Who will be the next Strawhat


  • Total voters
    895
Status
Not open for further replies.
Exactly. She's clearly not " just another mink". This was at the beginning of the raid on Onigashima by the Pirate-Mink-Samurai alliance:

And what 3 groups has Oda split his panels into?? And look who's in the middle of the one showing the straw hat pirates.

It makes sense to think that there's a reason why Oda's consistently portraying Carrot alongside the straw hats. The minks are literally right there next to her. In this panel and in the most recent chapter, yet Oda continues to place Carrot with the straw hats and not the rest of her race.

Carrot's the most prominent mink, yet she seemingly has no reason to be. That's why she stands out.
That there, I get what you and Oda are saying
 
That's also a point in Carrot's favour though.

Carrot absolutely adores adventure, so pretty much everyone has come to the same realisation. She's probs gonna go on adventure after Wano. But IMO only one option is likely of the following 3:

-Carrot joins the Fleet
-Carrot remakes Nox pirates
-Carrot joins the crew

When looking at the Grand Fleet, every single one of the division commanders were captains or leaders in their own right before they formed the fleet. Carrot is certainly not a leader any how. In fact, a second leader of the minks has already been explicitly revealed.

Oda would have no reason to set Shishilian up as a stand in leader for the minks if he was gonna have Carrot lead a mink division in the grand fleet. And if you were to say, well maybe she'll just be a regular member and not a leader? That would basically be suggesting that Carrot would rank lower in importance than Orlumbus...I think everyone can agree that's certainly not likely at all.

For Carrot to form her own crew, that has the same issue. She's not a leader so her being the captain wouldn't work. And if she were to just be a regular crew member, what would be the point of setting up her dynamics and relationships within the straw hat crew itself if she was gonna join another crew? If Carrot only interacted with one of them, then maybe, but she's bonded with all of the WCI straw hats. She acts like and fits in completely with them:

Through her interactions with Nami, Chopper explicitly calling her his little sister, her moment with Sanji and Brook, she's treated like the little sister of the crew. What group of minks have even been set up to want to travel? Carrot's the only one.
 
That's also a point in Carrot's favour though.

Carrot absolutely adores adventure, so pretty much everyone has come to the same realisation. She's probs gonna go on adventure after Wano. But IMO only one option is likely of the following 3:

-Carrot joins the Fleet
-Carrot remakes Nox pirates
-Carrot joins the crew

When looking at the Grand Fleet, every single one of the division commanders were captains or leaders in their own right before they formed the fleet. Carrot is certainly not a leader any how. In fact, a second leader of the minks has already been explicitly revealed.

Oda would have no reason to set Shishilian up as a stand in leader for the minks if he was gonna have Carrot lead a mink division in the grand fleet. And if you were to say, well maybe she'll just be a regular member and not a leader? That would basically be suggesting that Carrot would rank lower in importance than Orlumbus...I think everyone can agree that's certainly not likely at all.

For Carrot to form her own crew, that has the same issue. She's not a leader so her being the captain wouldn't work. And if she were to just be a regular crew member, what would be the point of setting up her dynamics and relationships within the straw hat crew itself if she was gonna join another crew? Through her interactions with Nami, Chopper explicitly calling her his little sister, her moment with Sanji and Brook, she's treated like the little sister of the crew. What group of minks have even been set up to want to travel? Carrot's the only one.
She be better off with the SHs
 
Exactly. She's clearly not " just another mink". This was at the beginning of the raid on Onigashima by the Pirate-Mink-Samurai alliance:

And what 3 groups has Oda split his panels into?? And look who's in the middle of the one showing the straw hat pirates.
I never paid much attention to the panelling there, I'm not the type of guy who sees foreshadowing everywhere but that's interesting imo.
 
Yeah, I've honestly been getting the vibe this arc that multiple people will join. Jinbe is kind of the crewmate we've been owed for years. Carrot is the potential crewmate that, while hasn't had much to do this arc (many strawhats honestly haven't had much, look at Usopp or Brook really), has been standing out way more than your typical mink or non-strawhat, ironically. Yamato's design has increasingly become less Nami-like the more we see of her and we all know the words she's uttered about leaving with Luffy.


idk, I think Oda may do something unprecedented this arc. We are nearing some sort of end, right? So it only makes sense that he has the crew as close to completion as possible before we move on to have how many finite adventures left. It also still leaves the possibility of a former ally/enemy to join like Vivi or Smoker, considering they have essentially gone on "adventure's" with the crew at different points.
 
I'm really of the mind that only one more is joining after Jimbe, and the crew will be complete by the end of Wano.

Carrot is an interesting case because how much time she's been in the story, but I still feel she lacks in some ways to really make her distinguishable and special.

And her interactions with Chopper also make me think there's a payoff there.
 
I really need payoff to Pedro's last words and why any of it was important for specifically Carrot to know.

Before he blew himself up, he notified Carrot of the significance of the Straw Hat crew and stated why his sacrifice was necessary for their journey to continue and escape Whole Cake Island.


Back on Zou, Pedro insisted that the 2 leaders of the Mink Tribe, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi, must absolutely not die. "The world awaits them!" and "They must not die under any circumstances!"

And if you remember far back when the Sanji retrieval team left Chocotown and was traversing on a hard candy syrupy sea, he had this to say in regards to Luffy.


These disjointed statements finally became more clear once the crew settled in Wano and the prophecy of the Dawn is properly addressed and the flashback fully elaborated why the retainers have been wanting to open Wano's borders from Oden's last words.




The Nine Shadows representing the Red Scabbars, which includes Inuarashi and Nekomamushi. So Pedro's desperate plea to Sanji that they absolutely cannot die starts to make sense.









The prophecy of the Dawn of the World given by Toki, the last words Oden said to his companions, and justifying Luffy's importance in all of these events as mentioned by Pedro in being instrumental in opening Wano and that they must be prepared to welcome him when he arrives.

Which explains why Inuarashi and Nekomamushi showed Luffy the Road Poneglyph and why Neko said this back during Jack's invasion on Zou.


Now, with that said, what is the reason Carrot is involved in any of this and why did Pedro say she will understand? It's quite apparent nothing about this prophecy applies to her (maybe the Mink Tribe) and that her rulers are more involved in regards to it than she is. She never bring it up in any conversation that we've seen so far after being told by her now dead mentor. So what was the point in telling her if she's still unaware? Carrot's not an audience surrogate/exposition for information, she never was. If anything, Pedro didn't have to bring this up to her at all. We could have gotten an internal monologue of his revelation and it could have given the same effect as when he told her when they were escaping Big Mom's rampage.

That's why I'm always speculating in regards to Carrot because her involvement is so strange to the story since she never really needed to be where she is now and is seemingly "irrelevant" despite how long she's been in the story and associated with the crew. Her being a "Mink representative" is pointless since that's the purpose Pedro served (along with his other motives). Her "hyping Sulong" is pointless because this could have been written to be performed and revealed by either Pedro and Pekoms (which he did eventually do, albeit taken down before he could do anything). Her being a "future leader of the Grand Fleet" is practically unrecognizable in my eyes because nothing indicated by Oda had suggested her being a prominent figure within the Mink Tribe; hell, she's not even leading a faction of the Musketeers.

That's why the question in regards to Carrot is why is she still here in the story and why does Oda separate her from her tribe to be with the Straw Hats. She's been with the crew for a long time (almost 200 chapters) and yet her reason for being with them doesn't indicate why her association is necessary. Her lack of presence in the narrative and the fact Oda never really alludes to why she should be present and prevalent with the Straw Hats feels like to me he actively avoids bringing up anything in regards to her or her reason to exist in the story for as long as she has. That's why its understandable when people say she feels like a flat character and that she feels just "there." Because Oda never really addresses why her presence is necessary. Yet time and time again, he keeps her close to the crew and stand out among her peers in the Mink Tribe (barring the Dukes and Pedro) because she still has a role to play in all of this. Otherwise, Carrot would be with the Musketeers right now, go to the background, and might as well never have been tagging along on with the crew on the raid to begin with.

She's a narrative anomaly in my eyes because Oda doesn't justify her existence for being around for so long and involved with the crew in comparison to most long-term tag-a-long characters. Compare her to Vivi, Kinemon and Momonosuke, and Trafalgar Law. When you compare her to them, she comes off as an insignificant character because her character does not affect the narrative of the story or even the arc at hand in a significant way and never delves into a personal story involving her. Seriously, look at Yamato. Most of you guys have said it already: in the first few chapters she was mentioned and introduced, Yamato has had more relevance than Carrot since the start of Wano and immediately bonding with Luffy upon her introduction. She's revealed to be Kaido's daughter (yes, daughter), has an admiration of Oden, has a past connection to Ace and asks Luffy to take her out to sea on the spot. Already, this triggers nakama vibes with the fandom and when you compare her to Carrot, you can already see her as a superior candidate. I don't fault people for believing so, they have valid claims.

With that said, I believe in Oda's literature ability since he's proven numerous times he has a reason for why he does the things he does in the story. Think about it. Bringing Carrot along to Whole Cake Island despite not really having any reason to go or even and play as a major narrative figure in the arc when compared to Sanji, Pedro, and to a lesser extent Pekoms. Her acting as a deck-hand on the ship on her own volition, most prominently the lookout, she kinda became the first side character that tagged along with the crew to perform an active role on the Straw Hat's ship (you can say they were short on men, but they had the necessary individuals to handle tasks that didn't actively need her). Her participating in the raid alongside the Straw Hats apart from the military force she's affiliated in being headed by the leader of said military force she's affiliated with. Even now, she's with Nami near Big Mom and Luffy as her tribe prepares to go Sulong 100 chapters after she performed it last arc. Oda constantly sets her apart for seemingly no reason. That's why she's a valid candidate and why we speculate she could be the next Straw Hat, which has been explained numerous times in this thread by me and others.

There needs to be payoff to her character.
 
I really need payoff to Pedro's last words and why any of it was important for specifically Carrot to know.

Before he blew himself up, he notified Carrot of the significance of the Straw Hat crew and stated why his sacrifice was necessary for their journey to continue and escape Whole Cake Island.


Back on Zou, Pedro insisted that the 2 leaders of the Mink Tribe, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi, must absolutely not die. "The world awaits them!" and "They must not die under any circumstances!"

And if you remember far back when the Sanji retrieval team left Chocotown and was traversing on a hard candy syrupy sea, he had this to say in regards to Luffy.


These disjointed statements finally became more clear once the crew settled in Wano and the prophecy of the Dawn is properly addressed and the flashback fully elaborated why the retainers have been wanting to open Wano's borders from Oden's last words.




The Nine Shadows representing the Red Scabbars, which includes Inuarashi and Nekomamushi. So Pedro's desperate plea to Sanji that they absolutely cannot die starts to make sense.









The prophecy of the Dawn of the World given by Toki, the last words Oden said to his companions, and justifying Luffy's importance in all of these events as mentioned by Pedro in being instrumental in opening Wano and that they must be prepared to welcome him when he arrives.

Which explains why Inuarashi and Nekomamushi showed Luffy the Road Poneglyph and why Neko said this back during Jack's invasion on Zou.


Now, with that said, what is the reason Carrot is involved in any of this and why did Pedro say she will understand? It's quite apparent nothing about this prophecy applies to her (maybe the Mink Tribe) and that her rulers are more involved in regards to it than she is. She never bring it up in any conversation that we've seen so far after being told by her now dead mentor. So what was the point in telling her if she's still unaware? Carrot's not an audience surrogate/exposition for information, she never was. If anything, Pedro didn't have to bring this up to her at all. We could have gotten an internal monologue of his revelation and it could have given the same effect as when he told her when they were escaping Big Mom's rampage.

That's why I'm always speculating in regards to Carrot because her involvement is so strange to the story since she never really needed to be where she is now and is seemingly "irrelevant" despite how long she's been in the story and associated with the crew. Her being a "Mink representative" is pointless since that's the purpose Pedro served (along with his other motives). Her "hyping Sulong" is pointless because this could have been written to be performed and revealed by either Pedro and Pekoms (which he did eventually do, albeit taken down before he could do anything). Her being a "future leader of the Grand Fleet" is practically unrecognizable in my eyes because nothing indicated by Oda had suggested her being a prominent figure within the Mink Tribe; hell, she's not even leading a faction of the Musketeers.

That's why the question in regards to Carrot is why is she still here in the story and why does Oda separate her from her tribe to be with the Straw Hats. She's been with the crew for a long time (almost 200 chapters) and yet her reason for being with them doesn't indicate why her association is necessary. Her lack of presence in the narrative and the fact Oda never really alludes to why she should be present and prevalent with the Straw Hats feels like to me he actively avoids bringing up anything in regards to her or her reason to exist in the story for as long as she has. That's why its understandable when people say she feels like a flat character and that she feels just "there." Because Oda never really addresses why her presence is necessary. Yet time and time again, he keeps her close to the crew and stand out among her peers in the Mink Tribe (barring the Dukes and Pedro) because she still has a role to play in all of this. Otherwise, Carrot would be with the Musketeers right now, go to the background, and might as well never have been tagging along on with the crew on the raid to begin with.

She's a narrative anomaly in my eyes because Oda doesn't justify her existence for being around for so long and involved with the crew in comparison to most long-term tag-a-long characters. Compare her to Vivi, Kinemon and Momonosuke, and Trafalgar Law. When you compare her to them, she comes off as an insignificant character because her character does not affect the narrative of the story or even the arc at hand in a significant way and never delves into a personal story involving her. Seriously, look at Yamato. Most of you guys have said it already: in the first few chapters she was mentioned and introduced, Yamato has had more relevance than Carrot since the start of Wano and immediately bonding with Luffy upon her introduction. She's revealed to be Kaido's daughter (yes, daughter), has an admiration of Oden, has a past connection to Ace and asks Luffy to take her out to sea on the spot. Already, this triggers nakama vibes with the fandom and when you compare her to Carrot, you can already see her as a superior candidate. I don't fault people for believing so, they have valid claims.

With that said, I believe in Oda's literature ability since he's proven numerous times he has a reason for why he does the things he does in the story. Think about it. Bringing Carrot along to Whole Cake Island despite not really having any reason to go or even and play as a major narrative figure in the arc when compared to Sanji, Pedro, and to a lesser extent Pekoms. Her acting as a deck-hand on the ship on her own volition, most prominently the lookout, she kinda became the first side character that tagged along with the crew to perform an active role on the Straw Hat's ship (you can say they were short on men, but they had the necessary individuals to handle tasks that didn't actively need her). Her participating in the raid alongside the Straw Hats apart from the military force she's affiliated in being headed by the leader of said military force she's affiliated with. Even now, she's with Nami near Big Mom and Luffy as her tribe prepares to go Sulong 100 chapters after she performed it last arc. Oda constantly sets her apart for seemingly no reason. That's why she's a valid candidate and why we speculate she could be the next Straw Hat, which has been explained numerous times in this thread by me and others.

There needs to be payoff to her character.
100% agree with all of this. Good work!


This is really why I think its not just Jinbe joining in all of this, but Carrot and Yamato as well, both for different reasons in how the narrative treats them.
 
Last edited:

BangOO🍅

Pepebusi Spammer
That's true... But it's almost the same for Carrot... She will stay in Zou or be an explorer (she'll make a good cover story alongside Ulti and Page One, maybe Pekoms, too)...
Yes i dont mind if Carrot not join SH, but my only problem is, if Carrot isnt join, i dont see the reason why Oda decided to make Yamato became SH.
So the best choice (for me) is, both Carrot and Yamato will join SH, or both of them not join at all.
 
That's true... But it's almost the same for Carrot... She will stay in Zou or be an explorer (she'll make a good cover story alongside Ulti and Page One, maybe Pekoms, too)...
Very doubtful Carrot is going back to Zou. Also, she doesn't strike me as someone who's gonna go off on her own. If that was the case, she would have left Zou before. Look how old Inu, Neko, and Bepo were when they left Zou.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top