What is The Most Exciting Thing the One Piece Could Be?
Some fans think
this or
that about what the One Piece could be and I will contrast it with the reasoning available to me.
1) The One Piece is... An Artifact: Jewel.
- It has been suggested in the past that the One Piece is an artifact. Specifically, a Jewel that controls the ocean. I believe they came up with this idea based on another idea they had previously. A "Sea Devil" controlling the sea who created the Devil Fruits. Personally, I don't like this idea because, along with insisting there is a Sea Devil, they are also now adding that he controls the sea through the use of this jewel. It's kind of on the nose don't you think?
2) The One Piece is... Friendship.
- Some people believe it is the friends made along the way and the journey itself. The average fan will tell you that Oda already explained it won't be something like that. It will be an actual reward. Something that isn't just an idea or a feeling.
3) The One Piece is... another Ancient Weapon.
- Some people believe that the One Piece is a weapon even greater than any of the other Ancient Weapons. Uhhh let's see... There's no specific reason why it can't be a weapon, but that would be weird. There are already Three Ancient Weapons. They're already basically Weapons of Mass Destruction. Why add a fourth one?
4) The One Piece is... A Matter Replicator.
- This one I actually like because it's a really cool idea and such a device would stop things such as world hunger. I have only seen this idea come up once or twice throughout the years, and I even brought it up myself before.
5) The One Piece is... A Terraforming Device
- Ooh here's a neat one. A Terraforming Device would potentially account for why the planet is the way it is and how it can be fixed in the future. This is a somewhat recent idea that has come up.
...
I will now present what I think it is as compared to those options.
X) The One Piece is... Ancient Artifact: World Heart.
- This idea is not self explanatory. It's also not the "Mecha Heart" theory if you've ever seen that. I didn't list it because I... don't really consider it a real idea... but nevermind that.
- This "World Heart" I speak of is actually not original. I'm taking this idea from another story. The only important thing to know is that this World Heart allows the Ancient Kingdom to be recreated. The way it does this is by containing special types of information; it is the knowledge, history, and philosophy of their people. It may be argued that the poneglyphs already do that, but that's not necessarily true. The poneglyphs give specific kinds of information.
Historical Poneglyphs" reveal pieces of ancient history, as well as messages written by ancient people.
"Instructional Poneglyphs" contain instructions and/or clues about the locations of Historical Poneglyphs.
Road Poneglyphs (ロード歴史の本文ポーネグリフ, Rōdo Pōnegurifu?, literally meaning "Road Text of History") detail a location. The combined locations detailed by all four Road Poneglyphs allows one to locate Laugh Tale.
Noticeably, the poneglyphs contain pertinent information relating to the current events following the fall of the Ancient Kingdom. We have also learned they were created as a result of the war between the Ancient Kingdom and the Great Alliance (though this could be inferred much earlier on). The information in the poneglyphs does not teach a person how to create their technology or what their personal values were. Instead, things like Joyboy's message to the Fishmen were left behind on them.
The One Piece in this scenario contains different kinds of information. It is a National Treasure of the Ancient Kingdom because it allows them to immortalize their culture, and then recreate it if it is ever destroyed. If it's recreated, then all of the other things mentioned above can be achieved. The sea can be controlled, more ancient weapons can be made, and it's possible they could even make a Matter Replicator or a Terraforming Device. They could even go beyond that and create an entire array of new technologies like teleporters.
So.... I think the One Piece has an all-encompassing effect where when it's found it creates endless possibilities. It's not just one thing. It's a million things - including things we've never heard of before or could even conceive of. There's no telling how advanced their civilization was and how much it will change the world if it's discovered.
All those things that could be created... it should produce the same reaction from readers as the Pluton Blueprints did for Franky. If I recall correctly he questioned whether humans could even construct something like it - meaning it was so far beyond what he knew humans were capable of that he didn't know it could exist. That is one of the only times we had a real reaction directly related to the awe-inspiring technology the Ancient Kingdom developed. Pluton was just 1 thing. They made a bunch of stuff, and I think the One Piece allows you to make it all.
It is also a SELF-PRESERVATION thing. It's a way for the Ancient Kingdom to survive even if it is destroyed because someone who carries its will can find it. Why else would the Ancient Kingdom leave behind poneglyphs that lead to it? There's a reason behind that, and the only logical thing I can make sense of is that they were attempting to immortalize their culture. Hm.. "immortalizing themselves" seems to carry negative connotations. I'll say it was a way to avoid an EXTINCTION EVENT.
Yeah. I forgot that's the best way to put it.
The One Piece is a device that was created to help the Ancient Kingdom's civilization to sustain an extinction event. Even if most of them, or even all of them died, someone could find it later and rebuild what they once had.
Which extinction event were they hoping to avoid? Was it man-made or was it natural?
Well... I think we know the Celestial Dragons performed genocide on them. That's basically an extinction event. Their way to survive that was by making poneglyphs leading to the One Piece so whoever survived it or carried their will in the future could find it. If that happens, then they are successful in continuing the will of their civilization through such an event.
It would be a new "dawn". In the words of Dr. Vegapunk, "... It could be considered... a "will" that is carried on". I think those missing parts of his speech was him explaining what he believed the purpose of the One Piece was because shortly after he said he hoped Luffy finds it, and that only Roger's crew knows the truth of the world.
An interesting part about that is almost any time a really intelligent guy hopes something important happens... it usually doesn't happen. That's foreshadowing in that case.
Blackbeard... is trying to make a kingdom. If he gets a hold of the One Piece, I fear he will make an Ancient Evil Kingdom. He's aiming for the "King" position that Joyboy tried and failed to achieve during the Void Century.
