Reasons for and against Brook joining the crew

[Crenzel]

Since everyone and their mothers are arguing about whether Brook will join the crew, I thought I'd compile those arguments for and against Brook joining the crew.

Maybe this will help us make up our minds.

This will be made up with help of the community's posts from various threads (and also a few of my own) to get an understanding of what everyone else is thinking.

Reasons for Brook to join the crew (these are logical reasons that are appropriate for the story with no bias):

- He's a musician. As Luffy has said throughout the entire series, he wants a musician in
his crew.

- Luffy has already asked him to join his crew. Brook refuses because he is unable to go
into direct sunlight. It would seem that if that weren't the case, he would join.
Remember, once Luffy decides on something, he gets it.

- He blends in perfectly with the rest of the freakshow crew. Let's see, they have a cyborg,
a reindeer, a woman who can grow more limbs, a captain made of rubber?? Why not
throw a skeleton in the mix?

- He's a skilled fighter.

- He is a pervert. This gives Oda the option of a run-on gag with Sanji getting angry at
Brook whenever he does/says something perverted to Nami or Robin. Would be amusing.

- He does not have a goal that conflicts with any of the crew members' goals.


Reasons against Brook joining the crew:

- He is also a swordsman. A lot of people have been arguing this saying that it doesn't
matter. This is merely one of the possible reasons why he shouldn't join. The two
swordsmen will make each other less unique. This one reason can outweigh many of the
"for" reasons.

- It will too predictable if he does join. Oda is all for unpredictability as we've seen.
E.g. Franky joining the crew, nobody could forsee that, everyone even hated him.

-

Luffy has wanted a musician for so long, but its just one of those baseless wishes that never actually get granted till the end if at all. In that light, Oda would not seriously give in to Luffy as it would effectively kill the possibility of Oda bringing that joke back later on. plus, the problem with having a nakama whose actual job is musician is that it would not be very noticable in the manga format.

-

1. The crew just got Franky, whose recruitment took so much development that a quick recruitment directly afterwards would somewhat cheapen the meaning of Franky joining
2. Each time a member of the crew has been recruited, there was a specific need in the story beforehand set by the crew’s need for a specific job or the necessity for a character type in the story. Luffy (main character), Zoro (Luffy needed a serious character to contrast him), Nami (needed a navigator to actually get to new locations and an authoritative brain), Usopp (needed a strong and consistent comic relief), Sanji (needed a cook and a womanizer), Chopper (needed a doctor and an innocent kid), Robin (needed a woman to fill the hole Vivi left), Franky (needed a shipwright and an over the top character)...there is no reason for Brooke to join
3. Unlike Chopper and Franky, who can go about town without attracting too much attention, Brooke would cause a huge stir no matter where he went so it would get repetitive for the same events to occur at every island they come to

I think this is all I can dig up from the forum and my head lol. Please if anyone thinks of anything to add to this, that'll be awesome. I've probably missed a lot of stuff ><

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[Luckas]

I like very much Brooke and I hope he will join the strawhats. But if he is a swordsman as Zoro, I fear that it will be very difficult. However reading the excellent OP review by sahugani I thought that maybe the true swordsman isn't Brooke, but he gained his swordsmanship by the person whom his shadow was attached. Obviously this is only a wild thought

 

[mars0103]

He is a skilled and famous swords man by the sounds of it this will give the strawhats an advantage over a lot of crews evens the strong warlords (thats happening now).

 

[Crenzel]

Ah Luckas, sahugani provides some evidence against that theory of yours hehe
http://mangahelpers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=380280#post380280

But that was a very cool thought

sahugani has also stated another reason why Brook can't join

Luffy has wanted a musician for so long, but its just one of those baseless wishes that never actually get granted till the end if at all. In that light, Oda would not seriously give in to Luffy as it would effectively kill the possibility of Oda bringing that joke back later on. plus, the problem with having a nakama whose actual job is musician is that it would not be very noticable in the manga format.

I absolutely agree with that statement. As expected from sahugani ^_^

 

[sahugani]

i love Brooke as much as anybody and while he does bear many of the traits that are befitting of a strawhat, i just don't see his recruitment happening. As it has been already mentioned, my latest chapter review has my points against recruitment already listed, so go over and take a look.

while this has been one of the theories i have held longest and been most confident in, don't take it as a certainty. Im sure if Oda does decide to somehow include him, he will use some creative method that defies my reasoning and it will be great. if you were around and remember me from the chapters before Ace and Blackbeard's duel, you'll know that i have been proven wrong by Oda before .

and sorry Luckas, but while your theory sounds good there are two flaws. First of all, it does nothing to negate the fact that Brooke is a swordsman now even if he was not one before, so the conflict still stands. Secondly, he was infamous as the Humming Swordsman from the last time he came to the island, so he obviously had his skills before. i think i had a couple smaller ones mentioned when i replied in the review thread, but those are the big two.

 

[Anti-panda]

Brooke seems more like the Steal your panties kinda pervert instead of the luv struck ... womanizing idiot like sanji.
He uses a sword but isnot a swordsman per say ...
I personally don't see a huge problem with him joining the strawhats.
Plus I trust oda because I know he'll work things out so that we wind up loving brooke for reasons different from any of the other strawhats.
Plus Franky's a bit of a pervert too. In a way different from either brooke or sanji.

There are many perverts in the world. And like snowflakes no two are the same.

 

[JC123]

I don't see Brooke as a permanent attachment. I could see Franky over Paulie simply because of his need to fight for Tom. Brooke kind of seems like a temp member like Vivi. Maybe until Zoro learns something new, but the singing musician role I would like to see filled with something that's main weapon IS a gitern or something.

 

[Crenzel]

I would actually like to see Brook teach Zoro that technique he used. Kinda like aiding Zoro get closer to his goal by contributing to his arsenal. And with that he takes his leave

 

[IgnorantSage]

This might be a little off but I remembered that every Mugiwara has a chibi version.

It would be difficult to accurately depict Brooke as a chibi since he became a skeleton only during his adulthood. He would be a kid with afro but then the fact that he wouldn't be a skeleton in his chibi version would mean that the important feature of him (that he is a skeleton) would not be reflected.

This could mean that he might not become a Mugiwara after all.

I know that the premise is a little outrageous but I feel that no chibi brooke = no mugiwara brooke.

It might turn out that brooke will play even less role than Vivi since even Vivi had a chibi version.

I would love it if he becomes one though.

 

[Paz42]

id really like for brooke to join the crew hes a really interesting charcter hes supposedly a muscian and seems to a be relativly powerful fighter the fact that hes light means he can move ridiculously fast so meaning when he was a normal human must have has some relative speed. and whats more which has already been said but hes a misfit hed fit so well with the group i mean look at it this way weve go t a rubber man, a swordsman who uses three swords, a cook who uses his feet to fight and is a pervert who will do anythin for a woman, an archeologist with many hands kinda, a reindeer doctor, a money obssesed navigator, a Cyborg come on a cyborg there cant be many of them in the world lol . so a singing sword using gentleman(yeah right) skeleton is going to fit right in.

Plus id really like to see how people in towns and stuff deal with brooke and how they are going to try and get him to disguise himself or what ever i think it could be quite interesting lol

And i could forsee some frustration by him from the other crew memembers like zoro challenging him to a battle but not being able to beat him sanji being annoyed by his perverted nature and so on

so in short i want brooke in the crew hehe

 

[Megadoomer]

- He is also a swordsman. A lot of people have been arguing this saying that it doesn't
matter. This is merely one of the possible reasons why he shouldn't join. The two
swordsmen will make each other less unique. This one reason can outweigh many of the
"for" reasons.

Their styles are completely different (Zoro is more focused towards power and he uses three katanas. Brook seems to use speed more than power and he uses a cane-sword.)

1. The crew just got Franky, whose recruitment took so much development that a quick recruitment directly afterwards would somewhat cheapen the meaning of Franky joining

Usopp didn't really get a chance to do anything, but Sanji joined the very next arc after Usopp.

As you can tell by the fact that I'm trying to find flaws in the 'Against' points, I really want Brook to join.

 

[Xarcer]

brook is cool and all.. but how will he walk in the streets therefore i belive he wont be able to join the crew (besides zoro is too cool to have a singing skeleton as a rival !!)

 

[ubo]

Ah Luckas, sahugani provides some evidence against that theory of yours hehe
http://mangahelpers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=380280#post380280

But that was a very cool thought

sahugani has also stated another reason why Brook can't join


I absolutely agree with that statement. As expected from sahugani ^_^

Completely disagree. First, not having a character join for the sake of a single joke is ridiculous. Also, entire mangas are written about musicians, so I don't see why it would be a problem.

The only real reason I see against Brook joining is that he's a swordsman, but even then, he doesn't use the same amount of swords, so it's not exactly the same.

 

[6thangel]

I think he will join but there is one thing that makes me wonder.

Everyone in the crew except Robin has a giant overarching dream. All blue, pirate king, map of the world, greatest swordsman, and be a panacea. Although we don't know much about Brook so it is a strong possibility that he could have some huge dream like "to look at the panties of all the women in the world" and join the crew for that. Since Robin seems to not have a giant dream it means that Brook doesn't necessarily have to have one either.

 

[mugen]

uuum...
I believe he might join...
if he can get some flesh on his body.....
I mean he did say that he hadn't eat in ages...
so he might possibly get some human-type resemblance
but at the same type he looks like he might not want to join...
but then again Eiichiro has spent a bit on Brooke and he's got nothing better to do...
so possibly might join...
either way he's cool
and he also doesn't have a dream or at least hasn't revealed one so possibly he might or might not join...
but Eiichiro did kinda foreshadow a musician....
and Franky really only plays for himself

 

[Anti-panda]

I think he will join but there is one thing that makes me wonder.

Everyone in the crew except Robin has a giant overarching dream. All blue, pirate king, map of the world, greatest swordsman, and be a panacea. Although we don't know much about Brook so it is a strong possibility that he could have some huge dream like "to look at the panties of all the women in the world" and join the crew for that. Since Robin seems to not have a giant dream it means that Brook doesn't necessarily have to have one either.

OMFG ------ throw rocks at you... not really.

Robin~chwan has possibly the most huge dream of all.

Her dream is to discover the truth behind the poneglyphs and fill the 100 void history. To discover the true history of the world of OP. It is the pursuit of this dream that cost her .. her mother, the entire island and population of Ohara. And it almost cost her her life Twice. Once in Alabasta and again in Enis Lobby. If not for Luffy (And Co.) she would have died both times.
All the strawhat's have dreams ... even the going merry had a dream ... Before her untimley departure from this world.
So if brooke joins .. he will have a dream.
And I bet he'll stay a skeleton. I hope he will. I love the "Bone" jokes.

 

[mugen]

but thats weird....
even for One Piece....and all mugiwaras have a dream before joining....
and don't forget they eventually get their own background story.....

 

[Anti-panda]

I'm thinking while brooke may use a sword ... he may not be that strong.. I don't mean overall i'm talking about lifting kinda strength... He doesn't have any muscles... Litterally ... so while he may use a sword I'm betting his fighting style wont revolve around that as it's main weapon.
He did purify the zombie .. wouldn't it be weird if he was some kind of religious shaman ... alot of people want a religious something or other to join ... wouldn't It be great a religious figure who's a open pervert.
And that's my little theroy.

 

[ubo]

HAHAHA. Great idea. All priests are pretty much closet pervs anyway... just kidding. Maybe.

Yeah, he could easily have a dream that we don't know about.

 

[OP_overlord]

that would be good and if you look at the two swords man zoro is alot stronger and uses that to attack while brook is fast and light and prob uses speed to attack instead
zoro would hit you once in a min and knock you out but brooke would hit you 100 times in a min and knock you out and he is religious which also messes with zoro who doesnt belive in god

so all in all brooke would work well with the crew

and people have some crazy notions that if he joined the crew he couldnt go into town cause he would stand out and cause problems but i think that is good cause the disguise would be mad funny if they make one and also they need some one to gaurd the ship when it is docked and thus brooke has a permint job on the ship and now we wouldnt have to see chopper or ussop cry about being left alone and haveing to fight strong guys.