Blackbeard, Akainu, Shanks. Who will be the final boss of One Piece? Oda-Sensei has treated us to
some perfectly punchable villains throughout One Piece, but as we near the final saga,
we can probably count the major enemies that Luffy will beat down on one hand.
So today we’ll explore who we most want to see Luffy go toe-to-toe with as we wonder - will we
ever get a punch as satisfying as the one where he knocked the color right out of St. Charloss?
The two foes at the top of everyone’s lists are Akainu and Blackbeard. What makes them the
perfect final opponents for Luffy is that both Blackbeard
and Akainu are the perfect representatives of their factions in the One Piece world.
Oh, and massive shoutout to Blackbird & Skyberry, my two subscribers of the
day. Thanks for hitting subscribe for new content and helping me raise my bounty.
Akainu is the quintessential marine - As the fleet admiral, he represents everything that this
organization stands for, and is the de facto leader - ignoring (as he sometimes
does) the Gorosei. He is a believer in absolute justice. In Sakazuki’s eyes,
no crime should go unpunished. All pirates are criminals and he is the appointed judge,
jury, and executioner - as much as Enies Lobby would like to have a say in that.
Even if he disagrees with the Gorosei or Celestial Dragons, he will do
everything in his power to uphold the order that the World Government represents. According to him
a world must be founded on rules and authority. Without submitting to this ordered hierarchy,
the world will descend into anarchy and chaos - a chaos that the world of piracy
embodies. This doesn’t extend only to pirates that inflict violence upon innocent people;
even the carefree adventuring that the Straw Hat crew engages in risks corroding the balance
of society. This makes him a perfect counter to Luffy, who believes that everyone should be free
to choose their own destinies and follow their dreams - to party, to eat their fill, and to
adventure. Akainu would stamp these things out in service of making a more tightly structured world.
Our first introduction to Akainu shows us just how far he’s willing to go in the
name of Absolute Justice. On the island of Ohara, he single-handedly killed a ship of
citizens fleeing the Buster Call. None of the people leaving were the librarians who held the
secrets of the poneglyphs. In fact, these evacuees left Robin to die on the island so that they
themselves could escape. However, Akainu felt that even the smallest chance that someone
leaving the island held the librarians’ secrets posed too great a risk to the World Government.
To the horror of even another admiral, Aokiji, he destroyed the ship along with everyone on it.
Blackbeard, on the other hand, is a perfect representative of the world
of piracy. Like Luffy, he is one of the Yonkou - the Four
Emperors of the New World - and a prime candidate in the race to find the One Piece.
If you were to ask someone on the street to name a pirate, a real life one, chances are they’d
say Blackbeard. Likely, they might not even know the names of any other famous real-life pirates.
They’d probably name Captain Jack Sparrow before they got to their Anne Bonneys or Francis Drakes.
Oda gave Marshall D. Teach the moniker of Blackbeard because he
embodies the classic image of a pirate.
At least, he’s representative of a certain type of pirate. In the original Romance Dawn one-shots,
before the serialization of One Piece as we know it, Oda-Sensei actually defined
two separate classifications of pirates. Pirates that are looking for adventure on the high seas,
like the Straw Hats, were termed Peace-Main Pirates. Whereas pirates who pillage and
plunder were called Morganeers. While Oda didn’t keep the terminology,
we can still see echoes of it in the different approaches to piracy
that different crews take. The Blackbeard pirates are definitely in the Morganeer camp.
You might think that we haven’t really seen them do much in the way of classic “pillaging
and plundering”, but the very first reference we get to Blackbeard in the series actually
confirms this. On Drum Island, Dalton refers to Blackbeard ransacking the kingdom. In fact,
it was the terrifying power of the Blackbeard pirates that caused Wapol to flee the country
and take all of the doctors with him, setting us up for Chopper’s introduction. And let’s just take
a minute to once again praise the almighty Goda’s foreshadowing - because we received
whispers of Blackbeard long before Luffy and Blackbeard’s chance encounter on Jaya.
Making their home on Beehive Island, the Blackbeard pirates are creating their
version of a pirate paradise. Lawless and chaotic, he allows his ten titanic
captains to run wild in the New World as they amass power by collecting devil fruits.
So, how are both of these characters the perfect enemies for Luffy?
Both of these central antagonists are counters to Luffy’s core philosophy. Luffy believes
in freedom above all else - freedom to travel, to eat, to party, to adventure.
Akainu and the marines restrict the freedom of people across the seas of One Piece. While they
may protect people from dangerous, violent pirates, they also enact exploitative taxes,
restrict travel, and even run protection for the slave-holding celestial dragons.
Blackbeard, instead of being opposed to Luffy, is more like the other side of the same coin. Like
Luffy, Teach believes in a kind of freedom, but it’s a freedom that allows someone to use their
own power to infringe on the freedom of another. While Luffy uses his freedom to uplift others
and grant them the same freedoms, Blackbeard uses his freedom toward his own personal gain.
It’s not just that their philosophies are diametrically opposed that set Akainu and
Blackbeard up as the perfect antagonists for Luffy. The stakes are personal. These two
characters are directly responsible for Ace’s death - Akainu very literally did kill Ace,
and to add to Luffy’s personal grudge against the fleet admiral, he killed Ace while Ace was
trying to protect Luffy. However, the war at Marineford never would have occurred
if it weren’t for the actions of Blackbeard. He captured Ace and turned him over to the Marines
in order to claim his status as a Shichibukai. This, too, partly falls onto Luffy’s shoulders,
because Blackbeard was actually pursuing Luffy at the time that Ace confronted him.
Before the end of the series, we need to see Luffy take his revenge on these powerful foes.
Another figure that we’ll probably see Luffy fight before the end of One Piece
is the mysterious Im-Sama. So far little is known about the secret true ruler of
the World Government, given that they’ve only appeared in a single
chapter of the manga. There’s a lot we have to learn about this shadowy figure,
but given that they’re the head of the World Government, they appear to be final boss material.
Luffy has a more personal grudge against Akainu, but Im is Akainu’s boss’s boss, and the real
decision maker behind the Marines. If Luffy wants to bring freedom to the rest of the world,
the only way will be to go through them. We know, too, that Im-Sama has it out for Luffy, too.
I mean, we don’t know too much about Im’s motivations, but
whenever I rip up a picture of someone’s face, it usually means I don’t like that person much.
We also have a few wild cards, though. These are figures that Luffy could fight,
but we really don’t know yet at this point. A big one that people theorize about
is the possibility that Luffy will fight his childhood hero, Shanks. Based on Shanks’
secret connection to the Gorosei, some fans have speculated that Shanks’ motivations are
less than good. Perhaps he will prove a true rival to Luffy for the throne of Pirate King.
I just released another video about this possibility. Because I truly belive that
Shanks and Luffy WIll clash at some point very soon in the story.
Maybe they’ll all just have a good-spirited Davy Back Fight,
leading to the 12th and final Straw Hat…Lucky Roo.
Then, of course, we have absolutely wild predictions. As we know,
Oda-sensei is famous for his ridiculous left turns and unpredictability. So, who
else could we see Luffy fight? The sky's the limit, really. Perhaps he’ll have a rematch
against one of the series’ first villains and fellow Yonkou, Buggy the Clown. After all, at
the rate that Buggy keeps failing upward, he might be a true rival for the position of pirate king.
Maybe he’ll be forced into conflict with a Marine that he has closer ties, too,
since he is, after all, still a pirate. We’ve built up a metric ton of hatred for Akainu,
but who wouldn’t be heartbroken seeing him have to go all out against Coby, Smoker, or Grandpa Garp?
After all, people have been sleeping on Coby,
future admiral - the secret final villain that Oda has foreshadowed since Chapter 2 - his future
power only makes sense given that he is a child of Big Mom, as evidenced by his pink hair. Okay,
maybe I need to lay off the coffee. I might be hitting these theories a little too hard.
But the fight I am probably looking forward the most right now, is in fact Shanks. And
if you want to understand, why this clash between Shanks and Luffy is innevitable,
you should really not miss out on this video right here.