Hello, everyone!
I don't plan for this to be a particularly long one, I just thought it was distinct enough of a topic from my previous theories that it would be better served as its own thread rather than an addendum to any of them.
I mentioned the other day in my theory on the pattern of the Straw Hats' genders that the reason people believe in the Straw Hat 13 Pattern (that there will be thirteen members total) is because Luffy officially recruited four members in East Blue and four in Paradise, and would therefore recruit four in the New World for a total of twelve after himself, making a total of thirteen. It wasn't until some time later that I remembered that there was another, separate pattern that people often use to reinforce the Straw Hat 13 Pattern: the Alphabet Pattern.
Just to be clear, this is not a theory or pattern I came up with. I am only elaborating on how an existing theory overlaps or conflicts with my own theories, and I just thought it was a topic worth discussing since I haven't really seen anyone talking about it here yet. My goal is to come to my own unique conclusion and present some future possibilities, not to present strictly speaking new information.
So, the idea behind the Alphabet Pattern is that each of the proper members of the Straw Hats will have a name that starts with a different letter of the alphabet, but each available letter is paired up, so if one from that pair is taken, the other is no longer an option. Therefore, of the twenty-six letters in the alphabet, only thirteen can be used. Thus far, this has proven to be consistently true without any contradictions, going as follows:
AB=Brook
CD=Chopper
EF=Franky
GH=???
IJ=Jinbe
KL=Luffy
MN=Nami
OP=???
QR=Robin
ST=Sanji
UV=Usopp
WX=???
YZ=Zoro
Of the thirteen available letter pairs, the ten official members of the Straw Hats have taken ten without any overlap, leaving the remaining three pairs as GH, OP, and WX.
The most common response that I've ever seen to this pattern is that Pudding is the most appropriate for the OP pair, as even her Japanese name, Purin, starts with P, and of all of the choices that have matched other patterns consistently, she's the only one who does so. Some people have used this to argue for Perona, but the general consensus seems to lean towards Pudding because Perona doesn't have as many parallels to Nami and Robin to speak of.
I can't double check it now, obviously, since Oro Jackson is no longer operational, but if I recall, Tama received a lot of buzz there when she was introduced because her name card referred to her as O-Tama.
Now, a lot of that buzz, as I seem to recall, was because people didn't quite seem to make the connection that her proper name is not Otama, but Tama, with O- being a common honorific prefix used when referring to women in Wano. Rather than taking this at face value and assuming that this puts Tama in the ST pair already taken by Sanji, this detail actually served to change the conversation: do the recruits of the New World have to strictly fit into those pairs?
If a fairly generic honorific is potentially enough justification to count Tama in the OP pair, would other prefixes or additives work? What about epithets? Would perhaps Monet, a clear member of the MN pair, be applicable to the GH pair if her epithet is Harpy as many speculate? Does that even matter in her case, since everyone in the Donquixote Pirates used codenames except for Law? Doesn't it stand to reason that Monet isn't even her real name and she could easily be a GH or WX from birth?
GH could also easily apply to Hiyori if she proves to be an effective ally at Onigashima. Speaking of Onigashima, Ginrummy could also apply, especially if codenames can be used in place of real names. Quick aside, I was going to note that Franky being a nickname proved that to be an option, until I remember that his birth name is Cutty Flam, with Flam most likely being his given name, so he'd be F no matter what. Still, he goes by Franky, so for all intents and purposes, nicknames are most likely viable, so codenames probably are as well.
Pretty much all of the Red Scabbards are out, despite a lot of them being fairly popular choices in and of themselves: Kinemon and Kawamatsu (KL), Nekomamushi (MN), Inuarashi (IJ), Raizou (QR), Denjiro/Kyoushiro (CD/KL), and Asura Douji/Shutenmaru (AB/ST). I'm not sure how many of them are actually popular, but I've seen at least half of them suggested once or twice over the past year or two. The only one who may fit is Kikunojo as O-Kiku (OP), but the narrative isn't really leaning that way as far as I can tell.
Another denizen of Wano that I've seen a little bit of discussion about would be Gyukimaru, or his alternative fox form, Onimaru. Because of how little he has been given the opportunity to contribute to the plot so far and how his transformation has been thus far unexplained, some people expect him to play a bigger part by the end of Wano, likely at Onigashima. If he does and proves to be a valuable ally, then he can count as both GH and OP simultaneously.
Rebecca and Viola are obviously out, being QR and UV, as are fellow royals Vivi (UV), Momonosuke (MN), and Shirahoshi (ST). If Vivi and Momo are considered honorary Straw Hats, though, the overlap probably doesn't matter, as they aren't strictly speaking counted among the Straw Hat 13. It is interesting to note though that while they are in those pairs, they do still have unique letters within those pairs (Usopp and Vivi, Momo and Nami). May not mean anything, but a nice detail.
Also of interest is that Gaimon, who declined his invitation, fits GH, but I don't see him leaving the Island of Rare Animals, so that's probably not too important.
beck's top picks of Tashigi and Smoker are both ST, so they don't seem to make the cut either, until we consider that Smoker is the White Hunter, WX, or Hakuryou, GH, in Japanese. Tashigi has no such luck, unfortunately.
Of our two Kuja candidates, Marguerite falls short being MN, but Hancock actually manages to swing back in as a GH.
There's also a couple of characters that I haven't seen anyone suggest in a long time, though I'm sure they still have their fans: Caesar Clown and Caribou. Despite both being CD, both have alternative names that could be used to justify them. While masquerading as a member of the Fire Tank Pirates, Caesar took on the name Gastino, making him a GH which I recall gave him a pretty big spike in popularity, while Caribou's epithet is Wet-Haired, WX. Caribou's Japanese epithet is Nuregami, MN, though, so that may not be intentional on Oda's part.
Thanks to beck, many people also believe that a giant is going to join at some point, which at one point most people figured would be Hajrudin (GH) until he joined as a Fleet Captain instead. When the prince of Elbaf, Loki, was revealed sometime later, people shifted their expectations to him, but he's KL, so perhaps not.
X Drake may fit WX, though he would be unique in the sense that he'd be the only one using his family name. I don't see him joining though, since he's a Supernova, who all thus far have become allies rather than members.
There aren't that many options for WX in general, but one that I used to see every so often and even see to this day (thank you @Kurodiamondo for reminding me) is Wyper. I don't recall seeing much reason in Skypiea to suspect he would join, but I'm not going to say it's impossible.
Minks Wanda and Pedro both fit WX and OP respectively, but given Pedro's...condition and Wanda's overall lack of involvement in the story, they don't seem particularly likely in their own right. Many people believe that Pedro is still alive, and if that turns out to be the case, then I think his chances will go up exponentially, but I feel that his part in the narrative has more or less concluded barring flashbacks to help better develop Carrot, as he seems to be her equivalent of the tragic losses that all of the other Straw Hats usually only have in their backstories.
Speaking of Minks, the most unfortunate victim of this theory would have to be our current front runner, Carrot, as she is obviously in the CD pair with Chopper. We can't even skew it so that Chopper is actually in ST as Tony Tony Chopper because that would push out Sanji. Sure, Sanji could go with UV as Vinsmoke Sanji, but then where does that leave the mononymous Usopp? Unless Carrot turns out to have another name, her chances don't look too good at the moment. That said, it's possible that that is meant as a diversion, as she could easily get an appropriate epithet after joining the crew, like White Rabbit for not only her base fur color, but the color that all of her hair turns in her Sulong form. That would allow her to be WX (or another pair if she gets a different epithet) without having made it too obvious beforehand.
Let's review: as most of the letter pairs in the alphabet are already taken by the names of the rest of the Straw Hats, the only ones left to us are GH, OP and WX. Taken at face value, the characters I have suggested as having the best chances, Carrot, Pudding, Monet, Marguerite and Tama, are almost all eliminated for having names that overlap with the current crew. The only exception would be Pudding, or Purin in Japanese, representing OP. Tama may also work if referred to with the honorific that is used for her in her introduction, making her O-Tama, but that would also make her OP, so Pudding is still more likely. Monet still has a distinct chance, as Monet is likely not her real name, but a codename used among the Donquixote Pirates, leaving the possibility that she is either GH or WX by birth. If epithets are able to count, though, both Monet and Carrot are still perfectly viable, as while strictly speaking neither of them have known epithets yet, Monet's is speculated to be Harpy while Carrot would definitely receive one after joining the crew and becoming known to the World Government. If/when she does, it could easily fit any of the letter pairs, but I'm willing to bet it will incorporate "White," as her white fur is her most identifiable feature. Currently unknown factors such as these would allow the top three from the previously presented patterns to fit this pattern as well. Therefore, though the specifics are currently hypothetical and may vary in canon, our final lineup would end up looking something like this:
AB=Brook
CD=Chopper
EF=Franky
GH="Harpy" Monet
IJ=Jinbe
KL=Luffy
MN=Nami
OP=Pudding
QR=Robin
ST=Sanji
UV=Usopp
WX="White Rabbit" Carrot
YZ=Zoro
Because Vivi and Momo are honorary Straw Hats and aren't counted in the Straw Hat 13, their encroachment on MN and UV is a moot point. Many other characters are still plenty plausible, though, such as "White Hunter" Smoker (WX), "Wet-Haired" Caribou (WX), the scientist formerly known as Caesar Clown - Gastino (GH), Boa Hancock (GH), Wanda (WX), X Drake (WX), Wyper (WX), Gyukimaru/Onimaru (GH/OP), and likely others that I couldn't remember or haven't even been introduced yet, but given the patterns I've presented over the last several days, I'm still willing to put my money on the trio I've been backing this whole time, and this has only reinforced my stance on that.
I don't personally want to rely on the epithets since there currently isn't a precedent for doing so, but I'm perfectly willing to accept that they were for the sake of obscuring Oda's intentions. I've honestly never put any thought into what Carrot would be called if she joined, or Pudding for that matter, but now that I've said something about it, I'm going to be sorely disappointed if Carrot isn't "White Rabbit" or "White Tail" or something like that. Pudding would probably be Three-Eyes or Third Eye or something, which isn't too exciting, but it's serviceable. Monet works fine as Harpy, and I'm honestly much more interested in learning her real name. Hopefully all of these theories will summon her back into the world that I may finally find out the truth.
Anyway, I don't really plan to do any more theories on the topic of female recruits anytime soon, so unless I happen to think of another one, expect a new topic next time.
Until then, thank you for reading.
-Tokiro Oumaga
I don't plan for this to be a particularly long one, I just thought it was distinct enough of a topic from my previous theories that it would be better served as its own thread rather than an addendum to any of them.
I mentioned the other day in my theory on the pattern of the Straw Hats' genders that the reason people believe in the Straw Hat 13 Pattern (that there will be thirteen members total) is because Luffy officially recruited four members in East Blue and four in Paradise, and would therefore recruit four in the New World for a total of twelve after himself, making a total of thirteen. It wasn't until some time later that I remembered that there was another, separate pattern that people often use to reinforce the Straw Hat 13 Pattern: the Alphabet Pattern.
Just to be clear, this is not a theory or pattern I came up with. I am only elaborating on how an existing theory overlaps or conflicts with my own theories, and I just thought it was a topic worth discussing since I haven't really seen anyone talking about it here yet. My goal is to come to my own unique conclusion and present some future possibilities, not to present strictly speaking new information.
So, the idea behind the Alphabet Pattern is that each of the proper members of the Straw Hats will have a name that starts with a different letter of the alphabet, but each available letter is paired up, so if one from that pair is taken, the other is no longer an option. Therefore, of the twenty-six letters in the alphabet, only thirteen can be used. Thus far, this has proven to be consistently true without any contradictions, going as follows:
AB=Brook
CD=Chopper
EF=Franky
GH=???
IJ=Jinbe
KL=Luffy
MN=Nami
OP=???
QR=Robin
ST=Sanji
UV=Usopp
WX=???
YZ=Zoro
Of the thirteen available letter pairs, the ten official members of the Straw Hats have taken ten without any overlap, leaving the remaining three pairs as GH, OP, and WX.
The most common response that I've ever seen to this pattern is that Pudding is the most appropriate for the OP pair, as even her Japanese name, Purin, starts with P, and of all of the choices that have matched other patterns consistently, she's the only one who does so. Some people have used this to argue for Perona, but the general consensus seems to lean towards Pudding because Perona doesn't have as many parallels to Nami and Robin to speak of.
I can't double check it now, obviously, since Oro Jackson is no longer operational, but if I recall, Tama received a lot of buzz there when she was introduced because her name card referred to her as O-Tama.
Now, a lot of that buzz, as I seem to recall, was because people didn't quite seem to make the connection that her proper name is not Otama, but Tama, with O- being a common honorific prefix used when referring to women in Wano. Rather than taking this at face value and assuming that this puts Tama in the ST pair already taken by Sanji, this detail actually served to change the conversation: do the recruits of the New World have to strictly fit into those pairs?
If a fairly generic honorific is potentially enough justification to count Tama in the OP pair, would other prefixes or additives work? What about epithets? Would perhaps Monet, a clear member of the MN pair, be applicable to the GH pair if her epithet is Harpy as many speculate? Does that even matter in her case, since everyone in the Donquixote Pirates used codenames except for Law? Doesn't it stand to reason that Monet isn't even her real name and she could easily be a GH or WX from birth?
GH could also easily apply to Hiyori if she proves to be an effective ally at Onigashima. Speaking of Onigashima, Ginrummy could also apply, especially if codenames can be used in place of real names. Quick aside, I was going to note that Franky being a nickname proved that to be an option, until I remember that his birth name is Cutty Flam, with Flam most likely being his given name, so he'd be F no matter what. Still, he goes by Franky, so for all intents and purposes, nicknames are most likely viable, so codenames probably are as well.
Pretty much all of the Red Scabbards are out, despite a lot of them being fairly popular choices in and of themselves: Kinemon and Kawamatsu (KL), Nekomamushi (MN), Inuarashi (IJ), Raizou (QR), Denjiro/Kyoushiro (CD/KL), and Asura Douji/Shutenmaru (AB/ST). I'm not sure how many of them are actually popular, but I've seen at least half of them suggested once or twice over the past year or two. The only one who may fit is Kikunojo as O-Kiku (OP), but the narrative isn't really leaning that way as far as I can tell.
Another denizen of Wano that I've seen a little bit of discussion about would be Gyukimaru, or his alternative fox form, Onimaru. Because of how little he has been given the opportunity to contribute to the plot so far and how his transformation has been thus far unexplained, some people expect him to play a bigger part by the end of Wano, likely at Onigashima. If he does and proves to be a valuable ally, then he can count as both GH and OP simultaneously.
Rebecca and Viola are obviously out, being QR and UV, as are fellow royals Vivi (UV), Momonosuke (MN), and Shirahoshi (ST). If Vivi and Momo are considered honorary Straw Hats, though, the overlap probably doesn't matter, as they aren't strictly speaking counted among the Straw Hat 13. It is interesting to note though that while they are in those pairs, they do still have unique letters within those pairs (Usopp and Vivi, Momo and Nami). May not mean anything, but a nice detail.
Also of interest is that Gaimon, who declined his invitation, fits GH, but I don't see him leaving the Island of Rare Animals, so that's probably not too important.
beck's top picks of Tashigi and Smoker are both ST, so they don't seem to make the cut either, until we consider that Smoker is the White Hunter, WX, or Hakuryou, GH, in Japanese. Tashigi has no such luck, unfortunately.
Of our two Kuja candidates, Marguerite falls short being MN, but Hancock actually manages to swing back in as a GH.
There's also a couple of characters that I haven't seen anyone suggest in a long time, though I'm sure they still have their fans: Caesar Clown and Caribou. Despite both being CD, both have alternative names that could be used to justify them. While masquerading as a member of the Fire Tank Pirates, Caesar took on the name Gastino, making him a GH which I recall gave him a pretty big spike in popularity, while Caribou's epithet is Wet-Haired, WX. Caribou's Japanese epithet is Nuregami, MN, though, so that may not be intentional on Oda's part.
Thanks to beck, many people also believe that a giant is going to join at some point, which at one point most people figured would be Hajrudin (GH) until he joined as a Fleet Captain instead. When the prince of Elbaf, Loki, was revealed sometime later, people shifted their expectations to him, but he's KL, so perhaps not.
X Drake may fit WX, though he would be unique in the sense that he'd be the only one using his family name. I don't see him joining though, since he's a Supernova, who all thus far have become allies rather than members.
There aren't that many options for WX in general, but one that I used to see every so often and even see to this day (thank you @Kurodiamondo for reminding me) is Wyper. I don't recall seeing much reason in Skypiea to suspect he would join, but I'm not going to say it's impossible.
Minks Wanda and Pedro both fit WX and OP respectively, but given Pedro's...condition and Wanda's overall lack of involvement in the story, they don't seem particularly likely in their own right. Many people believe that Pedro is still alive, and if that turns out to be the case, then I think his chances will go up exponentially, but I feel that his part in the narrative has more or less concluded barring flashbacks to help better develop Carrot, as he seems to be her equivalent of the tragic losses that all of the other Straw Hats usually only have in their backstories.
Speaking of Minks, the most unfortunate victim of this theory would have to be our current front runner, Carrot, as she is obviously in the CD pair with Chopper. We can't even skew it so that Chopper is actually in ST as Tony Tony Chopper because that would push out Sanji. Sure, Sanji could go with UV as Vinsmoke Sanji, but then where does that leave the mononymous Usopp? Unless Carrot turns out to have another name, her chances don't look too good at the moment. That said, it's possible that that is meant as a diversion, as she could easily get an appropriate epithet after joining the crew, like White Rabbit for not only her base fur color, but the color that all of her hair turns in her Sulong form. That would allow her to be WX (or another pair if she gets a different epithet) without having made it too obvious beforehand.
Let's review: as most of the letter pairs in the alphabet are already taken by the names of the rest of the Straw Hats, the only ones left to us are GH, OP and WX. Taken at face value, the characters I have suggested as having the best chances, Carrot, Pudding, Monet, Marguerite and Tama, are almost all eliminated for having names that overlap with the current crew. The only exception would be Pudding, or Purin in Japanese, representing OP. Tama may also work if referred to with the honorific that is used for her in her introduction, making her O-Tama, but that would also make her OP, so Pudding is still more likely. Monet still has a distinct chance, as Monet is likely not her real name, but a codename used among the Donquixote Pirates, leaving the possibility that she is either GH or WX by birth. If epithets are able to count, though, both Monet and Carrot are still perfectly viable, as while strictly speaking neither of them have known epithets yet, Monet's is speculated to be Harpy while Carrot would definitely receive one after joining the crew and becoming known to the World Government. If/when she does, it could easily fit any of the letter pairs, but I'm willing to bet it will incorporate "White," as her white fur is her most identifiable feature. Currently unknown factors such as these would allow the top three from the previously presented patterns to fit this pattern as well. Therefore, though the specifics are currently hypothetical and may vary in canon, our final lineup would end up looking something like this:
AB=Brook
CD=Chopper
EF=Franky
GH="Harpy" Monet
IJ=Jinbe
KL=Luffy
MN=Nami
OP=Pudding
QR=Robin
ST=Sanji
UV=Usopp
WX="White Rabbit" Carrot
YZ=Zoro
Because Vivi and Momo are honorary Straw Hats and aren't counted in the Straw Hat 13, their encroachment on MN and UV is a moot point. Many other characters are still plenty plausible, though, such as "White Hunter" Smoker (WX), "Wet-Haired" Caribou (WX), the scientist formerly known as Caesar Clown - Gastino (GH), Boa Hancock (GH), Wanda (WX), X Drake (WX), Wyper (WX), Gyukimaru/Onimaru (GH/OP), and likely others that I couldn't remember or haven't even been introduced yet, but given the patterns I've presented over the last several days, I'm still willing to put my money on the trio I've been backing this whole time, and this has only reinforced my stance on that.
I don't personally want to rely on the epithets since there currently isn't a precedent for doing so, but I'm perfectly willing to accept that they were for the sake of obscuring Oda's intentions. I've honestly never put any thought into what Carrot would be called if she joined, or Pudding for that matter, but now that I've said something about it, I'm going to be sorely disappointed if Carrot isn't "White Rabbit" or "White Tail" or something like that. Pudding would probably be Three-Eyes or Third Eye or something, which isn't too exciting, but it's serviceable. Monet works fine as Harpy, and I'm honestly much more interested in learning her real name. Hopefully all of these theories will summon her back into the world that I may finally find out the truth.
Anyway, I don't really plan to do any more theories on the topic of female recruits anytime soon, so unless I happen to think of another one, expect a new topic next time.
Until then, thank you for reading.
-Tokiro Oumaga
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