As it seems, the blackbeard arc/saga is going to be a Koby rescue arc.
Almost every single straw hat focused arc has involved Luffy saving said straw hat from the big bad of the arc. Luffy saved zoro from morgans, Sanji from Krieg, Nami from Arlong, etc.
So if this arc is going to be Luffy fighting blackbeard to save Koby, I think there's a decent chance Koby could become a straw hat. Unlike past contenders, such as Yamato and Carrot, Koby is a long running character. Someone who we have known since chapter 2 of the story. A character who is close friends with Luffy, and someone that has a dream which parallels those of the straw hats.
Furthermore, I think that its suspicious that Oda made Koby a member of SWORD. I mean what importance does SWORD actually have? Apart from Drake and Koby, there aren't any other SWORD members who are particularly notable. The one notable thing about SWORD is the fact that they carry out undercover operations.
What if the reason why Koby is a member of SWORD is because Oda intends for him to be an undercover agent on Luffy's crew. He sails with Luffy to raftel, all the while secretly hiding his allegiance to the WG. Then he learns the true history of the world, realizes the WG is evil, changes sides, and becomes Luffy's double agent.
I think this could potentially even parallel what shanks did in the roger pirates. We don't know the full story, but I think the theory that shanks poisoned roger has some credibility, especially with film red hinting that shanks is a CD.
In any case, due to how long Koby has been in the series and the amount of development he has had, in addition to the fact that he is a major character in this up coming saga, which is only just beginning, I think he at the very least deserves some recognition as a potential SH contender. At the very least, he has a better chance than a character like Yamato who was introduced in the third act of wano and didn't even meet the SHs until after the war.
Almost every single straw hat focused arc has involved Luffy saving said straw hat from the big bad of the arc. Luffy saved zoro from morgans, Sanji from Krieg, Nami from Arlong, etc.
So if this arc is going to be Luffy fighting blackbeard to save Koby, I think there's a decent chance Koby could become a straw hat. Unlike past contenders, such as Yamato and Carrot, Koby is a long running character. Someone who we have known since chapter 2 of the story. A character who is close friends with Luffy, and someone that has a dream which parallels those of the straw hats.
Furthermore, I think that its suspicious that Oda made Koby a member of SWORD. I mean what importance does SWORD actually have? Apart from Drake and Koby, there aren't any other SWORD members who are particularly notable. The one notable thing about SWORD is the fact that they carry out undercover operations.
What if the reason why Koby is a member of SWORD is because Oda intends for him to be an undercover agent on Luffy's crew. He sails with Luffy to raftel, all the while secretly hiding his allegiance to the WG. Then he learns the true history of the world, realizes the WG is evil, changes sides, and becomes Luffy's double agent.
I think this could potentially even parallel what shanks did in the roger pirates. We don't know the full story, but I think the theory that shanks poisoned roger has some credibility, especially with film red hinting that shanks is a CD.
In any case, due to how long Koby has been in the series and the amount of development he has had, in addition to the fact that he is a major character in this up coming saga, which is only just beginning, I think he at the very least deserves some recognition as a potential SH contender. At the very least, he has a better chance than a character like Yamato who was introduced in the third act of wano and didn't even meet the SHs until after the war.
