In Lake Elbaf one pieceOda was the first to properly introduce Paladins. Among the first to enter were the paladins Shamrock and Gunko. Shamrock isn't very relevant in this arc, but Gunko is central to this arc and serves as the main antagonist, controlled by Imu. Gunko has a deep connection to Brook as they were once part of the same kingdom. Most fans believe that Gunko is a new creation by Eiichiro Oda, but a fresh look at the author's drafts reveals that Gunko was actually introduced by the creator 19 years ago. one piece. Gunko always planned to once again demonstrate the artist's excellence and form a deep relationship with Brooke.
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Analysis of Oda's draft for the thriller Bark's Paladin
often diverse one piece The magazine offers a look at Oda's early drafts for the various issues and their characters. A magazine published a long time ago published a draft of a thriller Bark story. By 2007, Oda had already drafted initial sketches for Brook and all the other zombie characters appearing in Thriller Bark. Among them was a woman with bandages, long hair, and one eye open. This bandaged woman was also wearing a cloak, and her overall appearance was suspiciously similar to Gunko. She was also pictured next to Dead Bones Brook. Putting two and two together, it's clear that this woman became the prototype for the Paladin Gunko that fans know today.
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The true meaning of Gunko's character before the time skip.
It's possible that Oda intended to include this woman in Thriller Bark in some major way, but decided not to do so for plot reasons. Before the timeskip, Gunko had absolutely no significance in the story, but Oda clearly established her relationship with Brook in the magazine through early drafts.
At the same time, Brook reveals that he was the leader of a battle convoy long ago, suggesting that Oda had already planned a story surrounding him and Princess Shuri. Most of the information was hidden back then, but that's what makes One Piece as interesting as it is now. Because the two met again 19 years later.
How Princess Shuri connects to Brook's story arc
As revealed in the Elbaf arc of One Piece, Princess Shuri has a very important relationship with Brook, with the latter actually raising her on his own. Brook was the commander of a battle convoy in a kingdom in West Blue, serving under Princess Shuri's father, and even called Princess Shuri his benefactor. When the King gave birth to Princess Shuri, Brook sang to her and even raised her. But at some point, the princess lost all control and even killed her own father.
Obviously Brook has never forgiven her for this, but he doesn't know the impact Imu has on her. Apparently she was being controlled by Imu through mind control or Domi Reversi. The Holy Knights continued to destroy the kingdom and turned Brook into a pirate.
One Piece Episode 1178 determines the crushing defeat of the Straw Hat Pirates in Elbaf.
Elbaf will record a crushing defeat for the Straw Hat Pirates in One Piece like never before.
Measuring the future importance of Imu vessels
Princess Shuri will play an incredibly important role in this important story of the Final Saga. Given that Shuri has always been around Imu, their importance will only grow from here. Especially since Elbaf will likely remove this character from under Imu. Princess Shuri stands as the main villain of the Elbaf Arc due to Imu's mind control, but it is highly likely that Luffy and Loki will ultimately succeed in purifying Imu from Imu's body. This would free Princess Shuri from Imu's control and even make her a potential Straw Hat candidate.
From then on, Imu would lose an important ally and turn to Vivi. Beyond that, Gunko could become a member of the Straw Hat Pirates, or at least an ally of that group, leading their attack on the world government, especially knowing all the secret details about Imu's Empire, making her a valuable asset.
One Piece Chapter 1178 will be available to read on Manga Plus on March 29, 2026.
one piece
- release date
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October 20, 1999
- network
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Fuji TV
- move
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Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Ito, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudo, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yuji Endo, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Sato
- author
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Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shoji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda.
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
