Luffy being able to defeat the world’s strongest creature has created a problem with how the audience perceives the story and its antagonists.
Luffy defeating Kaidō has been one of the biggest milestones of his career as a pirate. It officially made him one of the Four Emperors and established him as one of the strongest living characters in the One Piece world. However, this has created a problem for the story narratively.
Now that Luffy is powerful enough to beat the world’s strongest creature, it’s unreasonable to believe anyone below that level can put him in any kind of danger. A similar problem will likely plague the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates now that they’re an Emperor-level crew. Suddenly, all of the villains’ fans were excited to see their return don’t seem like they’ll be able to put up a decent fight anymore. Unless Luffy and his friends are going up against the small handful of people left who can still reasonably challenge them, every fight they enter is expected to be a tensionless blowout.
Can Anyone Still Challenge the Straw Hats?
The first major victims of this narrative dilemma were Rob Lucci and CP0. As soon as they were confirmed to be major antagonists for the Egghead Arc, many fans were excited to see a rematch between Lucci and Luffy. At the same time, however, many of them were certain this would be an easy win for the Straw Hat captain, unlike the last time when it was one of the most intense fights of the series. Right or wrong, this same issue will likely pop up for Crocodile, the dethroned Emperors, and every other past enemy who is expected to make a big comeback.
This issue applies to potential future opponents as well. This includes Eustass Kid, Trafalgar Law, the rest of the Worst Generation, Edward Weevil, and whoever else may show up in the coming story arcs. Now that Luffy is the new strongest creature, he’s expected to overpower just about anyone who comes his way.
The only groups left who seem to pose a threat to Luffy and his crew are the Blackbeard Pirates, the Shanks Pirates, and the World Government. Even then, it’s only because the leaders of these groups are candidates to be Luffy’s final opponent of the series. Therefore, unless Luffy is fighting either Blackbeard, Shanks, or Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, most fans doubt he’ll have any trouble. Similarly, the rest of the Straw Hats shouldn’t have an issue unless they’re fighting people from one of these three groups.
Will There Be Any Tough Opponents in the Egghead Arc?
The best chance there is to give the Egghead Arc high stakes is the encroaching Admiral Kizaru. The consensus is that an Admiral should be able to give an Emperor a hard time, albeit with great difficulty on their part. Luffy may be an Emperor now, but he just got the title and he’s yet to defeat an Admiral. The results of this fight should come off as a little more nebulous.
From there, the rest of the Straw Hats should have their hands full with CP0. If Lucci is strong enough to keep pace with a Gear Five Luffy, then he should also be able to give at least one of his commanders a run for their money. The rest of the Straw Hats should have their hands full with the other CP0 agents and the Seraphim who currently answer to them. These are the best matchups the arc can offer as things stand.
As for whether the Straw Hats are in any genuine danger, that’s tough to say. Luffy defeating a powerful enemy like Kaidō so early in the story has made him and the Straw Hats out to be nigh invincible. They’ll probably come out on top in the Egghead Arc, but it might have helped for it to at least feel like they would need to struggle to do it.
Src: cbr.com
