Thread by @DesuRachel

CHECKERED FATE THEORY THREAD: If you're coming here from @TotallyNotMark's video, welcome aboard the insanity of spotting inversions throughout #OnePiece canon!

Here we'll shine a spotlight on the inversions not covered in the vid - think of this as a visual aid to the word doc!

I feel like the easiest way to start this entire thing off is to talk about island structure. That was what really kickstarted this entire concept.

The video already touched on Onigashima and Marineford's similar structure, but we'll place both right here as a starting point.

The video also mentioned Impel Down's general structure as well - the interesting part of this structure comparison is that Oda is blending concepts together. More on this in a moment.

One of the lingering plot-threads from the video is that Enies Lobby fights were missing from WCI. Part of that is because only half the crew was there - Oda was saving their fights inversions for Wano. Now, because Onigashima features a tower - we get them as we speak.

Now I know what you're saying - that's Water 7!

The reason these are so hard to notice at first is because Oda blends inversions from character to character. Jinbei hasn't had a proper fight with the crew! So his fight with Who's Who has to pull from the Luffy vs Lucci fight.

But the finisher is totally turned on its head! Instead of using his tail to keep his opponent from escaping, Who's Who's tail actually prevents him from escaping! As a result, Lucci's inversion is done in by one of Lucci's special attacks.

That's just one of many Enies Lobby attacks making their way back into the fold throughout the battle on Onigashima.

But I want to jump back to Act 3 quickly, because I have some really cool inversions on my mind ^^; Apologies, am a little scatterbrained at the moment!

Another recent one! Whitebeard rallying the troops by giving them an escape route vs. Tama getting enemies to change sides in the course of battle.

Oh man, okay. I've GOT to talk about the Davy Back Fight inversions. They are FASCINATING.

DBF has been a curse word thrown around the fandom for awhile, but Oda has found new ways to blend them into Wano. Check this out - the skulldome mirrors the Sexy Foxy's figurehead.

Don't believe me on that? Think SOUL POWER.

Big Mom's sitting on it (Zeus). Luffy is wearing it on his head (afro).

Teammates vs. Opponents

As a result, the rooftop actually turns into the Groggy Ring - uneven lineups in both, and check out Zoro's pose. Big Mom even says "all these fetching young heads ripe for the taking."

Hold on for the coup de grace here:

Many of the moves in this conflict pull from that fight - it's obviously not EXCLUSIVE, but the inversions are pretty funny!

I'm a big fan of this one as well - Zoro get a looooot of inversion love here coming up!

This might be one of my favorites - it took me awhile to place Luffy's pose, but once it clicked, I feel like it was locked in. That's when I started noticing the rest of the Groggy Ring inversions.

One of the subtlest Davy Back Fight callbacks came in Act 2, actually - the Donut Race is Big Mom arriving in Wano! Both ships are being pulled by fish - this is mentioned in the doc, by the way! docs.google.com/document/d/1NW…

Some of y'all may be wondering where the combat between Luffy vs. Foxy is - it's actually Luffy vs. Kaido round 1! The finisher specifically - too fast to dodge vs. too slow to escape.

Okay, one more Davy Back Fight inversion, then we'll move on. Someone asking how do you know Oda is doing this intentionally?

Because even the Gorilla Puncher #13 - *THE GORILLA PUNCHER #13* - gets an inversion.

One brief detour, then we'll touch on one of my favorite thematic inversions...

But first - another example of Oda just straight up MESSING with us.

Mihawk brings Shanks Luffy's bounty poster, announcing Luffy's presence. Look who shows up to tell Big Mom about her candy:

Alright, back to the fun stuff: Act 3. Rooftop.

Let's talk Zoro.

Specifically tanking a big slice - in Enies Lobby, he breaks through it no problem. On Onigashima, he can't. He's absorbing pain. In many ways, he's doing what he did on Thriller Bark - taking pain for Luffy.

What this leads into is pretty important - now significantly wounded on the rooftop, Zoro still follows the track for his confrontation with Kuma. He absorbed pain and decides to put his life on the line in exchange for Luffy's, the opposite order of what he did on Thriller Bark.

Then, all of a sudden, you start to notice that Kaido is framed in panels EXACTLY like Kuma or Pacifistas were in key situations.

I'm serious, it's everywhere.

That's why Zoro's Asura attack on Kaido is framed exactly like his Asura attack on the Pacifista on Sabaody. Because Oda seems to be drawing a parallel between Kaido and the Pacifista... I wonder what for...?

It's obviously not the only callback to Sabaody - I noticed a bunch of people caught on to the parallels when 1001 was released.

The battles have *always* been the toughest inverted elements to pin down - you never know where they're taking from until they happen. It's a mixer.

So, one of the things I mentioned in the script that might turn some heads is that Kanjuro is an inversion of Gin.

The reason I latched onto that so quickly was a couple panel comparisons while shifting through Baratie, and it kinda spread like wildfire from there.

This is what happens when I get off track ^^; Let's cycle back to the islands.

Both Amazon Lily and Wano are isolated nations from the outside world. As far as structure goes, it looks like Amazon Lily's snakes are physically inverted, with the major cities' placement as well.

Speaking of island inversions, check this out - Oda found a way to recall Skypiea's structure in two different ways.

Dressrosa: Large civilized area, smaller island filled with wildlife

Skypiea: Small civilized area, larger island filled with wildlife

Starting to slow down a bit here - been a long 48 hours ^^; Going to crash and try to post some more tomorrow.

Thanks for all the kind words! Really appreciate all of y'all, and I'll see you around soon!

Hokay, I want to head back to the Zoro tangent for a moment and talk about scars.

First, on Onigashima - Zoro leaves a scar on Kaido just like Mihawk left one on Zoro on Baratie. Same location, different outcomes.

Back on Fishman Island, if you remember, Zoro squares off with Hody and pretty much instantly dispatches him underwater, leaving a diagonal scar.

This is the opposite of his moment with Arlong, where the severity of Zoro's scar catches the fishman off guard entirely.

One of my favorite battle inversions came in WCI. It always felt interesting to me that Luffy told Cracker to "Fly to the end of the New World!"

Then, cycling back through TB, you realize Moria told Luffy the same thing, and the finishing moves themselves are inverted as well.

As long as we're talking Whole Cake Island to Thriller Bark inversions, how about Brook and Pedro?

Brook leaves behind Laboon, loses his crew and waits 50 years to move on.

Pedro is left behind by Roger, loses his friend and gives up 50 years of his life to survive.

Another great WCI inversions is that Sanji's second flashback and Franky's past are flipped.

Franky was enabled as a kid to build whatever he wanted. Tom told him be proud of what he made.

Sanji was born normal. Judge was ashamed and refused to let him do what he wanted: cook.

But again, the primary connection for Sanji throughout WCI remains Robin - both of them get a chance to confront the demons of their past in that arc, just in very different circumstances. It's one of my favorite visual callbacks.

Oh yeah, and fuck Spandam *and* Judge.

But okay, some of you might be asking where's Robin's flashback? I mean, it would initially make sense to look at Sanji's for clues, but in reality, her's is inverted by none other than...

Big Mom.

Mother Caramel frees giants.

Olvia is freed by a giant.

Robin was constantly bullied and harassed as a kid because of her power, even reprimanded by adults.

Big Mom constantly bullied and harassed those around her without realizing it, and Mother Caramel enabled her every step of the way.

The Buster Call burned Robin's home to the ground - an island which featured a massive tree - because Ohara had the power to awaken ancient weapons.

Big Mom had incredible physical power and nearly burned Elbaf to the ground - an island we know has a massive tree.

The greatest day of both of their young lives features a pretty chilling inversion:

Robin became an archaeologist on the same day as her caretaker's daughter's birthday.

On Big Mom's birthday, she eats her caretaker and all her friends and is left wondering where they are.

Of course, the guiding thread throughout both flashbacks is a lot more obvious in hindsight:

The placement of the flashbacks was also super interesting!

Imagine if the straw hats fought up to the judicial tower, had their defiant standoff, then tried to shoot the World Government flag, but the flag suddenly fought back.

Cause that's basically what happened on WCI.

Moving on for a moment: Aqua Laguna's inversion should be a little more obvious in hindsight.

I see a lot of people questioning the Kaido-Krieg comparison, so wanted to spend some time breaking that down.

When it's written that Kaido echoes Krieg on a visual level, it's mainly on an expression basis, their combat tactics and the rationale behind their armors.

Krieg was notorious for using foul play to win his battles, and he's ridiculously conceited, spouting off all of his own accomplishments.

Kaido definitely has pride and will do whatever it takes to win, but he also has honor. He had his own ally killed for helping him.

Luffy's battle with Krieg was all about destroying the Wootz Steel armor. The deciding factor in that battle was what Zeff called "grit".

Kaido's armor is his dragon scales. Rather than try and break it outright, everyone's attempting to circumvent it entirely using haki.

While we're on Baratie, let's talk about the chefs and samurai, which have one special connection - the attachment to their weapons or tools. It's the same concept for both, each are imbued with their souls. One is used for combat, the other was never intended for that purpose.

I noticed a lot of people kinda hoping Sanji and King would fight each other. Subconsciously, I wonder if they caught on to the visual cues Oda used for each of them:

I'm honestly not joking about that comparison - King is currently fighting Marco, and his seemingly invincible Phoenix recovery skills right now.

Sanji faced the "Invincible" Pearl on Baratie.

Both set the surrounding area on fire, one to damage, the other to heal.

Cycling back a bit, yes, Kaido and Big Mom's clash on Onigashima in Act 2 100% inverts Shanks and Whitebeard's meeting after Enies Lobby. Friendly discourse devolving into combat vs. combat evolving into an alliance.

But their first meeting panel continues the parallels their characters have with the two warlords Kuma and Moria on Thriller Bark. Kuma visited Moria on his turf as a potential ally and was initially rebuked, Big Mom came to Kaido's turf as an enemy and was eventually accepted.

While I'm on the topic of emperors, the attention to detail here is just too crazy.

Whitebeard's first appearance shows him sickly and being treated by young nurses.

Weevil's first appearance has an old woman telling him what to do.

Notice the leopard print here.

Montblanc Cricket is Don Chin Jao. No, not just because of their spiky heads.

Cricket dives looking for a treasure he can't see in a battle with an ancestor that ruined his life.

Chin Jao can't reach a treasure that he *can* see because someone else's ancestor ruined his life.

Another Kaido-Krieg connection that was mentioned in the script - crew strength. Zoro comments on how the Beast Pirates' skill runs deep, a very specific callback to Baratie where Luffy basically exposes that the Krieg pirates only have raw numbers, not any real strength.

Back to the Marineford comparisons. In my opinion, the Numbers are going to serve two purposes moving forward: the first is to invert the Pacifistas, which are a natural thematic inversion around the dichotomy between biological and mechanical living weapons. Both are "numbered".

But in addition to that, it's going to provide an avenue for Oda to riff off of either Oars Jr. or Oars himself. He's already done it once during the raid, with Yamato's attack on Hatcha, so be on the lookout for any additional Numbers moments moving forward.

Piece of advice for people who want to try and find these inversions on your own - LOOK FOR THE FLASHBACKS.

On Marineford, Roger reveals his full name to Whitebeard and talks about D.

On Onigashima, Law reveals his full name to Robin, but she doesn't have the answers he seeks.

When it was first hinted that we could be getting an Ace/Yamato flashback, I predicted 8 days in advance of chapter 999 that it would invert Ace's short flashback at the start of Marineford.

Look what we got:

This is not intended to pat myself on the back, and I hope it doesn't come across that way. It is merely trying to say that the flashbacks are a HUGE help in predicting what comes next. They're like puzzle pieces.

Luffy couldn't stop talking about Shanks, who welcomes Ace because of it.

Ace can't stop talking Luffy, and Yamato gets tired of it.

We've even set the stage for returning to the Whitebeard/Kaido parallels.

Whitebeard arrives to try and save his son.

Yamato arrives to try and defeat his father.

I mentioned Enies Lobby connections to Wano awhile back, and honestly, I think these might be my favorite of the bunch.

The rooster Smile user, Fourtricks, is even telling Hamlet to keep quiet. If only Usopp was so lucky.

One more before I take a bit of a break: the way Whitebeard's fight ends is eerily similar to how Kaido's fight begins, even incorporating inverted panel structure. But it harkens back to *another* scene on Marineford almost immediately as well...

This could mean one of two things - Oda combined both scenes together in order to kick off the Kaido fight, OR we have yet to get the proper inversion to Whitebeard's death, which could provide another avenue for how Kaido is defeated - I know a lot of people want combo attacks!

Obviously, the second comparison means more to the immediate aftermath - and it's another example that character inversions are not always 1-to-1.

Just because Jinbei does something in the first half of the series doesn't mean he's going to be in the New World's inversion.

Another super cool Kaido/Whitebeard one. Both coming after their first wounds in the arc.

This is another example of how critical it is to compare the *manga* - the anime's adaptation is phenomenal, don't get me wrong. But I doubt this kind of parallel will be as obvious.

There's an additional inverted layer underneath it - acceptance vs. abandonment.

Whitebeard embraces Squard after his ally's surprise betrayal.

Kaido taunts the scabbards by telling them to expect their allies to betray them.

This is a really nice character inversion between Momo and Ace:

Ace doesn't want his brother to die, and he hides behind fake anger. Luffy doesn't buy it. They're family.

Momo hides his fear behind new bravery. Luffy understands instantly. They're friends.

It might have been in the video, but I want to put the spreads side by side, cause it's so cool seeing them side by side complete with similar page structure.

Both groups expect to see ships but for entirely different reasons. Expected vs planned. And calm vs panic.

Back to Momo and Ace though - I love the opposing dynamics of these two scenes.

Ace bows, paying homage to WB, his father, and reassuring him that he was happy.

The prisoners of Udon bow, paying homage to Momo in place of his father, who gives them hope for the future.

For those wondering about Kiku's defeat by Kanjuro, look no further than Ace's defeat at the hands of Akainu.

Akainu is *verbally* mocking Whitebeard's legacy. Ace didn't hesitate, and he paid for it.

Kanjuro is *physically* mocking Oden's legacy. Kiku actually hesitated.

Almost immediately after both scenes, the emperors arrive.

Whitebeard wordlessly wrecks Akainu from behind with an overhead strike as he tries to chase after Luffy.

Kaido wordlessly demolishes Kinemon with an overhead strike as he tries to chase after Momo.

So, is Kiku's demise an inversion of Ace's? I think thematically, it certainly could fit...

But Ace's death panel actually comes in *Dressrosa* - it's inverted by Luffy saving Rebecca. Luffy isn't being protected. He's doing the protecting.

But again, why do it here? Well...

Think about what Dressrosa represents.

Thematically, it's Ace's rebirth via Sabo. This also fits perfectly with the Dressrosa-Alabasta inversions, which is where Ace was first fully shown.

In some ways, Dressrosa helps Luffy finally move past Ace's death. He won this time.

That's why there are a lot of Marineford callbacks throughout Dressrosa. It's obviously not the bedrock of the arc in the way that Alabasta is, but it certainly is prevalent throughout.

The best of the bunch, though...

I mean, come on.

On the note of Dressrosa-Marineford inversions, Kaido's introduction basically rips right from Whitebeard's post-mortem.

Whitebeard's long list of battle scars is Kaido's long list of vitality feats.

Pride in the face of mortality vs. Dissatisfaction with manner of death.

But this section is another example of why I mention there can sometimes be a difference between visual and thematic inversions, and that Oda is actually stacking inversions together in the New World.

More specifically, the St. Bliss falling from the sky.

Bear with me.

The St. Bliss was sentenced to death, exiled to the clouds. The crew perished before it eventually fell from the skies. They couldn't escape the trap without dying.

Kaido was searching for a place to die, and rather than waiting atop an island cloud, he jumps to commit suicide.

Thematically, the inversion deals in absolutes.

As the St. Bliss falls from the sky, the text box reads, "Anything man can imagine is a possibility in reality."

As Kaido rises from the crater, the text box states, "None of these people were able to kill him, including himself!"

And last but not least, remember that the straw hats felt debris falling from the sky before they actually saw the St. Bliss?

The spread of the St. Bliss falling... is actually inverted by Admiral Fujitora raising Dressrosa's debris and rubble *into* the sky!

Speaking of ships, @DarkRanger919 wanted to know if there was an inversion for Brooks' lost ship:

There definitely is! The direction of the Sunny is even inverted as well!

For those wondering about Katakuri's merienda? Ryuma takes a nice sip of tea before his fight with Brook~

He seems far less perturbed though...

Back to the DBF and its presence on Zou. The straw hats "lose" a crewmate in each arc. The inversion here is the response:

Zoro gives Chopper the attitude to survive after being taken.

While he's being taken, Sanji tries to calm the crew down by telling them he'll be okay.

This was a fun one to stumble across:

Enel predicts that only 5 of the 81 combatants in his survival game will be left standings.

And in the coliseum battle in Dressrosa... only five are left standings in the finals.

I'll just keep reiterating this:

Panel and page structure matters in finding these things.

Check out these two spreads side by side - each destroying the remaining battle ground of the survival games.

The added inversion here? Enel's logia blast comes from below and drags everyone down to Shandora hidden under the clouds.

Meanwhile, destroying the ring allows Sabo to claim Ace's fruit, and in order to send everyone underground, he launches his fire first from above.

I really love this comparison here, as both Vivi and Rebecca arrive at the base of the main palaces.

Vivi has her royal guard beside her. She had the resolution to act.

Rebecca is alone, awaiting help. She doesn't have the mental or physical strength to face this foe.

Let's also outline some of the battle parallels throughout. I think a lot of y'all have already taken note of these, but it's cool to outline nonetheless.

First, arm loss. Luffy's arm gets the moisture sucked out of it, while Law's gets his sliced off entirely.

Second, remember - Enel is partly inverted by Doflamingo. So, the first major hit against either villain is very similar.

Enel tries to rationalize why his attacks aren't working and gets demolished.

Doffy recognizes something's wrong, but can't act quick enough to avoid it.

But then, where is Enel's face inverted?

Luffy does it this time! When he finds out Sabo is still alive.

Both come as a result of seeing that someone who should be dead isn't actually dead.

Round two:
In Alabasta, Luffy arrives and saves Vivi in time, catching Crocodile off guard. He mysteriously managed to escape his desert trap.

In Dressrosa, Luffy escaped Doffy's trap - something Doffy knew couldn't contain him forever. Now, Luffy might be too late to save Law.

Alright, so let's bring out the big gun - the power ups:

Water Luffy is something Luffy came up with on the spot. Croc is actually getting tilted that he's getting wrecked by such a goof.

Gear 4 is something Luffy had in reserve. Doffy tries to laugh it off, but gets wrecked.

Round two *also* features the villains using their devil fruit abilities to change the terrain.

Croc's DF works naturally with the ground. Doffy's DF physically alters the ground itself.

And round two ends with a massive bazooka!

Croc is basically defenseless after being doused with water and caught totally off guard.

Doffy tries to defend at the last moment, and likely succeeds enough to at least survive the attack and force a round three.

Of course... the reason there's a round three in *both* fights...

In Alabasta, Luffy's power-up wasn't enough to end it outright, and Croc dries him up.

In Dressrosa, Luffy's power-up had the strength to finish the job, but he just ran out of time. He ends up all shriveled up.

Afterwards, the game heading into round three is very different:

In Alabasta, Luffy runs after Croc in a race against the clock.

In Dressrosa, Luffy is kept away from Doflamingo in a race against the clock.

Before Round 3 begins, the villain confronts one of their subordinates.

Crocodile recognizes Robin has betrayed him and wastes no time dispatching her. He didn't trust anyone to begin with.

Doflamingo trusts all of his family, but won't hesitate to kill Viola for her betrayal.

And just to be consistent, here's the ending spreads for both final moves from round three. An inversion of verticality. What goes up, must then come down.

Let's cycle back to the start of the rooftop fight and talk about the Gamma Knife.

The first part of this is kind of a guess ^^; shout me down if you think I'm wrong here!

My belief if that it echoes Croc impaling Luffy from their first fight. Doffy gets it instead.

BUT - the much more noticeable inversion again pulls from Enel.

Wyper's reject dial causes massive internal damage, but Enel shakes it off by using his DF to massage his heart.

Law uses countershock *after* the Gamma Knife, but Doffy shakes it all off by using his DF to "heal".

Back to Robin for a moment - her introduction came in Whiskey Peak after setting off a massive explosion. Croc stabs her through the chest for betrayal.

Well, on Punk Hazard, Monet meets her demise right *before* setting off a massive explosion. She's stabbed through the chest.

Now, the interesting note about Alabasta and Dressrosa - there *is* in fact an inversion for the ancient weapon.

Pluton's inversion is the Op-Op Fruit. A weapon capable of unspeakable horror and destruction vs. a power that can grant eternal life.

So, this raises the question - is there an inversion for Poseidon?

The answer is yes: Nami

Shirahoshi's power is to talk with Sea Kings. Someone will guide her to use her powers for good.

Nami's gift is drawing sea charts. Arlong uses them as a guide for fishman conquest.

Also, Oda again having fun with us.

While we're in Fishman Island, I LOVE this inversion so so much.

Enel: "This time I'll skewer you." Gets walloped by the golden ball, too fast to dodge.

Hody: "This time I'll chew your arm right off-" Gets walloped by Luffy, who's inside the bubble, with a super fast punch.

One of my favorite devil fruit inversions has to be Bon Clay and Sugar.

Bon Clay's body-changing power is based around memorization. The crew is fortunate to learn about him before arriving.

Sugar's toy-changing power involves erasing memory. Doffy keeps her presence a secret.

One of the other Enies Lobby callbacks on Wano came in Chapter 995.

On EL, Usopp is held by Jabura, one hit away from death. Nami screams desperately trying to save him.

On Wano, Nami's held by Ulti, one hit away from death. Usopp quietly thinks Nami should comply to survive.

Aight, I'm gonna take a moment to talk about the Duval and Imu section, since I know a lot of peeps question that outright.

And like, deservedly so... at first! ^^; Bear with me here - I'll present my case and y'all can yell at me later.

The one major connection in their introduction is bounty posters/pictures.

Duval is obsessed with Sanji's bounty poster because of a case of mistaken identity.

Imu's obsessed with them because they know about Luffy, Blackbeard, Shirahoshi and Vivi's underlying identities.

Duval has to hide his face for fear of being targeted by the Marines. They literally forced him into isolation.

From what we know, Imu keeps himself in isolation. He doesn't want anybody to know of his existence.

There's also their main objectives:

Duval explicitly asks for Sanji and the straw hats to be captured alive.

The implication in Imu's conversation with the Elders is that someone was about to be erased or killed outright.

And both are introduced as the head honchoes on a throne (of sorts) with a secret identity.

Trust me, I get it ^^; I'm not saying *Duval is Imu* - just that there are thematic parallels between their introductions.

Maybe I'm misreading it! It's just fun to speculate regardless.

Let's talk about peeps joining the crew.

First, Robin. Indebted to Luffy for saving her, she sneaks onto the Merry after Alabasta and forces her way on the crew.

Post-Dressrosa, the Grand Fleet is formed with the SH on board the Yonta Maria. All 7 crews are indebted to Luffy.

Luffy's reaction is *hilariously* the exact opposite.

He's the only one who accepts Robin outright, while everyone else freaks out. It's too late, she's a member.

With the Fleet, he's 100% against the idea, and just wanted to be friends. The fleet don't care and join anyway.

So... what about Franky?

If you remember, the Franky Family had to force Franky to leave. They created a relay race with his speedo to lead him to Luffy on board the Sunny.

On WCI, Sanji's family literally creates a relay race to the Sunny so Sanji and Luffy could escape.

Of course, on Water 7, the SH almost leave a crew member behind -- Usopp.

His arc mirrors Jimbei's.

Usopp quit the SH, but rejoins when he finally shows his emotions and apologizes.

Jimbei officially quits BM's crew by keeping his emotions in check in front of her DF power.

But at the end of WCI, Jimbei is presented with a similar conundrum to Franky:

Stay and protect their family, despite an opportunity to join the Straw Hats? Or leave in pursuit of your dreams?

Franky gets his family's blessing to leave. Jimbei chooses to stay... for the moment.

Now, one of the coolest inversions of the series:

The Sunny and the Wedding Cake.

Franky creates his ship of dreams for the straw hats to sail the world.

Sanji creates the ultimate food to satiate Big Mom and allow the crew to escape.

Neither created these masterpieces alone.

For those wondering where Big Mom's massive sun is in the first half of the Grand Line -

Its slow, dreadful crawl towards the Sunny, the Nostra Castello and the cake echoes the sudden, dramatic appearance of...

Garp's gigantic cannonball, as the crew tries to leave Water 7.

There's a cool parallel between the damage done to the Baratie and Onigashima - both attacks here create holes in roughly the same spot.

One by accident (thanks to rubber), the other intentionally (with lightning).

Queen's hybrid form is revealed to be somewhat similar in shape, size and general composition to Jabura - again, be on the lookout for similar movesets and inversions from the Enies Lobby arc in Sanji's upcoming fight.

Of course, it will pull from other major fights as well.

Here's an example of what I mean by inverted attacks:

Thunder Lance Tempo - against Ulti and Kalifa. Nami's positioning is on either side of her opponent from arc to arc, and the direction of the bolt of lightning is flipped as well.

ICYMI: Thread for this week's chapter!

I'll start doing individual threads for each successive chapter as they're released moving forward, and link them back here on the thread itself.

https://twitter.com/DesuRachel/status/1416874111004028930?s=20

Let's jump start this thread again with some more Marineford parallels:

Doflamingo's infamous Marineford speech is inverted by Kaido's declaration that the winner of the Wano war will be that much closer to One Piece. Also another cool example of inverted page structure.

Cool parallel in chapter 1000: Luffy holding Kinemon like Sanji holding Gin on the Baratie - both Kin and Gin suffering after attacks from Kaido and Krieg respectively.

I also really like this inversion:

Krieg used his spiked cape for protection, but Luffy surprises him by punching straight through it, showcasing determination.

Kaido believes Luffy's Red Roc won't hurt, but the attack's damage surprises him. It showcased haki.

This also feels pretty explicit to me:

Kizaru: "Guts alone aren't enough, Straw Hat Luffy."

----

Kaido: "My flame doesn't work either?! Why not?!!"
Luffy: "GUTS!!!"

Lemme cycle back to one of my favorites - snail phone calls with Croc and Doffy.

Both of them talk to North Blue natives -- Sanji and Law -- and both have 2 of their subordinates defeated.

The focus of the convo is also inverted: Sanji misleads Croc, while Law corners Doffy.

And while we're combing through Punk Hazard...

Smoker had Luffy defeated before Dragon stepped in.
Doffy had Smoker defeated before Aokiji stepped in.

Dragon's presence allowed Luffy to escape. Aokiji's presence let Smoker survive.

More Skypiea parallels in Dressrosa:

Gan Fall arrives to take on Shura in mid-air combat above the Merry when he's called by Chopper's whistle.

Sanji arrives to take on Doffy in mid-air combat above the Sunny thanks to some additional information from Viola.

Both Gan Fall and Sanji lose the fight because of string powers that limit their movement - Shura's String Challenge and Doffy's String-String Fruit.

But while Gan Fall gets impaled by Shura's flaming spear, Sanji gets spared from Doffy's "Over Heat" attack.

The two doctors are the ones responsible for saving both - Chopper saves Gan Fall, Law saves Sanji.

Enel's lightning blasts from early Skypiea also have an inverse in Dressrosa - it's Fujitora's meteor strike!

Both leave a massive hole in the ground, but the cool thing is:

Luffy, Sanji and Usopp all dodge Enel's blast.
Law, Doffy and Fujitora all counter the meteor directly.

And this is just super cute -

The Shandians idolize Calgara, and they notoriously have a hard time trusting anybody.

The Tontattas idolize Noland, and they are the most gullible people on the face of the planet.

Both have statues of each on the island.

I've been looking for the inversion of Sanji's Rotisserie Strike - there's nothing really similar that comes from Enies Lobby or Marineford.

So I take a stroll back through Baratie again and find this classic attack!

Don't worry though, Sanji's first hit on Jabura still has an inversion in Wano - it comes right before Queen unveils his hybrid form! Flipped the pose and everything!

Let's talk about the CP9 reveal in Water 7. We're getting most of the CP9 fights right now, and large chunks of W7 were in Whole Cake, but is there a moment that compares to unveiling the identities of 4 undercover WG agents?

Well... yeah. Revealing the 4 Revolutionary Captains.

We'll compare both groups person by person.

First, Karasu and Lucci.

Karasu can turn himself into a murder of crows, and he has trouble remembering to turn on his voice amplifier that's shaped like a beak.

Lucci hid his voice through ventriloquism - using his pet bird Hattori.

Next up, the women: Belo Betty and Kalifa.

Betty's power is literally empowering people through her speeches, increasing their strength and resolve.

Kalifa's bubble power saps the strength from her opponents entirely when the bubbles themselves make contact.

From here, the connections are less obvious, but they remain *similar*:

Morley and Blueno each have powers that allow them to move through the world undetected.

Morley is flamboyant and Blueno is... not.

I know I'm missing another chunk of the inversion - open to suggestions!

And probably the *least* similar one - Lindbergh and Kaku.

I am not sold on this at all, but I did want to point out that Lindbergh's introduction had him flying around shooting out cool air...

...and Kaku was introducing jumping around W7 with the nickname "Mountain Wind."

How about Brook's intro? He first sets foot on the Sunny after accepting Luffy's invitation to join the crew.

The inverse is Reiju, setting foot on the Sunny and apologizing for a rude greeting from Yonji as the SH want their crewmate Sanji back.

Eerily similar dialogue here!

The context of their departures is inverted as well - Brook leaves on friendly terms, while Reiju and Yonji both state it's better that they not speak of their meeting.

But the Reiju and Yonji confrontation also takes a *slight* bit from the straw hats' meeting with Aokiji.

Aokiji is friendly at first, then turns into an enemy.
Yonji is rude, before Reiju comes in and changes the tenor of the discussion.

Both set up the coming arcs, but...

Aokiji freezes Luffy entirely, while Reiju saves him from his poisonous maladie.

The other aspect - Aokiji and Reiju each have previous experiences with Robin and Sanji respectively, and they have opposing opinions of each.

Aokiji believes Robin's manipulative streak is indicative of her true personality.

Reiju believes in Sanji's underlying kindness.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! Been on the road for work a lot over the last few days - will get back to a regular schedule soon!

Thanks so much for your patience!

Aight. Let's talk about Sanji in Wano. People love this topic already ^^;

Sanji was essentially thrust into Nami's situation against Kumadori on Enies Lobby - ambushed and restrained.

Nami and Sanji are each facing opposite directions here.

Each captive is then asked to relay a message:

Kumadori asks Nami to tell his mother that he's alright, while Nami is being choked (and eventually speared) to death.

Black Maria wants Sanji to tell Onigashima that he's captured in the hopes of bringing Nico Robin there.

Nami doesn't get the chance to cry for help - Sanji does.

Part of this is an inversion of the crew asking Robin to *finally* ask for help herself.

The primary aspect of the inversion is that Sanji does what he couldn't against Kalifa - his last female opponent. He bows out.

So, with both Nami and Sanji on the verge of being killed or more severely wounded...

The cavalry arrives with a massive hit to the face.

Chopper nails Kumadori. Robin slaps Black Maria.

Of course, there are some *significant* similarities to when Brook first appeared on TB and saved Robin herself.

This is another example of Oda stacking inversions from multiple arcs. Can't stress it enough.

Brook breaks Black Maria's webs with ice. Tararan's webs melt in fire.

Back to the Kalifa comparison for a moment:

Nami reluctantly compliments Sanji's chivalry.

Robin outright thanks him for relying on her.

Panels are even flipped!

The end of the chapter reveals that Black Maria has a massive staff that has flames coming out of it. Which...

...might remind you of Kumadori's staff that *also* had flames coming out of it.

As long as we're talking about thematic inversions, this one seems pretty obvious:

Usopp to Luffy in Enies Lobby: "It's not like this is hell!!"

Kid on Wano: "It just looks like we're in hell!"

Luffy embraces both notions defiantly - deadly serious in EL, smiling on Wano.

ICYMI: Here's the inversion thread for the most recent chapter! Swing on over there for a more in-depth analysis - a couple stretches towards the tail end, but we'll have a better idea of how ironclad those notions are towards the end of the arc.

https://twitter.com/DesuRachel/status/1421889697144610820?s=20

So, while going back and reading the Tararan fight, I realized there was another inversion I had completely overlooked:

The Brook-shaped crater on Thriller Bark is the Kaido-shaped crater post Dressrosa! One had already died, the other couldn't figure out how.

Take THAT Kaido!

Want to quickly touch on island structure again - both Wano and Amazon Lily have "secret" ports, restricting access to the island.

Both welcomes are also very different - Boa is welcomed back in open arms with loving adoration, while Apoo and Numbers' return frightens residents and catches Kaido's crew a little by surprise.

But with that in mind, I feel like it goes without saying that Boa and Komurasaki have a lot of inversions and parallels between the two, starting with their processions.

Let's touch on some Amazon Lily moments, where they occur and why:

First, coliseums. Dressrosa's very clearly provides an avenue for a similar survival game to Skypiea, and the two events definitely line up, but it also pulls several visual cues from Amazon Lily's coliseum.

Luffy also encounters the "executioner" or "grim reaper" of each coliseum and has very different reactions to both.

He demolishes Bacura with a single punch in Amazon Lily and befriends Ucy in Dressrosa, before the pair are attacked by Hajrudin.

Part of each coliseum battle features a moment involving Observation Haki.

On Amazon Lily, Luffy can't hit Sandersonia before Marigold comes in with a big hit.

On Dressrosa, Jean Ango can't hit Luffy, but pisses off Don Chinjao who comes in for a massive hit.

But thematically, the early events of Amazon Lily's coliseum take place in Wano Act 2: Boa mercilessly petrifies her own subordinates for their honesty.

After Yasu is executed, the citizens of Ebisu town can't help but laugh at his death - their faces are frozen with laughter.

Want to keep the main thread going strong! ICYMI, here's the thread started yesterday for Chapter 1021 - feel free to power through if you haven't already!

https://twitter.com/DesuRachel/status/1424801017007382540?s=20

I've had work for 23 straight days and I finally have a chance to breathe ^^; Thanks for all of y'all's patience!

Let's kickstart this old thread for a moment! Gonna be right back with some inversions from Amazon Lily and current Wano.

https://twitter.com/DesuRachel/status/1429474536018354180?s=20

So, I wanted to backtrack a bit on the laughing at Yasu's death - the scene is relatively evocative of the Amazon Lily bit, of course - especially from a thematic standpoint - but Luffy berating the coliseum actually has a much stronger connection to Cavendish at Dressrosa.

While Luffy is immediately rebuked by those on Amazon Lily, Cavendish instantly earns the respect and admiration of the crowd.

And of course, while Luffy doesn't give two shits about the reaction, Cavendish is beside himself from the spike in popularity.

And as a follow up, when Luffy inevitably ends his duel with the Gorgon sisters because their brands could be seen on their backs, Cavendish makes it clear to Rebecca that they are absolutely still enemies.

Sensitivity to the moment vs. Practicality and self-preservation.

Wano is kinda ridiculous as to how many different layers of inversions there are in the structure of the island itself. Obviously I outlined that earlier in the thread, but Amazon Lily is definitely an influence.

Also, friendly reminder that the Wano arc is now 10% of canon.

Here's an example of what I mean, and why I think there have been so many Enies Lobby references:

Wano and Enies Lobby each feature massive waterfalls, sure.

But Wano is like the peg that sticks out of the ocean - the chunk that's missing from EL on the other side of the world.

Again, I'm not saying that whatever created the hole at Enies Lobby is directly responsible for pushing Wano upwards out of the ocean (but that would be a super cool prediction!)

Moreso that Oda designed islands intentionally to be reminiscent of those from the past.

Now, let's talk about Onigashima for a moment.

It has bothered me to no end that for all of the references to Baratie and Marineford, there doesn't seem to be a Shanks or Mihawk-like figure showing up to change the flow of the arc. I'm not sure Marco qualifies to that degree.

Let's examine the set-up to Onigashima and Marineford:

M: While the Marines get ready to wage war against Whitebeard with the warlords at their beck and call, Shanks clashes with Kaido.

O: While the Marines prepare to wage war against the warlords, Kaido clashes with Luffy.

In other words...

Shanks' inversion in Wano is Luffy. There's a reason Luffy's wearing Shanks' jacket.

Shanks arrives at Marineford to end the war and enforces peace.

Luffy arrives at Onigashima as the pirates are planning a massive alliance and declares war on all comers.

Which is why Luffy puts his hat on in chapter 1000 in the same pose as Shanks taking it off in chapter 1.

Meanwhile, Zoro functions as the Mihawk stand-in. In many ways, that's been his role for several arcs now.

Both Luffy and Zoro have evolved into the people they most want to emulate and overcome.

https://twitter.com/DesuRachel/status/1413565791065288710?s=20

The other reason this is cool:

What's happening on Wano isn't public. I talked about that inversion to Marineford ad nauseum in the script, but people wanted to see Kaido and Shanks skirmishing.

We're seeing the equivalent of that *right now*, but with much larger consequences.

Finally found it! Was off by a chapter on all my previous rereads, but the panelling fits perfectly!

Sanji vs. Kalifa: "This no time to be drinking tea! Robin needs my help!"

Sanji vs. Black Maria: "Help me, Robin!"

Also found this panel inversion as well - kinda fascinating in retrospect that he went so far as to keep the lower angle, flip the side Sanji was on and change the proportions of the scene to where Sanji is the smaller figure.

And of course while Robin gets closer and closer to Hell...

Sanji believes he's in heaven.

Keeping the main thread alive for the moment - got a couple tangents to touch on before work this evening! Here's the inversion thread for Chapter 1023 - I might revisit that later on if I get a chance!

https://twitter.com/DesuRachel/status/1432055826278146048?s=20

Let's discuss the inversions around the Raid Suit, beginning with his fight vs. Page One. The obvious comparison is the Absalom fight.

Sanji faces an invisible man with unnatural toughness in TB.

On Wano, Sanji *is* an invisible man facing someone with unnatural toughness.

Absalom's assault on Nami in Thriller Bark actually has two separate inversions, and both are connected to Sanji in different ways.

We'll start on WCI. Rather than physically entering through the window like Absalom, Sanji peeps and listens in.

Both of the conversations in these scenes also confront the underlying realities of the arcs themselves.

On TB, Nami figures out that the mansion is actually crawling with zombies.

On WCI, Pudding reveals the entire wedding plot to Reiju.

But back to Sanji for a moment:

He might not have peeked like Absalom did on WCI, but he certainly *did* peek in an inversion of the famous Happiness Punch from Alabasta.

So, in his brief skirmish with Page One, Sanji *is* an invisible man who *will* peek.

That's the exact opposite of the fight with Absalom, a battle *against* an invisible man who *had* peeked.

Alright, let's get to the real reason I started talking about Sanji's Raid Suit.

Sanji and his Soba Mask persona function as a perfect inversion to Usopp and Sogeking.

Usopp created the Sogeking persona specifically because he had left the crew -- *his family* -- but he still wanted to save Robin.

Sanji first puts on the raid suit and becomes Soba Mask to save a woman in danger. He does so by using his family's weapon -- a family he hates.

Each reveal deals with identity.

Usopp has his new name ready with a brand new origin story. It didn't matter cause everyone already knew his "real" identity.

Sanji donned the suit, which has its own history, to avoid revealing his identity. He came up with a name on the fly.

Context is important, too.

Immediately after Sogeking is shown, Sanji talks about the plan to save Robin, basically saying it's best to avoid conflict and attack the enemy's main forces.

Well... Sanji fighting Page One is atoning for starting a "needless" conflict on Wano.

And I mean come on.

Even Sanji's new Germa-styled hair flows in the opposite direction of Sogeking's mask.

Want to credit @JazzMazza on a great pull this evening - been looking for Luffy's stance vs. Katakuri for the longest time, and we finally have a winner!

Part of the Katakuri fight pulls from Luffy vs. Crocodile. The key thread here is the notion of a fair fight.

Just look at these two pages specifically to see what I mean - top to bottom inversions of each other.

Crocodile explains to Luffy that there is no playing fair in a fight between pirates. Katakuri wanted a fair fight, but Luffy tells him about that rule this time instead.

Let's keep pulling on the Crocodile thread for a brief moment, and whadaya know...

Stitched-up scars on both faces.

So, Katakuri has a hybrid design of Lucci's eyebrows, Croc's scar, and Ryuma's scarf, and elements of all three fights are present in Luffy vs. Katakuri.

How about we also talk about Katakuri's awakened powers? Suddenly, the Croc comparison has a lot more traction.

What's funny is, Katakuri's move here results in Luffy getting fat from eating mochi dropped on top of him. Crocodile's move ends up turning fat Luffy back to normal.

I mean, Croc's basically the reason why Luffy was initially thrown off in his battle with Katakuri.