This is an inspiration post based on @Monkey D Luffy's comment in the spoiler thread but has nothing to do with the current spoilers, so credit to them for the initial idea. I just liked it so much that I'm running with it. I think Chopper, may in fact fight an unexpected opponent, that being Drake.
Ok, so hear me out. A big portion of Chopper's relevance this arc has been the pure fact that he's been relegated to curing a virus Queen set off in the general vicinity. This is what Chopper is likely going to be focusing on for the remainder of the fights, because its what validates the virus plotline in the first place. But what do you do the moment he cures everyone? What was the actual point of introducing the virus and causing this problem without actually making Chopper struggle to deal with it?
The answer is Drake. Why? Let me take you a bit further back to the 930's, where Drake was announced as a Tobi Roppo member. Here it was essentially established he was part of a higher pecking order in Kaido's crew. At the time, Oda essentially established that he *should* be a villain the alliance would need to fight. Then we learned in 956 that he's a double agent working for the Marines. But why make Drake a Tobi Roppo while leaving Apoo/Hawkins out of the running? Certainly its because of his devil fruit right? Maybe, but not even before the fighting starts, Oda entirely outs Drake and he switches sides to the alliance.
However, 1 thing about Chapter 998 got me interested again about this:
Drake is shown along with the other Tobi Roppo in this chapter to highlight the "Ancient Species" Devil Fruits. Again, him being included in the Tobi Roppo may entirely be just based on his devil fruit theme, but something Oda is famous for is planning ahead massively. Why show him off like an opponent (full title card and everything) in a chapter that includes the other Tobi Roppo members as enemies? Could there be some potential that he could in fact play a role as an opponent?
Well...we have Queen's Oni Virus. As of 1005, Chopper currently is making a cure for it, but what if Drake gets infected? He's apparently also in the area where Chopper is currently, as far as we know. Looking at the above, Apoo meant to go after Chopper to prevent him from making a cure. Drake stopped him. As of last chapter, Drake is still fighting Apoo (I misunderstood this before and thought Apoo wasn't but clearly they still are fighting):
So lets throw some hypotheticals since this is a speculation post:
- What if Drake, while protecting Chopper, gets infected with the Oni Virus?
- What if Chopper, after curing himself, finds that he's the only one capable of curing Drake?
- What if that leads to a proper 1v1 of Chopper tying up the Oni Virus plotline by curing him?
This now would then:
- Validates the Virus Plotline entirely.
- Validates why Oda decided to make Drake a F6 member who would be outed before the fighting even started.
- Not downplay Drake because he 1. Did it to protect Chopper and 2. He wouldn't be fully all there, therefore allowing Chopper to fight someone that strong.
- Gives Chopper a formidable fight against a F6 member that he's been tied to, just like how most other strawhat members have been tied to either a F6 member at this time, or potentially will fight a Calamity (Sanji/Yamato atm, assuming Yamato may join)
One last point to make because I know it will be one of the first things brought up, is the notion of "if" Chopper can handle Drake. The answer is: We shouldn't underestimate Chopper. I've used this example already, but there was a point where Chopper fought a stronger opponent than Franky in Enies Lobby. His potential for growth is pretty astounding so we should keep an open mind about it. Not to mention, but if Nami/Usopp are in fact meant to fight Ulti and Page 1 respectively, then him fighting an Oni-fied Drake does not seem so far fetched.
No spoilers, but I will update the thread after this week just in case. There "may" be something that assists this idea but its still a guess through and through.
Lmk what you all think. Just a fun thought.
Ok, so hear me out. A big portion of Chopper's relevance this arc has been the pure fact that he's been relegated to curing a virus Queen set off in the general vicinity. This is what Chopper is likely going to be focusing on for the remainder of the fights, because its what validates the virus plotline in the first place. But what do you do the moment he cures everyone? What was the actual point of introducing the virus and causing this problem without actually making Chopper struggle to deal with it?
The answer is Drake. Why? Let me take you a bit further back to the 930's, where Drake was announced as a Tobi Roppo member. Here it was essentially established he was part of a higher pecking order in Kaido's crew. At the time, Oda essentially established that he *should* be a villain the alliance would need to fight. Then we learned in 956 that he's a double agent working for the Marines. But why make Drake a Tobi Roppo while leaving Apoo/Hawkins out of the running? Certainly its because of his devil fruit right? Maybe, but not even before the fighting starts, Oda entirely outs Drake and he switches sides to the alliance.
However, 1 thing about Chapter 998 got me interested again about this:
Drake is shown along with the other Tobi Roppo in this chapter to highlight the "Ancient Species" Devil Fruits. Again, him being included in the Tobi Roppo may entirely be just based on his devil fruit theme, but something Oda is famous for is planning ahead massively. Why show him off like an opponent (full title card and everything) in a chapter that includes the other Tobi Roppo members as enemies? Could there be some potential that he could in fact play a role as an opponent?
Well...we have Queen's Oni Virus. As of 1005, Chopper currently is making a cure for it, but what if Drake gets infected? He's apparently also in the area where Chopper is currently, as far as we know. Looking at the above, Apoo meant to go after Chopper to prevent him from making a cure. Drake stopped him. As of last chapter, Drake is still fighting Apoo (I misunderstood this before and thought Apoo wasn't but clearly they still are fighting):
So lets throw some hypotheticals since this is a speculation post:
- What if Drake, while protecting Chopper, gets infected with the Oni Virus?
- What if Chopper, after curing himself, finds that he's the only one capable of curing Drake?
- What if that leads to a proper 1v1 of Chopper tying up the Oni Virus plotline by curing him?
This now would then:
- Validates the Virus Plotline entirely.
- Validates why Oda decided to make Drake a F6 member who would be outed before the fighting even started.
- Not downplay Drake because he 1. Did it to protect Chopper and 2. He wouldn't be fully all there, therefore allowing Chopper to fight someone that strong.
- Gives Chopper a formidable fight against a F6 member that he's been tied to, just like how most other strawhat members have been tied to either a F6 member at this time, or potentially will fight a Calamity (Sanji/Yamato atm, assuming Yamato may join)
One last point to make because I know it will be one of the first things brought up, is the notion of "if" Chopper can handle Drake. The answer is: We shouldn't underestimate Chopper. I've used this example already, but there was a point where Chopper fought a stronger opponent than Franky in Enies Lobby. His potential for growth is pretty astounding so we should keep an open mind about it. Not to mention, but if Nami/Usopp are in fact meant to fight Ulti and Page 1 respectively, then him fighting an Oni-fied Drake does not seem so far fetched.
No spoilers, but I will update the thread after this week just in case. There "may" be something that assists this idea but its still a guess through and through.
Lmk what you all think. Just a fun thought.
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