There are many possible meanings for the D., but we won’t really know until the end of One Piece.
One of the biggest secrets throughout the One Piece series is the meaning of the letter “D”., which has appeared in the name of several major characters, starting with the protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy. Given the overtones of the series, a great adventure with certain touches of mystery, the One Piece fan community has come up with quite sensible theories about the secrets of the story, and this mysterious letter is no exception, mainly because it is subtly mentioned. that the D is connected to the origin of the world and that it itself holds the key to most of the mysteries surrounding the manga.
In fact, in the history of One Piece the “Will of D.” it is a tradition that unites all the characters that have the initial in their name (Luffy among them), regardless of whether they are related to each other. This will is a character that can be inherited over time and, apparently, represents a kind of resistance to those who rule the world: the Celestial Dragons.
There is a wide range of theories that fans have created around the Will of D., however, one of them is interesting because it connects it to another lesser known mystery in the series: the constant presence of symbolism related to the sun and the moon.
What is the Will of D.?
The Will of D. has been mentioned a few times throughout the manga. The most important was when Nico Robin tried to ask Silvers Rayleighthe former second-in-command of the Pirate King Gol D. Roger, what was the meaning of the “Will of D.”, bringing up the Void Century at the same time, hinting that there was a connection between them. The second most important reference was made by Donquixote Rocinante, an ancient Celestial Dragon. When he learned that Law’s protégé was a “D.”, he revealed to her that those with this initial in his name belonged to a common family, chosen by fate itself. Furthermore, he also mentioned that, in a certain country, the “family of D.” he was known as the “Natural Enemy of God”. Because the Heavenly Dragons are considered the “gods” of the One Piece world, Rocinante believes that the D. are therefore his enemies.
But another curious fact about the series is that the D. appears only in the names of troublesome individuals who are usually enemies of the World Government. Specifically, there is a flashback that reveals Roger’s past, however, the Pirate King mentions that the government called him “Gold Roger” in order to hide his real name. The Roger Pirates learned the meaning of the D. when they reached the “final island”, Laugh Tale, and found JoyBoy’s treasure, hinting again that the meaning of the D. is related to the history of the world. Other known bearers of the Will of D. are Monkey D. Dragon, Luffy’s father (in addition to being the most wanted man in the entire One Piece world), Marshall D. Teach aka Blackbeard, a dangerous pirate whose goal is to alter the world order, and Rocks D. Xebec, a pirate who dared to directly attack the Heavenly Dragons in order to obtain their immense power.
The possible meaning of D.
One of the most important theories about D.’s will ensures that the letter D. should be interpreted differently. This is not a middle initial (a rare practice in Japanese names), but a surname suffix: “Monkey D”. This statement becomes important once you consider that Eiichiro Oda always uses the Western letter “D”. This is significant because even One Piece characters who have Western names, such as Marshall Teach (Blackbeard), have their names written in katakana. This suggests, then, that the value of the “D.” it is not in what it represents, but in what it already is, specifically, its form.
The character “Radical 74” is one of the 34 radical kanji that closely resembles a Western D, mainly in its early versions. Actually, this character is used in One Piece as part of the names of two important Wano families: the Kozuki and Shimotsuki clans. The first was the family of shoguns, including the legendary hero Kozuki Oden who traveled on Gol D. Roger’s ship; on the other hand, the second was a daimyo family that has certain connections with Zoro and Luffy. Until now, no member of the “family of D.” has yet appeared in Wano, but both the Kozukis and Shimotsukis openly opposed the World Government on multiple occasions, meaning they could be in similar roles. In fact, another proof of this is that the kanji Radical 74 is also called “radical moon”, and could effectively mean “moon”.leading the fan community to believe that the choice of ‘D’ is intended to graphically denote a crescent.
There are several symbolisms of the moon in One Piece
It is enough to look at the seemingly random references and coincidences in the manga to affirm that it could be a series of relevant connections to build the history of One Piece. An example of this is when the will of D. is mentioned for the first time, in chapter 154, in the immediately posterior panel appears a moon with sparkles. Also, when a fan asked Oda to draw all the Shichibukai as children, he depicted a young Blackbeard crying before the moon.
Lastly, fans have speculated regarding various potential links between the families that overthrew the Old Kingdom (and went on to become the World Nobles/Heavenly Dragons) and solar imagery: Nefertari is a name referring to an ancient queen from Egypt, probably invoking the sun god Ra, and there is a famous work of art by Pablo Picasso called Don Quixote in which the sun stands out.
These very precise connections with the sun could be considered a bit forced, but definitely the sun/moon duality is present in the One Piece series. For his part, the “Sun God Nika” is a mysterious figure worshiped by slaves in ancient times, which may be related to JoyBoy and the island of Laugh Tale. Similarly, the Lunarians are a powerful race who were once worshiped as gods and are now considered enemies by the World Government, who are actively persecuting them. “Moon” comes from Latin, and Lunarians have very similar traits to the inhabitants of Skypeia, who actually come from the moon.
One Piece is one of the manga that fans most enjoy theorizing about, and there is always the possibility that all these speculations either come true or end up disappearing. However, considering that the inheritors of the Will of D. are enemies of the World Government, it would make sense to connect them with the sun/moon symbology that, until now, Oda has always used in reference to the events of the “Empty Century”; that is, the very ones the Heavenly Dragons have benefited from to build their current power (and for the reason they want to keep it a secret).
Truth be told, the idea that the use of “D.” linking a group of seemingly unrelated characters into a single family (including Luffy himself), establishing a kind of “lunar” clan scattered throughout the world and innately opposed to the solar-themed Heavenly Dragons, it’s a success which would have huge implications for the history and future of One Piece. Although like all the theories about this amazing manga, fans will only know the truth when Eiichiro Oda’s work reaches the end.
Related topics: one piece
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