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Oars the “Continent Puller” was introduced in One Piece during the Thriller Bark Arc, when the sinister Gecko Moria reanimated his corpse to turn it into a zombie. Oars became the trump card of Moria’s army of undead, even above the zombie of “Sword God” Ryuma, as Ryuma’s corpse deteriorated, leaving the subsequent zombie to be a shadow of the legendary swordsman’s former glory. Instead, Oars’ body retained its might as it remained preserved in ice for centuries.
After Moria stole Monkey D. Luffy’s shadow to put it into Oars, the zombie gained access to Luffy’s rubber-based Devil Fruit techniques and properties. This unexpected blend of powers rendered Oars a formidable opponent for the Straw Hats, who were forced to work together to defeat him.
As an Ancient Giant, Oars was endowed with large horns and sharp teeth. He was also far bigger than the normal Giants, who are already many times bigger than humans. Oars lived over 500 years before the present One Piece narration, so his exact deeds remain shrouded in mystery. Yet, his physical strength alone may paint him as a legendary powerhouse, especially as it was recently revealed that the Ancient Giant once stood at the top of the One Piece world.
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Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to chapter 1138.
Oars and the Ancient Giants may be the key to unravel One Piece's history
A force to be reckoned with
In the One Piece world, Giants are several times bigger than humans, the smallest Giant still 12 meters tall. This size gives them an outstanding amount of physical strength that sets them apart from most fighters. However, even the Giants seem small in comparison to Oars. One Piece author Eiichiro Oda revealed in the SBS of volume 49 that Oars is a Giant, but is not native of Elbaph.
With his whopping size and might, the zombified Oars proved to be a tough opponent for the Straw Hat Pirates during their time in Thriller Bark, but there is good reason to believe that he was a fearsome powerhouse in life as well. While the legends may be exaggerated, it’s rumored that Oars was a frightening evildoer who had taken over entire countries.
His fame and reputation for strength were such that even centuries after his death he is still well-known among the current inhabitants of the One Piece world. During the Paramount War, the Marines immediately identified Little Oars Jr as Oars’ descendant based on their similar features and the notoriety of the latter’s incredible strength.
Whether Oars’ epithet as the “Continent Puller” was just metaphorical or based on an actual event remains to be seen. If he really was capable of moving landmasses with sheer muscle force, his physical strength must have been off the charts. Notably, during the Thriller Bark Arc he was also shown to be deceptively fast and agile for his size.
As far as it’s known, the Red Line is the only continent of the One Piece world. No matter how strong he was, it seems absurd to think that Oars moved the Red Line, so unless his epithet is just an exaggeration, this must mean that he could at least move islands, which is an astonishing feat given that the other characters who did something similar – Kaido, Shiki, and Momonosuke – all used Devil Fruit abilities to do so.
A popular theory speculates that Oars created, what is now Wano, by pulling together several islands. This fascinating assumption would account for Wano’s unique geography, as the island is divided into six distinct regions, each characterized by its climate, markedly different from the others.
Oars has a legendary reputation and status
It’s worth noting that Oars didn’t meet his end in battle, but only fell to the cruel hand of circumstance, a hapless fate that accumulated him with great figures of the caliber of Gol D. Roger and Shimotsuki Ryuma. The Pirate King got infected by an incurable disease which doomed him to die. The legendary “Sword God” also died undefeated, as he contracted a fatal sickness at the age of 47.
Roger and Ryuma died with their legacy of invincibility preserved, succumbing to fate rather than being killed by an enemy, and Oars shared this narrative treatment as One Piece author Eiichiro Oda revealed that he lost his life due to frostbite. As tough as he was, Oars froze to death after remaining trapped in extreme cold without proper clothing.
Oars dominated the seas in his era, and his fame persisted echoing through hundreds of years after his death, once again paralleling some of the most revered figures in the One Piece world’s history. He stands alongside Ryuma, Joy Boy, and Nika – all figures who need no introduction – as one of the very few characters whose legend is still spoken of several centuries after their death, their names evoking both fear and admiration.
Granted, this is definitely not enough to claim that Oars matched the combat power of an Admiral or a Yonko, let alone even stronger characters, but it gives the idea that he was far from an ordinary combatant. When he found Oars’ corpse, Moria was in utter disbelief that someone as powerful could have existed.
The fact that the World Government repeatedly attempted to recreate Oars’ power as an Ancient Giant – with their failed experiments resulting in the Numbers – further illustrates the might of the “Continent Puller”.
Oars is best known for his physical strength, but someone famous for his might was probably also a fearsome Haki user. Given how pivotal Haki is to become powerful in this series, it’s unlikely Oars would have attained such legendary status without having high-level Haki, let alone Haki at all.
Loki carries Oars' blood
Oars and his descendant Little Oars Jr are marked by their prominent horns, evident demon-like features which they share with Kaido. The former Yonko who boasted the title of “World’s Strongest Creature” described himself and Yamato – his daughter, self-appointed son – as ogres, a race whose mysteries are yet to be fully unraveled.
Looking forward to learning more about this potential connection, it must be noted that Kaido’s physical appearance – aside from his Devil Fruit transformation, of course – strikingly resembled that of King Harald, the former monarch of Elbaph who was reportedly killed by Loki 14 years before the present One Piece narration.
In One Piece chapter 1137, it was revealed that pure-blooded Ancient Giants no longer exist, but some Giants have inherited their traits, passing them down through generations. King Harald was among the few Giants to belong to this lineage. He had the signature demonic horns but decided to remove them from his head due to his disdain for the Ancient Giants.
Advocating for Elbaph to move into a new era of peace and prosperity, Harald considered the Ancient Giants to be violent, barbaric beasts from a bygone era that Elbaph needed to transcend. Notably, the potent blood of the Ancient Giants also flows in Harald’s son, the “Accursed Prince” Loki, which only raises more questions about Loki’s character.
It was also revealed that the Ancient Giants, to which Oars belonged, were powerful enough to dominate the New World in the past. Under the reign of King Harald, Elbaph mellowed, distancing from the belligerent mindset that had earned it the reputation as the mightiest nation in the One Piece world.
However, it’s entirely possible that the vicious stories about Oars and the Ancient Giants were nothing more than World Government propaganda to destroy their good name. One Piece chapter 1138 revealed a mural depicting the society of a far past as well as a battle in which many characters of different races are assisting Joy Boy in the fight against a large winged demon who seems to be Imu-sama.
Among them is an Ancient Giant, identifiable by his horns and towering stature. This alone suggests that there’s something that doesn’t add up with the reputation of the Ancient Giants as malevolent beings. The conflict depicted by the mural is not yet resolved, as the war that happened in the Void Century is set to repeat with Monkey D. Luffy and his friends and allies finishing what Joy Boy started.
Figarland Shamrock and the Holy Knights targeted Elbaph to recruit Loki due to his strength as a member of the Ancient Giant bloodline, but Loki openly rejected their proposal. In a twist of fate Loki may clear the name of his ancestors by siding with Luffy in the war that will eventually result in the World Government’s downfall.
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