General & Others Next Strawhat Crew Members and the Grand Fleet

[Paperchampion23]

Yamato is definitely giving off Strawhat vibes, but imo people are way too confident for a character who was just introduced last chapter. I would love to see it happen, but unfortunately I still think Carrot is in the best position here.

No joke, but perhaps both? Wano feels like a massive culmination of a lot of things. This to me seems to be the point where multiple characters will believe Luffy is the "promised" person who will bring the Dawn.

- Jinbe believes Luffy will save his people and change the world. Not to mention, said prophesied person is supposed to use Noah to save the fish people from destruction.

- Carrot was told by Pedro to start believing in the importance of Luffy and his crew, that they are likely the group that will "bring the dawn"

- Yamato is specifically waiting for Luffy due to Ace, and subsequently has Odens journal. We know Oden was specifically waiting for the "return of Joy Boy" to open Wano's borders.


Clearly between all 3, there is a running theme that previous strawhats don't have with Luffy. These 3, in different variations, likely belive in Luffy as the man who will change the future. With this I feel like all 3 have relevance in possibly completing the crew. 12 members seems like a good spot to stop (says Vivi if anything changes with her and possibly losing her father) and I feel like this may be the direction its heading.

Jinbe is officially a strawhat, I can't see Carrot saying goodbye tbh, and Yamato is giving me the most unique female vibes I've seen, but we need to see more of her for sure.

 

[dizzy2341]

Because something arbitrary has happened one way for years, it’s impossible to think it will ever change

This is just a long winded way of making a flimsy argument. All the current SHP showing up early doesn’t mean dick; their characterization, ambitions, and interactions with Luffy matter way more than the number of the chapter we first see them in. Jinbe’s recruitment was a complete aberration, proving that there is no hard and fast rule for joining the crew. To dismiss Yamato right out of hand for some shit like this is ridiculous.

Seems you skim read or simply didn't understand.

I'm not saying Yamato can't join simply because of a pattern. Patterns have been broken multiple times before. My point is that there's SPECIFIC reasons for straw hats to be introduced early in the arcs. Reasons that should be even more important for the 11th straw hat.

Of course characterisation, ambitions and interactions matter. It's simply that these are all factors that are more easily expressed when readers have had time to witness all of this taking place over the course of an arc(s) instead of cramming it all in when we're already so deep into things and there are tons of other characters that have superior characterisation, better explored ambitions and more meaningful interactions. It's simple common sense.

@dizzy2341 By the way, Yamato not showing up early in this particular arc means even less than nothing to me. Wano has been teased, foreshadowed, and hyped to no end for a long time, with a lot of long-running threads finally coming to a head here...there was so much other shit at play that needed to be addressed first that introducing her the second they landed on the island would have been confusing and incredibly poor writing. There’d be no dramatic tension for a lot of the arc if that were the case, so it makes perfect sense to introduce her as a ringer halfway through, just as her dreams and personality make her a natural fit for Luffy’s crew regardless of the fact that she showed up 75 chapters into the arc. I just do not accept this line of thinking as unassailable.

Yeah, you need to read what I actually said more carefully because you're making assumptions.

Yamato did not even exist in the story less than 10 chapters ago. That's a simple fact. We've seen an infinite amount of times that Oda can tease something and then not address it for hundreds and hundreds of chapters. I used the example of Jinbe, first being mentioned in chapter 69 and Pudding first being shown in a mysterious appearance hundreds of chapters before her plot line was addressed, all the way back from Fishman Island.

Wano has been set up from Punk Hazard. That's an unfathomably long amount of time for an arc setup. In which, you can't even begin to list all of the different plots and ideas that were set up across the years and the arcs. And with all of those millions of little details surrounding the arc, not a single time did Oda ever bother to give any sort of hint or foreshadowing regarding Yamato. Even in the damn arc itself for 70 chapters!! If you choose to ignore that, that's on you. I'm not going to try to convince you, nor do I care. But all I'm saying is that it should come as no surprise if some out of the blue Oden stan with Nami face introduced out of nowhere, 70 chapters deep into the final arc of the Wano saga doesn't actually end up joining the crew...


That would be like Robin being introduced halfway through Alabasta arc instead of all the way back at Whiskey Peak. Or Franky being introduced for the very first time with no foreshadowing just before the battle for the keys at Enies Lobby, instead of in the opening chapters of Water 7. Or heck, Jinbe making his debut in the series at the tea party instead of Impel Down and even being mentioned from Arlong bloody Park.

 

[Ninjashadow0209]

I have tor remember that number 56 are always relative to Luffy like: 56 ships in the grand fleet, 56 members from barto club, 56 all in Oda's first pages with Luffy, people have a theory that's Luffys last bounty will be 5,6B.

But if Luffy have 56 crew members? You're guys already think about that?

 

[Paperchampion23]

As I said, wait and see. Wasn't too long ago people were claiming Ulti to be a nakama candidate. She has a strong introduction, but I'd rather know what motives drive her. If she has a goal beyond opening Wano's borders, like all the retainers are doing right now, and steps out from being an Oden fangirl then sure run nuts. But we're not seeing that outside of a cool introduction and a strong female character.

EDIT: Also like @dizzy2341 had said, was introduced way too late in the climactic battle of the arc without a prelude outside 8 chapters ago when the Straw Hats were already beginning the raid.

The problem is, people think this is the climactic battle and it'll end in 40 chapters lol. Imo, it's barely started and we still have flashbacks for Kaido/Rocks to go over, preserved history of Wano and whatever the fuck Onigashima is, TONS of characters relevant to the plot missing on the island still and more.

In some cases, I feel we are barely at the halfway point of this arc, there still is way too much to address with Wanos characters, citizens and whatever other random surprises Oda has with unintroduced characters and more.

To me, this arc is so massive and is ending so many plotlines that it almost warrants multiple new members for where its at where we will be.

Carrot is an anomaly. She's not a leader of the minks, she's young and naive, yet out of every single mink, she's had the most screentime by a fucking country mile. Why is that? That seems very telling of what Oda wants to do with the character.

Yamato is another anomaly, in that she is being introduced deep into this arc (even when there are still other villains that need to be introduced still), yet its looking like she will be one of the most important characters in relation to how she interacts with Luffy. She has no actual place in Wano, she's not a Wano citizen. She is betraying Kaido, unlike Katakuri who still is in a position to take over the BM pirates if anything should happen to Linlin. She likely doesn't have the same line of respect. They all refer to her as "young" and "problematic". To me this sounds like truly won't have a place in Wano after this arc. Better yet, she knew Ace, so we really can't judge what her motivations are yet.


Idk, just my two cents on the matter. To me Carrot and Yamato are bound for the Sunny, as long as Pedro stays dead and Yamato has a more complex goal when she finds out the scabbards are all alive.

 

[Garp the Fist]

It's vague because it does rely entirely on Luffy. He's not doing it himself, he himself admits that. While there is a tangible reason behind it, there's no tangible way to accomplish it without linking it back to Luffy.

Spoiler: Jinbe mentioning how Luffy will be the one to help bring the Fishman freedom.

You can say that all the Straw Hats rely on Luffy to attain their goal, but there is a tangible way to make it feasible (outside Usopp). While it is self-explanatory that once Luffy becomes the Pirate King, most of their goals will be accomplished, his dream never specifies how. Which is why I view Noah as an important factor in all this. Funnily enough, in both arcs, Fishman Island and Zou respectively, the Voice of All Things happens to Luffy. Not only that, reveals some hidden prophecy hidden about what the Sea Kings await for and why Zunesha was punished a 1000 years ago to keep traversing the sea nonstop.

I don't even know what you're trying to argue.

Jinbei thinks Luffy will change the world. As do all the Strawhats.
By going with him, Jinbei will therefore be able to get equality for Fishmen.

Jinbei says his own voyage will be what gains freedom for Fishmen. Not Luffy's. He needs to sail with Luffy the same way all the Strawhats need to sail with him, but when it comes to gaining equality for Fishmen it'll be Jinbei that does it. He's not going to stand to the side and watch Luffy doing it. The hell kind of conclusion would that be? "Here's the nine other Strawhats accomplishing their dreams, and also Jinbei watching Luffy do it for him?"

What about any of that is vague? How does it compare to "I want to go on an adventure," a dream that has literally accomplished every time the Strawhats go to a new island and has no actual moment of fulfilment?

 

[Paperchampion23]

I personally believe those patterns tho. It's just too much of coincidence if it isn't true. I hope they'll call Yamato with other name so that she will fit into the pattern.

She calls herself "Oden". It technically works here lol.

Post automatically merged: Jul 5, 2020

I don't even know what you're trying to argue.

Jinbei thinks Luffy will change the world. As do all the Strawhats.
By going with him, Jinbei will therefore be able to get equality for Fishmen.

Jinbei says his own voyage will be what gains freedom for Fishmen. Not Luffy's. He needs to sail with Luffy the same way all the Strawhats need to sail with him, but when it comes to gaining equality for Fishmen it'll be Jinbei that does it. He's not going to stand to the side and watch Luffy doing it. The hell kind of conclusion would that be? "Here's the nine other Strawhats accomplishing their dreams, and also Jinbei watching Luffy do it for him?"

What about any of that is vague? How does it compare to "I want to go on an adventure," a dream that has literally accomplished every time the Strawhats go to a new island and has no actual moment of fulfilment?

I think the idea is that Carrot and Yamato both might have dreams like this. Carrots could be inheriting Pedro's will and bringing the Dawn. But she could also just reform the Nox pirates and do the same.

Yamato might have something similar with Wano, like how Jinbe does with FI, that requires her to set sail with Luffy.

And for the record, we didn't know Robin's, Franky's and Jinbe's dreams right away, and in 2 cases, until years later. The same could be said for Carrot or Yamato

 

[Jew D. Boy]

Seems you skim read or simply didn't understand.

I'm not saying Yamato can't join simply because of a pattern. Patterns have been broken multiple times before. My point is that there's SPECIFIC reasons for straw hats to be introduced early in the arcs. Reasons that should be even more important for the 11th straw hat.

Of course characterisation, ambitions and interactions matter. It's simply that these are all factors that are more easily expressed when readers have had time to witness all of this taking place over the course of an arc(s) instead of cramming it all in when we're already so deep into things and there are tons of other characters that have superior characterisation, better explored ambitions and more meaningful interactions. It's simple common sense.

Yeah, you need to read what I actually said more carefully because you're making assumptions.

Yamato did not even exist in the story less than 10 chapters ago. That's a simple fact. We've seen an infinite amount of times that Oda can tease something and then not address it for hundreds and hundreds of chapters. I used the example of Jinbe, first being mentioned in chapter 69 and Pudding first being shown in a mysterious appearance hundreds of chapters before her plot line was addressed, all the way back from Fishman Island.

Wano has been set up from Punk Hazard. That's an unfathomably long amount of time for an arc setup. In which, you can't even begin to list all of the different plots and ideas that were set up across the years and the arcs. And with all of those millions of little details surrounding the arc, not a single time did Oda ever bother to give any sort of hint or foreshadowing regarding Yamato. Even in the damn arc itself for 70 chapters!! If you choose to ignore that, that's on you. I'm not going to try to convince you, nor do I care. But all I'm saying is that it should come as no surprise if some out of the blue Oden stan with Nami face introduced out of nowhere, 70 chapters deep into the final arc of the Wano saga doesn't actually end up joining the crew...


That would be like Robin being introduced halfway through Alabasta arc instead of all the way back at Whiskey Peak. Or Franky being introduced for the very first time with no foreshadowing just before the battle for the keys at Enies Lobby, instead of in the opening chapters of Water 7. Or heck, Jinbe making his debut in the series at the tea party instead of Impel Down and even being mentioned from Arlong bloody Park.

I don’t need to read every word of your post to know you think your headcanon is more right than mine, man.

Post automatically merged: Jul 5, 2020

I’m supposed to waste my time arguing every fine point about something purely conjectural and write out a long argument for someone whose mind refuses to be changed...nah, that ain’t me, @dizzy2341. Oda doesn’t give a shit about your opinion OR mine, he’s gonna do what he thinks is best for the story. Adding someone like Yamato to the crew would certainly suffice, but I’ve already explained why I feel that way, and for once, I don’t feel like repeating myself.

 

[Garp the Fist]

The argument for Carrot joining literally revolves around the idea that Oda is willing to break his previous patterns for a character joining up into tiny little pieces so yeah, showing up half way through an arc ain't a strong counter argument for Yamato with that in mind.

 

[dizzy2341]

I’m supposed to waste my time arguing every fine point about something purely conjectural and write out a long argument for someone whose mind refuses to be changed...nah, that ain’t me,

You're not supposed to do anything. I made a general post and you felt compelled to give multiple responses to it. I didn't ask for that and I certainly wasn't waiting for it.

The argument for Carrot joining literally revolves around the idea that Oda is willing to break his previous patterns for a character joining up into tiny little pieces so yeah, showing up half way through an arc ain't a strong counter argument for Yamato with that in mind.

Nope. Jinbe broke that pattern all by himself. Carrot would simply be following his lead. And as mentioned multiple times before, the point isn't, "it's a pattern, so it can't be broken". The point is about WHY it's a pattern. If we're talking about patterns then you could find an arbitrary pattern to break with every single straw hat that joined.

Nami broke the all guy pattern
Usopp broke the close quarters fighter
Sanji broke the no brawlers bar captain pattern
Chopper broke the humans only pattern
Robin was a former villain
etc.

The point is that there's a reason why Oda likes to introduce, or at least foreshadow/tease significant characters early on. Those are the ones that he wants you to remember. It's why Kin emon, the figurehead of the scabbards was the first one introduced to us. It's why we know about important characters hundreds of chapters in advance. It's the exact sort of thinking that prevents Kaguya situations of seemingly important characters coming from absolutely nowhere and immediately being involved in everything. Oda either builds them up over time, or he foreshadows them. Sometimes he does both like with Jinbe. And sometimes he does neither like with Yamato.

 

[Paperchampion23]

Damn I feel like I'm the only person on this forum that's team Jinbe, Carrot AND Yamato lmao

 

[Jew D. Boy]

Mods, I feel this topic is prevalent and divisive enough to merit a thread separate from the main “Who will join?” one. Please let this stand alone, or lock it, as I don’t think it’ll fit in with that other thread.

She’s only just appeared in full, but the fandom is already up in arms about Yamato. While plenty are speculating about her powers and role in the war, many of us are biting each other’s heads off about whether or not she could feasibly join the Straw Hats for the remainder of their journey, and if so, what her position in the crew could be.

That being said, do you think Yamato will join the crew? If so, why?

For me, the answer is yes.

Spoiler

First, the Ace thing is a pretty clear shot across the bow. His death affected Luffy more than any other singular event in the series, and the pain clearly lingers. His brother has been mentioned multiple times in this arc, and apparently, Tama AND Yamato both ran into the guy when he visited a few years ago. I’m gonna guess that he spoke highly of Luffy in front of them, and once the straw hat rose to prominence and made it his mission to take down Kaido, it’s obvious that Yamato caught wind of his presence and wanted to make herself known to him. Yamato clearly has an affinity for Oden and his travels, but I believe she’s inherited some of Ace’s will as well, partially explaining why Luffy is the man she believes could help her achieve her dream.

Second, said dream is likely not the only motivation she has in allying with our main character. She called Oden’s log book her bible, revering it as the ultimate text about the world. I find it doubtful that her only ambition is opening Wano’s borders, but rather doing so and then getting to see the world as her idol did before her. We’ve seen Yamato in cuffs and chains already, and her father may well have held her captive on Onigashima, preventing her from fulfilling the main conceit of her dream. Making Wano open to the world cannot represent the totality of the inspiration she took from Oden’s tales.

To that end, some may ask what her role would be on the Straw Hats. A lot of theories over the years have posited that One Piece is a story being told to us by a character in it; the most popular idea being that Usopp is describing his journey after the fact to Kaya once he’s returned home as a great warrior of the sea. What if this is the first indication that someone else is telling the story?

Oden kept a log of his time with Whitebeard and Roger, chronicling the rise of the two greatest pirates who ever lived as well as the mysteries of the world that they solved. He felt it necessary to document everything he saw, felt, and experienced because the information could be valuable to whoever picked up the mantle left behind by those two. Ever since this was shown to us, I had a feeling that somebody could join Luffy and his nakama in a similar capacity...well, here you go. Who better than the person who read his writing, fell in love with the man AND his message, and wants to carry on his will and that of another big character?

I could go on - she’s a little goofy which fits in with the other SHP personalities; she’s strong enough to at least catch high ranking members of a Yonko crew off guard; she’d be the first female to join the crew since Robin and a far more palatable option of that type than Carrot - but I think the answer isn’t hard to see. If we’re to get another member of the future Pirate King’s cabal in this arc, there simply isn’t anyone else right now who makes as much sense as Yamato. Feel free to disagree as vehemently as you want in the comments.

 

[Ravagerblade]

Damn I feel like I'm the only person on this forum that's team Jinbe, Carrot AND Yamato lmao

Jinbei is already in the crew so why are we acting as if he isn't?
Carrot shouldn't be joining.
Yamato just joined the story as a major character at best. We'll have to wait for more chapters.

 

[Albino 👑]

I aint read it but maybe
If shes a logia she 100% has too tho

And if she's not white

 

[dirtyLarry]

I usually never say that, but after last chapter I think she's basically a lock to join.

She has charisma, is an interesting personality, has a cool backstory (for sure) and most important of all - she has a huge dream that she wants to achieve, but where she needs help.

 

[Kishido]

Yes

 

[Marimo_420]

And if she's not white

:sticky:

OT- I really don't know but if it comes down to Carrot or a daughter of a Yonkou/ crazy fan-girl joining the crew? I will gladly have Yamato come aboard @Jew D. Boy

 

[Kafkananta]

Idk why Oda didn't make unique facial structure for her? It's proven that half of fandom saw her similar to Nami. Looks like he drew her appearance in last minute of deadline. I can't say YES for now until I saw her power. She can be fleet member tho or female Yonko once Big Mom defeated and she has to take control of BP.

 

[MasterD]

I see man as me that usally don't jump on the for nakama train basivlly want to see Yamato in the crew I mean why would we not the hype is real my friends. The reason for her joining which makes sens from my poit of view is

She has the journal, and I'm assuming it will be destroyed during the war in a way or an other. Oden might not have written down the exact location but it can be pin pointed down step by step with nami's help. Yamato has it for a long time and probably has memorized it so it is a possibility since we don't have the red glyph and the story is reaching it's end in 5 years, probably

So a little bit of a cheat in the road to Pk is needed also she is Nami 2.0 strong and very fluffing pretty

 

[Albino 👑]

:sticky:

OT- I really don't know but if it comes down to Carrot or a daughter of a Yonkou/ crazy fan-girl joining the crew? I will gladly have Yamato come aboard @Jew D. Boy

The anime and oda robbed us of melanine queen robin.
We derserve a new one. I derserve one

 

[Buusatan94]

I don't think she'll join.

So far her personnality doesn't match too much the Straw Hats and she is too much of a fan of Oden without her own dream unlike the Straw Hats.

Also her design isn't unique enough with her being one of the many female characters with Nami's face and eyes.