As a series that has gone on to produce more than 1000 chapters, the One Piece lore is vast, containing some of the most compelling storylines that manage to continually keep fans engaged for years. With hundreds of lovable characters, phenomenal arcs and films, as well as entertaining games, there is endless One Piece content that currently exists.
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It's unavoidable in a series with this much to offer that there are plenty of questions that are left unresolved due to the amount of content packed into one show. Although many initial questions from early One Piece have since been acknowledged and/or answered, there still lies several mysteries within this tremendous body of work.
10 Shanks' Abilities
Shanks is arguably one of the most popular characters in One Piece (as proven by his high ranking amongst many popularity polls). In spite of this, Shanks is a mysterious character given that he's incredibly notorious despite not appearing frequently enough to know what his abilities are. Fans have speculated that Shanks is not a Devil Fruit user due to his ability to swim, but beyond that, there is very little known.
Hints at Shanks' immense power can be gathered from his Emperor status (a title held by the four strongest pirates), his history with the infamous Roger Pirates, and his overall reputation. But with these many accolades under his belt, there still has been very little in terms of a demonstration of Shanks' capabilities.
9 The Devil Fruits
Unique to One Piece are the Devil Fruits which permit consumers supernatural and remarkable abilities that range from full-body animalistic transformations to oddly specific forms or powers. What's known about Devil Fruits are the different classifications (Paramecia, Logia, and Zoan), side effects, and their rarity.
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Currently, it is unknown where the Devil Fruits came from, how they operate, and frankly, what they are. The only root origins for Devil Fruits pertain to the specific SMILE Devil Fruits, which are artificially created Zoan-type Fruits.
8 The Will Of D.
The Will of D. pertains to a select group of people who have a D. initial in their name. Curiously, it has been pointed out that many with this initial are prominent world figures. This includes:
- Luffy (whose full name is Monkey D. Luffy) and his entire family line
- Trafalgar D. Law
- Portgas D. Ace's family line
- Marshall D. Teach (AKA Blackbeard)
- Gol D. Roger
So far, the meaning behind the initial has yet to be fully revealed, with even those having the initial, such as Jaguar D. Saul not knowing the meaning beyond the way it's passed down through family lines. Roger supposedly knew the meaning, but his explanation of it to Whitebeard was cut off for viewers.
7 SWORD's Motive
SWORD is a Secret Special Force affiliated with the Marines whose motives are currently unknown. The only members known at the moment are X Drake, a former Marine Rear Admiral, member of the Worst Generation and undercover pirate, as well as Koby, a Marine Captain, and ally of Luffy's.
Because of the very little activity presented so far, there is still much to be learned about SWORD. The only thing that has so far been gathered is that they have a particular interest in the Four Emperors, as Drake was seen calling Koby to discuss the happenings of Wano.
6 The Void Century
True to its name, the Void Century is a period of time that has been lost to history, only being traceable through Poneglyphs. The World Government currently forbids any form of research or exploration on the Void Century since knowledge of it is said to be quite dangerous.
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It is said that the Void History contains the true history of the world, with significant events during this period including The Great War, the creation of the World Government, and so on. Nico Robin is currently the only person capable of learning about the history through the Poneglyphs, though Silvers Rayleigh, a member of the Roger Pirates and a strong Haki user, learned the truth with his previous crew and encouraged Robin to learn it for herself.
5 Who Is Im?
Situated at the top of the World Government's hierarchy is a being known as Im who occupies the Empty Throne. Seated in the highest position of power in the world, there is very little that fans and characters know about Im. In fact, Im's existence in itself is a secret, as it is believed that the Empty Throne, which is situated in the center of the world, is thought to be unoccupied.
Im has only ever been seen in silhouette, but his stature suggests that he is quite large. Beyond his implied interest in Luffy, Blackbeard, Shirahoshi, and Vivi, his intentions are currently unknown.
4 Luffy's Mother
Much of Luffy's past is still a mystery since there have been minimal interactions between himself and his father, Monkey D. Dragon. Luffy's own father was a mystery up until his identity was revealed by his grandfather. But seeing as that reveal occurred hundreds of episodes ago, it still leaves the question as to who Luffy's mother is.
In spite of many fan speculations, creator Eiichiro Oda at one time stated that Luffy's mother's identity was irrelevant to the story. Regardless, fans have still been curious to know who the woman was, especially considering just how important and prevalent family ties are in the One Piece world.
3 The Ancient Weapons
It is said that the Ancient Weapons are capable of unimaginable destruction, hence why research of them is considered criminal by the World Government. This hasn't stopped certain individuals from pursuing studies on these weapons. So far, two of the three have been revealed in the series.
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Poseidon, which grants control over giant sea creatures, was revealed to be a living being — the current iteration being Princess Shirahoshi. Pluton was a ship with devastating capabilities; the location of Pluton is unknown, and the blueprints to recreate Pluton were burned by Franky. Only Uranus has yet to be explored.
2 The Five Elders
Making up the most powerful members of the World Government (only outranked by Im) are the Five Elders, who still have yet to be named. Given their ranking, the Five Elders have control over all who rank below them in the World Government, thus granting them high status over most of the world.
Given their immense authority, there are many questions to be asked regarding these individuals. Currently, all that is known is their ranking and location in Pangea Castle's Room of Authority. There are still many questions about them: who are they, and how did they come into power? What are their names? What roles will they play in the story in the future?
1 The Giant Straw Hat
To say that straw hats have tremendous importance to all of One Piece would be an understatement. It is Luffy's epithet, the namesake of the Straw Hat Pirates as well as the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, and a major key in paralleling Gol D. Roger (the original owner of Luffy's hat) and Luffy himself.
With these in mind, the existence of a giant straw hat in Mary Geoise is fascinating. This straw hat, which is kept in a freezing room, is roughly to scale with Im. Little has been revealed about this straw hat, but with the numerous examples of important straw hat symbolism, it's safe to assume the Mary Geoise straw hat has some level of relevance.
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