One Piece Red film has first female movie villain teased by author Oda

One Piece Red has just been revealed as the newest film in the franchise. The news comes after fans everywhere have waited long to see what the next big announcement on the franchise's horizon could be.

Alongside this announcement, Oda has released a message seemingly teasing the first female villain in a One Piece movie.

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One Piece Red film has first female movie villain teased by author Oda

One Piece Red marks a potential film first

In a message from Eiichiro Oda released alongside the One Piece Red logo, Oda seemingly teases a female movie villain. In his message, Oda states he’s “tired of drawing legendary old grandpas” and wants to draw “a new little female character” followed by saying that’s how One Piece Red got started.

This seemingly announces that the antagonist of One Piece Red will be a female villain. As previously stated, this will be a first for the movie and also poses many questions. Considering the movie seems to be focusing on Shanks, there’s a lot of options for who this female villain could be.

While some candidates, such as Big Mom, may initially come to mind, Oda did say he wanted to draw a new and little female character. Unfortunately for Big Mom, she doesn’t fit the bill on either of those fronts.

Watchers can still theorize on who this villain might be, especially if One Piece Red is announced as canon.

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One Piece Red possible female antagonists

While the first candidate requires that One Piece Red will be canon, it’s still worth discussing considering the film will seemingly center on Shanks. Last we saw, Shanks was during the Levely arc, where he met with the Gorosei to discuss something or someone. Immediately after this, watchers are introduced to Im-sama who seems to be head of the World Government.

Im-sama's silhouette, as seen in the One Piece anime's Levely arc. (Image via Toei Animation)

While we are introduced to Im-sama here, we only see the character's silhouette and no identifying or key details. Considering One Piece Red is being marketed as focusing on Shanks, it’s quite possible we see Shanks go to war with Im-sama. At the very least, we know something must’ve come out of his meeting with the Gorosei.

Another option is that Shanks could be fighting a mother or sister of his. There’s a fan theory that Shanks is an ex Celestial Dragon like Doflamingo. It would explain why the Gorosei were willing to meet with a nefarious Yonko such as himself during the Levely. It would also explain why Shanks still hasn’t gone after the One Piece; he already knows the truth of the world from being a Celestial Dragon.

Shanks meets with the Gorosei, public leaders of the World Government, during the Levely arc(Image via Shueisha Shonen Jump)

A final, yet somewhat unrealistic candidate for the movie’s antagonist could be Luffy’s own mother. Oda has said that he doesn’t want to concern the main One Piece story with Luffy’s mother, but she has made an appearance in the series. Perhaps Luffy’s mom wants revenge on Shanks for turning her son into a pirate.

While possible, it’s unlikely Luffy’s mom is One Piece Red’s antagonist. Considering the hype around the movie, it’d be somewhat of a letdown to have the mysterious villain be an angry mother. Even if it is somewhat comical and true to the tone of One Piece.

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Final thoughts

Whoever the new female villain in One Piece Red is, she’ll make history in the anime.

Theorycrafting is great and fuels community hype, but it’s simply too early to narrow anything down regarding who the villain is. There’s simply not enough information right now, but hopefully One Piece fans will hear more in the coming weeks of conventions and premieres.