current Strawhats already fill.

A candidate could fill multiple positions like how Jinbe does being an official Helmsman and unofficial Firefighter, Lifeguard, and Bodyguard. He may fit being the unofficial Boatswain or Master-at-Arms??? This means a candidate who fills multiple positions has a greater chance of joining.

What role(s) does Luffy need to reach Laugh Tale? This is a focus of what obstacles have, could, or will get in the Strawhats way and what ship positions would have made it easier to overcome.
Why would they need a surgeon when Chopper has magical bandages that stop internal bleeding?
 
"You don't have to be affiliated with the Navy to accomplish things in the world. And there are some things you can only see when you remain independent"
Kuzan, Chapter 699
Yeah, Kuzan was talking about himself here, not Smoker. Did you ignore the Fujitora flashback where Smoker dedicated himself to becoming a much stronger Marine just after the events of Punk Hazard? Its clear where his commitment lies.

It's these lines that made me consider Smoker in the first place. I've also considered his roles within arcs he was in. Let me list em:

Loguetown: Wants to capture Luffy, continues pursuit by the end of the arc
Alabasta: Went to Alabasta because he wanted to capture Luffy, feels angered over the outcome (incident coverup by marine HQ)
Marineford: Confronts Luffy yet again, disappointed by the Marines' lack of morality during the conflict.
Punk Hazard: Traveled to Punk Hazard to capture Luffy, angered by Vergo's ability to infiltrate into Marines
So basically:
1. Loguetown - being a Marine
2. Alabasta - being a Marine
3. Marineford - being a Marine
4. Punk Hazard - being a Marine

Smoker’s dissatisfaction with the events of Alabasta and Punk Hazard in particular are what lead to the flashback of Fujitoras I mentioned above. Additionally, is Garp a pirate? Did he join Roger’s crew after the God Valley incident? Does Garp enjoy all of his Marine duties? The answer to all of those questions is “No” and he is still a Marine. In this way Smoker can be seen as Luffy’s ‘Garp’ parallel - the Marine hero that will ultimately be the one that gives Luffy the most trouble.

His two actions within an arc where he plays a major role involves:
1. Capturing Luffy
2. Being disillusioned with the Marines
Bro even Akainu and Fujitora are disillusioned with the Marines. Are they going to be Strawhats too? You seem to have missed the point of the final saga: to change the world Government. The Marines will undergo significant change and the Marines like members of SWORD and the admirals I mentioned will be central to that. If they aren’t, then that’s terrible writing by Oda given the lengths he’s gone to to characterize these Marines in this specific way

Now we're in the Final Saga, and.....where's Smoker? Based on the acitons above, I'm 99% sure he's going along with the other vice admirals to Egghead
There’s a lot that’s going to happen in the final saga. We will likely have an arc for every one of the following islands (if not most of them):
- Egghead
- Winner
- Elbaf
- Emptee Bluff
- Hachinosu
- Lodestar
- Laugh Tale
- Final War/Mariejoa
- Some kind of epilogue arc

that’s minimum 400 chapters of content given we can say with confidence that Elbaf and the final war arcs will both be at least the length of Whole Cake (with Final War likely being larger than Wano). There’s plenty of time for Smoker to show up somewhere. It doesn’t have to be Egghead. Oda has clearly written Egghead to be a Buster Call incident, hence all the Vice Admirals. The Arc will be over in the next 10-15 real-time chapters. Not sure what this has to do with joining the Strawhats though.

If and when that happens, how would Smoker feel if Luffy's actually saving Vegapunk? Having it revealed that the WG wanted him assassinated simply for research into the Void Century?
Probably the same way he felt after Luffy saved Alabasta and the kids of Punk Hazard. He didn’t leave the Marines then, and he won’t leave them if he is on Egghead. Smoker is one of the characters that cares nought for history.

Let's take Smoker's philosophy on justice. He follows his own personal code, based on his own moral compass on what's right. If the predictions above turn out to be true, I personally believe that Smoker will resign from the Marines, heeding Kuzan's advice.
Just like the Admirals do. How have you not tweaked that the chances are he’s going to be a post-final war arc Marine Admiral? The chances are if he resigns from the Marines he becomes a member of SWORD, not a Pirate.

and if THAT turns to be true, then what's next for Smoker? Does he:
A. Stay completely, 100% independent
B. Join the Revos
or C., join the SHs?

I pick C.
Post automatically merged:
D. None, become a member of SWORD
E. He never resigns

I pick these two. You talk about this stuff like it’s inevitable
 
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WHY IS NOBODY RESPONDING TO MY POINT ABOUT SMOKERS PERSONALITY
WE HAVE ZORO, SANJI AND JIMBEI (and franky who although not generally stoic, is still "hard-boiled")
WE HAD LAW (and if you wanna be really france about it mink vice admiral "chain smoking pussy hunter" pedro)
REEEE

CRYING RAGING EMOJI
 
WHY IS NOBODY RESPONDING TO MY POINT ABOUT SMOKERS PERSONALITY
WE HAVE ZORO, SANJI AND JIMBEI (and franky who although not generally stoic, is still "hard-boiled")
WE HAD LAW (and if you wanna be really france about it mink vice admiral "chain smoking pussy hunter" pedro)
REEEE

CRYING RAGING EMOJI
Karasu personality, even though stoic has a great quirk of mumbling and grumbling is a nice fit for the crew.
 
Karasu!?

I swear you lot are just pulling names out of hats at this point

Cant wait for someone to start saying Jaygarcia Saturn or Kizaru will join, goddamn
Logia
Unique Personality and Quirk
Bird themed absent in crew
Plague Doctor Theme
Great Lookout and Logistics transport
Can stay in Crow's Nest
Good guy not too strong. Not too weak
Friend of Sabo like Jinbe is Friend of Ace
Made debut Pre TS



Karasu for Next Nakama
 
So what?
Unique Personality and Quirk
Can be said about pretty much every character in the manga
Bird themed absent in crew
Stop for a second and think about how many millions if not billions of possible themes are lacking from the crew. He's nothing special in that regard.
Plague Doctor Theme
So what?
Great Lookout and Logistics transport
So what?
Can stay in Crow's Nest
He could also stay with the Revolutionary Army where he belongs
Good guy not too strong. Not too weak
So what?

Blackbeard for next Nakama:
Logia
Unique personality
Actually Pirate themed which is absent from the crew
Great use for defending/guarding the ship
Can stay on the ship
Not too weak

You see my point? Your vagaries apply to almost anyone.
 
So what?
Can be said about pretty much every character in the manga
Stop for a second and think about how many millions if not billions of possible themes are lacking from the crew. He's nothing special in that regard.
So what?
So what?
He could also stay with the Revolutionary Army where he belongs
So what?
Means Oda put extra effort in writing him unlike say Larrot, Lamato or Lustussy
 
In summary : Oda put extra effort in writing Karasu and giving him spotlight and foreshadowing from before Pre TS. Before Sabo
Karasu's crows first showed up in chapter 592
Sabo's formal debut was chapter 583 while the third Sake cup was introduced somewhere in the Post-EL arc between chapters 431-441


So what makes Karasu different than Ivankov, Kuma or Dragon? All three were introduced way before both of them. In fact, what about Morley, who Ivankov mentioned back in Impel Down?

I'm astounded you still don't get it. Karasu is one of hundreds of characters you could argue will join the Strawhats for exactly the same reasons. In this regard he doesn't stand out. Furthermore, he's already a part of the Revolutionaries. Explain him leaving an organisation like that for a Pirate Crew?
 
Karasu's crows first showed up in chapter 592
Sabo's formal debut was chapter 583 while the third Sake cup was introduced somewhere in the Post-EL arc between chapters 431-441


So what makes Karasu different than Ivankov, Kuma or Dragon? All three were introduced way before both of them. In fact, what about Morley, who Ivankov mentioned back in Impel Down?

I'm astounded you still don't get it. Karasu is one of hundreds of characters you could argue will join the Strawhats for exactly the same reasons. In this regard he doesn't stand out. Furthermore, he's already a part of the Revolutionaries. Explain him leaving an organisation like that for a Pirate Crew?
Robin was part of Baroque Works
Franky was part of Franky Family
Jinbe was part of Sun Pirates


Rev Army can collaborate with SH and in the process Karasu can join SH as Oden joined Roger from WB crew
 
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