Who will be the next Strawhat


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I won’t lie, I was also week-to-week and not fully sold on Franky at the time until the Gates of Justice when he stood with the crew...but a lot of folks were really pulling for the rope guy, I see a lot of parallels between the futility of their cause and that of Carrot4Nakama.
I caught when straw hats where fishman island and while they were entering punk hazard in manga, I have heard of this theory people where in water 7 and enies lobby
 
She's different enough from Nami, that she's not really Nami with Horns.


God, was this massive.
Keep in mind that the guy you're arguing with believed that Jinbei would die even before WCI started and held that same belief till Jinbei reappearance in Wano.

No CAP, to all Carrot fans if she saves Luffy, she's the chosen one and i'm all in for Carrot4Nakama. I wouldn't give a damn then because i know Oda would give her legit characterisation instead of this current crappy plushy.
 
Keep in mind that the guy you're arguing with believed that Jinbei would die even before WCI started and held that same belief till Jinbei reappearance in Wano.

No CAP, to all Carrot fans if she saves Luffy, she's the chosen one and i'm all in for Carrot4Nakama. I wouldn't give a damn then because i know Oda would give her legit characterisation instead of this current crappy plushy.
Really?!?
 
Absolutely, Oda has all my trust, if Carrot saves Luffy that would mean he would actually begin to put real focus on her as a main character which she hasn't got in the last 600 chapters, but that won't happen so either way i'm fine.

I consider this thread to be the most important one on this forum. One Piece world building is amazing however the best thing about One Piece for me is the Strawhats themselves and their flashback, it's the foundation of Oda's greatness. Whoever the next Nakama is he will do that character justice on the same level as the others. That's not what he has done with Carrot, far from it.

When you look at Luffy and Shanks, Zoro and Kuina, Nami and Bellemere, Usopp and Kaya, his mother and yet to meet father, Sanji and Zeff plus his Vinsmokes past, Chopper and Hiluluk, Robin with Saul,Olivia and doctor clover, Franky and Tom, Iceberg, Brook and Laboon, Jinbei and Fisher Tiger, Queen Otohime. Then you put their relation in perspective with the bullshit mentor thing on Carrot and Pedro, it's pure profanity to Oda's work and talent. Carrot has never been built up as a Strawhat and she never will.
 

Jew D. Boy

I Can Go Lower
I caught when straw hats where fishman island and while they were entering punk hazard in manga, I have heard of this theory people where in water 7 and enies lobby
I’m telling you, there were some real Paulie stans back in the day...there were also a lot of folks who thought Brook joining in Thriller Bark would be too obvious. I know there are big brains in here who want there to be some deeper, complex meaning in the machinations of an author writing a series meant for prepubescent boys, but sometimes, a cigar is just a fuckin’ cigar :kayneshrug:
 

Cinera

𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐭
3. Design, same could be said of Vivi who also bore some striking similarities to namis face. However, I also think it’s possible that this is not Yamato’s true face. We don’t really know who Yamato is yet for all we know they have a true face beyond the one we’re being shown (similar to Gyukimaru)
Nah, Yamato's looks are legitimate. They've already begun making merchandise about her.


She's a red herring. An increasingly apparent one at that.

Oda knows people are looking for new straw hats. His editors confirm they check fan theories and sites. They know what sort of things we're looking for, and so it's almost like Oda intentionally showed all of them for Yamao so that people immediately jumped at her.

Within her very first chapters, we learn that she's "inherited Oden's will". Treats Oden as if he was her mentor. States her dream. States she had a sad backstory. etc. It's all extremely deliberate, culminating in Oda having Yamao straight-up talking about her joining the crew. He very much wants you to consider the idea of her joining.

But it just comes off as extremely unnatural and rehearsed. When you actually start looking into all of these "nakama points" you find all the flaws, such as her non-existent mentor relationship. The fact that her dream doesn't require her specifically to join the straw hat crew. The fact that all the scabbards inherited more of Oden's will and had a closer bond to him than she did. Her candidacy just crumbles.
I straight up don't agree with the Red Herring argument. I think it's extremely contrived as a hypothesis.

If I was to present a counterargument:

Yamato is a character that was designed to become Luffy's crewmate. If Oda did not intend for Yamato to become a nakama, then many components of her character are outright superfluous — they can be discarded without affecting her ability to fulfil whatever other role Oda had designed for her post Wano (presumably protecting Momonosuke or Wano itself).

  1. Her imprisonment
    • Yamato has been confined to the island of Onigashima for 20 years and unable to set foot outside it.
    • This underpins her interactions with two major figures in her life: Ace and Luffy.
  2. Her dream
    • Yamato's dream is to see the world. This requires her to leave Onigashima. Luffy offers her an avenue to realise this dream.
  3. Her development with Luffy
    • She asked Luffy to let her aboard his ship.
    • Luffy accepted her offer of assistance.
    • He removed the shackles that were physically restraining her.
    • Luffy gradually grew to trust her more and even entrusted Momonosuke with her.
    • She grew to care about Luffy and regularly asked Momonosuke how he was holding up on the Rooftop.
  4. Her backstory with Ace
    • Ace tried to recruit her since they were such good friends.
    • Ace released the shackles Kaido had placed on her heart.
    • Ace promised to meet up with her again, but he died before he could fulfil his promise.
  5. Ace informing her about Luffy
    • After Ace's death, she began waiting for Luffy — and Luffy in particular, not any other pirate — to show up on Onigashima.
    • She believes that Momonosuke bringing Luffy to Wano is fate.

The above five components of Yamato's character are not needed if Yamato is not to leave Wano aboard Luffy's ship. If Oda intended for Yamato to become a guardian to Momonosuke and/or Wano he could have simply made her the rebellious daughter of Kaido who idolised Oden.

To give Yamato the dream of seeing the world only to later confine her to Wano after she was imprisoned since childhood would be excessively cruel. Had Oda intended for Yamato to become a guardian to Momo and Wano, he wouldn't have made her a prisoner that longed to be free.


So I guess my questions would be:
  1. What do you think her role would be at the end of Wano?
  2. Why is the majority of her character superfluous to her intended role after Wano ends


1. Have the raid fail and reset. Then have Yamao immediately started interacting with straw hats. Her late introduction is a killer blow but what's making matters worse is that Oda's kept her almost exclusively to babysitting Momo. He should have her run into some of the crew and find some excuse to have them bond. Then give her a huge moment with Luffy when he returns to face Kaido for the final time.
Nah. Next nakama only need development with Luffy, and Yamato has that in spades:
As for her interactions with Luffy:
  • She rescued Luffy from Ulti:
  • She fought Luffy until he agreed to listen to her:


  • She shared her life story with Luffy:
  • She told Luffy she wanted to fight on his side:
  • She asked Luffy to let her on board his ship:
  • Luffy freed her from her prison of 20 years:


  • She and Luffy listened to Kaido's New Onigashima announcement together




  • Luffy entrusted her to protect Momonosuke:

  • Luffy gave her a pet nickname:
  • She actually bonded with Luffy. She was shown to be worried about him as the battle proceeded:



Yamato's entire relationship with Ace (something Oda covered over the course of 3 chapters) is just further development with Luffy by proxy.

I'm running into the image limits, so here's an album that has all their scenes together:

To summarise:
  • Yamato fought with Ace
    • He commented that she was too strong to not be the captain
    • The result of the battle was a stalemate
  • They bonded over their shared resentment for their biological parents.
  • Ace helped her to break free of the Shackles Kaido had placed on her heart.
  • They shared drinks.
  • They became close friends.
  • Ace offered her to go to sea with him, but she had to decline because of the prison shackles.
  • Ace told her about Luffy.
  • She made Ace's Vivre Card.
  • They promised to meet up again.
  • She later learned of Ace's death and of how Luffy became a Great Pirate.
  • She believes that it was fate that brought Luffy to Onigashima.

Now for how Yamato's relationship with Luffy ties into all of this:
  • Since Ace's death, she has been waiting for Luffy for two years.
  • She fought Luffy.
    • She told Luffy that he reminds her of Ace.
  • She asked Luffy to let her aboard his ship.
    • She mentioned her meeting Ace to Luffy and how she couldn't sail with Ace because of her shackles.
  • Luffy offered to remove the shackles Kaido had placed on her.
    • Ace removed the shackles Kaido placed on her heart.
    • Luffy removed the shackles Kaido placed on her body.


2. Have Yamao's Mum be her real mentor. Perhaps she's forgotten her out of trauma or as a result of Kaido's beatings, or whatever. But give her an actual mentor. It could explain why she's not a piece of shit like Kaido but instead has mental issues.
Nah, her mentor-like figure is Kozuki Oden:
  • Oden is the reason she wants to go out to sea and see the outside world.
  • Oden is the reason she wanted to join Luffy and open up Wano.
  • Oden's journal is her Bible.
  • Oden is the reason that she was willing to lay down her life for Momonosuke.
  • Oden is the reason she refused to compromise on protecting both Momonosuke and Shinobu — Kozuki Oden would never do that.

Oden is the mentor-like figure. You just think he's ineligible because Yamato's interactions with him were only posthumous. Yamato became intimately familiar with his journal and made it her battle. That's its own form of a conversation.

Kozuki Oden does not know Yamato, but Yamato knows all about him and he profoundly impacted her life.


3. Have Kaido scar her drawing the battle. Change up her hairstyle into something unique.
Nah, she's different enough from Nami and fine as she is:
  • She's more than twice Nami's height.
  • She has horns.
  • She has a very different hairstyle:
    • Her hair becomes darker halfway down
  • She has a very different fashion sense from Nami.
  • She is often accompanied by her Kanabo.
  • She has a very different personality.


The one thing however that would instantly get me to believe she's joining would be if she had a Green Room moment. A moment where she's revealed to be extremely skilled in a certain profession or role with its relevance and usefulness to the crew being explicitly highlighted.
Well, she's a combatant. She can show her prowess in that capacity on the Rooftop vs Kaido.
 
I won’t lie, I was also week-to-week and not fully sold on Franky at the time until the Gates of Justice when he stood with the crew...but a lot of folks were really pulling for the rope guy, I see a lot of parallels between the futility of their cause and that of Carrot4Nakama.
I was sold on Franky the moment he was introduced. He was just unique from the get go.

Now I'd say Paulie has more appeal as character then Carrot does. He had an above average appearance, personality was there and you actually felt bad for him during the arc
 

Jew D. Boy

I Can Go Lower
I was sold on Franky the moment he was introduced. He was just unique from the get go.

Now I'd say Paulie has more appeal as character then Carrot does. He had an above average appearance, personality was there and you actually felt bad for him during the arc
Don’t get me wrong, I loved him as a character and might be one of the most visible of his stans in this fandom...but Paulie showed up first and had a bit of smoke despite not getting nearly as much development as a cooler character that rose to prominence after him, who does that sound like in this situation??
 
Paulie had way more going for him than Carrot has ever had. Paulie was someone that was deliberately used as a red herring, I’ve never felt that Carrot was ever being written as anything more than an ally to the crew.



That conversation there was the biggest piece of Strawhat bait the series has ever had.

Although if Yamato doesn’t become a Strawhat then that probably would take Paulie’s crown.
 

Cinera

𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐭
Keep in mind that the guy you're arguing with believed that Jinbei would die even before WCI started and held that same belief till Jinbei reappearance in Wano.
Being wrong is not a crime. @dizzy2341 has been arguing in good faith and has a well-reasoned opinion; those are my only criteria for discourse.

No CAP, to all Carrot fans if she saves Luffy, she's the chosen one and i'm all in for Carrot4Nakama. I wouldn't give a damn then because i know Oda would give her legit characterisation instead of this current crappy plushy.
Yeah, I currently give Carrot's chances around 30% I think. If Carrot saves Luffy and gets development with him, I'd revise that upwards significantly.

I spent a while thinking about wut Yamato would do in the crew if she joined but its actually pretty obvious lol

Like Oden before her shes gonna chronicle their journey.
I'm hoping she replaces Zoro as the "combatant" so that he can become the vice-captain/firstmate.
 

Jew D. Boy

I Can Go Lower
Paulie had way more going for him than Carrot has ever had. Paulie was someone that was deliberately used as a red herring, I’ve never felt that Carrot was ever being written as anything more than an ally to the crew.



That conversation there was the biggest piece of Strawhat bait the series has ever had.

Although if Yamato doesn’t become a Strawhat then that probably would take Paulie’s crown.
Yeah, this is definitely a more meaningful interaction than Luffy’s ever had with Carrot, and it was with a guy who never really had a snowball’s chance in Hell. Didn’t stop a ton of people from blowing up his spot until the end of the arc...
 
  1. Her imprisonment
    • Yamato has been confined to the island of Onigashima for 20 years and unable to set foot outside it.
    • This underpins her interactions with two major figures in her life: Ace and Luffy.
  2. Her dream
    • Yamato's dream is to see the world. This requires her to leave Onigashima. Luffy offers her an avenue to realise this dream.
  3. Her development with Luffy
    • She asked Luffy to let her aboard his ship.
    • Luffy accepted her offer of assistance.
    • He removed the shackles that were physically restraining her.
    • Luffy gradually grew to trust her more and even entrusted Momonosuke with her.
    • She grew to care about Luffy and regularly asked Momonosuke how he was holding up on the Rooftop.
  4. Her backstory with Ace
    • Ace tried to recruit her since they were such good friends.
    • Ace released the shackles Kaido had placed on her heart.
    • Ace promised to meet up with her again, but he died before he could fulfil his promise.
  5. Ace informing her about Luffy
    • After Ace's death, she began waiting for Luffy — and Luffy in particular, not any other pirate — to show up on Onigashima.
    • She believes that Momonosuke bringing Luffy to Wano is fate.
1. Her imprisonment is a reason for explaining how she hasn't already left
2. She does not need to be a straw hat to do this
3. Her development with Luffy is dwarfed by her development with Momo
4. Luffy fulfils Ace's promise by meeting her again now
5. She only cared about Luffy because of his relationship to Ace. No straw hat bond with Luffy is like this
To give Yamato the dream of seeing the world only to later confine her to Wano after she was imprisoned since childhood would be excessively cruel. Had Oda intended for Yamato to become a guardian to Momo and Wano, he wouldn't have made her a prisoner that longed to be free.
Yamao can do both simultaneously. Guard Momo and sail the seas.
So I guess my questions would be:
  1. What do you think her role would be at the end of Wano?
  2. Why is the majority of her character superfluous to her intended role after Wano ends
1. I've made a detailed post on it. https://worstgen.alwaysdata.net/for...ew-members-and-the-grand-fleet.79/post-988987
2. It's not. The majority of her character is Kozuki and Momo centric. She was introduced in chapter 983, she joined Momo in 989 and has been with him all the way up until 1012. 80% of her time since she was introduced she has been spent babysitting Momo.
Nah. Next nakama only need development with Luffy, and Yamato has that in spades:
I disagree. The crew is more than just Luffy. They're a unit and for all the recent members Oda's been sure to give the future straw hat s couple of straw hats to bond with before they join. Yamao would needs some relationships with other straw hats at this stage.
Franky had Usopp and Robin.
Brook had Franky and Zoro.
Jinbe had Nami and Sanji

Meanwhile basically no one in the crew has even met her. Out of those that do neither Franky nor Luffy even remember her actual name.
Oden is the mentor-like figure. You just think he's ineligible because Yamato's interactions with him were only posthumous. Yamato became intimately familiar with his journal and made it her battle. That's its own form of a conversation.

Kozuki Oden does not know Yamato, but Yamato knows all about him and he profoundly impacted her life.
Oden profoundly impacted a lot of people's lives. Including people who actually knew him, were loved by him and are now reading his journal.

Q.
Does Yamao have the the most meaningful bond with Oden in this arc alone, yes or no?

With every single other straw hat they are the closest to their mentor.

Luffy is Shanks' no.1
Bellamere loves Nami and Nojiko both more than anything
No one was more important to Tom than Franky and Iceburg
etc.

Oden literally had a whole gang of followers who he adored and passed his will onto. All 11 of them. And Yamao is not among them. Instead she read his journal that Shinobu is now also reading, making the tiny unique thing she still had not even solely hers anymore.
Nah, she's different enough from Nami and fine as she is:
If she was fine as she is then she wouldn't have the nickname "Oni-Nami". If it was just me saying this then whatever, but even people that want Yamao to join the crew acknowledge the problematic similarities with her design.
Well, she's a combatant. She can show her prowess in that capacity on the Rooftop vs Kaido.
Doesn't count.

There's a specific term for people who fire from long distances. Likewise, there's a specific term for people who fight with swords. The reason these types of fighters have a specific name for their fighting styles is because they're actual positions. Pirate crews could have duels between which ship has the best sniper. Or who has the best swordsman.

Yamao's combat style just doesn't fit IMO.
Being wrong is not a crime. @dizzy2341 has been arguing in good faith and has a well-reasoned opinion; those are my only criteria for discourse.
The amount of foam frothing from some of these stans mouths over someone else not having the same opinion...I'd say it's funny, but it's really just sad. Making shit up and hurling insults left and right all over a bad manga character with "nice sideboob". Shameful
 
“Sad” to me is writing thousands of words defending a cartoon rabbit on the Internet for months on end despite everyone else rightfully paying attention to a much more dynamic character, but I guess we define that word differently based on how self-aware we are of our own shortcomings :kayneshrug:
Jokers' focused on the wrong Rabbit character. Lol
Granted, not from the same series.
 

Cinera

𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐭
2. She does not need to be a straw hat to do this
If not Luffy then who will she leave Wano with? Why has she not had any interactions with them?


3. Her development with Luffy is dwarfed by her development with Momo
Not at all:
  • Luffy is the one who asked her to protect Momonosuke.
  • She spent most of her time with Momonosuke fangirling over Luffy and Ace.
  • She repeatedly asked Momo how Luffy was doing.
  • She abandoned Momo to assist Luffy.

Her development with Momonosuke was essentially three components:
  • An opportunity for Yamato to accept her own identity as Yamato and not Oden
  • Handing him Oden's journal
  • A vehicle to flesh out her idolisation/worship/friendship of Luffy and Ace
    • This was given an inordinate amount of panel time.

So nope. Her development with Momonosuke underscored her development with Luffy.

If you don't believe me, check for yourself.

All Yamato's interactions with/involving Luffy:

All Yamato's interactions with/involving Momonosuke:

All Yamato's interactions with/involving Ace:


4. Luffy fulfils Ace's promise by meeting her again now
Nah, Ace wanted to take her out to sea. He couldn't because of her shackles:



5. She only cared about Luffy because of his relationship to Ace. No straw hat bond with Luffy is like this
Ace is the reason she wanted to meet Luffy. But it doesn't undo her development with Luffy himself. IIRC Jimbe initially only gave Luffy assistance because of Ace and Whitebeard.

Yamato has been waiting for Luffy to rescue her for 2 years and believes it's fate that brought him before her.

"But Ace" is just a purity test. Honestly, it doesn't matter. That Ace planted the seeds for her relationship with Luffy doesn't make her less likely to join. It makes her more likely.

Do you really think that Oda created a character:
  • Had the character meet Ace, become very good friends with Ace.
  • Ace tried to take them aboard, but they were rejected because of their imprisonment.
  • Ace promised to come back for them.
  • Had them wait two years for Luffy to show up and take them aboard his ship.
  • That character then asked Luffy to let them aboard.
  • Luffy bonded with that character, gave them a pet nickname, and began to trust them.
    • To the extent that he entrusted the protection of the most valuable person in the war to that character.
  • Luffy went further to remove the shackles imprisoning them.
Only for that character not to join the crew?


Calling Yamato a Red Herring does not it justice. The majority of Yamato's characterisation exists for the sole purpose of making her the next nakama. If she doesn't join, then Oda is a troll.


Yamao can do both simultaneously. Guard Momo and sail the seas.
Momonosuke is staying behind on Wano to become its Shogun.
Yamato is not going to sail the seas with someone else when she was waiting for Luffy in particular.

This is a crux for me. Yamato wasn't waiting for someone to come and take her to sea, she was waiting for Luffy to come and take her out to sea. If Yamato is leaving Wano, it's with Luffy.


I'll read this and get back to you.


2. It's not. The majority of her character is Kozuki and Momo centric. She was introduced in chapter 983, she joined Momo in 989 and has been with him all the way up until 1012. 80% of her time since she was introduced she has been spent babysitting Momo.
Nope. I explained Yamato's interactions with Momo and why it underscores her development with Luffy earlier. I also linked the albums so you can verify this for yourself.


The crew is more than just Luffy. They're a unit and for all the recent members Oda's been sure to give the future straw hat s couple of straw hats to bond with before they join. Yamao would needs some relationships with other straw hats at this stage.
Franky had Usopp and Robin.
Brook had Franky and Zoro.
Jinbe had Nami and Sanji

Meanwhile basically no one in the crew has even met her.
She'll meet the other Strawhats later and probably have significant interactions with Zoro (he's the second person ever to scar her father, even moreso if ZKK happens).

But I don't really agree with this anyway. Robin and Nami only had major interactions with Luffy. As did Zoro, Chopper, Sanji, Usopp, etc.


Out of those that do neither Franky nor Luffy even remember her actual name.
Luffy knows her name, "Yamao" is his nickname for her. Just like how he calls Law "Tora O" or Law calls Zoro "Zoro ya". Were you calling her Yamao all this time thinking that Luffy forgot her name?


If she was fine as she is then she would've have the nickname "Oni-Nami". If it was just me saying this then whatever, but even people that want Yamao to join the crew acknowledge the problematic similarities with her design.
I think the Nami similarities argument is a purity test that has no bearing on Yamato's likelihood of joining the crew.


Oden profoundly impacted a lot of people's lives. Including people who actually knew him, were loved by him and are now reading his journal.

Q.
Does Yamao have the the most meaningful bond with Oden in this arc alone, yes or no?

With every single other straw hat they are the closest to their mentor.

Luffy is Shanks' no.1
Bellamere loves Nami and Nojiko both more than anything
No one was more important to Tom than Franky and Iceburg
etc.

Oden literally had a whole gang of followers who he adored and passed his will onto. All 11 of them. And Yamao is not among them. Instead she read his journal that Shinobu is now also reading, making the tiny unique thing she still had not even solely hers anymore.
This is true. There isn't any real counter, I just don't think it matters.

This is not the kind of thing that would change my opinion at all. Ultimately: "Yamato's relationship with Oden was not as exclusive as for the other Strawhats" is a purity test. I think purity tests have no bearing on a character joining the crew.

You didn't see me saying that Yamato will join because she fits the pattern of the female recruits of the Strawhats because I don't find that by itself a compelling argument.

I think purity tests rank even lower than such pattern-based arguments when it comes to the next Nakama.

I don't think Oda cares for fandom purity tests or uses them as a narrative.


Doesn't count.

There's a specific term for people who fire from long distances. Likewise, there's a specific term for people who fight with swords. The reason these types of fighters have a specific name for their fighting styles is because they're actual positions. Pirate crews could have duels between which ship has the best sniper. Or who has the best swordsman.

Yamao's combat style just doesn't fit IMO.
No, Zoro's official position in the crew is currently "combatant". That's what his vivre card and other such information says. I'm speculating that Yamato will be given that designation next and Zoro will be promoted to Vice Captain or Firstmate.
 
Nah, Yamato's looks are legitimate. They've already begun making merchandise about her.



I straight up don't agree with the Red Herring argument. I think it's extremely contrived as a hypothesis.

If I was to present a counterargument:

Yamato is a character that was designed to become Luffy's crewmate. If Oda did not intend for Yamato to become a nakama, then many components of her character are outright superfluous — they can be discarded without affecting her ability to fulfil whatever other role Oda had designed for her post Wano (presumably protecting Momonosuke or Wano itself).

  1. Her imprisonment
    • Yamato has been confined to the island of Onigashima for 20 years and unable to set foot outside it.
    • This underpins her interactions with two major figures in her life: Ace and Luffy.
  2. Her dream
    • Yamato's dream is to see the world. This requires her to leave Onigashima. Luffy offers her an avenue to realise this dream.
  3. Her development with Luffy
    • She asked Luffy to let her aboard his ship.
    • Luffy accepted her offer of assistance.
    • He removed the shackles that were physically restraining her.
    • Luffy gradually grew to trust her more and even entrusted Momonosuke with her.
    • She grew to care about Luffy and regularly asked Momonosuke how he was holding up on the Rooftop.
  4. Her backstory with Ace
    • Ace tried to recruit her since they were such good friends.
    • Ace released the shackles Kaido had placed on her heart.
    • Ace promised to meet up with her again, but he died before he could fulfil his promise.
  5. Ace informing her about Luffy
    • After Ace's death, she began waiting for Luffy — and Luffy in particular, not any other pirate — to show up on Onigashima.
    • She believes that Momonosuke bringing Luffy to Wano is fate.

The above five components of Yamato's character are not needed if Yamato is not to leave Wano aboard Luffy's ship. If Oda intended for Yamato to become a guardian to Momonosuke and/or Wano he could have simply made her the rebellious daughter of Kaido who idolised Oden.

To give Yamato the dream of seeing the world only to later confine her to Wano after she was imprisoned since childhood would be excessively cruel. Had Oda intended for Yamato to become a guardian to Momo and Wano, he wouldn't have made her a prisoner that longed to be free.


So I guess my questions would be:
  1. What do you think her role would be at the end of Wano?
  2. Why is the majority of her character superfluous to her intended role after Wano ends



Nah. Next nakama only need development with Luffy, and Yamato has that in spades:
As for her interactions with Luffy:
  • She rescued Luffy from Ulti:
  • She fought Luffy until he agreed to listen to her:


  • She shared her life story with Luffy:
  • She told Luffy she wanted to fight on his side:
  • She asked Luffy to let her on board his ship:
  • Luffy freed her from her prison of 20 years:


  • She and Luffy listened to Kaido's New Onigashima announcement together




  • Luffy entrusted her to protect Momonosuke:

  • Luffy gave her a pet nickname:
  • She actually bonded with Luffy. She was shown to be worried about him as the battle proceeded:



Yamato's entire relationship with Ace (something Oda covered over the course of 3 chapters) is just further development with Luffy by proxy.

I'm running into the image limits, so here's an album that has all their scenes together:

To summarise:
  • Yamato fought with Ace
    • He commented that she was too strong to not be the captain
    • The result of the battle was a stalemate
  • They bonded over their shared resentment for their biological parents.
  • Ace helped her to break free of the Shackles Kaido had placed on her heart.
  • They shared drinks.
  • They became close friends.
  • Ace offered her to go to sea with him, but she had to decline because of the prison shackles.
  • Ace told her about Luffy.
  • She made Ace's Vivre Card.
  • They promised to meet up again.
  • She later learned of Ace's death and of how Luffy became a Great Pirate.
  • She believes that it was fate that brought Luffy to Onigashima.

Now for how Yamato's relationship with Luffy ties into all of this:
  • Since Ace's death, she has been waiting for Luffy for two years.
  • She fought Luffy.
    • She told Luffy that he reminds her of Ace.
  • She asked Luffy to let her aboard his ship.
    • She mentioned her meeting Ace to Luffy and how she couldn't sail with Ace because of her shackles.
  • Luffy offered to remove the shackles Kaido had placed on her.
    • Ace removed the shackles Kaido placed on her heart.
    • Luffy removed the shackles Kaido placed on her body.



Nah, her mentor-like figure is Kozuki Oden:
  • Oden is the reason she wants to go out to sea and see the outside world.
  • Oden is the reason she wanted to join Luffy and open up Wano.
  • Oden's journal is her Bible.
  • Oden is the reason that she was willing to lay down her life for Momonosuke.
  • Oden is the reason she refused to compromise on protecting both Momonosuke and Shinobu — Kozuki Oden would never do that.

Oden is the mentor-like figure. You just think he's ineligible because Yamato's interactions with him were only posthumous. Yamato became intimately familiar with his journal and made it her battle. That's its own form of a conversation.

Kozuki Oden does not know Yamato, but Yamato knows all about him and he profoundly impacted her life.



Nah, she's different enough from Nami and fine as she is:
  • She's more than twice Nami's height.
  • She has horns.
  • She has a very different hairstyle:
    • Her hair becomes darker halfway down
  • She has a very different fashion sense from Nami.
  • She is often accompanied by her Kanabo.
  • She has a very different personality.



Well, she's a combatant. She can show her prowess in that capacity on the Rooftop vs Kaido.
YAmato doesn't fit as a Nakama, he'll be most likely the new Lola...
If he goes with the Strawhats, he will be an Oden 2.0, and the story that surrounds him isn't about being a new Oden, but in fact it's about being himself. His conclusion shouldn't be an Oden 2.0 XDXD

It's even worst what you're saying, THe Strawhats shouldn't have a VIcecaptain XDXD
Yamato has no Role XD
 
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