One Piece's Laffitte may have been inspired by a truly brutal character, and the Final Saga might show it

Modified Jul 29, 2024 09:02 GMT

One Piece: Laffitte might end up being the worst villain in the series (Image via Toei Animation)

The One Piece series has made a reputation for foreshadowing plot points and reveals throughout its earlier chapters for a payoff that will be delivered hundreds of chapters later. Although many characters have been subject to this phenomenon, like Shanks, a particular character from the Blackbeard Pirates has recently been suspected of the same.

Although the entire Blackbeard crew is made up of the most vile criminals to exist in the series, many of them have been explored with snippets of their backgrounds and stories revealed. Laffitte is an exception to that since nothing about him has been revealed other than the fact that he is the navigator of the crew and he has a Devil Fruit that somehow gives him wings.

Recently, theories connecting Laffitte and his possible connection with Judge Holden from Blood Meridian have started floating on social networking sites. Due to their similar demeanor and equally mysterious nature, many fans have started pondering the possibility of Laffitte ending up being the worst criminal, similar to Judge Holden in his own universe.

Disclaimer- This article contains major spoilers for the One Piece series and minor spoilers for the Blood Meridian novel.

One Piece: Laffitte just might be inspired by one of the most despicable characters in fiction

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Judge Holden, similar to Laffitte, remains a complete mystery throughout the story while taking actions that cannot easily be comprehended by the readers. Laffitte is not the main antagonist of the story, but his absence from the story's events and rather mysterious appearances have given rise to several theories. These theories suggest that he might be the final antagonist behind Blackbeard.

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While many might think Laffitte does not have any considerable feats to put him in such a position, Laffitte was the one who infiltrated the Holy Land of Marijoa. He did so to reach the Seven Warlord meeting and recommend Blackbeard as a warlord.

The meeting comprised some of the strongest pirates, including the likes of Doflamingo, Kuma, and Dracule Mihawk himself. However, the fact that none of them managed to detect Laffitte before he revealed his presence makes it clear that Laffitte is an individual even the Seven Warlords have to be careful of.

All of this, along with Laffitte being the navigator of the Blackbeard crew, perfectly positions him to be the possible mastermind behind Blackbeard's operations shown throughout the One Piece series.

Blackbeard as shown in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Judge Holden’s philosophy, brutal methods in disposing of his enemies, and his craving for violence made him the worst person to encounter in Blood Meridian. This mirrors the potential danger Laffitte represents within One Piece, especially considering his history of being a very violent sheriff and brutal in his own country. This is what eventually got him exiled from the entirety of West Blue.

Many of Laffitte's appearances in the series just consisted of him taking actions independently, while also bypassing the observation haki of Mihawk. All of this, along with Laffitte being one of the most charismatic and mysterious characters in the entire series, has paved the way for him to possibly be the most brutal and manipulative character in all of One Piece.

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Laffitte's character motif has been heavily tied to Swans and swans are associated with twins in mythology, and historical pirate Jean Laffitte is said to have had a similar-looking brother. This twin connection could imply that Laffitte might have a twin, who could even be a part of the Holy Knights introduced recently.

Final Thoughts

Laffitte's character hasn't been explored in the series in any shape or form, and his appearances in the anime can be summed up to just a few minutes. Despite this, he has managed to gain popularity due to the extra layer of mystery surrounding him, even though many other characters of the Blackbeard Crew have been explored in the story.