One Piece/WMG/Open Three

=== 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.

The first half of the Grand Line is the All Blue.
The All Blue is a legendary sea where all the main seas converge and sea life from all of them exist. Now think about this: if you look at a map of Reverse Mountain, there is an outlet to the Grand line from all four main seas. If ships can go through Reverse Mountain, so can sea life. We already know Laboon did. Wouldn't that mean that the first half of the Grand Line, particularly around Reverse Mountain, would actually be the All Blue?
 * I think it would said so in the Chapter/Episode Title.

Big Mom is Lola's mother.
Lola herself says that she was born in the New World which is where Big Mom is at. Lola's crew also points out that Lola's mom is an extremely powerful pirate.

Joy Boy
Guesses and theories related to Joy Boy.
 * Joy Boy was (is?!) a D.
 * Not sure if he's a D. but as of 649 it's established that
 * Joy Boy wrote the poneglyphs as descriptions of his crew members.

Brook will die at the end of the series.
Plenty of people speculate that Luffy will go out young in a blaze of glory, but Brook has the Unfinished Business trope already in effect. During his introduction in Thriller Bark he referred to his "second life" essentially being on a timer that will run out, but really it will last until he's at peace and can rest. (Oda does love to torture his characters, but making the loneliest character outlive all his loved ones again would surely be too cruel! So surely he's not immortal. Surely.)
 * Except it says Brook's existence in this world runs on the power of
 * Not necessarily.

Luffy can hear the Voice of All Things
In chapter 648, remarks he's sure Luffy could hear their conversation with Shirahoshi. This is followed by another pointing out that such a thing happened once before, and we get a brief flashback of trying to figure out where  voices are coming from in the middle of an open ocean.
 * The Warship Island arc supports this as well. Or, you know, it would if it was canon.

Van Auger will kill Yasopp
Giving way to a You Killed My Father relationship between him and Usopp.

The final villian will be Higuma
For whatever reason, he suvived the Lord of the Coast and as a mountain bandit, is waiting on the other side of Reverse Mountain to take revenge on Luffy, or something. If this is true, we will have to rename Chekhov's Gunman to Higuma the Bear or the like. Approx 26 years between appearances, anyone?
 * If that ever happens, I will be amazed about Oda doing unexpected things multiplied by infinity.
 * If this happens, I'm more partial to calling it "Oda's Gunman"

We have already seen the ancient weapon Pluton
After the bombshell of 649 that it doesn't seam unreasonable to think  Personally, I suspect two candidates.
 * The first is
 * Second is
 * While the revelation about Poseidon does put Pluton in a new perspective, this troper would remind the original that Pluton had blueprints and was explicitly said to have been built by Water 7. If we want to look at alternatives to Pluton being a powerful warship (no comment on whether it had a Klabautermann that was more than just a spirit...), why not consider a cyborg? That way, it would both be requiring of blueprints and be . So to put that into an easy to digest sound byte, Third, Pluton was a cyborg a la Franky or the Pacifistas. After all... Franky did have those blueprints on hand for all those years... (which would tie this in nicely with the WMG about him using the blueprints.
 * With what we know about Poseidon now, I think it is possible that the Ancient Weapons are not separate weapons, but are different pieces to a single weapon, and that there are more than just the two that have been spoken about.
 * *facepalms* I forgot all about Franky and the blueprints. Thanks for reminding me. Though given how Oda rarely picks the most obvious answer, I wouldn't rule out the other two just yet.
 * Actually, Iceberg had the blueprints but gave them to Franky after his return.
 * If they are different pieces to a single weapon, what would it be? We have a battleship, and the ability to command Sea Kings to pull things... That fits already.
 * I would like to offer the theory that Pluton (or perhaps Uranus) is in fact
 * If there is another living weapon it will be Uranus, as Pluton was revealed to be a ship.

The Thousand Sunny is getting an upgrade.
As I mentioned in the last WMG, Franky met up with Den, Tom's younger brother at Fishman Island, who is also a shipwright. With the timeskip, all of the Strawhats have gained an upgrade and new appearance... except the Sunny (since, as with Merry, it's made clear the ship is considered part of the crew). Even if Shirahoshi doesn't join as discussed above, I find it hard to believe the Sunny is going to leave Fishman Island without a redesign with the skills Franky picked up from Vega's lab, or whatever technology is found at Fishman Island.
 * Franky did make modifications. The Brachio Tank V and the Kurosai FR-U IV were upgrades. Plus, there may be others that just haven't been touched on yet.
 * No no, those are just additional vehicles like the Mini Merry and Shark Submerge. I'm talking about upgrading the Sunny itself.

The Sea Kings Themselves are Significant
The Sea Kings that  were the same ones from when the Straw Hats accidentally ventured into the Calm Belt. While they do not seem to recognize the Straw Hats from that time, that they have traveled around the world at the exact same time (though it did take two and a half years...) cannot be coincidence. Not while Oda is the writer. What the significance is can be wildly guessed below.
 * Sea Kings, like salmon, whales, and many other creatures, have spawning grounds. The East Blue is the primary spawning ground and those that either haven't matured or matured small (poor Lord of the Coast) stay in these waters until they can leave (except for L.o.t.C....). Having grown up together or in the same area, these Sea Kings are all part of a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits out on a quest of destiny to save the world. Apparently, Sea Kings are either supremely patient, laid back, and/or they must wait for When the Planets Align since this same group.
 * Oda really wanted to mess with people.
 * Each Sea King is unknowingly a guardian spirit of a Straw Hat crew member (unknown to both parties).
 * The sea kings are likely not (actual) whales/mammals, as Mohmoo is not one. That may be significant.

The Ancient Weapon Zeus is a Devil Fruit
But it is 'not' the Gura Gura No Mi, but the Weather Weather Devil Fruit. It would fit with the theme that we have seen with Ancient Weapons so far. While Pluton is a battleship made by Human hands, and Poseidon is, then it would make sense that Zeus, the God of the Sky in Greek Mythology, would be a power that controls the weather. What better way to symbolize such power than have it be a Devil Fruit. Who is the current wielder of the Ancient Weapon: Zeus? Monkey D. Dragon.
 * While the name is off, Uranus being god of the sky in mythology would tie with the idea of the weapon being a Weather Weather fruit.
 * While the name is off, Uranus being god of the sky in mythology would tie with the idea of the weapon being a Weather Weather fruit.

When the journey finishes, the offspring of the Straw Hats will be the protagonists of the next generation
While Oda might be finish with the franchise by then, if he's not then the successor would probably be called One Piece: The New Straw Hats. While these couples are not definite, I believe that the members will be:
 * Luffy and Nami's Child
 * Zoro and Robin's Child
 * Usopp and Kaya's Child
 * Sanji and Whoever's Child
 * Vivi and Koza's Child
 * Brook (He could be the only one who lives for so long)
 * What about Chopper and Franky? Are they just unlucky or could they maybe continue on with Brooke? ... And now I just imagined that Chopper's kid would have a fishwoman as a mom. I hate my mind sometimes.
 * Romantic Straw Hat relationships in One Piece canon? That's unpossible.

Aokiji will become an ally to the Straw Hats.
As of Chapter 650, it's been revealed that. Considering that he already dislikes the corruption that's been going on under his watch, perhaps he'll team up with the Straw Hats at some point to take down the World Government, even if he doesn't actually join them.
 * Would it be too bold to say that as soon as I read the chapter, I saw Aokiji as a crewmember? He's certainly got a personality that wouldn't seem too out of place, and the Straw Hats do lack a Logia crewmember...
 * While certainly not impossible (for the moment), that would necessitate Aokiji being given all sorts of things in common with the Straw Hats: a Dark and Troubled Past, a dream to motivate him to go with them, and an actual team-up scene (which we haven't gotten yet, anyway).
 * He could fulfill the role of an uncle in the Straw Hat "family," however.

Apart from that, while he may be more relaxed and has been disbarred from the marines, he is still firmly in the 'fights for justice thus against piracy' camp, its more likely that he will join Dragon and the glorious revolution, who the Strawhats will work alongside in the final battle.
 * Why is it that people have forgotten that Aokiji killed Saul right in front of Robin, nearly killed Robin herself and participated in the death of Ace?, while its likely that he will join the Strawhat's massive army of friends in what i predict as being the massive final battle to take down the government, there is no way that luffy would ask him to join the crew.

Jinbe's duty is to his ex-crew.
There is a reason why Camie told Luffy that if she told the details about the crew leaving Fishman Island after Jinbe's Shichibukai status was revoked, it would be a long story (seen here). Also, there was some speculation to why the crew didn't join the fight against Hody and where they are now. It's possible that the crew is no longer in good terms with Jinbe (especially after Jinbe continued to be a Shichibukai and remained friendly with Whitebeard after ) Perhaps Jinbe wants to reconcile with his crew before he joins the Straw Hats and explain to them what had really happened.

An idea regarding the three Ancient Weapons
As of chapter 650, it's confirmed there are three weapons: Poseidon, Pluton, and Uranus. All seem to be named for Greek or Roman deities. In mythology, Poseidon and Hades (aka Pluto) were brothers and their father was Uranus. And because he feared a prophecy that a son would overthrow him, Uranus ended up eating his children until Zeus stopped him. Thus it seems possible that Pluton and Poseidon are of somewhat-equal power, while Uranus turns out to be the most powerful. Or perhaps have some ability that enables control over the other two.

Shiryu's nodachi is Shodai Kitetsu.
His weapon certainly seems ominous enough, and it would make the inevitable clash with Zoro all the more interesting.

There will be a Marijose arc.
The Strawhats will not be directly involved, instead, we'll be looking at all of the members of royalty we've been introduced to so far, and their entourages. With delegates from Alabasta, Sakura, Black Drum, and Ryuuguu most of whom are impressive combatants, it would be a shame to have them stand around and talk. During the Reverie, the Conference of Kings, Dragon's army will attack, and try to take hostages, possibly with another goal in mind regarding a resource the Marines have acquired (allies, weapons, hostages, technologies, etc.). Since we have a bunch of them, the Vice-Admirals will be involved, and this will act as an introduction to the Revolutionary army proper, with one or two more powerful subordinates of Dragon with equal importance as Ivankov showing up.

Blackbeard killed Thatch after the latter ate the Dark-Dark Fruit
It's been confirmed that Blackbeard's ability is not apparently related to the Dark-Dark Fruit itself. Marco said that they already knew something was odd about his body. It's perfectly within the realm of possibility that Blackbeard killed Thatch only after he'd eaten the Devil Fruit. It may in fact be how the Whitebeards even knew something was strange about him.

There appears to be an elemental theme with the Straw Hats
Zoro is associated with air/wind attacks such as his Tatsumaki and Pound Hou techniques, and post-timeskip,. Sanji's Diable Jambe involves lighting his leg on fire and post-timeskip,  Nami's frequently used weather attacks have to do with lightning and wind. Franky has to with metal/steel, with how his body is comprised of metal and also his use of technology and artillery. Usopp post-timeskip can now  Brooke appears to be a mix of sound/music and post-timeskip he can

The next level of Haki
The most interesting thing that I find about Haki is that its different uses are described as colors. Not only that, but there are three primary colors to Haki. If you take that metaphor an run with it, then the next level of Haki, and by proxy the next step in Luffy's development, will be learning how to "mix" different colors of Haki to produce new and different effects.

Letter for Luffy
It's pretty obvious that Robin met  over the time skip, but what about  ? If they met, I could see  wanting to give Robin a message to Luffy for him (through letter or otherwise) in the New World, but not before because he doesn't want to distract him with the fact that   while making the dangerous voyage through Fishman Island.
 * Very improbable, if you recall just what happened to . And would nullify Luffy's whole motivation, which I doubt Oda would do.
 * If you recall, there was very strong hinting in both the manga and anime that.

One Piece is the sea sea fruit
It is a gamebreaker beyong compare it fits the weapon that will bring chaos to the world status and is the bigest possible treasure that can be composed of one piece.

Big Mom (or one of her crew) will make Luffy destroy Fishman Island.
I cannot tell yet if it will be a Devil Fruit power or a well thought out Plan... My most likely guess is that Luffys battle with Big Mom will be so big that it will cause so much damage to the island.
 * Except that when Luffy eventually fights Big Mom, it won't even be on Fishman Island. Big Mom is nowhere near it at the moment.

Luffy will lose his battle against Big Mam
I mean, let's face it. Yes, we all know that Luffy's strong, but honestly if Luffy were to beat one of the Four Emperors Oda would pretty much be handing him the title of King of the Pirates straight away, and that would be no fun whatsoever. Unless it turns out that Big Mam is the weakest of the four, and she'd have to be a hell of a lot weaker to justify Luffy winning, Luffy is gonna lose the battle. However, as the deal was for Big Mam to direct her anger towards Luffy instead of Fishman Island, she will leave it unharmed.
 * There's no guarantee that the fight will happen right away, or any time in the near future, for that matter. Being one of the Four Emperors, Big Mom probably hangs out fairly far into the New World, so it'll take some time to actually get to her.

All the theories on One Piece are wrong, at it really is just a whole load of treasure

 * Whitebeard's last words indicate that One Piece does have some genuine worldwide significance, so this seems unlikely now.

Akainu will get a relatively happy ending
Because Oda wants to troll his audience,especially fangirls ,as it has become evident from some of one piece's past events.

Haki is the willpower Oda uses to answer many of the SBS questions
And the protagonists(as well as some of the adagonists)have been using it from the beggining to pull of all the determinator stuff.Zoro espesially uses it to survive and ,possibly,after the battle with Mr 1 to <>.

A theory about how the Yami Yami no Mi allows the user to have many Devil Fruit's powers
The Yami Yami no Mi have shown to grant a couple of abilities so far. First, control over gravity, second, some sort of pocket dimension inside his darkness which can absorb and release things from, and third, while in contact with a devil fruit user, the darkness "suck" the devil fruit's powers. Now, the latter one is a little ambiguous, it may just mean that if you're a devil fruit user and are in contact with the darkness you can't use your power, and if your body was an altered one the it reverts back to your original biology, or it could mean the darkness actually "suck" whatever magic Devil Fruits work on. If the latter is true, then you could get a Devil Fruit and absorb it inside the pocket dimension inside the darkness, where you'll be constantly "sucking" the devil fruit power. Ta-Daa, you have access to another devil fruit power and don't have to worry about exploding because you haven't eat the Devil Fruit.
 * Or else, in unknown conditions, the darkness can "suck" the devil fruit's powers permanently and the above applies (the part of not exploding because you haven't ate the Devil Fruit in question).
 * Word of God says it's got nothing to do with the Yami Yami no Mi itself, but because Blackbeard has a "unique" body type. Just what this means hasn't been expounded on yet.
 * Out of curiosity, what exactly did he say about it? From what I (not the original OP, by the by) have heard, it sounds like he could have meant that Blackbeard being able to have multiple Devil Fruits is due to his unique body type. In which case, the Yami Yami no Mi could still be what lets him take the powers in the first place.

The Straw Hats will have "control" of all three superweapons
Of course this ties in with the batch of WMG's saying "Shirahoshi will become a Straw Hat," though even if she doesn't, she'd still be closely aligned with them, placing at their disposal should they ever truly need it. Franky likely retains some memory of Pluton while Robin can read the poneglyphs that detail its construction, so this leaves only Uranus unaccounted for, which could very likely fall into their orbit. It would fit with the theme of the Straw Hats becoming continually more dangerous to world peace (not because they are pirates, but because Robin is the survivor of Ohara or Luffy is the son of the revolutionary) and amp it up to eleven.

Nico Robin knows precicely where the real Pluton is. After she reads the ponyglyth to Crocodile and pretends its just history data, Nefertiti Cobra asks her why she lied, and says that the ponyglyth mentions nothing but the Pluton and where it is. Now obviously she didnt mention it because she didnt want Crocodile to have it, but she still has that knowledge. This makes the entire Cp9 arc Hilarious in Hindsight for me, as Spanda spent the entire time trying to acquire the Pluton blueprints from Franky, all the while having Robin in custody who already knew where the original pluton was anyway.
 * A funny point that oddly has never been adressed in the series since Alabasta,(funny when one considers the entire water seven arc) and hasnt really been talked about that much IRL, something i only noticed when rewatching the Alabasta arc.

Uranus Pluto or the one piece is a time machine
or/and

The Yomi Yomi no mi worked perfectly well
Brook said that he could not find the way back to his body because of the fog but who can say that the fruit was not supposed to let his body become a sceleton when he died?It gave him new powers,and he seems to functionperfectly well ,even withoun his organs.So the fruit gives you more power and lets you literally live a second life ,since everyone you know will be either dead or old by the time you ressurect and you can make new friends and live in a world you are unfammiliar with(you know,just like a second life,a literal fresh beggining).it also makes sure that whatever killed you is far away by the time you revived.;As for why Brook said that he could not ressurect because of the mist that made him nable to return to his body I have three theories.1)He would not be able to find his way anyway but,due to his location,he passed it off as mist,2)the fact that the place he died had mist as a coinsidence,but as a soul he could only see the mists OF THE UNDERWORLD(come to think of it,considering the location he died,the similarity between the two mists may have been more than a coincidence)and 3)He lied because he did not remember anything,but his mind filled the voids anyway.As for why the fruit made him return before his hair were eradicated i have two theories:1)it would not hurt his new abilities,so the fruit allowed his soul to return anyway ,or 2)The fruit allows all his users to keep their hair(and it conserves them for all these years)so that they can retain a part of their past life.

The final arc will have many big bads
Essentially a big bad ensemble feathuring Blackbeard and the world goverment(or/and,assuming it does not control the world goverment,).other important persons,big bads,big goods or big neutrals like the supernovas ,mihawk,vegapunk,shanks or/and Dragon may or may not also stir some chaos.

The final ark will not take place on raftel
Although some important battle will.[the battle with either one of the supernovas or a warlorrd of the sea(including)

Everyone who has the will of D also has the concqueror Haki
Note that a)some of them (like Ace)might not realise it and b)the inverse is not true(you can have the conqueror haki without the will of D)

Luffy and Ace where,in some point,mixed
this would also lead to the interesting point of .Also,for those who noted the age difference,note that this may have happened when they were older than babies,but still too young to remember(the lady who were taking care of them mixed them up at first,they got used to it,and they grew two much for Garp to recognize them on his next meeting).
 * This is incredibly interesting, but also unlikely. By the time Luffy was brought to live with Dadan, he had already eaten the Gomu Gomu no Mi, already had a scar under his eye, and they were already old enough anyway to be able to tell them apart, Luffy 7 and Ace 10. Even if age wasn't an issue,how can you confuse someone with a very visible scar with someone else?
 * They were both taken care by Garp.And Garp is one of the few persons who could make such a mistake...besides ,the switch cold have happened before that or it could even be orchestrated by someone else...

Shanks will die before Luffy can meet him again.
Blackbeard will get to Shanks before Luffy can and kill him, and it'll give a powerful motivation for Luffy against Blackbeard.

the shichibukai all had their dreams crushed
let's see what we know:Kuma:resigned himself to the world goverment for some reason,doing anything they wanted.Hannock:serves the ones who enslaved her .Crocodile:lost a very important duel with Whitebeard.Mihawk:is constantly bored and wants more exciting battles constantly,so he is either trying to drow his sorrrow or he is a deathseeker.Moria:lost his crew(which is implied he loved)in the new world.Donflamigo:there got to be a reason for his nihilism ,which will be surely revealed via a very tragic flashback in due time.Jimbei:Same as Hannock,when the man he worshipped died .Mind you, i do not mean that they do not have some dream now,just that theirdreams got crushed at one point before becoming shichibukai.
 * Crocodile did mention, late into the Alabasta arc, that, like Luffy, he wanted to be King of the Pirates but So in a way, he DID get his dream crushed and went off the slippery slope.

the strawhats will have a battle with the redhaired pirates
Whether it will be a "you shall not pass unless you prove us that you are strong enough to survive"incident,a friendly(but still all out)battle for the pirate honor ,or a brainwashed and crazy incident,i do not know.

Blackbeard's swordsman will beat Mihawk
Thus giving Zoro a very good reason to participate to the battle with Blackbeard.

Big Mom will have hidden depths
Because she seems like an anticlimatic reason to do everything for sweets


 * Not necessarily. While hidden depths would be interesting, it wouldn't be very anti-climatic to have simple, extremely hedonistic villain. Based on what we've seen, she actually makes a fairly good Evil Counterpart to Luffy and the rest of the Strawhats, the only difference being she cares nothing for her nakama.

Akainu didn't have an elemental advantage over Aokiji.
In fact, the Hie Hie no Mi and Magu Magu no Mi are equal opposites among Logias. Cold vs Heat... Just look at the Aokiji's monstrous freezing abilities, such as covering a chunk of ocean for a week and instantly halting giant tsunamis. While Akainu's magma would melt Aokiji's ice upon contact, but Aokiji could just freeze the magma into solid rock (Which might in fact be Akainu's elemental weakness that makes him tangible). This went on back and forth throughout the whole battle until Aokiji's stamina finally ran out.
 * Except that, when you think of it, cold is more limited than heat. What good would -200 degrees get to you against 10.000 degrees or more?
 * Just because he's only been shown to freeze water and people so far does not mean he only has that much freezing power. Who knows, maybe he's perfectly able to take out 10.000 degrees worth of heat from Akainu's magma. (throwing physics completely out of the window, but it's One Piece anyway) Besides if the difference in power is really that large, how could Aokiji survive during the extremely long duel?
 * Knowing One Piece, it's entirely possible that Aokiji can reach, or get damn near, Absolute Zero.
 * It wouldn't even defy physics (at least, not anymore than being MADE OF ICE already does). Ice at Absolute Zero just means Aokiji would be creating water particles with no energy. Of course, upon exposure to the world they would gain energy, but depending on how long it is before it hits you, it would still be well below 200 deggrees C. Akainu, on the other hand, creates rock partickles with LOADS of enery, but you can't compare how far below 0 degrees Aokiji is with how far above it Akainu is. While 0 degrees is when ice turns back into water, magma turns back to rock at variable rates depending on the rocksin it, but magma isn't actually fully molten (especially as he's using it like a solid projectile). So the temperature of it would be maybe 1,200 degrees, but would turn back to rock fairly easily. So it's arguble which would win.
 * Most magma from deep in the mantle has a highly mafic composition, but as it rises and begins to include remelted minerals from the rock above and around, it builds a higher silica content. The most basaltic and ultramafic magmas, according to Bowen's reaction series, contain minerals such as olivine, pyroxines, and plagioclase feldspar. These are the minerals which crystallize out of the melt first (or re-melt last) at a temperature of about 1200 degrees Celsius. However, basaltic magmas tend to be very oozy and liquid. They flow easily and are less explosive due to trapped gas and volatiles being able to escape with little effort. Hawaiian lava flows of pahoehoe and aa are the best examples of this. Yet from what I've seen in the manga, Akainu seems to like making more...solid projectiles or fists with his magma. In that case, I suspect a far more felsic composition. A magma rich in silica quartz is much more viscous than a basaltic magma. The silicon-oxygen tetrahedra in the melt cause other atoms to form sticky chains, which would make this rhyolitic magma much easier to hold a shape such as a fist. It also traps gas bubbles more readily, causing it to be more prone to explosive eruptions. If we assume the most extreme, a rhyolitic magma made of pure melted quartz, it would require a temperature of about 600 degrees Celsius in order to begin crystallizing into solid quartz. Most magmas range from around 700 to 1300 degrees Celsius, with basaltic magma tending to be hotter than rhyolitic. So assuming Akainu uses the maximum temperature of 1300 degrees (as temperature also plays a role of how sticky or fluid a magma is), then it ultimately boils down to the mineral composition of the magma in question to determine how much Akoji would need to chill it before it crystallized into solid rock. That's not even factoring in that some of the ice would obviously melt, and the liquid water would prompt hydromagmatic eruptions of the magma. Of course, I'm not sure if it's better to be hit by a cold, solid rock than by a hot, molten one considering that both have been known to kill volcanologists in real life.... ... Apologies for the wall of text, I need to stop browsing TV tropes after my geology lectures.
 * And now chapter 658 is out,

Aokiji will join the strawhats
I have a very solid reasoning for that. So solid that it will blow your mind away. Well,here it goes...ahem,if he does,I will be the one laughing, while if he does not, I will have nothing to lose.

Kaidou is Franky's father
I'm honestly surprised this wasn't here already. We know Franky's father was a pirate around the time of Roger who abandoned him in Water Seven. Also, when X Drake attacked an island supposedly part of Kaidou's territory, one of the people there had weapons built into him, almost cyborg-like. Now, assuming of course that Franky's father isn't some to-be-introduced character down the road, Kaidou makes a good choice. Franky has always been a builder, but his early works were less than stellar until he got proper tutelage from Tom. Franky's works were failures/destructive, Kaidou tossed him out, and here we are today. This leads to a second theory I came up with...

Kaidou will try to recruit Franky
If Kaidou is mechanically inclined and likes cyborg type troops, Franky would be ideal. If the above theory is true, it adds extra spice to the idea as Kaidou, not knowing "Franky" is a nickname, would not be likely to catch on that it's Cutty Flam.
 * Just because Kaido has a cyborg underling that doesn't mean that he's Cyborg themed. Big Mom has a Lion underling and a Longleg underling, but she's neither.

Luffy will Destroy Fishman Island by leading the Fishmen to the surface.
Luffy will destroy Fishman Island by leaving it deserted, while the merpeople and fishpoeple who used to live there will immigrate to the land on the surface.

Doflamingo is Sanji's father
This is related to an earlier WMG "Sanji and Doflamingo will fight". Where this one is concerned, for one thing, we don't know anything about Sanji's family or relatives prior to his back-story on the cruise ship when he met Zeff. Doflamingo's about the right age to be Sanji's dad, or at least an uncle or some other type of relative, and (according to the other WMG) the two have certain character dynamics that make Doflamingo a perfect Evil Counterpart to Sanji.

Bepo are Minkmen, or "Fur People"
They both are Talking Animals with dot eyes and a similar body structure (such as their small feet). Minkmen are mentioned on Duval's list of slave prices, but have not been shown yet.

When Akainu finally breaks, he will be...uncomfortably calm.
In fact, he'll be smiling. Won't even be a Slasher Smile, either, just a warm, friendly smile that hides the fact that his dreams have been crushed and a lot of people are going to pay for letting them die. It will probably be the most horrifying thing ever published in Shonen Jump.

It is not the World Nobles who are descended from the Twenty Kings,
Not only that, but  The Void Century was a ploy to help hide that fact, and somewhere there is a Poneglyph that reveals it.

Vivi
Like how Shirahoshi, and the Water 7 blue prints are either a decoy they forgot was a decoy or a weapon to harness Pluton.

Going by the above
A princess who will bond with the straw hats, but she will actually join the crew

If Law is in fact a Shichibukai, he has been sent to Wano Country by the World Government on a mission to force them to cease their Isolationism.
Either as a test of his abilities before making his Shichibukai status official, or if he is already a full shichibukai, he has volenteered for the job so that he has an excuse to enter the new world at the same time as Luffy.
 * Maybe in the past, but as of chapter 659 he is on Punk Hazard

The wind that stopped the fire in the Grey Terminal was caused by Dragon's devil fruit
This ties in with the theories that he had a wind-type devil fruit.
 * You do realise he had Bartholomew Kuma with him, right? You know, the man with the ability to push things? It was probably him.
 * What about the guy/girl who can create shock waves by winking?
 * Except that both powers are a sort of "single blast", meaning that in order to create a proper tunnel between the flames they would have to shoot at will, while they appear totally steady. I think that Dragon employing wind powers (be them Paramecia or Logia) is the simplest and more plausible explanation.

The Mero Mero no Mi's power isn't what we think.
Rather than turning people to stone, it just amplifies lust. Turning to stone is something biological humans do when overcome with lust. This would explain the two times that Sanji turns to stone;
 * The first time, Hancock isn't directing her powers at him, he is just overcome by her beauty.
 * The second time, it happens when he is with the mermaids, and Hancock is nowhere near him.
 * The only problem with this is,that both of Sanji's petrifications were played for laughs and the whole series is running on nonsensoleum anyway.

In the Punk Hazard arc we will get an Ankh shoutout
In the form of a person who's just an arm, bonus points if due to some devil fruit he has bird like features

Sanji is from the Samurai nation of Wa.
It would explain why he knows why a "topknot" hairstyle is a typical one there. Also, depending on how much the island is like feudal Japan, that would also explain where Sanji got his strict upbringing. How he made it to East Blue, I have no clue.
 * It might also explain why he decided to take the Samurai along. Maybe in part due to respecting him wanting to save his kid at all costs, and in part due to knowing that this is what his upbringing taught him was right.


 * At two points Sanji has specifically stated that he was born in the north blue, so no.
 * While true, we haven't learned anything else about him before he and Zeff met. Maybe his parents are from Wa and moved to North Blue for some reason. Otherwise, there's isn't much of a reason for Sanji to know about Wa itself, let alone that a "topknot" is a typical hairstyle there. Before it's mentioned, yes, Brooke did mention that there's a Samurai nation somewhere. However, he only had brief knowledge of the place due to even the marines not being allowed there. There's also a slight possibility that Wa is in North Blue, making everything fit together somehow. Remember, we never saw any of the other Blues other than East.
 * Nope, Wa is in the New World. Read One Piece - Wanted!, it tells about Ryuuma, who was a samurai from the country of Wa. It is stated to be in the New World. I think Hogback mentions it in the Thriller Bark Arc as well when he talks about Ryuuma's zombie.

Buggy will be a genuine threat when he next appears
King of tying with the WM Gs that Buggy is a warlord: After all, he'd have to get stronger otherwise he'd be screwed. Besides that, even if he isn't a warlord, it's probably common knowledge that he was on Roger's crew, so chances are both Marines and bounty hunters would be chasing him. And with such an "infamous" pirate, they'd have to be pretty strong.
 * The other altenative is that he is either dead, or back in prison.
 * Another alternative is that he hasnt gotten particularly stronger personally,due to his now massive crew of loyal Impel Down prisoners he hasnt needed to. It will be because of his crew that he is considered a threat.

All the Straw Hats have a two-syllable name, meaning the next crewmate(s) will have also a two-syllable name

 * Someone had pointed out before how all the Straw Hats have a two-syllable name (Lu-ffy, Zo-ro, Na-mi and etc). Even Brook's name has an emphasis on "-ok", making it into two syllables. Even the shortened names of their ships have two-syllables (Mer-ry and Sun-ny). Which leads into the WMG that their next crewmates will also have a two-syllable name. Previous crewmate Vivi and Carue fits into the theme and potential crewmate Jimbei also fits too.
 * The "ok" in "Brook" is not a separate syllable. The name IS two syllables as the Japanese V As say it though: Bruk-ku.
 * Thanks for clarifying that.

Caribou is the Buggy of the New World
He has a reason to continue pursuing Luffy. He was introduced as someone to be feared, and after a run-in with a certain Straw Hat he's been reduced to more of a laughing stock. Plus, if Buggy is busy with things like being a Warlord as some other theories suggest, then they need someone else to fill the roll of the guy who chases Luffy even though he'll never beat Luffy. This would also tie in with the WMG of the Fishman Island arc being a mesh or echo of the East Blue events.

Zoro's closed eye is the One Piece version of an eyepatch.
In case you didn't know, pirates actually wore eyepatches so that if they ever had to fight below-decks, they could open that eye and see better in the dark. So maybe if Zoro is ever stuck in a place where it's so dark he can't see, he'll open his other eye and see perfectly/better than with his non-scarred eye. I'd be very surprised if Oda doesn't know about the eyepatch in the dark thing considering how much research into pirates he's done already.
 * The see-in-darkness thing isn't supported by any historical documents and is probably a myth, for the record. It technically does let you adjust more quickly to seeing in dim light, but you'd be so impaired the rest of the time that it would probably get you killed. And again, there is no real proof that pirates ever did it for that reason.
 * Mythbusters did test this one, and if I recall correctly, they did at least give a verdict of "plausible." Since One Piece runs on nonsensoleum anyway, lack of historical proof doesn't really prevent Oda from using this.

The next member to join the Straw Hat crew will be...
Vivi, Bon Clay, Hancock, or Jimbei. Vivi may be a bit of stretch due to her being all the way in Alabasta,  As for Hancock and Jimbei, Hancock's love for luffy may make her preform a huge Heel Face Turn and join his crew to forsake her Warlord title. Not to mention in Jimbei's case, once Luffy asks you to join his crew, 90 percent of the time, that person's joining.

A past Goro Goro no Mi user was responsible for Raijin Island's never ending lightning storm.
As it was first implied with Ace making it stop snowing, and later shown in the present with Aokiji and Akainu creating an island of ice and fire, Logias affect the weather with their mere presence and can permanently change it when going all out.
 * So does that mean that Caribou can cause an Oobleck disaster?

== Theory about how Luffys bounty is going to raise over 400 mil,to join Jimbe join the crew(his bounty is currently higher than Luffys and Oda never put someone into the crew with a higher bounty than Luffy,so far. ==
 * The story is currently taking place on the wastelands of Punk Hazard inhabited by mithological creatures and a shady organization (which dosen't seem to be connected to the WG) of strange looking man in hazmat suits and their mysterious leader "M". It probably would have been another fine day of conspiracy and morally questionable experiments for the, had they not made the mistake of choosing the Strawhats as their newest guineapigs (how the hell did they not recognize them anyway?). The next logical step is of course that the Strawhats unite and reduce their face, their base and probably half of the island into fienly grinded dust. However, Somkers ship is anchored right next to the island and will undoubtabley report the awesome battle he witnessed. Wheter he does it right away,or after engaging Luffy and (finally)getting his ass kicked is a different WMG.

Jinbei will join luffy's 'crew' but not in the way everyone is thinking.
Partially in response to the above WMG, but also to theories about Jinbei in general. Jinbei told luffy to ask him agan in the future, as he has something to do first, this will be gathering the members of the sun pirates. Once Jinbei has done this, rather than join the core Strawhat crew, Jinbei will become Luffys First 'Division Commander'. Luffy has already claimed Fishman Island as under his protection, this was his first step towards being a Yonkou, but realistically he wont be able to turn around and protect it while halfway to Raftel. Of course as Luffy conquers more islands, he is going to have to recruit new 'Division Commanders' in the style of Whitebeard, these people will be left to oversee the protection of Luffys 'Turf', Jinbei and the Sun pirates being left in charge of Fishman Island. The Gourosei mentioned that Marko the Pheonix and the remenents of the Whitebeard Pirates were some of the people strong enough to take on Teach. It is likely that Luffy will meet Marko and co at some point in the new world, who will then decide to fly under the banner of the Straw Hat, adding any turf they have managed to retain control of to luffy's. This will be done to avoid the possibly reptetative number of arcs involving Luffy conquering Islands.

The real tenth strawhat.
Partly response to the WMG above and partly a theory I've been thinking about for a long time. If Jinbe really isn't going to join the Strawhats as an active member(as in:going towards Raftel,andventuring and having sever hedaches because of Luffy) than I think it may be Sabo who'll fill this post. There is a debate wheter the horribly injured someone who Dragon brought on his ship after leaving Goa kingdom was Sabo or not,but for the sake of guessing let's say it was indeed him,and he's still alive and kickin to this very day. I'm also prety sure that the Strawhats sooner or later must meet with the Revolutionaries and Dragon, and in case Sabo really is still alive,he's probably still with them. How and why will he join? I don't have the slightest clue but it's going to be awesome!!!

The tenth Strawhat will be Harpy Mone.
Just the other day, I was thinking about how no one on the crew can fly. Robin using her powers to create literal fleshwings notwithstanding. I don't know why or how she would become part of the crew, but it's still something that could happen. Guess we'll just have to wait and see how she fits into all of this.

Now that
Just saying it before anyone else.

Thinking back about it, it makes sense, since

Rockstar the Rookie of the Red-Hair pirates will reapear.
When the time comes for Luffy to finally reunite with Shanks he(or somebody else who wasn't with the crew 10 years ago on Dawn island) will spot the Thousand Sunny first, and run to Shanks while trembling with fear when delivering the news, of the dreadded Strawhats arrival. Afterall their public image is something like: 'Everyone in our way is going to be horribly pummeled. NO EXCEPTIONS', plus they might get a huge raise on their bounty, which would indeed frighten the living crap out of someone who dosen't knows them, and I see no reason why would Shanks or the other elite members bother telling anything to the lesser recurits about their days in East Blue. Plus it would mirror the scene in the anime where Mihawk delivers Luffy's newly issued bounty poster(30,000,000) to Shanks.

Punk Hazard is not the full name of the island the crew is on
Instead, it's a shortened version that everyone knows it by. My guess is that the full name is actually Vegapunk Hazardous Waste/Experimenting Facility. The idea came to me when the liquid/gas/whatever it is that's the boss talked about how he doesn't like Vegapunk. Crazy I know, but it's a thought anyway.

== On Raftel, wether it be the one piece or not, There is some kind of time based anomaly or machine, luffy is destined to go through it by himself when he is in his late 20's-early 30's, and will emerge from the other side roughly 60 years in the past. == No one will know his name, and he cannot reform his old crew, in some cases becuase they have not been born yet, but mainly becuase if he was to effect his crews lives in the past then important events in the future wouldnt happen. As such he will start a new crew, beggining with his mentor Rayleigh, a meeting he will claim to be destiny. However, again due to the complications of time travel, he cannot keep his name, so he will adopt a new one.

Gol. D Roger.

I may have got the math wrong in terms of how far in the past he will travel, and how old he will be when he does, but you get the idea, im mainly basing the age and timeframe on rogers appearance when he first meets Rayleigh.

Anyone who has read the series up to the current chapter and has been paying attention should understand what has lead me to this conclusion.

Anyone familliar with the plot and characters of Blaz Blue should understand how this works.


 * Luffy would obviously have to either lose his Devil Fruit or hide the fact he had one. Though it might explain where Shanks got the Gomu Gomu no Mi from. Which would also make the Gomu Gomu no Mi itself a Stable Time Loop.


 * Im guessing that we will discover Blackbeard can remove powers without needing to kill, in the final battle he will take luffy's power but he will beat him through superior Haki, thats unless he just hides having one once he go into the past.
 * Fridge Logic sets in, though, when you realize this would mean LUFFY WOULD BE ACE'S FATHER.

Unless Rougue named him? i cant remember... Also if you remember Roger never even met his son, he was sailing the grand line when she gave birth, so luffy would never end up having to deal with the fatherhood problem. Its not really Fridge Logic as it would make sense and wouldnt be an inconsistency. Id call it Fridge Brilliance, as it would explain why they look so alike but arnt biological brothers.
 * Yeah, and whats wrong with that? Luffy doesnt know who Portgas D Rougue is, so theres no reason why he couldnt meet her when he is an adult in the past and fall in love with her, only to realise that his son must be Ace and so names him Ace.
 * Rouge named him.
 * There's also the rivalry with Garp which needs to be taken into account. Since Roger trusted Garp enough to look after his son despite (if he was Luffy anyway) not knowing his son's appearance or name, this would clash with Luffy's own memories of Ace being the only kid besides himself that Garp looked after/dumped with Dadan.

Also in the scene where Roger asks Garp to take his son he calls him Ace so he does know hs name (someone must have told him). My point is that Luffy will know he is Ace's father but becuase Roger never met his son he knows he wont have to deal with it. Also whatever feelings that Luffy would have upon realising that he must be Aces father do not matter, so that the future happens he must have him as a son and he must give him to Garp.
 * How would it clash?, the fact that Roger left Ace with Garp is something Luffy does know, as such to fullfill the future he will have leave his son to Garp, someone Luffy does trust.

Just so people know im basing this WMG on the idea of the stable timeloop, wherin Luffy cannot deliberately do something that he knows would change the future such as picking up Brook before he does when he's 17 or not handing himself into the marines. Becuase this would cause key events in his life to not happen, possibly making him be erased from existance (when he is in the past).

For example upon arriving in the past he would remember that Brook will become stuck in the florian triangle for over 50 years, and possibly want to save him from that torture. However he knows that he cannot try to save Brook as that would mean he wouldnt be there to be added to his crew when Luffy is 17, and Brook not being there could result in a number of his crewmates possibly including himself dying. Not to mention a number of other possible disasters.

We haven't seen the last of the flame-flame fruit
Someone is going to gain the fire power again and encounter Luffy, causing a moment of Heroic BSOD.

Black Beard's Ultimate plan is to
His original devil fruit, the Darkness Darkness fruit,. Now that he has obtained, who else think that his ultimate plan is to combine both of these fruits together to make a , as well as. This would ultimately make him the strongest candidate for Pirate King, as so many people's fighting prowess are based off.

Luffy, Zoro, Sanji might, or at least one of them will
Think about how taxing their techniques are, and the kind of battles they go through. Luffy basically wrecking his battle with every fight as well as the taxing his Gears do on his body, Zoro with his wounds, and Sanji literally SETTING HIS LEGS ON FIRE. This might beg the question that eventually, one or more of the crew ]

Bonney is Ace's Lover
And pregnant with his child! They're both from South Blue, it's not that far-fetched to imagine. Okay, it is, but this is a W.M.G., right? And she was rather pissed with Akainu...that's all I got.
 * Remember though, Bonney was really pissed off from WHITEBEARD'S death, not Ace's. She specifically states it while watching the war.

Robin is a clone (or some similar situation) of her mother
I haven't completely caught up (I've just spoiled myself a bit), so if there's something that irrevocably Josses this, my apologies.

Anyway, if the Flower-Flower Fruit can result in, who's to say that Robin isn't actually such a duplicate of her mother with Fake Memories?
 * We've already seen Robin when she was two in a flashback, so it's very unlikely that she is a clone of her mother. Unless, for whatever reason, the clone was "born" and then aged naturally. Even then, it doesn't make much sense.

Law is trying to find Sniper Island
The real reason Law has been taking people's hearts is because he's looking for Sniper Island. He only came up with the idea of sending those hearts to the marines after he failed to find it in any of them, and figured he had to get SOME use out of them.
 * Clearly he thinks the island might be found in
 * You owe me a new keyboard.

A bit of a thought process for this one.

Emasculating Sanji is going to be a running gag.
He's been sent to an island of transvestites, forced to join in, and has most recently. I doubt it's going to end any time soon.
 * I get the feeling that Sanji is either going to REALLY enjoy himself, or he's going to go out of his way to keep Nami's body safe due to his need to protect her.
 * Well, he's enjoying himself quite a bit at the moment. Now he just needs to stop staring down at his new body and protect Nami from herself.

Rather than ten Straw Hats plus Luffy...
There will be twelve. Main reason I think this is because Luffy got four crew members before heading into the Grand Line, and then another four in the first half of the Grand Line... which makes me suspect that he will get another four in the New World. I know there's evidence that there will be ten (Luffy himself saying he wanted ten crew members at the beginning of his journey), but given that it's Luffy I doubt he'd let such an arbitrary statement (if he even remembers it) stop him from recruiting someone if they want to join and he likes them (and plus, he said he wanted ten crew members before entering the Grand Line). Additionally... given what a fantastic Chessmaster Oda is, I wouldn't be surprised if he's realized how popular the idea of there being ten Straw Hats (not counting Luffy) is, and since he loves throwing curve balls to catch us off-guard...

Law is
Speaks for itself. I'm personally hoping for
 * Personally I'd like to see
 * Fair enough. My reasoning is
 * The hilarity of Robin -> Luffy would be Luffy acting smart.
 * Good point, also Luffy being incredibly calm and full of morbid comments.
 * Well he swapped as of chapter 663. He had an opportunity to  but for whatever reason  ...Yet, at least.

Law's crew was wiped out.
Fits with the fact that we haven't seen his crew yet and the running theme of something really horrible happening to once-ambitious pirates before they become Shichibukai (Moria & Crocodile).

When the Strawhats next get into a fight in this arc,

 * the problem with that is that Nami's body is not trained to handle any of his moves. It would be like Mr. 2 who had to switch back to his normal form to attack.

Blackbeard is a test tube baby engineered by Vegapunk
Reasoning being that Vegapunk knows the deeper mechanics behind the Devil Fruits and Blackbeard has some kind of anomalous body type that allows him to.

I personally believe Vegapunk will be a deeply conflicted good guy, so I'm guessing this little screw-up came during one of his worse For Science phases and hearing of Blackbeard's deeds will leave him muttering My God What Have I Done.

One Piece is a device or gateway towards the world's collective consciousness.
That's why it was necessary, during the Void Century, to hide it at Raftel, the "impossible to reach" island--the ancients had discovered a way for people to be conscious of one another, leading to global understanding and peace. The ancestors of the Tenryuubito wished to oppress the world for their own benefit and force the people to work for them, so they fought a massive war with the intent to destroy that object and marginalize all knowledge of it. But since they couldn't get rid of it, they opted to instead hide it while erasing all knowledge of its existence--the entire century, just to be certain. D stands for "Descendant"--descendants of the ancients who used the device. That's why Gol D. Roger was able to hear the "voice of all things" and write the ancient characters on the Shandorian Belfry on Sky Island. Luffy and the others might too discover that they have that ability. That's why, as Whitebeard mentioned, the world will be "completely turned upside down" when it's found.

The CP 9 have become even stronger after the time skip
It wouldn't suprise me if all of the CP 9 have become much stronger since fighting the Straw Hats at enies lobby.

What will happen when the Strawhats finally land on an inhabited island
There will be either mass panic or mass celebration.

Also Ace wasnt the first named person to die outside of a flashback (countless backgound characters have died before),the first definte on screen death was probably Mr.11, and Bellemy and Nero are surely dead.
 * this raises an interesting question actually,

The 'you know who' that Caribou refered to as wanting to know that Shirahoshi is Posiedon, is Crocodile.
This would also explain why he enlisted under the Fake Luffy just so that he could kill Luffy, Caibou is working directly for Crocodile. Crocodile will have sent him, another logia, to try to kill Luffy, ( in typical Crocodile Xanatos Gambit fashion), so that even if he didnt succeed, he could gage how much of a theat he would be if he meets him again, namely wether he has armament Haki. Of course, while Crocodile may no longer be interested in Pluton, who says hes given up on all the ancient weapons?
 * OR he might be working for Joker, to whom Caesar Clown works for.

Crocus and Clover are somehow related, most likely brothers.
Both of them are old, have little no no regard for the world government, and have been named after flowers and gornw their hair as such. And think about it; most people wouldn't have stayed with Laboon. While they'd care deeply about him, and would pity the whale they'd still want more adventure and would leave, like Luffy and crew. Crocus is staying with Laboon because he knows what a it feels like to lose someone important to you, as he lost his brother in the Ohara incident. Also, they seem to be around the same age, and are really the only two characters named after plants that have styled their hair as such.

Sanji will fight Monet.
Either as himself or as Nami. Monet obviously can fly, and Sanji is the only one who knows how to take to the air as well. This would be a major turning point for Sanji as he would have to hit a woman (or Take a Third Option and defeat her without hitting her). Bonus points if he has to do it as Nami, as he'll fall madly in love with her, starting a Running Gag later on when the swaps are reversed with Monet thinking Nami is a Psycho Lesbian.

The other Straw Hat capable of taking on a flying opponent would be Usopp, of course, but that's not as interesting (for once). Nami could theoretically fight a flying opponent too, though we don't know the full extent of her Weather Balls, and as Franky, she doesn't have any of her equipment on her.
 * Recently, Law switched everyone back to their original bodies... except for Nami. She is now stuck in Sanji's body and is pissed off about it. Even though it isn't quite Sanji, this has become more of a possibility than before.

The Heart Pirates arn't dead, they are each undertaking their own training
The reason why we havnt seen Law's cew is not that he killed them or Clown has them, he actually worked out what Kuma had done to the Straw Hats, and decided that he would follow suit, disbanding his crew so that they could each become stronger before entering the New World. Also as he planned to go to Punk Hazard, he told them not to come with him in case they got killed.

The Emperor Law wants to take down is Big Mom.
This would work out rather well, since Luffy already wants to take take her down as well. If they teamed up, it would make things slightly easier to take her down. The problem, of course, would be who would replace Big Mom whence she's kicked off her throne so that there's no power vacuum of some sort. Then again, if Luffy delivers the finishing blow, he would probably be the one forced/thrown into the position.


 * Well we know as of 668 that it cant be Kaidou, as Luffy barely knows who he is and would have had more to say on the subject, so its got to be Big Mom or Blackbeard. (Unless Law said Shanks, and luffy is showing some inititive by pretending to go along with it so that he can warn shanks later, but i hope that isnt the case as the prospect of Law and Luffy's crew properly teaming up is so fucking epic its untrue.)
 * You're not even mentioning the big thing that supports this theory--Punk Hazard produces addictive candy.
 * Original poster here with another theory. Maybe Big Mom eats that candy like it was nothing. It's addictive and can make you a giant over time. Maybe that candy is the reason that Big Mom is, well, big. If she's been eating it for years, it would make sense.

The Emperor Law wants to take down is Shanks.

 * How would this work?
 * It has to be Big Mom or Blackbeard. It is not known what Law said, but to make Luffy eager to take on the idea, it would have to be someone Luffy had a pre-existing problem with. Logic dictates furthering the clash with Big Mom which is pre-established, since Blackbeard is being set up as a series-wide Big Bad.
 * I was actually about to post this myself, when I saw it hear. I can definitely see an argument for it. Plus, the idea of it being Big Mom or Blackbeard is rather obvious. I think part of the reason that it wasn't stated to the audience is because the idea of Luffy teaming up to take down Shanks seems so strange. Also keep in mind how Luffy's crew reacted.

Kidd will team up with Law and Luffy to take down Big Mom.
Between the Chekhov's Gun of him attacking her allies, and these arcs all possibly being part of the "Super Rookie Saga", the concept seems fairly obvious. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he's going to join them at Wano, which shall be the next and probably last destination before the assault on Whole Cake Island.

Kizaru will fight and lose to Blackbeard.
So far, nobody has gotten Kizaru to be completely serious in a fight. Now, given how Oda did his reasearch involving Rayleigh arriving to fend off Kizaru, and that a black hole will absorb anything, including light...

The reason Law can't just activate Room and capture Caesar...
...is because Caesar keeps a bit of his gaseous self in a different location, effectively giving him a Horcrux.
 * Maybe it's because he can't use Haki.

Zoro's gonna get a new sword soon.
As we know, Zoro's current swords are Wado Ichimonji (from the second strongest group of 21 swords), Shuushi (also from that group) and Sandai Kitetsu (from the third strongest group of 50 swords). One of his swords is weaker than the others, so it makes sense that he'll get a new sword to replace it. Sandai Kitetsu means 'Third Demon Splitter' and we were told when he got it that there's also a Second and First Demon Splitter. The Second Demon Splitter (I think it's 'Nidai Kitetsu') is of the same group as Zoro's other two swords, and due to its strength it would make sense that its owner is somewhere in the New World. So it's possible that Zoro could defeat him and take the sword. He may later obtain the First Demon Splitter (Shodai Kitetsu?) as it's of the strongest group of 12 swords that Mihawk's sword is also from (and therefore possibly his only hope against him). (Anyone with a better knowledge of Zoro's Japanese sword names that me, please correct me if I got any of the names wrong).
 * Keep in mind, though, that one of Zoro's swords is Kuina's. Chances are he won't willingly give it up, unless it's destroyed like pretty much every other sword he's owned.

Luffy will be able to beat the Slime
So as we all know after his fight with Magellan Luffy is immune to poison. What makes the Slime so dangerous? It creates poisonous gas (and presumably contact with it is also dangerous) Naturally, Luffy will be immune to the poison and will be able to fight it without being poisoned.

Nami and Sanji WON'T get swapped back.
Rule of Funny. For whatever reason, Law will leave Luffy's group, but forget to swap the last two Strawhat's back, leaving them stuck like that for a couple of more arcs. After all, there's too much potential to be wasted here!