Enel's return may finally come in One Piece's Elbaph Arc

Modified Nov 29, 2024 07:30 GMT

One Piece might be teasing Enel's return in the Elbaph arc (Image via Toei Animation)

One Piece is a series with a lot of mysteries and questions, with one of the most prominent being when is Enel going to return to the main story. Most manga readers know that he has been on the moon since the events of the Skypiea arc, and now it seems that he could make his long-awaited comeback in this current Elbaph storyline.

It has been confirmed in this arc that the Great Tree Adam, which is located in Elbaph, can reach the sky islands— which has resulted in the theory that Enel's Devil Fruit, which is centered around lightning, belonged to the Giants, and he took it by killing Thor. This, in a way, would explain Enel's fascination with the concept of gods and could make an interesting segue for him to return to the main plot of One Piece.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a publication.

Explaining why the Elbaph arc would be the perfect moment to bring back Enel in the One Piece manga

Enel as seen in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

This theory explains that the Thor of Norse mythology was associated with lightning, hence his title of the Thunder God, and perhaps Enel's electricity-based Devil Fruit, the Goro Goro no Mi, could have belonged to him. Therefore, there is a chance that Enel could have killed him to get his Fruit, maybe through treason, or that he realized it was in Elbaph, evidenced now by the fact that the Great Tree Adam connects with the sky islands.

There is a chance that Odin was a Lunarian and Enel had this notion that the people of that race were gods, hence why he is so obsessed with that concept. He viewed the Lunarians as deities and wanted to ascend to that level, which could explain his god complex and the ambition that could have driven him to obtain the Goro Goro no Mi.

It was mentioned in the Skypiea arc that Enel wasn't born there, and that his land, Birka, was destroyed, and perhaps it was destroyed by Giants as revenge for stealing such an important Devil Fruit. Therefore, this could set up Enel's return to the story since it would end his conflict with this race and also possibly further his agenda to become a god.

More details of this theory

Enel's now-infamous face (Image via Toei Animation)

There is also a good chance that One Piece could introduce the concept of the Valkyries as Lunarians, who descend from the tree’s canopy to collect the souls of fallen warriors. It would sense since the author, Eiichiro Oda, likes to combine mythology with creativity, which would be an interesting way to connect sci-fi with fantasy.

Moreover, the plot of the moon has been ignored for a long time in the series and Oda, at any given time, is going to finally connect it with the main story. Enel is likely to be the main driving force in this situation, and the Elbaph arc has already established some points that could make that comeback quite feasible.

Final thoughts

The Elbaph arc has a lot of possible directions to take, and the return of Enel is one most fans would love to see. The connection of the Great Adam Way has paved the way for the villain to return in One Piece, which would also give the chance to explore the lore of the moon and the Lunarians.

Edited by Ahana Mukhopadhyay