#they know Skypieans and Birkans exist

[mjrtaurus]

Shandian!Dragon, only a child, always being told bedtime stories from his mother about an island that rose into the sky, great serpent gods, a warrior and an admiral who became as brothers, an ancient city in the skull's right eye, and a golden bell that had gone silent for centuries.

Shandian!Dragon, a teenager, being laughed at when he corrected people who called him Birkan or Skypiean because Shandians weren't real and he was expected to feel ashamed for believing something so childish.

Shandian!Dragon, a grown man and a father, hearing that very bell ringing after four hundred years, knowing it was his son who made it possible.

[disneydeb1928]

One Piece Theory: Ancient Moon Kingdom

I began this theory, with a broader concept: “The Importance of the Moon in One Piece”. Within it, I was going to discuss all the ways that the moon is connected to the story of one piece. However, after beginning, I realized that I had already written a substantial amount on the first segment I wanted to discuss. So, I figured, I would just let it be its own discussion post, that I could refer back to once I get around to finishing the original concept.

With that being said, for this, I wanted to focus on a cover story: Enel’s Great Space Operations.

Summary: [Taken from Wiki] Having finally reached the moon, Enel encounters a group of small robots known as automata, as well as a vicious group of Space Pirates. After a series of events, Enel's Goro Goro no Mi powers wind up activating not only all of the automata, but their city as well, and the self-proclaimed God discovers his true roots.

The span of these covers occurred during the events of Thriller Bark and I would encourage you to read this story if you haven’t already.

Ancient Moon Civilization & Skypiea

Enel discovers, through the paintings on the wall, that there was an ancient city on the moon named Birka, where technology was highly advanced. This city was where the Skypieans, Shandorians, and Birkans hailed from. One day (at least 1,100 years ago), the three groups left the moon and headed to Earth due to lack of resources, leaving the Automata behind.

·         Skypieans - Settled in the Sky Islands

·         Shandorians - Made it as far as the Blue Sea and settled on the island of Jaya

·         Birkans - Settled on a sky island far to the southeast from Skypiea

The Automata

The Automata are robot-like creatures that were created before the three angel races left the moon. What is interesting, is that, the art depicting this event shows both the angel races and the automata crying.

This would seem to indicate that the angel races weren’t happy that they had to leave the Automata behind and that it, perhaps, wasn’t by choice. There are a lot of reasons why a race of people would leave behind something they clearly loved. I think many people like to jump to the ‘they were left behind to protect something’, which is definitely a possibility. This could also explain what the space pirates were doing excavating in the first place. That could explain why their city was underground despite the wings on their back.

What is also interesting, is that, from the pictures, it seems as if that Automata were left on the moon awake. However, when we see them in the cover story (Ch. 468) it looks like they’ve been put into storage.

I find it interesting that there are depictions of what appear to be a lobster and a sea king (?) on the wall. In our world, I know that water can exist on the moon, but I don’t think they’ve ever confirmed the possible existence of oceans.

Finally, if you take a look at the balloon type instruments in their hands, you can make the assumption that that is how they traveled to earth. I say this, because this is how the Automata from earth managed to make it to the moon after the professor’s death.

The Space Pirates

As seen in the cover story, the Space Pirates are a group of animal-like aliens. Along with other strange creatures, they appear to mine the moon for anything they can find.

Connection to the Minks Theory

I think, visually, these so called ‘space pirates’ are very interesting. For starters, let’s explore their possible connection with the Mink Race. Both these two group of creatures share resemblance to animals. The first space pirate we are introduced to has a fox-like resemblance, according to the wiki. Interestingly enough, we have been introduced to a Fox Mink named Concelot.

Chapter 441 vs Concelot

Clearly there are some obvious differences, the main one being the shape of their snout. However, I definitely think they could pass as both being Fox Mink. I personally feel like the space pirate looks like a coyote, but a fox could work too. Some of the other possible animals include 2 alligators / crocodiles and one that looks like some type of bear-creature.

Another similarity is their use of electricity. All minks are able, though unknown means, to produce electric shocks known as Electro. They can emit this from their bodies or through weapons, such as swords and spears. This could be what the space pirate is using in the picture above.

Thirdly, the Mink Tribe is heavily influenced by the moon. It is through a full moon that they are able to enter into their Sulong form. It would make sense, that they have a deep rooted connection to the moon itself.

Cyborg Theory / Steampunk Elements

One of the most glaring details regarding these space pirates outside of their animalistic appearance are the circular devices that are located throughout their bodies. At first I thought these were clocks, but upon further inspection they are definitely gauges (in the red).

Another instance where we see a similar design of a gauge is when Lindbergh, one of the commanders of the Revolutionary Army is introduced. The design is the exact same.

Ironically (or possibly further evidence of a connection?), he is a short cat Mink.

[Note: It is supposed that Lindbergh was named after Charles Lindbergh, a man who was famous for making a nonstop flight from New York to Paris.]

Just for some background (and by that, I mean what I found on the internet), mechanical gauges are instruments that measure pressure, dimensions, levels, etc. Pressure gauges are used for checking the pressure of steam. Aesthetically, pressure gauges are very popular in steampunk fashion, which is where Oda seems to pull from, visually, when drawing the members of the Revolutionary Army. For example, the goggles that all of the RA members where are a staple of steampunk fashion. Steampunk, according to Wikipedia is “retrofuturistic” that “incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery”. It is most commonly seen in science fiction. Science fiction usually deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts, one of the most popular being space exploration and extraterrestrial life.

Is it possible that Lindbergh is from space? Yeah, at this point, I think anything is possible.

I have seen some people theorize that the gauges indicates the space pirates are some form of robots, which is also very possible. But that would lead to the question: Who built them? (more on that below)

The Connection to Vegapunk and Future Stories

Okay, this is when things begin to rev up. During Enel’s backstory, we learn that the current Automata (Spacey) was created by a man named Professor Tsukimi. In fact, he refers to that memory as “the day when I was born on Karakuri Island” (Ch. 448, Cover Story).

The first thing that needs to be addressed is that Spacey makes it sound as if he and the other three Automata were created from scratch and not discovered and fixed (The fact that they are slightly larger than the Automata found in hibernation on the moon and lack wings could be proof of this fact). This would mean that Tsukimi would need to have a point of reference to base his creations from. Furthermore, he would had to have a knowledge of the history of the moon and its Automata. According to the history recorded on the walls of Birka, all of the Automata were left behind on the moon (something all parties seemed very sad about). There are really only three places he could have gotten this knowledge:

1.) Traveling to the moon and seeing the history on the walls himself / Knowing someone who did

2.) Being there to experience it himself

3.) Through visiting Skypiea or the ruins of Shandora himself / Knowing someone who traveled there

All of these are technically possible (especially knowing One Piece). However, if you take a closer look at Tsukimi, it might shed some light on the subject.

On his robe, he has a small picture of a cloud. In the world of One Piece, we usually connect that back to Skypiea. Therefore, I think we are supposed to make the assumption that this old man has some connection to Skypiea / Shandora. However, the question still remains: Where did he get this information? After Shandora was defeated during the Void Century, a lot of their own history seems lost to them. Enel appeared to be the only one who believed in “Fairy Vearth”s existence. Most of Jaya doesn’t even believe of Skypiea’s existence. I also think it should be noted, that it’s not like he could have heard a story and create creatures that are so similar to the ones on the moon (at least, not to the scale at which he did). That man must have gotten hold of some type of schematics or have had previous run ins with similar Automata.

Secondly, if you needed another reason as to why this man will most likely be important later on in the story, just take a look at where it says he was from: Karakuri Island. Sound familiar? It should, because not only is it the island that Franky was sent to during the timeskip, but it is also the home of the infamous Doctor Vegapunk.

Brief Pause for Timeline Speculation

Another interesting thing to point out is, we are given no reference to where in the timeline the events of the Automata’s flashback occurred. All we can say definitely is that it occurred before the events of Thriller Bark (since that is when these cover pages were published). However, it is possible that the weather could gives us some hints. We know that Vegapunk once tried to install an in-ground heating system for his kingdom. That, plus the images we get of the island when Franky lands there seems to confirm that it is a winter island. I suppose it’s possible that it’s only cold during some parts of the year, but then why go to all the trouble of trying to control the weather? No, I think it’s safe to say that Karakuri island is usually snowy and cold. However, the Karakuri island we see in the Automata’s flashback paints a very different picture. There doesn’t appear to be any snow on the ground, and the foliage is drastically different to the one we see during Franky’s time on the island.

You see what appears to be bamboo in the panel above and even sakura petals during the funeral scene. It is totally possible that since these were published so in advanced to Franky’s trip to the island, that Oda hadn’t made up his mind on the design of the island and that could explain the differences.

However, we do know that the space pirates were already excavating on the moon at this point, since one of their explosions is what killed Tsukimi. This would actually lean towards the occurrences of their flashback occurring closer to the current storyline. Because, how long would it really take for the space pirates to find the ruins of the ancient moon kingdom? Not hundreds of years.

Resuming Actual Theory

Vegapunk is a character shrouded in mystery. Truly, the amount of information we have on Vegapunk is barely enough to fill his wiki page. He has yet to make an appearance in the story himself, however we get our first look at him that really only consists of his upper torso. In addition, one of the G-5 Marines states that he is an "old man", suggesting he is at an elderly age (Ch. 658).

However, during Punk Hazard, during Caesar Clown’s flashback, we get this figure on the side of the page that is supposedly of Vegapunk. Interestingly enough, this was replaced in the anime with a more innocuous shot of his arm.

I remember that this panel caused a lot of discussion when it came out. Because, if what we are looking at is Vegapunks head, that has a lot of implications towards the plot. For starters, let’s take a look at the different sections and their proportions.

If this is, in fact, a silhouette of his head and not Oda just throwing us for a loop, then he has a noticeably large forehead. Now, if you’re thinking ‘that isn’t crazy for the world of One Piece’, you would be 100% correct. Besides, Tsukimi has a crazy shaped head as well and they’re both from the same island. So, why is this important? Because, we have other pieces of the puzzle that help form a larger picture.

A.)  Koby mentioned to Luffy that Dr. Vegapunk is at least 500 years ahead of current technology (Ch. 433) and we know from Franky’s time there, that Baldimore, the kingdom on Karakuri Island is known as the “future land” and that it specializes in advanced technology. It is unclear whether the kingdom earned that moniker due to Vegapunk’s infamy or whether it existed previously. Either way, it produced two geniuses (Vegapunk and Tsukimi).

B.)  Tsukimi was able to create 4 Automata to almost the exact likeness of the ones on the moon

C.)  Vegapunk has previously created animal cyborgs on Karakuri

D.)  Vegapunk’s large forehead, while not unusual in the world of One Piece bears a striking resemblance to the jolly roger of the Space Pirates

E.)  Many believe that the pressure gauges located across the Space Pirates bodies indicate that they are some type of cyborg (possible even based off of the monk race)

Is Vegapunk from space? Did he, during his travels as a young man, make the trip to the moon where he found the ruins of the ancient civilization and created cyborgs with the technology found there? No one but Oda knows. However, I will say this: I believe there are too many things connecting these stories together for them to be considered coincidences. These characters are related in some shape or form. Given the fact that this cover story ties directly back to Vegapunk we know that it’s going to be important, because we know that Vegapunk is important. If this side story is going to become pertinent later down the line, it is going to be through him.