"Inherited Will" - How Blackbeard Obtained the Yami Yami no Mi - Void Century Club - [One Piece - Anime - Manga - Games

"Inherited Will" - How Blackbeard Obtained the Yami Yami no Mi

Marco Polo

Inherited Will - How Blackbeard Obtained the Yami Yami no Mi So I haven't written a theory in a while (I lost my Raid on Onigashima theory when OPF dissolved), but what better way to mark my first theory on VCC with the most ridiculous one I've written yet. And before you ask, no, this is not a shitpost. The idea I'm about to suggest is indeed completely bonkers, but I'm entirely serious here. You might think I'm joking when you read the theory, but I assure you that I am not. Now, I know what you're thinking. >"But Maruko... you're so smart! There's no way you'd come up with a theory we won't believe!" So, to back up the hype I'm giving to the pure absurdity of this idea, I'll tell you before I get in to the explanation. My theory is this. Blackbeard's body is co-habited by the soul of Rocks D. Xebec, and the actions he's taken throughout the series are the influence of Xebec's will. Okay, now that's out of the way, we'll get in to the explanation. * RECAP: The Curious Case of Marshall D. Teach's Body I now refer you to the two most cited moments in One Piece theory literature - Luffy and Zoro's description of Teach as "them" in Mock Town, and Marco (Phoenix, not Polo) describing Teach's body as "abnormal" during the Marineford War. Now, the main take home from this is that whatever "abnormality" Teach has going on is such that he has "multiple" presences. For the sake of this theory, we're going to speculate that this abnormality is that there are multiple souls within his body (rather than the Cerebrus/twin baby inside him theories). This is an important idea to establish early on. At the moment it probably doesn't make much sense, but I promise it'll be clearer as we go on. * The Rocks D. Xebec Connection(s) So this section is also fairly short, but this is where I start to make you a believer (at least a little, anyway). Other than the two characters sharing the initial D., there are two other major pieces of information that connect Teach and Xebec. 1. The name of Teach's ship was revealed in the most recent official databook as the Saber of Xebec 2. The Island that the Blackbeard Pirates currently occupy, Hachinosu, is also the island where the Rocks Pirates were formed. With connections established between the two, it's now time to get in to the real theorising. Rocks' Influence: Teach's Reason for Chasing the Yami Yami no Mi So, from Blackbeard's fight with Ace, we learn one important thing: that Teach boarded Whitebeard's ship with the intention of obtaining the Yami Yami no Mi: Which, on its own, is nothing more than a fun tidbit of information. However, in Chapter 965, we find out an orphaned Teach boarded Whitebeard's ship 28 years before the Wano arc , when he was 12 years old. In short, this means a 12-year old Teach had already formulated the plan that led him to his current position. This much is even implied in his conversation with Ace: Now, if this was just about wanting a Devil Fruit, then you can argue that we've already seen a kid who wanted a particular power: However, his plan ran much deeper than that: And let's not forget his reason for targeting the Yami Yami no Mi specifically: The level of detail and intricacy in every single one of Teach's moves so far isn't something that a kid, let alone an orphan, would come up with, meaning there's outside influence coming from somewhere. And that's where Xebec comes in. We know that Xebec, like Teach, had a lofty goal: And we know that he was allied with Whitebeard, the man whose ship Teach would eventually board: Again, I must stress that it's highly unlikely that Teach himself would have known to target Whitebeard given his age and status. However, Xebec would have intimate knowledge of Whitebeard, since he was once his captain. As the coincidences pile up, the possibility of Xebec's influence on Teach becomes gradually more undeniable. * Intermission: Debunking the debunks There are two big counters to the theory I have suggested so far. Let me quickly debunk them. 1. Blackbeard is Xebec's reincarnation Xebec was reported to have died 38 years ago at the God Valley incident. Teach is 40 years old. 2. Blackbeard could just have been influenced by Xebec by reading about him, or meeting him Sengoku states that information about Rocks and his exploits has mostly been covered up: Meaning that by the time Teach is old enough to read or form real memories, the probability of him accessing any information about Xebec is all but zero. Back to the theory! * Why Blackbeard Can't Sleep - Cavendish and Hakuba We find out in Chapter 966 that Blackbeard doesn't sleep: Now, why could that be? As the title of this section suggests, a character we have already been introduced to gives us that answer. A certain Mr. Cavendish, the pirate who has an alter-ego, known as Hakuba, who comes out when he sleeps. As we know, Hakuba is a rather bloodthirsty type, and during Cavendish's fights on Dressrosa, we see him exert his influence on the main body even when Cavendish is in control: It wouldn't be beyond reason to suggest that the reason Teach doesn't sleep is to prevent Xebec from coming out. However, as Xebec was known for being a strong-willed man during his life (as evidenced by the subordinates he gathered and the impact he had on the world), it could be that his "influence" (or should I say his "will") is so strong that it's had a permanent, subconscious effect on Teach - to a point where he can influence his actions somewhat. He may also be able to take control of Teach's body at certain points. Here's one situation where that could have happened: It's also possible Teach may not even be aware of the presence of Xebec within him - it could just be that as a child, he learned "bad things happen when I fall asleep", which has stopped him from sleeping (and may explain why he's crying in the picture I added at the top of this thread). Such is Xebec's influence, however, that it doesn't matter whether or not Teach knows about his "alter ego". * How did Xebec enter Blackbeard? For Xebec's soul to leave his body, he would first need access to an individual with the power to manipulate souls... Anyone spring to mind? I'll give you some time to think Here's your answer: Indeed. Big Mom, at the time she was on Rocks' crew, had her Devil Fruit power. Meaning the possibility for Rocks to have his soul extracted exists. Now, from what we know, the user has to feel fear for the power to work. Would big, bad Rocks be afraid of death? We have evidence that he might well have been, though this evidence requires a lot of mental gymnastics. Recall this moment in the battle with Whitebeard: Now, if you believe that Xebec is residing within Teach's body, and that Xebec's personality has influenced Teach's, then you can see there's an opportunity for Linlin to extract Rocks' soul. This likely would have happened during the climax of the God Valley battle, at the point where Garp and Roger had overwhelmed the Rocks Pirates. This may well have been a contingency plan Xebec had in place - if he's meticulous enough to craft Teach's current plans, it's not beyond reason that he'd have some kind of insurance policy should his life be put in danger. With Xebec's soul in her possession, all that's needed is for a host to be found. Now, the part I cannot answer is "why Teach", but if he truly possesses the Will of D., then that may well have been something that had been taken in to account when choosing a "new host" for Xebec's soul. * Well, that's the theory. Does it make sense? That's up for you to decide. Thanks for reading!

seiryu

I think the only point I have contention with is the possibility of a 12 year old knowing that Whitebeard was the best option to get the Yami Yami no Mi. Even Blackbeard himself says that Whitebeard is the best option because he controls the largest territory and the crew promotes equal opportunity to rise to power. This second part realistically is something he learned while in the crew, but even without anything other than old newspapers, it is probably common knowledge that Whitebeard is the next powerhouse other than Roger. Actually, prior to Roger's sudden rise, Whitebeard was the most renown pirate. So context implies Blackbeard just needs to read discarded newspapers to know the best option to get his necessary fruit ability. The direct information on ROCKS is key. However, I doubt it is a situation where only Whitebeard was recruited. It is safe to assume it is like Luffy's underlings where the entire crew is a branch of the alliance. Blackbeard could have got the information from older members that were with Whitebeard while under Rocks. The current mechanics of Big Mom's fruit ability are only for lifespan/soul energy. Part of memories are transferred, but they do not become the individual. However, an awakened Soul Soul power does fit the ability to do an additional layer of magic and truly transfer an entire personality. Hard to imagine that Big Mom doesn't have an awakening, and since she has her fruit ability from 5 or 6, her having an awakening at 28 is very realistic (I forget Luffy's age when he gets his fruit ability but he's still only 20 or 21 now, so the years of experience is there). Kind of a small point since it isn't shown, but definitely within the realms of what's possible per mechanics of the ability displayed so far. Other than these minor points, I went from thinking "no way", to seeing it a distinct possibility. The timeline is probably key (the overlap in them being alive at the same time). The Hakuba aspect is probably key and it's hard to imagine we don't have more information on this come up in a future arc when Calvendish overlaps and is an ally for one of the remaining arcs. So Calvendish not showing up again until the final war (probably after the Blackbeard War) would make this less likely to happen. But damn, this is totally Oda's writing style where it seems crazy, but if you connect all the breadcrumbs it makes perfect sense. That's why it can have breadcrumbs in plain sight because it still is going to have shock factor/impact no matter what. Thanks for sharing, and I don't remember reading this back at OPF.

jawahib

OK, so I love this theory and how much it ties together, but (and I genuinely could be missing something), how do you explain Xebec's soul entering a 2-year-old Blackbeard? If Big Mom harvested the soul 38 years ago, her options are either giving it to the toddler Teach, or perhaps storing it somewhere and giving it to him later, both of which appear unlikely to the point of impossible.

Marco Polo

So I've lost my reply to this not once, but TWICE when I'm about to finish it. How annoying. > I think the only point I have contention with is the possibility of a 12 year old knowing that Whitebeard was the best option to get the Yami Yami no Mi. Even Blackbeard himself says that Whitebeard is the best option because he controls the largest territory and the crew promotes equal opportunity to rise to power. This second part realistically is something he learned while in the crew, but even without anything other than old newspapers, it is probably common knowledge that Whitebeard is the next powerhouse other than Roger. Actually, prior to Roger's sudden rise, Whitebeard was the most renown pirate. So context implies Blackbeard just needs to read discarded newspapers to know the best option to get his necessary fruit ability. This is something I noticed in the Oden flashback - Buggy complains that Whitebeard's stealing all the headlines from them. > The direct information on ROCKS is key. However, I doubt it is a situation where only Whitebeard was recruited. It is safe to assume it is like Luffy's underlings where the entire crew is a branch of the alliance. Blackbeard could have got the information from older members that were with Whitebeard while under Rocks. So, from Chapter 962 we know that Big Mom/Kaido/WB only start recruiting after God Valley. And given how young Whitebeard's crew appear to be when we meet them 30 years ago, I doubt any of them would have been considered strong enough to make the cut. Marco/Jozu are clearly apprentices still, and the others would likely be much bigger names in the present day if they were involved. Added to that, we don't really know how much Whitebeard would have shared about his days with Rocks. The only ex-WB member who may know something is Marco, but I imagine he finds out quite late on, and I don't think he tells Teach about it. So from that perspective, I think the only ways he takes influence from Rocks are if he somehow had access to books that had Rocks' name in, or through the ideas I suggest in my theory. > OK, so I love this theory and how much it ties together, but (and I genuinely could be missing something), how do you explain Xebec's soul entering a 2-year-old Blackbeard? If Big Mom harvested the soul 38 years ago, her options are either giving it to the toddler Teach, or perhaps storing it somewhere and giving it to him later, both of which appear unlikely to the point of impossible. OK so I didn't talk about this much because it's the most difficult part to explain, but here's two possibilities. They are kinda reaches though: Rocks' fixation with "taboo subjects" led to him seeking out members of the D. Clan. Since Teach is part of the D. Clan, at least one of his parents is also a D Clan member. It could be that Rocks had pre-identified a potential successor (i.e. it didn't have to be Teach, but a D. would do) Big Mom stores Rocks' soul in an edible object as a way of guaranteeing someone consumes it and inherits his will (kinda like a Devil Fruit)

seiryu

> So I've lost my reply to this not once, but TWICE when I'm about to finish it. How annoying. Oh man...and a long discussion too! I feel your pain...> So, from Chapter 962 we know that Big Mom/Kaido/WB only start recruiting after God Valley. And given how young Whitebeard's crew appear to be when we meet them 30 years ago, I doubt any of them would have been considered strong enough to make the cut. Marco/Jozu are clearly apprentices still, and the others would likely be much bigger names in the present day if they were involved. Added to that, we don't really know how much Whitebeard would have shared about his days with Rocks. The only ex-WB member who may know something is Marco, but I imagine he finds out quite late on, and I don't think he tells Teach about it. So from that perspective, I think the only ways he takes influence from Rocks are if he somehow had access to books that had Rocks' name in, or through the ideas I suggest in my theory. Ah, numbers of underlings are very important too (protecting the territory for access to Devil's Fruits, resources, and most importantly information). Luffy needs Orlumbus for this aspect (and probably gets increased for the final war by the alliances with Alabasta, Gyojin-Island, Dressrosa (their young residents). I 100% agree that they wouldn't be in the main ROCKS crew, but they are likely part of the underlings. The information of Rocks' name and the name of the island would be basic knowledge if they are underlings of the super-crew. The information as a whole is completely classified for the public. Anyone with direct access to hear first-hand experience is a free flow of valuable information. Just like Big Mom's mindset, Teach benefits from his choice to join Whitebeard's crew. Shanks probably could become Pirate King if he wanted, but he chooses (just like Whitebeard) to stay a step behind in the shadows. > Rocks' fixation with "taboo subjects" led to him seeking out members of the D. Clan. Since Teach is part of the D. Clan, at least one of his parents is also a D Clan member. It could be that Rocks had pre-identified a potential successor (i.e. it didn't have to be Teach, but a D. would do) I don't think this is much of a stretch. Context implies Rocks had some insight on Void Century/Ancient Kingdom related info. Just like Roger conveyed what he was looking for in a "successor" to Whitebeard, it makes sense for Rocks to know his type of "successor" (Whitebeard telling Blackbeard he isn't cut out to follow in the footsteps of Roger).

Judgement

Very interesting theory... I personally was going with the cerberus theory for the longest time, but other than the ‘3’-theme in Blackbeard’s body, there wasn’t real, solid evidence for it. The only shaky thing about this theory is that it’s hard for me to envision how Xebex would have become part of Blackbeard. Gotta say that your Big Mim connection does make a lot of sense, but what the actual process was, is difficult to picture. Maybe it’s not the actual soul, but just Xebec’s will that was inherited.

weebywitch

> So I've lost my reply to this not once, but TWICE when I'm about to finish it. How annoying. So sometimes hitting the back button several times then hitting submit when it asks you to hit it again works for recovering your response after you’ve submitted it and it didn’t go through. I’ve had it happen to me before. As for the theory itself, it wasn’t nearly as preposterous as you made it out to be. I knew where you were going to go with it before you gave your evidence. I don’t know if that says good things for your train of thought or not though? I have spent a great deal of time pondering things like Cavendish’s condition and the nature of Linlin’s fruit powers, etc. However, my logic is generally quite wacky so maybe me seeing things your way is bad? lol. Furthermore, the inheritance of will via the D’s or the fact that Teach hears a voice and is called to action makes him believe he’s supposed to be the next Pirate King. He doesn’t realize it’s the wrong D whispering to him all along. But I’d say that you do a great job of lining things out in the initial post and the rebuttals in a manner that’s articulate and easy to follow. It’s difficult not to see the logic. The Cavendish example isn’t exactly analogous if Xebec’s entire soul is inside of Teach but if there’s just the will somehow merged inside forming a separate personality, then yes? Or is a soul that’s its own personality a fitting analogy for MPD? Hmm, I guess that’s a different conversation. Either way, I like the links and can see how it lines up. If she put his soul in a fruit, it would become a Homie though. Not a devil fruit. Eating a homie doesn’t change where the homie’s soul lives. Or are you saying she’d move the soul from the fruit to Teach?

seiryu

> Very interesting theory... I personally was going with the cerberus theory for the longest time, but other than the ‘3’-theme in Blackbeard’s body, there wasn’t real, solid evidence for it. The only shaky thing about this theory is that it’s hard for me to envision how Xebex would have become part of Blackbeard. Gotta say that your Big Mim connection does make a lot of sense, but what the actual process was, is difficult to picture. Maybe it’s not the actual soul, but just Xebec’s will that was inherited. Oda always had significance behind every character's Jolly Roger. If there is no symbolism behind the three skulls, safe to assume it falls under another change made because Oda doesn't want to use it once someone figures it out.> The Cavendish example isn’t exactly analogous if Xebec’s entire soul is inside of Teach but if there’s just the will somehow merged inside forming a separate personality, then yes? Or is a soul that’s its own personality a fitting analogy for MPD? Hmm, I guess that’s a different conversation. Either way, I like the links and can see how it lines up. If she put his soul in a fruit, it would become a Homie though. Not a devil fruit. Eating a homie doesn’t change where the homie’s soul lives. Or are you saying she’d move the soul from the fruit to Teach? Well, we don't know how Cavendish/Hakuba works either. It seems like two separate people and seemingly two separate souls (yes I'm fully aware of split personality cases and the range that is possible). As for Big Mom: it has to be her awakening. The basic mechanics are the normal uses of the power. Since awakenings take it to a crazy manga level, all of the mechanics still fit perfectly.

Marco Polo

> Very interesting theory... I personally was going with the cerberus theory for the longest time, but other than the ‘3’-theme in Blackbeard’s body, there wasn’t real, solid evidence for it. The only shaky thing about this theory is that it’s hard for me to envision how Xebex would have become part of Blackbeard. Gotta say that your Big Mim connection does make a lot of sense, but what the actual process was, is difficult to picture. Maybe it’s not the actual soul, but just Xebec’s will that was inherited. OK, so for the purposes of this theory I've re-interpreted Blackbeard's Jolly Roger as representing "2 minds in one body" (the two minds being the skulls on the left and right, with the body being represented by the central skull) rather than 3 bodies. With regards to inheriting his will, I agree it's possible but there's a lot of specific details (the name of the ship, his base of operations) that imply there's something else at play > The Cavendish example isn’t exactly analogous if Xebec’s entire soul is inside of Teach but if there’s just the will somehow merged inside forming a separate personality, then yes? Or is a soul that’s its own personality a fitting analogy for MPD? Hmm, I guess that’s a different conversation. Either way, I like the links and can see how it lines up. If she put his soul in a fruit, it would become a Homie though. Not a devil fruit. Eating a homie doesn’t change where the homie’s soul lives. Or are you saying she’d move the soul from the fruit to Teach? So essentially Xebec is a split personality, but it's one that's acquired through very bizarre means rather than any direct kind of mental illness. You raise a point with the Homie thing, though... I'll need another explanation.

weebywitch

seiryu

> You raise a point with the Homie thing, though... I'll need another explanation. > As for Big Mom: it has to be her awakening. The basic mechanics are the normal uses of the power. Since awakenings take it to a crazy manga level, all of the mechanics still fit perfectly. So in essence the argument is that awakening is something that allows her to control souls via third party manipulation in a manner that means storing them in a “bottle”/container and moving them without animating the objects in which they are stored? Is that her equivalent of exercising control over/DF powers on objects she’s not touching since she doesn’t touch the souls to begin with (not with anything I’ve seen other than her will maybe) and the activation of the soul in the vessel or inanimate objects has been an innate thing before caused by the power and the soul’s presence? Her basic ability is to extract soul energy/lifespan with partial carry over of memories/personality. She can freely manipulate this object, which is probably untouchable by other people. To me, it isn't that much of a jump to be able to control her extraction to only the personality/essence of the soul. She already has full control to take exact lifespans. She is just allowed extra intricacies through the awakening. She can already move them about freely. I would make it analogous to surgical precision (but just with an abstract part of the body). Experience helps with parts of the precision, but she needs advanced tools (the awakening) to get to certain parts/do certain things. As for the last questions, I guess it depends on how abstract Oda wants to get. I would have to think the ability to manipulate without touching does not apply to Big Mom because it implies instant death/instant weakening. Things in my mind get more messy if anyone can touch lifespan/soul material once Big Mom extracts it. This makes it astronomically harder for vessels because now it is not dependent upon Big Mom to initiate the creation/insertion. If it is 100% dependent on Big Mom, just the air is an adequate vessel because Big Mom has to put it into Teach/a piece of food/something else.

Rohan

I think this is a very good theory. However how do you explain the three heads pirate flag? First is Blackbeard, second is Rocks, who is the third?

Yuuzume

It's a good thing we can vote for more than +1 now, and even +4 seems short for this to be honest. Okay, so, you already know that I'm a big fan of the "inherited will" concept, whether that may be through advanced haoshoku haki, Big Mom's soul fruit or Law's Ope-Ope fruit. With that in mind, your theory on Teach hits an absolute grand slam homerun for me. It actually ties up and explains every known fact about Teach so far. This may sound as an exaggeration, but I assure it is absolutely NOT, this is by far the best One Piece theory I've read so far. Admittedly, the theories about the "green lantern-like haki" and "the destruction of the Red Line" were awesome in their own right, your theory is not only solid and crazy at the same time, but it also lines up 120% with my own views. There are two points I'd like to elaborate on: 1) I saw your comment on my haoshoku coating theory first, before the ope-ope fruit one and being redirected here, and in my reply, there is a side note stating that I believe Teach is capable of utilizing haoshoku coating. Now, like I say there, this lines up with my view on haoshoku haki being responsible for the scars some Yonko have. HOWEVER, I've always had a problem with Teach being able to use haki, because he's always been the poster boy for devil fruit users and the physical abilities we've seen of him are practically non-existant. Physically speaking, he just seems like a crude fighter with a lot of power and severe lack of finesse. Xebec however...after reading your theory, I believe that Xebec's will inside Teach is the one responsible for both Shankss scar and Teach's bravado against Shanks during their "face-off" near the end of the Marinefold war. The instance when Shanks' received the scar and recognized Xebec's will in Teach by recognizing the residual haoshoku is probably the time he started "cooperating" with the world government (we see him at Mary Geoise during the Reverie). This was a considerable plot hole in my opinion and your theory does wonders with explaining it. 2) This is a bit of an extra opinion of my own. I didn't get to read all the comments after the theory but I got to read Jawa's first comment. He wondered how Xebec could "inject" his will inside a 2 year old Teach. After seeing Jawa's concerns on the matter, there is a single thought that resonated with it strongly and it's a considerably crazy answer. Said answer is actually very simple: PORTGAS D. ACE Who was Ace's father? GOL D. Roger. Not Portgas. Ace took his mother's name. I think you can already see where I'm going with this. Just as Roger had a son who inherited his mother's name, SO DID XEBEC. YES. Teach is possibly Xebec's son. And with Xebec not really being very virtuous, it's possible he viewed his own son as a "contigency plan" in case he died. So, while he had the chance, probably during his wife's pregnancy (could be later too though), he left part of his personality / consciousness / will / haki into his own son, Teach. And that's not the end. Xebec still had the personality residing in his own body. That part of him was probably kept prisoner under Mary Geoise, after Garp and Roger beat him and the world governent got hold of him, and is now possibly what is considered the "treasure of Mary Geoise" like I suggest in my Ope-Ope fruit theory. Sorry for the excessive use of caps, this was exciting. Once again, superb theory, it was most definitely worth the read so thank you for suggesting it to me.

Marco Polo

> This may sound as an exaggeration, but I assure it is absolutely NOT, this is by far the best One Piece theory I've read so far. High praise indeed. Thank you! > I believe Teach is capable of utilizing haoshoku coating. Now, like I say there, this lines up with my view on haoshoku haki being responsible for the scars some Yonko have. HOWEVER, I've always had a problem with Teach being able to use haki, because he's always been the poster boy for devil fruit users and the physical abilities we've seen of him are practically non-existant. Physically speaking, he just seems like a crude fighter with a lot of power and severe lack of finesse. Xebec however... This is exactly what I thought of when I read your Ope Ope theory. There’s so many little things about Teach that don’t add up, and when I think about him being a Haoshoku user it doesn’t feel right. He really feels like someone who would be extremely reliant on his Devil Fruit. > I believe that Xebec's will inside Teach is the one responsible for both Shankss scar and Teach's bravado against Shanks during their "face-off" near the end of the Marinefold war. 100%. I think the “real” Teach is the one who cowers in front of Whitebeard when his attack doesn’t work, and his more confident moments are the result of Xebec’s influence. > Who was Ace's father? GOL D. Roger. Not Portgas. Ace took his mother's name. I think you can already see where I'm going with this. Just as Roger had a son who inherited his mother's name, SO DID XEBEC. YES. Teach is possibly Xebec's son. And with Xebec not really being very virtuous, it's possible he viewed his own son as a "contigency plan" in case he died. Oh this is interesting... it’d make sense why it was Teach specifically that he possessed if this is the case. Is it possible that Xebec was the previous holder of the Ope Ope no Mi? He could have transplanted himself into Teach, but for whatever reason it didn’t work (possibly because he died before Teach’s personality could enter Xebec’s body) and he ended up with two personalities. Also, Roger seemed convinced it’d be his son that found the One Piece and inherited his will, so it wouldn’t be unheard of for Xebec to use Teach as a contingency plan in a similar way. I imagine Xebec is a dark mirror to Roger personality wise, similar to Luffy and Blackbeard.

Yuuzume

> Oh this is interesting... it’d make sense why it was Teach specifically that he possessed if this is the case. Is it possible that Xebec was the previous holder of the Ope Ope no Mi? He could have transplanted himself into Teach, but for whatever reason it didn’t work (possibly because he died before Teach’s personality could enter Xebec’s body) and he ended up with two personalities. That'd be a bit hard to do since the personality transplant technique of the Ope-Ope fruit seems to be almost instant. Also, I guess 2 year old Teach would also need to be present for Xebec's death. I don't think the ope-ope fruit had anything to do with that particular instance to be honest. The most likely scenario is the one where he simply asked Big Mom to do it, it would also line up with her persnality as she seems to know WAY more than she lets on. Even if Big Mom wasn't in the picture though, I could personally still be in favor of this scenario due to my views on haoshoku haki. The complete "inherited will" notion is more conditional than just leaving a scar but since Teach would hypothetically be Xebec's son in this scenario, he'd be fulfilling the "resonance" requirement. I think I elaborate on that aspect more on my old ancient weapons theory if you're interested but I think you should get the gist of it just from the meaning of the word alone. Simply put, there must be some substantial "connection" between souls, whether that's blood ties like Xebec and Teach or personality / acknowledgement like Roger and Luffy. Well, this is still highly theoretical and Big Mom fits the bill anyway so it'd make sense to go with that story. Haoshoku's "inherited will" aspect is just something fun to think about and keep in mind for now. Side note: The reason I believe Doffy and the world government wanted the ope-ope fruit is partly because of its availability. Inherited will through haki is presumaly very conditional and the soul fruit is in the hands of a Yonko. So acquiring a devil fruit no one has eaten or a devil fruit eaten by someone you can kill way easier than a Yonko, with similar abilties, which can help you achieve your goals, is the obvious and easy choice. > Also, Roger seemed convinced it’d be his son that found the One Piece and inherited his will, so it wouldn’t be unheard of for Xebec to use Teach as a contingency plan in a similar way. I imagine Xebec is a dark mirror to Roger personality wise, similar to Luffy and Blackbeard. Very astute description. That is exactly what I had in mind and the descrption fits that picture to a tea. Not sure if you want to use the Teach / Luffy example for the theory because the only way I can explain Luffy's inherited will from Roger is haki, so you'd have to mention that most likely. I'd definitely suggest the Roger / Xebec comparison though, word for word.

seiryu

Yuuzume

> That'd be a bit hard to do since the personality transplant technique of the Ope-Ope fruit seems to be almost instant. Also, I guess 2 year old Teach would also need to be present for Xebec's death. I don't think the ope-ope fruit had anything to do with that particular instance to be honest. Context makes this extremely possible. The Tenryuubito gather at Gods Valley and they always have slaves with them. Teach just has to be in the Room before Roger and Garp land their winning blow. And damn...that's such a dastardly thing to do that it makes a ton of sense. It would 100% explain why this young kid (Blackbeard only looks 7ish years old when he asks to join Whitebeard's crew) already has this grand master plan to become Pirate King. And if we run with this addition, then everything in the theory fits for me. Can't say I'd mind attributing this to the ope-ope fruit but I do think there'd be a couple of snags in that scenario. First of all, I don't even know if the user of the ope-ope fruit could switch their own personality with anther's. That concept alone merits a completely different and long discussion about where the devils from the devil fruits actually reside, which I remember having with Jawa in the past up to a point. But, even assuming that the user of the ope-ope fruit can switch their own personality and get past this obstacle, there would still be the problem of Teach's seemingly double personality. The personality transplant is seemingly the most "perfect" (I don't like using that word but oh well) way of "inheriting wills" in the sense that it can tranfer the FULL will with no damage. In other words, Teach's mind would not reside in his body at all and the only will in there would be Xebec's. That goes along with one part of Teach's personality but not really with the scaredy cat portion. But then again, Xebec could just be a really good actor and the scaredy cat moments are just him trying to pull the wool over people's eyes. Very specific scenario but I guess it's possible so it's up for grabs along with the rest.

Marco Polo

> The most likely scenario is the one where he simply asked Big Mom to do it, it would also line up with her persnality as she seems to know WAY more than she lets on. The Ope-Ope thing is a bit of an afterthought based off of your theory - I still think Big Mom is the number 1 suspect. We know her ability works this way, so she’s the safe bet. > he'd be fulfilling the "resonance" requirement. I think I elaborate on that aspect more on my old ancient weapons theory if you're interested but I think you should get the gist of it just from the meaning of the word alone. Is this on VCC? Send me a link > Simply put, there must be some substantial "connection" between souls, whether that's blood ties like Xebec and Teach or personality / acknowledgement like Roger and Luffy. This is a really interesting idea, and it works as an explanation for the idea of inherited will

Yuuzume

> The Ope-Ope thing is a bit of an afterthought based off of your theory - I still think Big Mom is the number 1 suspect. We know her ability works this way, so she’s the safe bet. Definitely! > Is this on VCC? Send me a link Glad to but brace yourself, almost found out that there's a word limit the hard way with this one. : Fun one though, definitely. https://www.voidcentury.club/topic1277

seiryu

> Can't say I'd mind attributing this to the ope-ope fruit but I do think there'd be a couple of snags in that scenario. First of all, I don't even know if the user of the ope-ope fruit could switch their own personality with anther's. That concept alone merits a completely different and long discussion about where the devils from the devil fruits actually reside, which I remember having with Jawa in the past up to a point. But, even assuming that the user of the ope-ope fruit can switch their own personality and get past this obstacle, there would still be the problem of Teach's seemingly double personality. The personality transplant is seemingly the most "perfect" (I don't like using that word but oh well) way of "inheriting wills" in the sense that it can tranfer the FULL will with no damage. In other words, Teach's mind would not reside in his body at all and the only will in there would be Xebec's. That goes along with one part of Teach's personality but not really with the scaredy cat portion. But then again, Xebec could just be a really good actor and the scaredy cat moments are just him trying to pull the wool over people's eyes. Very specific scenario but I guess it's possible so it's up for grabs along with the rest. Law can "do anything" in a Room. He is shown to freely control his body and has done surgeries/healing on himself off the top of my head. The self-built in restriction is that the devil remains in the original body. Just in case, this is how it works out in my mind: The only way to keep the cycle going is that the younger person has a weapon (if the younger person has trained enough to use haki, then they would be able to defend and stop their death since they are upgrading to Xebec's body, which is thoroughly trained). The key is that the younger person has to not be able to use haki so they cannot defend against being killed by Xebec once he is in the younger body. I'm just using Xebec since he is the person dastardly enough to do it. And thankfully, the plot stopped this from being possible. The plot stopped the cycle because Garp and Roger teamed up to have the fruit lost (assuming Xebec had it). Similarly, Law is not evil, so he will just let himself naturally pass when it is his time and leave it to fate on who gets the ability next. And contextually, Luffy will establish true peace so there won't be dastardly people in power. I'm biased to say the "double personality" is fans taking the Jaya comments in the wrong context UNLESS it is related to this ope ope no mi tangents. Blackbeard having multiple personalities can only be possible with Teach being so strong minded ("persistent" came up in the current longest discussion) that he was able to keep part of his personality within his original body. FYI the raw text/proper translation is 100% vague. There is no mention on who the plural is referring to. I'm biased to say it is not making the subject Blackbeard and the "they" is in reference to all of Blackbeard's crew (his execs were waiting for him and both Luffy and Zoro recognized that they were all strong, which makes sense since all of them are New World level of powerhouses). > he Ope-Ope thing is a bit of an afterthought based off of your theory - I still think Big Mom is the number 1 suspect. We know her ability works this way, so she’s the safe bet. There is only personality traits vs. the "consciousness" being transferred with Big Mom's soul soul abilities. If Big Mom has her awakening at the time of Rocks, then I would agree that she is the prime candidate since the awakening lets her expand and fully transplant Xebec's soul into a different body. However...this is contradicted by the fight. Big Mom requires physical contact. Roger and Garp are not stupid enough to let a clear attempt to extend Xebec's life go through. Big Mom would have been attacked by one of the heroes and stopped from saving Xebec. Unless the soul transfer was done prior to the God Valley incident, but this is contradicted by context too because a young Teach would not be able to fight in Xebec's body.