Summary
Mystery is the bread and butter of theOne Piecefranchise. Ever since the early days, Oda has introduced many elusive concepts that have puzzled fans greatly, only to have their answers revealed much later on in the story. However, chief among these enigmas is the true nature of one of the series' most evil and important characters; Marshall D. Teach, or as he is more famously known, Blackbeard.
Blackbeard was introduced in the first half ofOne Piece, where it was made clear that Oda was shaping him up to bethe direct opposite of Luffy. This man is sprinkled with some of the most unique character traits in the story, which have all come together to make him one of the series' oldest and most important questions that still need to be answered. So, in this article, let’s go over a theory that may reconcile everything about him.
Everything Known About This Character
First Appearance
One Piece, Chapter 223, “I Promise Never to Fight In This Town”
Story Arc
Jaya
As stated previously, Blackbeard has been one of the series' most prevalent and important characters, though his appearances within the story have been brief. Due to this,many theories have popped uptrying to explain everything about him, the most popular of which was the Cereberus theory. For the majority of the franchise, Oda never introduced the Mythical Zoan Cerberus fruit, prompting many fans to think Blackbeard was its user.
Due to this mythical creature’s nature, fans believed that the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Cerberus was Blackbeard’s true Devil Fruit which allowed him to use many Devil Fruits at once, although this theory was most likely debunked on Elbaf, where Shamrock’s sword was revealed to be the most probable user of this fruit. However, Blackbeard’s main Devil Fruit, the Yami Yami no Mi, can still be the main reason for his unique powers and body, and may be the most central facet to his entire character.
When Luffy unlocked his Gear 5 form, it was revealed that Devil Fruits seem to have a will of their own that allows them to seek out the perfect users, which is what happened with the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika and Luffy. Because of this, many believe thatthe Yami Yami no Mi sought out Blackbeardand is the main reason why he can do many things which others can’t, chief of which is using multiple Devil Fruit powers at once.
There’s a popular theory among the fandom which states that the unique properties, or ‘essence’, of Devil Fruits are in direct conflict with one another if someone eats more than one of them, leading to their death. However, due to the gravitational properties of the Yami Yami no Mi, which is repeatedly likened to a black hole and literally makes Blackbeard a ‘Black Hole Man’, the Devil Fruit traps the essence of the other fruit by sealing it within Blackbeard’s body the entire time, keeping him alive and allowing him to use its abilities.
You should all know that Teach is a little different! The very structure of his body… is strange. Is that how he pulled this off?
This all ties in quite well to the mostwidely held belief regarding the villain, which is of him having multiple personalities or souls living within his body. It’s unclear if this has always been the case, but through the Yami Yami no Mi, the fruit that Blackbeard actively sought out over everything else, he could ‘provide’ each of these souls with a Devil Fruit to use them at the same time. This multiple-soul theory is the most popular regarding the character, and all of this seems to check out as well.
This theory stems from Blackbeard’s first appearance inOne Piece, where his chance encounter with Luffy and Zoro ends rather ominously. The Straw Hats tell Nami that Blackbeard isn’t just one person, which has repeatedly been brought up since then and is mentioned in the same breath as Blackbeard’s mysterious body that allows him to house multiple Devil Fruits.
How All Of This Ties IntoOne Piece’sStrongest And Greatest Villains
Blackbeard Is The Newest In A Long Line Of Monsters
Now that it’s established that Blackbeard has an incredibly important Devil Fruit and a strange body, even for the world ofOne Piece, we can see how it all sets the stage for one of the mostamazing plot twists that Oda has ever written. This theory essentially states that while many predicted that Blackbeard had multiple personalities housed inside his body, the identity of these people was far more important than previously thought.
Inherited Will is one of the central components to the entireOne Piecestory, and the series has confirmed that one way Inherited Will can carry over to someone else is through Devil Fruits, which can be seen with Luffy’s fruit. According to this theory, before Blackbeard, the users of the Yami Yami no Mi were none other than the legendary Rocks D. Xebec and before him, the person who was a counterpart to either Joyboy or Nika.
Fate has chosen me to conquer this world!
Since Devil Fruits can seek out specific people on their own, the Yami Yami no Mi likely did so as well by finding the ones who wanted to rule the world. On top of this, many fans theorize that, seeing how Blackbeard acts as the opposite to Luffy and howRocks was the opposite of Roger, the first in these respective lines of Inherited Will was a similar dark counterpart to either Joyboy or the original Nika, whose will continues to exist within the Yami Yami no Mi, alongside Rocks himself.
At the current moment, Luffy acts as the conduit to inherit and carry on the will of Nika, Joyboy, and Roger, while at the same time, Blackbeard does the same for Rocks and all those who came before him. Unlike the others, though, Blackbeard’s Devil Fruit has housed their souls within his body in an ultimate plan spanning centuries for the user of these powers to eventually rule over the world.
