One Piece theory discussion thread
One Piece is known for extreme foreshadowing and grandiose world building, which allows for some interesting fan theories. So, let's see what you've got :)
I'll start.
I've always suspected that Imu was from the Void Century or earlier, due to them having history or knowledge of the giant straw hat frozen in impel down, and with the recent chapter it's looking moreso indicated.
My thoughts about how and why he became immortal, are because of the Op Op fruit, but the reasoning I think is because it was necessary to beat Joy Boy the first time around.
Joy Boy, or at least Luffy's manifestation of it, seems to sap vitality whenever it's used. My suspicion is that the Op Op fruit is necessary in order to achieve a full form Joy Boy, or else Joy Boy will just die of old age. So, Imu used it in order to steal that opportunity from Joy Boy in the past.
So, if I had to guess, Law will sacrifice himself for Luffy toward the end of the show to allow Luffy to permanently enter the Joy Boy state and bring eternal freedom to everyone!
Throwing in a bonus theory to diversify discussion a bit:
Oda has claimed that Luffy's mother has been drawn before in the series, and with the new Intel we have on the Nefertari clan being the origination of the D initial, I'm inclined to believe that Nefertari Titi is Luffy's mom, which would make Vivi his sister...
This could be why Imu had photos of both of them. They're the heirs of the enemy family. Dragon and Luffy being from the East Blue, which is in close proximity to Alabasta lines up decently. Them both being rebellious and the revolution's relationship with Alabasta lines up. I also believe, although I'm not sure, that Luffy clearly denied courtship from Vivi or Titi, which isn't rare, but is a funny jab and could be related.
Edit: He could've just had Luffy's photo cause he's Joy Boy, but we're dreaming a little over here (pun intended).
I don't know if Joyboy drains vitality permanently, but does seem to do so temporarily at least. The after-effects feel like a cartoon exhausted face. Also, not sure Imu would want immortality just to deprive Joyboy of it, since wanting power would be enough motivation for it. I don't think Luffy would want immortality anyway since he'd outlive all his nakama and be left alone.
Anyways, here's a theory of my own: I think the Yami Yami no Mi is also a Mythical Zoan fruit, and is for a mythical "devil" that is associated with the origin of devil fruits. Maybe not literally the cause of them, but at least linked to them in legends. It would be a logical contrast to Nika (God vs Devil, Sun/Light vs Darkness, "Paramecia" vs "Logia"), and would explain why it can absorb other devil fruit powers.
It seems a little more significant than just being exhausted, as he's been exhausted before, and has never looked aged and wrinkly.
I see where you're coming from with Imu just wanting immortality, and that could be plausible. I just wonder why Joy Boy was able to write out Poneglyphs saying he failed in his promises. He clearly lost the battle, and yet he didn't just die? He gave up?(!) He was on his death bed most likely.. why?
I was just wondering about Black Beard, since Imu has photos of Vivi, Poseidon, Luffy, and Black Beard. The reasons for all but Black Beard have clearly been revealed in some capacity.
He doesn't sleep. He doesn't dream. Devil Fruits are the manifestations of dreams. He consumes Fruit powers... It's all very odd and I haven't really come to a conclusion.
Him being a literal Devil Zoan is cool and totally plausible. Black, death, skull island... I just have no clue what the background here is really going to be. There's obviously the metaphorical Light Dark situation, but who the hell is he really?
There have been some comments on Rocks D Xebec having had the fruit previously.. Blackbeard obtained the fruit after the incident at God Valley, where Rocks was defeated. I think this is also plausible, but there are still so many missing pieces for all of this.
For what it's worth, Gear 5 takes all of Luffy's expressions to exaggerated extremes, so I've just assumed that's why he looks so much more exhausted and aged after using it. It makes me think of exhausted characters in Looney Tunes and other older cartoons. The effects don't seem to be permanent.
As for the poneglyphs and his failure to keep his promises, it may have been not just Joyboy losing, but everyone else losing too. Hard to fight against a world government when you're alone. Alternatively, maybe Joyboy was fighting completely alone, which would be the big difference between him and Luffy. Luffy gets most of his strength from his nakama after all, they give him a reason to fight.
I couldn't remember if Imu had photos of Blackbeard or not, but since you just confirmed it, here's a thought I had while reading your theory: what if he wants the Yami Yami no Mi for himself? Right now we have no confirmation he has a devil fruit of his own, and one that could nullify and absorb other devil fruits would be pretty desirable to the world's secret ruler. Of course, the photo might also be because he considers him a threat since he's a D and all.
I feel like there's got to be some connection between Blackbeard, Rocks D. Xebec and the fruit. I wonder if Blackbeard might be a child of Rocks. He's a year older than Shanks, and we know Shanks was a baby at the time of the God Valley incident, so the timeline works.
And on that note, I just remembered that Vegapunk stated that devil fruits alter people's Lineage Factors, which is basically DNA. Ever since then I'd wondered if that could affect children of DF users, so: if Blackbeard is the son of Xebec, and Xebec ate the fruit, maybe that's why he never slept? Maybe not sleeping is a natural side effect of the Yami Yami no Mi, and it got inherited.
Ya I saw a theory recently that posited that Lili had Kuma's fruit, and the mistake she made was "accidentally" dispersing the Poneglyphs using JoyBoys memories.. So JoyBoy could and probably is fairly unrelated to their creation aside from the using of his memories, in this case. I resonate pretty hard with this tbh.
Black Beard is starting to try to join the government by creating his own country, so there's some type of association building here. I doubt Imu and Black Beard will be enemies. I think they'll likely be working together.
I think you're more or less there on all the Rocks stuff, but maybe not Black Beards father. Who knows! He's definitely related in some way, if only by the fruit..
Blackbeard's backstory has something to do with him trying to help people on his own island, only to cause all of their deaths. Possibly by unleashing some sort of ancient power that ended up lodged inside him, which is why his "body is odd" (per Marco) and why he can consume multiple devil fruits.
The notes sort of fit together that way. Blackbeard shows himself to be the ultimate nihilist, so it would make sense for something to have happened to him that destroyed his belief in all virtue. His quote from 543 comes in response to Hannyabal preaching about his own sense of justice, which makes me think that the young Teach used to be a really intelligent kid with a lot of ideas about justice and virtue in the world himself, before having it all broken. I think such an event could have been Ohara levels of catastrophic, and something that Teach probably actually caused all by himself, as the result of his own accident while trying to help his island somehow. With him also being unable to sleep, he doesn't even receive any rest from his torment and guilt.
This level of turmoil within one child is probably why Whitebeard let him onto his ship - WB's whole thing is healing unfortunate people by making them his adoptive children (Ace, Squard). But Teach was a soul so broken that his new father's love never got through to him. It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't actually meticulously plan for decades to attain the Yami Yami no Mi, but instead just existed as a broken, tormented, sleepless person on Whitebeard's ship for all those years, hating everyone around him while just knowing about the fruit somehow. Then suddenly, the opportunity to destroy the world fell right into his lap.
I also think it would be cool if his future downfall comes from him realizing that he actually does care about something, even if it's something long gone. At that point, he isn't total darkness anymore, he'd be something, and at that point his own darkness would consume him, or he'd annihilate the darkness coming from the Yami Yami no Mi along with himself.
Tie-in theories to this:
I love the final 2 bullet points you've listed. Haven't thought much about the origination of the Yami Yami No Mi fruit... I honestly just always assumed it was a natural fruit, that would exist because the Sun God fruit existed. I like the idea of a person being the originator though, like the Sun God Nika.. all very wild.
I also totally agree that Shanks went to talk about Black Beard. I think that whole scene is a red herring, and I have no reason to believe Shanks is a bad guy tbh. He's too invested in the new generation.
The larger half of your analysis of Black Beard is pretty general and cool, but I think it can be interpreted in many ways. For instance he might not destroy his island or his crew. He'll probably destroy the world government to some extent, after having become his own nation and government leader. I feel like this is more reasonable. A lot of speculation on the background of Black Beard here, but it's a great perspective nonetheless. Can't wait to learn more about him.
this is very interesting.also reading this gets me hyped for some kind of story on joyboy.hope oda shares more about joyboy.
also thoughts on the movie trailer??
I think it's a show, which is odd.. I'd rather them do an expose type thing summarizing and finalizing each arch, cause there's just too much to cover no matter what lol.
The cast is SICK. I guess Oda took extreme care in casting, considering odd traits like mouth size etc. The voices will be weird no matter what. The set design looks amazing, and the CGI looks solid. There will always be concessions with live action, so my hopes aren't high regardless.
I just hope they cut to the chase without omitting the awesome parts, and vaguely filling in the gaps so it flows naturally.
a show huh..
i had my reservations while the intial announcement but they are somewhat alleviated
after the trailer..
and yeah the cgi does look solid