Forgot to post this thread:
With the peak of the Wano battle going, and maybe Act 3 coming to an end and not much story progression happening for a bit. Figured this might be a good time to make a thread about this storytelling from Oda.
Right now if you were to ask the one piece fandom what group the strawhat pirates connect with the most, you're likely to get the answers of the Red-Haired pirates that Luffy claimed he'll surpass, or the Roger Pirates that have some good parallels with the strawhats. However, if you were to ask me, the group that the Strawhats connect with the most is the Revolutionary Army. This has been the case since the very start of the series and it is arguably one of Oda's best background developments he's done in terms of long-term storytelling. But this connection is not just that of crews being similar or characters having specific parallels or things of that nature. The connection goes beyond that, it's a connection of bonds and destiny that these two groups have with each other and eventually the ultimate story arc that Oda wants to tell.
So please grab something to eat, drink, or etc because this will be quite the read and I hope you all enjoy it.
Parallel story set up:
As many people know the story of the manga was originally meant to be just about Luffy taking on the 4 emperors. However, with the introduction of Dracule Mihawk and rest of the warlords, Oda completely changed the story. Now at that point the story was still relatively about the strawhats taking down pirates.
But then chapter 96 happened where one of our strawhat pirates reads the newpaper:
At this point we the readers didn't really have much clue as to why something like this would be mentioned. Maybe just for the sake of world building, a potential island the strawhats would go to? But this was really the first step in Oda setting up a story that would keep on going in the background of the story of our main crew.
Following that we have chapter 100 where the introduction of the main character of that background story is introduced, who isn't a pirate, yet is the only character in the entire series making an entrance to the Pirate King's quote:
That character said 1 very important line that altered the story completely from being it just being about pirates vs pirates, and instead about a grander thing.. the world itself:
Then Oda in sbs 25, states this:
Chapter 432 finally sheds a light upon the above 2 cases of the masked figure and what Oda meant by "what's happening all around the world":
Parallel story progression:
Now in nearly every major step that Luffy takes in his pirate journey we are given information regarding the progress of the Revolutionary Army as well an appearance from Dragon himself.
As you guys can see the story of the RA has been progressing in parallel to the story of the strawhats ever since East Blue. Oda has made sure to highlight it after nearly every major arc. This is the biggest story in the background of One Piece that has been taking place and that Oda has planned out alongside the journey of Luffy. Now we're gonna move on to bonds and comeback to this later.
Getting Saved:
There are many times various major factions and groups have saved the strawhat pirates, some even multiple times. But none come close to the amount the strawhats have been saved by the Revolutionary Army.
- Luffy + crew saved at Loguetown by Dragon himself
- Whole crew saved at Sabody by Kuma
- Luffy saved at Impel Down by Ivankov
- Robin saved at Tequila Wolf by Eastern Army
- Thousand Sunny saved during the timeskip by Kuma
- Sabo saves Luffy during Dressrosa when Burgess and Doffy come at him.
6 times were members of the strawhat crew personally saved by members of the RA army.
Personal relationships/bonds:
There are also some members of the crew who have personal bonds/relationships to members of the RA.
So there are 4 members who have a direction bond of some sort with a member or members of the Revolutionary Army. This doesn't exist with Strawhats - Roger pirates / Strawhats-Red haired pirates. Solely with the Revolutionary Army.
Different yet alike:
While the SHs are a pirate crew and the RA is an actual army. The SHs are actually more like revolutionaries than they're pirates.
Nearly every single major island luffy has been to he has helped the people of that island deal with a tyrannical ruler or a person of power to bring peace to the people there.
Axe-Hand Morgan = Freeing the town of Morgan's corrupt ways, something that even the marines thanked him for.
Buggy town = Taking down Buggy who had taken over the town and was bullying the people there. Leaving the people free and there to run their own things.
Arlong Park = Taking down Arlong and freeing the people of that island from Arlong's tyrannical rule.
Alabasta = Taking down Crocodile and helping bring peace to the nation
Skypea = Taking down the ruler named Enel, leading to the nation(s) living freely and happily.
Fishman Island = Luffy takes out Hody and brings peace to the nation.
Dressrosa = Taking down the King and gaining support of the nation's people.
Wano = This is the big one, he's actually now fighting for the people of Wano.
Whether Luffy intends to do these revolutions or not, the fact is he still ends up doing them. But even then he's actually starting to develop into somebody who now really cares about the freedom of other people, rather than just doing shit because of his friends. For example, in Wano he told the Samurai to put their faiths in him and he'll take down Kaido. Carrying the burdens of people he doesn't even know. Where as in Alabasta he was just doing it for Vivi or the few people he knew. So this is a subtle character development that's happening for Luffy throughout the story.
But yea as y'all can see here. The strawhats throughout the manga have revolutionized islands one after the other and they'll probably continue to do so until EoS. This is why I said they're more like revolutionaries than they're like pirates.
Adding on to that the strawhats have connections/friends with all major races of the world (Fishmen/Minks/Giants), which is pretty akin to the RA. And if Carrot officially joins the crew + a giant from Elbaf the strawhats will officially have all the major races as part of their main crew, just like the RA.
Crew Set Up:
Now intitially one would think is it really possible for the SHs to be like the RA? Well.. yes... their crews are actually a lot like.
Kuma - Franky = Cyborgs
Lindberg - Ussopp = Invention users, while Ussop is a sniper, his attacks rely on using very inventions he comes up with, rather than typical bullets. Akin to Lindberg who uses things like Ice-ray gun and etc.
Karasu - Sanji = Airborne
Bello Betty - Nami = Women leaders, who provide support
(^^ I'm not saying these would be the match-ups or anything if they fought)
Now there's no dead on parallels like you have with the Roger pirates with Zoro-Ray and what have you. But you do have these things that these two crews share that are unique to them. For example, from the ones mentioned above... Bello Betty-Nami, no other major crew has highlighted women leaders. No other crew is as diverse in the types of people it has outside of them. Now of course you have people like Sabo who're an outlier in all of this as he's Dragon's protege and more akin to what Ace was for Whitebeard. Hell no crew out there led be a man even has two women as one of their major combatants... other than the RA.. who's East Blue Army Commander is a woman (Bello Betty) & the vice-commander is a woman (Ahiru).
The other thing that people might notice is that the RA isn't intimidating just like the Strawhats. Rather they look like normal people or act and behave like normal people. Which is why many people were disappointed in the RA commanders, because they weren't all big badass character designs, but partially goofy and normalish looking designs. Compared to let's say the red-haired pirates who look like they're all on steroids or the giants of the BM & Beast Pirates. (Well I mean to me the RA commanders are more badass than most the YCs, bar Morley, but that's to each his own.)
So their squads are a lot like when you take a closer look at them. In fact, just before leaving thriller bark, Kuma after seeing how Zoro & Sanji are willing to sacrifice themselves for Luffy, says that he has exceptional friends.. and then says "he is your son after all Dragon". Luffy having friends like Zoro/Sanji/etc under him is expected as he's Dragon's son.. meaning Dragon also has exceptional friends like Luffy. Rather Luffy having exceptional friends is credited to being Dragon's son, like that cements that Luffy is Dragon's son. So it's sort of an indirect comparison between the friends of the father and son.
Destiny:
- The parallel running story of the RA
- Dragon's statement of Luffy and him meeting
- Franky's statement of when they see Kuma next time
- Nico Robin, the light of the revolution, who'll uncover the truth of the Blank Century
This whole connection and story of these two groups is being built towards one point. That point being the Final War. It isn't gonna be the Strawhats with the help of the RA taking down the World Government. It's not the RA with the help of the Strawhats taking down the World Government. It's the Strawhat Pirates AND The Revolutionary Army taking down the world government. Luffy as he evolves and starts to care about the people more and more each Island he goes to. Then with the revelations of the history of the blank century that even made Roger want to start the great pirate era, he will arrive at the same goal as his father... which is taking a stand against the gods of the world, the Celestial Dragons. Neither will succeed without the other. That's why theories like the RA failing and then SHs coming to their rescue don't make sense, because the RA aren't going to go to war without the revelation of the true history (which is the entire point of Nico Robin). There's reason why Dragon said the day they'll meet will eventually come, that day isn't gonna be after they topple the World Government. There's a reason why Kuma was there to give the reality check to the strawhats at Thriller Bark that they weren't ready, there's reason why Kuma gave so much into making sure the strawhats survive, and why he sent them to places where he knew they could grow stronger. Those reasons sure in hell aren't for the Strawhats to come to their rescue because they failed.
So this in my opinion is the destiny of these two great factions who represent the fight for freedom. It's the destiny of the father and the son (and maybe even the grandfather) taking down the King of the World, Imu.
When we look at characters to compare Luffy to the ones who come up in the fandom's mind are usually Roger or Shanks or even at times his grandfather. YET the character who Oda has compared Luffy the most to is none other than his own father. So I'm gonna go over some of the comparisons here as well as some story related stuff regarding the two.
Direct Comparisons of traits:
The Pirate King:
Now y'all might be thinking where is the Pirate King coming from in here Dragon ain't even a pirate. That's true, he's not. Yet he's had constant comparisons with figures who were the pirate king/could've been the pirate king/ will be the pirate king. This will be more of a Dragon-Pirate King connection section, rather than Luffy since we all know Luffy is connected with the pirate king.
Now some tend to credit his infamy to just him causing revolutions, but let's face it, simply causing revolutions in countries isn't gonna give you a bounty higher than the 4 emperors, let alone a bounty higher than Whitebeard himself. Neither is it going to make people like Doberman not be surprised at Luffy having CoC. Neither is it going to have the entire world freaking out just as much as they freaked out about Roger's revelation with Ace. Neither is it going to have somebody like Sakazuki hold him in the same disdain as he holds Roger in. Luffy attacked all 3 major World Government sites, yet his bounty didn't reach 500 mil, why? because he wasn't a huge threat individually. Causing mere revolutions in countries of fodder isn't gonna give you a high bounty surpassing the Yonko.. meaning Dragon's done some outrageous shit like Luffy in the years he's been climbing up. Which would make sense as Ivankov compared Luffy pulling that MF stunt with the bells and flowers to Dragon.
(Him having higher bounty than Whitebeard is deduced from him being the World's Worst Criminal, while Whitebeard was alive. Worst Criminal = Highest Bounty, hence it's also translated as World's Most Wanted Man/World's Most Dangerous Criminal.)
But point being, Dragon as an entity stands on par with the Pirate King, they share the same status in terms of danger/threat.
Relationship:
Now in shonen the relationship between a father and son tends to be really emphasized by the mangaka, especially when it comes to the MC & his father. Same is the case in One Piece. Maybe even more so in One Piece. Many consider Dragon to be a terrible father, because the way they look at him tends to be about raising a child while holding their hands, well more of a modern application to a fictional world. But in my opinion that's a terrible way to judge whether he's a good father or not. The reason being One Piece world is completely different from our own. The dangers they face are completely different than our own. Even in our real world, living in a first world country like America & expecting a 3rd world country to follow the same standards of parenthood would get your ridiculed, because they're completely different situations. What Dragon did as his job as a father is do the best for his son, which was leave him with the most capable man there is, Garp. By leaving him with Garp, he can be sure that Luffy will grow up fine and strong enough to survive in this world. Now he still made sure to come visit and check in on him from afar.
We are even shown a panel of him facing the direction of east blue, which one can assume is him missing Luffy, as Luffy was the only thing there. And of course he saw Luffy off before he started his journey as a pirate. Then he's kept track of him ever sense, even expressing the want to eventually meet him. So he does care about Luffy deeply. Luffy on the other hand, didn't even know he had a father, so he doesn't really have any reason to care about Dragon. So I don't think their meeting would be anything like Luffy crying about his father or something like that. If there's any crying it'd probably be at some backstory of his mother or grandmother or some past event. But in general it will more than likely be meeting between two grown men who will respect each other, but more particularly for Dragon, who'll be proud of the man Luffy became on his own.
But the question arises, what exactly would make Luffy care about Dragon? The answer to this for me would be w.e the reason Dragon started the Revolutionary Army. By this time Luffy himself would be developed enough to understand how fucked up the world is, and how many nations were suffering around the world before Dragon came in and started his revolutions. Something along the lines of "Oh yea my pops was doing stuff to better the world for the freedom of millions around the world."
Analysis of their conclusion:
Chapter 100 started the legend of Monkey D. Luffy, along with the introduction of Monkey D. Dragon. Since then one has watched the other grow and grow, and along that path he's actually contributed to his son's growth indirectly and directly.
By the time of the Final War, they'll both stand on an equal pedestal, with Luffy rising to where his father currently stands. With it being The Revolutionary & The Pirate King taking on the World Government. And I believe it'll be in this war, that we will have a "surpassing of the father" moment for Luffy.
As for the conclusion of the final war, I don't believe anything short of an Imu vs Dragon would be a fitting end to his story. Now this would also be a great way to kill Dragon off too, and then have Luffy finish the fight against Imu. Now if Dragon doesn't die then Dragon takes a step back or is injured/out of the game and Luffy finishes the fight. In both scenarios there would be a Dragon + Luffy vs Imu.
But that will be it for this thread, I'm getting a bit tired out now and don't have much in me to continue typing. So hope you guys enjoyed the thread, maybe it changed your mind regarding certain characters or how you view them. Share your opinions below and yea. Much love.
Some taaagz:
With the peak of the Wano battle going, and maybe Act 3 coming to an end and not much story progression happening for a bit. Figured this might be a good time to make a thread about this storytelling from Oda.
Right now if you were to ask the one piece fandom what group the strawhat pirates connect with the most, you're likely to get the answers of the Red-Haired pirates that Luffy claimed he'll surpass, or the Roger Pirates that have some good parallels with the strawhats. However, if you were to ask me, the group that the Strawhats connect with the most is the Revolutionary Army. This has been the case since the very start of the series and it is arguably one of Oda's best background developments he's done in terms of long-term storytelling. But this connection is not just that of crews being similar or characters having specific parallels or things of that nature. The connection goes beyond that, it's a connection of bonds and destiny that these two groups have with each other and eventually the ultimate story arc that Oda wants to tell.
So please grab something to eat, drink, or etc because this will be quite the read and I hope you all enjoy it.
Bonds & Destiny
Parallel story set up:
As many people know the story of the manga was originally meant to be just about Luffy taking on the 4 emperors. However, with the introduction of Dracule Mihawk and rest of the warlords, Oda completely changed the story. Now at that point the story was still relatively about the strawhats taking down pirates.
But then chapter 96 happened where one of our strawhat pirates reads the newpaper:
At this point we the readers didn't really have much clue as to why something like this would be mentioned. Maybe just for the sake of world building, a potential island the strawhats would go to? But this was really the first step in Oda setting up a story that would keep on going in the background of the story of our main crew.
Following that we have chapter 100 where the introduction of the main character of that background story is introduced, who isn't a pirate, yet is the only character in the entire series making an entrance to the Pirate King's quote:
That character said 1 very important line that altered the story completely from being it just being about pirates vs pirates, and instead about a grander thing.. the world itself:
Then Oda in sbs 25, states this:
"D: Where is Villa? In Vol. 11, it's having a "coup d'état", in chapter 228 it's a "merry town". What's going on?
O: Oh. Well spotted. 400 years ago when Noland visited it, Villa was indeed just a merry town, but these days it's a violent and dangerous country in the midst of a coup d'état (rebellion). But it's not really so much what's happening in Villa, as what's happening all around the world at this time. I think you'll discover what I mean in the near future. Not as large as Alabasta, it's just a small country in the Grand Line.
So hold off on your sightseeing trips."
He answers the reader's question of the Villa that Norland mentions vs the one that Nami mentioned having a coup being the same. He said it is the same, but it's not so much about what's taking place in Villa, but more so about what's happening all around the world at this time. That the reader would find out what he means in the future.
So hold off on your sightseeing trips."
He answers the reader's question of the Villa that Norland mentions vs the one that Nami mentioned having a coup being the same. He said it is the same, but it's not so much about what's taking place in Villa, but more so about what's happening all around the world at this time. That the reader would find out what he means in the future.
Chapter 432 finally sheds a light upon the above 2 cases of the masked figure and what Oda meant by "what's happening all around the world":
Parallel story progression:
Now in nearly every major step that Luffy takes in his pirate journey we are given information regarding the progress of the Revolutionary Army as well an appearance from Dragon himself.
- Aftermath of Arlong Park: We find out about the Coup in Villa that the RA had started (but ofc we didn't know about it at that time). And then we have an appearance from Dragon himself at Loguetown
- Aftermath of Ennis Lobby : This was the major huge step in Luffy's journey as a pirate with him attacking one of the 3 important bases of the World Government right after taking down a Warlord in Alabasta where his bounty would now skyrocket to 300 mil. Rather than showing us the RA in the aftermath of Alabasta. He brings both events up together in the aftermath of Ennis Lobby we have Oda going to the RA and showing us that they have been making progress in taking Ws in the north and the south blues. Revolutions throughout the world continue to happen as Luffy continues his journey as a pirate. As well as Dragon's own reaction to what luffy had down so far.
- During Impel Down: During Impel Down in the cover story of Nico Robin, we are given the information that the Revolutionary Army had freed Tequila Wolf (arguably the most important Celestial Dragon place in East Blue). This was literally on going as the events of Impel Down were unfolding. (Also, we peep that we get our first mink introduced in the series)
- Post Marineford arc: Dragon being briefed about things that went down with Luffy, commenting on it saying "He isn't a child anymore...". But we again get a progression on the RA, from now bringing Nico Robin, the light of the revolution, to Baltigo.. to getting ready for the Revolutionary Army officers to meet soon.
- Dressrosa Arc Aftermath: Luffy causes another major event in the world, with Dressrosa arc. And so we see Dragon being informed about Luffy again (note here that Dragon has been shown following Luffy's journey every step now), but along with that we now get more information regarding the progress of the Revolutionary Army, that it was now time to gather the officers from around the world.
- Aftermath of Whole Cake Island: Right after Whole Cake Island, we see the RA reacting to the news of WCI with Sabo smiling at Luffy's bounty poster and Dragon talking about the Germa being booted. We also see more progress in the RA that the officers were now convening. So while WCI was taking place, the RA captains were making their way to Ivankov's island.
- Heading to Wano: As the Strawhats head to Wano, the RA prepare for their invasion of Mariejois and by the time they reach Wano, they had successfully infiltrated Mariejois.
- End of act1: We get news that the RA commanders have clashed against the Admirals. Just like how Luffy had clashed against Kaido. (Though the results of the RA clash remain unknown)
- End of Act2: The story with the RA continues to play out. The Commanders are doing something with Dragon and co awaiting on their news. But they read something terrible in the papers regarding Sabo (more than likely something regarding Sabo getting framed).
- Currently: The story with the RA continues. Dragon trying to find out what happened there and see if what the papers are saying is true and the Commanders + Sabo, doing w.e they're doing after their clash against the admirals.
As you guys can see the story of the RA has been progressing in parallel to the story of the strawhats ever since East Blue. Oda has made sure to highlight it after nearly every major arc. This is the biggest story in the background of One Piece that has been taking place and that Oda has planned out alongside the journey of Luffy. Now we're gonna move on to bonds and comeback to this later.
Getting Saved:
There are many times various major factions and groups have saved the strawhat pirates, some even multiple times. But none come close to the amount the strawhats have been saved by the Revolutionary Army.
- Luffy + crew saved at Loguetown by Dragon himself
- Whole crew saved at Sabody by Kuma
- Luffy saved at Impel Down by Ivankov
- Robin saved at Tequila Wolf by Eastern Army
- Thousand Sunny saved during the timeskip by Kuma
- Sabo saves Luffy during Dressrosa when Burgess and Doffy come at him.
6 times were members of the strawhat crew personally saved by members of the RA army.
Personal relationships/bonds:
There are also some members of the crew who have personal bonds/relationships to members of the RA.
- Zoro & Kuma: They have a personal connection with each other from Thriller Bark, where they have a 1vs1, and then Kuma of course giving Zoro all of Luffy's pain. Along with Kuma understanding Zoro's dream and sending him to the best possible place for him to master his swordsmanship, Mihawk. Then we see Zoro even talking about him being grateful to what Kuma did and that one day hopefully they'll find out his intentions (while the rest of the strawhats went on about their own bs).
- Sanji & Ivankov: The student & semi-master relationship that these two share is something I don't really need to go much into. But it's clear that Ivankov has been keeping an eye on Sanji even after he left, as he comments on Sanji after WCI incident. Ivankov greatly helped Sanji improve himself as a fighter & a chef over the timeskip by giving him recipes + the indirect training.
- Luffy & Sabo: The brothers that go way back, not much needed to say.
- Robin & Revolutionary Army: She is somebody the RA was searching for over 10 years. They consider her to be the light of the revolution. And she also spent 2 years with them, seeing their ways, learning about their ideology, their mission, and etc. She's even formed bonds with people like Koala, Sabo, and Hack. Even Dragon himself cares about her well-being.
So there are 4 members who have a direction bond of some sort with a member or members of the Revolutionary Army. This doesn't exist with Strawhats - Roger pirates / Strawhats-Red haired pirates. Solely with the Revolutionary Army.
Different yet alike:
While the SHs are a pirate crew and the RA is an actual army. The SHs are actually more like revolutionaries than they're pirates.
Nearly every single major island luffy has been to he has helped the people of that island deal with a tyrannical ruler or a person of power to bring peace to the people there.
Axe-Hand Morgan = Freeing the town of Morgan's corrupt ways, something that even the marines thanked him for.
Buggy town = Taking down Buggy who had taken over the town and was bullying the people there. Leaving the people free and there to run their own things.
Arlong Park = Taking down Arlong and freeing the people of that island from Arlong's tyrannical rule.
Alabasta = Taking down Crocodile and helping bring peace to the nation
Skypea = Taking down the ruler named Enel, leading to the nation(s) living freely and happily.
Fishman Island = Luffy takes out Hody and brings peace to the nation.
Dressrosa = Taking down the King and gaining support of the nation's people.
Wano = This is the big one, he's actually now fighting for the people of Wano.
Whether Luffy intends to do these revolutions or not, the fact is he still ends up doing them. But even then he's actually starting to develop into somebody who now really cares about the freedom of other people, rather than just doing shit because of his friends. For example, in Wano he told the Samurai to put their faiths in him and he'll take down Kaido. Carrying the burdens of people he doesn't even know. Where as in Alabasta he was just doing it for Vivi or the few people he knew. So this is a subtle character development that's happening for Luffy throughout the story.
But yea as y'all can see here. The strawhats throughout the manga have revolutionized islands one after the other and they'll probably continue to do so until EoS. This is why I said they're more like revolutionaries than they're like pirates.
Adding on to that the strawhats have connections/friends with all major races of the world (Fishmen/Minks/Giants), which is pretty akin to the RA. And if Carrot officially joins the crew + a giant from Elbaf the strawhats will officially have all the major races as part of their main crew, just like the RA.
Crew Set Up:
Now intitially one would think is it really possible for the SHs to be like the RA? Well.. yes... their crews are actually a lot like.
Kuma - Franky = Cyborgs
Lindberg - Ussopp = Invention users, while Ussop is a sniper, his attacks rely on using very inventions he comes up with, rather than typical bullets. Akin to Lindberg who uses things like Ice-ray gun and etc.
Karasu - Sanji = Airborne
Bello Betty - Nami = Women leaders, who provide support
(^^ I'm not saying these would be the match-ups or anything if they fought)
Now there's no dead on parallels like you have with the Roger pirates with Zoro-Ray and what have you. But you do have these things that these two crews share that are unique to them. For example, from the ones mentioned above... Bello Betty-Nami, no other major crew has highlighted women leaders. No other crew is as diverse in the types of people it has outside of them. Now of course you have people like Sabo who're an outlier in all of this as he's Dragon's protege and more akin to what Ace was for Whitebeard. Hell no crew out there led be a man even has two women as one of their major combatants... other than the RA.. who's East Blue Army Commander is a woman (Bello Betty) & the vice-commander is a woman (Ahiru).
The other thing that people might notice is that the RA isn't intimidating just like the Strawhats. Rather they look like normal people or act and behave like normal people. Which is why many people were disappointed in the RA commanders, because they weren't all big badass character designs, but partially goofy and normalish looking designs. Compared to let's say the red-haired pirates who look like they're all on steroids or the giants of the BM & Beast Pirates. (Well I mean to me the RA commanders are more badass than most the YCs, bar Morley, but that's to each his own.)
So their squads are a lot like when you take a closer look at them. In fact, just before leaving thriller bark, Kuma after seeing how Zoro & Sanji are willing to sacrifice themselves for Luffy, says that he has exceptional friends.. and then says "he is your son after all Dragon". Luffy having friends like Zoro/Sanji/etc under him is expected as he's Dragon's son.. meaning Dragon also has exceptional friends like Luffy. Rather Luffy having exceptional friends is credited to being Dragon's son, like that cements that Luffy is Dragon's son. So it's sort of an indirect comparison between the friends of the father and son.
Destiny:
- The parallel running story of the RA
- Dragon's statement of Luffy and him meeting
- Franky's statement of when they see Kuma next time
- Nico Robin, the light of the revolution, who'll uncover the truth of the Blank Century
This whole connection and story of these two groups is being built towards one point. That point being the Final War. It isn't gonna be the Strawhats with the help of the RA taking down the World Government. It's not the RA with the help of the Strawhats taking down the World Government. It's the Strawhat Pirates AND The Revolutionary Army taking down the world government. Luffy as he evolves and starts to care about the people more and more each Island he goes to. Then with the revelations of the history of the blank century that even made Roger want to start the great pirate era, he will arrive at the same goal as his father... which is taking a stand against the gods of the world, the Celestial Dragons. Neither will succeed without the other. That's why theories like the RA failing and then SHs coming to their rescue don't make sense, because the RA aren't going to go to war without the revelation of the true history (which is the entire point of Nico Robin). There's reason why Dragon said the day they'll meet will eventually come, that day isn't gonna be after they topple the World Government. There's a reason why Kuma was there to give the reality check to the strawhats at Thriller Bark that they weren't ready, there's reason why Kuma gave so much into making sure the strawhats survive, and why he sent them to places where he knew they could grow stronger. Those reasons sure in hell aren't for the Strawhats to come to their rescue because they failed.
So this in my opinion is the destiny of these two great factions who represent the fight for freedom. It's the destiny of the father and the son (and maybe even the grandfather) taking down the King of the World, Imu.
Father and Son
When we look at characters to compare Luffy to the ones who come up in the fandom's mind are usually Roger or Shanks or even at times his grandfather. YET the character who Oda has compared Luffy the most to is none other than his own father. So I'm gonna go over some of the comparisons here as well as some story related stuff regarding the two.
Direct Comparisons of traits:
- Vitality/Will to live: When Ivankov gets reassured about Luffy being Dragon's son, after seeing his will to live
- Ability to attract: others Ivankov says how the apple doesn't fall far from the tree
- Conqueror's Haki: VA Doberman talks about how it shouldn't be a surprise that he has Haki, because he's the Revolutionary's son. Meaning Dragon's showcased usage of Haki to the marines.
- Doing crazy things: Luffy doing the crazy thing with dropping flowers at Marineford & the bells, led Ivankov to again comment on how the apple didn't fall away from the tree.
- That mad face: This one's just for fun. Them boys is maaad son.
The Pirate King:
Now y'all might be thinking where is the Pirate King coming from in here Dragon ain't even a pirate. That's true, he's not. Yet he's had constant comparisons with figures who were the pirate king/could've been the pirate king/ will be the pirate king. This will be more of a Dragon-Pirate King connection section, rather than Luffy since we all know Luffy is connected with the pirate king.
- With Whitebeard: The first name Dragon's name was put alongside was none other than the one who is considered to stand at the top, Whitebeard himself. Ivankov speaking of Dragon in a manner that he poses a similar threat as Whitebeard.
- News of their bloodlines: Dragon's reveal with Luffy and Roger's reveal with Ace is given similar "news" hype panels:
- Sakazuki's comparison: The Pirate King & The Revolutionary, both treated as similar entities.
- The entrance: The man literally enters the series with narrator quote from the Pirate King. Can't really got much bigger of a connection than that.
- Representation of Freedom: Both represent "freedom" for their respective eras.
- Surpassing the Yonko: The Pirate King is considered an individual who has surpassed the 4 emperors (As indicated by the 4 emperors being under 5 bil, while the Pirate King being above 5 bil, and the guy who could've been PK being at 5 bil). At Water 7 introduced to the 4 emperors, but that introduction is overshadowed by the introduction of Dragon. Not only that but Dragon had a higher bounty than Whitebeard, thus being one of the three individuals in the 5 bil+ range.
- Renowned more than Admirals and Yonko: Oda does a subtle thing here to show us the gap between the admirals/yonko and Dragon. First he uses Sanji for the admirals, him being oblivious as to where the admirals were in the marines. Then with Nami being oblivious about where the Yonko like Shanks stood. Then he uses both of them to highlight how wild/dangerous Dragon is, with both of them freaking out, even somebody like Franky was freaking out.
- Sent the CP0 + Marine Fleet after him immediately: After Roger became the Pirate King, the Marines were on his ass 24/7 searching far and wide. While for the 4 emperors that's not really the case, they let them chill, the WG even makes deals with them and what not. Because they're not an imminent threat like how Roger was. Similarly the moment WG found out about Dragon's location, they sent CP0 + Marine Fleet to invade Baltigo, an army that was strong enough to clash with 1 of the emperors and make him retreat.
Now some tend to credit his infamy to just him causing revolutions, but let's face it, simply causing revolutions in countries isn't gonna give you a bounty higher than the 4 emperors, let alone a bounty higher than Whitebeard himself. Neither is it going to make people like Doberman not be surprised at Luffy having CoC. Neither is it going to have the entire world freaking out just as much as they freaked out about Roger's revelation with Ace. Neither is it going to have somebody like Sakazuki hold him in the same disdain as he holds Roger in. Luffy attacked all 3 major World Government sites, yet his bounty didn't reach 500 mil, why? because he wasn't a huge threat individually. Causing mere revolutions in countries of fodder isn't gonna give you a high bounty surpassing the Yonko.. meaning Dragon's done some outrageous shit like Luffy in the years he's been climbing up. Which would make sense as Ivankov compared Luffy pulling that MF stunt with the bells and flowers to Dragon.
(Him having higher bounty than Whitebeard is deduced from him being the World's Worst Criminal, while Whitebeard was alive. Worst Criminal = Highest Bounty, hence it's also translated as World's Most Wanted Man/World's Most Dangerous Criminal.)
But point being, Dragon as an entity stands on par with the Pirate King, they share the same status in terms of danger/threat.
Relationship:
Now in shonen the relationship between a father and son tends to be really emphasized by the mangaka, especially when it comes to the MC & his father. Same is the case in One Piece. Maybe even more so in One Piece. Many consider Dragon to be a terrible father, because the way they look at him tends to be about raising a child while holding their hands, well more of a modern application to a fictional world. But in my opinion that's a terrible way to judge whether he's a good father or not. The reason being One Piece world is completely different from our own. The dangers they face are completely different than our own. Even in our real world, living in a first world country like America & expecting a 3rd world country to follow the same standards of parenthood would get your ridiculed, because they're completely different situations. What Dragon did as his job as a father is do the best for his son, which was leave him with the most capable man there is, Garp. By leaving him with Garp, he can be sure that Luffy will grow up fine and strong enough to survive in this world. Now he still made sure to come visit and check in on him from afar.
We are even shown a panel of him facing the direction of east blue, which one can assume is him missing Luffy, as Luffy was the only thing there. And of course he saw Luffy off before he started his journey as a pirate. Then he's kept track of him ever sense, even expressing the want to eventually meet him. So he does care about Luffy deeply. Luffy on the other hand, didn't even know he had a father, so he doesn't really have any reason to care about Dragon. So I don't think their meeting would be anything like Luffy crying about his father or something like that. If there's any crying it'd probably be at some backstory of his mother or grandmother or some past event. But in general it will more than likely be meeting between two grown men who will respect each other, but more particularly for Dragon, who'll be proud of the man Luffy became on his own.
But the question arises, what exactly would make Luffy care about Dragon? The answer to this for me would be w.e the reason Dragon started the Revolutionary Army. By this time Luffy himself would be developed enough to understand how fucked up the world is, and how many nations were suffering around the world before Dragon came in and started his revolutions. Something along the lines of "Oh yea my pops was doing stuff to better the world for the freedom of millions around the world."
Analysis of their conclusion:
Chapter 100 started the legend of Monkey D. Luffy, along with the introduction of Monkey D. Dragon. Since then one has watched the other grow and grow, and along that path he's actually contributed to his son's growth indirectly and directly.
By the time of the Final War, they'll both stand on an equal pedestal, with Luffy rising to where his father currently stands. With it being The Revolutionary & The Pirate King taking on the World Government. And I believe it'll be in this war, that we will have a "surpassing of the father" moment for Luffy.
As for the conclusion of the final war, I don't believe anything short of an Imu vs Dragon would be a fitting end to his story. Now this would also be a great way to kill Dragon off too, and then have Luffy finish the fight against Imu. Now if Dragon doesn't die then Dragon takes a step back or is injured/out of the game and Luffy finishes the fight. In both scenarios there would be a Dragon + Luffy vs Imu.
But that will be it for this thread, I'm getting a bit tired out now and don't have much in me to continue typing. So hope you guys enjoyed the thread, maybe it changed your mind regarding certain characters or how you view them. Share your opinions below and yea. Much love.
Some taaagz:
@Dark Admiral @Dark Hound @Jackteo @Jack Newgate @style @Zowo @HA001 @Den_Den_Mushi @Admiral Lee Hung @ZenZu @Garp the Fist @Bogard @Red Admiral @Reddot4 @worst pirate @Finalbeta @Bullet @Light D Lamperouge @Patryipe @Enma @Shiroyru @bennbeckman @Cyrus the Cactus @silverfire @Jo_Ndule @nik87 @Usopp Haoshoku Haki @Haoshoku @Jiihad @Cinera @HeroesNZ @Nidai_Kitetsu @Gol D Roger @MonsterZoro @MonsterSanji @Buggy D Clown @Charlotte Horchata @Guan Yu @Zoro D Goat
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