As we approach the end game of One Piece, the community has begun to realise the increasing importance of Skypiea. At the time, it seemed like a self-contained detour from the main conflicts of One Piece. But now , we realise just how much foundations Oda built with Skypeia. Oda was planting concepts and narratives a decade before he actually draws them.
I believe that the more we know about the lore of One Piece, the more storylines we’ll find connected to Skypiea. This post aims to document all the existing “foreshadows” people have found in Skypiea. And the ones that I found but haven’t seen mentioned.
1. Thematic and Narrative Foundation
The entire history of Skypiea is very similar to the whole conflict at large in One Piece.
In Skypiea, an ancient civilization (Shandora/Ancient Kingdom) suddenly went and disappeared out of nowhere leaving behind unfulfilled promise (Noland and Kalgara/Joy Boy prophecy).
This ancient civilization has met with a Self Proclaimed God ( God position/Celestial Dragon) who slaughtered their people and take over their land
A will is passed down to the descendants of this civilisation to slay the False Gods and fulfill the historical promise (Modern day Shandora/Will of D.). Flashforward to present day, a False God (Enel/Celestial Dragons) still rules over the land with an iron fist in a sanctuary high above the common people (The Temple/Mary Geoise). Any ill talk or negativity directed towards the God is silenced and cleansed.
The False God can make entire islands disappear from the map(Angel Island and Enel’s home island/ God’s Valley).
That is until, he is confronted by his Natural Enemy. The Natural Enemy of The God
Skypiaa’s story is a miniature of the huge endgame global conflict of One Piece. IT ALL COMES BACK TO SKYPEIA.
2. Ties to the Ancient Kingdom
Shandora is, by far in the story, the location most connected to The Ancient Kingdom and Void Century. Their culture dates back 1000 years before the story, 200 years before the Void Century. It is THE ONLY CULTURE WHERE PONEGLYPH LANGUAGE IS USED COMMONLY.
The City of Shandora fell to ruin protecting the Poneglyph from an enemy. We can now safely assume that enemy is the Celestial Dragons.
There is also the detail of an Ark. Throughout the entire story of One Piece, there are only 2 ships that are considered an Ark: Noah (Fishman Island) and Maxim (Enel). Now I want you to really think about it. How the hell did Enel design Ark Maxim? My guy legit designed a massive flying Ark powered by electricity. Franky and Tom can get the hell outta here. Enel’s the greatest shipwright in One Piece. Except obviously I don’t think he designed the Ark Maxim. Enel based Ark Maxim design from Joy Boy’s Noah. There is a very particular aspect of Enel character and belief that leads me to this conclusion. I will cover it in more detail in its own section
Additionally, the story of Noland and Kalgara takes place exactly 400 years before One Piece. The exact half way point between The Void Century and Current Day.
The biggest mystery of One PIece in the blank century and ancient kingdom is DIRECTLY TIED to Shandora. ONCE AGAIN, IT ALL COMES BACK TO SKYPEIA.
3. The Sun God
The importance of the Sun imagery has been repeatedly highlighted post timeskip: The Sun Pirates, how 9 individuals will bring Dawn to Wano, The Dawn that Pedro refers to and finally the bombshell that is Sun God Nika.
But what if i told you, we’ve seen mention of the Sun God ALL THE WAY BACK IN SKYPEIA?
No , it wasn’t some metaphors or similarities. The Shandorians LITERALLY worship a Sun God:
Also , we’ve already seen something incredibly similar to the image of Nika:
The silhouette of Luffy dancing against the giant bonfire in Skypeia in one of Oda’s top 3 favourite panels.
Luffy, the Sun God and the Joy Boy prophecy might have took shape RIGHT THERE. BECAUSE IT ALL COMES BACK TO SKYPIEA.
