So i don't know if somebody noticed this, but Oden basically exists to contemple Luffy, Zoro and Sanji.
Oden is incredibly free spirited, one of his main goals was make Wano open to the whole world, and also set sail and found out about the world itself. One of the main reasons Luffy wants to take Kaido down so much is to see the people of Wano free, Luffy loves that freedom, especially to the people who are kind to him and are willing to share their food, even if they usually starve on that country. Every place Oden saw when he set sail, he wanted to set his foot on it to explore, very very Luffy like.
The parallels to Zoro are pretty straight forward, from saving and meeting Hyiori, to getting Enma and start a journey to handle the sword and its will, carrying hate for Orochi and Kaido is also a part of that. Oden is also one of the few strong swordsman who uses more than 1 blade and has a "2 sword style", it's not 3 like Zoro, but i think you got my point.
As for Sanji, we not only get a parallel to his kindness even towards the people he doesn't know completely but somehow managed to get a glimpse of who they really are (Viola, Pudding, Gin, Luffy, Zoro and so on), but preparing food for them is a core character trait of Sanji that Oden shares. Oden usually prepares "Oden" (its even in his name), like when he met Inu, Neko and Kawamatsu when they were child. Everyone in Whitebeard and Roger's crews were showed to absolutely love the food he makes. Oden's literal introduction has him boiling "Oden" over someone elses father's remains as a tribute.
It also shows how Oda sees most Chefs in One Piece as skilled fighters. Zeff was a Captain, Oden is known as a legend and he was praised by his cooking, even Killer is a cook. But Sanji is the ultimate of them, preparing a dish is a part of his fighting style and a core of who he is.
Plus, Oden is quite a gentleman as well, he gave up on his tough journey of joining the Whitebeard Pirates by drowing in the sea water to save a lady who was getting assaulted by some badly intentioned dudes and spelled exactly what Sanji would say, that enough made Whitebeard admire him much more, pretty similar to how Luffy sees Sanji. Usually, every girl Sanji saves, helps and gets involved with usually end up having a much bigger relevance than it seems initially, including at helping the Strawhats, the same applies to Toki here, since she an important part of the Wano arc by being Oden's wife, Momo's mother, having a Devil Fruit capable of sending people to the future and encouraging Momo and the Scabbards to do what they have to do.
I didn't detailed everything enough at all (it wouldn't fit here), but my point is that its perfect how much these stuff are tied to each other, not because Oden is just one character who shares core traits with other 3, but it shows how Oda sees these 3 characters so proeminently in the course of the manga that its impossible to imagine One Piece without them. You can only expect this to get more and more clear from now on as the manga progresses
Oden is incredibly free spirited, one of his main goals was make Wano open to the whole world, and also set sail and found out about the world itself. One of the main reasons Luffy wants to take Kaido down so much is to see the people of Wano free, Luffy loves that freedom, especially to the people who are kind to him and are willing to share their food, even if they usually starve on that country. Every place Oden saw when he set sail, he wanted to set his foot on it to explore, very very Luffy like.
The parallels to Zoro are pretty straight forward, from saving and meeting Hyiori, to getting Enma and start a journey to handle the sword and its will, carrying hate for Orochi and Kaido is also a part of that. Oden is also one of the few strong swordsman who uses more than 1 blade and has a "2 sword style", it's not 3 like Zoro, but i think you got my point.
As for Sanji, we not only get a parallel to his kindness even towards the people he doesn't know completely but somehow managed to get a glimpse of who they really are (Viola, Pudding, Gin, Luffy, Zoro and so on), but preparing food for them is a core character trait of Sanji that Oden shares. Oden usually prepares "Oden" (its even in his name), like when he met Inu, Neko and Kawamatsu when they were child. Everyone in Whitebeard and Roger's crews were showed to absolutely love the food he makes. Oden's literal introduction has him boiling "Oden" over someone elses father's remains as a tribute.
It also shows how Oda sees most Chefs in One Piece as skilled fighters. Zeff was a Captain, Oden is known as a legend and he was praised by his cooking, even Killer is a cook. But Sanji is the ultimate of them, preparing a dish is a part of his fighting style and a core of who he is.
Plus, Oden is quite a gentleman as well, he gave up on his tough journey of joining the Whitebeard Pirates by drowing in the sea water to save a lady who was getting assaulted by some badly intentioned dudes and spelled exactly what Sanji would say, that enough made Whitebeard admire him much more, pretty similar to how Luffy sees Sanji. Usually, every girl Sanji saves, helps and gets involved with usually end up having a much bigger relevance than it seems initially, including at helping the Strawhats, the same applies to Toki here, since she an important part of the Wano arc by being Oden's wife, Momo's mother, having a Devil Fruit capable of sending people to the future and encouraging Momo and the Scabbards to do what they have to do.
I didn't detailed everything enough at all (it wouldn't fit here), but my point is that its perfect how much these stuff are tied to each other, not because Oden is just one character who shares core traits with other 3, but it shows how Oda sees these 3 characters so proeminently in the course of the manga that its impossible to imagine One Piece without them. You can only expect this to get more and more clear from now on as the manga progresses
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