Controversial The Vegapunks are pretty pointless

[Midnight Delight]

Other than Stella himself , most of them are just One Dimensional traits without that much depth to them, even a Similar concept was done better in that weird Inside Out movie despite being a Kids Movie.

Not much would change if Vegapunk was just Stella other than York needing a different background like being his Apprentice or Daughter, we already have Sentomaru and Stussy anyway

I understand that Oda writes for himself and this was probably just a fun concept he enjoyed drawing, but it's pretty weird how pointless and interchangable 5/6 of them are

 

[TheAncientCenturion]

I think Oda realized this quickly too, it’s why there’s a sudden traitor plot and a bunch of dead Punks

 

[SakazOuki]

 

[Garp the Fist]

I’m fine with the satellites cause Oda isn’t really spending any time on them. They‘re there to serve the plot and expand a bit on Vegapunk, nothing more.

If he was giving them Red Scabbard levels of focus and bogging the arc down they’d need a lot more persoanlity, but like you said, they’re mostly just a fun idea he came up with to add a bit of spice to Vegapunk and the arc itself.

 

[Sir Yasheen]

Honestly they were created to create this “murder mystery” and then they were quickly disposed of once that plot line hit its climax.

Since they’ve only been around for 17ish chapters I didn’t mind them

 

[Herrera95]

Other than Stella himself , most of them are just One Dimensional traits without that much depth to them, even a Similar concept was done better in that weird Inside Out movie despite being a Kids Movie.

Not much would change if Vegapunk was just Stella other than York needing a different background like being his Apprentice or Daughter, we already have Sentomaru and Stussy anyway

I understand that Oda writes for himself and this was probably just a fun concept he enjoyed drawing, but it's pretty weird how pointless and interchangable 5/6 of them are

He also did that to separate strawhats and having them interacting with Vegapunk. But I agree that could be different. Only Lilith was necessary. Best Vegapunk.

 

[Worst]

I’m fine with the satellites cause Oda isn’t really spending any time on them. They‘re there to serve the plot and expand a bit on Vegapunk, nothing more.

If he was giving them Red Scabbard levels of focus and bogging the arc down they’d need a lot more persoanlity, but like you said, they’re mostly just a fun idea he came up with to add a bit of spice to Vegapunk and the arc itself.

agree!

Also York should be dead meat as well considering she knows stuff about the Void Century lol

WG will never let her live

 

[Boing]

I love Atlas
She's a fun character

 

[Kerkovian]

Other than Stella himself , most of them are just One Dimensional traits without that much depth to them, even a Similar concept was done better in that weird Inside Out movie despite being a Kids Movie.

Not much would change if Vegapunk was just Stella other than York needing a different background like being his Apprentice or Daughter, we already have Sentomaru and Stussy anyway

I understand that Oda writes for himself and this was probably just a fun concept he enjoyed drawing, but it's pretty weird how pointless and interchangable 5/6 of them are

How can you say they're pointless? I found it nice seeing Vegapunk has split himself into 6 other robots in order to utilize his every growing brain. Do you think he'd be alive if his brain grows on and on without splitting like this? Use your brain, connect the dots not just read the story out of ass.

 

[Jesse Pinkman]

I agree they were pointless. Also it makes no sense why york wants to be Celestial dragon i mean it has to be greed personality of Vegapunk that wants everything for themselves.

 

[Ninja9999]

When the six Vega's were first revealed I was also in the camp of great Oda just wanted a bunch of characters again.

As Egghead has gone on though I have asked why it had to be six Vegapunk's. Why not have them be lab assistants or a special security team? Why six Vegapunk's?

And it occurred to me that maybe Oda is actually using this specific setup to talk about humans as a whole and how dangerous we can be when we strip ourselves down to nothing but our desires.

Each of the Vegapunk's is so focused on their own aspect that they never consider anything else. Lilith is more interested in robbing people then actually solving the issue with the sea beasts. Edison just shoots out new ideas but never looks in to how feasible they might be. Pythagoras does all the actually testing work and note taking but does not seem to communicate this to anyone. And Shaka withdraws from the others and seems to spend his time studying philosophy and history.

They are as a result of being made the way they are so focused on one thing that York has been able to set all these events in to motion with out any of them noticing. Makes me wonder what else they didn't notice.

As these are all different parts of Vegapunk's personality it is interesting to compare them to Vegapunk as he is. Because he shows all of these aspects but the story still treats him as a good person. Not a morally or ethically right one but a good one none the less. We see him ponder the way the world is and talk about his inventions and what he hopes to create in the future. We see him not hesitate for even a moment to sacrifice others to save his own skin. But because all of these balance each other out we never see him treated as a truly evil person. In spite of his actions destroying Kuma's free will and turning children in to soldiers with little to no free will, he is never treated the same as Caesar. And whilst Caesar definetly goes to a level that Vegapunk doesn't they are still very similar in their pursuit of science with out caring about how their inventions are used.

That is an interesting juxtaposition to me. And allows Oda to use York to address what happens when someone allows their own desires to become more important than anything else. York is selfish and lazy. She has no interest in helping others or working. As intelligent as she is she just does not care. And so she does not think of the potential consequences. Does not consider that her knowledge of the Ohara research also makes her a dead person walking. That she is condemning all the research assistants to doom as well. That Egghead is about to be the next Ohara.

And that is an interesting way to start talking about the Celestial Dragons and Luffy and Blackbeard.

After all the Celestial Dragons are essentially York. She would fit in well with them as they like her are selfishly only interested in their own desires. In what they want right now and to hell with how it affects anyone else.

It also allows us more insight in to the way Luffy and Blackbeard are juxtaposed by the narrative. From their first meeting they have been set up to be the same but opposites to each other. Yin and Yang. And many have pointed out that Blackbeard is essentially Luffy's evil counterpart. Indeed Blackbeard is a Luffy who does not care who he has to step on to achieve his dream. Does not care for the consequences that follow in his path. He will do anything he wants chasing his dream.

Which is in strong opposition to Luffy who even though he his chasing his dream with all his heart and means, would never deem it okay to destroy others or enslave them to full fill his dream. He won't even kill those who have hurt his crew so savagely that many of us would not even deem it an evil act. But Luffy still chooses not to. He is in control of himself and his desires. Unlike York or the Celestial Dragons or Blackbeard.

If Oda wants to examine these themes and start to set up and flesh out things that are to come then I am all for that. If that's why he chose to have all these Vegapunks so as to justify York's existence then I am all for it. If not then the six Vegapunks are the biggest waste of panel and story time.

 

[RecoomeBoom]

I'm more disappointed the Vegapunks are kind of idiots. They're supposed to be geniuses but they're just floundering in the chaos, on their own damn island.