4-DEVIL FRUITS AND SMILES
So now we have a scenario where Vegapunk goes to Wano. What purpose does the narrative of the story have for bringing him here? Simple, he’ll explain everything he knows about Devil Fruits.
I think we can all agree that there’s a good likelihood that all the unresolved plotlines of Punk Hazard will be resolved in Wano, since this is the arc Punk Hazard had been building towards. The fight against Kaido, Kin’emon and Momonosuke, the alliance with Law – it’s all set to climax in Wano. Interestingly, Punk Hazard was also the first arc where Oda started planting the seeds for finally revealing to us how Devil Fruits work.
Back in Punk Hazard, Oda gave us our first concrete evidence for how a Devil Fruit is born once a fruit user dies by having us witness Smiley’s death and the subsequent resurrection of its fruit. Later, during Dressrosa, Oda has a character explicitly tell us how the process works. This is also when he first revealed the term Bloodline Elements. Two arcs later, in Whole Cake Island, Yonji provides us additional information on the matter.
Essentially, since Punk Hazard, Oda has slowly been sowing a narrative thread explaining the formation of Devil Fruits. As with all other Punk Hazard plotlines, he likely plans to have it climax in Wano alongside Vegapunk’s arrival. It makes no sense for everything else to be resolved and yet the questions unique to Vegapunk are left for a future story arc.
If anything, Vegapunk’s arrival to Wano – the island where the crew is fighting fake Devil Fruits – marks the perfect time for him finally answer the following:
- What are Devil Fruits, where do they come from, and how do they grant you their powers?
- Why is it that Caesar’s fruits are only Zoans. Why are the fruits Vegapunk fed to objects only Zoans? Is there a correlation?
- Why was Momonosuke’s fruit considered a failure? If Caesar truly did use this fruit as his basis for his SMILES, where did he fuck up so badly? If both fruits are failures, why doesn’t Momo have any side-effects?
- Is it possible for a user to have their powers taken without them dying? This is essentially what would need to happen to the people of Ebisu Town for them to be cured.
5-THE STRAW HATS AND FRANKY
Lastly, the final point I want to address is how Vegapunk’s arrival will be a boon to the Straw Hats. I think I’ve made it clear my belief that Vegapunk will ultimately be a good-ish character, and I also think he’ll use his wealth of knowledge to help the crew, something that would benefit a good chunk of the Straw Hats.
- Nami knows to question him about his discoveries with Sea Stone and how it can be used to navigate the Calm Belt. Coincidentally, Wano’s the island that mines and processes Seastone.
- Sanji can talk to him about his time with his father and provide some history to Germa.
- Chopper can talk to him about his Rumble Ball and discover that his Monster Point is actually him awakening his fruit. Maybe Vegapunk could teach him how to access it without the candy. Vegapunk would also likely want to meet the doctor who took his time to rescue and save the children of Punk Hazard.
- Usopp and Robin could also both be greatly interested in talking with him simply due to their characters.
However, the biggest contender I think is Franky and his ultimate role in the arc. If you assume for a moment that Vegapunk comes to Wano, wouldn’t this be the perfect setup for Franky’s 1v1 of the arc?
Franky spent the timeskip researching Vegapunk’s old designs on his home island. He was also the one to discover Kuma still protecting the ship, and later stressed the importance that Kuma was their benefactor by scattering them on Sabaody two years prior. However, his respect for Vegapunk could go even deeper than that because Vegapunk, by honoring Kuma’s wishes to protect the Sunny for two years, literally saved Franky’s dream during a time where Franky wasn’t there to do it himself.
So let’s assume a scenario where Vegapunk comes to Wano. Wano, being the ultimate culmination of everything since Punk Hazard, is finally the arc where we get individualized 1v1s for each Straw Hats. Just like with Luffy remembering Rayleigh during his fight with Katakuri, each of the Straw Hats would push themselves to new limits by remembering the struggles they endured during the timeskip to find the resolve during their fight against the Beasts Pirates.
Franky specifically could remember his time on Vegapunk’s island while pushing himself to the extreme to protect/rescue the man who in turn protected his own dream by allowing Kuma’s final wish. It would make for one hell of a Franky fight.
All this to say, I think Oda is crafting a perfect storm to finally bring Vegapunk into the story. Now is the time to do it. I hope I was able to convince you why I think it is.
*Theory by Therrester
