User blog:Kaido King of the Beasts/The Child Who Shook the World

Provided Oda does things right, Weeble is going to be one of the most enthralling characters in One Piece. The reason he's going to be enthralling is because right now he's anything but. I don't like Weeble right now, but looking at him I realize that's the product of many separate things which I'll try to break down in this blog. Just who is Edward Weeble? And what path is he headed down?

Let's look at the main question everyone's had since we first saw him: Is Weeble really Whitebeard's son? When I wrote my review blog I called BS on it, mostly due to the "self-proclaimed" part. However, when I had gotten some sleep and looked over the chapter a little more, I began wondering if the claims were actually true. If Whitebeard was revealed to not be this guy's father, that would just make him some nobody pirate. There is a chance that he could be made into an interesting character regardless, but in a world with over 1064 characters (including non-canon), it's often far better when a new character is or becomes strongly associated with a major character, such as the Colosseum gladiators. Was Whitebeard not Weeble's dad, what hope would there be for Weeble when he found out? Chances were he would just continue hunting down the WB Pirates in a jealous rage. You'll notice that I'm not treating Weeble like a major antagonist to be brought down, but rather a "gray" character who will play a much more important role. I'll be expanding on that speculation, so don't worry. Add in some arbitrary similarities, like body type and the stache that appears to be real, and you have a pretty good case that this guy is an actual descendant of the Man Who Shook the World.

But if he really is Whitebeard's son, then what went wrong? If Whitebeard wanted a family, why didn't he take care of Weeble? How did Weeble turn out to be such a spoiled brat? Let's look at Bakkin, his supposed mother and Whitebeard's supposed lover. Although I believe Whitebeard is actually this guy's dad, I'm thinking his "mom" is the real BS. Some guys talked about how any "relations" that would have occurred between them should be highly disproportionate and damaging. However, I'm not really going to consider that, because Oda has portrayed disproportionate people and relationships before, like Fishmen x Giants. And people have been shown to significantly change as they grow older, since Jora once had normal sized legs.

However, Bakkin is the kind of person that I seriously doubt Whitebeard would have had an association with. She's a greedy, money-grubbing scumbag. The only reason she cares about Weeble is because he is her cash cow to retirement. This is a lot of speculation at this point, but could it be possible that Weeble was once believed to be dead? He has quite a few scars, especially a nasty one around his neck, and this is basically the only reason I can think of for Whitebeard and him to be separated. If Bakkin found him, and knew his lineage, wouldn't she take advantage? Again, this is a lot of speculation, but as we see him more and more we will get more pieces to the puzzle, which I hope will be related to this.

Ultimately, all Weeble is is an oaf with anger management issues. Bakkin is playing the classic Wormtongue-esque character here; stroking Weeble's ego while using him to fulfill her own desires. It's clear that Weeble is only going after the Whitebeard Pirates mostly because of his mother's commands. His true desire is to kill Blackbeard, which isn't exactly noble but it makes sense. Inside his thick shell, Weeble is actually a very sympathetic character. At least I hope so, because if he's a generic bad guy I will hate him to the bone.

The dimwitted and manipulated characters in literature almost always find redemption, and given Oda's use of literary techniques, I believe that he is shaping Weeble into a redemptive character. It won't occur for a very long time (Ever since Dressrosa it's been hinted that the Blackbeard and Whitebeard Pirates will play some kind of role in events, but when? How will it fit?) That question has yet to be answered, and hopefully I can write a follow-up blog about this once we know more.

To make a long story short, although Weeble is a selfish oaf being manipulated by his "mother", whether by Luffy's guidance or someone else's, he'll realize what his father truly wanted and become one of Luffy's most powerful allies. Who knows? He might even be able to make his dream of bringing down Blackbeard come true.

Is Whitebeard actually Weeble's father? Yes No

Is Bakkin actually Weeble's mother? Yes No

Are you my daddy? Yes, now go to your room