A lot of people don't like Yamato's character, I kinda agree. The oden thing is dumb and she is overall pretty underdeveloped. However be that as it may, if you look at everything we know about this character, imo her addition to the crew is an eventuality.
Several points:
With these two points alone, Yamato is in a completely different category than every single fan-pushed SH candidate. There have been people who Luffy wanted to join, but ultimately couldn't. These are people like Gaimon or even Vivi. You also have people who the fans have wanted to join, but neither Luffy nor the character showed any real interested in joining. Characters like Carrot or Monet are good examples of this.
The closest character you have to Yamato in the past SH candidates is Jinbe. Like Yamato, Jinbe was offered an invite and he accepted, however he couldn't join right away due to an ongoing conflict. Eventually Jinbe did join.
Yamato is the exact same way. She wants to join, Luffy will allow her, but she can't due to the status of wano. But if wano were to be further secured, then this would no longer be an issue.
Furthermore, Yamato has even more in her favor.
Yamato wishes to follow in Oden's footsteps. This literally necessitates her to leave wano and go see Laugh Tale.
The only people who know Luffy's dream is his brothers, Shanks, and the SHs. No Vivi, no Carrot, exclusive to the people who are the closest to Luffy.
Yeah individually, I feel like you can pick apart the different arguments for Yamato, but when you look at them in totality, there just hasn't been a character like this before. This really begs the question, what is the purpose of Yamato?
The last SH, Jinbe, officially joined the crew in Wano
This was the first time he was officially regarded as a SH by the narration box and I believe this is the point where Oda started including him in the color spreads.
The inclusion of Jinbe into the SHP symbolized Luffy's ascent from rookie to yonko. Every yonko crew, save for Cross Guild, has a captain with 3 top subordinates. Up until wano, Luffy just had 2, Zoro and Sanji. This is why Jinbe's addition to the crew was so pivotal. Had Jinbe joined in FI, things could have been very different. Simply put, Jinbe was too strong. Oda needed to delay his arrival to just the point to where Luffy needing someone like him on his team.
Yamato is the exact same way.
Roger had counterparts for Zoro and Sanji; Rayleigh and Scopper. He also had a counterpart for Jinbe; Sunbell. But there is one member that Roger had, which not only do the SHs not have a counterpart for, but neither do any of the yonko. That being Oden. Up until he joined, Oden was WB's RHM. Whereas previously, the WBP and the Roger Pirates seemed to be comparable, this was no longer the case once Oden joined the Roger pirates. With Oden on the Roger pirates, the Roger Pirates were undeniably the strongest crew at the time.
This is exactly what Yamato will do for Luffy. Whereas Jinbe took Luffy from a rookie to a yonko, Yamato will take him from a yonko to a pirate king.
Several points:
- Luffy said he would accept Yamato as a SH
- Yamato says she wants to be a SH
With these two points alone, Yamato is in a completely different category than every single fan-pushed SH candidate. There have been people who Luffy wanted to join, but ultimately couldn't. These are people like Gaimon or even Vivi. You also have people who the fans have wanted to join, but neither Luffy nor the character showed any real interested in joining. Characters like Carrot or Monet are good examples of this.
The closest character you have to Yamato in the past SH candidates is Jinbe. Like Yamato, Jinbe was offered an invite and he accepted, however he couldn't join right away due to an ongoing conflict. Eventually Jinbe did join.
Yamato is the exact same way. She wants to join, Luffy will allow her, but she can't due to the status of wano. But if wano were to be further secured, then this would no longer be an issue.
Furthermore, Yamato has even more in her favor.
- her dream aligns with the SHs
Yamato wishes to follow in Oden's footsteps. This literally necessitates her to leave wano and go see Laugh Tale.
- She knows Luffy's dream
The only people who know Luffy's dream is his brothers, Shanks, and the SHs. No Vivi, no Carrot, exclusive to the people who are the closest to Luffy.
Yeah individually, I feel like you can pick apart the different arguments for Yamato, but when you look at them in totality, there just hasn't been a character like this before. This really begs the question, what is the purpose of Yamato?
The last SH, Jinbe, officially joined the crew in Wano
This was the first time he was officially regarded as a SH by the narration box and I believe this is the point where Oda started including him in the color spreads.
The inclusion of Jinbe into the SHP symbolized Luffy's ascent from rookie to yonko. Every yonko crew, save for Cross Guild, has a captain with 3 top subordinates. Up until wano, Luffy just had 2, Zoro and Sanji. This is why Jinbe's addition to the crew was so pivotal. Had Jinbe joined in FI, things could have been very different. Simply put, Jinbe was too strong. Oda needed to delay his arrival to just the point to where Luffy needing someone like him on his team.
Yamato is the exact same way.
Roger had counterparts for Zoro and Sanji; Rayleigh and Scopper. He also had a counterpart for Jinbe; Sunbell. But there is one member that Roger had, which not only do the SHs not have a counterpart for, but neither do any of the yonko. That being Oden. Up until he joined, Oden was WB's RHM. Whereas previously, the WBP and the Roger Pirates seemed to be comparable, this was no longer the case once Oden joined the Roger pirates. With Oden on the Roger pirates, the Roger Pirates were undeniably the strongest crew at the time.
This is exactly what Yamato will do for Luffy. Whereas Jinbe took Luffy from a rookie to a yonko, Yamato will take him from a yonko to a pirate king.
