Speculations Oda is planning something big for Smoker

[grey matter]

I have been seeing Smoker getting clowned in here increasingly.

Oda clearly has not forgotten about Smoker. He has been showing us Tashigi, Helmeppo etc. But Smoker has been conspicuously absent. And the last we saw of Smoker was his interaction with Aokiji

What are the chances that Aokiji and Smoker exchanged some info that day and planned something? I think somewhat probable.

Smoker was arguably the most prominent marine in pre-TS, and was the closest thing Luffy had to an actual marine rival like Garp for Roger. His personality is a mix of Garp's and Aokiji's.
Yes, Oda clowned on him in Punk Hazard. Almost to the point it seemed like a burial.
But if Oda had no further big plan for Smoker, and his fate was to fade into irrelevance and his role be supplanted by Coby, then surely Oda would've shown him by now and have him be in Garp's ship or whatever doing some support shit like Tashigi. There would be no point in hiding him or saving him for later.
I predict whatever Oda will do with Smoker, will make up for the disrespect Smoker got during Punk Hazard. Next time we see Smoker, he might have awakening and advanced armament haki, and will at least be a high commander level character. Plot vise, I predict he could play a pivotal role in the ongoing Garp/Aokiji plotline, or maybe his role would come even later down the line with Smoker and Aoikiji scheming something.

 

[Dark Admiral]

him tag-teaming with Law to finish Vergo ended this debate long time ago.

 

[grey matter]

him tag-teaming with Law to finish Vergo ended this debate long time ago.

How?

He teamed up with Law to defeat one of the two main antagonists of the arc. He could match Vergo in combat (Vergo wins but it would be high diff at least), but instead focused on trying to get back Law's heart to settle the debt.

The main disrespect was losing to Law, and then getting negged by Doflamingo. But plot vise, he was relevant in the PH arc

 

[Peenix]

I have been seeing Smoker getting clowned in here increasingly.

Oda clearly has not forgotten about Smoker. He has been showing us Tashigi, Helmeppo etc. But Smoker has been conspicuously absent. And the last we saw of Smoker was his interaction with Aokiji

What are the chances that Aokiji and Smoker exchanged some info that day and planned something? I think somewhat probable.

Smoker was arguably the most prominent marine in pre-TS, and was the closest thing Luffy had to an actual marine rival like Garp for Roger. His personality is a mix of Garp's and Aokiji's.
Yes, Oda clowned on him in Punk Hazard. Almost to the point it seemed like a burial.
But if Oda had no further big plan for Smoker, and his fate was to fade into irrelevance and his role be supplanted by Coby, then surely Oda would've shown him by now and have him be in Garp's ship or whatever doing some support shit like Tashigi. There would be no point in hiding him or saving him for later.
I predict whatever Oda will do with Smoker, will make up for the disrespect Smoker got during Punk Hazard. Next time we see Smoker, he might have awakening and advanced armament haki, and will at least be a high commander level character. Plot vise, I predict he could play a pivotal role in the ongoing Garp/Aokiji plotline, or maybe his role would come even later down the line with Smoker and Aoikiji scheming something.

This might be an unpopular opinion but I don’t think Smoker was handled poorly in Punk Hazard. Yeah he got beat up a lot, but he got some great character moments

 

[Roo]

10th SH or temporary alliance incoming

 

[grey matter]

This might be an unpopular opinion but I don’t think Smoker was handled poorly in Punk Hazard. Yeah he got beat up a lot, but he got some great character moments

He wasn't handled poorly plot vise. But for someone who was constantly above Luffy pre TS, who was essentially the Marine after him the entire first half of the series.. I think him taking straight losses back to back was disrespect

 

[Welkin]

Idk what to tell people that think Smoker’s done

Oda’s obviously keeping him offscreen for a reason

Tashigi and Smoker always appear together but all of a sudden he disappeared?

I think Punk Hazard was the wake up call he needed to kickstart his own timeskip

He’s gonna come back a lot stronger and as you said he’ll be a key part of the Aokiji plot

He was the one that asked him about the whole Blackbeard thing to begin with

“I’m still me, Smoker”

 

[Salah WG]

Smoker was Never Weak. It's just that Law was very Underrated & got even more Underrated once Doffy Haters started to appear & they believe Rooftop Law is Levels ahead of Dressrosa Law just to keep shitting on Doffy, so Smoker ends up as Victim of this

As for his Vergo Fight, it clearly showed that Smoker is way better Fighter (He even performed against Law better than Vergo), it's just his CoA wasn't on Vergo's Level, but Oda was indirectly telling us that once Smoker improves his CoA, He won't be just Vergo Level, He will be far ahead & definitely Strongest VA imo aside from Garp/Tsuru

Having a DF also gives him option to eventually Unlock Awakening, combined with his Weapon (That could be Upgraded), it's clear to me that Oda didn't mind making Smoker lose a lot in Punk Hazard, cuz He will be giga Strong in Final Saga (Stampede Movie also demonstrated that both Oda & Anime Staff think highly of Smoker's Potential)

Wherever He is now, it should be related to a Decision He made after Punk Hazard Events, i think after all Arcs he appeared in, He finally realized that WG could be more dangerous than even Most Wanted Pirates (Like Luffy), He is most probably investigating something New

 

[Mathias]

Maybe he’ll capture Crocodile once he’ll be about to create his utopia

 

[Garp the Fist]

God I hope so. The absence is conspicuous.

This might be an unpopular opinion but I don’t think Smoker was handled poorly in Punk Hazard. Yeah he got beat up a lot, but he got some great character moments

He did have some very good moments, but he also should have beaten Vergo. In the end I feel his grudge with Vergo outweighed Law’s, where essentially Vergo is only a subordinate to the real antagonism with Doflamingo,

But I think that Oda, at the time of writing PH, intended to have Vergo play far more of a role in Law’s backstory than what he actually did.

One of my biggest pet peeves of PH is that the three main fights get given to the fan favourites. Fair enough, Luffy is always going to beat the main villain, but Chopper should have had some sort of role in the Caesar fight. Zoro literally had no reason to fight Monet and it should have been Nami or Tashigi. And I think Smoker should have been the one to beat Vergo and not Law.

The Smoker Vergo fight is just really annoying because Smoker is beating the shit out of Vergo in all the fight we see then suddenly he’s changed tactics to get the heart back. There’s a missing scene where the decision to go for the heart needed to be shown.

 

[Just a member]

There are at least 2 problems. The first is that he never appears even compared to the relevant marines (admirals) who already don't appear much. And it is not that he is a legendary figure like Shanks, Mihawk or Dragon who (used) to appear once in a blue moon to give some hype. And that is his second problem: in shounen to be relevant you usually must have a relevant power lvl as well, but Smoker was already way weaker than Luffy in Marineford war, with the time skip the gap just widened while now for sure is even larger. Smoker is almost fodder to Luffy now, he could get some power up and get the Lucci treatment (so actually being able to at least have some sort of a fight with a full power Luffy) but that has first to happen and until that point it is just a speculation with little ground.

 

[Garp the Fist]

but Smoker was already way weaker than Luffy in Marineford war,

Smoker negged Luffy in Marineford and Hancock needed to save him lol.

Although yes he is now literal fodder to Luffy unless he gets a gargantuan power up.

 

[Just a member]

Smoker negged Luffy in Marineford and Hancock needed to save him lol.

Although yes he is now literal fodder to Luffy unless he gets a gargantuan power up.

Oh, you are right, didn't remember their fight in Marineford was a swift victory for Smoker. Anyway the point is that he was already barely relevant in Marineford, Luffy was stopped by Mihawk, had comparisons with WB, admirals, great ones while Smoker was already just a small bracket. Even if powerwise I guess he was still there.

 

[vikas]

Smoker negged Luffy in Marineford and Hancock needed to save him lol.

Although yes he is now literal fodder to Luffy unless he gets a gargantuan power up.

His awakening will be activating cancer cells in all the people who came in contact with his smoke..

 

[Peenix]

God I hope so. The absence is conspicuous.



He did have some very good moments, but he also should have beaten Vergo. In the end I feel his grudge with Vergo outweighed Law’s, where essentially Vergo is only a subordinate to the real antagonism with Doflamingo,

But I think that Oda, at the time of writing PH, intended to have Vergo play far more of a role in Law’s backstory than what he actually did.

One of my biggest pet peeves of PH is that the three main fights get given to the fan favourites. Fair enough, Luffy is always going to beat the main villain, but Chopper should have had some sort of role in the Caesar fight. Zoro literally had no reason to fight Monet and it should have been Nami or Tashigi. And I think Smoker should have been the one to beat Vergo and not Law.

The Smoker Vergo fight is just really annoying because Smoker is beating the shit out of Vergo in all the fight we see then suddenly he’s changed tactics to get the heart back. There’s a missing scene where the decision to go for the heart needed to be shown.

Well Vergo was a major reason why Cora died, since he’s the one who found him on the island

 

[ShinichiMugi]

I dont know if something big,but he might appear on Egghead

 

[Albino 👑]

@Elder Lee Hung kinda swayed me a bit into wanting smoker to join the crew even if its temporary

 

[Lee Ba Shou]

@Elder Lee Hung kinda swayed me a bit into wanting smoker to join the crew even if its temporary

It completes his character arc, this was always Oda’s plan for Smoker.

Loguetown: Smoker is a hardcore Marine who hates pirates and believes in Marine Justice

Arabasta: Smoker’s life is saved by a pirate which changes his worldview on what pirates can be, is powerless to stop Crocodile while Luffy and his pirate crew saves the Kingdom. Also he tells the WG to go fuck themselves and sees the flaw in their justice for himself

Punk Hazard: Smoker literally allies himself with pirates to defeat a pirate who is impersonating a Marine

Punk Hazard ends with Kuzan literally telling Smoker: “You can still pursue Justice even after you leave the Marines”

Yeah Smoker is definitely going to leave the Marines and become the final Nakama. His character arc is the hardcore justice marine who learns that the Straw Hats represent true justice and joins their crew to pursue his own justice.

Kuzan vs Smoker would be the absolute best matchup for Kuzan in the Blackbeard Pirate fight.

 

[Moegara]

I love Smoker. He deserves to get the Lucci treatment and come back as a hig-end high tier.

He also deserves his old haircut back.

 

[Peppercore]

i hope smoker fans get their man back in the end. he ugly but he got a good heart yeah.