Speculations I think evolution in beliefs created a pseudo God hierarchy

[Impact]

Okay, sooo

This is going to be a weird one.

I'm suggesting here that originally agan Gods had existed. These would be things like the God of Thunder, the God of the Forest, the God of the Sea, and so on. However, as beliefs shifted and newer beliefs were created, so too were specific deities.

The shift from polytheism to monotheism may have created a shift from many Gods to a One True God theme at some point. The One True God theme trumps the pagan Gods theme. If Imu's powers were based on something like the Christian Devil, then it couldn't have existed until a group of people started to believe in Christianity.

Any thoughts? We have seen some crosses and Bibles in this story. Has this never crossed anyone's mind before?

Actually, I also think certain Primordial Gods existed. A Darkness Man, who is associated with Nothingness, could very easily be considered the same thing as the first God in Ancient Greek mythos. Chaos (Primordial Void).

We know, for a fact, that beliefs created devil fruits. They are almost certain to involve these kinds of beliefs as well, and they can be related to specific timeframes too.

I understand perfectly well what this implies, it means the story could be heavily influenced by religious beliefs. I'm not a huge fan of that possibility either, but it is a possibility nonetheless and I aim to explore it.

 

[K!NG HARA$H!MA]

Go to sleep

 

[Loki D. Terror]

Okay, sooo

This is going to be a weird one.

I'm suggesting here that originally pagan Gods had existed. These would be things like the God of Thunder, the God of the Forest, the God of the Sea, and so on. However, as beliefs shifted and newer beliefs were created, so too were specific deities.

The shift from polytheism to monotheism may have created a shift from many Gods to a One True God theme at some point. The One True God theme trumps the Pagan Gods theme. If Imu's powers were based on something like the Christian Devil, then it couldn't have existed until a group of people started to believe in Christianity.

Any thoughts? We have seen some crosses and Bibles in this story. Has this never crossed anyone's mind before?

Actually, I also think certain Primordial Gods existed. A Darkness Man, who is associated with Nothingness, could very easily be considered the same thing as the first God in Ancient Greek mythos. Chaos (Primordial Void).

We know, for a fact, that beliefs created devil fruits. They are almost certain to involve these kinds of beliefs as well, and they can be related to specific timeframes too.

I understand perfectly well what this implies, it means the story could be heavily influenced by religious beliefs. I'm not a huge fan of that possibility either, but it is a possibility nonetheless and I aim to explore it.

https://worstgen.alwaysdata.net/forum/threads/are-earth-god-forest-god-and-storm-god-real.73384/

 

[OykotsTreasure]

It's a interesting idea, but I don't think that's what's happening here.

Keep in mind, the Celestial Dragons are basically seen as the "gods" of this world. So, this World basically still has a polytheistic religion. It's just based on treating the highest royals like gods. Sort of like the pharaohs of Egypt, or the divine right of kings. They just replaced one pantheon of "gods" with another one.

Plus, when you think about it, other than the Celestial Dragons, this World is kind of oddly agnostic. We've seen churches here and there, but they've been all but abandoned. Kuma's Bible seems to be the last remains of some ancient religion that worshiped at least Nika, if not the other 3 Gods. I guess it kind of reflects modern Japan? Where there are festivals and ceremonies, but "organized religion" like in the West isn't as popular of a thing. Japan is more "spiritual" than "religious", broadly speaking. There seem to be some remnants of some sort of ancient religion in the One Piece World. But, for the most part, people just don't seem to think about it too much in this World.

But, in this World, you would have thought they would make Imu their "One God", wouldn't you? It seems like it'd be trivially easy to start a state-enforced and sponsored religion. Positioning Imu as the One True God or the Chosen One who is prophesized to appear or reappear one day and lead their flock to glory. Imu could still stay hidden in the shadows, but plant the seeds of taking direct control of the World at a later date, once their plan is complete and they gain ultimate power. But...the World Government never did that. Which strikes me as a bit strange, personally. It's stuff like that which makes me think Imu really does just want to be left alone. There's so many ways Imu could have made things worse, but never did.

And stuff like the Devil Fruits and other powers seem to be positioned more like ancient technology than actual "magic" per se. Vegapunk is able to replicate most of that stuff. So, while a lot of that stuff has gained a sort of "mystical aura" about it over the centuries, I don't know if it really started out that way. People started treating it like magic, because they didn't understand the technology anymore. At least in my view.

One Piece is definitely influenced by various religions. There's enough references here and there if you look. But, I don't think this overarching story is necessarily about the move from a polytheistic system to a monotheistic one. Even stuff like the Abyss Marks is probably a sort of side-effect of the same process that creates Devil Fruits. I think it probably has more to do with stuff like the "Demon Kings" like Tot Musica than the literal Christian Devil. Collections of negative emotions given life. Much like how dreams given life turn into Devil Fruits.

But, we know so little about the religions of this World. I suppose it's something Oda could dive into more, as we get farther into the Final Saga. Maybe with Mihawk, since with all his "crosses" he seems to be the most likely candidate to focus on that subject with. But, I tend to doubt it, since this is a Shonen manga, and they might want to stay away from going too deep into that sensitive subject. But, who knows?

 

[Impact]

If ANY of the Gods actually existed, then this story is taking place in a magical universe, and science takes a backseat to magic. It *should* be the case that none of them were real. This implies the Ancient Kingdom existed in the 1st world.

Now, I ask you, how would they also exist in the 2nd world? Something *restored* that kingdom. If you've seen my One Piece is an Eternal Kingdom theory, then you will know I'm suggesting the One Piece did it.

To discuss the Primordial Gods more, those things existed as fundamental elements of the universe. For example, Darkness and Nothingness have always existed. Nobody needs to dream them up because they were already there. Things like gas, rain, magma, are all derivative of that.

Where it concerns Mihawk or Kuma, their belief may be rooted in an ancient culture. Yes. I am concerned that ancient cultures will show these shifts in cultural beliefs.

One telling thing about this is that the people on Skypeia stated that they called a person "God" but it really just indicated who the leader of their nation was. Enel took this name afterward.

 

[Loki D. Terror]

I am not sure earth god or storm gods are real beings. For example sea rise was caused by weapon Uranus and not by any god.

Imu most likely ate god DF like Luffy and represents one of the gods. But he isn't a literal god.

 

[Impact]

I am not sure earth god or storm gods are real beings. For example sea rise was caused by weapon Uranus and not by any god.

Imu most likely ate god DF like Luffy and represents one of the gods. But he isn't a literal god.

Ahh but the names of the weapons carry the names of Gods, and sometimes people gave their leader the God title. This may have even been a common theme in ancient cultures.

 

[Loki D. Terror]

Ahh but the names of the weapons carry the names of Gods, and sometimes people gave their leader the God title.

Well Uranus is not a god or real being but a man made weapon. Franky can built Pluton if he wants to for example.

 

[Impact]

Well Uranus is not a god or real being but a man made weapon. Franky can built Pluton if he wants to for example.

But what if the way they work is based on the Gods actual abilities and it was just a way to maintain their power after they had passed on. This is actually certainly true with Poseidon. The other weapons aren't explored enough yet, I'm guessing that it's possible they do the same thing, but in a different way.

Just to speak on Shirahoshi for a moment, she works based on operation cycles. Her power only manifests every few hundred years. If the other two weapons are also operating on operation cycles, they may have similar requirements.

Speculation. Take anything I say here with a grain of salt. I'm making some wild claims here (I'm okay with that 👍).