One Piece's Skypiea Saga proves its importance again through Dr. Vegapunk

Modified Nov 01, 2024 11:30 GMT

The Skypiea Saga is undoubtedly the most underrated part of One Piece as it features hints for the future that the fandom has already witnessed. Be it the foreshadowing of Haki through Mantra or Nika through the Sun God, the saga could be the foreshadowing to the series finale if its hints are read correctly. Today's hint might be something of grave importance as it concerns Vegapunk.

During the start of Egghead arc, Vegapunk gave his theory about how devil fruits arise from the desires of humans. A hint for this was given in the manga series and skipped in the anime. At the start of Skypiea Saga, a ship fell from the sky onto the Straw Hats with a quote (from an unknown scientist) similar to Vegapunk, pointing at a link between these two scientists.

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One Piece: Exploring the link between Vegapunk and Skypiea arc

Vegapunk's theory regarding the birth of devil fruits (Image via Eiichiro Oda\Shueisha)

After both groups of the Straw Hat Pirates entered Egghead Island, Nami's group was accompanied by the Vegapunk satellites and Stella. While discussing devil fruits, they witnessed Luffy fighting Lucci in one part of the island. While others' reactions were pretty lukewarm, Vegapunk's reaction was interesting.

He was fascinated by witnessing a legendary figure before him, as Luffy's form represented the Sun God Nika. He told the other Straw Hat Pirates about his theory that devil fruits arise from human desires, and Luffy's Nika fruit could have been desired by someone else in the past, which is why he has it today.

This theory of Vegapunk is oddly similar to a quote from the One Piece manga before the Skypiea Saga started. After the Arabasta arc, when Nico Robin temporarily joined the Straw Hat Pirates, the crew was on its way to the next island, with Nami's log pose directing them toward their future destination.

A quote from the mysterious physicist as seen in the manga (Image via Eiichiro Oda\Shueisha)

However, out of nowhere, a ship crashed from the skies before the Going Merry, leaving the Straw Hats baffled. While the anime didn't show anything of interest other than the shipwreck, the manga added a quote from an unknown physicist, Willie Gallon (also called Williy Karen).

The quote states that anything a man can imagine has a possibility of becoming a reality. Oddly enough, this quote sounds similar to Vegapunk's theory regarding the devil fruits, hinting that Willie Gallon's studies could be the source of the world's most genius scientist.

Analysis and final thoughts

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

Yet again, the Skypiea Saga of One Piece has proved its importance in the overall lore of the series. Moreover, the preference for manga is also proved because this key detail was skipped in the anime. Before this, several hints have already been confirmed, some of which include the existence of Nika through one of the four gods of Skypiea (the Sun God).

The presence of Mantra was the first foreshadowing in the arc (which was a local term used for Observation Haki). With the similar words of both scientists again hinting at the importance of the Skypiea arc, there is no telling how many hidden clues might be present in this arc in the future.

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Edited by Shreya Das