WMG / One Piece Meta

One Piece WMG Main Index | Open Theories, Part One | Open Theories, Part Two | Open Theories, Part Three | Confirmed Theories, Part One | Confirmed Theories, Part Two | Jossed Theories, Part One | Jossed Theories, Part Two | Jossed Theories, Part Three | Straw Hat Crew | Friends And Allies | Warlords And Emperors | Marines And World Government | Other Characters | Plot, History and Lore | Meta | Silly And Just For Fun Theories

For guesses that are meta (anything involving Oda)

All versions of Romance Dawn are (mostly) canon

So, common knowledge in One Piece lore is that there are three versions of the first chapter that introduces Luffy, as well as going over his backstory. Funnily enough, none of these really conflict with each other, and given that there's clearly some time that's unaccounted for between Luffy leaving his home village and his appearance in the first chapter of the manga, during which it's implied he had a handful of solo adventures. My theory is that the main plots of all three versions of Romance Dawn are simultaneously canonical, at least in Broad Strokes to cover any minor continuity errors. (This does mean, however, that the anime adaptation of Romance Dawn V1 is non-canonical, which is kind of expected, as it is a filler episode.) The theory would go as thus;

• Luffy leaves home to become a pirate in a small rowboat.
• Romance Dawn V1 happens. Luffy (who doesn't have a collection of enemy Jolly Rogers here because that wouldn't make sense) spots the ship of the Galley Pirates and takes it for himself. This is the first ship Luffy ever takes control of, although he won't have it for long. He takes the ship to Silk's hometown, where he's mistaken for Galley, and meets Silk, who tells him about how she was orphaned and raised by the town, and so Luffy tells her his history with Shanks in return. While he's chatting, Galley escapes and captures Luffy, then steps on his straw hat and throws Luffy overboard. Silk saves him from drowning, and Luffy destroys Galley's ship and recovers his hat. He sets off on his dinghy for the next adventure, but this is not the last we see of Gally. The epilogue to the one-shot, which shows an older Luffy with Galley and Silk as his crew members, is likely non-canon.
  • He will continue his reign of crime until the Loguetown Arc, where he's captured by Smoker, but gets free (hence his Wanted poster not being crossed out). This frees him up to cameo again aboard the Baratie during the Whole Cake Island Arc.
• Romance Dawn V2 happens. In this one, a bird falls into Luffy's dinghy, which leads to him being picked up by Captain Spiel, who is hunting the bird for its alleged magical properties. We can either ignore the uses of "Black Magic" that Spiel employs, or assume that it's a Devil Fruit which he is passing off as magic. Luffy is imprisoned alongside Ann, the bird's friend who means to free him, and Luffy tells his backstory to her. In Romance Dawn V2, he tells her that Garp gave him the straw hat, but we can replace that with the regular Shanks story with no problems. Spiel sacrifices his ship and his crew to escape with the bird, but Luffy catapults after him and defeats him. Some minor repairs are made to Luffy's dinghy, but these will come apart by the time we reach the third and final version of Romance Dawn.
• The Romance Dawn Arc happens. Luffy is nearly sucked into a whirlpool, but gets saved by abandoning his dinghy and jumping into a barrel at the last second, ending up on Alvida's ship. He meets Koby and encourages him to leave Alvida and join the Marines. Koby defies Alvida and Luffy battles her, which leads to him setting out with Koby and meeting Zoro. The rest, as they say...is history.

The "Pirate's Age" is all a huge metaphor for how empty and dissatisfying modern escapist fiction and materialism is

At first, it looks like there's going to be a simplistic, black and white/good versus evil dichotomy between the dreamers (pirates) and the corrupted rule-makers (World Government and the marines). However, it becomes murkier when we're presented with less idealistic portrayals of pirates, and it becomes clear that even though they've done tons of evil, unforgivable things, law enforcement is needed. There's also some of the older pirates who were once cheerful dreamers like the Strawhats, but the clearest example is probably Mihawk, who achieved his dream of world's greatest swordsman, but is from what we've seen now a scowling middle-aged guy with no friends who picks on rookie swordsman for kicks. The One Piece is sought after, yet the clues of what it yields or whether it exists are vague at best, just a fun idea with no reality or substance. For most pirates, (but especially the young and naive) finding the One Piece is actually just a childish escape. For the main characters, the only treasures truly worth protecting are the people they cherish. However, Oda still goes out of his way to show that despite this, there are still miracles and imagination in the world, that life is wondrous and worth taking care of no matter how hard it might be.

• The Enies Lobby arc furthers this idea, with its climactic battle a subtle deconstruction of shonen battle tropes. The two most powerful people go at it in a truly epic fight that, in the end resolves absolutely nothing. The only thing the two accomplish is preventing the other from accomplishing anything, and in the end both of them collapse near-dead at about the same time, while the day is saved by the secondary characters, in particular one who lost his chosen battle.
• Gaimon's whole character freakin' screams this. I mean, the higher-tier fighters in the world are often rich and tough, but none of them are probably anywhere near as happy and content as Gaimon, who's body is stuck in a chest and his best friends are Mix-and-Match Critters. He's being used to make a case for how a quiet family life can be preferable to one dedicated to seeking power and wealth, and that it's actually okay to be a "little person". Plus, even Makino remarked early on that fighting isn't always the answer, which supports the subtext that all the power struggles are ultimately only hurting the world.
• I don't what manga you've been reading, but I don't think it could be One Piece. Because while a lot of pirates are shown to be really quite bad, Oda's gone out of his way to show that the World Government and the higher ups in the Marines are (with the exception of Garp, sometimes Aokiji and now the new Admiral Fujitora) incredibly evil. He's not subverting the black and white dichotomy, he's reinforcing it. And furthermore, it's reinforced time and again that the naive dreamers in this world are not noble because they have a beautiful but unrealistic dream, it's that the naive dreamers are noble because their dreams are true and the skeptics and scoffers who laugh at them are ultimately the ones who are really naive. The way that Kidd tells Luffy that anywhere else, people will just laugh at you if you say you're going to be the Pirate King, but for them it's something you have to believe if you're going to survive, clinches this.
• What? No mention of Smoker and Tashigi? And lest you've forgotten, (most of) the WG's actions may be backed by paranoia, but they're not For the Evulz. Take, for example, the Poneglyphs, Pluton, and Ohara. Yes, murdering the Oharans was a dick move. But the Poneglyphs also contain the location of what is probably the most destructive weapon in the world. If you were basically in charge of running the world, would you leave the instructions on where to find it to a group of people that you know next-to-nothing about, where every second wasted could mean them finding said information and selling it to a pirate?
  • Except that it's made clear in Robin's flashback that fear of resurrecting the ancient weapons is just a cover for the WG not wanting to the truth about the destruction of the Ancient Kingdom. There are standouts like Smoker, Tashigi, Coby, etc., but when you look at the Tenryubito, slavery, anti-Fishmen racism...it's impossible not to think that the WG brass is out-and-out evil as sin.
  • Nope, not that easy. Precisely because of the role Smoker is given in the story. While he is technically the Strawhat's enemy, by now they pretty much always work together, and they apparently actually like each other (although Smoker would obviously never admit that). So he is clearly considered a good guy, by the author as well as by the audience. And yet he remains in the marines, with full conviction. Not always agreeing with what his superiors are doing, but still considering being a marine an important job for the world. And that's not portrayed in a negative light. If the marines were supposed to be the unquestionably evil side of a moral dichotomy, that wouldn't be possible. Either he would have been required to leave the marines by now, or he would have to be painted as naive for trying (and failing) to do good as a marine. Neither has happened, so Oda very much acknowledges that the marines are not downright and irredeemable evil.
  • ...So what you're saying is that there IS a moral dichotomy, but it isn't Pirates vs Marines, it's good guys vs assholes. There's a difference between moral shades of gray and "not every person in this particular group is a walking hate crime."

Blackbeard, Hancock, and Mihawk are all deliberate darker counterparts to Luffy, Nami, and Zoro respectively

Or, rather, what all three of them would be in danger of becoming the future if they ever started placing their dreams, ambitions, and/or pride above their moral responsibilities and loved ones.

One Piece is set in Earth's far future.

Eight hundred years ago, the technologically-advanced lost civilization from the "Blank Century" became so powerful that the weapons it created obliterated most of humanity, melted the polar ice-caps, and reshaped the continents. The shattered remnants of civilization banded together to form the World Government, which tasked itself with preventing the knowledge left behind by the ancients from falling into the wrong hands. Only, after centuries of complacence, maybe the World Government's hands are the wrong ones...

The One Piece world's birth rate has been plunging to a dangerous degree

No, seriously. Tons of young men are going out at sea for years and years and frequently getting killed and not raising families. The World Government is just plain trigger happy and causing tons of useless deaths. And the women male pirates could impregnate anyway? Knowing the WG's track record and info gathering skills, they're probably almost never safe either, and neither are any innocent women who probably aren't involved in the first place but got implicated anyway. Seeing as how in Real Life it's widely documented that Japan's birth rate has become way too low, the implications of the current situation in the OP world probably aren't lost on Oda.

• This is the reason that most of the characters lack last names; people die so fast that two people with the same name almost never have the chance to meet each other.

The ending is going to be INSANELY HAPPY no matter certain things turn out

It's possible that the One Piece will not exist, and/or that some (if not all) of the Strawhats won't achieve their dreams or get what they expected. However, it's still going to be insanely happy because the characters are together and have come to care for one another so deeply. This ending was already hinted at with Gaimon and how even if he didn't get the treasure he waited 20 years for, he was still happy because of his animal friends.

One Piece is actually a Stealth Parody of battle shonen

Things can only get so crazy until you start wondering this.

Oda is deliberatly screwing with the censors, both American and Japanese.

It seems like whenever Toei or 4Kids changed something big about the world of OP, Oda turned back around and did something in the manga that totally negated whatever they did. This could be his way of trying to Wag the Director. For example:

• 4Kids cut out the Laboon arc and Crocus. Laboon turns out to be related to a crewman and Crocus to how Gold Roger was captured.
• 4Kids cut out the Little Garden arc and the giants. Later, the crew is saved from battle because they had met those giants.
• Toei introduced a filler arc where the crew met dragons and Zoro could cut steel. Zoro later explicitly says that he is incapable of cutting steel and that he doesn't believe in dragons.
  • In addition, Luffy and Zoro encounter a dragon in Punk Hazard. Zoro comments that this is the first time he's seen one. The anime handled that by retconning the dragon previously seen, keeping the line of him having never seen one before.
• Toei changed Mr. 2 Bon Kurei from an Okama into a Ballet Dancer. Later, there's both an entire island of crossdressers and a major character that can only be described as Dr. Frank-N-Furter on Kryptonian DNA.

And all of this seems to be working too, because in the latest One Piece episodes, Bon Clay has gone back to referring to himself as an Okama.

• Considering his personality, fandom has every right to suspect he just likes screwing with people period.

In the original draft, Enies Lobby and Thriller Bark were flipped

Thriller Bark seems a bit of an odd duck for One Piece. They go from the epic battle for Enies Lobby to what amounts to a random encounter. Sure, it's a Shichibukai, but it does nothing to further the metaplot and even the WG decides they are going to pretend it didn't happen. My theory: Originally, they would have landed in the Florian Triangle, found Brook, defeated Moriah, and run into Aokiji after instead of Kuma. Then they would have gone to Water 7 and things would have proceeded from there, except with Brook fighting Fukurou (Franky was a late addition due to Oda liking his voice actor), and Kuma's first attack would have happened during the Buster Call.

• The reason it was reversed were because Oda liked Franky's voice actor and wanted his character in sooner, he wanted to speed up the reveal of Robin's backstory, and because he realized the damage to the Going Merry was too extensive and it needed replacement sooner than he originally planned.
  • Maybe. Or Oda could could have just decided to give us a quick break relieve some tension before moving on to a battle that's supposed to shake the foundations of the One Piece world.
• Alternatively, I suspect the Thriller Bark arc was originally supposed to happen only after Fishman Island. This explains why Moriah's position as a Shichibukai wasn't revoked after his defeat; he was still supposed to partake in the earlier planned Whitebeard war arc. Moriah's backstory has him as the rival of a Yonkou, suggesting he should have been encountered in the new world instead. Moriah's special zombie was going to be Oars Jr., not Oars. Also, Brook does pretty much nothing during the Shaboady arc, suggesting he wasn't planned to be there. Oda probably decided to put Thriller Bark in early because he realised that he needed a Breather Arc between Enies Lobby and Shaboady, as well as wanting the crew to have an earlier encounter with Kuma.
• The One Piece Green databook confirms that Oda originally had the idea of Brook joining the crew before Franky, but doesn't reveal why he changed it around.

When Oda said a human eating the Hito Hito no Mi would become enlightened, he was foreshadowing Sengoku's powers.

Since Sengoku's fruit has been confirmed to be the Hito Hito no Mi: Model Daibatsu, I think it's clear that Oda was referring to him when he answered that question.

• The "person will become enlightened" thing is a very spectacular case of God Never Said Beam Me Up, Scotty! - the actual quote is that the person would "become a human" which Oda goes on to say is something like becoming an adult or finding your true spirit. Absolutely none of that however discounts the possibility that Sengoku's fruit is a deliberate joke about the "person will become enlightened" rumor on Oda's part.

Oda giving Perona a similar reaction shot like one he gave to Eneru was a challenge to the anime's producers.

If you recall, Eneru had an EPIC reaction shot when he discovered that Luffy, with his rubber body, was utterly immune to his electrical powers. But when it was repeated in the anime (episode 182), it just didn't measure up visually. Oda was likely disappointed, so he did something about it later. In Chapter 461, he gave Perona the same exact reaction when she finds out that Usopp was immune to her Negative Hollow attack. It was as if he was challenging the anime producers: "Okay, let's try this reaction shot again." Arguably, when animated in episode 356, it was a lot better the second time around.

Oda is intentionally avoiding a Water-Water fruit.

I don't think there's ever been a Devil Fruit (either Paramecia or Logia) that allows the user to manipulate water. The closest he's come was the Bubble-Bubble fruit and the Freeze-Freeze Fruit. Now, in-universe this could likely be explained by the Devil Fruits not mixing well with water (ie, people who eat them can't swim), but the real motivation behind it is likely more simple: There's no way anyone could realistically fight such a Devil Fruit user at sea, it would be game over...although, such a user would make an awesome final Big Bad. Imagine it: Throw him in the sea...he just moves it out of the way, and lands on the dry bottom!

• Confirmed? Of course he's avoiding a water fruit; not only would it contradict the laws of the world he's created, but it would be incredibly over-powered against Devil Fruit users. Although due to the nature of the question, this can't be put anywhere else until Oda himself talks...
• On a similar note, we have yet to see any Zoan fruits for aquatic animals either. No Fish-Fish fruit, or Shark-Shark fruit, or even a Frog-Frog fruit, heck I don't think I've seen any for animals that work as both land and sea creatures. Wouldn't be surprised if it's for the same reason.
  • Zoan type fruit, Sala-Sala: Axolotl Model. And note, it is a standard fruit, not artificial.
  • Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon. A standard fruit, not an artificial fruit. Eaten by Kaido.

Haki is the willpower Oda uses to answer many of the SBS questions

And the protagonists(as well as some of the antagonists)have been using it from the beginning to pull of all the determinator stuff. Zoro especially uses it to survive and, possibly,after the battle with Mr 1 to <<hear the breath of all things>>.

• Except that Haki is closer to ambition in meaning than willpower.

The nature of One Piece will mean that Luffy does destroy Fishman Island

Oda threw in a red herring when Jinbe talked of importing straw hats just like Luffy's to the Island, but I'm betting it's a double-bluff and Luffy will indeed destroy Fishman Island because to get the One Piece he needs to destroy the Grand Line itself. My guess at the nature of One Piece is that it is their world, and all the oceans of and to achieve it Luffy will need to use the three weapons to destroy the Grand (& possibly Red) Line. Given where Fishman Island is it will be major collateral damage so Luffy will know exactly what he's doing. On the other hand doing that will ensure Sanji's dream of the All-Blue, Brook getting to see Laboon again and maybe Franky sailing his ship around the world so maybe it's worth it.What's more Oda has given us a time-frame in how Madame Sharley's visions can take up to a year to happen. And that just happens to be when the Reverie takes place, the one that the Fishmen plan to use to tell the world they wish to re-integrate with it. How long that year will take in story-time is a different matter and the events afterward don't have to be the end of the story.

Potential Funimation Cast

I don't know if one's present on these lists, but the idea is, "Who would Funimation hire as VAs for the coming dubs?" Everyone could post here, seeing that I can only think of one.

• Dr. Hogback will be voiced by Mike Pollock, better known for his role as Dr. Eggman. It fits too well. Both are renowned doctors, incredibly skilled in their own fields of study. Both are rather obease and eggshapped, they even both have round sunglasses. Eggman's English "Hohohoho!" Could easily dub over the Japanese "Oshvoshvosh" if they decided not to keep the original laugh.
• Personally i have dream that, considering he hasnt done much live acting this past decade but is doing more notable voice acting, when funimation eventually gets to impel down, if people really get behind it and request it:

We could actually get Tim Curry to voice Ivankov, it needs to happen, it would be so poetic i would die of happiness.

• Jossed on Hogback, he is voiced by Marcus D. Stimac.

Neptune pronouncing Zoro's name as "Zori" is a Take That! to 4Kids calling him Zolo.

Kinda late, actually.

the 4Kids dubbing was intentional in some of the edits.

Now, don't get me wrong, 4Kids edited the One Piece dub in all the wrong places at times... but if you also think about it, they ended up "Accidentally" killing off characters twice. Kuina was essentially given a mob hit to take her out of the picture. Bell-Mere was locked up in the dungeon and could be implied to have starved to death. Who's to say they didn't do this intentionally... to get around their own standards of censoring.

Characters are going to start dying more often.

Monet and Vergo's deaths seemed a bit sudden and unneeded, and they're part of a very small group of characters that die outside of a flashback. Perhaps this is Oda saying that the New World doesn't mess around, and death is a very common thing, and characters both good and bad are going to start dying more often in the future.

• Jossed. No one else died in that arc, including Brownbeard and all marine soldiers who were supposed to be dead because of Shinokuni. The same goes for Law and Caesar both of which survived 3 gun shots in heart (Law concealed Caesar's heart near his own). This also brings a possibility of Monet surviving heart stab, given that she she is a logia
  • No, Monet is dead. And it's not really Jossed until the series goes on further, there's only been one (incomplete) arc since these two died. There's plenty of time for non-flashback death.
    • Monet is alive. Hence why her attack was shown in a ocean after Mugiwaras left Punk Hazard, and hence why she is still mentioned in flashbacks. Until her death is confirmed, she is alive. The same is with Vergo. Oda didn't confirm their death. And Vergo was recently revealed to be a first Corazon, it is like he is already confirmed to be alive.
    • Vergo is at least dead, Doflamingo confirmed it.

Oda TOTALLY had the browser in mind when he created Kinemon.

Oda ate (and probably awakened) the Zou Zou no mi

That's why he never forgets

Characters nationality guesses

Supernovas and Their Crews

• Trafalgar Law: German (Has German-named attacks) or Italian (his hometown, Flevance shares several of its traits with Casale Monferrato. Both were nicknamed the "White City" and developed an industry centered on the mining and use of toxic materials.)
  • German is confirmed.
• Bepo: Canadian/Russian/Greenlandic (polar bear Mink)
• Scrathmen Apoo: Chinese (wears a qipao and is named after Chinese pirate Apui)
  • Confirmed.
• Capone Bege: Italian (Mafia theme)
  • Confirmed.
• Drake: Scottish/Irish (broad-chin and reddish hair)
  • Jossed. Turkish.
• Urouge: Indian (Buddhism theme)
  • Confirmed.
• Bonney: Hungarian (a pun on the word hungry)
  • Jossed. Australian.
• Basil Hawkins: Haitian (Voodoo magic) or Italian (Tarot reader)
  • Jossed. Egyptian.

Warlords and Their Crews

• Crocodile: Italian (Mafia theme)
• Doflamingo: Spanish (named after Don Quixote, the main character of a famous Spanish novel)
• Monet: Greek (Harpy)
• Lao G: American (seemingly based on Steve Rogers)
• Mihawk: Spanish (He wears black and red ornate clothing with a crucifix pendant that hides a little dagger, which gives him the appearance of a Spanish swordsman) or Romanian/Transylvanian (Dracula theme)
• Boa Hancock-Chinese (wears a qipao and lives in an Ancient Chinese Palace) or Greek (Amazon tribe, Gorgon powers)
• Moria: Romanian/Transylvanian (gothic theme)
• Perona: Japanese or British (Lolita fashion)
• Dr. Hogback: Swiss (based on Dr. Frankenstein)

Emperors and Their Crews

• Whitebeard Pirates:
  • Whitebeard: Greek (His similarities with the Greek god, Poseidon, who are both emperors of the seas) or English (like his namesake, Edward Teach)
  • Ace: Filipino (his hometown, Gray Terminal was based on Smokey Mountain, a famous slum in Manila)
  • Marco: Italian (Named after the famous Italian explorer, Marco Polo) or Greek (Phoneix originated from Greek mythology)
  • Kingdew: Fijian (Dark-skinned blonde)
  • Speed Jiru: Italian/French (resembles a crusader)
  • Oars Jr.: Japanese (oni giant)
  • Izou: Japanese (Geisha crossdresser)
• Red-Haired Pirates:
  • Shanks: Irish?
  • Yasopp: Morroco?
• Blackbeard Pirates:
  • Marshall D. Teach: English (like the real Blackbeard)
    • Jossed. Somalian.
  • Shiryu: Japanese (modeled after Yasunori Kato, his name translates to "death dragon") or German/Austrian (clothing based on the SS uniform)
  • Jesus Burgess: Mexican (Masked Luchador, plus lucha libre fighting style)
  • Avalo Pizarro: Spanish (name based on the Pizarro brothers and the Spanish word avaro) or Mongolian (fur coat and Fu Manchu mustache)
  • Lafitte: French (based on Jean Lafitte)
  • Van Augur: German (based on a German film)
  • Catarina Devon: Spanish (based on Catalina De Erauso)
  • Vasco Shot: Portuguese (likely named after Vasco de Gama) or Spanish (likely named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa)
  • Sanjuan Wolf: Icelandic (from Elbaf)
• Beasts Pirates:
  • Kaido: Mongolian (Fu Manchu mustache, His name can translate into "Church" or "Temple", and wears a Shimenawa for a belt)
  • Jack: Mongolian (mammoth theme)
  • Queen: French (based on Obelix)
  • King: German/Austrian (clothing resembles an SS uniform)
  • Page One: Japanese (named after the card game Page One)
  • Ulti: Hungarian (named after the card game Ulti) or Japanese (her name is in hiragana with some katakana)
  • Who's Who: British (named after the card game Who's Who)
  • Black Maria: British (named after the card game Black Maria)
  • Sasaki: Korean (named after the card game 44A, or Sasaki) or Hawaiian (Bluespine unicornfish)
• Buggy Pirates/Cross Guild:
  • Buggy: American (likely based on the Joker)
  • Alvida: American (cowboy appearance)
• Big Mom Pirates:
  • Charlotte Lillin and by extension, all her children: British (Whole Cake Island is based on "Alice in Wonderland")
  • Pekoms: Kenyan (lion Mink)
• Straw Hat Pirates (including the Grand Fleet):
  • Jimbei: Japanese (Oni facial features and sumo fighting style)
    • Jossed. Indian.
  • Bartolomeo: Portuguese (based on Bartolomeu Português)
  • Orlumbus and Columbus: Italian (based on Christopher Columbus)
  • Cavendish/Habuka: French (Musketeer) or British (based on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)
  • Chinjao: Chinese (Kano Country is based on China)
  • Suleiman: Turkish (based on Suleiman Reis)
  • Jeet: Indian (Sikh turban and brown skin)

Other Pirates

• Roger: French (based on Olivier Levasseur) or English (based on Henry Every, wears Englishman clothing)
• Rayleigh: English (likely named after John Silver and Sir Walter Raleigh)
• Kuro: British (Butler theme)
• Krieg: German (his name is possibly a pun a blitzkrieg, an intense military campaign intended to bring about a swift victory, which fits Krieg’s fighting style)
• Arlong: Bahamian (saw shark fishman, wears tropical clothing)
• Vander Decken: Dutch (based on Flying Dutchman)
• Hody Jones: British (named after Davy Jones)
• Xebec: Lybian / Tunisian / Algerian (named after a ship used by the Barbary Pirates)
• Shiki: Hawaiian (his strength and gigantic statue reminds me of King Kamehameha)

Revolutionary Army

• Dragon: Brazilian (related to Luffy, whose real-life nationality would be Brazilian)
• Sabo: English (appears to be modeled after Oliver Twist)
• Koala: Australian (koala bear theme)
• Hack: Japanese (Japanese soldierfish fishman)
• Ivankov: Transylvanian or British (modeled after Dr. Frank-N-Furter)
• Ginny: Australian (Bonney's mother)
• Belo Betty: French (based on Liberty Leading the People painting)
• Kuma: Italian (aesthetics of his Nika church resemble Catholic ones)

Marines

• Garp: Brazilian (related to Luffy, whose real-life nationality would be Brazilian)
• Sengoku: Thai (Buddha theme) or Japanese (named after the Sengoku period, and his name translates to "warring states")
• Aokiji/Kuzan: Japanese (modeled after Yusaku Matsuda) or Argentinian (tanned skin and his pet resembles a Magellanic penguin)
• Kizaru/Borsalino: Italian (his name reference to the Italian hat company Borsalino, bears a striking resemblance to Sylvester Stallone and Al Pacino) or Japanese (modeled after Kunie Tanaka)
• Akainu/Sakazuki: Japanese (Modeled after the late Bunta Sugawara famous for playing Yakuza gangsters) or Hawaiian (Volcano powers)
• Fujitora/Issho: Japanese (Modeled after Shiintaro Katsu, famous for portraying Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman)
• Ryokugyu/Aramaki: Chinese (don’t know just a feeling) or Japanese (modeled after Yoshio Harada)
• Momousagi/Gion: Japanese (modeled after Michiyo Kogure)
• Chaton/Tokikake: Japanese (modeled after Kyoshi Atsumi)
• Kurouma/Tensei: Japanese (modeled after Akira Kobayashi)
• Smoker: American (is possibly inspired by Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood)
• Tashigi: Japanese (Meganekko stereotype)
• Strawberry: Chinese (long beard, Dao swords)
• Dalmatian: Croatian (Dalmatians originated in Croatia)
• Bastille: French (based on the Man in the Iron Mask and named after a French Prison)
• Doll: German (Goth)
• Bogard: American (likely based on Humphrey Bogart)
• Koby: Japanese (just a feeling)
• Morgan: Welsh (named after Henry Morgan)

World Government

• Imu: Greek or Persian (it could be said he is the King of Kings, the title used by Byzantine and Persian emperors)
• Jaygarcia Saturn: German (based on Karl Marx) or Italian (based on Giuseppe Garibaldi)
• Marcus Mars: Japanese (based on Taisuke Itagaki)
• Topman Warcury: Russian (based on Mikhail Gorbachev)
• Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro: Indian (based on Mahatma Gandhi)
• Shepherd Ju Peter: American (based on Abraham Lincoln)
• Garling: American (resembles Mac Tonight / Moon Man)

Cipher Pol

• Lucci: Italian (his name sounds close to luce, which means "light" in Italian)
• Kumadori: Japanese (Kabuki theatrics)
• Spandam: Chinese (panda theme)
• Kaku: Italian (based on Pinnochio)
• Jabra: Mongolian (martial artist clothes, Fu Manchu mustache)
• Nero: American (Cowboy theme)

SSG/MADS

• Vegapunk: Jewish (based on Albert Einstein)
• Shaka: French (based on Daft Punk)
• Sentomaru: Japanese (based on Kintaro)
• Caesar Clown: Japanese (He’s Orochimaru with Mayuri Kurotsuchi’s abilities, or potentially based on Shiro Ishii) or German (based on Josef Mengele)
• Vinsmoke Judge: German (Germa Kingdom appears to be based on Nazi Germany)

Other Characters

• Vivi: Egyptian (her surname "Nefeltari", is similar to "Nefertiti" which in Ancient Egypt meant "the most beautiful" or "most wonderful." It was a word often used to describe Egyptian queens and princesses)
• Oars: Japanese (oni giant)
• Kureha: Canadian (same home country as Chopper's)
• Dalton: Greek (Minotaur motif)
• Camie: Thai (Kissing Gourami mermaid)
• Enel: Italian (Shares the same name as an Italian electric company)
• Gan Fall: German (Prussian armor)
• Wyper, and by extension the Shandia: Native American (based on said tribes)
• Kyros: Greek (Gladiator) or British (toy form resembles a British Royal Guard)
• Gaburu: Argentinian or Cuban (based on Che Guevara)
• Shirahoshi: Somewhere in the Indo-Pacific region (smelt-whiting mermaid) or Greek (based on the Greek god Poseidon)
• Neptune: Italian (based on the Roman god Neptune)
• Otohime: Chinese (goldfish mermaid)
• Morgans: Mauritian (based on a Dodo)
• Gaimon: Jamaican (afro and dark skin)
• Zeff: British (based on John Silver)
• Clover: Russian (same home country as Robin's)

Age Guesses

• Benn Beckman: 41-43
  • Jossed. He is 48 pre-time skip and 50 post-time skip.
• Yasopp: 39
  • Jossed. He is 45 pre-time skip and 47 post-time skip.
• Lucky Roo: 39-42
  • Jossed. He is 33 pre-time skip and 35 post-time skip.
• Marco: 40-45
  • Confirmed. He is 43 pre-time skip and 45 post-time skip.
• Jozu: 40-44
  • Confirmed. He is 40 pre-time skip and 42 post-time skip.
• Kaido: 65-71
  • Jossed. He is 59.
• Shiryu: 40-42
  • Half-confirmed. He is 42 pre-time skip and 44 post-time skip.
• Jesus Burgess: 42-44
  • Jossed. He is 27 pre-time skip and 29 post-time skip.
• Lafitte: 39-42
  • Confirmed. He is 39 pre-time skip and 41 post-time skip.
• Doc Q: 32-42
  • Jossed. He is 26 pre-time skip and 28 post-time skip.
• Catarina: 49-62
  • Jossed. She is 34 pre-time skip and 36 post-time skip.
• Pizarro: 55-64
  • Jossed. He is 40 pre-time skip and 42 post-time skip.
• Van Augur: 38-40
  • Jossed. He is 25 pre-time skip and 27 post-time skip.
• Vasco: 55-66
  • Jossed. He is 36 pre-time skip and 38 post-time skip.
• Sanjuan: 160-200
  • Jossed. He is 97 pre-time skip and 99 post-time skip.
• Fujitora: 57
  • Jossed. He is 54. Close though.

Yamato was created as a Suspiciously Similar Substitute to Carrot.

Carrot and Yamato have a lot of surface level similarities: They have similar personalities, they gain their power from transformations, one is a Funny Animal while one has a transformation into one, they're both girls, and both had a lot of teases to join the Straw Hat crew. Yamato was also introduced not long after Carrot started to become Out of Focus. Perhaps Oda decided that he was unhappy with the character of Carrot, and created a new character to take the role that he had originally envisioned for her. Of course, Yamato didn't join the Straw Hats either, so maybe he simply decided his issues were too deeply rooted.

Oda intends for Devil Fruits that were returned into circulation to become plot-important later on

Specifically, the Yuki Yuki no Mi (formerly possessed by Monet) and the Nagi Nagi no Mi (Rocinante's former fruit). Because Oda never forgets.

The One Piece world as we know it is part of a HUGE network of legitimate alternate universes

The world of seafaring pirates that we know the One Piece franchise to be all about? It's legit in its own setting. The episodes set in feudal Japan where Luffy is a bumbling policeman, Usopp is his deputy, Nami owns a restaurant and Sanji is said restaurant's head cook? It's legit. The series of Nissan Hungry Days instant-cup-noodles commercials that have, as their backdrop, the One Piece cast in a High School AU setting (including changing certain characters' species to fit the setting)? It's legit. The various non-pirate Mugiwara Theatre stories? They're legit. Even the fanfics out there (like This Bites!) are part of the multiverse...and the original manga is the "prime" universe.