This is probably something Oda will eventually have to answer in a SBS, but for right now it seems like there's a slight inconsistency about the name of Elbaph's War God.
In recent chapters, we learned that the War God had a rivalry with the Sun God. And that he had a massive black dragon form he could turn into, like Loki. Implying that Loki's Devil Fruit comes from this original War God.
(Chapter 1175)
When Imu saw Loki's black dragon form, Imu immediately started calling Loki "Nidhogg". Which implies that the original War God's true name should be Nidhogg. Imu is calling Luffy "Nika", not "Sun God" or something. So, "Nidhogg" isn't the name of the species of the creature. "Nidhogg" should be the original War God's actual name.
(Chapter 1175)
(Chapter 1177)
So, far so good. Pretty clear and straightforward.
Except, we already know about ANOTHER name for the original War God. From WAAAAY back when Dorry and Brogy were fighting on Little Garden.
(Chapter 119)
Elbaph. Like the nation. Implying that the name of the country comes from the original War God. So, we have Elbaph and Nidhogg, both as the names for a War God hailing from the land of Elbaph.
So, what's going on here?
Well, let's go over a few options
Option 1: Oda just forgot or changed his mind. It's a retcon.
-This is pretty unsatisfying. Although, I can understand wanting to name the War God something else. It DOES get pretty confusing when talking about the God and the country and the arc, all at the same time. It's kind of repetitive. It could just be a simple retcon. "Nidhogg" is the new name, just forget about the War God ever being called "Elbaph". But, I feel like that's the boring option.
Option 2: It could just be a first name and a last name. "Elbaph Nidhogg" as one single entity.
-I feel like this is the option that Oda would most likely go with. If Oda was ever asked about this in a SBS, I feel like this is what he'd go with. Imu is calling the War God by his personal name. But, the land is named after his family name. Or something along those lines. It's the simplest answer. But, maybe not the most interesting option.
Option 3: "Nidhogg" is the name of the original War God. "Elbaph" is the name of one of the later incarnations that ate the Nidhogg Fruit. "Nidhogg" is the equivalent of Nika. "Elbaph" is the equivalent of Joyboy.
-This isn't impossible, but I feel like it's unlikely. If Elbpah is the country where War was invented, literally, that means it's old. Which means it was likely named "Elbaph" a LONG time ago. Like during the First World or before even that. I don't think there's enough time on the timeline for Nidhogg to exist during the time of Nika, then have someone eat the Nidhogg Fruit, then have them get the cournty named after themselves. I don't know, it could be possible But, I just don't think it's the way Oda's going with it.
Option 4: Elbaph doesn't have just ONE War God...it has TWO Gods of War! After all, you can't have a war without a partner.
-This is the idea that made me decide to make this thread. Because, I think there's something here.
I think it'd make for a interesting reveal that there are actually two War Gods from Elbaph. Two "brothers", lets say, who would constantly fight each other. One named NIdhogg and the other named Elbaph. Possibly, one with a Western Fire Dragon form, and the other with a Eastern Water Dragon form like Kaido's Devil Fruit. If we want to set up a rivalry between the two different kinds of Dragons in this series.
The two "brothers" could be constantly at odds, until Nika swooped in and defeated Nidhogg. Thus, "Elbaph" won their contest by default and won the right to name the country after himself. Or something like that.
Or maybe it's possible that Nika himself is actually "Elbaph", since Nika seems to have a lot of connections to the giants. But, I feel like that'd almost be adding too many names to the pile, and not helping to solve the problem, here. "Elbpah Nika" kind of gives you the same problem that we have now. You might as well just go with the "Elbaph Nidhogg" idea instead, if that's the case. But, it would be interesting if Nika and Nidhogg were "brothers", since that would shine a new light on Luffy and Loki's relationship and interactions.
Otherwise, I could see "Elbaph" turning out to be the Earth God, with "NIdhogg" being the War God. Because according my interpretation of the Chapter 1138 Mural, it seems likely that Ancient Giants have some connection to the Hellflame Serpent and thusly the Earth God. So, I'm not sure if I'd want both "brothers" to be War Gods, or if they should each have their own unique sub-categories of godhood. I'm a little split on the matter. They could both be Gods of TWO different things, why not? Hermes is the God of both commerce and thieves. And Apollo is the God of both the Sun and Music. Gods can rule over mulitple concepts.
(Chapter 1138)
Now, why do I think this works? Well, because the Giants in general seem to have a theme of coming in "pairs" a lot of the time. It's not like EVERY Giant as a "partner", but most of the ones we were introduced to before we got to Elbaph seem to have one. Dorry and Brogy. Oimo and Kashi. Hajrudin and Loki. Jorul and Jarul. It seems like Oda has a theme of keeping the Giants in pairs, for some reason. Not all the time, but often enough. And I feel like that could, and even SHOULD, extend to the God of War from this region that helped originate the country. So, it would kind of make sense to me if Elbaph's God of War ALSO had a "partner" of their own.
And I just have to wonder if Oda had this idea earlier, but changed his mind about the exact name, at the last minute. Because, I feel like this COULD explain the whole "Elba-PH" versus "Elba-F" problem. Oda's kind of been going back and forth about the romanization of the word. Sometimes it has a "F" and sometimes it has a "PH". So, I wonder if at one point, Oda was knocking around the idea to have the two War God "brothers" be named "Elbaph" and "Elbaf". That would go along with Oda's Giant naming scheme, mirroring stuff like "Jorul" and "Jarul", with having two VERY similar names that are only slightly different from each other. Maybe with their original argument being about who was going to get the country named after them. Having two Gods have a LONG fight over a very minor difference in spelling is JUST the kind of thing that Oda would do. He...probably changed his mind about that? But, I guess he could still do that, if he really wanted. It'd just make things more confusing, though. Not like that would stop Oda, though.
Hmm.."Elbaph Nika" and "Elbaf Nidhogg". That'd be SO dumb. And EXACTLY Oda's style of humor, honestly.
So, I don't know. Something to think about. Like I said at the start, this is the kind of thing we can't really know until Oda clarifies things in a SBS. But, I do like "Option 4" the best. I think that adds a little something to the story. And I think it could work. "Option 2" is still probably the cleanest and most likely solution. But, I'm interested if Oda ever addresses this little oddity or not in the future.
In recent chapters, we learned that the War God had a rivalry with the Sun God. And that he had a massive black dragon form he could turn into, like Loki. Implying that Loki's Devil Fruit comes from this original War God.
(Chapter 1175)
When Imu saw Loki's black dragon form, Imu immediately started calling Loki "Nidhogg". Which implies that the original War God's true name should be Nidhogg. Imu is calling Luffy "Nika", not "Sun God" or something. So, "Nidhogg" isn't the name of the species of the creature. "Nidhogg" should be the original War God's actual name.
(Chapter 1175)
(Chapter 1177)
So, far so good. Pretty clear and straightforward.
Except, we already know about ANOTHER name for the original War God. From WAAAAY back when Dorry and Brogy were fighting on Little Garden.
(Chapter 119)
Elbaph. Like the nation. Implying that the name of the country comes from the original War God. So, we have Elbaph and Nidhogg, both as the names for a War God hailing from the land of Elbaph.
So, what's going on here?
Well, let's go over a few options
Option 1: Oda just forgot or changed his mind. It's a retcon.
-This is pretty unsatisfying. Although, I can understand wanting to name the War God something else. It DOES get pretty confusing when talking about the God and the country and the arc, all at the same time. It's kind of repetitive. It could just be a simple retcon. "Nidhogg" is the new name, just forget about the War God ever being called "Elbaph". But, I feel like that's the boring option.
Option 2: It could just be a first name and a last name. "Elbaph Nidhogg" as one single entity.
-I feel like this is the option that Oda would most likely go with. If Oda was ever asked about this in a SBS, I feel like this is what he'd go with. Imu is calling the War God by his personal name. But, the land is named after his family name. Or something along those lines. It's the simplest answer. But, maybe not the most interesting option.
Option 3: "Nidhogg" is the name of the original War God. "Elbaph" is the name of one of the later incarnations that ate the Nidhogg Fruit. "Nidhogg" is the equivalent of Nika. "Elbaph" is the equivalent of Joyboy.
-This isn't impossible, but I feel like it's unlikely. If Elbpah is the country where War was invented, literally, that means it's old. Which means it was likely named "Elbaph" a LONG time ago. Like during the First World or before even that. I don't think there's enough time on the timeline for Nidhogg to exist during the time of Nika, then have someone eat the Nidhogg Fruit, then have them get the cournty named after themselves. I don't know, it could be possible But, I just don't think it's the way Oda's going with it.
Option 4: Elbaph doesn't have just ONE War God...it has TWO Gods of War! After all, you can't have a war without a partner.
-This is the idea that made me decide to make this thread. Because, I think there's something here.
I think it'd make for a interesting reveal that there are actually two War Gods from Elbaph. Two "brothers", lets say, who would constantly fight each other. One named NIdhogg and the other named Elbaph. Possibly, one with a Western Fire Dragon form, and the other with a Eastern Water Dragon form like Kaido's Devil Fruit. If we want to set up a rivalry between the two different kinds of Dragons in this series.
The two "brothers" could be constantly at odds, until Nika swooped in and defeated Nidhogg. Thus, "Elbaph" won their contest by default and won the right to name the country after himself. Or something like that.
Or maybe it's possible that Nika himself is actually "Elbaph", since Nika seems to have a lot of connections to the giants. But, I feel like that'd almost be adding too many names to the pile, and not helping to solve the problem, here. "Elbpah Nika" kind of gives you the same problem that we have now. You might as well just go with the "Elbaph Nidhogg" idea instead, if that's the case. But, it would be interesting if Nika and Nidhogg were "brothers", since that would shine a new light on Luffy and Loki's relationship and interactions.
Otherwise, I could see "Elbaph" turning out to be the Earth God, with "NIdhogg" being the War God. Because according my interpretation of the Chapter 1138 Mural, it seems likely that Ancient Giants have some connection to the Hellflame Serpent and thusly the Earth God. So, I'm not sure if I'd want both "brothers" to be War Gods, or if they should each have their own unique sub-categories of godhood. I'm a little split on the matter. They could both be Gods of TWO different things, why not? Hermes is the God of both commerce and thieves. And Apollo is the God of both the Sun and Music. Gods can rule over mulitple concepts.
(Chapter 1138)
Now, why do I think this works? Well, because the Giants in general seem to have a theme of coming in "pairs" a lot of the time. It's not like EVERY Giant as a "partner", but most of the ones we were introduced to before we got to Elbaph seem to have one. Dorry and Brogy. Oimo and Kashi. Hajrudin and Loki. Jorul and Jarul. It seems like Oda has a theme of keeping the Giants in pairs, for some reason. Not all the time, but often enough. And I feel like that could, and even SHOULD, extend to the God of War from this region that helped originate the country. So, it would kind of make sense to me if Elbaph's God of War ALSO had a "partner" of their own.
And I just have to wonder if Oda had this idea earlier, but changed his mind about the exact name, at the last minute. Because, I feel like this COULD explain the whole "Elba-PH" versus "Elba-F" problem. Oda's kind of been going back and forth about the romanization of the word. Sometimes it has a "F" and sometimes it has a "PH". So, I wonder if at one point, Oda was knocking around the idea to have the two War God "brothers" be named "Elbaph" and "Elbaf". That would go along with Oda's Giant naming scheme, mirroring stuff like "Jorul" and "Jarul", with having two VERY similar names that are only slightly different from each other. Maybe with their original argument being about who was going to get the country named after them. Having two Gods have a LONG fight over a very minor difference in spelling is JUST the kind of thing that Oda would do. He...probably changed his mind about that? But, I guess he could still do that, if he really wanted. It'd just make things more confusing, though. Not like that would stop Oda, though.
Hmm.."Elbaph Nika" and "Elbaf Nidhogg". That'd be SO dumb. And EXACTLY Oda's style of humor, honestly.
So, I don't know. Something to think about. Like I said at the start, this is the kind of thing we can't really know until Oda clarifies things in a SBS. But, I do like "Option 4" the best. I think that adds a little something to the story. And I think it could work. "Option 2" is still probably the cleanest and most likely solution. But, I'm interested if Oda ever addresses this little oddity or not in the future.
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