Betraying every underestimation cast upon them by the rulers of the sea, the Straw Hat Pirates break through the arrogance of the Yonko and stamp their existence deeply within the Yonko’s rage. With the ripples of their presence ignored until impossible, chaos has taken over and erupted because of them. Right now, with the identity of the age on the brink, they have gathered. The Straw Hat Pirates have finally assembled. All ten current members. And Luffy has his sight set firmly on Kaido with the intention of sending him flying. The Beast Pirates who impede his path become the targets of the Straw Hat Pirates. War has begun. And the challengers have made their move.
Of course Big Mom wasn’t injured much from Franky’s entrance, just primarily enraged. With nothing going her way and all that she enjoys being ruined by Straw Hat Luffy, it is about time she embraces her anger and unleashes her rage. In such a state her strength will increase yet her clarity will fade and unfortunately for the Beast Pirates, their home base, Onigashima Island, will serve as the playground hosting an unstoppable Big Mom. I don’t believe Big Mom will suffer her defeat to Luffy in a fight during this arc, rather the Elbaf Island story will need to progress before setting the stage for Big Mom’s ultimate defeat at the hands of the Straw Hat Pirates. Big Mom may end taking some Numbers with her when she leaves Wano Kuni upon the realisation Kaido’s forces will be defeated.
Jinbe has once again shown his capabilities by grappling Big Mom upon the initiation of her attack and throwing her towards Robin’s awaiting road of Delphinium. Jinbe has done what none of the other Straw Hat Pirate members have been capable of, the act of perfectly understanding the strengths of Robin and utilising them in unison with his plan. And that just makes me need to mention – Jinbe has been one of the greatest additions to the crew. He has brought with him focus back on Nico Robin. Move aside Monster Trio and enter Tactical Duo.
I am very fascinated about the comment Big Mom made to Brook regarding the Straw Hat Pirate crew being filled with creatures she would want for her collection. She is completely right in that the Straw Hat Pirates have very unique members but could that comment also help signify who could or couldn’t join the Straw Hat Pirates? Ignoring the “humans” and focusing on the “creatures”; we have Chopper, Franky, Brook and Jinbe. Big Mom has expressed interest in all four of them. Big Mom may have been suffering from hunger pangs at the time during the Whole Cake Island arc but she did convey interest in Chopper when she realised he could transform. Big Mom now finally meeting Franky expresses her interest in adding him to her collection. Big Mom captured Brook in the Whole Cake Island Arc because she found him fascinating. And as for Jinbe, Big Mom wanted him to be part of her community and has become incredibly bitter and angry at the reality of him leaving her organisation.
Looking at other characters that could interest Big Mom, non-human characters are the most obvious choice. So far none of the Mink Big Mom has encountered interest her. Big Mom has yet to meet the Tobi Roppo, so it is unclear if they would interest her at this point in time. Only King and the Numbers so far excite Big Mom. King represents one of the races she does not have in her community. I wonder if Big Mom would be interested in a particular Yuki-Onna Harpy that worked for a former Shichibukai =).
Three more of the Numbers have made their appearance and Big Mom has revealed their connection to Punk Hazard. The Numbers were failed experiments by the World Government in trying to recreate the Ancients Giants such as Oars and Little Oars Jr. Kaido had learned of their existence at some point and added them to his crew.
Given the Numbers presence in the Beast Pirates 20 years ago, I wonder if Kaido has a closer connection to the Numbers than what has currently been revealed. Kaido at one point may have been held at Punk Hazard and experimented on. We are aware that the Rocks Pirates were defeated on God Valley when they faced off against Roger and Garp. During the battle Rocks may have betrayed his crew to escape which led to Kaido’s capture. It could have been that Marine capture or any subsequent ones that led him to being experimented on by the World Government scientist. Kaido likely had his Mythical Dragon Devil Fruit abilities prior to be captured by the Marines. After having samples of Kaido’s DNA extracted, Dr. Vegapunk could have at a later point in time once he joined the Marines, mapped Kaido’s genome and Devil Fruit ability. It could have been this research that led Dr. Vegapunk to producing his Dragons and recreating the artificial Devil Fruit that Momonosuke eventually ended up consuming. Additionally, Kaido likely being part Ancient Giant race could have also had his DNA used in conjunction with any other Ancient Giant samples the Punk Hazard scientist had to experiment on the Numbers. This could explain why the Number share similarities to Kaido such as the horns and his drunkenness. This could have also been why Kaido bought the Numbers from Punk Hazard and recruited them into his crew because he is aware his DNA was used to create them.
My full theory on Kaido being a prisoner of Punk Hazard can be found here.
The laboratory the Numbers were experimented on was likely stationed where what is now the burning side of Punk Hazard given the Ancient Giant skull present there. I wonder if the research still remained on Punk Hazard once the World Government scientist evacuated after Caesar activated his bomb. Is this the research Caesar was using for his experiments on the children during the Punk Hazard arc? I assume it was given Caesar’s connection to Dr. Vegapunk and both of them working together on the gigantification experiments (Numbers?). Caesar likely incorporated some of the past research into his current experiments on the kidnapped children. With the focus shifting toward experiments done in the past, Punk Hazard just became significantly important relative to the Giants, the World Government and their science experiments that they had, have and are currently conducting.
Would the Special Science Group (SSG) have successfully recreated Ancient Giants? Given the Elbaf Village story arc positioned to be in the final saga of One Piece, the SSG may have really been able to recreate Ancient Giants that they can use as weapons.
Turning to a different variant of Giants, the Yeti Cool Brothers who were introduced during the Punk Hazard Arc and seemingly left in abeyance, could they become relevant again? It seems suspect particularly now the Ancients Giants have become related to the story of Wano Kuni that a mysterious race of Giants would be left in a state of limbo during the Punk Hazard Arc. What mysterious Giant race do Rock and Scotch belong to? And overall how do the Giants fit into the Void Century and One Piece story. Will Rock and Scotch make an appearance during the Wano Kuni Arc? They are known as the Snowy-Mountain Killers and it is snowing! It would be exciting if characters from the Punk Hazard Arc were to make a reappearance again. Looking forward to the next chapter.
12Dimension 