'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
One Piece introduced the Mother Flame as the enigmatic and powerful energy source. On the surface, it resembles a regular, little flame. Yet its name and application suggest something much more significant. Its connection to the sun and to life itself seems deliberate. Vegapunk's cryptic statements and scientific bent imply greater origins.
Some hints lead to the Lunarians, a race who were once famous for their flames. The connection between them and the Mother Flame cannot be coincidental. If it is a Lunarian artifact, it shifts the perception of the ancient people and Vegapunk's involvement. One Piece might have concealed a secret to its world's history in plain sight.
Disclaimer: The article reflects the writer's opinion and includes spoilers from the One Piece manga.
Trending
Explaining how One Piece's Mother Flame may be a Lunarian relic
The possibility that One Piece's Mother Flame is a Lunarian relic is supported by narrative design and the enigmatic speech of Vegapunk. This theory, as ambitious as it is, isn't far-fetched when one examines the features that characterize Lunarians and the way Vegapunk explains the source of the energy.
The Mother Flame is not merely a technological creation. It is old, primal, and strongly rooted in fire and light, features long attributed to Lunarians.
Lunarians are special in the One Piece universe. They are resilient biologically and naturally produce fires. These fires are not added enhancements—these are natural to Lunarian biology. Their backs can ignite, and this will burn persistently unless suppressed.
No other species in the series demonstrates this level of connection to elemental energy. If such creatures did exist in the far past, it is possible that they once had advanced mastery over flame energy. The Mother Flame could be a remnant from that knowledge.
Dr. Vegapunk himself is not the source of the flame. He states that he only designed the containment system. This line implies that the energy existed independently of his research. He didn't discover the flame, he just learned to harness it. If he had not invented the core power source, then it must have been invented by another person. The concept of the Mother Flame as a recovered relic of an older forgotten era now makes sense.
There is also a symbolic level. The Lunarians, regardless of their name, likely do not come from the moon. They are resistant to heat, can control fire, and are a rare presence, all point to a solar origin.
If they developed on or around a solar world—something fierce, unforgiving, and brutal—then fire would not only be their power. It would be their means of survival. Their physiology would have adjusted to engulf, manufacture, and militarize fire in ways unmatched by any other race.
That fits beautifully with the idea of the Mother Flame being "a piece of the sun." If Lunarians at one point controlled such flame, and Vegapunk's container merely mimics that technology, then the original source could have belonged to them. This would make the Mother Flame not only an energy device but also a sacred relic of Lunarian society.
One Piece chapter 1114, The Wings of Icarus, provides indirect support. It invokes the myth of flying too near the sun, and in that same instant, the Mother Flame is shown. It connects Vegapunk's relentless quest for knowledge with those solar-bound ancient consequences.
In Greek mythology, as Icarus took wings from Daedalus, Vegapunk might have taken fire from the Lunarians. And just as Icarus, the risk of destruction looms when that power is mishandled.
Additionally, the real-world inspiration behind Vegapunk enriches this idea. His model is inspired by scientists who pursued limitless energy: Newton, Tesla, and Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer's association with nuclear fusion—the method by which the Sun generates power—replicates the fictional fuel of the Mother Flame.
If the model is nuclear fusion, and the Mother Flame works on the same principles, then perhaps it is a synthetic fragment of a sun or a relic taken from the real source.
Vegapunk's respect for the Mother Flame supports this. He refers to it as irreplaceable. The World Government won't risk its destruction, which suggests it can't be remade. Machines can be rebuilt, but the flame can't be replaced. That makes it a relic, not an invention. A treasure, not a tool.
One Piece's ancient technology has always been ahead of what modern science has come up with. The Great Kingdom, which was lost to history, must have had access to power sources much greater than the world can comprehend now.
Vegapunk is perhaps the first to find it again, but he was not the source. If the Lunarians belonged to that lost empire, or even its protectors, the Mother Flame is one of their legacies.
Their disappearance also supports this theory. The Lunarian race is almost extinct. King is the last known survivor. Their culture, history, and artifacts are lost. If the Mother Flame, one of their sacred technologies, was hidden or abandoned during their fall, its reappearance would carry tremendous weight. It would not just be a scientific discovery. It would be the awakening of a lost civilization’s might.
Final thoughts
One Piece could have hidden one of its strongest secrets in the Mother Flame. If it is a relic of the Lunarians, then it overwrites the history of the Lunarians and Vegapunk. The elementary power of the flame, solar symbolism, and ancient look imply something divine and not manmade.
Vegapunk didn't make it—he only researched and contained it. That alone speaks to its heritage. With the Lunarians almost extinct, the Mother Flame might be their final echo. Not a machine, but a memory, which is burning, powerful, and nearly forgotten.
Related links:
