Who will be the Next Strawhat?


  • Total voters
    473
I don't see this as being inevitable, I'm personally hovering at around a 60% chance of this being possible. You've already covered the main weakness with SH Smoker, being that there still hasn't been a "straw that broke the camel's back" moment for him. I believe that Egghead (if he travels there) will be that moment, as it would conflict with his personal justice. Now, is it possible for him to instead join SWORD? Sure, it's possible. Even him remaining a normal marine is possible. I just don't think that those two options are quite as effective in completing his arc as a character.
His chances are marginally greater than zero, and the only reason they aren’t zero is that he isn’t dead. It’s possible, sure, but is it likely? Well certainly not a 60% probability. A straw that breaks the camels back already happened in Punk Hazard because of Vergo which is why he vowed to become much stronger. When we next see him I fully expect that aside from Garp, he could be the most powerful VA and above the level of YCs. That was the point of his conversation with Fujitora - he will pose a genuine threat going forwards.

The reason Oda created SWORD was purely to demarcate the Marines that will make the necessary changes needed during/following the final war arc, whenever that is. These Marines are Marines that disagree with the World Government and are not strictly bound by the same duties of normal Marines. Smoker’s character arc was indicated after Alabasta when he told the top brass to go fuck themselves. He is the Marine that will change how the Marines work.

First off, comparing the Egghead incident with the God Valley incident is a false equivalency. The Egghead incident is a pirate protecting a benign scientist from an entire fleet. God Valley is a Marine and a pirate working together to defeat a malicious pirate. The two events simply don't compare.
You know for a fact I was comparing Garp to Smoker, not God Valley to Egghead. Nice straw man but it’s not working so please try again.

In regards to Garp and Smoker's similarities, I believe they differ in that Garp hasn't been framed in the same manner that Smoker has. Most of the arcs Smoker plays a role in ultimately end in disappointment for him due to his own lack of agency within the Marines. This gives Kuzan's lines in Chp 699 much more meaning. In regards to "Smoker being Luffy's Garp", I feel that there's multiple problems with this, like:

1. Powercreep; tbh, Smoker really hasn't been on Luffy's level ever since Post-TS, being ragdolled by way too many characters (ie Law, Vergo, Doflamingo) to be that "big strong Marine" that Garp represents. Luffy on the other hand has been gaining a billion powerups to cement himself as a top tier in the OPverse. If Luffy and Smoker were to fight, I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being just like Luffy vs Lucci, where he just gets utterly destroyed.

2. Smoker has never been seen as the main "hero of the Marines". If anyone is most likely to fit that role (at least post-war) it's Koby, who has way superior portrayal in this regard.
Of course they have differences, they aren’t the same character. That’s a given. My point is they similarly hold disdain for the World Government and are 2 of the very few Marines to do so and the only two Marines with a love/hate relationship with the old and future Pirate Kings. Their roles are very similar in this sense.

As per above; nobody said Smoker had to be as strong as Luffy. But back in Punk Hazard he pretty much was. All three of himself, Law and Luffy were on a similar level. Then, as I’ve mentioned again and again and again, we had the very important discussion between himself and Fujitora (chapter 793). It’s clear Smoker is headed in the direction of becoming a top tier powerhouse, and as I said before, a key figurehead of the new Marines when the change comes.

Well yeah, like I said Smoker isn’t a clone of Garp. A comparison doesn’t equal a false equivalence. You have a very weird way of interpreting these arguments.

All in all, Smoker simply isn't Garp.
No shit

They're both different characters, each with their own arcs and traits. I won't even begin to go into discussing the other admirals mentioned, as they're clearly different from Smoker.
No shit

You’ve somehow managed to completely miss the point. So let me make it clear to you:
SMOKERS FUTURE ROLE IS WITHIN THE MARINES. IT WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE IN THE MARINES. IT IS NEVER GOING TO BE ON A PIRATE SHIP. HE HAS BEEN CHARACTERISED TO FOLLOW HIS OWN CODE OF JUSTICE LIKE THE ADMIRALS AND WILL THEREFORE LIKELY BE AN ADMIRAL FOLLOWING THE FINAL WAR. NO ADMIRAL OR HIGH RANKING MARINE IS GOING TO JOIN THE GODDAMN STRAWHATS.

Smoker's own arc is him realizing that being a pirate doesn't make one inherently evil, and being a marine doesn't make one inherently good. Realizing that one can achieve justice no matter their label, and joining the SHs for this purpose. Would be a nice parallel to Kuzan joining the BB pirates and would allow for both of them to interact more once the two crews brawl.
This is a lost cause. His own arc is two things:
Trying to capture Luffy. Bringing change to the Marines. He always understood that Pirates were not inherently evil - what do you think his flashback to Roger’s execution was for? That was square one of his character.

It won’t parallel Kuzan joining the Blackbeard pirates because it’s very clear Kuzan has ulterior motives and is not loyal to Teach. It’s been hinted at several times that he is likely informing the Marines about Teach’s actions and very likely the lead figurehead of SWORD.
 
I like to break down the current status for canadates and their fans. Tell me if I'm right for Vivi and Yamato.


Vivi fans are in a good place. They've been following the bread crumbs for nearly 14 years and all of the sudden events are coming together nicely. Personally I'm not a Vivi fan, but her relevent to the story has become clearer. Not sure what she is going to do or where she is going but it seem to be building up to an interesting payoff. Vivi has yet to develop in a meaningful way so it is anyone's guess what she'll do later. Base on some creamy hints however the world will be at war.... What would Vivi's objective be in all of this? The image below represent Vivi fans nicely aging and finding thing interesting over time.



Yamato fans are kinda strange, they actually thought her main characteristic would "character development away" over time in a series where character never change too much. I'm sure Nami will give away money selflessly or ussop won't lie and be strong eventually. They love everything about the character except the main piece... Maybe they were reading Yamato Piece, I heard it is on sale for like first 10 chapters. Yamato seemed to exist out of nowhere. Oda seemed misrable during wano talking about how Hunter X Hunter was free and he wasn't but goes on to say every other arc he wrote how he wanted. Problably an editor push after getting the angry twitter lgbtq community to love her. Seems he didn't plan too much after saying to ignore wano and get started with egghead where the real story of one piece begins. Oda handled this very well, but he likely has a lot of experience with dealing with people twice his height, overly excited to meet him, make demands upon meeting him, hasn't washed in 7 days, wants to be someone they read about in a book, never lived in the country they love. The image below represent them nicely.... Trying at full force not to be mad/angry.
Salty carrot fan :kobeha:
 
I like to break down the current status for canadates and their fans. Tell me if I'm right for Vivi and Yamato.


Vivi fans are in a good place. They've been following the bread crumbs for nearly 14 years and all of the sudden events are coming together nicely. Personally I'm not a Vivi fan, but her relevent to the story has become clearer. Not sure what she is going to do or where she is going but it seem to be building up to an interesting payoff. Vivi has yet to develop in a meaningful way so it is anyone's guess what she'll do later. Base on some creamy hints however the world will be at war.... What would Vivi's objective be in all of this? The image below represent Vivi fans nicely aging and finding thing interesting over time.



Yamato fans are kinda strange, they actually thought her main characteristic would "character development away" over time in a series where character never change too much. I'm sure Nami will give away money selflessly or ussop won't lie and be strong eventually. They love everything about the character except the main piece... Maybe they were reading Yamato Piece, I heard it is on sale for like first 10 chapters. Yamato seemed to exist out of nowhere. Oda seemed misrable during wano talking about how Hunter X Hunter was free and he wasn't but goes on to say every other arc he wrote how he wanted. Problably an editor push after getting the angry twitter lgbtq community to love her. Seems he didn't plan too much after saying to ignore wano and get started with egghead where the real story of one piece begins. Oda handled this very well, but he likely has a lot of experience with dealing with people twice his height, overly excited to meet him, make demands upon meeting him, hasn't washed in 7 days, wants to be someone they read about in a book, never lived in the country they love. The image below represent them nicely.... Trying at full force not to be mad/angry.

:kobeha::kobeha:
 
His chances are marginally greater than zero, and the only reason they aren’t zero is that he isn’t dead. It’s possible, sure, but is it likely? Well certainly not a 60% probability. A straw that breaks the camels back already happened in Punk Hazard because of Vergo which is why he vowed to become much stronger. When we next see him I fully expect that aside from Garp, he could be the most powerful VA and above the level of YCs. That was the point of his conversation with Fujitora - he will pose a genuine threat going forwards.

The reason Oda created SWORD was purely to demarcate the Marines that will make the necessary changes needed during/following the final war arc, whenever that is. These Marines are Marines that disagree with the World Government and are not strictly bound by the same duties of normal Marines. Smoker’s character arc was indicated after Alabasta when he told the top brass to go fuck themselves. He is the Marine that will change how the Marines work.


You know for a fact I was comparing Garp to Smoker, not God Valley to Egghead. Nice straw man but it’s not working so please try again.


Of course they have differences, they aren’t the same character. That’s a given. My point is they similarly hold disdain for the World Government and are 2 of the very few Marines to do so and the only two Marines with a love/hate relationship with the old and future Pirate Kings. Their roles are very similar in this sense.

As per above; nobody said Smoker had to be as strong as Luffy. But back in Punk Hazard he pretty much was. All three of himself, Law and Luffy were on a similar level. Then, as I’ve mentioned again and again and again, we had the very important discussion between himself and Fujitora (chapter 793). It’s clear Smoker is headed in the direction of becoming a top tier powerhouse, and as I said before, a key figurehead of the new Marines when the change comes.

Well yeah, like I said Smoker isn’t a clone of Garp. A comparison doesn’t equal a false equivalence. You have a very weird way of interpreting these arguments.


No shit


No shit

You’ve somehow managed to completely miss the point. So let me make it clear to you:
SMOKERS FUTURE ROLE IS WITHIN THE MARINES. IT WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE IN THE MARINES. IT IS NEVER GOING TO BE ON A PIRATE SHIP. HE HAS BEEN CHARACTERISED TO FOLLOW HIS OWN CODE OF JUSTICE LIKE THE ADMIRALS AND WILL THEREFORE LIKELY BE AN ADMIRAL FOLLOWING THE FINAL WAR. NO ADMIRAL OR HIGH RANKING MARINE IS GOING TO JOIN THE GODDAMN STRAWHATS.


This is a lost cause. His own arc is two things:
Trying to capture Luffy. Bringing change to the Marines. He always understood that Pirates were not inherently evil - what do you think his flashback to Roger’s execution was for? That was square one of his character.

It won’t parallel Kuzan joining the Blackbeard pirates because it’s very clear Kuzan has ulterior motives and is not loyal to Teach. It’s been hinted at several times that he is likely informing the Marines about Teach’s actions and very likely the lead figurehead of SWORD.
You refer to his talk with Fujitora.....yet all I see is him complaining about his rank, which is the same thing he's been clamoring for since pre-ts. Until I see it for myself, Smoker's about as much of a threat as Lucci currently is powerwise. Luffy's main marine opponent from here on out is Akainu

SWORD would be a decent alternative to Smoker leaving;, however I have issues with that. Kuzan's conversation with him post Punk Hazard is hinting at something beyond simply being a Marine. You haven't actually provided me anything of value to contradict that beyond just repeating the same old "HE"S GONNA BE A MARINE NO MATTER WHAT" shtick.

The same conversation strongly suggests that Kuzan isn't apart of SWORD, either; if that were true, that would mean he'd have LIED to Smoker (which he has no reason to). No longer being affiliated with the Marines is completely different from being apart of SWORD , which is simply a group Marines that have been knocked off the official records.

The reason why I went at lengths to separate Smoker with other similarly minded Marines (ie Fujitora) is:
1. different character arc
2. different framing

Obviously Garp would never join Roger's crew to become a pirate post-God Valley, which is why it confused me why you'd think that's equivalent with my hypothetical of Smoker joining post-Egghead. I misworded myself in that instance however, so I apologize.. That's the main reason why I went at length explaining the differences between Garp and the other Marines I mentioned.

If you're going to refer to Smoker as being "Luffy's Garp", then that would require the two having similar strength, something which certainly isn't true by Punk Hazard. By then, Luffy was reserving a little something called Gear 4 which he used to smack around the same Warlord that embarrassed Smoker an arc before. Smoker may have similarities in that regard to Garp during one half of the series, but there isn't a parallel if it doesn't apply by the latter half.

Then, there's Smoker's arc. It goes way beyond just capturing Luffy, it involves him broadening his view on pirates and pursuing his own justice regardless of labels. He hasn't completed this arc, based on multiple lines throughout the seriies.

I just find it weird how you act as if I don't comprehend you, when I think it's the other way around. It certainly doesn't make it any better when I find your tone particularly annoying.
 
I'd like it if Smoker and the rest of the G5 marines defected and played some role as a group.
Post automatically merged:

Maybe Smoker and the G5 marines help the Straw Hats in some capacity at Egghead and then they get sent to Impel Down, where Smoker is exposed to the furthest depths of cruelty that the WG facilitates (which of course the marines are responsible for;they arrest people and sent them there after all). It would also easily allow for him to interact with Doffy again (if a breakout happens).
 
Last edited:
I'd rather talk about smoker. He is not at egghead, not at blackbeard's island. Where the hell is he? This is certainly better than talking about a character popular on twitter with murderous angry fans when they don't get what they want. The thought of poor oda getting stabs by a weeboo because arabs won't call yamato a man is crazy.
 
I'd rather talk about smoker. He is not at egghead, not at blackbeard's island. Where the hell is he? This is certainly better than talking about a character popular on twitter with murderous angry fans when they don't get what they want. The thought of poor oda getting stabs by a weeboo because arabs won't call yamato a man is crazy.
dude stop
 
I'd rather talk about smoker. He is not at egghead, not at blackbeard's island. Where the hell is he? This is certainly better than talking about a character popular on twitter with murderous angry fans when they don't get what they want. The thought of poor oda getting stabs by a weeboo because arabs won't call yamato a man is crazy.
I think he's with the fleet going to Egghead, considering how obsessed he is with capturing Luffy
 
not trying to sound rude just lazy

Ninja (not really a role / nami because kunoichi even though that went nowhere, usopp, sanji, brook, robin, idfk)
Lookout (usopp, sanji, sleepy zoro, binoculars)
Ship Guard (zoro)
Night Watchman (zoro)
Explorer (robin, usopp, jimbei, everybody basically kinda but them especially)
Apprentice (idfk kinda left them all behind at wano lol)
Cabin Boy/Girl (basically the above but not necessary as an actual position too lazy to say this less messily)
Scientist (franky, weather nami, cooking science godhead sanjino, goofy inventor god usopp)
Surgeon (i am a surgeon dr chopper)
Master-at-Arms (for the straw hats? jimbei and nami work anyways)
Boatswain (jimbei, nami, anybody, whatever)
Sailmaker (never been relevant)
Powder Monkey (not necessary)
Diplomat (nami and jimbei)
Post automatically merged:

they dont NEED any position. if anybody else joins they might not even have a dedicated occupational role.
Post automatically merged:

in terms of what lacks a counterpart in other crews the red hair pirates have an apprentice and the blackbeard pirates have a kuzan
Post automatically merged:

maybe we can get akainu
Last arc in chapter 979 Jinbe mentioned that "[...] the key will be having someone who can calmly observe the state of the battle." Alone this is a major hint towards the last position on the Sunny.
Post automatically merged:

Exactly. There isn't a realistic option right now so I'm inclined to believe nobody else joins.
Bonney and Vivi, the way things are going have a small chance. But likely only one of them.
I do like how you evaluate chances and hints someone puts on the table in an objective manner.
Post automatically merged:

:carrocorn:

The break is making this thread alive again :risiup:
Awkward, right? Usually, during break week you can actually see tumbleweeds been blown along here.
 
Last edited:
Top