One Piece/WMG/Open One

=== This is a list of Wild Mass Guesses which are still possibly true. Just for Fun and silly guesses go on the silly page. If a WMG is Jossed, please move it to the jossed page, if it is Confirmed, please move it to the confirmed page. ===

Please add new entries to the bottom of the page.

Luffy is the reincarnation of Gol D. Roger...but Roger himself was a horrible person.
We have plenty of good reasons to believe Luffy is Roger reincarnated, but there's nothing that indicates Roger himself wasn't anything but a typical pirate aside from all the wealth, fame, and power he accumulated. We found out recently that Roger killed a whole pirate crew, leaving a remaining member scarred and full of hate. Thinking in this line, Roger probably wasn't a particularly nice person until two important things happened. One, he got his mysterious illness, and the other, meeting his woman Rouge. He had a rather epic case of My God, What Have I Done? over time, and died determined to make up for everything he did during his next lifetime. He was born again as his son Ace's brother so he could be there for him, and all the Strawhats are reincarnations of the people he screwed over most royally in his previous life.


 * So Luffy is the Nameless One?
 * So far the few scenes we've seen of him depict him as less than monstrous. At most I imagine Roger was harsh on enemies, taking the view that if they threatened him or his crew that they deserved all they got.
 * Doubtful now, what with Brook roaming the earth before Roger was even born. You can't argue that Roger's crew might have been the unknown opponents to kill the Rumbars either, since the timeline doesn't match up.
 * Brook did briefly mention vaguely recalling "a rookie by the name of Roger". It's possible that that same rookie took out the Rumbar pirates, just look what Kid's been doing. Highly unlikely, but possible.
 * I would think that Brook would remember who the guy who killed off his entire crew was. And Brook himself.
 * It is Squard's crew that was brutally killed by Roger actually(according to Squard).
 * More evidence in chapter 603, Roger looks are almost identical to Luffy

Akainu has a sucky past and that's why he's such a dick.
It seems like something Oda might do. Akainu is probably one of the most hated characters in the series right now and one has to wonder where exactly he picked up the doctrine of absolute justice. I think he might've been a nice guy when he was younger, and I mean younger than when he attacked Ohara. Perhaps he spared/let a pirate crew go and they ended up killing his wife and kid or some other person who's important to him.
 * If that was the case, he'd elicit more Sympathy for The Devil after crossing the Moral Event Horizon, which isn not currently the case.
 * Oda often introduces villains as a Complete Monster to rile up the audience and then flesh out their characters after their defeat. We just haven't seen his side of the story yet.

The "Pirate's Age" is all a huge metaphor for how empty and dissatisfying modern escapist fiction and materialism is
At first, it looks like there's going to be a simplistic, black and white/good versus evil dichotomy between the dreamers (pirates) and the corrupted rule-makers (World Government and the marines). However, it becomes murkier when we're presented with less idealistic portrayals of pirates, and it becomes clear that even though they've done tons of evil, unforgivable things, law enforcement is needed. There's also some of the older pirates who were once cheerful dreamers like the Strawhats, but the clearest example is probably Mihawk, who achieved his dream of world's greatest swordsman, but is from what we've seen now a scowling middle-aged guy with no friends who picks on rookie swordsman for kicks. The One Piece is sought after, yet the clues of what it yields or whether it exists are vague at best, just a fun idea with no reality or substance. For most pirates, (but especially the young and naive) finding the One Piece is actually just a childish escape. For the main characters, the only treasures truly worth protecting are the people they cherish. However, Oda still goes out of his way to show that despite this, there are still miracles and imagination in the world, that life is wonderous and worth taking care of no matter how hard it might be.
 * The Enies Lobby arc furthers this idea, with its climactic battle a subtle deconstruction of shonen battle tropes. The two most powerful people go at it in a truly epic fight that, in the end resolves absolutely nothing. The only thing the two accomplish is preventing the other from accomplishing anything, and in the end both of them collapse near-dead at about the same time, while the day is saved by the secondary characters, in particular one who lost his chosen battle.
 * Gaimon's whole character freakin' screams this. I mean, the higher-tier fighters in the world are often rich and tough, but none of them are probably anywhere near as happy and content as Gaimon, who's body is stuck in a chest and his best friends are Mix and Match Critters. He's being used to make a case for how a quiet family life can be preferable to one dedicated to seeking power and wealth, and that it's actually okay to be a "little person". Plus, even Makino remarked early on that fighting isn't always the answer, which supports the subtext that all the power struggles are ultimately only hurting the world.
 * I don't what manga you've been reading, but I don't think it could be One Piece. Because while a lot of pirates are shown to be really quite bad, Oda's gone out of his way to show that the World Government and the higher ups in the Marines are (with the exception of Garp and sometimes Aokiji) incredibly evil. He's not subverting the black and white dichotomy, he's reinforcing it. And furthermore, it's reinforced time and again that the naive dreamers in this world are not noble because they have a beautiful but unrealistic dream, it's that the naive dreamers are noble because their dreams are true and the skeptics and scoffers who laugh at them are ultimately the ones who are really naive. The way that Kidd tells Luffy that anywhere else, people will just laugh at you if you say you're going to be the Pirate King, but for them it's something you have to believe if you're going to survive, clinches this.
 * What? No mention of Smoker and Tashigi? And lest you've forgotten, (most of) the WG's actions may be backed by paranoia, but they're not For the Evulz. Take, for example, the Poneglyphs, Pluton, and Ohara. Yes, murdering the Oharans was a dick move. But the Poneglyphs also contain the location of what is probably the most destructive weapon in the world. If you were basically in charge of running the world, would you leave the instructions on where to find it to a group of people that you know next-to-nothing about, where every second wasted could mean them finding said information and selling it to a pirate?
 * Except that it's made clear in Robin's flashback that fear of resurrecting the ancient weapons is just a cover for the WG not wanting to the truth about the destruction of the Ancient Kingdom. There are standouts like Smoker, Tashigi, Coby, etc., but when you look at the Tenryubito, slavery, anti-Fishmen racism...it's impossible not to think that the WG brass is out-and-out evil as sin.

Crocodile suffered a painful betrayal of his trust
During the Alabasta arc, he said that trust is the most overrated thing in the world. Cry for help much? Back when he was a younger, more innocent person like Luffy, he was suddenly betrayed by one of his nakama (possibly his best friend) which made him suffer grievously somehow. (also might be how he got the big scar across his face)
 * Kind of averted in this troper's view, since he seems to trust Daz Bones (Mr. 1) enough to let him stick around.

Crocodile will fight Aokiji
Just as Crocodile's Devil Fruit's weakness was water, Aokiji's Devil Fruit's weakness will be lack of moisture as making anything freeze requires moisture.

Boa has a kid who's still a slave back in Mariejois
It's heavily implied she suffered terrible sexual abuse while enslaved; it's possible that the poor thing didn't know what was going on and passed out after giving birth as a teenager, and never found out what happened. The kid is still alive, possibly in his/her early to mid teens.
 * Possible but improbable. While her being sexually abused does not fall outside the realm of possibility when considering the Tenryuubito they obviously had access to much more attractive women than budding teenagers. Plus they may have been disgusted by the idea of having intercourse with a Devil's Fruit User.
 * Not a chance. Yeah, Japanese cartoons are more mature than Western ones for sure, but there's no way they'd let explicitly stated rape and teenage childbirth be part of a children's show.
 * It could be possible, but Oda would have been clear about it from the outset if that were in fact the case.

Donquixote Doflamingo
Donquixote D. Flamingo.
 * To clarify, something about his speech makes me think of him as a D somewhere even further down the sliding scale of morality from Blackbeard. Also, his habit of smiling and laughing at all times, even in the middle of a vicious war, make me think of a truly warped and depraved D.
 * While Blackbeard was a bastard, he was a bastard that believed wholeheartedly in the power of dreams. Belief in the power of dreams seems to be a characteristic of the Ds. A nihlist like Doflamingo doesn't really fit all that well.
 * Makes sense. Besides, every character that is a D. has had that fact revealed from the first moment their full names were revealed, and that's not the case with Doflamingo.
 * Not with Roger it didn't.
 * Because we didn't know about the will of D then.

Dragon has the Dragon Zoan Fruit
Now that we know that mystical Zoans like the Phoenix fruit exist, it's possible to be a Zoan and have amazing powers. Dragons were associated in Eastern mythology with power over the weather which would explain Dragon's connection to the wind and perhaps even the lightning that saved Luffy.

Shanks still cares about Buggy, and will save him when it all goes to Hell
Because Nakama-love dies hard, and it's already strongly hinted that Shanks was always fond of Buggy as a friend despite the other's...obvious flaws.
 * This is likely right on the money, as it would be completely in character for someone like Shanks, as long as Buggy doesn't do anything really evil, in which case Shanks will kill him. He'll probably give him a punch or two for fighting Luffy.
 * Buggy was Shank's friend though. Shank possibly will say that he's pal with both of them, and let them settle their difference on their own, but he'll step in if things go too far.

Rouge was a lot like Nami
The only glimpses we have of Roger's lover take place when she was pregnant and later dying after childbirth. These moments are hardly indicative of her everyday personality, even though they show the great love she bore for Ace. If she was a lover fit for the Pirate King, she might have had some of Nami's "queenly haki" and a temper to match it. The fact that she was also clever enough to evade the WG soldiers who were looking for any and all women associated with Roger also seems to indicate that she was intelligent as well as strong-willed.
 * Definitely some fuel for Lu Na shippers as well!
 * This Troper is fully prepared to laugh a lot if she turns out to be a red head or something, not only because of her name, but because how pretty everyone who's had dealings with Roger sees the guy simply oozing out of Luffy's pores, and the possible Generation Xerox implications that keep getting throw out there.
 * Well, there goes that.
 * It would be even funnier if Rouge was Roger's navigator as well.
 * Now that would be impossible. They were looking for any girl that was related to Roger in any way, besides Pregnant ones, thus I highly doubt they would just miss ROGER'S F* CKING NAVIGATOR
 * True, but it's not impossible. The stunt with Ace shows that she was pretty good at deceiving people when it mattered. She might have disguised herself as a boy or something while traveling with Roger. Pretty out there I admit, but this is Wild Mass Guessing.
 * It should be noted that disguising themselves as men is exactly what several famous real-life pirates have done.
 * So, wait, is it being implied here that Luffy and Nami will be implied to have some kind of Reincarnation Romance thing going on?

Usopp is the Straw Hat's Buggy
Like Iva said when she found out Buggy was on Gold Roger's ship, 'There's one on every crew'. Buggy is pretty much the weakest crew member of Gold Roger's crew. Roger is seen like Luffy, and both Buggy and Usopp is the weakest person on their crew.
 * While this would make sense, it's sorta ruined when you learn that Buggy was on a ship just because he wanted to be a pirate. He had no real goal. Usopp has many goals, from becoming a great warrior like his father, to becoming the greatest sniper, to finding the Warrior Paradise. Buggy was really more along for the ride.
 * Er - When they reached the Grand Line and did the foot-on-the-barrel oaths, Usopp's was "become a brave warrior of the sea." He wants to do the other things mostly for the purpose of being a great pirate. He certainly has more depth than that (perhaps by dint of being on Luffy's crew; we don't know much about the dynamic on Roger's), but if you were to give a one-sentence summary of his motivation...
 * Usopp is physically the weakest of the Straw Hats, but I'd definitely hesitate to rank him as the least effective combatant. His sharpshooting talent, technological advanced arsenal, and tactical ingenuity make him a good guy to have at your back in a fight. Buggy on the other hand seems to have been just a nobody on Roger's crew.
 * Buggy's love of treasure, willingness to rob his own crew, and possession of the Map that lead into the Grand Line suggest that he's something of a dark reprise on NAMI, of all people.
 * True but if you look at the Strawhats and say "There's an enemy fleet" who's the most likely to have a freak out?
 * Chopper, And Nami, as well as Ussop. The weakling Trio are the ones who freak out because they aren't the main fighters. That's all
 * also, Ussop is no longer afraid of enemies by the look of the Fishman Island Arc. He's scared of environmental things and forces of nature (angry yonkou must count as this) but he quite happily took on Hordy's forces, even when Hordy himself was on hand to back them up, as well as running back into an army to fight them some more. He's got better.

Chopper's monster form is his awakened Zoan form
Now that One Piece has introduced the concept of awakened Zoan fruit users, it's not too hard to see the resemblance. The reason why Chopper is not in control of his awakened form is because he doesn't enter it naturally. The rumble balls mess up the fruit's power somehow.
 * Which makes sense...except for the part where Chopper ate the Human-Human fruit. How does reindeer plus human equal giant scary deer monster? Unless it's either a giant-giant or god-god fruit...
 * Zoan fruits have models, right? We've never learned what Chopper's Human-Human model is... And in fact, every other Zoan has much more accurate transformations; Lucci can legitimately turn into a leopard, and Kaku makes a pretty convincing giraffe. But Chopper is more of a yeti than a human in his "Human" form. If that's the case, maybe it's the Human-Human Fruit Model: Monster? Giant? God?
 * Maybe the rumble balls mix Chopper's external appearance. There are large non-giants so a large awakened human form isn't impossible. Chopper just has poor luck with tampering with his fruit.
 * Also, when you look at most of Chopper's Rumble forms, they all have less human characteristics compared to his natural "Heavy Point" human transformation. Chopper's Monster form doesn't look that different from the Awakened zoans that reside in Impel Down, except Chopper seems larger.

One Piece feeds upon spirits
It's a hideous machine that makes those who desire it quickly drain their lives away. Gol D. Roger died shortly after reaching Raftel, and Luffy himself is shortening up his lifespan very quickly: this is all One Piece's doing. Many other ambitious pirates find themselves performing ridiculous feats that kill them really fast, and whoever eventually finds the treasure will die very quickly indeed.

Dragon and Gol D Roger are related...and so is Dragon's wife!
Well, Luffy's mental condition could simply be the result of inbreeding and screwed up genes. That would actually explain a lot...

Crocodile is Gol D. Roger's little sister and Luffy's mother.
Due to the World Government's obsessive hunting down of anyone related to Roger, female!Crocodile was forced to go into hiding and found refuge with the budding Revolutionary Dragon. They co-created the Revolutionary Army and conceived Luffy together, but evidently had a falling out of sorts. It might have something to do with the Ancient Weapons in that Crocodile wanted to resurrect them to destroy the World Government, while Dragon wanted to use the old-fashioned method of getting people to revolt on their own. As soon as Luffy was born, Crocodile left the Revolutionaries in disgust, asking Iva to change her into a man to hide her identity. Crocodile then created the persona of Crocodile the Shichibukai to keep the World Government off his back while creating Baroque Works to take over Alabasta and find the Poneglyphs which held the secret to the Ancient Weapons so as to get revenge for his brother and himself.
 * I'm pretty sure this isn't possible because Luffy's mom has already been shown.
 * Where?
 * I think he's too old, and you guys fail to remember that Crocodile almost killed Luffy on numerous occasions. This theory shouldn't be so popular.

Dragon is Gol D. Roger's brother
This would explain Dragon's reason for leading the Revolutionary Army, because he didn't know about Roger's fatal disease or even if he does, still blames the World Government anyway. If you look at them, they are very similar, with the same skin tone in the anime and their hair looks overwhelmingly similar. Whatever their story is, Dragon and Roger are brothers.
 * That doesn't explain why they have different last names (Monkey and Gol). Maybe they're cousins.
 * Plus, Garp would surely have known if his nemesis Roger was his son.
 * Another possiblity is that Roger is Garp's brother. As for the difference in surnames, they could easily be step-brothers (same mother, different fathers), or one of them could have chosen to use there mother's surname instead of their father's, (as Ace did).

Dragon isn't Luffy's father
He's his mother. Thanks to Ivanakov's hormonal powers.

Bon Kurei was Killed Off for Real
Even though nobody dies in One Piece, odds are Oda won't show him alive again. He was facing Magellan, whom even Luffy can't beat, and the entire guard of Impel Down; and he's done a lot of fighting already. The scenes with the den-den mushi and the words of the "Okama Way" song look like the manga version of a Really Dead Montage.
 * Lalala~ Can't hear you T___T Although, this troper has to chokingly admit, that a part of her feels that anything except for death would feel like a cop-out, and she is furiously trying to smother that part.
 * Ah, but ?
 * Then that means that Bon-chan is stuck on an island with no escape (he can't open the gate for himself) trapped with hundreds of marines. Best case scenario is he's disguised as a guard until he gets some (pretty unlikely) help.
 * Or escapes while disguised as a guard...
 * This troper would love to see some sort of filler episode where Bon Kurei escapes Impel Down with the captured New-Kama disguised as Magellan and Impel Down guards.

Buggy will turn out to be competent...
...and when he can work himself up to fighting, he'll do a good job. He has yet to realize that he can break himself into extremely tiny, barely visible pieces. He just has a confidence problem since getting beaten by Luffy and kicked around by Smoker, and so he hasn't put much into fighting anything since.
 * Buggy has survived for as long as Luffy has in the Grand Line, which is infamous for chewing up even relatively strong pirate crews and spitting them out. Part of it is no doubt luck, with Buggy facing much less formidable enemies than Luffy, but a true weakling would surely have either died or ran away long ago. Buggy's not incompetent at fighting, he's just way out of his league now that he's in the company of supermen like Crocodile and Jinbe.

Crocodile was once a cute, petite woman who wanted to be a man to become stronger; when Iva turns him/her back for the lulz, she will become Mihawk's love interest

 * Dude, this theory can't be true. Watch the OVA, or read the manga. There's no way he's a petite woman there.
 * (Shudder) It'll be funny, but say WTF?!
 * It's a guess, it's wild. Totally fits Wild Mass Guessing.
 * C'mon, the idea of Crocodile being shrunken down to a darling little woman and aggressively pursued romantically by one of the least emotional characters so far is friggin' hilarious! That's probably way more humiliating than anything Impel Down could dish out!
 * It actually doesn't seem all THAT far-fetched, considering that Ivankov convinced Crocodile to help by effectively blackmailing him with a certain "secret" that Iva seems to know about him...

Bon Kurei will escape Impel Down with Blackbeard's crew
There's no way he's dead. Someone as noble as that can't just die. And having him stay in Impel Down indefinitely would be too unjust a fate for someone so selfless. But Blackbeard an co. are still there and about to leave, providing a convenient way for anyone left behind to still make it to safety. Bon-chan could either convince them to take him with them or simply take the place of one of the people in Blackbeard's entourage with his DF ability.
 * Bon being alive is also strongly hinted at in the latest chapter, when Luffy himself exclaims to a disinterested Buggy that he could be okay.
 * Alternatively, he'll become the next Ivankov, spending his days merrily partying away with other inmates in Level 5.5.
 * I highly doubt that, cause Mallegan said he'll kill him, as there's no way he'll back down from that, after everything that has happened, unless Bon Kurei escaped. Though there's a possibility that Impel Down will search for how the prisoners where vanishing and reappearing from. So the only way Bon Kurei would survive, if somebody saves him, namely a guy who can disable Devil Fruit powers, and a person who knows Mallegan very close.
 * In the most recent chapter, Magellen was found beaten to near death, his assailaint missing. It sounds like Bon Clay (Kurei, whatever) might show back up again.
 * The Blackbeard Pirates showed up at the war site, minus Bon Clay, so...

Dragon was kidnapped and enslaved as a child
Hence why he's fighting the government; the tattoos are actually a brand mark.
 * His tattoos are different from the Tenryubitto's Hoof of the Soaring Dragon. Nevermind it would take massive balls from a kidnapping gang to sell the Hero of the Marines' son into slavery.

Crocodile's True Plan
After this whole deal with Whitebeard is taken care of, Crocodile will take yet another stab at creating his own country. He'll revive Baroque Works not as a criminal organization, but as a tobacco brand (His cigars have "BAROQUE WORKS" written on the band). As we all know, the tobacco industry rakes in huge amounts of money. He'll use this money (and the fact that everyone is addicted to his products) to gain vast amounts of political sway, and will build up a megacorporation that is its own political entity, similar to the Trade Federation from Star Wars. Thus, he finally achieves his objections, through being the legal kind of criminal, a corporate mastermind.

Urogue came from Sky Island, but was kicked out by Enel
Urogue's wings are Bilkan in style which means that he either came from the Bilkan sky island which was destroyed by Enel or once served Enel but eventually grew disgusted with his rule and left to avoid being zapped. Obviously he thinks that Sky Island is still under Enel's rule and is in exile. If he and Luffy ever get to talk about Sky Island and Luffy casually mentions that Enel is taken care of and he might be able to go back, Urogue would become an ally like the giants Oimo and Kaashi at Enies Lobby.

As a child, Mihawk was forced to have literal Training From Hell
Hence why he never smiles friendly and happy-like; something like that would seriously scar anyone for life.
 * Considering he's the Shichibukai's resident Badass Normal, it's possible.

Whatever Usopp's "Lying Power" actually is, he got it from his mother.
The both of them have the same "Pinocchio" nose, which hints that Usopp's mother has a similar lying personality. However, she later suppressed this trait when one of her lies came true and caused serious problems and later grew deathly ill from the guilt. It is also a hidden reason for her to tell a young Usopp "not to dream"; she doesn't want her son to live with the pain of this power.
 * It's explicitly stated that Usopp started telling lies, specifically about Yasopp returning, to try and cheer his mother up and encourage her to get better. It's very likely that after she died, he continued lying in the same vein as a coping mechanism.

The One Piece Is...
... an item like a map that leads somewhere else, promising an even greater treasure. If Gol D. Roger knew he was setting off a new age, he might leave something after the first discovery in order to convince people to keep searching for his treasure, and ensure that the Great Pirate Era kept its momentum.
 * So, about this Rio Poneglyph, then.
 * Or maybe, just maybe, One Piece is something much more simple than that, like how Luffy (and Shanks before him) considered the straw hat a treasure, and Zoro does the same for Kuina's sword and the promise they made. In which case, the most likely candidate for that would possibly be
 * Or just One Piece of gold. Mega-trolling by Roger.
 * This Troper has always believed the One Piece to be the collected history of the 100 year gap on one poneglyph. Knowledge is power, after all, and it'd fit the name too: the history is in One Piece.
 * Maybe the One Piece isn't on Raftel at all, and there is a map on Raftel that tells that the One Piece is at his birthplace of Loguetown. Maybe even right under the place he was killed at.

Luffy will have his own Rescue Arc
The Tenryuubito will do good on their promise for vengeance and manage to capture Luffy. Of course, this will probably backfire as Luffy is probably too unconcerned for his own well-being to be effectively enslaved and tortured. Meanwhile, his crew will be joined by all of the friends they made on their journey to help rescue him, not to mention his badass father and older brother, and the epic battle that will follow will probably end in the destruction of the corrupt Tenryuubito and the freeing of the slaves.
 * Or, The Tenryuubito will capture Luffy because the adrenaline he was given will wear off and he'll be in a vegetative state. (This may also border into true Heroic BSOD if things don't go well for Ace.) Also, Smoker and the other marines will become involved with the rescue and bringing the Tenryuubito down.

Sanji will be Killed Off for Real
Robin once remarked he was going to have an interesting death, and he was the fourth person to join the crew, and Four Is Death.
 * But that depends on whether or not you consider Nami to have joined the crew before or after the Arlong arc (she didn't consider herself a crewmember until after that, but Luffy did.) If you go by Nami's reckoning, then SHE'S number four.
 * Going by the chapter titles, Nami is still considered the second person to join the crew.
 * As much as This Troper hates to admit it (being a huge Sanji fangirl), I would not be surprised if this happened. Sanji has almost an obsession with having a heroic death, attempting to sacrifice himself several times (Drum, Little Garden, and Thriller Bark being the big ones), and his general character theme seems to be self-sacrifice (just start at his reasons for staying at the Baratie and go forward), especially in attempts to atone for some sin or failing. If anyone in the crew has a chance of dying before the end, I think it's Sanji, most likely in a final sacrifice to save the others. He'll probably be smiling as he does it, too, the crazy goof...

Mihawk is way, way more evil (or just not as sane) than he appears.
So far, he's been portrayed as neutral, but it will later be revealed he's utterly $%# @ed in the head due to years of caring about fighting and strength at the expense of his human relationships and personal happiness. In other words, what Zoro might be in danger of becoming.

Crocodile is actually Dragon's embittered younger brother.
It would be a bit of a twist if the cold and calculating Crocodile turned out to be Luffy's Evil Uncle, but whose tenure as Big Bad ended before The Reveal.
 * The secret that Iva knows about? His full name, of course: Monkey D. Crocodile.
 * Heck, this could maybe even explain Crocodile's appearent personality shift, especially towards Luffy, after he's been sent to impel down: he didn't realize who's kid he was until then. While he may or may not care about the blood relation in itself, he probably wouldn't want Dragon after him for killing Luffy/letting Luffy be killed.
 * And Garp wouldn't have said anything about this. . .why? If he let Luffy know that the most wanted man in the world is his papa then having an ex-Shichibukai for an uncle isn't all that terrible in comparison.
 * It just never came up.
 * I'm pretty sure he wouldn't take that idiotic excuse unless they really just wanted to mess around with us. In that case, I say that Ace is not actually related to Dragon, but is instead Luffy from the future who has lost his memory after timetraveling with Dr. Who. He's got fire because rubber can cause a ton of frictions, and time travel integrated friction genes into his body. Canon.

Luffy will have a serious growth spurt sometime before the manga ends.
Considering how he's clearly not finished growing. This will also lend itself to a Crowning Moment of Funny if a crew member speculates that at the rate he's going, he'll wind up being taller than all the other males.
 * More specifically, he'll be much taller by the time he meets his crew again. Being without them for so long will make his heart more mature, and his heart will make his body bigger. Hey, that's how things roll in this story.
 * only when you ask Oda a stupid question. but the story has stated again, and Luffy doesn't seem to have really grown. however, his lenght seems to vary wildly, even from panel to panel. maybe that is an effect of the gum gum fruit?

Dragon will have a Papa Wolf moment.
Like Olvia with Robin, Dragon's separation from his family is for their protection from the wrath of the World Government. But with both of his sons at risk in the heart of the World Government, Dragon's going to raise all hell similar to Whitebeard to keep them safe.
 * And in turn, Garp will go all Papa Wolf for Ace, Luffy, and Dragon.

Zoro has been gradually going crazy since Mihawk defeated him, and is going to snap fairly soon.
During the Arlong arc, Sanji notes that Zoro became a "high tempered" person since that "shameful defeat"(Guess what he's talking about.). Craziness has also been mentioned in the context of his character a few times. Finally, his 'asura' attack invokes an (often sinister) Eastern deity whose characterization fits him perfectly: quick to anger and thirsting for power, and whose qualities detract from peace of mind according to Buddhism. With Perona's negative ghosts likely hanging around him a great deal, the next time we'll see him he'll likely be mentally in dismal shape.
 * Coby told Zoro, when he was tied up by the marines, that only Luffy could save Zoro and only Zoro could save Luffy. Possible allusion towards both their mental states after this current arc.
 * he has spend the timeskip with only time will tell where he will go from now on.

Garp is a unique kind of Love Martyr for his family
From reading the story, Garp seems seriously alienated from his kin: his son is a revolutionary who wants to take down the WG, his older grandson has rejected his father and implicitly his whole paternal bloodline by changing his last name and putting the continuation of the family name at risk (big, BIG deal in Japan.), and his younger grandson fears him and never bonded with him deeply. In some way shape or form, Garp has been rejected by his known living family, and it was very likely his own damn fault. Yet he doesn't seem to mind what Dragon is doing, he visits Ace in prison, and even proclaims to Luffy he still wants to be loved by his grandson. No matter how they treat him or what they think of him, Garp unconditionally loves and cares about his family, and his fondest dream is to be loved by them in return.

Crocodile was once a (quite ugly) WOMAN
Apparently Iva-chan knows an embarrassing secret about Crocodile and helped him out once. Unless this is a red herring, the implications are quite obvious...
 * This Troper is surprised he wasn't the first to think of that, but then again, it was a pretty obvious heading. And for being obvious the chances that Croc's secret isn't anything close to that is pretty big. Remember kids, this is One Piece, the king of "Didn't see that one coming".
 * Nah, I'm thinking he wasn't originally a chick, but was turned into one by Ivankov, and Ivankov knows how to turn him back, but won't for no reason, because of his own issues with gender. I think the whole strength issue isn't what going on, that he looked like this: http://clickmon.deviantart.com/art/Crocodile-145023112, and maybe that the weakness is that it's some word or something that when it's said does the trick, like "cacophonic-rapid-swimmingly-aquafarmers-schizophrenics" or something. Come on, that's probably the most realistic this is going to get, but chances are the One Piece gang is just trolling us, or is going to have it be something like a weakness to incredibly fluffy bunnies. There's no way he'll end up permanently a woman or was originally a woman, as that too drastically changes his character. And this certainly isn't a deep emotional thing with him having trust issues in his past and being emotionally scarred. I mean, look at the guy.
 * Or maybe seeing incredibly fluffy bunnies turns him into a woman.
 * No. How and why would they do this to this guy ever in their right minds? Not as a woman, maybe he thinks they're really cute as a man, or he turns into a woman with the same personality, but not that he gets a personality change and turns into a woman. Really, how would you picture that?
 * Easily.
 * His image and popularity would almost certainly tank if they flipped his personality around this badly. I agree with "nah" brah, I pray to Jesus that it's either we never find out or that picture and he wasn't originally a woman.
 * What if instead, he was a really cute, short woman who asked Ivy-chan to make her a man to get stronger? It'd be awesome and hilarious if the big, Complete Monster Crocodile was really a tiny Pettanko. (Bonus if he gets changed back by the end of the arc.)
 * This one doesn't check out, see above.
 * Wow, I cannot believe someone else thought of this too...I personally believe that Crocodile's real name is Portgas Crocodile, and his vengeance on Whitebeard is for what he got Ace into. Yep, Croco's Ace's mom. Possibly Luffy's.
 * Nah, her real name is totally something punny like Croquet D Elles. Also I'm gonna bet she was a noble of some country that the WG destroyed or let be destroyed(like Drum Island), possibly from betrayal within, hence the trust issues. That's her Freudian Excuse. Essentially she's Vivi if Crocodile hadn't been stopped.
 * Notice that in the manga tie-in for the 10th movie, during Gol D. Roger's execution, several -important- individuals are shown contemplating it, such as Moriah and Shanks. Notice that a younger Crocodile is among them, and he's the only one not to have his face shown. Now take a few seconds to contemplate this.
 * This troper figured that was 1) to hide wether or not he had the scar yet and/or 2) to hide what the expression on his face was, and thus hide how he reacted to Roger's execution.

Crocodile was once a Revolutionary
To go with the above. This may seem a little obvious, but Crocodile obviously had something to base his attempted takeover of Alabasta upon. The entire plot of attempting to find the secret behind the Ancient Weapons also indicates the fact that he seems to know a lot about the World Government that most pirates wouldn't. Perhaps his plans to tear apart and rebuild Alabasta under his leadership and turn it into a Utopia was an honest Utopia Justifies the Means attempt based upon Dragon's own plans.

Usopp has Multiple Personality Disorder
Or at least Bi-polar in some standards. He can instantly go Zero To Hero, and happy to upset. He often has conflicts with himself deciding to run or fight. And is even shown talking to his alter-ego; Sogeking, in his head during Thriller Bark.
 * Considering that Usopp is a low end Badass Normal, it wouldn't be surprising to think he might have manifested all of the trauma into a split personality, hence him talking to Sogeking wasn't just a pep talk, but him actually talking to a second aspect of himself. I would imagine getting hit by a truck twice in succession would do something like that.

Usopp is a Tengu
Think about it; a long nose and he uses shuriken?

Dragon and Smoker were once Nakama in the same vein as Luffy and Zoro, but had a falling out or grew apart due to personal life choices
The Dragon/Ivy Nakamaship has obvious parallels with the Luffy/Bon-Chan Nakamaship, so it's possible that more of Dragon's associations will be like Luffy's. Smoker is basically a bigger, more mature version of Zoro; he might have had a deeper connection with Dragon once, judging by their interaction in Logue Town. It will be a heartbreaking way to show friendship being hurt by circumstances or ambition.

Mr. Prince is an alternate personality of Sanji.
Mr. Prince acts like Sanji Took a Level In Badass, which is completely different from his normal personality. He barely mentions the girls. He also wears glasses, creating a physical difference from Sanji. At one point, he takes these off and says "No, I'm just a sea cook," implying that the glasses make him different.

'Mr. Prince' is Sanji's real personality when he is not being distracted by a member of the fairer sex or Zoro.
Think of what he does when he is separated from the rest of the crew. He pretends to be Mr. 3 over the den-den-mushi in order to find out more about Crocodile. He stages a rescue operation under the persona of 'Mr. Prince'. He decides to follow Robin and her captors from Water 7. He's one of the few crew members capable of being sneaky, along with Nami, Usopp and Robin. Sanji is always a badass; he just gets distracted around the crew.

Zoro is the Last of His Kind.
How many tanned, green-haired people do you see running around in this world?
 * And for good measure, it'll turn out Sanji's fond nickname for him, 'marimo', is a horribly offensive, derogatory racial slur. Sanji would probably drop it right away if he ever found out because, in spite of their fighting, he's still Zoro's friend.

Shanks is Nami's biological father
Shanks and Nami are the only important red-haired characters. There must be a reason that Nami is deliberately closely associated with Shanks' hat, and the story has already done some strange stuff like that.
 * Nami's parents were killed in that one war a long time ago, and Nami and Nojiko were found by Bellemere, when Bellemere was still a marine. Kinjishi, the Golden Lion (who is going to appear in the 10th movie, which may or may not be canon) could be related to Nami. If you look at the trailer for the movie, you'll see a few interesting details... like the letter with a mikan stamped on it. Coincidentally, that's one of Nami's favorite things (along with money, which is represented by mikan in Japan). Also, Nami looked emo in one of the scenes in the trailer. Oda also said that Nami would either run away from the Strawhats or get captured. In addition, the mysterious man sitting in the darkness and smoking a cigar (presumably the Golden Lion himself) has an odd, tattoo-like symbol on the sleeve of his shirt that looks similar to the design of the tattoo on Nami's shoulder. Even though the tattoo was originally Arlong's, all she did was modify it, not remove it, so the design is "still" similar... and so maybe Nami, Kinjishi, AND Arlong are all related somehow (but not in the literal sense).
 * Objection! Nami is an orphan found by Nojiko, and the two were then found by Bellemelle (or whatever her name was.) It's outright stated that Nojiko had no idea who Nami was, and thus wouldn't know Nami's parents either. It's entirely possible that Nami's mother was killed in said war, but was fathered by Shanks who left before the war happened and most likely before he even knew his girlfriend was pregnant. Course, until we get Word of God one way or another pretty much any theory about her parentage is equally valid.

Gold Roger was a Crossdresser
Gold Roger secretly wore women's clothing often. One Piece is his favorite one-piece dress.
 * Supported by the name of the last island: "Raftel" is "Lafteru", or simply "Laughter"! The One Piece is something useless just to laugh about.
 * OH GOD! LUFFY IN THE SKIMPY SWIMSUIT! MAKE IT STOP!! MY EYES!
 * OH GOD! LUFFY IN THE SKIMPY SWIMSUIT! ....wait, I'm a straight woman; I love this idea. THANK YOU JESUS!

The One Piece is a MacGuffin in the style of the briefcase from Pulp Fiction
At last the gang makes it to Raftel. It's a barren island, empty save for the treasure chest. Luffy opens it. We see his excited expression turn into solemn awe.

The end.



The One Piece was the "one piece" of treasure that started Gold Roger's hoard
Oda must be at least tempted to do some variant of All That Glitters and have either the sum or the centerpiece of Gold Roger's treasure be some small treasure that holds sentimental value for Roger. Luffy has his hat, after all...
 * One Piece is just that. One. Gold. Piece. Gold Roger's been playing every pirate on the line for a fool.
 * Maybe it's one gigantic gold piece.
 * When asked in an interview what his biggest secret is that nobody else knows, Oda replied it was the reason behind the naming of One Piece. This just oozes mysteriousness...

And on the note of Luffy's hat. ..

The One Piece is Gold Roger's hat.
It would fit thematically, and he looks like he's the kind of guy who would wear a hat. Probably got to the end of the Grand Line and left behind his favorite hat as a sign that he made it all the way. It will probably be a cool-looking hat, at least.
 * Roger DOES lose his hat sometime between Chapter 0 and his return from Raftel...
 * Unlikely now that we now know that

The One Piece is a hoax, meant by Gold Roger to start a massive wild goose chase and ensure him a place in legends.
On the day of his execution, Gold Roger had no material possessions. All the treasure he may have hidden was lost to him now, and the glory would go not to the one who found it, but to whoever dug it up. In time, as Roger's treasure was discovered, his legacy would be lost... But while he still breathed, he had one last possession to protect: his legacy. A notorious pirate? A mysterious treasure with a catchy name, never found, promising wealth and fame beyond their wildest dreams to whomever discovers it? This is the stuff dreams are made of, a legend that gets passed down from generation to generation... And generations have made and lost their lives looking for the One Piece. One could assume that Roger's treasure was hidden with such fiendish cunning that it may never be found, but it seems more likely that the treasure isn't material thing at all. "You'll have to look all over the world for it", he said... And his legend has, indeed, spread all over the world. The Golden Age Of Piracy itself is the treasure he left behind.
 * Information revealed in chapter 506 could be a vague hint pointing towards this possibility.
 * whitebeard also mesmerised  that the discovery of once piece would shake the world, so it probably has some significant meaning.
 * whitebeard also mesmerised  that the discovery of once piece would shake the world, so it probably has some significant meaning.

The One Piece is a souvenir.
Possibly going along with the sentimental aspect of the One Piece, possibly it is simply an important, well-known object belonging to Gol D. Roger. That could be excellent proof that the founder got to Raftel. If you are good enough to get to Raftel alive, you probably have the strongest pirate crew in the whole world. If the captain of that crew goes back back to Lougetown with this interpretation of One Piece, they could make a decent claim to the title of the King of Pirates.
 * "I went to Raftel and all I got was this lousy shirt..."
 * "Thank you for visiting Raftel! Please take a look at the pictures in the booth over there and decide if you want to buy one. Come again!"
 * Or, assuming Luffy's the one to get to Raftel first: "Congratulations on reaching Raftel and achieving 'New Pirate King Status'! Now, receive the ultimate treasure of Gold Roger's...

The One Piece is The Power of Friendship.
It's a recurring theme in the series. The One Piece will turn out to be a letter from Gold Roger telling Luffy that he wouldn't have come that far without the help of his friends.
 * One Piece was Nakama. Not just The Power of Friendship nakama, but Roger's crew, whom he accidentally left behind on Raftel after getting captured. One Piece would essentially be their starved remains. (Probably Jossed. Good thing.)
 * Less morbidly, they could have a food source on the island and just be living there. After all, it's only been 22 years, it's unlikely his entire crew would die by now.
 * those last two are definitly jossed, since we met several of his crewmembers off the island. and how do you leave "friendship" in one piece?

Finding the One Piece will not end the series, but will make it Recycled in Space.
The Poneglyphs already indicate that the world has had and lost advanced technology; the strange flora and fauna could indicate that the world is an alien planet and the humans are lost space colonists. In this theory, either the One Piece is lost technology, or else it will be used to pay for developing lost technology (perhaps retrieved from the Poneglyphs). Either way, the science in the show is soft enough that having the pirate ship take off into space with a warp drive and force field to keep the air in wouldn't be far from the tone of the series.
 * This has already been covered to some degree in the side stories, one of which involves Enel's adventure on the moon.

Blackbeard will be Luffy's final opponent.
From being a virtual unknown to, Marshall D. Teach "Blackbeard" could well be Luffy's Evil Counterpart in their attempt to gain fame and acquire One Piece. Both men seem to be determined to become Pirate King and, given their interaction at Mock Town, seemed to be sprinkled with enough fuel for a decent Not So Different moment between the two when they finally meet. The Real Life Blackbeard is also Oda's favorite historical pirate, and so Teach should play a big role in the future.
 * This is possible. However, when Luffy was little, Shanks gave him his straw hat and told him to return it once he became the Pirate King. It's also possible that Luffy's last opponent will be Shanks; when Luffy defeats him and gets the "ultimate treasure" of One Piece, he'll return "his" treasure (his hat) to Shanks.
 * Heads up -  because Oda loves blasting expectations out of the water.
 * It's quite possible that Blackbeard will be Luffy's final opponent. After all, Blackbeard currently has a total of 10 crew members (including himself) to invoke terror into the whole world; meanwhile, Luffy is making a serious name for himself with currently the highest known bounty in the series - all he needs now is one final crew member to round off the number of Straw Hats (he did say at the beginning that he wanted to get a total of 10 crew members before entering the Grand Line) and then it'll be a case of each Blackbeard Pirate being an Evil Counterpart of sorts to each Straw Hat.
 * um, captain +10 crew = 11, not 10. but the rest of the story is spot on, especially since blackbeard may now be the most dangerous pirate in the world.

One Piece is Gold Roger's Soul Jar, the Will of D is a fragment of his soul, and the quest is his way of gaining immortality
Why would Gold Roger leave his treasure on the last island in the Grand Line? There's a one-way trip there, and you'd need to travel around the entire planet. Clearly, he can't move it. And why would he tell people about it? Clearly, he wants them to find it. And why hasn't somebody like Whitebeard or Shanks found it yet? Well, the answer seems to be in the Will of D, a mystical connection of people who laugh in the face of death, like Gol D. Roger.

But what if it wasn't laughing in the face of death? What if it was laughing because they knew that they would live? One Piece is no mere treasure... it's the ultimate treasure. Immortality. Gold Roger traps a portion of his soul, "One Piece" of his soul, at the end of the Grand Line; as long as it exists, he can never die. Roger spread the legend of One Piece so somebody would sail all across the Grand Line and release him. But not just any soul can free him. He needs to be freed by "One Piece" of his own soul. At the moment of death, his soul was scattered to the four winds, reincarnating itself into special children who would carry his soul down over generations as the Will of D. When somebody with the Will of D arrives at the end of the Grand Line, Gold Roger's soul will be set free, and it will take over his body. At the end of the series, Gold Roger will feed on the soul of... somebody and emerge as the true Chessmaster Big Bad.

The Will of D was all a lie. They weren't laughing in the face of death. They were laughing because the part of their soul that was Gold Roger knew it would live still. And then Luffy gets really mad...
 * So Roger was dropping bits of his soul off before he died? After all, there are at least two people with the Will of D who are as old as or older than him: Monkey D. Garp, Luffy's grandfather, and Saul D. Jaguar, the marine giant that saved Robin from the Buster Call.
 * Perhaps the spiritual world of One Piece doesn't function in completely linear time - though Brook's time spent searching for his body would seem to refute this.
 * It would be funny if it was another kind of jar...
 * Re the Soul Jar idea...Like maybe

One Piece is a piece of paper
And it's going to say, 'That was fun, wasn't it?" That's it. Think about it....
 * Again, Chapter 506 could IN THEORY drop a hint towards something like this......
 * Alternatively, the One Piece is a piece of paper, and it's going to say: "To you who made it here alive: the greatest treasure is that you are still in one piece."
 * That would make it really ironic if Shanks, who in fact is no longer in one piece, would find it.

Morgan Will Join Blackbeard
If Blackbeard's crew is meant to be the Evil Counterpart to the Straw Hats, they have some catching up to do in terms of numbers. Captain Morgan was last seen sailing towards the Grand Line on a raft. He's large enough in stature to fit in with the Blackbeard crew, and his metal parts make a good counterpart to. Also, his name is based on that of a real pirate, like most of Blackbeard's crew. He'd need to take a few levels in Badass first; but if Helmeppo can do it, so can he.

More People have the Will of D
Gold Roger wasn't revealed as having the Will of until about 150 chapters or so in. This opens the door for any number of other unrevealed people. So let's all just list them.
 * Buggy D. Clown: He's gotta be hanging around for some reason.
 * Edwar D. Newgate: His name ends with a D, the same as "Gold Roger." And he's the closest one to One Piece.
 * Moot point now
 * Fisher D. Tiger: The Men of D have shown to have an impact where ever they go. Fisher's one-man raid on Mariejois and the freeing of all the slaves there including one (maybe two) future Shichibukai counts as an impact to me.
 * It's not stated that Tiger is still alive, so it's pretty improbable at this point.

One Piece is Zeus
Two ancient battleships of unimaginable power have been mentioned: Pluton and Poseidon. But there were three brother gods. Gold Roger could read phoneglyphs; he might have been able to track down the third, the most powerful battleship of them all: the Zeus.
 * One problem with that: One Piece has to be something that would have at least some kind of symbolic meaning to the crew. They love their own ships too much to give a crap about an ancient battleship, and it seems unlikely that even Oda would just have them leave behind or destroy the titular treasure.
 * Shiki does say Roger knows the location of a hidden weapon...
 * which was before he reached raftel.

Bellamy was a descendant of Calgara
They had a similar look and a habit of sticking out their tongue and biting it. Bellamy became so bitter because his family was persecuted for believing they were descendants of the Shandians.
 * You've neglected the point that Shandians have wings on their backs. Bellamy doesn't.
 * Perhaps the wings disappeared over 400 years of interbreeding with humans? Or worse, he cuts them off so as to not have that association. You must admit, having two characters with such an odd mannerism introduced in roughly the same geographic area so close together in the plot is a bit unusual.

The rest of the Shichibukai will join Blackbeard.
With the recent defeat of, there are six Shichibukai members left, including Blackbeard. With Blackbeard's other crewmen included, that makes a band of ten, which is the same number that Luffy wants. Each of the remaining Shichibukai and Blackbeard crewmen fully introduced has been a parallel to one of the Straw Hats:
 * Luffy <-> Blackbeard: Both have the will of D.
 * Zoro <-> Mihawk: Stated as such.
 * Nami <-> Unknown, possibly Jinbe: Jinbe was Arlong's mentor and captain, so it seems natural.
 * Jinbe doesn't really reflect Nami, Hancock would be more likely. They're both gorgeous women, and were both
 * Usopp <-> Van Auger: Marksmen. Auger's unflappability perfectly contrasts Usopp's... Usoppitude.
 * Sanji <-> Jesus Burquess: Superstrong, elegant legs vs. superstrong, undignified arms.
 * Chopper <-> Doc Q: Doctors. And he looks like a zombie Dr. Hiriluk.
 * Robin <-> Unknown, probably Donquixote: Both characters were introduced in the same way. We saw them using their devil fruit powers, but not in a way that made it easy to see what their powers actually were. And that's about all we got now.
 * Probably not.
 * Jossed. This didn't happen.
 * Probably not.
 * Jossed. This didn't happen.
 * Jossed. This didn't happen.
 * Jossed. This didn't happen.
 * Jossed. This didn't happen.

The One Piece will be destroyed at the end
There can be lots of reasons for this. Maybe it gets destroyed in the final battle for it. Maybe an enemy gets it first and destroys it because it's 'worthless'. Maybe the Straw Hats themselves destroy it to stop the fighting over it. Who knows?

The One Piece is the ancient weapon that the Poneglyphs talk about
The rest of the Poneglyphs are on the same island that the One Piece is on, right? So maybe Gold Roger could read poneglyphs and found the ancient weapon, but then realised the consequences and left it at a place that no-one could get to. Doesn't explain why he told everyone about it at his execution, though.
 * According to Rayleigh, the Polygraphs could be interpreted a number of ways, so it's possible that the Polygraphs could lead to something good; Gold Roger started the search for One Piece just to see what people would use it for.

The Straw Hats won't get any more crew members
Luffy said that he wanted ten. The Water 7 arc established the Going Merry/Thousand Sunny as a nakama. Sunny has also showed quite a display of power. Therefore, the ten crew members are Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook, and Thousand Sunny.
 * Alternatively, Vivi counts as a crew member. After all, quite a big deal was made of her still being considered nakama.
 * This is Jossed by the fact that Brook was called the Eighth Crewmember.
 * Even if the Sunny-go doesn't count, wouldn't he be the ninth? Unless you don't count Cap'n Luffy...
 * Despite not having much authority, Luffy is by himself and also others clearly considered the captain. Which means that Brook is his eight crew member. This would point to two more people joining.
 * In support of this theory, Luffy has always talked about getting a musician, since he first formed his crew (that is, when he recruited Zoro). It seems only fitting that Brook would be the final crew member. Of course, One Piece was originally intended to be finished in five years, so who knows?
 * I'm going to go ahead and disagree for a number of reasons. First the obvious bit about Luffy saying that he wanted ten people. Zoro's joining chapter was called "The First", while Brook's was "The Eighth", indicating that we still have two more to go. Plus, Oda mentioned in an interview a while back how he wanted the teamwork of the Straw Hats to be like that of a sports team. Take into account that Oda is a soccer fan (he played soccer in his youth and voiced a caricature of himself in the Movie 3 soccer short, after all), and that a soccer team has eleven players, which would work out to ten crew members plus Luffy.
 * I agree with the above contributor. The Going Merry was counted as a crew member, and Franky said that the Thousand Sunny will carry Merry's spirit...so technically, Luffy now has nine crew members, not counting himself. Most likely, with the crew en route to Fishman Isle at this time, the final member will either be Jimbei (who had earlier promised Ace to protect Luffy and later told Luffy he'd wait for the Straw Hats at Fishman Isle) or, if not him, some other Fish-person. (This troper thinks it would be both cool and useful for the Straw Hats to have a Fishman crewmember, and Jimbei would be a good candidate for that, what with his abilities and all.)

The Straw Hats will fight the other nine Supernovas
Think of it in terms of numbers. There are eleven supernovas, minus Luffy and Zoro makes nine; there are nine straw hat members now. An epic battle seems not too far off.
 * Luffy will fight Kid.
 * Zoro will fight Killer.
 * Nami will fight Jewelry Bonney.
 * Robin will fight Bege.
 * Franky will fight Apoo.
 * No way. Brook vs Apoo, and we'll get to see more of the former's music-based powers in the process. Brook has also landed on an island associated with Apoo's people in the recent seperation arc.
 * Sanji qill fight Law's Nakama, Bepo the karate bear, even though he's not a Supernova but still Badass

Alternately, Jewelry Bonney will become Luffy's love interest
Well, they both clearly love to eat. True, Luffy's rather asexual, but hey, when you meet the one...
 * He has been shown to be affected by seeing a nekkid Nami (Bon clay's copy ability & spying while at Vivi's family bathouse); he might not be as girl-crazy as Sanji, true, but odds are he isn't sexless.
 * Word of God says he just acted interested because Usopp was there.
 * Ok, that was ... unexpected.
 * He meant that Usopp was a bad influence! Seriously...
 * Bonney has higher chances of being Sanji's Love Interest. A woman who can eat and eat and eat and never get fat? That must be a fantasy of Sanji's.
 * I disagree. Bonney clearly hates Luffy and the Straw Hats after the Tenryubito incident.
 * which could lead to a  she seems a little uncivillised for sanji, but luffy would be a good suitor (though an eating compitition is more likely).

The Amazon girl who is hanging around Luffy in the latest chapters will both join his crew AND become his love interest.
She seems extremely interested in his 'family jewels,' after all....
 * In the anime she was clearly rather upset over him leaving...
 * her body language does not refute this idea one bit. she  but who can say what the future holds?

Nami is Luffy's love interest
Her naked form affects him. She is the only person to hold onto the one thing he cherishes most: Shanks' hat. You don't give that to someone you don't care for or trust implicitly over anyone else. And just before being found by Marguerite (the Amazon girl), Nami's begging for his help was at the forefront of Luffy's thoughts when he agonized over how he couldn't. Even when she apparently had stolen the crew's ship (true) and killed Usopp (fortunately, not true), Luffy still believed she was a good person and only wanted her to be his navigator. We always see Nami sewing Luffy's hat for him, giving himoddly sweet, affectionate glances. The story treats them as if they werealready freakin' married. You know, Oda never said "No romance". Doesn't anyone notice that he was probably just dodging the question altogether when he said "They're in love with adventure"? If you ask someone if they wear pink shirts and they reply "I wear...pants!", that doesn't mean they've denied wearing pink shirts. So the "Because Oda said so" argument against romance in One Piece doesn't even follow basic logic. Luffy and Nami reaaallly like each other.
 * Somewhere along the line, Oda stated that romance will never bloom on the Going Merry.
 * Sorry to rain on your parade (even if it is more like a slight drizzle), but Usopp held on to the hat when the Davy Back afro prevented Luffy from wearing it. Keep your theories by all means, but Nami isn't the only one to have been entrusted with the hat.
 * Usopp is Luffy's love interest.
 * Oi, oi, no need to say sorry about making counterarguments about retarded, fannish theories! ^_^; Save your apologies for stuff that really matters! (BTW, Nami and Luffy will someday share head lice due her wearing his hat again. Hilarity Will Ensue!)
 * The problem with the hat theory is that Luffy/Nami fans rarely put Luffy putting his hat on Nami's head in context with what's happening in the story and their dynamics. It's not a bad theory, but it falls flat when most try to describe it. So, let's try to dissect the theory (P.S, Your Mileage May Vary):
 * Luffy putting his hat on Nami's head isn't quite about him trusting her to protect it; every time it happened, it was about comforting or calming her down during an especially upsetting or dangerous situation. Now, the crew as a whole love each other and would do anything to protect one another. But when he did it for the first time during the Arlong Arc, it established that Luffy did not just provide physical protection, but that he was also her rock, her emotional anchor. Another thing is that comics are a visual medium and rely on making a visual impact. There's a particular reason why icons with Nami wearing Luffy's hat are so popular (other than the obvious): it's a powerful image. It speaks volumes about their relationship. IMO, the intent behind it is to show that Nami is Luffy's most important person and vice-versa. (Something like that would be especially useful when the relationships derailing the story is undesirble, but the author wants them to have some presence.)
 * "You tricked him with that beautiful face of yours!" -Usopp to Nami about Luffy during the Arlong Arc....THAT'S NOT SUBTLE AT ALL.
 * Its just because Usopp is a clingy jeaous girlfriend. He thinks everyone is trying to get his man, just because he wants to make sure Luffy is all his.

'Boa Hancock will be the one that ends up with Luffy'
It's become quite a popular theory in the fandom.
 * Yeah, and the idea that she was his mom was popular for a while too.
 * Although that is true, it was when the managled translation for the "King's Haki" came out; where it said only one person could have the King's Haki. Natrually fans thought they had to be related to share it. Also Oda put so much fluff in her character that leads people to think they'll get together ass well, from her astrological sign and Luffy's being 'perfect' for each other, to their blood types, to even her name. Why so much hate for the Hancock?
 * This would require serious Character Derailment for Luffy. He's not socially naive enough like Goku to accidentally agree to marry her; his brief interactions with Lola show this clearly. Oda also took great pains to blatantly indicate that he's not attracted to her at all, and we have no good reason to think he ever will be.
 * He only knew not to say yes to Lola thanks to Usopp, since is a 'bad influnece on him'. If Boa spent enough time with him...or Ussop was in the room (oh god that thought is scary)
 * Boa Hancock's NAME reveals her to be a love interest to Luffy. She is named after Thomas Hancock after all, the man who started the rubber industry in England. While I agree that it is HIGHLEY unlikely they will get together or for Luffy even to realize Hancock likes him, she is the only one to have shown feelings to him, unlike Nami, Robin, ect. The only person more likely to be his love interest is in fact...
 * The idea of Luffy/Boa is insanely cute, but unfortunately everything about it's development so far screams "Giant Deep-Sea Red Herring" to the writer in me too. It's almost to the middle of the story, and we're supposed to buy the hero's canonical love interest appearing now? With all the too good to be true hints like fitting astrological signs and blood types? I'd really like to ship this, but my reader's instinct keeps screaming "IT'S A TRAP!!! DO YOU WANT TO GET EMOTIONALLY INVESTED IN THE SHIP ONLY TO BE DISAPPOINTED?!"

Usopp is Luffy's love interest
Word of God is that Usopp is the only reason Luffy ever has any ecchi thoughts. Futhermore, like Nami, he has given his hat to Usopp. Unlike her, he has given it to him numerous times. Also when Usopp was allowed back on the ship, Luffy gave him a hug while crying...something that hints to something more than "platonic" love in Japan. Discuss!
 * Hmm, Wasn't it the other way around? I can remember at least two times when he gave Nami his hat to look after and only one with Usopp

'Boa Hancock will be the one that ends up with Luffy, but neither of them will ever get it on'
What was the dirtest fantasy Boa ever had of Luffy? Feeding him? Sounds to me like they might end up together purley because Boa Hancock thinks Luffy's being kind to her because he loves her, and that's all she wants. Luffy will end up with her because Sea King meat tastes good, thinks their just friends, and will need someplace to crash after he'd done with the whole "becoming the king of the pirates thingie."

Dr. Kureha was part of Gol D. Roger's Nakama
She seems familiar with Roger, pointing out his name is Gol D. Roger, not Gold Roger as the rest of the world seems to call him. Someone also points out that she dresses like a pirate; and before Crocus joined during the final 3 years, when Roger was sick, they would need a doctor. Plus, she is definitely old enough, and One Piece does stuff like that quite often.
 * If she had been on Roger's crew, Rayleigh would certainly have mentioned it. He did mention as being the crew's doctor, after all.
 * only for the last three years, . maybe she has worked on the ship before that, and had to leave?

Nami has Haki
When Oda was asked how Nami's slaps could injure Luffy, he answered "She strikes his spirit." With the revelation of actual spirit power that allows its user to harm the normally invulnerable, it's possible that she has had that power all along and didn't know it.
 * Also, in the Nami <3 Luffy theory examples above, Nami is shown poking Luffy with a needle because she knows (and LUFFY knows) she can't hurt him. She ends up being able to hurt him anyways. Coincidence? I think not.
 * Word of God says Nami being able to hurt Luffy is simply for comical effect and not to be taken seriously.

A Fishman will eventually join the Straw Hats.
Luffy and his crew have had a history of changing people's perceptions, like on Skypiea and, more recently, Amazon Lily. Seeing as how most Fishmen view all humans as bastards, it seems only logical that when they (eventually) reach Fishman Island, they will manage to convince a few otherwise. Maybe one idolizes Fisher Tiger and, after realizing that not all Humans Are Bastards, wishes to travel with the crew in hopes of becoming a similar inspirational figure, only of a less malevolent sort. Also, the Fishmen's famed oceanography skills would be a great complement to Nami's navigation abilities.
 * I like this theory, it would help to have a strong swimmer on a crew full of people who ate Devil Fruits, and the Fishman can also work to salvage things from wrecks.
 * Or, a half-human, half-fishman will join, who's tragic backstory is about how she/he was unwanted by both humans and fishmen like Chopper with reindeer and humans.
 * Consider for a moment that Luffy already has Jinbe, who is both a fishman and a Shichibukai, working with him to save Ace. Once all is said and done, whats to stop Jinbe joining Luffy's crew as both a sign of gratitude and to help them get through Fishman island.
 * Well, Jimbe doesn't appear to have joined, but there's always the shark that came out of the Kracken.
 * Jimbei promised he'd wait for Luffy to come to Fishman Isle, and he had also promised Ace that he'd take care of Luffy, so...

Tashigi is Kuina
They don't just look similar - they also both have an interest in swords. What if Kuina didn't die by falling down the stairs and breaking her neck, but instead fell into a coma and lost her memory, yet still retained part of her personality vis-a-vis her interests in swordsmanship?
 * If this prediction is accurate, it would be hilarious because of how 4Kids edited out her 'death'). Pity we'll never see how 4Kids would've dubbed this scene.
 * Kuina's father wore glasses, and Tashigi wears them as well. Coincidence? Lots of people start needing glasses during young adulthood. Also, maybe she did break her neck; but, because THIS. IS. ONE PIECE, characters end up surviving bad injuries all the time when they have the sheer will to live. Given the story's history of handling (or avoiding) death and serious injuries, this is plausible.
 * The glasses bit is an especially good point. A lot of those little details often end up being crucial...
 * Interest in swords isn't the only thing they have in common. The anime changes this and makes her kind of sullen and distant, but she was more open and almost sunny in the original manga in a way that's similar to Tashigi. And it's possible that Smoker unconsciously reminds her of Zoro due to their similar looks and personalities. (Even their Pet the Dog moments are practically identical!) Finally, both characters are named after flightless birds, which was noted in an SBS question. It's a somewhat common trope in anime and manga for two people who are really the same person to have names that are either an alternate reading of the characters in the word or have near-identical or parallel meanings.
 * Not to mention having the same birthday.
 * Here's another thing: Oda's already done the "Person with coincidental resemblance to another character" thing with Sanji and Duval. It's really, really unlikely he's going to do the same thing twice in this case.
 * Last year in American SJ, to celebrate the speed-up of the manga, they had their own SBS-style Q & A. Someone had asked Oda why Tashigi looked like Kuina. His answer: "It's just a coincidence. There's no backstory like Tashigi turns out to be Kuina's sister or something...[Laughs]"
 * Because Oda totally has never given misleading answers in the SBS to avoid giving away plot twists. Nope. Never. Who're Ace and Whitebeard again? Seriously, why would Oda spoil what could potentially be one of the most powerful events in the story with an SBS? IMO, I like this guess because like people have mentioned before on this wiki, Zoro never got any confirmation that Kuina cared for him as much as he obviously does for her. (which is conspicious considering the other crew members' flashbacks) Does wanting that to happen make me too soft-hearted?
 * Wasn't trying to prove anything, it just had to do with the topic. I don't care for the Tashigi=Kuina theory.
 * Tashigi being Kuina doesn't explain the FUNERAL PROCESSION SCENE in Zoro's back-story; plus it's already been explicitly stated by Oda that the two are not the same person and are not related.
 * That funeral procession only happens in anime filler. Not canon. And frankly, given Oda's track record, I strongly suspect he isn't being truthful. Why set up a conflict like this only for it not to lead to a big reveal? That's nothing like OP's typical epic internal logic.
 * Jossed. they recently had a cover (somewhere 620-630) where her father places a newspaper (with news about zoro in it) against her tombstone.

Sanji is latently homosexual.
During the Alabasta arc, he joked that Zoro had become an okama (Japanese equivalent of 'queer'), but he might have been projecting his own unconscious attraction to men. Bonus points if it turns out Zoro isn't his type.
 * On Zoro, though - some fans think the two are into each other, but in denial.
 * Disagreed: the way they fight is almost exactly like Sanji and his surrogate father Zeff's relationship, which implies a purely familial bond. The trash-talking is probably Sanji's way of expressing brotherly affection. As for Zoro...he's just irate. He's like that with Nami as well, only the beatings mostly come from her. (And no, it isn't Slap Slap Kiss. People who believe this are lying to themselves.) Then again, the possible inter-crew relationships period just feel incestuous.
 * If that's true, then it's possible Sanji actually considers Zoro his best friend. Awww...
 * well, that much is certain.
 * It's also possible that Sanji actually likes Zoro, but the latter is too clueless and irate to even notice The fact that Sanji likes to pick on him shows that he actually has an especially huge soft spot for the guy.
 * We just found out that people go to Okama island and come back as...well, okama. Things aren't looking too good for Sanji.
 * And now, the spoilers show Sanji turned into an Okama, and looking happier than ever. Holy crap, if this is for real...
 * His kicking Duval shows he apparently has exquisite taste in male beauty...
 * Theory: Sanji loves and admires women because deep down, he wants to be one himself, but had to disguise this as attraction to due to the strict upbringing Word of God once alluded to and repress his real feelings..
 * Alternatively, Sanji will run into Ivankov and be turned into a woman.
 * The picture of him being an Okama shows him with a angry tic mark on his bare arm. There's an episode dealing with Sanji in Okamaland, can someone watch it for me? I can't bring myself to watch the damn thing.
 * The anime hasn't quite gotten there yet, but it does reveal the reason he's being chased. Basically, he goes to return "Elizabeth's" handkerchief, thinking that everyone on the island are indeed beautiful women. He goes to her home, talks to her through a closed door, where he puts his foot in his mouth big time ("Do you like dresses?" "Oh, of course I do!", "Floral patterns?" "Oh, uh, yeah, they're nice."), and upon going inside realizes the awful truth as "Elizabeth" tries to foist the aforementioned dress on him, thinking that he's one of them.

Luffy is mentally handicapped.
His brother pretty much says this to Luffy's crew during the Alabasta, commenting on how he is glad that his crew can help his "special" brother. It would explain how he can easily "push" himself and his high tolerance for pain, as well as his childlike mind despite his being 17-18 years old. This also makes this story more inspiring because the One Piece universe does not discriminate against anyone. It was stated that Luffy was based on Goku, but Goku lived alone until the age of 12. Luffy was in a town filled with people who practically loved him. Maybe his Training From Hell hit him harder then he thought.
 * What about those times when he gets serious and (usually) angry? He certainly seems his age then, especially when he argues with someone about 'dreams'. Like as not his seeming "childlike" mind is him simply relaxing, goofing off. Just because you're 18 doesn't mean your mature or you think things through. Another reason, he obivously has a short attention span. Lastly, he's an anime character! Most male lead characters don't seem to act their age. Plus, its funny.
 * If he existed in real life, he would have been diagnosticed with severe mental retardation long time ago, but so would some other One Piece characters, and as he is only a manga character, it's probably better not to think more about it. Fictional characters are generally mentally handicapped unless explicitly stated to be so. Yeah, it's obvious that Oda intends him to be one of the dumbest characters in the series, but there's nothing more to that.

Luffy is at least average level intellect, but plays dumb
His sudden flashes of "insight" are moments he lets his true personality slip through. Basically, Luffy is the Walky! of One Piece. He lived and grew up in a village till he was 18. Odds are he would have been forced to get a real job if he hadn't come across as "stupid" with bits of sentimentality. It is also a form of self-defense against the brutal world he is entering. He lets it drop when his life is in enough danger that it doesn't matter if his perception of the world is shattered.
 * There's supposedly a scene with Smoker where he calls Luffy out on this possibility. Luffy's response? A mysterious grin.
 * Also, I really don't see how someone as stupid as Luffy makes himself out to be would have figured out that using his rubber properties to hyper-pump his blood as a doping effect would have such a potent effect.

Buggy will be the tenth and final crew member
Just because. He's gotta be cropping up again for some reason, and this might as well be it. Provided he can be realistically redeemed...
 * Clowns with blue ponytails and already well-defined personalities who can split their bodies apart are SO MUCH COOLER than  And it has been hinted he's redeemable, since   And the poor guy's been
 * Failing that, he could be another "Vivi" - he'll travel with the crew for a period of time but will part ways with the rest of them before the series is over.

Luffy is neither stupid nor putting on a front. Rather, he has a severe case of ADHD, and is genuinely bright but unable to focus for very long.
Except for life-and-death situations. He literally has all the stereotypical symptoms of the disorder, if the The Other Wiki is at all accurate. It would explain the brief flashes of insight in spite of appearing out of it a lot of the time. It also explains how his mind seems to wander even in the midst of important tasks and how he jumps into battles without thinking much.
 * The anime has a filler episode which supports this (and is also pretty much the only time we see inside luffy's brain)-- when the man is explaining how the rain powder works, his explanation starts normal but is then fast-forwarded and jumbled as luffy completely loses the ability to concentrate (followed by luffy saying: Ah! so it's mystery powder, then!)
 * Or he damaged his prefrontal cortex by sticking a knife through the bottom of his eye socket. He went from average but extremely boisterous kid with no knowledge of cerebral anatomy to a mostly asympathetic, extremely aggressive vagabond who, instead of doing stupid things for honor, does things because they "seemed like a good idea at the time."
 * Probably not, basic knowlage of human anatomy would tell you that the prefrontal cortex is a bit up, and by 'a bit' I mean nearly three inchs, also he stabbed his Zygomatic bone, there is not a single bundel of brain tissue for another 2 inches or so.
 * er... and the personality change might have to do with, you know, Shanks giving up an arm for him

== Luffy will make it all the way to Raftel, beat whoever the final villain is, find the One Piece in whatever form it is, be declared King of the Pirates by his crew or anyone who's with him or by his own self... == And then he'll put it back, declare 'that was fun' (a'la an above guess), and sail off for more adventure, likely while all the crew makes that blank eyed fang face Oda uses for disbelief. Remember, Luffy said he wanted to be King of the Pirates, not that he wanted to STAY King of the Pirates. What's there to do if he stays? Hang around Raftel and await challengers to his throne? That's not Luffy. He seems the type to be happy he did it, not to keep it. Once he's done it, he'd let others give it a shot.

Hogback killed Victoria Cindry
Dr. Hogback claimed she was killed in an accident. All we have on that is his word, and Dr. Hogback is a proven liar who can't be trusted. Even the flashback is ambiguous on her exact cause of death, aside from him observing it in horror.

Hrm..what WAS he doing there, after she already rejected him? He seems like enough of a Loony Fan to do it himself after being rejected by her, and may even be crazy enough to truly believe it was an accident. She provoked him, after all...it wasn't his fault! Just an accident!

Luffy is Obfuscating Stupidity and is a secret Government Agent
He's the grandson of the Vice-Admiral Garp. He was trained to be. His gramps is so famous that Luffy's Crew gets pissed because they think it's their end, but they manage to escape. Luffy escaped the Marine several times. Ruffy escaped Garp at least two times. Luffy has had it all planned out because he's a SGA to capture his father; Garp KNOWS this and only lets it look like he is trying to capture him. You see, being a total ditz, leader of a pirate crew that consists almost completely out of non-adults? Absolutely NO danger. Son of the boss? Yeah, why not, come and meet him, if you want... maybe you'll even live. He's charismatic enough to play it off and because of the previously stated prerequisites he might even be able to get a meeting with Dragon. Chit-chat a bit, wrap him into conversation, and then lure him into a well-laid trap. Bam! Number 1 criminal out of the way. And no one saw it coming.
 * Ummm... Luffy has made the World Government look like complete idiots on numerous occasions, and was largely responsible for two of their three most important bases being wrecked to total hell. Granted, the WG's actions tend to be well below genius-level, but that would be a seriously sloppy and self-defeating gambit even for them.

Sanji has an angsty past (before Baratie) where he failed to protect someone
One of Sanji's Berserk Buttons is when the villain he's fighting calls him weak and says that he can't protect anyone. From being at his limit, lying bleeding on the ground or barely being able to stand, he instantly goes from 0 to 100 and goes batshit insane. He proceeds to beat the villain to a bloody pulp while enraged shouting "Who's weak?! Who can't protect anyone?! Who's your daddy?! " or something like that.

Pre-Baratie, Sanji was a normal kid with a normal haircut who lived peacefully in North Blue. But then something really crappy happened. Maybe pirates came and burned it all to the ground. Whatever happened, his home was successfully destroyed. He tried to protect a family member, friend, or childhood love interest, he failed. The person he tried to protect probably got killed because no one is safe in flashbacks. Along the way, he managed to fuck up his left eye or the left side of his face so badly that he hides it under his hair because he doesn't want to be reminded of the past. So he joined that random ship as a chore boy and vowed to never become so weak that he fails to protect people he loves. Something like that.
 * And during the second half of the story, we'll get even more Backstory on the main characters. Double your sadness, double your glum! (With Doublemint Devilfruit Gum!)
 * It could certainly be possible, what with the very recent revelation that
 * Word of God said that Sanji's eye underneath the hair was perfectly functional..

As an addendum to the above, Luffy will be permanently injured
To the tone of say, perhaps, losing an eye and an arm? It would finally provide a worthy eyepatch-wearer, give him symmetry with Shanks, and provide Franky the chance to make CYBORG LUFFY. How awesome would that be?
 * "Gum Gum Steel Pistol!!"
 * It would have to be repaired more often then Ed's Automail though...and that would be expensive.

The Alubarna bomb was a dud
Let's face it: Pell surviving an explosion with a twenty-five mile radius is too much, even for Oda. That's why this troper firmly believes that either A) Nico Robin tampered with the bomb because it would remind her too much of the Buster Call, or B) Crocodile himself made sure that it wouldn't do much damage, because...

The entire Arabasta Arc went EXACTLY AS PLANNED by Crocodile
In other words, the entire threat of Baroque Works was all a sham. Crocodile simply wanted to find the Poneglyph, as he could already read the writing, but brought Nico Robin along on the off chance that the World Government finds out he can read the runes and executes him. So, he already knows where Pluton is, but realizes that one man alone, even with Pluton, cannot conquer the world. Ergo, he rejected the chance to escape prison and went to Impel Down willingly to recruit new, stronger men for his coup against the World Government.
 * .....THIS THEORY IS SO AWESOME
 * Now because of this I suddenly came to the conclusion that Pluton is hidden in general area of the Marine Headquaters, and that's why he seemed so willing to get there, even with that Whitebeard excuse.
 * ...what a Magnificent Bastard.
 * Except that Crocodile made it clear that he has no more interest in Alabasta after landing in Impel Down, nor does he make any effort to recruit more people while he's there(outside of reclaiming Daz Bones). After Marineford, Crocodile decides to head straight to the New World, not even making a passing mention of going back for the Pluton.

Shakky from Shabaody Archipelago is Luffy's Grandma
Shakky is much older than she looks if Garp was chasing her back in the day and she seemed quite interested that Luffy was related to Garp. During one of their "encounters," Shakky might have done the horizontal tango with Garp and then dumped baby Dragon with him after he was born. She's very polite and intelligent, but tough when she needs to be: a lot like Ace. Perhaps Ace gets it from Dragon, because Garp sure as hell isn't anything like that!
 * Plus, Shakky saying Garp "chased her back in the day" could be a Double Entendre.
 * And her color scheme makes her look so much like him for some reason. (seriously, RIGHT DOWN TO THE SKIN TONE.)

In the original draft, Enies Lobby and Thriller Bark were flipped
Thriller Bark seems a bit of an odd duck for One Piece. They go from the epic battle for Enies Lobby to what amounts to a random encounter. Sure, it's a Shichibukai, but it does nothing to further the metaplot and even the WG decides they are going to pretend it didn't happen. My theory: Originally, they would have landed in the Florian Triangle, found Brook, defeated Moriah, and run into Aokiji after instead of Kuma. Then they would have gone to Water 7 and things would have proceeded from there, except with Brook fighting Fukurou (Franky was a late addition due to Oda liking his voice actor), and Kuma's first attack would have happened during the Buster Call.
 * The reason it was reversed were because Oda liked Franky's voice actor and wanted his character in sooner, he wanted to speed up the reveal of Robin's backstory, and because he realized the damage to the Going Merry was too extensive and it needed replacement sooner than he originally planned.
 * Maybe. Or Oda could could have just decided to give us a quick break relieve some tension before moving on to a battle that's supposed to shake the foundations of the One Piece world.
 * Alternatively, this troper suspects the Thriller Bark arc was originally supposed to happen only after Fishman Island. This explains why Moriah's position as a Shichibukai wasn't revoked after his defeat; he was still supposed to partake in the earlier planned Whitebeard war arc. Moriah's backstory has him as the rival of a Yonkou, suggesting he should have been encountered in the new world instead. Moriah's special zombie was going to be Oars Jr., not Oars. Also, Brook does pretty much nothing during the Shaboady arc, suggesting he wasn't planned to be there. Oda probably decided to put Thriller Bark in early because he realised that he needed a Breather Arc between Enies Lobby and Shaboady, as well as wanting the crew to have an earlier encounter with Kuma.
 * The One Piece Green databook confirms that Oda originally had the idea of Brook joining the crew before Franky, but doesn't reveal why he changed it around.

The One Piece IS the island of Raftel
No one has ever actually made it to Raftel, save for Roger. Thus we can assume the island isn't very well documented. Maybe Roger's treasure hoard is SO massive, he simply anchored it to a point at the end of the Grand Line and left it there. Over time, people began to mistake it for an island. The fact that the only image we've seen of Raftel show a shadow covered in mist would support this: no one's ever gotten a good look at the place, just its silhouette.

The Shichibukai will eventually become Nakama
Hancock needs to learn about The Power of Friendship. It would add depth to the involved parties, and the idea of all these scary, hardened, and uber-powerful people becoming BFFs is awesome. (and Nakama Love Redeems.)
 * This troper believes Jimbei will become this for certain, what with him Also, Mihawk could maybe be a Secret Supporter, as he's always keeping close track of both Luffy and Zoro's progress

Roche Tomson is someone important
In Chapter 536, on page 4, the list of prisoners Bon Clay was holding had the names 'Roche Tomson', 'Emporio Ivankov.' (Iva-san, the one Bon Clay wants to find), 'The Pandaman' (a joke, OR IS IT?) and '... Black.' What are the chances either Tomson or Black is the man that found Bon Clay and Luffy's bodies at the end of the chapter?
 * Actually, that was Inazuma. Still, knowing Oda, such things don't go undeveloped.

Tashigi will be the 10th crewmember
...and This Troper only believes this because she's a near perfect complement to Nami and Robin in both looks and personality. ...maybe she'll join after something happens to smoker? (it's the only way i can see her joining. at the same time, NOOO. :( if Oda kill Smoker we will need to have a chat.)
 * "A BEAUTIFUL LADY SWORDSMAN WITH A TON OF MEAT IS COMING THIS WAY!!!" -Usopp. Seriously man, how could you miss that?
 * There was also an early piece of art done by Oda depicting Nami hanging out with a flightless bird. If I recall correctly, a blue flightless bird. With a cap that says "MARINES" in big bold letters....Christ, what is this foreshadowing? THIS IS GONNA BUG ME ALL DAY.

The 10th crew member will be an old woman.
Oda has stated that the Straw Hats are like a family, with Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, and Chopper being the children, Franky and Robin being the parents, and Brook being the grandfather. Perhaps a grandmother figure will be introduced later?
 * Nami's friend, Rolling Lola's mother is a famous old woman pirate, so she's a definite candidate, wherever or whoever she is.
 * I actually think Lola's mother might be Big Mom.

Bon Kurei will join the Straw Hats
Although it could probably be temporary, like Vivi. He's clearly devoted to Luffy - anyone who'd follow you into three kinds of hell and trick its jailors is certainly qualified to be your crewmember. Plus, considering the definition of "okama" is neither a man or a woman and he's capable of appearing as both, he could easily be considered the third "girl" in the crew.

Luffy will not be the Pirate King for long.
He's shaving off his lifespan at high speeds. Finding One Piece will probably be one of the last things he does.
 * And if/when he does die, he'll spark a rebirth of the legend to find the One Piece (or Straw Hat) of Monkey D. Luffy, the Pirate King.
 * Not to mention this is someone who's life's ambition is to find the One Piece and become the Pirate King. Once that's done he'll have nothing left to live for anyway.
 * Luffy wants to become Pirate King because he thinks that the Pirate king is the person with the most freedom. So really becoming Pirate King is only part one to his dream. Part two is living out the rest of his life in freedom and adventure.

The Will of D and the secret of Raftel Island are a Devil Fruit power, and the executed Gol D. Roger was a duplicate of the real one.
A devil fruit had the power to allow the one who ate it to create new beings from him (or, less likely, her) self, allowing one person to gain multiple devil fruit powers (though in multiple bodies, unless they have some way to re-merge). Gol D. Roger, who was executed, had been a duplicate made to take the fall, and the other Will of D characters were all made in the same way. Each new being wasn;t fully formed, but a newborn, and "D" had to plan years or even decades ahead to keep from being left without a guard. Raftel contains a sort of anti-aging machine/throne/cocoon from whoever the sky people or atlanteans or whatever the people were who left behind the secret technology were, and the Straw Hat was a geas to bring his next guard/caretaker (earlier Shanks, then Luffy), or even body. Gol D. Roger's "treasure" included whatever devil fruit ability he had, and all of it was left in One Piece, which was the combined treasures and powers of all Will of D who had returned to Raftel, or died, respectively. Luffy's final battle will be proving himself by being forced to kill Shanks (he probably won't) before joining/joining with/defying "D"/"One Piece".
 * Gol D. Roger is still alive, and only the duplicate could be a grown up guy, but it'll be shown the the One Piece is... The original Gol D. Roger. That happens to be a never-aging little girl. What, Rule of Funny doesn't count?

The D.s are descended from the Ancient Kingdom.
It's mentioned that the World Government was formed as an alliance against the Ancient Kingdom that was destroyed eight hundred years ago; this is pure speculation, but it is possible that they were destroyed because they were going to do something that would drastically change the world, and not necessarily to everyone's benefit. Fast forward to the present, and we have the Ds, people who have been shown to have the capacity to greatly change the world. So in short, the Ds' ancestors were from the Ancient Kingdom, and are thus all related, though not necessarily in the literal sense.
 * The D. stands for the name of the Ancient Kingdom, and if any of the Ds ever so much as hear that name... something will happen. Something AWESOME.

The Thousand Sunny is a replica Ancient Weapon.
Franky had those blueprints for years. Think he doesn't remember every single detail? Also, what was an utterly invincible superweapon eight hundred years ago might not be so terrifying relative to modern technology.

One Piece is a reminder of Gold's Nakama
After venturing for so long, they picked the most secluded place to leave reminders of themselves, be it a treasured item of theirs, or the end result of their succeding in their life's goal. Gold's will be a straw hat as mentioned above somewhere, and a note that encourages people that have come here to leave a reminder of their adventure here as well, and continue the story for others.

On that note, here is my guesses for what Luffy's crew will leave.

Luffy will probably leave his hat. Nami might leave a (copy) of the deed to her town, or perhaps the Map Of The World. Sanji will leave a map to the All Blue. Chopper will leave a copy of his All Cure medicene. Franky will leave either the blueprints for his ultimate ship, or the ship itself. Robin I'm not sure of, unfortunatly. Zoro will leave Kuina's sword. Brook will leave his most famous song. And Ussop will probably leave a list of lies he told that came true.

All the Shichibukai have absolutely woobirific back stories.

 * Crocodile used to be an idealist who wanted to become the Pirate King. Hancock was forced into slavery. Considering that characters tend to have tragic backstories in One Piece, this could be the case.
 * Even MIHAWK?
 * Actually, the fact he's The Stoic makes it even more likely. I wouldn't be surprised if his back story is especially crushing.

Doflamingo's Devil fruit is the Blood Blood fruit

 * Which is how he can control other people: he's manipulating the blood in their veins to control their movements like puppets, a la bloodbending from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Bon-chan will join the crew and Sanji will absolutely hate him, while Bon-chan will love him (interpret that however you want)

 * Think about it; Sanji and Bon-chan fought back in Alabasta, Sanji tells the crew that he doesn't like transvestites (in that Alabasta recap movie he won't even allow Bon-chan to touch him, though this could have more to do with his creepy powers), and he has just been on an island full with transvestites who all have a crush on him, which should probably leave him traumatized for life. And not so keen on transvestites. Bon-chan however will absolutely love Sanji especially, because Defeat Means Friendship. Because of Sanji's despise and rejections, he will be very hurt (this will of course be played for laughs). He will constantly seek Sanji's affection and approval, coming far too close to him which will result in humorous fights. Zoro will make fun of this. Hilarity ensues.

Like Luffy, Blackbeard is actually quite a ladies man.

 * However, unlike the Chaste Hero that is our beloved Luffy, Blackbeard is very aware of his appeal, and takes full advantage of it.
 * Actually, given how Blackbeard is an evil counterpart to Luffy, and the Real Life Blackbeard had several wives, I would shocked if this didn't turn out to be true.
 * Jewelry Bonney didn't seem to have much interest in him.

Boa Hancock will give up Luffy
And, as every fangirl that has a Bishounen phase in their fan lives, she'll show interest for... Sanji! Too bad he'll come from Okama Island as, well, an Okama. Poor thing. (Although she might consider shipping Sanji with Zoro, if she gets over it.)
 * Or, Boa Hancock will give up Luffy and have her affections gradually drift towards Blackbeard, who will eagerly reciprocate. His personality is incredibly similar to Luffy's and he can't truly just be a heartless bastard like the series has been showing so far for the most part and Hancock could bring that out.
 * It also helps that he's an adult and doesn't hit the shota-squick factor.
 * He''s 17, that's not really Shota...also Blackbeard while afable, is too selfish and ruthless (evil is fine with her though). While he would be anything for his crewmates, why would he ever take a blow for anyone other than them? When he asked Ace to join him, he never held back or tried to find away to recruit him after all. He cared too much about his own dreams...and only Luffy could live up the "Pure and innocent" standards Hancock set up for herself.
 * Never question the magic of Character Development.
 * This will most definetly not happen as Blackbeard is now irrefutably a sociopathic. And Hancock's a broken bird. She won't fall for an ass like Blackbeard.
 * Your Mileage May Vary. If anything, it's a fun plot bunny for those of us who like dark stories. This Troper personally thinks Blackbeard's utter insanity and sociopathy and Hancock's broken-bird-ness would make it awesomely twisted and creepy. Plus, Boa's desperation to feel loved can easily take her to bad places, especially if she ever gets sick of Luffy not paying attention to her. Believe in the Dark Fic. Believe in corrupting innocent stories and characters. Join us. Don't be afraid. Come play in our wonderful schadenfreude festival. We have warm, gooey home baked cookies.

The Supernovas will become reluctant allies in an epic Battle Royale against the World Government!
Along the lines of the Court of the Brethren in Pirates of the Caribbean, the Supernovas will be pushed into a corner and convinced, perhaps by Luffy, to unite against the World Government in one Final Battle to bet everything on one last chance for glory. If Luffy isn't already Pirate King by then, it could show that he's worthy of the title.

Luffy is actually really smart.
Think about it. He just knows things. I reacon he's hiding his brains behind an act of stupidity.
 * Hell yeah. He just acts that way because to him dumb is more interesting than the outward appearance of intelligence. This also gives his character more depth too.
 * I'd say it's more a case of instincts versus smarts. It's been hinted that most of the D's have an instinctual understanding of certain things like Blackbeard knowing what would happen when Bellamy entered the bar in Mocktown and Luffy knowing whom to trust despite his crews' protests. Perhaps it's a case of his child-like personality that can bluntly understand things that most people can't.
 * I've actually been going a step farther than just really smart. I like to believe that Luffy is actually a Magnificent Bastard and has had most of the adventure already planned out since he set sail. If you think about it, his small island clearly has huge connections to the outside world, what with his and as powerful a pirate crew as Shanks' spending time there, so it's perfectly logical to believe that Luffy would already know most of the enemies he would face and the nakama he'd want to invite along. Also, in my theory, Luffy explained all the major points to Zoro when it was just the two of them, which explains the utter confidence Zoro has in his captain.

One Piece is set in Earth's far future.
Eight hundred years ago, the technologically-advanced lost civilization from the "Blank Century" became so powerful that the weapons it created obliterated most of humanity, melted the polar ice-caps, and reshaped the continents. The shattered remnants of civilization banded together to form the World Government, which tasked itself with preventing the knowledge left behind by the ancients from falling into the wrong hands. Only, after centuries of complacence, maybe the World Government's hands are the wrong ones...

The World Government were the good guys during the Blank Century.
Prove me wrong. No, in all seriousness, it's quite possibly true. We don't know anything about what happened during the Blank Century. The World Government of 'today' is just heavy handed due to Paranoia of the Ancient Kingdom rising again and screwing everything over. Whether Dragon knows this or not, eh... depends on how you want to interpet him now.
 * I actually had a similar theory that the World Governement (or the descendants thereof) were actually the 'pirates' of the Blank Century, opposing whatever government existed at the time, therefore the current pirates actually overthrowing the WG would be a repeat of history with the pirates setting up their own rules and eventually becoming like a new WG (with different ideals) in their own right.

Usopp is psychic, but doesn't know it.
His stories coming true will be more than a continuity nod.

The Gorousei will be revealed to be incredibly powerful
Given the rest of the upper command structure in the One Piece's world, this seems quite reasonable.
 * Some do have visible muscles and the Ghandi-looking guy carries a Sword. It's plausible.

The One Piece is the Ultimate Question.
That's how the One Piece universe is so weird. Gol D. Roger just figured out the Ultimate Question, put it on a piece of paper, and put it in a distant island, so nobody else besides the one that discovered the treasure would read that and figure out what it was, thus, giving less chances to destroy the Universe again to make it even weirder. If Luffy figures out it (according of other theories, he will), the Universe is screwed.
 * And Dragon said "The world is waiting for our answer." Perhaps the D's have been working out the Ultimate Question based on the Ultimate Answer.

One piece is just a large treasure
think about it.we know Oda loves pulling surprises,and what would surprise us more than NOT pulling a surprise?
 * Don't be silly, it's way too obvious! Perhaps his treasure is... Well, a treasure chest. The chest itself, with nothing at all inside.
 * Of course not, it's got his treasure in it. He left his treasure in One Piece, remember? It would make sense to leave all his treasure in his favorite treasure chest...

One Piece is a Bag of Holding in Treasure Chest form.
It's got all of his treasure in, which is a lot.

Zoro is The Messiah, but got infected with demon's blood when he was a baby.
When he first appears, there's an obvious allusion to Jesus on the cross. Also, the Book of Revelations shows Jesus being able to talk with a sword in his mouth. However, the Hell spawn intervened when he was being incarnated into their world and gave him a dose of demon's blood to give him him certain qualities like being quick to anger and thirst for power.

"D" stands for "Deathwish"
One of the most notable aspects of the Ds is their ability to laugh in the face of danger and a lack of regard for their own lives. They are all ultimately self-destructive personalities who live tremendous lives and go out with a bang. Garp is the only D who has lived long enough to throw a wrench in this, but it's not impossible.

Blackbeard, Hancock, and Mihawk are all deliberate darker counterparts to Luffy, Nami, and Zoro respectively
Or, rather, what all three of them would be in danger of becoming the future if they ever started placing their dreams, ambitions, and/or pride above their moral responsibilities and loved ones.

Some minor WMG's involving Zoro's swords.

 * Wado Ichimonji will stay with Zoro until he defeats Mihawk. He'll use it to deal the final blow as a symbol of achieving his dream. It might also break with the final blow, as well.
 * At some point, Sandai Kitetsu will be broken, then replaced with Nidai Kitetsu. Nidai will also break later, and of course, be replaced by Shodai.
 * Alternatively, Wado Ichimonji will break somewhere along the way, and the crew will meet a master swordsmith in the New World who reforges it into the 13th legendary sword.
 * And then Zoro will use the reforged sword to lead an army of ghosts into battle against Sauron.

Luffy will get into real fights with every male member of his crew sooner or later.
He's already had a spat with Zoro at Whiskey Peak, and a serious falling out with Usopp at Water 7. I figure the trend will continue at some point in the future, with Sanji up next. It probably won't happen with Nami or Robin, because they've already tried to break ties with the crew in their own way.

One Piece is the one remaining piece of a Devil Fruit Power-Combo Cake.
Someone (possibly the ancient kingdom, so they could all breathe in space and have rocket-propelled feet and leave that water-filled planet) figured out how to catalyze the devil fruit through a number of different ingredients and a difficult cooking process so that one bite could give a person multiple devil fruit powers without exploding. The ingredients are all incredibly expensive, which is why Gol D. Roger left all his treasure in One Piece. Unfortunately, it tastes worse than All The Devil Fruit Combined. It might not have the drawback of the Weaksauce Weakness to seawater, or it could just make it worse, which is why nobody who finds Raftel can ever leave it.

Crocodile's scars are self inflicted
Several signs in the series hint that Crocodile was at some point very similar to Luffy, complete with the dream to become King of the Pirates (Don't punch me, I like King of the Pirates because it's more dramatic), so, logically, he would have pulled the exact same stunt as Luffy, and scarred his own face, but, it might have been a little more... extreme.

Perona is from the Land of Poverty Brook was poofed to
She got her interest in the occult and power from there, and she is obsessed with being pampered because of her hard, poor childhood. Moriah 'rescued' her as a kid sometime before or after his original crew got wiped out.

Dragon has the Logia fruit power to control air
The first time Dragon's seen in the series a huge gale appears that saves Luffy  from Smoker. And a revolutionary having that kind of power would be a cause of concern for the Marines; he could easily create typhoons able to sink entire battleship fleets.
 * This Troper believes that Dragon's Devil-fruit contains the ability to control weather. Combined with the gale example, this would also include the lightning that struck Buggy when he was seconds from executing.

Luffy is Gol D. Roger's Reincarnation
This explains why there are so many similarities between them without them being directly related. Most everyone who knew Roger remarks on how similar they are. Luffy has Roger's spirit, which explains his latent "King's Haki", and ambition, hence his will to become King of the Pirates. And they look almost exactly alike! Seriously: compare this image of Roger to this image of Luffy!

Luffy is Gol D. Roger
Luffy looks very much like a young Gol, and they have very similar personalities. At some point Luffy will travel back in time and start the Great Age of Pirates as a Gambit Roulette to bring down the World Government.
 * Lol Terminator ?
 * This would completely change the relationship between Luffy and Ace.

Luffy won't die at the end of the series.
He's only seventeen, after all. Even with how many times he's used Gear Second and how much life it's cost him, human beings live for a long time, especially when they have access to decent medical care.
 * One of the shorts inspiring One Piece (Romance Dawn or another, I'm not sure) showed a picture of an older Luffy with a little bit of beard. Although this is hardly conclusive, it could support the eventuality of Luffy's saga not ending at the end of the series.
 * Here's something to think about. What's Chopper's dream? To be able to cure any sickness...

Buggy got stung on the nose by a bee.
He was allergic. That's why he really doesn't like to talk about it. It's a visible sign of his weakness, which he likes to cover up with bravado.

The One Piece world's birth rate has been plunging to a dangerous degree
No, seriously. Tons of young men are going out at sea for years and years and frequently getting killed and not raising families. The World Government is just plain trigger happy and causing tons of useless deaths. And the women male pirates could impregnate anyway? Knowing the WG's track record and info gathering skills, they're probably almost never safe either, and neither are any innocent women who probably aren't involved in the first place but got implicated anyway. Seeing as how in Real Life it's widely documented that Japan's birth rate has become way too low, the implications of the current situation in the OP world probably aren't lost on Oda.
 * This is the reason that most of the characters lack last names; people die so fast that two people with the same name almost never have the chance to meet each other.

Zoro and Donquixote Doflamingo are related somehow
This explains why Doflamingo looks like Zoro's gay twin brother.
 * Taking in consideration that both are inspired by the most famous Spanish-speaking characters to ever exist...
 * Or maybe SANJI is somehow related to Doflamingo...
 * Doflamingo appeared to be in his late teens or early twenties at the time of Roger's execution. He could be Zoro's father. Zoro could be so protective over Chopper because he sees himself in Chopper, a person without a father figure. So he wants to fulfill that role.

The ending is going to be INSANELY HAPPY no matter certain things turn out
It's possible that the One Piece will not exist, and/or that some (if not all) of the Strawhats won't achieve their dreams or get what they expected. However, it's still going to be insanely happy because the characters are together and have come to care for one another so deeply. This ending was already hinted at with Gaimon and how even if he didn't get the treasure he waited 20 years for, he was still happy because of his animal friends.

Kuma is a Born Again Christian
Kuma was once a tyrant but is now a peaceful man who now carries around a bible. It make sense that somewhere along the line he found god.
 * Or maybe because he knew from the beginning when he would die from the modifications. A set date of death tends to make people more religous, and this would certainly add another layer of depth to the man.
 * Dude, he carries around a bible and has a giant cross on his jacket.

The CP 9 will have an Enemy Mine run-in with the Straw Hats
As the CP 9 are now on the lam and seem to have become pirates themselves in the process, they might have a chance to reconcile with their former enemies much like Hachan or at least admit that they are no longer enemies. They might even be potential allies sometime in the future, seeing as how Oda loves to reintroduce old characters!

Awakened Zoan users are animals that ate devil fruits for their own species.
Oda stated that if a Human ate the Hito Hito no Mi/Human Human Fruit, they would become enlightened. Maybe an animal doing the same becomes awakened.

Vegapunk is Franky's Father.
Ever since he moored onto Water 7, young Cutty Flam has always shown exceptional talent in shipbuilding and engineering, and has made truly formidable weapons out of scrapped parts. Although in the current running of the manga Franky's family line has not been given any exposition and leaves much room for guesswork, I would not be surprised if he ended up being quite a chip off the old block.
 * And now Franky's at Vegapunk's childhood home.
 * Unlikely: it's stated that both of Franky's parents were pirates (which Vegapunk isn't).
 * He isn't now, but plenty of the characters have piracy in their pasts.

Nyon is Franky's Mother.
Gloriosa and Vegapunk were Franky's pirate parents until Fisher Tiger went against the World Nobles. Then she took the Hancock sisters back to Amazon Lily and he joined the World Government.

Buggy will be revealed as Donflamingo's "natural enemy".
Donflamingo's powers appear to be related to creating or controlling strings which he uses to control his opponents or cut them to ribbons. Buggy's allow him to split apart rendering him immune to being cut. "Buggy: "Yer' flashy strings can't do a thing to me!!

Donflamingo: * Enel-face* "


 * More like Trafalgar Law's natural enemy.

Jewelry Bonney is A LOT Older Than She Looks.
She's not willing to do anything what so ever that brings attention to herself, yet she's considered enough of a threat to merit a 140,000,000 Beri Bounty. Why? If Nico Robin gets a 79,000,000 Beri Bounty as an eight year old for being theoretically able to learn about the Void Century, then imagine what someone would get if they had actually been alive then! Certainly enough to qualify for Supernova status.
 * Given her ability to change the age of anyone (including herself) at will, that would be plausible enough.
 * Wouldn't exactly be a rookie though
 * If they admitted she wasn't a rookie they would risk the secret getting out. This could also simply be her first time being a pirate in her long life, which would still let the rookie label apply.
 * She's been given some Hidden Depths by crying at the thought of Whitebeard betraying his own crew, implying either a dark past of her own or a dark past with him. Which leads me to declare...

The real reason Smoker is still chasing Luffy despite how he's proven to be an excellent person is because....
...he's having a textbook case of a mide-life crisis. Not being able to capture him in Logue town reminded him that he's just started to grow old, and he doesn't want to let go of the feeling of infallibility he had as a younger man. He doesn't want to let go of the past and just admit he was wrong. It even explains his sweet-but-slightly-weird protectiveness of Tashigi; he wants to feel like the cool hero with the adorable, somewhat dependent side-kick/girlfriend, even though in reality she probably doesn't have those kind of feelings for him in return and probably wants to grow up completely and become more of her own person. Pretty soon, reality is going to crash down hard on the poor guy.
 * Nah, Smoker's just Lawful Stupid that way.

Kuma and Iva are former lovers.
Iva's trying to beat some sense back into Kuma is simply hir going tsun tsun, a la "How DARE you forget your former lover!"

Plus, it would be totally hot. Iva's power, plus Kuma's ability to reject fatigue from one's body... They could go at it for days on end.

Doflamingo likes Crocodile
The general stereotypically gay attire? "You've got a good mouth on you"? "Wanna hook up"?
 * Though the "Wanna hook up?" part was probably just him being an ass.
 * Later on he says that Crocodile rejecting his proposal to work together and siding with the pirates is making him jealous...
 * Dude, I'm not sure if that qualifies as "subtext" so much as "HOLY # $* @ Doflamingo is GAY GAY GAY GAY HE WANTS CROCODILE'S ASS DID I MENTION HE'S GAAAAAAAY!!!??"

The Slip-Slip fruit that Alvida ate uses the fat that used to make her a Gonk to make her slippery
I mean, oil is the liquid form of fat, yeah?

The Pacifista's are made out of Wapol steel
(for the uninformed, I'm referring to his cover story which showed a special form of steel was discovered to be made when he chews regular steel that made him so much money). It explains how they're impossibly strong, plus it fits with how Oda has been integrating seemingly unimportant details from the cover stories into the main plot (like how Hachi's showed he was still free and going about and Miss Goldenweek's story showed Crocodile and Mr.s 1-3 were sent to Impel Down).

The Pacifista that Kuma force-pushed into the sky during the battle on Shabondy will feature in a short cover story series.
A village of peasants will find the terrifying death machine and somehow repurpose it as a sort of golem; alternatively, an oppressed and subjugated people could find it and use it to rout World Government troops stationed there and claim freedom. This is assuming Kuma sent it somewhere it might do some good.

Dragon ate the Poseidon-Poseidon fruit
He has control of wind and lightning, he's got a major beef with authority, and his kid  is pretty badass. Also, it'd be really cool.

Buggy is due for a huge power-up.
Buggy was always weak because his goal was a vendetta and not a "dream" or a "man's romance". Now that he has a worthwhile goal set in mind, his heart will strengthen, he will grow more clever with the use of his powers (maybe fractal buggy?), and he will gather a stronger crew. Makes sense given the setting.

The secret thing about Crocodile Ivankov knew was that his real name is Croco D. Ile
Ivankovs keeps calling him "Croco-boy", and it's been repeatedly mentioned that Crocodile used to be a lot like Luffy.

The Skypieans are descended from the ancient kingdom of the Void Century, Eneru is not.
Both the Shandians and Skypians have small wings on their backs. In chapter 287, its shown that the Shandians had these wings before they left the blue seas, indicating that they're related to the Skypieans from long ago. Because they were an isolated civilization whose entire purpose was to guard one the Poneglyph tablets, its likely the Shandians are descendents of the lost kingdom. Thus, wings are probably a trait from that kingdom. Eneru has no wings, so he is neither Skypiean nor Shandian. Maybe the descendant of pirates/explorers?
 * Actually, its been confirmed that Eneru's ancestors are from the moon. Explains a few things, don't it?

Gold Roger's life was cut short because his repertoire included many moves that shortened his lifespan upon usage.
Just like a certain protagonist who wants to be Pirate King.

Crocodile is Whitebeard's real son
The reason he hates the old guy so much is that he's basically a "Well Done, Son" Guy gone wrong in his lust for power. Whitebeard realized this and essentially disowned him. Crocodile's hatred stems from being replaced by Whitebeard's crew and explains his fury when Whitebeard.

One Piece is actually a Stealth Parody of battle shonen
Things can only get so crazy until you start wondering this.

Zoro puts Wado in his mouth to ward off potential thieves
No, think about it. Would you want to hold a sword that probably has spit all over the handle? Especially with how consciousness Japanese culture is about stuff like this and how Zoro's hinted at not being the most hygienic guy? They'd take one look and think "OH, NASTY! THERE IS NO WAY I'M TOUCHING THAT!"

Jewelry Bonney is Whitebeard's daughter.
Why else would she be so devastated upon hearing that he'd betrayed his own men and then seeing him get stabbed through the heart? There must be SOME reason for her to care so much about what's happening.
 * Or it could be that she understands the consequences of Whitebeard's death on a global scale, and how royally screwed a lot of pirates would be when the Marines are no longer keep in check by Whitebeard and they use whatever forces are constantly stationed to counter Whitebeard.
 * Alternate idea: She's his ex-lover!
 * Alternate alternate idea: She's his mother. She can control her age so it's not impossible.

Whatever the Will of D is, Dragon and Blackbeard are aware of it and are attempting to harness it for their own reasons

 * Dragon stated "The world is awaiting our answer." before he rescued Luffy and sent him off for the Grand Line. He also referenced Roger's last words concerning the change of the world and how it could be brought about. Whatever his goal is concerning the fall of the World Government, he seems aware of what he and his family are capable of in terms of changing the world to suit them.
 * Blackbeard seemed to feel something right before Bellamy had his encounter with Luffy and was then able to recognize Luffy's ambition and perhaps his potential of being a "D". He also stated that he planned to shake the world to its core, and seems to carry a lot of stock in fate and dreams, two things that seem to resonate with whatever the "Will of D" is/represents.

One Piece is a tree that grows Devil Fruits
It would tie in with the Meta Origin of fruit users.

The D. stands for Dream
With all the fuss that's made over following your dreams, and with that being one of the main themes of the series, it would make a lot of sense.

Crocodile is STILL a member of the Revolutionary army, the entire thing with Alabasta and the World Government was part of his mission
Exactly what it says, Crocodile never left the Revolutionaries to create his own country, he took on the dangerous role of a spy for Dragon. Taking over Alabasta was Dragons idea because it's been proven that the man does not care if a country is good or bad, he just hates the World Government. Iva somehow knows who Crocodile is and in Chapter 566 he says the most important thing is not letting the World Government get there way, even greater than his desire to kill Whitebeard.

On top of this the 'bomb' in Alabasta was a fake, a simple flash bang with compressed air which is why Pell was never burned, Croc was HOPING that Robin would tell him where Pluton is, then he would induct her into the Revolutionaries along side him, along with rallying the country to split from the WG. HOWEVER when she tried to kill him he struck back injuring her and kept up his act, notice how he told Luffy that he no long cares about Alabasta? or how Robin despite being stabbed in the apparent gut survived with no proper medical treatment (that we know of), or hell even his deep hatred of Doflamingo a man who stands for a world without dreams.

Sengoku's goat has vampire powers
The Goat ate the Vampire Vampire fruit, which would explain why the thing hasnt aged at all in 20 years and would also turn it into a REVERSE CHUPACABRA which is ball-busting awesome and very Oda-like.

Devil Fruits are named in honor of their price.
This is probably the most depressing idea to ever cross One Piece, but a random thought that occured to be after reading a One Piece/Bleach crossover, and no Devil Fruit user's were in the after life, all I could think was that they're all in hell. Because, if you eat a Devil Fruit, when you die, you go to hell...

X. Drake is far more ruthless and violent then he has shown so far
Drake's Badass Nickname is "Red Flag". In a bit in Truth in Television, if Pirates flew a plain Black flag or one with a Jolly Roger, they would take prisoners. However, if they did not, and flew a plain Blood Red one instead, that means they were in a Kill'Em All mood. So, since this practice is Drake's epithet, this could mean Drake was actually kicked out of the Marines for his brutal and violent ways instead of being alluded to defecting.
 * It may be he, for reasons best known to himself, now hates the Marines and as such is merciless when fighting them. Marines would be responsible for nicknames as well, since they release the wanted posters.

Some of the Shichibukai, the Yonkou, and some Level Six Impel Down prisoners were the previous Generation Xerox version of the current Supernovas
It seems like a lot of people in the past are quite similar to those right now. And we have recently seen some of the Shichibukai in their younger years. Minus Crocodile and Hancock (Bounties weren't high enough) and Blackbeard (No bounty at all) for the Shichibukai, the current Yonkou minus Whitebeard, and the other named prisoners on Level Six of Impel Down (Catarina Devon, San Juan Wolf, and Basco Shot) might have all have been at the Shabondy Archipelago in the exact same way, and like Shakky said, some inspired future generations of pirates (The Yonkou), some didn't (The Shichubukai), and some got "eliminated in the survival games" (The ID prisoners)


 * Kidd = Kaidou (Both are very violent, and seem (since we don't know which silhouette in Garp's flashback is Kaidou) to sport Slasher Smile a lot)
 * Luffy = Shanks (Pretty obvious)
 * Hawkins = Moriah (Both have a Supernatural theme and powers)
 * Drake = Kuma (Kuma was not seen at Roger's execution, and seeing on how he hates the WG, he also might have been a Marine, and eventually defected)
 * Law = Unknown Yonkou (Well, we don't know really anything about the 4th Yonkou, but he fits with Law, as the three successful Supernovas, that might inspire other Pirates)
 * Apoo = Doflamingo (Both are eccentric and flamboyant)
 * Killer = Shot (Basco might have been Kaidou's First Mate)
 * Bonney = Devon (Token females of the groups)
 * Bege = Wolf (Wolf's Badass Nickname was "Colossal Battleship, so he might be heavily armed like Bege)
 * Zoro = Mihawk (Like Shanks/Luffy, pretty obvious. Also might be interesting if Mihawk was once Shanks' First Mate)
 * Urouge = Jinbe (Both non-human, seem to lack Devil's Fruit powers, and both very physically powerful)
 * Well, maybe not so much for.

Shiki will join up with Blackbeard's crew
I'm not sure of how the movie Strong World went, or if such a scenario is even possible, but if Blackbeard gets Shiki to join his crew, that would mean that the Straw Hats won't have to deal with two (counting Shiliew), but three extremely strong men, two with devil fruits, and the other a blood-thirsty swordsman. Plus, Blackbeard may be after the same weapon Shiki is.

Oda is deliberatly screwing with the censors, both American and Japanese.
It seems like whenever Toei or 4Kids changed something big about the world of OP, Oda turned back around and did something in the manga that totally negated whatever they did. This could be his way of trying to Wag the Director. For example: And all of this seems to be working too, because in the latest One Piece episodes, Bon Clay has gone back to referring to himself as an Okama.
 * 4Kids cut out the Laboon arc and Crocus. Laboon turns out to be related to a crewman and Crocus to how Gold Roger was captured.
 * 4Kids cut out the Little Garden arc and the giants. Later, the crew is saved from battle because they had met those giants.
 * Toei introduced a filler arc where the crew met dragons and Zoro could cut steel. Zoro later explicitly says that he is incapable of cutting steel and that he doesn't believe in dragons.
 * Toei changed Mr. 2 Bon Kurei from an Okama into a Ballet Dancer. Later, there's both an entire island of crossdressers and a major character that can only be described as Dr. Frank-N-Furter on Kryptonian DNA.
 * Considering his personality, fandom has every right to suspect he just likes screwing with people period.

Donquixote Doflamingo will be one of the biggest villains in the series.
He's the last of the original seven Shichibukai to directly fight either against or alongside the Straw Hats, and has been shown to have his fingers in many of the World Government's pies, such as the slave auctions on Sabaody. More tellingly, while Blackbeard's crew is setting itself as a direct Evil Counterpart to the Straw Hats, Doflamingo's "New Era" philosophy is antithetical to both of them.
 * Very likely. Very, VERY likely. Considering that his former subordinate Bellamy opposed Luffy prior to the Skypiea arc, and then with the revelation that Doflamingo is the former owner of the slave auction house in the Saobody Archipelago, it's quite possible that he'll be one of the major Big Bads to appear during the second half of the Grand Line.

One of the Four Emperors is secretly or will become in league with The World Government
Either Kaidou or Big Mum (obviously not Shanks or Whitebeard). Given how much their Government Conspiracy is part of the Myth Arc, it's unlikely that they will suddenly cease to be major antagonists with all of the New World left to be traversed just because the Marines aren't there and may be overthrown/severely weakened by Whitebeard's attack. Thus, one of the Emperors will form an alliance with the World Government in hopes that they don't get screwed by the inevitable shift in the balance of power that is upcoming.

When Sengoku and Garp fought together, Garp used Sengoku as a projectile
Sengoku's Buddha form is just the kind of thing that Garp would throw for an ultimate attack. It's probably what they used to defeat Shiki.

When Dragon finally fights, he'll have Yonkou-level strength.
He's been known about for a pretty damn long time by the World Government, he probably saved Luffy at Loguetown, he's the most wanted man in the world, his father is a Vice Admiral who has passed up an Admiral position many many times, said father rivaled Roger back in the day, and, most importantly, his son is LUFFY. His strength is probably just plain epic level.

The Rumbar Pirates were wiped out by the Kuja Pirates.
When that chapter of Brook's past was originally published, I wondered what kind of pirate crew would use archery. Well lo and behold, not fifty chapters later we were introduced to an entire island and pirate crew that used archery as their primary weaponry, an especially fearsome one at that. I suppose the only way this would get confirmed or denied for sure is if the Straw Hats ever revisit Amazon Lily after they're reunited.
 * Quite unlikely as the Kuja pirates are probably relatively new, and that the Rumbar's died well, half a century ago.
 * And the Kuja, being Proud Warrior Race Gals, don't strike me as the type to use poisoned arrows over Haki-enhanced arrows. And Haki-enhanced arrows, as we saw, make things explode.

Tashigi is eventually going to become Zoro's Replacement Goldfish /DoppelgangerReplacementLoveInterest
Exactly What It Says On the Tin. I'm kinda surprised this hasn't been suggested earlier.

The Straw Hats will get another crew member.
It's been pretty well established that Blackbeard is Luffy's evil counterpart.
 * Likely to happen with the upcoming Fishman Isle arc, plus Jimbei did tell Luffy that he'll be waiting for the Straw Hats there and had promised Ace that he would take care of Luffy, so...
 * Likely to happen with the upcoming Fishman Isle arc, plus Jimbei did tell Luffy that he'll be waiting for the Straw Hats there and had promised Ace that he would take care of Luffy, so...

You can only get to Raftel if you can swim.
There's "some trick" to getting to Raftel. The only people who ever set foot on it were the Roger Pirates. Roger didn't have a Devil Fruit, and neither do Rayleigh and Shanks. In fact, Shanks has mentioned that he doesn't think having one is "worth it". Maybe the trick involves not being "rejected" by the sea through having a Devil Fruit. If this were true it would be pretty tough for Luffy who accidentally ate one and lost his ability to swim.
 * Not that it would stop him.
 * Yeah, he'd figure out some way to get there anyway, but it might explain why the greatest of the greatest pirates other than the Rogers couldn't find it.

How the Gum-Gum Fruit (Gomu Gomu no Mi) works
You know what makes peoples' skin stretch? Something called Collagen. This troper theorizes that when the powers of the Devil Fruit that Luffy ate kicked in, there was a major collagen buildup not just in the skin, but throughout his body, including muscles, bones, and organs. Now we just need to figure out how the Devil Fruit makes people unable to swim...
 * The change of structure makes them more dense, like Stitch, of course!

Trafalgar Law
Is like Law has a plan involving the Mugiwara that will become an important plot when trying to reach Raftel ... after all, he's seen talking about keeping a low profile and steal a good seat (or something of that sort) I think Law will play an important asset in the New World that could even fuck Doflamingo's plans. I'm curious because everybody have in the list of "potential New World threats" half the cast of One Piece but almost nobody remembers Trafalgar. It's one of the most cryptic characters that have appeared so far, his intentions are too fuzzy to really say something about him besides he's creepy, and he's got all the looks of a villain or someone in that range, AND being one of the supernova who made a link of at least recognition with Luffy besides Kidd (who is obviously a Chaothic Evil - Neutral).

Talking about Doflamingo, maybe there's a kind of conection between him an Trafalgar, their Jolly Roger are really alike... Third option would be Law holding a grudge against Dofla and searchin a good spot to kill him. (Or been part of Donflamingo's plan)

There is also the possibility of him becoming one of the new age Yonkou while Luffy makes his way to become the pirate king, it seems possible, but... seriously, there's something definitely not right with this guy, Just because he saved Luffy I'm not forgetting the potential time bomb that he is and find Law more dangerous than many in the black list of fans, he seems the type that gives you a good stab in the back or pulls a Gambit Roullete of the not good kind.

The One Piece is the Rio Poneglyph, and Gol D. Roger's call to find it was really a Plan.
During Gol D. Roger's final cruise in the Grand Line, he discovered the Rio Poneglyph. While the claim of Rayleigh is that they heard the True History from the spirits, the truth is that they actually read the Rio Poneglyph and learned that the World Government had to commit a string of incredibly heinous atrocities in order to consolidate their power. So Roger, who was dying anyway, decided to make himself a martyr and start the current piracy craze in hopes that more people would learn the truth.

In the end Luffy will find One Piece, but Robin will decipher it. And it will spell the end of the World Government's power.
 * There is an assumption on what being the "Pirate King" means that is connected to this. Gol D. Roger probably behind the scenes extorted the World Government, claiming he knew the true history, but so did others, so they permitted him his freedom so long as he did not speak the truth.

Roger's Devil Fruit was the Hito Hito no Mi (Human-Human): Satan Model.
I feel as though this single-handedly explains everything about Roger, as well as enriching the series as a whole, especially in One Piece's on-going theme of Grey (Pirates) vs. Grey (World Government & Marines) Morality. Let's take it one step at a time. Roger has a Devil Fruit power of some sort. If you'll notice, when he's telling Garp to take care of Ace, he's wearing Sea Stone handcuffs, so he has to have a Devil Fruit power of some sort. Now, Roger ate a Hito Hito no Mi. If you look at every single page Roger has ever shown his face in, he is grinning ear to ear. Unless I've missed something. He's about to be executed? Grinning. Telling some guy who's tried to kill for years to take care of his unborn son? Grinning. He's default expression is a smile. Why? He's enlightened. He's reached mental nirvana. So, he smiles. Next, he ate the Satan Model. One step at a time, symbolically, this reinforces the Grey vs. Grey Morality I mentioned earlier. Fleet Admiral Sengoku, a logical final boss for the series for the longest time, leader of the Marines, an organization who have stopped the protagonists time and time, turns into Buddha. Now we look at Roger. Captain of idol and father figure of the main character. A main character who is clearly a good person, and has met many other good natured pirates. With all these good hearted people, logically, the greatest pirate of them all is... Satan? Also, it would be incredibly cool. Satan with nose-hair so long it resembles a moustache. That, and if it's anything like Sengoku's power, it'll be ridiculously strong. And we all know Roger must've been a force to be reckoned with.
 * I've got a few problems with this...
 * Just because he had Seastone Cuffs on doesn't mean he was a Devil Fruit user. Seastone is harder than Diamond, it makes sense to use it in the cuffs of the most powerful man in the world.
 * Smiling all the time, even in the face of death, has long been established as a Will of D trait.

Luffy will get a weapon of his own to use when things get really pear-shaped.
In addition to his fists and anything else he has currently, a metal baseball bat would be just the right fit for luffy's fighting style. It's powerful, it's something ANY IDIOT can use even if it's not for it's intended purpose, it requires zero training to use, and if anyone took it from him to use it against him, because he's rubber it wouldn't have any effect!

Sanji is actually North Blue royalty.
When Sanji first briefly fought Mont Blanc cricket we see they're both using similar techniques, then we see the storybook King of Lvneel, who looks more like the current Sanji than the realistic flashback to the king. Oda has been known to slip this kind of foreshadowing in (like Luffy's drawing of the shipwright he wants). Added to that, he calls himself 'Mr. Prince' in the Alabasta arc and in one of the SBS results for favorite attack it even says 'He's a real prince'. When he tells Kuma that he'll be causing more trouble than the rest of them combined, he's doesn't just mean as a pirate. This Troper wouldn't be at all surprised if the whole running gag with the wanted poster is a way to obscure that Sanji's face would be so identifiable in the North Blue there would already be a fuss.

Shanks will be the last D revealed in the seiries.
Think about it, Shanks is the perfect fit for a D, he believes in dreams, doesn't fear death and is tough enough to be one of the four emperors. I think it would make perfect sense-in fact, I would be dissapointed it it turned out he wasn't.