One Piece chapter 1159 will most likely go down as one of the most shocking and memorable chapters in the entire series. Oda packed a ton of juicy lore drops and intriguing reveals into this specific section of the manga, but while many fans are mostly talking about Rocks and his fascinating connection to the Davy Clan, another legendary character who received a pretty big focus was none other than Luffy's father, Monkey D. Dragon.
At this point in the flashback, Dragon was still a young and innocent Marine who had yet to make his jump over to the Revolutionary Army, which he currently leads in the main story. Ever since Dragon was first introduced near the beginning of the One Piece story, fans have been eager to learn why and how the stoic warrior came to become the leader of such a powerful force in his older years, but the latest manga chapter has provided the answers that people have been seeking for many years. With that being said, here is what chapter 1159 says about Dragon's mindset when he was Marine, and more importantly, how this convinced him to become a Revolutionary not long after the God Valley Incident.
Dragon Was At God Valley
He Was On Ground Zero During The Native Hunting Competition
- Dragon witnessed the brutality of the Marines first hand
- What he saw during the Native Hunting Competition deeply affected him
- He found no justice serving as a Marine
Though it's been known for a while that Dragon was once a member of the Marines, the latest chapter is the first time fans have been able to actually see the future Revolutionary working directly under the command of the World Government. Despite clearly being very young, Dragon was unfortunate enough to be sent to assist with the Celestial Dragons' merciless Native Hunting Competition, where he was tasked with eliminating ordinary citizens, regardless of whether they were criminals, or just innocent bystanders. While most of the other Marines, and especially the Celestial Dragons, seemed more than happy to slaughter everything in sight without a second thought, Dragon was the exception.
He initially hesitates to even pull the trigger when coming up against a group of residents, and desperately tries to convince himself that since he is using tranquilizer bullets, he's not technically killing anyone in cold blood. As the competition went on though, the brutality of the Marines only became more and more evident, until eventually, they would start using tear gas to try and take down any civilians who were still trying to resist their advances.
This didn't go unnoticed by a young Dragon, who, despite being fairly naive and timid, was clearly emotionally troubled by everything that was going on around him. The Native Hunting Competition is undoubtedly one of the worst crimes the Celestial Dragons and Marines have ever been involved in, so while it makes sense that this would push Dragon towards leaving his position, there is another moment at the very end of the chapter which probably encouraged him more than anything else to go his own way.
Dragon Meets A Young Blackbeard
The Marine Realized How Far The Marines Were Willing To Go
While there are many important characters who make an appearance in this chapter, one particular individual who fans have been clamoring to learn more about for a very long time is Blackbeard. A young Marshall D. Teach shows up at the very end of the chapter, where he can be seen being protected by an injured woman who is presumed to be the mother of Shanks and Shamrock. Just as Teach is about to be displayed as a trophy, Dragon barges into the cell and finds the woman begging him to rescue the young boy, who was clearly in no state to defend himself considering his age.
Dragon had already witnessed a lot up to this point in the tournament, but seeing a young and defenseless boy being set up to become a "valuable prize" for the Celestial Dragons was something he simply couldn't ignore. While all the Marines are taught to follow their orders without question, it's heavily implied that Dragon decided to instead side with the injured woman and Teach on this particular occasion, since it would have been extremely immoral of him to just leave them stranded knowing what would have happened.
"I spent some time in the Navy. Sadly, I couldn't find any of the justice they wore on their backs" - Dragon
Of course, rescuing someone who is now known to be a member of the legendary Davy clan would be considered a heinous crime for a Marine to commit, so it definitely makes sense why Dragon would have abandoned his post after this horrific incident. Thankfully though, Dragon would survive the ordeal and go on to become one of the most influential and powerful leaders in the world of One Piece, to the point where even the World Government as a whole consider the Revolutionary Army a significant threat to their influence and social standing.
How Powerful Is Dragon And The Revolutionaries?
Dragon Amassed A Powerful Army Of Followers After God Valley
- The Revolutionaries have been a consistent thorn in the government's side
- Sabo saw Imu with his own eyes and lived to tell the tale
- Dragon is powerful, but his Devil Fruit ability is still unknown
Though it would end up taking a few years, Dragon's name would eventually spread far and wide after he decided to become a freedom fighter. Upon recruiting powerful combatants such as Ivankov, Kuma, and especially Sabo, Dragon would become the leader of one of the most dangerous groups in the series, and when looking back at the recent story arcs, it's easy to see why the World Government is so afraid of them, considering how many problems there have already caused for Imu and his evil servants.
Back during the Reverie, Sabo was able to learn about the existence of Imu, yet also managed to escape with his life intact, which is virtually unheard of. It wasn't just Sabo who arrived in Mary Geoise to cause trouble though, as he also brought the bulk of the Revolutionary Army along with him to not only officially declare war on the World Government, but also to disrupt their food supply, while also freeing a few slaves in the process.
"Anything that gets the flames of revolution burning" - Sabo
In terms of Dragon himself, while it's clear that the man possesses a great amount of underlying power, considering how many people look up to and follow him, the biggest question fans still have is what Devil Fruit he actually owns. There have been many hints scattered throughout the story that indicate that Dragon possesses a Devil Fruit which allows him to either control the wind, or weather in general, and there's every chance that he could have acquired such a fruit from God Valley when he abandoned the Marines. While Dragon is a character who still remains shrouded in mystery, Oda has finally revealed what pushed him to start up his own personal army in the first place, and like many characters and events in the story, it's all connected back to God Valley.
- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
- Franchise(s)
- One Piece
- Creator(s)
- Eiichiro Oda
