Future Events Who is Ryokugyu's Future Opponent?

Who is Ryokugyu's Future Opponent?


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#1
Courtesy of Cinera:

Who is Ryokugyu's Future Opponent?
Introduction
Assuming that he will be defeated in future, I'm curious who Ryokugyu's opponent from the Strawhat Pirates will be. As I see it, there are two main options:
  1. Sanji
  2. Yamato

I will cover the cases for them below.


The Case for Sanji
Ryokugyu's short conversation with Issho was very interesting:


From the above image, there are two reasons to suspect that Ryokugyu might be an opponent designed for Sanji:
  1. Ryokugyu has been fasting for three years.
    • Sanji is a cook that will feed anyone.
  2. Ryokugyu might be a womaniser as he will only accept being fed by a pretty woman.
    • Sanji is also a womaniser, and this similarity is something that Sanji has shared with some other opponents of his:
      • Absalom
      • Queen

Beyond the superficial similarities, there are other reasons to suspect that Sanji will defeat Ryokugyu:
  • Sanji is a member of the Monster Trio.
    • The Monster Trio seem setup to each defeat an Admiral:
      • Luffy defeats Sakazuki.
      • Zoro defeats Borsalino or Issho.
      • Sanji's potential opponents are Borsalino and Ryokugyu.
      • If Zoro gets Borsalino as I expect, then Sanji will be left with only Ryokugyu as a potential opponent.
  • Oda may intend for all the Admirals to be defeated by Strawhats.
    • This would rule out the following characters from being responsible for an Admiral's defeat:
      • Sabo
      • Law (?)
      • Kidd
      • Other Supernova
      • Other allies


Yamato
Ryokugyu's words can also be used to support Yamato as Ryokugyu's opponent:


Ryokugyu says that he'll only permit a "pretty lady" to feed him. One might — heavy emphasis on the "might" — interpret this to suggest that he'll be defeated by a pretty lady.

If Ryokugyu is to have a female opponent, Yamato is the only potential candidate. No other woman in One Piece meets the necessary criteria of:
  1. Pretty
  2. Strong enough to fight an Admiral.
Yamato gets bonus points for being a Strawhat.

Beyond the tenuous (at best) foreshadowing for Ryokugyu being defeated by a female character, there are a few other reasons to suspect a Yamato vs Ryokugyu battle.
  • Ryokugyu could be a (Mythical) Zoan user like Yamato.
  • Oda may intend for the Strawhats — and only the Strawhats — to defeat ALL the Admirals:
    • There are four Admirals and Yamato would be one of the four strongest Strawhats, so she should defeat one.
    • If Yamato is to defeat an Admiral, then the most suitable Admiral opponent for her is Ryokugyu:
      1. Both of them are Mythical Zoans.
      2. Ryokugyu will only let a "pretty lady" break his fast.
  • Yamato appears to be considerably stronger than Sanji.


Some Thoughts on the Crew Hierarchy
For Sanji and Yamato, what I'm most interested in seeing is if the M3 (and its associated combat hierarchy) remains undisturbed after Yamato joins the crew.

If Yamato is considered a "monster" alongside Luffy and Zoro (either expanding the Monsters to four, or kicking Sanji out of the trio), I'll feel more confident in expecting her to face an Admiral in the Final War.

If instead Sanji remains in the Monster Trio and Yamato is placed clearly below him, I'll soft-lock Ryokugyu as his opponent. I wouldn't expect Yamato to defeat any Admiral.

If Oda separates Luffy as the captain (with Zoro, Yamato and Sanji becoming their own trio as his commanders), I'll expect Luffy to defeat Sakazuki and the other 3 Admirals to be defeated by the Commander Trio.

If Oda separates Luffy and Zoro from Sanji and Yamato, I would endorse Yamato and Sanji teaming up to defeat an Admiral (probably Ryokugyu).


In decreasing order of likelihood, I'd rank them as:
  1. Monster Four
  2. Commander Trio
  3. Original Monster Trio with Yamato falling behind (like Jimbe)
  4. Yamato replaces Sanji in the Monster Trio
  5. Luffy and Zoro form their own duo

I think we're most likely to see Yamato regarded as one of the "Monsters" of the crew (alongside Sanji). However, if only one of them is to be considered a Monster, I think Sanji remaining in the M3 is more likely than Yamato kicking him out.

The plot hasn't developed the way I would expect it to if Luffy and Zoro were to become their own duo. I would have expected that:
  • They would be the only Strawhats to fight Kaido.
  • They would be solely (or near solely) responsible for Kaido's defeat.
  • ZKK

With Yamato fighting Kaido (in a protracted 1 vs 1 at that) and Zoro seemingly denied that opportunity, the Luffy and Zoro duo seems unlikely. Furthermore, Yamato may end up tag-teaming Kaido with Luffy when he returns. I still think ZKK will happen, but even if it does, it wouldn't be sufficient to distinguish Zoro from Yamato. So this is my least likely scenario.


Conclusions
I think Sanji is more likely to be Ryokugyu's opponent than Yamato. There's the possibility that Oda has both of them face him together, but I doubt it. I expect EOS Yamato to be strong enough to take on an Admiral by herself, and if Oda intends for Sanji to remain the #3 Strawhat, he'll also be similarly capable.

Ryokugyu was only barely introduced, and all the speculation right now is on very superficial grounds. As more information is revealed about him, Sanji and Yamato, I'll update accordingly.

I would say that I think Yamato facing Ryokugyu will happen only under two scenarios:
  1. Yamato remains significantly stronger than Sanji even at the Final War.
    • I think this is unlikely, but the next two arcs will be telling.
  2. Sanji defeats Borsalino instead.
 

TheKnightOfTheSea

𝕷𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝖔𝖋 𝕸𝖔𝖔𝖓'𝖘 𝕾𝖕𝖆𝖜𝖓
#4
Yamato will provide some support during the beginning of the battle, before leaving Sanji to go fight someone else.
Post automatically merged:

Some Thoughts on the Crew Hierarchy
For Sanji and Yamato, what I'm most interested in seeing is if the M3 (and its associated combat hierarchy) remains undisturbed after Yamato joins the crew.

If Yamato is considered a "monster" alongside Luffy and Zoro (either expanding the Monsters to four, or kicking Sanji out of the trio), I'll feel more confident in expecting her to face an Admiral in the Final War.

If instead Sanji remains in the Monster Trio and Yamato is placed clearly below him, I'll soft-lock Ryokugyu as his opponent. I wouldn't expect Yamato to defeat any Admiral.

If Oda separates Luffy as the captain (with Zoro, Yamato and Sanji becoming their own trio as his commanders), I'll expect Luffy to defeat Sakazuki and the other 3 Admirals to be defeated by the Commander Trio.

If Oda separates Luffy and Zoro from Sanji and Yamato, I would endorse Yamato and Sanji teaming up to defeat an Admiral (probably Ryokugyu).
What do you think about the possibility of there being a "Monster Quintet"? I think it would be cool, but I can't see it happening.
 
#5
What do you think about the possibility of there being a "Monster Quintet"? I think it would be cool, but I can't see it happening.
I think we’re finally headed for a Monster Quartet. I make it known that I’m a fan of Jimbe but I think the young bucks are going to pull away from him. Jimbe will be that solid underappreciated #5 but I expect a noticeable distance between him and the younger 4. Jimbe is just much closer to his ceiling right now than they are.

Yamato’s possible Oden parral as well as the hints at her current strength makes me think it’s going to be hard to keep her from expanding the M3.
 
#6
I had already thought quite some time ago that if Sanji does solo a calamity (which I wasn't entirely sure of before) then he will solo an admiral in the future and as it stands, it looks like Sanji is going to do that so yes, I think Ryokugyu is Sanji's opponent for the final war. His intro with him not eating for years and being a potential womaniser feels too specific for him not being created to be Sanji's matchup itself.
 

Finalbeta

Law Nerd
#7
My money is on Yamato when it comes to a practical power level perspective odds wise. Sanji would most likely need to empower his haki in a very efficient way if he hopes to get his hands on a Marine Admiral, Queen ranks parsecs away most likely. The parallel with Sanji looks more convincing I admit. It boils down to the way Oda wants to play it and how much relevance Yamato's character will be conferred. I'm not convinced by the "older member is not easy to outshine argument" since this already occurred several times to the detriment of other SHs.
 
H

humanbeing

#10
Kizaru is too strong to be Sanji's opponent imo.
he is not the youngest to be honest an i think he is weaker than Fujitora.
it was already hinted in Flim Z that Kizaru depends too much on his DF If Sanji get stronger armament haki he will be able to defeat him especially if he gets CoC haki like Luffy and Zoro.
And when it comes to speed Sanji is the fastest strawhat so he is the most suitable one to fight Kizaru
 

Lhulu

Tobidara Believer
#17
Oda already build up Akainu x Luffy(sabo can replace him) and Zoro x Kizaru. So it's very possible for the other admirals to be confronted by other SH, as they are the crew who have had the most contact with them.

About Ryokugyu, the parallel with Sanji is pretty clear. The years without food and the phrase about a pretty lady are obvious. Also, he seems to be the funniest admiral, and we already know that Sanji's opponents are always charismatic or have some gags.

The main point is, will it be a x1?
Well, I think Oda was very smart to get Ryokugyu talking to Fuji, as that opens up the scope for their possible retaliation against the WG.
With that, even if he does this fight, depending on the power level of our Mr Prince he can just interrupt it. So we had these scenarios:
1. If the fight goes to the end:
a. Sanji in EOS will be on the same level as an admiral, so there is x1
b. Sanji will not have enough power and will be helped by Yamato.

2. If Ryokugyu and Fujitora betray the WG:
a. Admiral level Sanji has a balanced fight with Ryo until he ally against WG
b. Sanji YC1 has an extremely/high difficult fight until Ryo stops
c. Sanji YC1 and Yamato had a mid diff fight until Ryo stops.

I bet in 2.b
 
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