Character Discussion Vergo and the Punk Hazard arc is based and modelled off of the terminator. Vergo is destined to "come back" greater than ever!
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For anyone that knows me, I always save the best for last, and this is it folks. The big reveal that I will unearth to you now is one that will irrevocably change the landscape of the One Piece world and powerscaling. The characters you either all thought (or so badly wanted) to be dead or unimportant in the grand scheme of things, I can't say just how dead wrong you are. It appears for all this time people have missed the, in my mind, quite glaringly obvious terminator parrallels Vergo has going for him, and though that may be because I'm a huge fan of the franschise, it nevertheless surprises me just a little actually that this was never once truly touched on or investigated as a possibility. Nevertheless there's absolutely no mistaken it, Oda has created Vergo with very specific intentions and I will show you just how much he wanted us to be able to tease out these connections and let us know what Vergo is all about. As such, let me break it down for you why Goda made Punk Hazard into Vergo's arc and why Vergo was the Terminator missioned to bring down the punks in Punk Hazard.
This is going to be a long one, but we have Monet working the bar and has prepared some chow and drinks for this long occassion. It so happens this 4th of december marks the International Cookie Day, and I happened to impound a lot of different sorts of snack and treats from some bloke with a weird looking firecracker buns on his head leading a BM shipment. Weird dude who hid behind cookie soldiers that I took care of easily then sent him on his way, because it was like the difference between day and night: he hates pain while I fucking embrace it! Now I have massive cookies to share as a result. Also, good thing we have Monet in case my false memory bouts start kicking in, as she will be able to help keep our discussion on track. So with that said, let's get down to brass tacks, beyond the false veneer, to see what truly lies beneath the surface of this "mystery man".
(1) The heart
In Vergo's introduction we see Vergo with Law's heart, and him toying with the heart was a big point and theme in Punk Hazard. I can't help but draw connections to this epic introductory scene in Terminator 1 where he schools and rips out the heart of some punk. This is his first action scene in the whole franchise, and a very iconic one.
(2) Metal constitution
Vergo is "like a mass of iron or something", ie he has a metal endoskeleton, same as the terminators.
It is very obvious Sanji is not referring to any technique here, such as tekkai kempo, which is what Jyabura used to be able to use tekkai while moving. Sanji is intimately familiar with this technique, so we should be able to rule out this possibility because Sanji is not sure what the deal is with Vergo's body. Oda chose to have Vergo have food stuck to his chin as one of his gags, which, as funny as that is, it also goes to underscore his connection with metals (like how food gets stuck to metal pans). So there's definitely something going on with his actual body.
(2.1) False Memory
Also, Vergo (if you remember) suffers from false memory, which - in addition to to the many funny scenarios you could play out with this - is also an interesting trait that in real life could be caused by lead and/or other heavy metal poisoning; though I'm not saying Vergo suffers from heavy metal poisoning, it just might be a small little hint that Oda is giving us here with regards to his connection to metals, yet again.
(3) The terminator's CPU and Germa DNA
If you recall from Terminator 2, the reason Cyberdyne corporations could develop their robotics technology was because they had gotten their hands on the CPU and robotic arm of the original model-101 that got crushed under the hydraulic press in Terminator 1. The whole Cyberdyne network system was in fact developed from the hardware and software of the original T-101 terminator. They needed the CPU of Arnold from terminator 1 to be able to develop the robotics that would later turn into the defense network Skynet that would eventually gain self-awareness, wage war on the human race, etc (then we get into some complicated shit about alernative realities and all that stuff lol).
The obvious connection here with Vergo is that Oda makes no secret that Vergo is the guy on which the whole Germa is based on; the blueprints for his DNA laid the foundation for their North Blue takeover. We know this because though there are many different kinds of Germa soldiers, the only two highlighted ones, the one in the cryogenic chamber and the other that sacrificed himself by the orders of Judge, those two are literally the spitting image of Vergo. Of course the original DNA template >>> the products; the original being the one that escaped and got into the hands of Trebol.
Summary: CPU of terminator = development of Skynet. DNA of Vergo = development of Germa.
(4) The perfect infiltrator
The terminators, if you remember, were created by Skynet, to look like and mimick human behaviour so as to infiltrate the resistance movement. The terminators shifted the war, it gave the machines the ability to gain an advantage over humankid, and many of the terminators were in fact so good you probably wouldn't have recognised them as traitors before it was too late. The whole point of the terminators were to be flawless infiltrators.
It's this programming that is the key, to where the best terminator can literally act the part and appear truly sincere and genuinely on your side for years and decades, only to at the drop of a hat just whack you just like that. It uncannily reminds me of the way Vergo pursued his mission to a T (as it were) becoming the literal father figure for his subordinates, but nevertheless staying forever true to his original mission, without flincing or hesitating wiping out the entire G-5 unit that he had shepherded for almost 15 years. Vergo was someone that was overly emphasised by the G-5 soldiers that they would never ever believe Vergo being capable of such a thing. They stubbornly held onto the belief that the Vergo they saw was a fake Vergo. :cheers:
Vergo I think more than anyone embodies this Terminator-like mindset of staying so unyieldingly loyal to what he was set out to do, which is both frightening and admirable at the same time. Vergo remained so fiercely loyal to Doflamingo at all times that it also makes his death scene ever the more impactful, having his efforts be recognised by the "programmer", as it were, in the end which actually made him smile for the first time. Vergo would have never strayed from the path he was set out for, just like a true Terminator.
(5) The human experiments
This is actually a very minor point such that it can even be disregarded altogether because in my mind the human experiment part was not even a big highlight in the movie. From Terminator 4 we saw how the machines were rounding up humans for orderly disposal, and we learn from Kyle Reese how humankind almost were at the brink of extinction at one point. Yet we also learn some were experimented upon to make them into cybernetic organisms, Marcus Wright being one of them who after Skynet took over, they continued with the research on him and performed exhaustive experiments on him. They did do some experiments on human, yet this is not a big highlight, so I'll just mention it but not make a big point about it. The connection of couse being Vergo was the one responsible for the kidnapping of children that were used for weaponisation experiments (making them bigger and stronger).
(6) The barren wasteland caused by weapons of mass destruction
Before Punk Hazard was engulfed in a gas explosion that made it into a dead and barren landscape it was lush and full of life. Punk Hazard was even further devestated and in fact permanently altered by the scale of the conflict that ensued between the two admirals.
When Judgment Day hit, there was a nuclear war set off by the machines to wipe out the humans. The result was utterly devestating with 3 billions lives lost (at that time more than half of the world population) and major swathes of earth utterly devestated by the sheer scale of this conflict. The war with the machines further devestated the planet.
(7) The shootout at the police house
You remember the scene from Terminator 1 where T-101 goes on a full rampage at the police station with Sarah Connor hiding under a table sobbing, waiting for her imminent demise? That is not so much different from this scene where Vergo is in the process of wiping out the remainder of the G-5 unit with shigan, where you have Tashigi sobbing on the floor unable to move or speak. Both are frozen to the bone in the face of this unyielding indestructible force. Vergo just like the T-101 just kills everyone with no emotion. Vergo really looks like a robot aimed only to kill his targets. No expressions, no nothing. The police can't do nothing against the terminator, same as the entire G-5 can try their best to go up against Vergo but to no avail. Nothing can quell this man's ferocity! Not even cuck Sanji with shin break
(getting to that)
This is going to be a long one, but we have Monet working the bar and has prepared some chow and drinks for this long occassion. It so happens this 4th of december marks the International Cookie Day, and I happened to impound a lot of different sorts of snack and treats from some bloke with a weird looking firecracker buns on his head leading a BM shipment. Weird dude who hid behind cookie soldiers that I took care of easily then sent him on his way, because it was like the difference between day and night: he hates pain while I fucking embrace it! Now I have massive cookies to share as a result. Also, good thing we have Monet in case my false memory bouts start kicking in, as she will be able to help keep our discussion on track. So with that said, let's get down to brass tacks, beyond the false veneer, to see what truly lies beneath the surface of this "mystery man".
(1) The heart
In Vergo's introduction we see Vergo with Law's heart, and him toying with the heart was a big point and theme in Punk Hazard. I can't help but draw connections to this epic introductory scene in Terminator 1 where he schools and rips out the heart of some punk. This is his first action scene in the whole franchise, and a very iconic one.
(2) Metal constitution
Vergo is "like a mass of iron or something", ie he has a metal endoskeleton, same as the terminators.
(2.1) False Memory
Also, Vergo (if you remember) suffers from false memory, which - in addition to to the many funny scenarios you could play out with this - is also an interesting trait that in real life could be caused by lead and/or other heavy metal poisoning; though I'm not saying Vergo suffers from heavy metal poisoning, it just might be a small little hint that Oda is giving us here with regards to his connection to metals, yet again.
(3) The terminator's CPU and Germa DNA
If you recall from Terminator 2, the reason Cyberdyne corporations could develop their robotics technology was because they had gotten their hands on the CPU and robotic arm of the original model-101 that got crushed under the hydraulic press in Terminator 1. The whole Cyberdyne network system was in fact developed from the hardware and software of the original T-101 terminator. They needed the CPU of Arnold from terminator 1 to be able to develop the robotics that would later turn into the defense network Skynet that would eventually gain self-awareness, wage war on the human race, etc (then we get into some complicated shit about alernative realities and all that stuff lol).
The obvious connection here with Vergo is that Oda makes no secret that Vergo is the guy on which the whole Germa is based on; the blueprints for his DNA laid the foundation for their North Blue takeover. We know this because though there are many different kinds of Germa soldiers, the only two highlighted ones, the one in the cryogenic chamber and the other that sacrificed himself by the orders of Judge, those two are literally the spitting image of Vergo. Of course the original DNA template >>> the products; the original being the one that escaped and got into the hands of Trebol.
Summary: CPU of terminator = development of Skynet. DNA of Vergo = development of Germa.
(4) The perfect infiltrator
The terminators, if you remember, were created by Skynet, to look like and mimick human behaviour so as to infiltrate the resistance movement. The terminators shifted the war, it gave the machines the ability to gain an advantage over humankid, and many of the terminators were in fact so good you probably wouldn't have recognised them as traitors before it was too late. The whole point of the terminators were to be flawless infiltrators.
It's this programming that is the key, to where the best terminator can literally act the part and appear truly sincere and genuinely on your side for years and decades, only to at the drop of a hat just whack you just like that. It uncannily reminds me of the way Vergo pursued his mission to a T (as it were) becoming the literal father figure for his subordinates, but nevertheless staying forever true to his original mission, without flincing or hesitating wiping out the entire G-5 unit that he had shepherded for almost 15 years. Vergo was someone that was overly emphasised by the G-5 soldiers that they would never ever believe Vergo being capable of such a thing. They stubbornly held onto the belief that the Vergo they saw was a fake Vergo. :cheers:
Vergo I think more than anyone embodies this Terminator-like mindset of staying so unyieldingly loyal to what he was set out to do, which is both frightening and admirable at the same time. Vergo remained so fiercely loyal to Doflamingo at all times that it also makes his death scene ever the more impactful, having his efforts be recognised by the "programmer", as it were, in the end which actually made him smile for the first time. Vergo would have never strayed from the path he was set out for, just like a true Terminator.
(5) The human experiments
This is actually a very minor point such that it can even be disregarded altogether because in my mind the human experiment part was not even a big highlight in the movie. From Terminator 4 we saw how the machines were rounding up humans for orderly disposal, and we learn from Kyle Reese how humankind almost were at the brink of extinction at one point. Yet we also learn some were experimented upon to make them into cybernetic organisms, Marcus Wright being one of them who after Skynet took over, they continued with the research on him and performed exhaustive experiments on him. They did do some experiments on human, yet this is not a big highlight, so I'll just mention it but not make a big point about it. The connection of couse being Vergo was the one responsible for the kidnapping of children that were used for weaponisation experiments (making them bigger and stronger).
(6) The barren wasteland caused by weapons of mass destruction
Before Punk Hazard was engulfed in a gas explosion that made it into a dead and barren landscape it was lush and full of life. Punk Hazard was even further devestated and in fact permanently altered by the scale of the conflict that ensued between the two admirals.
When Judgment Day hit, there was a nuclear war set off by the machines to wipe out the humans. The result was utterly devestating with 3 billions lives lost (at that time more than half of the world population) and major swathes of earth utterly devestated by the sheer scale of this conflict. The war with the machines further devestated the planet.
(7) The shootout at the police house
You remember the scene from Terminator 1 where T-101 goes on a full rampage at the police station with Sarah Connor hiding under a table sobbing, waiting for her imminent demise? That is not so much different from this scene where Vergo is in the process of wiping out the remainder of the G-5 unit with shigan, where you have Tashigi sobbing on the floor unable to move or speak. Both are frozen to the bone in the face of this unyielding indestructible force. Vergo just like the T-101 just kills everyone with no emotion. Vergo really looks like a robot aimed only to kill his targets. No expressions, no nothing. The police can't do nothing against the terminator, same as the entire G-5 can try their best to go up against Vergo but to no avail. Nothing can quell this man's ferocity! Not even cuck Sanji with shin break
(getting to that)
Now Good Bye Vergo wank ; Good Bye Vergo ; Good bye Critical
interesting...
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