Did Haki exist before the time skip? Many suggest that Shanks used Conqueror’s Haki in the first chapter. Then Luffy used Observation Haki against Mr. 3 when he was able to know which was him when he made all the wax clones. Also for those who claim that in the pre time skip nobody used Haki, if you read the manga there are tons of examples of Haki being used before the time skip. Both regular and Advanced Armament are confirmed to have been used multiple times before the time skip. I’ll go over examples before even Marineford:
Garp’s Fist of Love at the end of Ennies Lobby:
Rayleigh using Advanced Armament:
Rayleigh Fighting Kizaru with Armament:
Sentomaru using Advanced Armament:
Kuja Warriors in Amazon Lily:
By the time we get to the timeskip, we’ve already seen characters like Whitebeard, Shanks, Marco, Akainu, Aokiji, Kizaru, Vista, Jozu, Boa Hancock, Marigold and Sandersonia all use Haki (with the Three Admirals using advanced Haki).
Oda has stated in interviews that he had the concept of Haki in mind from a relatively early point in the series. The post-time skip era allowed for greater exploration and development of Haki as part of the characters’ growth and the evolving storyline. This was a deliberate narrative choice by Oda to keep the story engaging and to reveal more about the world of “One Piece” as the series progressed.
