Hello, everyone!
It's been a while since I've talked about who's going to be joining the Straw Hats, and with the raid against Kaido now in full swing, now seems like a good time to discuss a topic that's been gaining (or regaining) some traction as of late: Momonosuke's recruitment. I've touched on this a few times in the past, but there always seemed to be more important things to discuss, so I never got a chance to go into as much detail as I wanted. This obviously isn't going to be nearly as long as my Monet theory, but there are a decent number of reasons to suspect that Momo will be sailing with the crew for likely the remainder of the story.
Given Oda's penchant for parallels, hints for Momo's recruitment can be traced to at least two other characters. The first and most obvious is that his father Oden sailed with Roger all the way to Laugh Tale. If Luffy is the new Roger, then it really doesn't take much stretching of the imagination to see that Momo is the new Oden, so it would only make sense for him to follow in his father's footsteps and sail to Laugh Tale. The second would be the previous royal that joined the Straw Hats, Vivi. Just like Momo, she was met in the care of one of her retainers (Igaram/Kinemon) while plotting to defeat the pirate that had infiltrated her kingdom (Crocodile/Kaido), only to ask for Luffy's help and coming aboard his ship for the next few arcs. The end of Wano may very well have a moment where it seems like history will repeat with the accompanying royal staying behind to rule, but this time events will diverge with the royal deciding to stay and see the adventure through.
Quite simply, Momonosuke is not currently fit to lead Wano. Though he has shown significant growth through the Wano Arc and was instrumental in inspiring the loyalty of the prisoners of Udon, he is still a child with much to learn. As pointed out by Mr. Morj in his recent video on the subject of Momo's recruitment, in much the same way that Luffy learned valuable lessons in leadership from his time with Vivi, Momo is now learning similar lessons from Luffy. For Momo to become a man who can live up to his father's legacy, he can't be sheltered and pampered; he needs to be exposed to people who can mold him into a well-rounded and strong-willed individual.
Beyond Luffy, Momo has a lot that he can learn from several members of the crew. To become as physically strong and skilled as Oden, there is no better teacher for Momo than Zoro. Of course, Momo does have one thing that Oden never did: a Devil Fruit. The fact that he specifically has a Zoan Fruit opens the door for him to spend time with Chopper, who can not only teach him the basics of Zoan transformation, but may also lead to another character utilizing the Rumble Ball.
The single most important Straw Hat for Momo to spend time with though would have to be Robin. I'd never thought of it on my own, but my friend Nessos once pointed out that Robin could teach Momo the language of the Poneglyphs. I don't necessarily think that it's too important for the language itself to be revived or anything like that, but I think it will be important for Momo's development to have that connection with both his culture and his father. Not only will this allow for character moments for both Momo and Robin, who would be getting to share something extremely personal to her with someone else for the first time in decades, I think it may also give Robin some kind of new insight into the meaning behind at least one of the Poneglyphs. Given that the Poneglyphs were written by the Kozuki clan, there may be some cultural disconnect in how Robin would translate a Poneglyph and how Oden or anyone else from Wano would, like perhaps a word with a double meaning or metaphorical connotation that wouldn't be clear to anyone outside of Wano. This insight may end up being a vital clue to either finding the One Piece or to understanding the true history as written on the Rio Poneglyph.
Speaking of the Kozuki clan, they clearly have some major tie with the Void Century that also ties them to Zunesha and the Minks of Zou. I can't imagine we would get those revelations without a Kozuki present to truly understand the weight of what we learn, especially since Momo seems to be the only one who can communicate with Zunesha. I suppose if Zoro turns out to be related to the Shimotsuki branch family he could fulfill that role, but Zoro himself doesn't seem to have much emotional connection or reverence for Wano, so I don't think it would be appropriate for him to be the only representative of Wano when we learn more about its role in the world.
Whatever Wano's role in the past though, in the future we know it's going to need to be reintegrated into the world at large once its borders have been opened. Though someone will need to govern in the meantime, Momo will likely be the first official shogun of the newly opened Wano. To me, it would seem to make sense that Momo gain an understanding of the peoples and cultures he will be interacting with before he takes the throne.
Like I said though, even if leaving Wano will make Momo a better ruler in the long run, someone will need to act as shogun in the meantime. Fortunately, we have two prime candidates already: Momo's sister Hiyori and Kaido's son Yamato. Considering that Denjiro has been looking over and raising Hiyori for the last thirteen years or so and he's been plotting the overthrow of Kaido and Orochi, I imagine he's also been teaching her about politics and leadership in the event that Momo can't lead (such as being a literal child). Yamato, similarly, has been raised by Kaido to follow in his footsteps as a leader, so while he hasn't been particularly receptive to it, he may decide to take the temporary mantle of shogun in Momo's place as a way to become closer to being Oden. Again, as Mr. Morj pointed out in his video on Yamato potentially joining the Straw Hats, Yamato may decide to take the opposite path of Oden, embracing becoming shogun in Wano's time of need rather than abandoning Wano to go to sea. As things stand, Yamato's understanding of what made Oden such a great man seems pretty superficial, but if he can do the things that Oden regretted failing to do, he can become that much closer to being as great as the man he idolizes. That said, I don't really think that Wano would accept Kaido's son after finally being rid of Kaido and Orochi, so rather than choosing between Yamato and Hiyori, I think the two of them will work together to lead Wano until Momo has been raised to be a strong leader.
Of course, it might help the people of Wano to know that their leader is leaving for better reasons than wanting to go on adventures like Oden did. While going on a journey of self discovery and developmental growth sounds fine on paper, I think the Wano government would have a hard time selling that to the people who have waited for twenty years for the rightful heir to return. Fortunately, Oda has again given us two potential outs for this scenario: the people of Wano themselves and Momo's Devil Fruit. As I mentioned in my Monet theory, Dr. Vegapunk has been built up so much and had influence on pretty much every arc in the New World and even the last few Paradise arcs that his appearance is most likely going to be immediately after Wano. To that end, we'll probably need some motivation for heading his way, and Momo and Wano both provide perfect excuses: for one, Momo's artificial Devil Fruit was ostensibly deemed a failure by it's creator, Vegapunk, so whatever makes it a failure will likely show itself by the end of Wano, which will necessitate that the group seek out Vegapunk to fix it; secondly, so many innocent people in Wano have been turned into Pleasures by Caesar Clown's defective SMILEs that Momo will most likely want to find a cure for them, definitely insisting that he be the one to seek out Vegapunk and take responsibility for his people, as that is what a true leader would do. In the former case, the people of Wano would of course be willing to let their future leader go for his health; he can't rule if he's dead after all. In the latter case, Momo's decision to take his people's safety into his own hands would undoubtedly reinforce their belief in him as their future leader, making them not only accepting of him leaving, but encouraging of it. This would also create a strong contrast with his father's narrative arc: Oden left Wano because he hated being trapped there, Momo will leave Wano because of how much he loves his people.
Now, beyond why Momo would join the crew, the most prevalent discussion around Momo's recruitment seems to be what role he would fulfill. While I definitely have a few ideas, to be frank, I'm not entirely sure that matters. Oden was a member of both Whitebeard and Roger's crews, but aside from translating the Poneglyphs for Roger, he didn't seem to have an official title or designation on either ship, and since the Straw Hats already have Robin, I don't think that Momo will be 1:1 in paralleling his father's adventures with Roger. More in line with our current situation, though, is Vivi's role on the ship. Sure, she showed skills in diplomacy and could have been the crew's negotiator had she joined, but she most certainly did not have an official role as a Straw Hat. This is further reflected in the fact that Oda considers her Straw Hat #5.5; she is considered to be an honorary member, but strictly speaking she's more like an allied leader. Given that Luffy has officially declared his relationship with Momo as an alliance, I think that Momo will be much the same, being Straw Hat #10.5 following Jinbe as #10, especially since he won't plan to sail with the group forever, just until he's able to return home with enough skills and knowledge to lead.
Like I said, though, Momo does have roles that he can potentially fill. The most common suggestion for Momo is definitely cabin boy, which I think most people say more as a holdover from before we knew he was royalty and people just threw around because he was young and unskilled. I think most people conceptualize cabin boys as janitors at best and slaves at worst, but really they're meant to pick up the slack where anyone else on the crew needs help. They can take over between shifts for roles that tend to be on rotation like the lookout or helmsman, help the chef prepare dishes or do cleaning, climb the rigging to trim the sails (which can be made easier by his ability to fly), and running errands for the captain. While everyone in the crew is pretty much an expert in their field, having Momo as the cabin boy actually does work really well for his purpose in traveling with the crew: it not only serves to humble the once haughty Momo, it also allows him to directly interact with everyone on the crew and learn as many different skills and worldviews as possible in as short a time as possible. Momo could also be called an apprentice, the same way that Shanks and Buggy were on Roger's crew, but the interaction with the crew would probably be the same, so it doesn't really matter which term we use. I imagine Oda may use apprentice just because it sounds a bit more dignified.
Personally, though, I kind of prefer the lesser discussed possibility for Momo: the chronicler.
Much like Oden kept a log that one day inspired Yamato, I believe that Momo will keep his own log, likely chronicling both what he sees on whatever adventures await him and on the lessons he learns from each of the Straw Hats. Of course, as Mr. Morj said (I promise this is the last time I'll mention him), it does seem a bit silly to introduce a chronicler this late in the story when they will only be around for the final stretch. I however think that this is possibly the most important time to make sure that someone is keeping track of everything. Momo's role as chronicler won't be just to repeat history twenty or forty years in the making, it'll be to uphold an 800 year legacy. Like his Kozuki clan ancestors in the Void Century, I believe that Momo will be the key to preserving the true history as it unfolds now at a time when the World Government faces its biggest threat and attempts to hide the truth more fervently than ever before. I'm not saying that he'll write the Straw Hat's journey to Laugh Tale on a Poneglyph necessarily, just that I think no one else will necessarily think to write it down for posterity, even if they do overthrow the World Government and don't need to worry about that sort of censorship anymore.
Really though, I think it's more likely that he'll have the apprentice role, I just don't think that precludes the possibility of him keeping a journal in his spare time. Plus, I'm honestly just in love with the idea of the Straw Hats having a Rashomon-style retelling of their adventures showing their biases, like Luffy oversimplifying everything to just the action scenes or Zoro sleeping through most of it or Usopp making himself out to be the hero. I've been fantasizing about a breather chapter like that since Bartolomeo first revealed he was a Straw Hat fanboy, and by god I'm going to hold out hope for it as long as I can.
It's been a while since I've talked about who's going to be joining the Straw Hats, and with the raid against Kaido now in full swing, now seems like a good time to discuss a topic that's been gaining (or regaining) some traction as of late: Momonosuke's recruitment. I've touched on this a few times in the past, but there always seemed to be more important things to discuss, so I never got a chance to go into as much detail as I wanted. This obviously isn't going to be nearly as long as my Monet theory, but there are a decent number of reasons to suspect that Momo will be sailing with the crew for likely the remainder of the story.
Given Oda's penchant for parallels, hints for Momo's recruitment can be traced to at least two other characters. The first and most obvious is that his father Oden sailed with Roger all the way to Laugh Tale. If Luffy is the new Roger, then it really doesn't take much stretching of the imagination to see that Momo is the new Oden, so it would only make sense for him to follow in his father's footsteps and sail to Laugh Tale. The second would be the previous royal that joined the Straw Hats, Vivi. Just like Momo, she was met in the care of one of her retainers (Igaram/Kinemon) while plotting to defeat the pirate that had infiltrated her kingdom (Crocodile/Kaido), only to ask for Luffy's help and coming aboard his ship for the next few arcs. The end of Wano may very well have a moment where it seems like history will repeat with the accompanying royal staying behind to rule, but this time events will diverge with the royal deciding to stay and see the adventure through.
Quite simply, Momonosuke is not currently fit to lead Wano. Though he has shown significant growth through the Wano Arc and was instrumental in inspiring the loyalty of the prisoners of Udon, he is still a child with much to learn. As pointed out by Mr. Morj in his recent video on the subject of Momo's recruitment, in much the same way that Luffy learned valuable lessons in leadership from his time with Vivi, Momo is now learning similar lessons from Luffy. For Momo to become a man who can live up to his father's legacy, he can't be sheltered and pampered; he needs to be exposed to people who can mold him into a well-rounded and strong-willed individual.
Beyond Luffy, Momo has a lot that he can learn from several members of the crew. To become as physically strong and skilled as Oden, there is no better teacher for Momo than Zoro. Of course, Momo does have one thing that Oden never did: a Devil Fruit. The fact that he specifically has a Zoan Fruit opens the door for him to spend time with Chopper, who can not only teach him the basics of Zoan transformation, but may also lead to another character utilizing the Rumble Ball.
The single most important Straw Hat for Momo to spend time with though would have to be Robin. I'd never thought of it on my own, but my friend Nessos once pointed out that Robin could teach Momo the language of the Poneglyphs. I don't necessarily think that it's too important for the language itself to be revived or anything like that, but I think it will be important for Momo's development to have that connection with both his culture and his father. Not only will this allow for character moments for both Momo and Robin, who would be getting to share something extremely personal to her with someone else for the first time in decades, I think it may also give Robin some kind of new insight into the meaning behind at least one of the Poneglyphs. Given that the Poneglyphs were written by the Kozuki clan, there may be some cultural disconnect in how Robin would translate a Poneglyph and how Oden or anyone else from Wano would, like perhaps a word with a double meaning or metaphorical connotation that wouldn't be clear to anyone outside of Wano. This insight may end up being a vital clue to either finding the One Piece or to understanding the true history as written on the Rio Poneglyph.
Speaking of the Kozuki clan, they clearly have some major tie with the Void Century that also ties them to Zunesha and the Minks of Zou. I can't imagine we would get those revelations without a Kozuki present to truly understand the weight of what we learn, especially since Momo seems to be the only one who can communicate with Zunesha. I suppose if Zoro turns out to be related to the Shimotsuki branch family he could fulfill that role, but Zoro himself doesn't seem to have much emotional connection or reverence for Wano, so I don't think it would be appropriate for him to be the only representative of Wano when we learn more about its role in the world.
Whatever Wano's role in the past though, in the future we know it's going to need to be reintegrated into the world at large once its borders have been opened. Though someone will need to govern in the meantime, Momo will likely be the first official shogun of the newly opened Wano. To me, it would seem to make sense that Momo gain an understanding of the peoples and cultures he will be interacting with before he takes the throne.
Like I said though, even if leaving Wano will make Momo a better ruler in the long run, someone will need to act as shogun in the meantime. Fortunately, we have two prime candidates already: Momo's sister Hiyori and Kaido's son Yamato. Considering that Denjiro has been looking over and raising Hiyori for the last thirteen years or so and he's been plotting the overthrow of Kaido and Orochi, I imagine he's also been teaching her about politics and leadership in the event that Momo can't lead (such as being a literal child). Yamato, similarly, has been raised by Kaido to follow in his footsteps as a leader, so while he hasn't been particularly receptive to it, he may decide to take the temporary mantle of shogun in Momo's place as a way to become closer to being Oden. Again, as Mr. Morj pointed out in his video on Yamato potentially joining the Straw Hats, Yamato may decide to take the opposite path of Oden, embracing becoming shogun in Wano's time of need rather than abandoning Wano to go to sea. As things stand, Yamato's understanding of what made Oden such a great man seems pretty superficial, but if he can do the things that Oden regretted failing to do, he can become that much closer to being as great as the man he idolizes. That said, I don't really think that Wano would accept Kaido's son after finally being rid of Kaido and Orochi, so rather than choosing between Yamato and Hiyori, I think the two of them will work together to lead Wano until Momo has been raised to be a strong leader.
Of course, it might help the people of Wano to know that their leader is leaving for better reasons than wanting to go on adventures like Oden did. While going on a journey of self discovery and developmental growth sounds fine on paper, I think the Wano government would have a hard time selling that to the people who have waited for twenty years for the rightful heir to return. Fortunately, Oda has again given us two potential outs for this scenario: the people of Wano themselves and Momo's Devil Fruit. As I mentioned in my Monet theory, Dr. Vegapunk has been built up so much and had influence on pretty much every arc in the New World and even the last few Paradise arcs that his appearance is most likely going to be immediately after Wano. To that end, we'll probably need some motivation for heading his way, and Momo and Wano both provide perfect excuses: for one, Momo's artificial Devil Fruit was ostensibly deemed a failure by it's creator, Vegapunk, so whatever makes it a failure will likely show itself by the end of Wano, which will necessitate that the group seek out Vegapunk to fix it; secondly, so many innocent people in Wano have been turned into Pleasures by Caesar Clown's defective SMILEs that Momo will most likely want to find a cure for them, definitely insisting that he be the one to seek out Vegapunk and take responsibility for his people, as that is what a true leader would do. In the former case, the people of Wano would of course be willing to let their future leader go for his health; he can't rule if he's dead after all. In the latter case, Momo's decision to take his people's safety into his own hands would undoubtedly reinforce their belief in him as their future leader, making them not only accepting of him leaving, but encouraging of it. This would also create a strong contrast with his father's narrative arc: Oden left Wano because he hated being trapped there, Momo will leave Wano because of how much he loves his people.
Now, beyond why Momo would join the crew, the most prevalent discussion around Momo's recruitment seems to be what role he would fulfill. While I definitely have a few ideas, to be frank, I'm not entirely sure that matters. Oden was a member of both Whitebeard and Roger's crews, but aside from translating the Poneglyphs for Roger, he didn't seem to have an official title or designation on either ship, and since the Straw Hats already have Robin, I don't think that Momo will be 1:1 in paralleling his father's adventures with Roger. More in line with our current situation, though, is Vivi's role on the ship. Sure, she showed skills in diplomacy and could have been the crew's negotiator had she joined, but she most certainly did not have an official role as a Straw Hat. This is further reflected in the fact that Oda considers her Straw Hat #5.5; she is considered to be an honorary member, but strictly speaking she's more like an allied leader. Given that Luffy has officially declared his relationship with Momo as an alliance, I think that Momo will be much the same, being Straw Hat #10.5 following Jinbe as #10, especially since he won't plan to sail with the group forever, just until he's able to return home with enough skills and knowledge to lead.
Like I said, though, Momo does have roles that he can potentially fill. The most common suggestion for Momo is definitely cabin boy, which I think most people say more as a holdover from before we knew he was royalty and people just threw around because he was young and unskilled. I think most people conceptualize cabin boys as janitors at best and slaves at worst, but really they're meant to pick up the slack where anyone else on the crew needs help. They can take over between shifts for roles that tend to be on rotation like the lookout or helmsman, help the chef prepare dishes or do cleaning, climb the rigging to trim the sails (which can be made easier by his ability to fly), and running errands for the captain. While everyone in the crew is pretty much an expert in their field, having Momo as the cabin boy actually does work really well for his purpose in traveling with the crew: it not only serves to humble the once haughty Momo, it also allows him to directly interact with everyone on the crew and learn as many different skills and worldviews as possible in as short a time as possible. Momo could also be called an apprentice, the same way that Shanks and Buggy were on Roger's crew, but the interaction with the crew would probably be the same, so it doesn't really matter which term we use. I imagine Oda may use apprentice just because it sounds a bit more dignified.
Personally, though, I kind of prefer the lesser discussed possibility for Momo: the chronicler.
Much like Oden kept a log that one day inspired Yamato, I believe that Momo will keep his own log, likely chronicling both what he sees on whatever adventures await him and on the lessons he learns from each of the Straw Hats. Of course, as Mr. Morj said (I promise this is the last time I'll mention him), it does seem a bit silly to introduce a chronicler this late in the story when they will only be around for the final stretch. I however think that this is possibly the most important time to make sure that someone is keeping track of everything. Momo's role as chronicler won't be just to repeat history twenty or forty years in the making, it'll be to uphold an 800 year legacy. Like his Kozuki clan ancestors in the Void Century, I believe that Momo will be the key to preserving the true history as it unfolds now at a time when the World Government faces its biggest threat and attempts to hide the truth more fervently than ever before. I'm not saying that he'll write the Straw Hat's journey to Laugh Tale on a Poneglyph necessarily, just that I think no one else will necessarily think to write it down for posterity, even if they do overthrow the World Government and don't need to worry about that sort of censorship anymore.
Really though, I think it's more likely that he'll have the apprentice role, I just don't think that precludes the possibility of him keeping a journal in his spare time. Plus, I'm honestly just in love with the idea of the Straw Hats having a Rashomon-style retelling of their adventures showing their biases, like Luffy oversimplifying everything to just the action scenes or Zoro sleeping through most of it or Usopp making himself out to be the hero. I've been fantasizing about a breather chapter like that since Bartolomeo first revealed he was a Straw Hat fanboy, and by god I'm going to hold out hope for it as long as I can.
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