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Although Luffy’s primary goal throughoutOne Pieceis to become the Pirate King, he isn’t the only character who has aspirations to fill this position. In fact, when it comes to the Great Pirate Era, many powerful pirates all wish to claim the One Piece and follow in Gol D. Roger’s footsteps. Due to the number of people who want this treasure, overall,One Piecehas almost become a race between these pirate groups, mostly consisting of Emperors like Buggy, Luffy, and Blackbeard, to see who will reach Laugh Tale and find the treasure first.
Although it seems fairly obvious that Luffy will at one point in the series achieve his dream of becoming the Pirate King, some fans believe that he may not be the first to do so. There are plenty of theories currently circulating in theOne Piececommunity that suggest that another pirate will briefly claim the title of Pirate King before Luffy has his chance at the end of the series. For some,this potential Pirate King is Blackbeard, a figure that many fans believe will claim the title right before his final battle with Luffy.
Blackbeard Is Close To Finding Laugh Tale
He Has A Chance To Become The Pirate King
The title of Pirate King, which grants no specific territory or responsibilities, is more of a symbolic title than anything else, simply given to the most prolific pirate of the generation. More definitively, after Roger becamethe first pirate to conquer the Grand Linecompletely, and found an ancient treasure on Laugh Tale, becoming the Pirate King doing a similar thing in the Great Pirate Era. Basically, the first pirate to reach Laugh Tale and claim the One Piece treasure will become the next Pirate King.
A man’s dream will never die! - Blackbeard
Of course, as many fans already know, most pirate crews in the Great Pirate Era want to claim the One Piece treasure, thus becoming the Pirate King, even if they don’t directly want the title. Currently, pirates like Buggy, Crocodile, Luffy, Blackbeard, and more are all afterthe title of the Pirate Kingfor one reason or another. However, when it comes to how close they are, as of now, though Luffy is the closest, possessing three Road Poneglyphs that form the map to Laugh Tale, a character like Blackbeard isn’t far behind, who recently stole Law’s Road Poneglyph copies, making him tied for Shanks in Road Poneglyph possession.
Blackbeard May Claim The Title Of Pirate King Before Luffy
This Would Make Luffy’s Journey Less Straightforward
Since Shanks has already seen Laugh Tale, and most likely doesn’t want the title of Pirate King, it seems the closest competition that Luffy has in becoming the Pirate King isthe Emperor of the Sea, Blackbeardhimself. Additionally, although Luffy is ahead now, his adventure shouldn’t be smooth sailing from now until Laugh Tale. From these two factors, it would make sense that sometime in the near future, another pirate will pull ahead on the journey to become the Pirate King. Out of any other pirate, Luffy’s main competition is most likely going to be Blackbeard.
From here, these fans believe that Blackbeard may potentially reachthe island of Laugh Talefirst, becoming the second pirate to conquer the Grand Line, and the Pirate King. With Blackbeard’s power and influence, it seems likely that if any character besides Luffy is going to become the Pirate King, it will be Blackbeard. From here, Blackbeard would become the true, “final boss” ofOne Piecethat Luffy will need to defeat in order to truly claim the title as the real Pirate King.
Fans Would Be Disappointed If Blackbeard Steals Luffy’s Dream
However, at the same time, if Blackbeard were to become the Pirate King before Luffy, stealing the latter’s dreams away from him, it would leave many fansdisappointed with the ending of the story. Instead, some fans hope that Luffy and Blackbeard will reach Laugh Tale at the same time, leading to a massive battle that will crown the winner the King of the Pirates. While in this scenario Blackbeard wouldn’t reach Laugh Tale before Luffy, there is still the chance that he could temporarily win the fight, possibly through underhanded tactics, briefly becoming the Pirate King in name alone before Luffy returns to defeat him once and for all.
I will be the king!! King Blackbeard! - Blackbeard
In the end, although it’s a possibility that Blackbeard becomes the King of the Pirates based on his current position inthe world ofOne Piece, it seems fairly unlikely this will happen. Instead, it seems far more likely that Luffy will achieve his dream of finding the One Piece treasure first, though not before a massive encounter with either Blackbeard or Imu. Still, fans will most likely have to wait until after the Elbaf Arc ofOne Piecebefore more information on Blackbeard and the race to become the Pirate King is revealed.
One Piece
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One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga’s popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
