Character Discussion The Funniest Twist: What if Brook's Parents... are Still Alive?

[CoC: Color of Clowns]

Brook is 90, and the oldest person we've seen in this series is currently 141, Doctorine, Kureha herself. Say they had Brook when they were 20, they'd be 110, now. That's 30 years younger than Kureha.

It's entirely possible Brook has living family, that is actually older than he is.

It would be REALLY funny, if, in a series full of tragic parent deaths, the 90-year-old skeletons parents were still alive, and in legit good shape.

I don't think this would be super plot relevant, just FUCKING FUNNY.

I dig the Kuzan = Brook relative theories, but Brook having relatives OLDER than him still living out there is just so funny/cool to me, especially after all the loss he's had.

 

[Cruxroux]

I highly doubt there are other individuals like kureha

 

[Don Diego]

I highly doubt there are other individuals like kureha

Woop Slap

 

[Cruxroux]

Woop Slap

What is his age?

 

[LolonoisZolo]

That would be very funny indeed !

 

[Kung-Fu Dugong]

I find it unlikely (Oda doesn't like parents in his manga icymi), but it's quite possible, especially now that, as of late, Oda has been slowly revealing the past of the strawhats who didn't have them fully fleshed out yet (e.g.: Zoro, Sanji, Franky, et al.). It might even appear in the manga, as he hinted that Brook had a past with Gunko. However, don't get your hopes up, he managed to cram Zoro's family background into a SBS having a full arc (the longest of all so far btw) to elaborate it... Brook isn't even close to Zoro in terms of popularity.

IMO, it would be nice to at least show Brook's past as a battle convoy commander on his homeland. At least we'll very likely see this part.

 

[Senfret]

I find it unlikely (Oda doesn't like parents in his manga icymi), but it's quite possible, especially now that, as of late, Oda has been slowly revealing the past of the strawhats who didn't have them fully fleshed out yet (e.g.: Zoro, Sanji, Franky, et al.). It might even appear in the manga, as he hinted that Brook had a past with Gunko. However, don't get your hopes up, he managed to cram Zoro's family background into a SBS having a full arc (the longest of all so far btw) to elaborate it... Brook isn't even close to Zoro in terms of popularity.

IMO, it would be nice to at least show Brook's past as a battle convoy commander on his homeland. At least we'll very likely see this part.

Zoro is irrelevant plot wise, he's only a popular and empty character, Oda is already showing more interest in showing other SH backstory than Zoro's

The only way he's getting a bit of backstory is if Pinzoro or Terra is Nusjuro/Ryuma's something

 

[CoC: Color of Clowns]

I find it unlikely (Oda doesn't like parents in his manga icymi), but it's quite possible, especially now that, as of late, Oda has been slowly revealing the past of the strawhats who didn't have them fully fleshed out yet (e.g.: Zoro, Sanji, Franky, et al.). It might even appear in the manga, as he hinted that Brook had a past with Gunko. However, don't get your hopes up, he managed to cram Zoro's family background into a SBS having a full arc (the longest of all so far btw) to elaborate it... Brook isn't even close to Zoro in terms of popularity.

IMO, it would be nice to at least show Brook's past as a battle convoy commander on his homeland. At least we'll very likely see this part.

We'll explore zoro and franky's parents when we go back to Wano for Pluton. Especially zoro I believe that his father arashi died fighting kaido. Kaido ruling over Wano it is global knowledge, and once this occurred. If zoro's father was anything like zoro, he would have traveled to Wano, to challenge Kaido. Arashis backstory is very vague with us, only knowing that he died in a battle with pirates. I believe this is the beast pirates.

Current Zoro still needs to learn Adv CoC by fighting the God's Knights. Once Zoro has high level CoC he'll fight Awakened Kaido in Act 4. Also hoping we get franky versus awake and Queen.

Most interesting character is nami though. She's either a celestial dragon
or royalty of Oykot Kingdom i'd guess. I still wonder if zoro is actually a baby from the void century. And I also have questions as to whether or not that's the same for nami. I feel like toki probably sent at least one baby to the future knowing time travel tropes. I just really hope it's not luffy. Though it would be funny if this entire time
Luffy is actually garp and dragon's ancient ancestor they're raising in the present and that we've never seen luffy's mom, because she's from the actual void century.

 

[Kizaruber Eats]

Brook is 90, and the oldest person we've seen in this series is currently 141, Doctorine, Kureha herself. Say they had Brook when they were 20, they'd be 110, now. That's 30 years younger than Kureha.

It's entirely possible Brook has living family, that is actually older than he is.

It would be REALLY funny, if, in a series full of tragic parent deaths, the 90-year-old skeletons parents were still alive, and in legit good shape.

I don't think this would be super plot relevant, just FUCKING FUNNY.

I dig the Kuzan = Brook relative theories, but Brook having relatives OLDER than him still living out there is just so funny/cool to me, especially after all the loss he's had.

This is a pretty funny idea, I like that. I think Kureha will be the only person around this age as we've yet to see anyone even closer to her age that isn't a giant or seemingly immortal at least.
I really want to know if humans can live that long or if there's some big plot twist with Kureha that she's extended her lifespan somehow. Ope Ope no mi would make the most sense but maybe she found another way somehow? Fountain of youth? But she seems to be the only one to know about and use it whatever it was seemingly?

She was the first to mention the Will of D I think too right? I feel her and Brook would have the most hilarious and interesting interactions and conversation, Brook is such a wasted character given how long he's been alive for and who he's met by now too.

Imagine if Brook also meets Laboons parents at least? Wouldnt that be kinda sweet and funny too?

 

[Kung-Fu Dugong]

Zoro is irrelevant plot wise, he's only a popular and empty character, Oda is already showing more interest in showing other SH backstory than Zoro's

The only way he's getting a bit of backstory is if Pinzoro or Terra is Nusjuro/Ryuma's something

We'll explore zoro and franky's parents when we go back to Wano for Pluton. Especially zoro I believe that his father arashi died fighting kaido. Kaido ruling over Wano it is global knowledge, and once this occurred. If zoro's father was anything like zoro, he would have traveled to Wano, to challenge Kaido. Arashis backstory is very vague with us, only knowing that he died in a battle with pirates. I believe this is the beast pirates.

Current Zoro still needs to learn Adv CoC by fighting the God's Knights. Once Zoro has high level CoC he'll fight Awakened Kaido in Act 4. Also hoping we get franky versus awake and Queen.

Most interesting character is nami though. She's either a celestial dragon
or royalty of Oykot Kingdom i'd guess. I still wonder if zoro is actually a baby from the void century. And I also have questions as to whether or not that's the same for nami. I feel like toki probably sent at least one baby to the future knowing time travel tropes. I just really hope it's not luffy. Though it would be funny if this entire time
Luffy is actually garp and dragon's ancient ancestor they're raising in the present and that we've never seen luffy's mom, because she's from the actual void century.

The thing is, Arashi (Zoro's father, Pinzoro is his grandfather) is a direct descendant of Ryuma and even his face wasn't revealed yet. Zoro is an important character plot-wise (Oda likes to cut the details of his backstory, but he always wanted to set Zoro as the hard-boiled strawhat, and that certainly has an impact for his development, but he still has his main goals up, that's becoming the WSS and assisting Luffy to become the PK) and series-wise (he's the 2nd most popular character and a top-selling product), I just think that Oda doesn't care about family backgrounds (especially mothers... oh yeah, he loathes mothers from the bottom of his heart).

About Arashi's death, it would make sense if he traveled to Wano to meet his ancestors and died battling the Beasts Pirates (it would be after Oden's death, as he died after Zoro was born), but there would be 2 problems: (1) Wano has an isolationist policy, so someone who illegally left it (in the case of Arashi's parents) would certainly be arrested or even killed if they came back to Wano, especially under the rule of Orochi (Oden was "spared" just because Orochi was afraid of him). Even if he was just considered a foreigner, he would still have the same fate; (2) Supposing that he managed to sneak into Wano unnoticed and join the rebellion, his name should've been at least mentioned among the heroes of the country. We're having Yamato's pilgrimage around Wano right now, showing her praying in the heroes' graves, and yet we haven't seen any grave or shrine dedicated to Arashi (even Pedro was somehow honored, despite having died in WCI in a different context, but Arashi's name is nowhere to be seen). Consering everything, Arashi probably died against other pirates.

Nami is probably from the East Blue, so it'll be hard to see anything from her past too unfortunately. Those speculations about Nami being a CD, Zoro being from the Void Century, etc. make no sense for me.

 

[Don Diego]

What is his age?

Unknown

 

[CoC: Color of Clowns]

This is a pretty funny idea, I like that. I think Kureha will be the only person around this age as we've yet to see anyone even closer to her age that isn't a giant or seemingly immortal at least.
I really want to know if humans can live that long or if there's some big plot twist with Kureha that she's extended her lifespan somehow. Ope Ope no mi would make the most sense but maybe she found another way somehow? Fountain of youth? But she seems to be the only one to know about and use it whatever it was seemingly?

She was the first to mention the Will of D I think too right? I feel her and Brook would have the most hilarious and interesting interactions and conversation, Brook is such a wasted character given how long he's been alive for and who he's met by now too.

Imagine if Brook also meets Laboons parents at least? Wouldnt that be kinda sweet and funny too?

I believe the "Gods" of the Ancient Kingdom had ridiculous lifespans.

The average human's high end is 140-150 (look at Kureha).
Average Giant life span is around 300.
Jarul, an Ancient Giant, is 408 (max around 450?).
I'm wondering if someone like Oars could live to be 600, then, since Oda seems to be adding 150 years to each race.

So, the older the species, the longer they live.

It's possible Dragons in One Piece had VERY long lives.

I think Kureha is a rarity in medicine: a doctor who is willing to criticize themselves, therefore she's done a good job keeping herself alive.

I think you're right, Kureha was the first to bring up the Will of D.

 

[ArturCantSpeakJapanese]

This is a pretty funny idea, I like that. I think Kureha will be the only person around this age as we've yet to see anyone even closer to her age that isn't a giant or seemingly immortal at least.
I really want to know if humans can live that long or if there's some big plot twist with Kureha that she's extended her lifespan somehow. Ope Ope no mi would make the most sense but maybe she found another way somehow? Fountain of youth? But she seems to be the only one to know about and use it whatever it was seemingly?

She was the first to mention the Will of D I think too right? I feel her and Brook would have the most hilarious and interesting interactions and conversation, Brook is such a wasted character given how long he's been alive for and who he's met by now too.

Imagine if Brook also meets Laboons parents at least? Wouldnt that be kinda sweet and funny too?

shes almost definitely immortal. Oda has mentioned in a volume introduction that the upper limit of human age is 140. In a later SBS, a fan wrote with concern that Kureha was getting close. Oda responded that Kureha is "superhuman" and doesnt have to worry. She's now 141, older than humans are supposed to be able to get. The next-oldest human in One Piece is Haredas, at 90-something. Lao G, a man whose entire character is based around being old and dying of old age, is 70, less than half of Kureha's age.

The woman who keeps asking "do you want to know the secret of my youth?" and who can kick down stone walls and cartwheel through the snow with a belly shirt on is probably just immortal.

Post automatically merged: Oct 2, 2025

I believe the "Gods" of the Ancient Kingdom had ridiculous lifespans.

The average human's high end is 140-150 (look at Kureha).
Average Giant life span is around 300.
Jarul, an Ancient Giant, is 408 (max around 450?).
I'm wondering if someone like Oars could live to be 600, then, since Oda seems to be adding 150 years to each race.

So, the older the species, the longer they live.

It's possible Dragons in One Piece had VERY long lives.

I think Kureha is a rarity in medicine: a doctor who is willing to criticize themselves, therefore she's done a good job keeping herself alive.

I think you're right, Kureha was the first to bring up the Will of D.

the "upper limit" of human age is 140. the "average human's high end" as shown in story is 70-90.

 

[MasterD]

It would be funny to see their interactions I could totally see him go full goofball with his jokes and his parents beeing sacred af thinking the grim reapear has finally come for them

 

[warsame zaylai]

I find it unlikely (Oda doesn't like parents in his manga icymi), but it's quite possible, especially now that, as of late, Oda has been slowly revealing the past of the strawhats who didn't have them fully fleshed out yet (e.g.: Zoro, Sanji, Franky, et al.). It might even appear in the manga, as he hinted that Brook had a past with Gunko. However, don't get your hopes up, he managed to cram Zoro's family background into a SBS having a full arc (the longest of all so far btw) to elaborate it... Brook isn't even close to Zoro in terms of popularity.

IMO, it would be nice to at least show Brook's past as a battle convoy commander on his homeland. At least we'll very likely see this part.

That's because zoro lineage has nothing to do with wano

pinzoro, arashi and zoro mother have nothing to do with wano
only his grandmother is from wano
zoro father who is half shimotsuki likely didnt inherented his wano culture

zoro learned wano culture and fighting style simple from kunia father and grandfather who aint related to zoro
if oda was to show zoro father and grandfather they will have nothing to do with samurai

and yes oda don't consider zoro as part of shimotsuki clan

shimotsuki clan = gray area
non shimotsuki members = white area

Post automatically merged: Oct 2, 2025

The thing is, Arashi (Zoro's father, Pinzoro is his grandfather) is a direct descendant of Ryuma and even his face wasn't revealed yet. Zoro is an important character plot-wise (Oda likes to cut the details of his backstory, but he always wanted to set Zoro as the hard-boiled strawhat, and that certainly has an impact for his development, but he still has his main goals up, that's becoming the WSS and assisting Luffy to become the PK) and series-wise (he's the 2nd most popular character and a top-selling product), I just think that Oda doesn't care about family backgrounds (especially mothers... oh yeah, he loathes mothers from the bottom of his heart).

About Arashi's death, it would make sense if he traveled to Wano to meet his ancestors and died battling the Beasts Pirates (it would be after Oden's death, as he died after Zoro was born), but there would be 2 problems: (1) Wano has an isolationist policy, so someone who illegally left it (in the case of Arashi's parents) would certainly be arrested or even killed if they came back to Wano, especially under the rule of Orochi (Oden was "spared" just because Orochi was afraid of him). Even if he was just considered a foreigner, he would still have the same fate; (2) Supposing that he managed to sneak into Wano unnoticed and join the rebellion, his name should've been at least mentioned among the heroes of the country. We're having Yamato's pilgrimage around Wano right now, showing her praying in the heroes' graves, and yet we haven't seen any grave or shrine dedicated to Arashi (even Pedro was somehow honored, despite having died in WCI in a different context, but Arashi's name is nowhere to be seen). Consering everything, Arashi probably died against other pirates.

Nami is probably from the East Blue, so it'll be hard to see anything from her past too unfortunately. Those speculations about Nami being a CD, Zoro being from the Void Century, etc. make no sense for me.

I promise you arashi didnt go back to wano
his mother escaped from wano so why would he try to go back ? He likely didnt even care about wano
He died for something else

 

[Kung-Fu Dugong]

That's because zoro lineage has nothing to do with wano

pinzoro, arashi and zoro mother have nothing to do with wano
only his grandmother is from wano
zoro father who is half shimotsuki likely didnt inherented his wano culture

zoro learned wano culture and fighting style simple from kunia father and grandfather who aint related to zoro
if oda was to show zoro father and grandfather they will have nothing to do with samurai

and yes oda don't consider zoro as part of shimotsuki clan

shimotsuki clan = gray area
non shimotsuki members = white area

My mistake, only his grandmother fled from Wano indeed. But Zoro's (and Arashi's) lineage IS related to Wano. As Furiko is Ushimaru's sister, both Zoro and his father have Ryuma's blood (Ryuma's zombie inadvertently even gave Zoro the "quest" of returning Shusui to Wano). Koushirou, Zoro's master, is a Shimotsuki and carries Wano's traditions with him (his explanation about haki to Zoro was basically the same of Hyogoro to Luffy). Zoro is INTENSELY related to Wano, both by blood and tradition. He just inherited his grandfather's name, as expected in most places in the world.

Chapter #194​

Chapter #939​

I promise you arashi didnt go back to wano
his mother escaped from wano so why would he try to go back ? He likely didnt even care about wano
He died for something else

I believe the same, but it still can't be confirmed. We know that he was killed by pirates, so he probably sailed the seas for some time (Arashi could've been a pirate, a marine, a bounty hunter, an explorer, etc.).

 

[warsame zaylai]

My mistake, only his grandmother fled from Wano indeed. But Zoro's (and Arashi's) lineage IS related to Wano. As Furiko is Ushimaru's sister, both Zoro and his father have Ryuma's blood (Ryuma's zombie inadvertently even gave Zoro the "quest" of returning Shusui to Wano). Koushirou, Zoro's master, is a Shimotsuki and carries Wano's traditions with him (his explanation about haki to Zoro was basically the same of Hyogoro to Luffy). Zoro is INTENSELY related to Wano, both by blood and tradition. He just inherited his grandfather's name, as expected in most places in the world.

Chapter #194​

Chapter #939​

Yes, Zoro and his father, Roronoa Arashi, are related to Wano by blood through the Shimotsuki lineage, descending from Shimotsuki Furiko also the sister of Ushimaru and from the legendary swordsman Ryuma. However, what Oda highlight in the story is not this blood connection, but rather Zoro's cultural and fighting style inheritance through Kuina’s family. Despite his Wano heritage, neither Zoro’s father nor grandmother passed on any traditions or knowledge of Wano to him. Zoro grew up in the East Blue, culturally disconnected from Wano, and he enters Wano completely unaware of his ancestral ties. His identity, swordsmanship, and understanding of concepts like Ryou were all shaped at Shimotsuki Village under Koushirou and Kozaburo, a Wano swordsman who left for the East Blue. Both the Wado Ichimonji and Enma, two of Zoro’s current swords, were forged by Kozaburo, further deepening Zoro’s connection to the Shimotsuki through Kuina’s bloodline. Oda consistently highlights that Zoro’s growth and connection to Wano’s swordsmanship come from Kuina’s family, not his own. So while Zoro does have Wano blood, the story is not about him reclaiming a Shimotsuki heritage he never knew but it’s about him Inheriting the Shimotsuki will and traditions through Kozaburo's family.

Everything “Shimotsuki” in Zoro’s life is tied to Kuina and her family
thats why oda talked about kunia grandfather more then zoro grandmother and her brother in wano (she was never even mentioned ) so why bring zoro lineage into this when everything he knows about wano is from kunia family.

If we ever see Arashi appear in the story, he’ll probably be a simple guy just a typical East Blue pirate chasing after treasure and adventure. He likely won’t care about Wano or the samurai way of life. In fact, he might not even be a swordsman at all. Oda has said that Zoro’s grandfather, Pinzoro, was a swordsman, but didn’t say the same about Arashi. That makes it seem like Arashi didn’t follow the samurai path and was just a regular pirate doing his own thing.

so in the end arashi was half shimotsuki but only raised zoro in east blue culture

I believe the same, but it still can't be confirmed. We know that he was killed by pirates, so he probably sailed the seas for some time (Arashi could've been a pirate, a marine, a bounty hunter, an explorer, etc.).

think about it if kozaburo and Koushirou didnt try to go back to wano why would arashi plan to go to wano ?
A)no one knew about kaido taking over wano
B) his mother escaped from there

 

[Kung-Fu Dugong]

Yes, Zoro and his father, Roronoa Arashi, are related to Wano by blood through the Shimotsuki lineage, descending from Shimotsuki Furiko also the sister of Ushimaru and from the legendary swordsman Ryuma. However, what Oda highlight in the story is not this blood connection, but rather Zoro's cultural and fighting style inheritance through Kuina’s family. Despite his Wano heritage, neither Zoro’s father nor grandmother passed on any traditions or knowledge of Wano to him. Zoro grew up in the East Blue, culturally disconnected from Wano, and he enters Wano completely unaware of his ancestral ties. His identity, swordsmanship, and understanding of concepts like Ryou were all shaped at Shimotsuki Village under Koushirou and Kozaburo, a Wano swordsman who left for the East Blue. Both the Wado Ichimonji and Enma, two of Zoro’s current swords, were forged by Kozaburo, further deepening Zoro’s connection to the Shimotsuki through Kuina’s bloodline. Oda consistently highlights that Zoro’s growth and connection to Wano’s swordsmanship come from Kuina’s family, not his own. So while Zoro does have Wano blood, the story is not about him reclaiming a Shimotsuki heritage he never knew but it’s about him Inheriting the Shimotsuki will and traditions through Kozaburo's family.

Everything “Shimotsuki” in Zoro’s life is tied to Kuina and her family
thats why oda talked about kunia grandfather more then zoro grandmother and her brother in wano (she was never even mentioned ) so why bring zoro lineage into this when everything he knows about wano is from kunia family.

If we ever see Arashi appear in the story, he’ll probably be a simple guy just a typical East Blue pirate chasing after treasure and adventure. He likely won’t care about Wano or the samurai way of life. In fact, he might not even be a swordsman at all. Oda has said that Zoro’s grandfather, Pinzoro, was a swordsman, but didn’t say the same about Arashi. That makes it seem like Arashi didn’t follow the samurai path and was just a regular pirate doing his own thing.

so in the end arashi was half shimotsuki but only raised zoro in east blue culture

think about it if kozaburo and Koushirou didnt try to go back to wano why would arashi plan to go to wano ?
A)no one knew about kaido taking over wano
B) his mother escaped from there

But Kuina and Koushirou ARE Zoro's family. Third, fourth cousins, something like that. Zoro was orphaned at age 8 (and we don't know exactly when his mother died), so I doubt Arashi could teach anything to him. If he inherited the Shimotsuki's traditions, then he's related to Wano, even if he doesn't notice it. You don't need to recap the whole thing, I did read the manga until the latest chapter, so I'm aware of it.

The story in One Piece is strongly tied with destiny, it's pretty clear through it. If Luffy didn't choose the Punk Hazard's route when he arrived in the New World, he probably wouldn't have allied himself with Law and ended up with a viable coalition (Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance) to fight Kaido in Wano, and Zoro would never be able to bring back Shusui. Arashi could've been the same, he probably didn't even knew anything about Wano, but ended there anyway. Again, it's just a conjecture (and I particularly don't believe it).

Btw, we turned a thread about Brook into a Zoro's thread. We're going off-topic... so I'll stop it.