Summary
- Oda rewards fans who wait with massive story revelations after hundreds of chapters or episodes.
- Important characters like Greenbull and Joy Boy were mysteries for a long time before being revealed.
- Backstories such as Sanji's tragic past and Arlong's hatred for humans are only revealed after waiting for several years.
Eiichiro Oda, the author of One Piece, has a tendency to hint towards massive story revelations very early on in the plot before revealing them much later. Thankfully, though, while it may take a few hundred chapters or episodes, he almost always pays these mysteries off by providing fans with one giant bombshell to reward them for sticking with the series for so long. If anything, waiting this long for a hot-button question to be answered can make the reveal all the more exciting and memorable, as has been the case on several occasions throughout the One Piece story.
8 One Piece Arcs With The Best Stories, Ranked
One Piece has some incredible story arcs in its expansive history, with these examples being the best of the bunch.
When looking back at the series, there are several backstories, characters, and even battles which, while subtly referenced early on, are only made clear many years later. That being said, these are the biggest examples of One Piece mysteries where fans were left waiting for a few hundred chapters until they were able to get the answer.
Stussy's Identity
The Background Of Stussy And Weevil Has Finally Been Revealed
- First Revealed: Episode 751
During the long and chaotic Whole Cake Island arc, there is a very brief scene showing a new Warlord by the name of Weevil, who looks oddly similar to the late and great Whitebeard, rampaging through a town. Most importantly, though, he was being ordered around by an old woman who was claiming that Weevil was the son of her and Whitebeard, which certainly raised a lot of eyebrows. For the next few story arcs, though, this woman and her loyal guardian were left completely absent from the plot, until eventually, Oda would reveal a little more about them while in the Egghead Island arc.
It turned out that this woman was actually a former member of not only the Rocks Pirates but also the MADS science group, making her pretty important to the overall story. Not only that, Vegapunk also created a clone of Buckingham Stussy, who has been acting undercover by affiliating herself with CP-0 since the timeskip. There was a range of theories revolving around who this old woman could be and what her true affiliations were, but nobody could have expected she would actually be an honorary member of the legendary Rocks crew.
Greenbull's Identity
An Admiral Who Remained A Mystery For Far Too Long
- First Shown: Episode 882
No longtime fan of the series will ever be able to forget the scene during the Reverie where Fujitora is speaking to a new Admiral who only goes by the name of Greenbull. Because he was little more than a silhouette back then, it inspired fans to theorize who exactly this guy was, and more importantly, what his abilities could be, considering he specifically mentioned that he hadn't eaten in several days.
One Piece: 39 Strongest Characters In The Series
These are the strongest characters to sail the seas of the One Piece world.
Greenbull certainly made his mark during the Reverie, where he faced off against an entire group of Revolutionaries, but this wouldn't be shown until hundreds of episodes after he was introduced. His official reveal came at the very end of the Wano Arc, and despite the Admirals being incredibly important characters, it seemed as though Oda wanted to keep fans guessing for as long as possible this time around.
Sanji's Family
Sanji Was Initially Hesitant To Talk About His Family With The Crew
- First Mentioned: Episode 151
Long-time One Piece fans might remember Sanji mentioning very early on in the series that he is from the North Blue. However, he never went any further after admitting this, and while many of the Straw Hats had their backstories revealed not long after they joined the crew, Sanji was a little different. He made this vague reference before the timeskip even started, but the truth of his tragic past would only come to light much later in the Whole Cake Island arc after he is forced into a marriage by Big Mom.
While it was true that Sanji is from the North Blue, he didn't exactly have the happiest of upbringings, being seen as a failed test experiment by his father, Judge, and therefore thrown into a cell where he would be forced to starve. Thankfully, with the help of his sister and eventually Zeff, Sanji was able to make a new life for himself, though it's honestly heartbreaking that he went this long without revealing these dark secrets to the rest of his crew.
Arlong's Hatred For Humans
There's A Deeper Reason Why Arlong Hates Humans So Much
- First Shown: Episode 31
Considering Arlong shows up extremely early on in the series, it can be easy to view him as simply a one-off villain who's just evil for the sake of it. However, as is the case with most One Piece antagonists, there was actually a much deeper reason why Arlong acted the way he did. Arlong's hatred of humans actually comes as a result of the death of his former captain, Fisher Tiger, who, despite trying to establish relations with humans, met his demise after being gunned down by a swarm of Marines.
Since then, Arlong has harbored a deep resentment of humans, to the point where he was willing to murder anyone who decided to stand up to his rule on Arlong Park. This reveal wouldn't come until Fishman Island, the first story arc after the timeskip, so fans were certainly left waiting for quite a while until they could uncover what really made Arlong tick.
Sabo's Fate
It Turns Out Sabo Was Never Killed After All
- First Shown: Episode 494
Sabo was a brother to Ace and Luffy when the three boys were still kids, but after setting off on his grand adventure, it seemed from a distance that he was almost immediately shot down by a Marine ship, which would have obviously killed him for good. That being said, though, during this flashback, Sabo's fate was still purposefully left uncertain, making it easy to wonder whether he was still alive and kicking, and if so, where he had ended up after his ship was blown to pieces.
One Piece: Every Straw Hat Pirate's Age, Height, And Birthday
The Straw Hat Pirates are one of the youngest, most ambitious crews in One Piece. Here are the characters' ages, heights, and birthdays.
A few hundred episodes later, Luffy randomly stumbles into Sabo during the Dressrosa arc, where he spills the beans on his connection to the Revolutionaries and his intention to acquire Ace's Fire-Fire Fruit for himself. Nowadays, Sabo plays an extremely important role in the story as a leading figure of the Revolutionaries, but there was a good while when it seemed as though he wasn't even alive at all.
Vegapunk Reveal
Vegapunk Had Always Been Spoken About, But Never Seen
- First Mentioned: Episode 315
During their adventure, anytime the Straw Hats came across a new machine or wacky invention, it was almost always connected to the legendary scientist known as Vegapunk. As someone who looks up to the man himself, Franky would constantly mention Vegapunk's name after joining the crew, but despite how infamous this man was, he wouldn't actually be showing in the flesh until the series had passed the 1000-episode mark, and he's a lot different from what anyone could have expected.
While he is obviously wicked smart, Vegapunk also has one of the most bizarre designs in the entire series, especially in the flashbacks, where his head can reach enormous proportions because of his intelligence. While on Egghead Island, the Straw Hats also uncover that Vegapunk has separated himself into a few different bodies, which all represent qualities of his true self. Needless to say, the wait was definitely worth it to meet such a bizarre but lovable character in the series.
Garp's True Strength
Garp's Staggering Accomplishments Don't Become Clear Until Late In The Story
- First Shown: Episode 313
It was back in the Post Enies Lobby arc where fans first learned that Luffy was connected to a Marine by the name of Garp, who was also considered to be one of the Marines' very best soldiers. That being said, outside of a few brief details, there honestly wasn't all that much known about Garp, including why he came to earn such a prestigious position in the first place. Additionally, it was also made unclear how Garp had not yet become an Admiral, since it was heavily implied that he had more than enough strength to do so.
After hundreds of episodes and a plethora of story arcs, fans would be treated to the now iconic episode where Sengoku reveals the truth about the God Valley Incident, and most importantly, how Garp was able to fend off the entire Rocks crew alongside Roger. It was also revealed at this time that Garp refuses to be promoted as he doesn't want to serve under the Celestial Dragons, which makes sense considering his hatred for them.
Joy Boy
What Seemed Like An Obscure Name-Drop Was A Reference To One Of The Series' Most Important Characters
- First Mentioned: Episode 548
Joy Boy's name was first mentioned on Fishman Island when Robin was reading the Poneglyph. At the time, it was a very bizarre name-drop which left fans wanting more, and while small details about his identity are scattered throughout the future story arcs, it's actually only very recently in the story where the importance of Joy Boy has been revealed. As someone who was born during the Void Century, Joy Boy was seen as a hopeful and inspirational liberator by the people who were there to watch him in action.
Not only that, he would also come to acquire a Devil Fruit that allows him to transform into the Sun God Nika, which is the same fruit that Luffy came to inherit at the beginning of the main story. None of this was known for several years after Joy Boy's name was introduced to the story, but it's now become evident that he has played a much bigger part in molding the modern One Piece world than many fans probably initially expected.
- 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
- Franchise(s)
- One Piece
- Creator(s)
- Eiichiro Oda
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Producers
- Yoshihiro Suzuki
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
