One Piece Chapter 1110 finally introduced
us to the devil forms of all five Gorosei after over 20 years since their first introduction,
however they are all based from different demonic creatures from different cultures
and mythologies, including the Japanese yokai Itsumade, the Chinese Fengxi boar, the European
Pale Horse of Death, and the Mongolian Sandworm. But stick with me until the end because beyond
that there is also a massive implication about the true nature of the Gorosei revealed in
this chapter, so let's break down the mythos, history, and powers behind all of these mythical
demons. This chapter focuses on the summoning of the
Five Elder Planets, something that is reflected in the chapter's title. Chapter 1110 is called "Kousei" in Japanese,
which is a term that refers to "falling star", as in a comet, though more largely it can
also be taken as the concept of the very sky itself falling down upon us. This is a pun, because Five Elder Planets,
or "Gorousei", uses the term "sei", which refers to a celestial body. This word can be used for planet, but also
for star, which is the reason why the Five Elder Planets are commonly mistranslated as
the "Five Elder Stars". Thus "falling star" here in Japanese would
be "falling planet" since it's all the same word anyway. Even in English, a falling star isn't really
an actual star, it's just a meteorite, so even in English you can see the intent behind
the title. Essentially, the title refers to the Five
Elder Planets dropping like comets to our world, landing with the impact that a meteorite
would have. On this week's cover story, we are revealed
that the subject of this new cover story will indeed be none other than Yamato! The Cover Serial is called "Child of Oni Yamato's
Shrine Pilgrimage", specifically referring to a pilgrimage among Japanese temples of
a region to pay respects to the dead, so we may see Yamato visiting different temples
across Wano and paying respects to Oden and the other fallen warriors, which is also an
exciting prospect as it may build for the possibility for Yamato eventually having to
leave Wano to one day rejoin with the Straw Hats, whether that's within this cover story
or simply being set up for the final conflict in the future. At last, the Five Elder Planets fall upon
us like comets, as several dark silhouettes arise from among the Satanic circles. Saturn's circle had the number 5 whereas Mars's
circle instead has the number 4. If you look further, you can also see that
Warcury's circle has the number 3, whereas Nasujuro's circle has the number 2. By logic then, Juu Peter can only be Number
1. This order is actually fitting because it's
the exact order in which they first appeared during their first appearance in Jaya, as
well as the same order that Oda introduced them when he first revealed his names, and
also the same order in which he introduced their powers in this chapter. But when you think about it, the fact they
are numbered makes a lot of sense. Last week I presented the idea that the Gorosei
are all satellites of Imu, just like how Vegapunk cloned himself into 6 satellites. And we know the satellites are all numbered
as Punk01, Punk02, Punk03, Punk04, Punk05, and Punk06. So the fact that they have a specific numbered
order would suggest that it may very well be the case that they are Satellites of Imu
just like Vegapunk's. It's also worth mentioning the writings on
the demonic circles, which resemble those of a poneglyph, but appear to be a slightly
different writing, which is interesting to think of another alphabet that exists in this
world, so demonic and so ancient that it's been forgotten to time. These creepy figures all appear to bear a
lack of form and similar ringed eyes, which share a deep similarity with Imu's eye at
this point, once again suggesting the possibility that they may all be extensions of Imu like
we discussed last week. Imu usually has two eye rings, but we've seen
these shift in number before so even one eye ring here still resembles it. In a stunning double spread page we finally
get all of their designs in detail. This is the first full double page spread
since Chapter 800, almost an entire decade ago, which have become a lot more uncommon
in the post-timeskip, a fitting return for such an iconic moment. All of them appear in their fully transformed
forms and with awakening clouds on their back, so let's break each of them down one by one. All of the Five Elder are based on demons
and demonic creatures from different mythologies; there is a misconception that all of them
are exclusively based on Japanese yokai demons, but as we'll soon see that only extends to
about a couple of them, with several of the others being based on devilish creatures from
different global mythologies, though they all share the common trait of being based
on demonic beings. For starters, just as a refresher, as we had
discussed before St. Jaygarcia Saturn is indeed based on the Gyuuki, a yokai of Japanese myth
that is a spider with the horns and build of a cow and the face of a demon. The Gyuuki, which literally translates to
"cow demon", is generally known for two types of powers: for one, it is able to produce
deadly poisons, which are deadly to humans; this is something we see in action with the
poison found at the end of its legs just recently, which melted anything in its path. The other is the power to hurt one's soul
with simply a gaze, which in One Piece has been translated with the power of being able
to hurt others with his gaze. The regeneration isn't a trait of the Gyuuki,
so it likely is a trait shared among all the Gorosei separately. St. Marcus Mars is the other Gorosei whose
power is based on a Japanese yokai. He transforms into an Itsumade, a yokai which
possesses the traits of a bird but the torso and thus tail of a snake, as we can see here
as drawn by Oda. The itsumade is further described as having
sharp talons that can easily tear through flesh, and a grotesque face with a beak of
saw-like teeth that can resemble that of a human. Since Mars here appears very bird-like when
fully transformed, it's possible the more human face of the legend may be more visible
once he transforms into his hybrid form. The myth says that this creature would appear
during epidemics and other times of suffering, haunting the skies of human cities by screaming
"Itsumade? Itsumade?" which means "until when?", as in until when
will the suffering continue, having been born as a form incarnate of the suffering of the
dead. It was ultimately slain by a local hero, Mayumi
Hirorari, who shot it down with the expertise of his bow. In this case Mars, transformed into his full
beast Itsumade, flies up to the skies to the Labophase and charges against its frontier
dome. Since the Gorosei can endlessly regenerate,
then perhaps he'll force himself through the laser barrier even if it destroys his body,
since after all he only needs to regenerate after, allowing him to attack the Labophase
and potentially Vegapunk's laboratory from where the transmission is coming, making him
a grave threat. And let's not forget that Kaku, York, and
the Seraphim are all still in the laboratory as well, so if the latter are given orders
that could present a lot of havoc as well. Usopp was able to stop the Sunny from falling
off, but they need to get out of there right now. Realizing the imminent threat, Sanji urges
Jinbe to get Zoro out of there, and in doing so mentions the magic words, that "Lucci is
holding Zoro up". These are word by word the same words that
Nami used a few chapters ago and that sent the community in a frenzy by panicking about
Zoro being "held up" by Lucci, and so Sanji echoing those words here can be seen as a
bit of a fourth wall break, as Zoro twitches at the slander and decides to end the fight
in one attack. Lucci tries to use a move called Shugan Madara,
which is a combination of his Shigan Madara technique (Finger Gun: Leopard Spots), using
shigan to pierce with a finger several times like in a Gomu Gomu no Gatling, with his advanced
move Shugan (Hand Gun), which is a shigan that applies to his whole hand using all five
fingers at the same time. Zoro however strikes back with a move called
Santoryu, or Three Sword Style, Kokoba Madaragari. This is a continuation of his "Gari", or "Hunt",
series of attacks. His first move was Tora Gari, or Tiger Hunt,
which was then powered up to Ul-Tora Gari, or Ultra Tiger Hunt. Then he had Karasuma Gari, or Demonic Crow
Hunt. And finally here we have Kokoba Madaragari. Kokoba refers to one of the Buddhist Hells,
associated with the animal of the tiger, thus continuing the theming from Tiger Hunt and
Zoro's larger theming behind his attacks and Buddhism afterlife. "Madara" instead refers to the spots of a
leopard, meaning that Zoro is poking fun at Lucci's "madara" move, referring to leopard
spots, by hunting down a leopard himself. Thus the attack could be translated as "Tiger
Hell, Spotted Leopard Hunt". Moving back to the Gorosei, St. Topman Warcury
is instead based on the Feng Xi, a demonic boar of Chinese mythology. In Japanese it is called the "houki", though
this is simply the Japanese reading of this creature of Chinese myth. The Feng Xi, translating to "Swine Seal",
is described as a colossal demonic boar or swine-like creature of massive proportions. It bears four large tusks (sometimes even
more depending on the myth), and its very body is clad in fire, able to set things ablaze
and burn entire villages. In the case of Warcury, we can see how Oda
played with his large mustache by turning it into large tusks, of which there seem to
be four in total just like in the myth. Even his birthmarks on his head seem to have
been adapted into the pattern of his boar-like skin. Next. St. Ethanbaron V. Nasujurou can transform
into the Death Horse. In Japanese it is called by the translated
name of "Bakotsu", which literally means "Skeleton Horse" and widely refers to the skeletal horses
from different mythologies. There is technically a fairly obscure yokai
that is called "skeleton horse" or "bakotsu", but in this case Oda seems to have been more
inspired more largely by the depiction of the skeleton horse in several mythologies. Also known as the Death Horse, the Pale Horse,
Reaper Horse, or quite simply "Skeleton Horse", Oda seems to have based it off mostly off
of the pale horse of death, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse in European myth,
often depicted as a skeletal horse with its head covered in drapes, the harbinger of death
itself. However, we also see Nasujurou transforming
into his hybrid form, where he turns into a centaur, allowing the top half of his body
to look human and wield a sword. He uses his horse legs to quickly dash across
the battlefield and slash every Pacifista, decomissioning them in one shot and freezing
half of the entire army in mere seconds. Interestingly, the Pacifista appear to freeze
and fall down but while the blade went through their body, they don't seem to have been sliced
clean, instead having been sliced while still retaining their bodies. There also appears to be a cloud of cold drawn
around the slash, something reinforced by later Marines saying the Pacifista were frozen. This allows the Gorosei to decommission the
Pacifista without breaking them so they can still use them at a later date. This would make sense, as much like how Brook's
fruit allows him to draw forth the chill of the Underworld, it makes sense that the pale
horse of death would be able to draw from the underworld as well and freeze its opponents. An interesting detail as well is that we can
also see Nasujurou's blade clad in haki, as it becomes a black bade momentarily, even
if when draw in the past it looked like a normal blade. Speaking of which, in case you didn't know,
Nasujurou's blade bears the iconic hilt of the Kitetsu line of swords, the same line
to which Zoro's Sandai Kitetsu belongs, being the third iteration in the line. Thus many fans have speculated that this sword
could be the Shodai Kitetsu, said to be the original of the cursed sword line and one
of the Saijo O Wazamono, the twelve strongest blades in the world, standing on the same
level as Mihawk's Yoru, Whitebeard's Murakumogiri, and Roger's Ace. So it would make a lot of sense that one of
the Gorosei, being such a mighty warrior, would bear this historical blade, one of the
greatest ever forged. And finally, the last of the Gorosei, St.
Shepherd Juu Peter, can transform into the Sandworm. The Sandworm is a creature that has similarly
existed in different mythologies, though its more prevalent depiction is the Death Worm,
a demonic creature of Mongolian mythology said to have prowled the sands of the Gobi
Desert since times of old. The Sandworm however has been more widely
adopted in modern mythology through its interpretation in the classic fiction novel of Dune by Frank
Herbert, who cited dragons and myths of other demonic worms and wyrms having inspired what
is the modern interpretation of the sandworm. Sandworms, even beyond the alien setting of
Dune, are depicted as worms of colossal proportions. Its depiction here in One Piece seems to be
quite similar to that of the original depiction of the Sandworm of Dune, who unlike its future
movie counterparts, had a mouth enclosed by four lids, which open to show a large mouth
beneath. In the original Mongolian myth, sandworms
are incredibly poisonous, able to cause death upon the mere touch, which could potentially
apply here. And in its modern depictions, they have the
ability to burrow underground like real worms, but due to their colossal size, they are able
to dig gigantic tunnels and move about at terrifying speeds, meaning that they can strike
at any time from anywhere. The fact he burrows into the ground as a worm
is quite fitting for the Gorosei that is the Wargod of Agriculture, quite literally tending
to the soil. In this case we see it in action by burrowing
into the ground and suddenly appearing to swallow Luffy. However, Dorry and Brogy slice clean through
Juu Peter, though this won't amount to much since he can likely regenerate like the other
Gorosei. The move they use is called "Taiyou Noko"
which translates to Sun Saw, or Solar Saw, essentially cutting in the shape of a sun. However this is unsurprisingly a pun, as "Taiyou
no Ko" can also be read as "Child of the Sun", referring to Luffy himself, the Sun God. This entire scene is a callback to the first
encounter between Luffy and Dorry, where Luffy was swallowed by a Brontosaurus, but Dorry
cut his neck off, allowing Luffy to pop out. When comparing the silhouettes of the Gorosei
in chapter 1085 with the present, we can clearly see how they match. We can spot Saturn's horns, as well as the
outline of his spider legs, Mars's wings, and Warcury's boar tusks. Nasujurou appeared to be humanoid, but this
is because he was likely in his hybrid form, with only the top half of his centaur body
being visible. Similarly, Juu Peter was mistaken by a lot
of people to be the figure above, who is actually in reality Imu, due to not being particularly
visible in this shot, but this is because, as a worm, he was underground, so it makes
sense why he wasn't as visible. And in the next shot, Juu Peter appeared with
an open mouth, which makes sense being a sandworm, though this could even potentially be his
hybrid form or something. Yet for how cool all of these forms may seem,
there is one key aspect about them that may pose yet another reveal of series-changing
proportions. And that is the name of their devil fruits,
because, as an example, the name of Saturn's fruit is the… "Gyuuki". That's it. There is no Kumo Kumo no Mi Model, or Spider
Spider Fruit, he's just a "Gyuuki", quite literally just… a devil. Now you could argue that maybe Oda felt lazy
and he just wanted to give the names of the creatures they are based on rather than their
devil fruit names, but I still find that to be too unlikely. Why would Oda not bother giving the full name
of the fruit when he already had the text boxes in place, there is literally no reason
to omit the "Kumo Kumo no Mi, Mythical Model" part from the text boxes, instead of just
putting their names. Which would indicate that their powers do
not have "fruit" as a part of them, meaning that they most likely not devil fruit users,
but in fact real devils. This is something that has been speculated
for a long while in the fandom, but now may very well be turning out to be reality. A counterpoint to this argument is the fact
that in spite of this, the Gorosei still appear to follow the traditional laws of Zoan users:
they have a cloud scarf around their necks, which is a symbol of a transformed awakened
Zoan. They appear to have their human forms but
also their hybrid forms and full-beast forms, which we've already seen for both Nasujurou
and Saturn. But think about it this way: what if the Gorosei
have these forms not because they are devil fruit users, but what if devil fruit users
were modeled after these forms. Their powers aren't normal to begin with,
they can literally summon each other, have inifinite regeneration, and beyond their Zoan
forms they have these dark blob forms that resemble those that Imu transformed into. After all, with Imu being widely speculated
to be the origin of devil fruits, it would make sense he would confer the Gorosei special
powers. And that the
devil fruits are way to replicate this devil powers, but instead
in the forms of fruits which grant these powers but in a more restricted form. Seeing this demonic sight in full detail,
it's evident: these are devils, extensions of Imu and demonic beings that stand at the
top of the world and manipulate it to the creator's will. The more we learn about the Gorosei, the more
we learn about Imu and the larger mysteries of the story. It's just as Sabo himself said: Who knew that
hell was located at the top of the world?
