General & Others Next Straw Hat Crew Members and the Grand Fleet

[CoC: Color of Clowns]

People are basing their nakama of the week choices on theories about who might need to go to laugh tale, who might fight Kuzan, and who might have nowhere else to go, and ignoring the only nakama theory that matters, who will inherit Vegapunk's dream.

I really can't overstate how telling that dream is. To find the eternal energy source and use it to power the whole world. That is the most Strawhat dream yet. More than any of the others. One Piece doesn't give dreams like that to non-strawhats. Not even every strawhat has one like it. Some characters have smaller dreams like becoming a master merchant, or vague dreams like "seeing the world", but the grand adventurous dreams with that sense of childlike wonder are reserved for Strawhats and the mentors who pass the dream down to them. I don't believe there is even one example of this not being true. Either Vegapunk is joining the crew or he's the mentor of someone who is. Whoever he mentored that shares his dream is joining the crew after he either retires or dies, and if there is no such person, then Vegapunk himself is joining. That's all there is to it.

Vegapunk is 100% sailing with the crew, in a Law role at the least (I think Bonney will, too).

The more and more I think about it, the more I like the theory where Luffy ends up with the same number of crewmates as Roger.

Fuck it, give me Paulie, Bonney, two/three different Vegapunks. Hell, fucking Rob Lucci, Wano broke me, I'm ready for any shitshow to occur now, I just want it to be amusing.

 

[Rambles]

Vegapunk is 100% sailing with the crew, in a Law role at the least (I think Bonney will, too).

The more and more I think about it, the more I like the theory where Luffy ends up with the same number of crewmates as Roger.

Fuck it, give me Paulie, Bonney, two/three different Vegapunks. Hell, fucking Rob Lucci, Wano broke me, I'm ready for any shitshow to occur now, I just want it to be amusing.

I also think that it is a possibility that someone other than the last crew member could sail with Luffy from Egghead. But I just hope that all on Egghead know that the SHP's ship is not their only way of escape. They have S-Bear as well. They only need to use his DF power and vanish off the island. Then we have the multiple ships of the WG heading to Egghead - another possibility for everyone to get off Egghead: They just have to steal one ship and that's it.

 

[Warback]

Anyone who thinks they can predict the next nakama is kinda being naive, we've been through this rigmarole several times by now, either it's story, role, dream, importance, protagonism in an arc, power level, matchups with BB pirates, we've seen several characters go through parts of this but never one single character stands out or excells.

Yamato had the most streamlined, in your face, i'm nakama material, generic backstory, constantly saying she wants to join material, Carrot had the most in Sunny on board/crew member interaction for 0 story purposes, (hihi i'm chopper's sister), out of the entire manga, both these characters got shafted.

-Vegapunk is highly unlikely to join just by the sheer fact of how bizarre it would be to randomly add a super old man to the crew that's even stressed they want to make science with more funding and has part of his personality wanting to be a celestial dragon

-Stussy has said arguably 4 lines in this entire arc, and we're arguably 60-70% done with Egghead

-All other candidates so far seem to be memes or Wano leftovers which had their stories mostly completed and the strongest candidates which would be Kinemon or Momo are just done basically.

-Law or Kid joining to me is a meme and one of the weirdest things possible to happen

-Old chars like Boa and Smoker haven't been relevant or in contact with the SH for years now, so it's a complete gander.

You won't find a character now that was just chilling with the SH for hundreds of chapters for no plot points like Carrot, you won't find any more in your face i'm totally going to join candidate than Yamato, i mean heck Vivi is shaping up to be one of the most important lore characters in One piece and everyone can still find a milion reasons why it's weird for her to join, namely BB fights and her actual usefullness. You can find a flaw with every single candidate, so if we're going to have a new SH, it's not obvious who it is or honestly when they're joining.

 

[Monkey D Al]

Anyone who thinks they can predict the next nakama is kinda being naive, we've been through this rigmarole several times by now, either it's story, role, dream, importance, protagonism in an arc, power level, matchups with BB pirates, we've seen several characters go through parts of this but never one single character stands out or excells.

Yamato had the most streamlined, in your face, i'm nakama material, generic backstory, constantly saying she wants to join material, Carrot had the most in Sunny on board/crew member interaction for 0 story purposes, (hihi i'm chopper's sister), out of the entire manga, both these characters got shafted.

-Vegapunk is highly unlikely to join just by the sheer fact of how bizarre it would be to randomly add a super old man to the crew that's even stressed they want to make science with more funding and has part of his personality wanting to be a celestial dragon

-Stussy has said arguably 4 lines in this entire arc, and we're arguably 60-70% done with Egghead

-All other candidates so far seem to be memes or Wano leftovers which had their stories mostly completed and the strongest candidates which would be Kinemon or Momo are just done basically.

-Law or Kid joining to me is a meme and one of the weirdest things possible to happen

-Old chars like Boa and Smoker haven't been relevant or in contact with the SH for years now, so it's a complete gander.

You won't find a character now that was just chilling with the SH for hundreds of chapters for no plot points like Carrot, you won't find any more in your face i'm totally going to join candidate than Yamato, i mean heck Vivi is shaping up to be one of the most important lore characters in One piece and everyone can still find a milion reasons why it's weird for her to join, namely BB fights and her actual usefullness. You can find a flaw with every single candidate, so if we're going to have a new SH, it's not obvious who it is or honestly when they're joining.

It’s still fun to root for your favorite characters though. And also a good way to bridge the days between chapters.

 

[Warback]

It’s still fun to root for your favorite characters though. And also a good way to bridge the days between chapters.

Of course it is, this is like football teams, i have fun with it too

Spoiler: "fun"

 

[Rambles]

I just hope that after the last chapter, we will again head back to Egghead with the story-line. It is now becoming interesting.

 

[Monkey D Al]

Of course it is, this is like football teams, i have fun with it too

Spoiler: "fun"

You didn’t have to do me dirty like that
I’m still coping that Yamato didn’t join

 

[CoC: Color of Clowns]

You didn’t have to do me dirty like that
I’m still coping that Yamato didn’t join

Just one S-Bear teleportation and we're back in Wano for Act 4 and Pluton.

Rob Lucci with his history with Robin
Caribou knowing about Pluton from overhearing the Straw Hats
Vegapunk focused on Ancient Technology
Vivi coming from Alabasta, the place that held the Poneglyph detailing Pluton's location

After so many fucking years of teasing we'll actually get to see this damn battleship in Wano.

Pluton's activation requires the borders of Wano to open.

Yamato wanted to become Oden. What was Oden's Dream? The opening of Wano's borders. Once they're open, Yamato will have accomplished her goal of being Oden by helping to open the borders, and she can join the Straw Hats.

 

[Useless_Kidd]

I get that the usage of his devil fruit shortens his life span but to die at the age of 19 is too much. And people don’t stop living after they achieve their dreams. I know the strawhats parallel the roger pirates quite a bit yet are different in other ways. So I believe them staying together and enjoying their life’s as Nakama to be the most logical explanation. Luffy would be bored as fuck in his home town. Zoro probably as well. Sanji can return to Zeff but he fits better with the SH. Robin doesn’t have nowhere to go either, same for brook. Franky as an outlaw can not return either and the same goes for a lot of the strawhats. And as far as I know Oda once said that the last panel of one piece has been drawn already and it is all the strawhats together. I’ve read this once somewhere so please don’t ask me to look it up. I’m not saying it is 100% certain just that I remember reading this somewhere from Oda’s interviews. Maybe someone knows the interview or if this fake information.

I've kind of dropped out of the "Luffy will die young" camp after Bonney aged him up into a possible 70 year old man future that's all weak and shriveled up. I mean obviously its just a "possible future", but I think it may represent his current health trajectory based on his present overuse of powers. He may live long, but he may end up becoming a shriveled prune rather than a buff 78 year old gramps like Garp if he keeps overusing Nika.

Anyone who thinks they can predict the next nakama is kinda being naive, we've been through this rigmarole several times by now, either it's story, role, dream, importance, protagonism in an arc, power level, matchups with BB pirates, we've seen several characters go through parts of this but never one single character stands out or excells.

Yamato had the most streamlined, in your face, i'm nakama material, generic backstory, constantly saying she wants to join material, Carrot had the most in Sunny on board/crew member interaction for 0 story purposes, (hihi i'm chopper's sister), out of the entire manga, both these characters got shafted.

-Vegapunk is highly unlikely to join just by the sheer fact of how bizarre it would be to randomly add a super old man to the crew that's even stressed they want to make science with more funding and has part of his personality wanting to be a celestial dragon

-Stussy has said arguably 4 lines in this entire arc, and we're arguably 60-70% done with Egghead

-All other candidates so far seem to be memes or Wano leftovers which had their stories mostly completed and the strongest candidates which would be Kinemon or Momo are just done basically.

-Law or Kid joining to me is a meme and one of the weirdest things possible to happen

-Old chars like Boa and Smoker haven't been relevant or in contact with the SH for years now, so it's a complete gander.

You won't find a character now that was just chilling with the SH for hundreds of chapters for no plot points like Carrot, you won't find any more in your face i'm totally going to join candidate than Yamato, i mean heck Vivi is shaping up to be one of the most important lore characters in One piece and everyone can still find a milion reasons why it's weird for her to join, namely BB fights and her actual usefullness. You can find a flaw with every single candidate, so if we're going to have a new SH, it's not obvious who it is or honestly when they're joining.

Its shenanigans like this that make me wonder with frustration why Carrot and Yamato even exist. I mean yeah I like them (Yamato more or less) but then what was the point of introducing these two? To hype them up as potential nakama and then have them do absolutely nothing impactful for the story? I mean anything Carrot did on Whole Cake couldve been done by Pedro, and anything Yamato did could've been done by the hundreds of other useless Kozuki clan allies and Scabbards.

I mean I suppose they might become relevant later, but considering how anti-climaticaly they parted ways with the Straw Hats, it just leaves both their fans and those who didn't like them wondering why Oda put them there in the first place if it was just going to leave everyone unfulfilled. Were they just made to sell merchandise? Was that really it?

 

[Sigran101]

The point is not Vivi joining them for the final war. I expect a lot of characters to return and join in what could be considered a real world war. We see countries joining the RA for that purpose. So Alabasta will fight on luffys side during the last fight and so will FI, Wano, dressrosa and many more. The point of @Sigran101 is what will Vivi do afterwards? Continue ruling alabasta as queen. That’s what she will do. Same as momonosuke who will continue rulling as shogun.
The point is only people who are free of responsibilities can join. And Vivi has a country to look after. Right now she can return as she has nowhere to go and the new world is the part of the world where the WG has the least influence because of the yonkou and that is where Luffy is right now.

Post automatically merged: Jun 1, 2023

@Sigran101 let me know if I misunderstood your point. I don’t want to talk on your behalf if I’m wrong.

It's that, but also more. Vivi will clearly spend time with them, but there's more difference between a strawhat and a temporary ally than just that. A temporary ally may sail on the sunny and even be considered part of the group, but a temporary ally doesn't pledge fealty to Luffy. A temporary ally doesn't make it part of their dream to make Luffy the pirate king. A temporary ally doesn't become Luffy's subordinate. A temporary ally plans to leave once their business with the Strawhats is concluded. This is obviously the category Vivi will fall into, just like she did the first time. Anyone who thinks otherwise is lying to themselves.

 

[Sir Yasheen]

Current stocks:
Vivi - Reaching highs she hasn’t seen since alabasta. Only thing getting in her way is oda making her a damsel in distress

Sabo - Climbing high. With Cobras dying wish involved in Sabo going to Luffy and telling him and Vivi what the nature of the D means, he ties up well with the upcoming Blackbeard saga in which he’s already connected to.

Stussy - With so much time outside of egghead her stocks have been slowly decreasing as oda has spent so much time focusing on other characters that her and Vegapunk seem to be a much more minor storyline.

 

[Sigran101]

Current stocks:
Vivi - Reaching highs she hasn’t seen since alabasta. Only thing getting in her way is oda making her a damsel in distress

Sabo - Climbing high. With Cobras dying wish involved in Sabo going to Luffy and telling him and Vivi what the nature of the D means, he ties up well with the upcoming Blackbeard saga in which he’s already connected to.

Stussy - With so much time outside of egghead her stocks have been slowly decreasing as oda has spent so much time focusing on other characters that her and Vegapunk seem to be a much more minor storyline.

Can you explain how Oda spending several chapters on worldwide events in the middle of the arc means that what the narrator described as an event that will shake the world is going to be minor?

 

[Sir Yasheen]

Can you explain how Oda spending several chapters on worldwide events in the middle of the arc means that what the narrator described as an event that will shake the world is going to be minor?

Because odas building a fuck ton of subplots right now I’m worried that the Stussy subplot is only going to be glossed over and the world shaking event seems like it’ll more involve the gorosei.

 

[Etzel Andergast]

Because odas building a fuck ton of subplots right now I’m worried that the Stussy subplot is only going to be glossed over and the world shaking event seems like it’ll more involve the gorosei.

I'm starting to think that several characters will go with the mugiwaras for laugh tale (vegapunk, vivi, buggy, shanks). I dont think vegapunk, one of the most important characters of the story, will be killed in this arc, he will have a key importance for the future events). Vegapunk is interested to discover the truth about the history and the ancient energy, I can see he going with the strawhats to laugh tale. My guess is or stussy will just accompany vegapunk and the strawhats or she will die in the egg head event, sacrificing herself or something like that.

Post automatically merged: Jun 1, 2023

I'm starting to think that several characters will go with the mugiwaras for laugh tale (vegapunk, vivi, buggy, shanks). I dont think vegapunk, one of the most important characters of the story, will be killed in this arc, he will have a key importance for the future events). Vegapunk is interested to discover the truth about the history and the ancient energy, I can see he going with the strawhats to laugh tale. My guess is or stussy will just accompany vegapunk and the strawhats or she will die in the egg head event, sacrificing herself or something like that.

But probably oda wants to give a positive message that clone are also humans, with their feelings and etc. So maybe he wont kill her

 

[Sir Yasheen]

I'm starting to think that several characters will go with the mugiwaras for laugh tale (vegapunk, vivi, buggy, shanks). I dont think vegapunk, one of the most important characters of the story, will be killed in this arc, he will have a key importance for the future events). Vegapunk is interested to discover the truth about the history and the ancient energy, I can see he going with the strawhats to laugh tale. My guess is or stussy will just accompany vegapunk and the strawhats or she will die in the egg head event, sacrificing herself or something like that.

Post automatically merged: Jun 1, 2023

But probably oda wants to give a positive message that clone are also humans, with their feelings and etc. So maybe he wont kill her

Vegapunk is dying here or downloading his consciousness to punk records imo. Everything about Vegapunk is riddled with death flags as he said he’d die himself.

Buggy will get there himself first. He knows the location of three poneglyphs, he doesn’t need to fight strong people for them, Croc and Mihawk are more than enough muscle to take them.

Shanks I don’t think would ever serve under luffy. And he’s too set up in the BB plot.

Stussy I think still has a chance but seeing oda stacking all the plots up, I fear he won’t give Stussys subplot in Egghead the focus it deserves which will greatly hurt her chances.

 

[Etzel Andergast]

Vegapunk is dying here or downloading his consciousness to punk records imo. Everything about Vegapunk is riddled with death flags as he said he’d die himself.

Buggy will get there himself first. He knows the location of three poneglyphs, he doesn’t need to fight strong people for them, Croc and Mihawk are more than enough muscle to take them.

Shanks I don’t think would ever serve under luffy. And he’s too set up in the BB plot.

Stussy I think still has a chance but seeing oda stacking all the plots up, I fear he won’t give Stussys subplot in Egghead the focus it deserves which will greatly hurt her chances.

Yeah, but I have a feeling he will die only in the final war arc. But everything is possible

 

[Sigran101]

Vegapunk is dying here or downloading his consciousness to punk records imo. Everything about Vegapunk is riddled with death flags as he said he’d die himself.

Buggy will get there himself first. He knows the location of three poneglyphs, he doesn’t need to fight strong people for them, Croc and Mihawk are more than enough muscle to take them.

Shanks I don’t think would ever serve under luffy. And he’s too set up in the BB plot.

Stussy I think still has a chance but seeing oda stacking all the plots up, I fear he won’t give Stussys subplot in Egghead the focus it deserves which will greatly hurt her chances.

We're in an intermission right now, but this looks to be the arc where an admiral goes down for the first time, maybe even a gorosei. We have a vegapunk clone traitor, the seraphim, and the Blackbeard pirates just showed up. Have faith, egghead is just getting started.

 

[ShiShiShi]

Vegapunk is 100% sailing with the crew, in a Law role at the least (I think Bonney will, too).

The more and more I think about it, the more I like the theory where Luffy ends up with the same number of crewmates as Roger.

Fuck it, give me Paulie, Bonney, two/three different Vegapunks. Hell, fucking Rob Lucci, Wano broke me, I'm ready for any shitshow to occur now, I just want it to be amusing.

You know how many that would be?!

Maybe EoS, but Oda wouldn‘t be able to dedicate panels to all of them. He struggles enough with that as it is.

It would be interesting though.

 

[Etzel Andergast]

We're in an intermission right now, but this looks to be the arc where an admiral goes down for the first time, maybe even a gorosei. We have a vegapunk clone traitor, the seraphim, and the Blackbeard pirates just showed up. Have faith, egghead is just getting started.

For me the most curious thing is what will made the strawhats stay in egg head until the next day. The egg head incident is one day after the current day.

 

[Useless_Kidd]

Vegapunk is going to be this arc's Vivi. No doubt about that.

You know how many that would be?!

Maybe EoS, but Oda wouldn‘t be able to dedicate panels to all of them. He struggles enough with that as it is.

It would be interesting though.

Oda really hasn't been able to meaningfully depict the Straw Hats together since the timeskip to the point where we might not even see some for months or even years at a time outside of covers. Even their reunion after the timeskip felt so shallow compared to the emotional rollercoaster they felt for each other at the time they were all split up or the bonding before hand. Hell anime filler seems to be the only place you really see all of them bonding together anymore that's not just one panel or 3 panels of them partying or taking a bath.

As much as I wanna see certain characters as nakama, LOda can barely give us enough of the already existing Straw Hats together as it is.