One Piece fan shares Twitter thread on lost Vegapunk fan designs

With the reveal of Vegapunk's true appearance in One Piece Chapter 1066, it's time for a retrospective look at older fan designs.

For several years, manga readers have been waiting to see Doctor Vegapunk in action. For reference, he was first mentioned all the way back in One Piece Chapter 433. Vegapunk wouldn't show up in person until 633 chapters later. It took 16 years for him to make a physical appearance in the story.

Over the past decade and a half, fans have been coming up with their own interpretation of what Vegapunk looked like. Twitter user @ructivelstorio, who also goes by the name Tivel, recently compiled some fanart of the character before he turned up in the Egghead arc.

Note: This article reflects the writer's personal views

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One Piece fans should take a look at Vegapunk fan designs from the past several years

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Tivel put up a thread for historical purposes

Now that the real Vegapunk has finally arrived in One Piece Chapter 1066, fans no longer have to speculate on his potential appearance. Nonetheless, Twitter user Tivel has documented some popular fanart over the years in the above thread. It's a time capsule of what readers expected from Vegapunk.

Vegapunk is the lead scientist and researcher in the Marines organization. He was responsible for several major breakthroughs in the One Piece series, including discovering the Lineage Factor in Devil Fruits. Naturally, many fan artists portrayed him with a mad scientist motif.

All that was known about Vegapunk's appearance was that he was an elderly man. Unsurprisingly, this was a common theme in all his fanart. Artists also depict him with either Bartholomew Kuma or the artificial dragons from Punk Hazard, considering his scientific work on them.

Tivel did a great job collecting these pieces of artwork. It's a historical reminder of the expectations set for Vegapunk. Of course, Eiichiro Oda is anything but predictable in his character designs.

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The real Vegapunk look ways different from common depictions

Here is a high-quality screenshot from the last panel in One Piece Chapter 1066. Vegapunk finally appeared in the flesh when meeting Luffy and his gang. He greatly resembles the famous photo of Albert Einstein sticking his tongue out.

Vegapunk is also very short and wears a metal cap on his head. Strangely, it bears a strong resemblance to the top half of an apple. While it's not confirmed, the metal cap's apearance might be a direct reference to Isaac Newton and his discovery of how gravity works.

Several years ago during the Ohara incident, Vegapunk looked even more different than he does now. His massive head might just be the longest ever seen in One Piece history. At some point, he replaced most of his forehead with a metal cap, similar to a top half of an apple.

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Oda loves to surprise his readers

For better or worse, Eiichiro Oda has always been very creative with his One Piece character designs. Whether they are goofy or serious, they immediately catch the reader's attention.

Understandably, some readers may not like Vegapunk's true design, particularly the younger version with its elongated head. Regardless, Oda always sticks to his principles. The One Piece series wouldn't be the same if he did everything the conventional way.

Longtime readers can finally rest easy knowing Vegapunk's true appearance. Some of them have been waiting since 2006.

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