This isn't even the full list.

Both have long pink hair.

Both have huge animal companions.

They're both case studies of "Don't judge a book by its cover." Shirahoshi is meek with a strong will, while Loki is brutish with a kind heart. These discrepancies are both pointed out by Luffy and Mosa-kō/Shaggy, respectively.

Both are young royalty to ancient, non-human kingdoms with incredibly important ties to the overarching plot of the series. They're also the youngest of their siblings.

Both are extremely large, even for their respective species.

Both have a deep connection to large, dangerous, and usually uncontrollable creatures, who care for them very much. (Shirahoshi being the ruler of the Sea Kings, while Loki is friends with the beasts of Elbaph's Underworld)

Both took responsibility for protecting their countries from Vander Decken/Imu.

Both have extremely dangerous powers that could cause great calamity if misused. Shirahoshi in the ocean, and Loki in the air.

Both were subjects of different prophecies that ultimately came true. (Shirahoshi being Poseidon reborn, Loki being prophesied to kill his father.)

Both were imprisoned for many years.

Both were isolated and treated differently for how they were born (Shirahoshi having to hide in Shell Tower because Vander Decken learned about her powers, and Loki being cast out for his unusual eyes), and are deeply lonely individuals due to these circumstances.

Shirahoshi was born below the Sun Tree Eve, while Loki was born above the Jewel Tree Adam. Usopp even notes how there might even be a connection between the two trees.

Both of their mothers were murdered because of bigotry and hatred within their own communities.

Both had extremely politically active parents who wished to improve the future of their people, which is what ultimately led to their deaths.

Both hid the truth of their parent's deaths from everyone in order to protect their ideals.

Shirahoshi is introduced in one of the very first places the crew visits right after the timeskip, while Loki is introduced in possibly one of the very last places they'll visit before finding Laugh Tale/the One Piece. (If we believe Oda's comments about the series entering its final stages, at least. And even if it doesn't end up that way, this very well could have been his intent.)

Both come from a place with a direct connection to JoyBoy/Nika. (JoyBoy being someone from the Void Century who was first introduced in Fishman Island, while Nika is revealed to be an incredibly important religious figure for Elbaph.)

Both of their countries have some kind of admiration/yearning towards the sun. (Fishman Island's citizens wishing to live under the real sun, which could be the promise that JoyBoy wasn't able to keep. While Chapter 1136 of Elbaph, which discusses Nika, is titled "The Land that Awaits the Sun.")

Both of their ancient/mythic counterparts (Poseidon from the Void Century, and the Warrior God from Elbaph's legends who seemingly had the Niddhoggr fruit) had a relationship with JoyBoy/Nika. But Poseidon was friends with JoyBoy, while the Warrior God battled against Nika.

I could go on, but let's put a pin in this. I'll be expanding more on some of these later.

If we assume Mosa-kō/Shaggy is Shirahoshi, then it does bring up quite a few logistical questions. Such as:

How did they get into contact in the first place?

Why does Loki call her by "Mosa-kō/Shaggy," and not her name? How would he or Shirahoshi know of the nickname Harald gave her, when Neptune hated it, and very likely never used it?

Wouldn't his way of speaking be too harsh for her?

Wouldn't she have mentioned Luffy?

Shirahoshi said she didn't have any other friends besides Megalo, so how could she be friends with Loki?

So let's break them down.

If I'm being honest, I have little interest in trying to answer the first question. With how Oda writes, it could be as simple as "Megalo found a weird Transponder Snail and brought it to Shirahoshi because he knew she was lonely." - Or it could be something much more complicated. Maybe a pair of Transponder Snails that Harald and Neptune shared. There's just no way to tell right now so I'm not even gonna try.

As for how Loki would know about a nickname that King Neptune hated and would never use for his daughter, well.

It could be that Shirahoshi just didn't want to tell Loki her name, because strangers are still a scary concept for her. We don't even know if they were aware of who the other was before they became pen pals.

So it's entirely possible that when they first started talking and Loki asked what her name was, she panicked, looked around her room for a fake name to give him, saw her own long, messy hair, and just blurted out "Mosa!"

And then it just, stuck. She's not exactly very creative. Which actually makes sense - it's hard to develop those skills when you spend all your days locked in a tower.

Now, regarding how Loki speaks.

His language is very aggressive, which Shirahoshi would find very intimidating. But, let's be real, she got used to Luffy's manner of speech very quickly, and after a while it stopped bothering her altogether.

Besides, she had to deal with Hody and Vander Decken both trying to kill her, and a ship half as big as her country trying to crush her. I imagine abrasive language doesn't seem nearly as scary after dealing with all of that and coming out the other side of it just fine (more or less).

Besides, one of her stated goals is to become less of a crybaby, so Luffy doesn't call her Wimpy-hoshi anymore. Chatting with Loki would be good practice for building up her tolerance for harsh language.

Next question. Wouldn't she have mentioned Luffy to Loki at some point?

Let's take a step back. Why would she? Unless we find out otherwise, it looks like she might have deliberately hidden her own name from him. She could be obscuring facts in their conversations to keep her true identity a secret.

We know that Mosa-kō/Shaggy told Loki about a traumatic experience they had recently. But we have no idea if they actually explained it in detail, and Loki's response is just vague enough that it could go either way. We don't even know if Loki knows who she really is.

So it's possible that she has mentioned Luffy before, but just didn't use his name in order to keep everything vague.

Now, onto the big question.

Why would Shirahoshi say that she didn't have any other friends, if she was friends with Loki?

This could very well be a retcon on Oda's part. But, in my opinion, I think it's entirely possible that she just... lied.

Or, at least, omitted the truth.

She spent years hiding the fact that she knew the identity of her mother's killer. And when Luffy burst into her room and then protected her, she immediately hid him from the guards, telling him to be quiet, and then came up with a believable excuse on the spot to get the guards to drop their suspicions and leave.

She was just told that he basically had a warrant out for his arrest for being suspended of kidnapping mermaids, and was completely aware of the fact that he was a wanted criminal.

She still decided to hide him away from her guards, keep him in her room, let him eat her food, and have a chat with him.

Him being a criminal wasn't even a concern. He protected her, so she got curious - he's something new, interesting, and exciting. Something completely different from her otherwise boring, mundane, every day life.

Her father has a rule that no one is allowed to enter the Princess's room for longer than 5 minutes at a time. When she realized Luffy wasn't a threat, she hid him so he wouldn't get taken away, because she's incredibly lonely, bored, and desperate for companionship.

Luffy was probably the first person in 10 years that she got to spend more than 5 minutes with.

So, it's not exactly like lying and keeping secrets would be an entirely new concept for her character. They're pretty well baked in, actually.

We have no idea how Loki's friendship with Mosa-kō/Shaggy began. But if we assume that they are Shirahoshi - the fact that she hid her name could imply that she's talking to him without permission, or without anyone else knowing.

Shirahoshi spent almost her entire life locked in a tower, feeling nothing but depressed, bored, and lonely. She's had literally no one to talk to except for her pet shark, Megalo. And while he's incredibly precious to her, I imagine talking to Megalo and talking to another person are two very different experiences.

She wants to leave her room. She wants to go on adventures, and have fun, and explore, to do and see all kinds of new things - anything else besides be in her room all day. The only reason she hasn't is because - until Luffy showed up - it was literally hazardous to her health and safety, and it would cause problems for everyone else around her.

She hates troubling others, and avoids it whenever possible.

If we assume that her friendship with Loki began spontaneously one day, completely out of the blue - then sure, it would be scary at first, but also exciting and new. Something different to break the suffocating monotony that she's been forced to live with every single day of her life.

And we know Mosa-kō/Shaggy deeply appreciates Loki's friendship.

If we assume they are Shirahoshi, then of course she would hide the fact that she's friends with him. Why wouldn't she?

He's a precious friend who's had amazing adventures that she couldn't even dream about, but he still takes the time to chat with her, listen to her problems, comfort her (in his own way), and care about her - all without treating her like a porcelain doll that might break at any moment. And she can talk to him for more than 5 minutes a day!

She's been locked away, and because of her circumstances, everyone around her is, understandably, extremely over protective. So she's had almost no actual agency.

Just the idea of her talking to someone unknown would probably cause a huge panic within the palace, especially if they knew it was an abrasive pirate. And if anyone did find out, chances are they'd just take away the transponder snail she used to talk with him, and then she'd be all alone again with only Megalo to talk to.

Children who grow up with over protective parents often become experts at keeping secrets. Especially ones like Shirahoshi, who had little agency in her own life and hates troubling others.

So, to summarize. If she knew Loki, why would she lie about Megalo being her only friend?

It's simple. Bc if she told the truth, then she'd lose the only other friend she had.

It wouldn't have been out of malicious intent - but because she's lonely, didn't want to cause problems for others, and it'd be one of the very few aspects of her own life she'd have any control over.

So now, with that incredibly long preamble out of the way, let's finally move onto the actual analysis.

Mermaids & Giants

Since the idea has already been mentioned in an earlier panel, I'm just gonna go ahead and explore the relationship angle first.

Starting off, we have Harald and Neptune joking about arranging a marriage between their kids. Even if they're both a little drunk, it's still something they considered, and a scene that Oda purposefully added for the audience to see.

The two of them even joke about it being a match made in heaven.

Considering Loki and Shirahoshi are the only two plot important characters of a royal, non-human bloodline, in the entire series, who had marriage brought up as a significant theme in their personal stories, let alone directly mentioned in relation to each other at least once -

It certainly feels like Oda is planting the seeds for something here.

First off, regarding their ages.

Currently, Shirahoshi is 16, while Loki is the equivalent of 21 in human years (63 total).

Giants typically live for 300 years, and age the equivalent of 1 human year for every 3 years that pass. This means that, over time, Loki will stay young while Shirahoshi will steadily grow older than him.

While this is incredibly inconvenient for any giants in long term relationships with non-giants, it is not unheard of, as Gaban and Ripley demonstrate this arc.

Gaban is around his 70's at his oldest, since it's reiterated that he's younger than his wife. While Ripley is the equivalent of 26 years old (80 total).

They've been together for at least 20 years, since that's how old Collun is. This means Gaban was around his 50's, and Ripley the equivalent of 20 years old (60 total, which is even younger than Loki is currently), when their long term relationship first began.

Multiple people comment on how surprising their relationship is, but neither of them care. They make it work.

And despite all his complaining about getting old while his wife stays young, Gaban actually describes himself as a Preacher of Love, and goes out of his way to list various groups who are the result of different species intermingling.

(Even specifically mentioning Wotan, which are hybrids between Fishmen/Mermaids and Giants. Big Pan from Foxy's crew way back in Long Ring Long Land is the first and only one we've seen so far.)

And, while many of these groups don't tend to last for very long, it's important to note the love and open-mindedness it took to get there.

Gaban & Ripley are also one of the only interspecies couples that we see in a serious, committed, long term relationship with each other. We've had situations like Big Mom before, but those weren't relationships, they were sperm donors. Gaban & Ripley genuinely love each other, and the fact that their relationship is brought up multiple times this arc feels like Oda is trying to point an arrow at them and say "Hey! Look at this! This is a thing that can happen!"

So, at least in terms of what's been presented in the story so far, the very idea of a future relationship between Shirahoshi and Loki wouldn't be too out of the ordinary.

Additionally, Gaban & Ripley entered their relationship with a far wider relative age gap between them. They started around 50 and 20 years old respectively, and are now around 70 and 26 years old respectively. They went from 30 to 44 years apart.

If Loki & Shirahoshi ever did enter a relationship at some point in the future - whether they were arranged to be together, or fell in love, or whatever the case may be - they would stay relatively closer in age for a much longer period of time.

For example, by the time Loki turns 22, Shirahoshi will be 19. And in 20 years (about how long Gaban & Ripley have been together), Shirahoshi will be 36, while Loki will be about 27.

Meaning that, over 20 years, they would go from being 5 years apart, to about the same age, to around 7 years apart, with Shirahoshi now being the relatively older one between the two of them, both mentally and physically.

And honestly, considering Gaban's emphasis on the concept of love itself, and loving Ripley and Collun despite the difficulties regarding how they both age at completely different rates than him... well.

It feels like Oda is trying to tell the audience that relationships between giants and non-giants shouldn't be a problem, so long as both parties love each other enough to truly understand, acknowledge, and accept the inherent difficulties involved with such a relationship, so they can work through them together.

And, make no mistake, this is a difficult situation.

Because, unless something changes in the near future, there's very little chance that Gaban is living long enough to see his son reach adulthood.

And it has nothing to do with his current injuries.

He and Ripley must have considered that when they decided to start a family together. And, consequently, they must have decided that it was still worth it to try. Because their love for each other and the time they spend together outweighed the eventual heartache their relationship will bring.

Assuming that Shirahoshi ages at a normal human rate (since we have no idea if Mermaids/Fishmen age differently than other species, or if being Poseidon affects her life expectancy at all) - if she and Loki were to ever have a long term relationship at some point in the future, then it's likely that they'll have many, many years together -

Far more than Gaban & Ripley, at least.

Marriage Complications

As mentioned, both characters have marriage brought up as a significant theme in their stories.

One of the first things we learn about Shirahoshi is how she's in Shell Tower because she won't accept Vander Decken's constant, violent marriage proposals. He basically ruined her life and condemned her to a tower for 10 whole years because he couldn't take no for an answer.

And if he couldn't have her, then he was absolutely willing to kill her instead.

She's also seen rejecting every suitor she's ever had, citing that "They're not her type." This is an important enough qualification that not even the threat of harm, pain, or death are able to sway her.

Meaning that, while it's not directly stated, she's basically saying that she would rather die than marry someone she has no interest in.

Similarly, one of the very first things we learn about Loki as a character, long before his proper introduction, was how he proposed to Lola, citing love at first sight - but she rejected him and ran away.

Desperate, Big Mom tried sending Chiffon as a replacement instead. However, from what we're told, this only worsened the situation and ultimately killed any chances of her ever reconnecting with the giants.

And while we don't know anymore about that particular situation, this isn't actually the only time marriage has come up in association with Loki.

Loki's father, Harald, spent his entire life upset that he couldn't marry the woman he loved, Ida. It was because of xenophobia and the country pushing him to follow outdated traditions that forced him to take Estrid as a wife instead, which eventually led to Loki.

To reiterate - Loki exists because of this.

And it's also because of that lingering bigotry that Ida was eventually poisoned and killed - because Brewers village didn't want her to marry Harald and become the true queen - which would essentially strip away their power and influence.

Loki was brought into existence because of outdated views on royal marriages, and he lost his true mother because of bigotry regarding the idea of her officially marrying Harald.

However, in the current day, we have Gaban, Ripley, and Collun. They're able to live together without issues, despite being a giant, a human, and their mixed child. Even if they're only common law married, they're still well accepted by the community.

It seems like Harald's open minded ideals have finally taken root in the current day. And we see that Elbaph is ready to fight to protect those peaceful ideals.

We also see Neptune joke about arranging a marriage between Loki and an unborn Shirahoshi. It's notable that Neptune is the one bringing this up, since we know how protective he becomes over her later due to Vander Decken.

This is after Harald talks about how wild Loki is, too - potentially signaling to the audience that Loki still has Neptune's approval as a future match for Shirahoshi, should that ever come up again. It's interesting to note that no one else in the series has gotten Neptune's approval to marry his daughter yet, either.

Harald even agrees with the idea, although jokingly.

Considering how hard he's pushed for open mindedness and bettering relationships between Elbaph and other people, if Loki chose to marry Shirahoshi - an outsider and a mermaid - it would be very symbolic of those ideals reaching their fullest potential.

And, assuming the story with Lola is true, we know that Loki has zero issues with the idea of marrying non giants.

Overall - it's interesting how Shirahoshi is seen constantly rejecting marriage proposals, while Loki and Harald are both presented as men who both wanted to marry a specific woman, but were rejected or not allowed to bc of various circumstances.

Complications regarding marriage is just such a prevalent theme in both Loki and Shirahoshi lives - so much so that it feels like a deliberate move on Oda's part.

Especially since, the one time it comes up in reference to either character as a positive thing to celebrate - is when Neptune and Harald joke about setting them up.

Compatability

At the moment, we still don't know what Shirahoshi's type is. Oda hinted at it becoming relevant to her future in the volume 112 SBS tho, so it might come up soon.

But one thing all her suitors do have in common is that they're all relatively normal sized. So it's possible that her type is something as simple as someone who's actually bigger than her.

Oda has been setting up the gag about her type for so long, that the funniest possible payoff would be for her to see Loki and immediately go "He's exactly my type!!!"

Because Oda loves his gags.

(The bigger twist here would be if she said that only after seeing his eyes. So it's less of a gag, and more of a genuinely sincere moment.)

But that's pretty much all we can guess on her side. It's mostly speculation.

Meanwhile, assuming what we're told by Chiffon is true and that Loki truly did fall in love with Lola, that means we actually do have a reference for the kind of person he likes.

[I go into more detail here about why he may have fallen for Lola]

Lola is someone who is sweet, naive, earnest, loving, brave, strong willed, courageous, noble, determined, and willing to put her life on the line when the moment calls for it.

These are all qualities that could apply to Shirahoshi in various ways.

Shirahoshi is very sweet, naive, earnest, and innocent. She's curious about things like forests and trees, and wants to explore the world around her. The idea of going out on an adventure excites her. And when she sneaks out with Luffy, she thinks "It should be fine as long as I return in time for dinner!"

There's a certain innocent naivety in Shirahoshi's line about dinner (which she brings up again later) that feels similar to Lola's belief that Linlin still loves her and would never kill her, just because they're mother and daughter.

Shirahoshi also deeply loved her mother, enough that she was able to honor Otohime's last request to not hate whoever killed her - even hiding the truth from everyone else, because she knew that anyone who learned of it would want to get revenge and repeat the cycle of violence.

She was just a child when she made that decision.

It's reiterated multiple times just how painfully difficult this must have been for her, holding something like that deep in her heart, all alone, for so many years.

Jinbei describes her actions as heroic, and Luffy even calls her brave and changes his nickname for her to reflect that (Going from Wimpy to Wimpy-hoshi).

I think it's important to note Luffy's part here too.

Because - unlike with, say, a character like Koby, who also started off the series being hated by Luffy for being a weak willed coward - it wasn't Luffy's actions that unlocked some great change in her to make her stand up for herself.

She did this long before she met him. He had no influence on her actions at all - that courage had been there, hidden in plain sight, the entire time.

Luffy realizes that he wrongfully misjudged her, and changes his nickname to reflect that, which isn't something he does super often. Or at least, not so blatantly.

Even if she's a crybaby, she's much stronger than he originally thought. And he's going to acknowledge that.

And when Fishman Island is in danger of being destroyed by the Noah, Shirahoshi wastes no time in using herself as bait to drive the ship away to save her people, regardless of how this might affect her.

She was 100% ready to sacrifice herself for her people.

I wanna reiterate, Shirahoshi has never been allowed to go outside for 10 whole years. This is the first time she's left her tower since her confinement began.

But only a few hours later, she's putting herself in harms way in an act that could very well get her killed - something she's been in danger of, sheltered from, feared, and avoided for her entire life - just so she can save Fishman Island. She doesn't even hesitate.

She would rather die than let her people get hurt.

As mentioned earlier, no amount of danger or suffering could convince her to marry someone she's not into.

She kept her promise to her mother, despite how impossible of a task it was.

And she immediately risked her life to protect her island, without any hesitation.

When you put it all together, it becomes pretty clear that, despite her meek and sensitive nature, Shirahoshi has an incredibly strong will.

Just like her mother.

Which we see again during Reverie.

Even as she's being actively harassed - getting chained up and nearly enslaved by a Celestial Dragon - she still begged her father not to do anything hateful and rash, because she didn't want her mother's dreams and efforts to go to waste just because of her.

Shirahoshi is many things, but she's anything but weak.

She's even resolved to become less of a crybaby by the time she sees Luffy again, and we see her actively trying to live up to that goal. It's why she went to Reverie in the first place. To take a chance and improve herself as a person.

With that all said.

If we assume that Loki's type is someone like Lola - someone who's kind, sweet, earnest, loving, brave, noble, strong willed, courageous, and determined - then Shirahoshi fits the bill pretty well.

And thanks to the efforts of his true mother, Ida - we know that steady patience and gentle kindness are effective tools at breaking down Loki's inner walls. Even if he denies it.

And there are very few people that embody those traits as well as Shirahoshi.

Luffy, Loki & Shirahoshi

Something i find interesting is how Luffy interacts with both.

He doesn't like Shirahoshi from the get go, since she's such a crybaby. And says that to her face.

But she gave him food, and he learned that she's been trapped in this single room for 10 whole years bc some creep keeps trying to kill her. Her only friend is Megalo - the shark he accidentally rescued earlier.

He was curious why they were gonna have a whole royal banquet just for finding a shark, but after meeting Shirahoshi, he understood. Megalo was all she had.

Luffy finds the idea of being alone to be a fate worse than death.

He immediately recognizes how lonely and bored she must be, and offers to take her out on a walk to repay her. His empathy for her loneliness and the circumstances of her situation, combined with her kindness towards him, pushes him to help her out and protect her.

So they go, with Luffy acting as her bodyguard as she finally gets to visit the one place she's wanted to see most of all for 10 years.

And, as mentioned before, Luffy later realizes that he misjudged her character and changes his behavior to fix that.

Meanwhile, Luffy almost instantly takes a liking to Loki.

[I discuss more about this here]

Even when the man intentionally antagonizes him, Luffy is able to brush off the insults against Shanks, and goes out of his way to try and keep his end of the deal to find the key to Loki's cuffs. Even despite people around him - including his own crew - trying to stop him.

Luffy senses something in Loki that he likes. And maybe, learning that the man is hated by the entire island and has been alone for 6 years made Luffy empathize with him.

After all, no one even tried to help him when they found him injured and near death. Luffy had to beg the others to save him and give him medical aid.

For someone like Luffy, who finds loneliness to be the most painful thing in the world, I'm sure he was able to recognize the deep ache in Loki's heart hidden under all that bravado and bluster.

It's enough so that Luffy offers the man a place on his crew despite barely knowing him. But his gut instincts are rarely wrong.

In both cases, Luffy meets a deeply lonely individual, and goes out of his way to offer them freedom. (Funnily enough, both are resistant to his offers, although Shirahoshi eventually agrees. It's too soon to tell if Loki will actually agree or not.)

He's the reason Shirahoshi was able to safely go outside and visit her mother's grave, and he's the reason why Loki is eventually freed from his shackles and finally given a chance to explain himself.

Hilariously, he's even in the exact same pose in both scenes.

But I find it interesting how Luffy, who's usually a great judge of character, initially misjudged Shirahoshi - someone beloved by all, and yet he was able to see right through Loki - someone hated by all.

I don't know if there's any real meaning behind that or not, but it was just an interesting enough parallel that I wanted to point it out.

In addition to all this, there's actually a secondary parallel between Shirahoshi and Loki here.

As mentioned, Luffy initially viewed her as weak, and corrected himself when shown otherwise.

When Hajruden and his crew learn the truth of Loki's situation and how painful it was for him, they immediately apologize, in unison, for thinking the worst of him, even tho they didn't really have to.

In both cases, the people around Shirahoshi and Loki realized that they had deeply misjudged the kind of person they really were, and went out of their way to correct their behavior and treat them better.

Now, with all that said, why would Oda be setting up a potential romance between them? What would that accomplish?

Honestly, I have no idea. But it might have something to do with the themes explored further in this post.

Otohime, Ida & Harald

Now, going back to one of my earlier points regarding their parents.

Shirahoshi and Loki both had mothers who were incredibly open minded, empathetic, loving, patient, and socially consciencious individuals.

Otohime constantly fought for her people's rights and equality so she could give them a better future, and Ida despised the idea of looking down on humans just because they were smaller.

And while Ida may not have been politically active due to her position as an outsider, it was still her ideals that influenced Harald into changing Elbaph for the better, which is what he dedicated the rest of his life to accomplishing.

Otohime and Harald both fought hard to try and better their respective kingdom's relationship with humans.

Fishmen were horribly discriminated against and mistreated, and Elbaph giants were feared for the actions of their warrior ancestors.

Humans knew very little about each group. And it was because of that uncertainty that huge rifts existed between each culture. The less you know about others, the easier it is to fear and hate them. And the more you can dehumanize them.

Otohime and Harald understood that the only way to remedy the situation was to destroy that uncertainty.

By exchanging culture, creating political bonds, forging friendships, respecting each other, sharing knowledge and education, finding mutual understanding - these were the keys to bettering their people's future.

But they struggled.

They struggled hard.

They both end up having horrible crash outs at their citizens because the weight of everything they're trying to accomplish is finally starting to crush them.

Otohime, because she's tried again and again to reach out her voice to her people, wanting to help improve the futures of everyone living on Fishman Island, to give them opportunities and hopes and dreams that they'd never be able to achieve otherwise, to give their children fulfilling lives so they never have to long for things that are just out of reach -

But Fishman Island's citizens kept allowing their understandable fear and uncertainty of humans to consume them, keeping them from progressing towards that better, brighter future. Towards the sun that they all so badly yearn for.

On the other hand, Harald was crashing out because his desire to help Elbaph by any means necessary kept him from being able to help or save one of his closest friends. Because openly aligning himself with a pirate could threaten everything he's been trying to accomplish.

And yet, despite that great personal sacrifice, Elbaph was still nowhere near close to becoming one of the World Government's affiliated nations.

He wants to atone for the wrongdoings of giants past, so he can give the citizens of Elbaph a kinder, more peaceful future. To show the world that giants can be more than just bloodthirsty and barbaric warriors. That their children can choose the path of kindness and understanding instead of war and violence.

He wants this more than anything.

But, in order to do that, he ends up sacrificing Rocks, someone dear to him. And in order to make that sacrifice mean something, anything - he hands himself over to the World Government as a willing slave, in a desperate attempt to make everything work out for the better for his people.

And while both Otohime and Harald sought to give their people more fulfilling lives, their methods unfortunately lead to very different results.

Despite being much weaker than everyone around her, Otohime had passion, self respect, integrity, humility, and never put herself down or changed herself to make others feel more comfortable.

She viewed everyone as equals, and treated them as such, along with having a strong sense of justice and morals.

And that's because she was fighting for the equality of Fishmen and Mermaids. Her people had long been discriminated against and persecuted - she couldn't let herself falter or be looked down on or ignored. If she did, then Fishmen and Mermaids everywhere would always be treated poorly, and they would never be able to create a better future for their children.

Otohime stood tall against every obstacle in her way, and was able to peacefully challenge the racist beliefs that humans had of Fishmen and Mermaids.

It's precisely because of this unfaltering attitude that she was able to inspire change in even a Celestial Dragon. Someone from a group with so much power that they view themselves as gods, with little to no care for anyone else around them, or the immense amount of suffering they caused.

But she did it. She was able to give humanity back to a Celestial Dragon, through her gentle persistence and dedication to her ideals.

She gave her people a hope for the future, by bringing back that document.

(I'm sure her powerful Observation Haki helped her greatly in this quest, since she could literally feel the emotions of everyone around her.)

And it was through that act, although she had no way of knowing it at the time, that she was able to ensure her daughter's protection even long after she was gone.

And, in fact, she was able to have a close relationship with her children the entire time she worked, up until she died. She was always able to make time for them.

However.

Because of Hody's actions, Fishman Island's relationship with humans stayed completely stagnant. Despite all her efforts, all her hard work, everything she strived to accomplish and was so close to reaching -

It wasn't until the Straw Hats arrived, and unwittingly put Hody's festering hate and corruption into sharp focus, that things finally began to change.

Seeing Luffy nearly die to protect their country, and his friendship with Fukaboshi, Shirahoshi, and Jinbei, allowed the citizens of Fishman Island to take that very first, cautious step towards the future that Otohime dreamed of for them.

In stark contrast, Harald's frantic desperation led him to be easily manipulated and used. He readily gave up his freedom to the government and ignored any signs that something was wrong because he thought it would be for the greater good.

He even ripped his own horns off - a visual representation of his ancient giant ancestry - because he was so incredibly ashamed of Elbaph's history.

(I wonder how Loki felt about that, considering he inherited his father's horns. It's one of the few features he directly shared with Harald.

In fact, in his efforts to better the country, Harald ended up sacrificing his relationship with both of his children. To the point that Loki only realized that his father truly loved him moments before he was gone - at his hands.)

Instead of standing proud and inspiring hopeful change in the world government, Harald let himself give into despair, shame, and regret, and was nearly consumed by Imu's corruption in the process.

In the end, he had to beg his own son to put him down, before he could make things even worse.

Instead of working towards a bright, peaceful future, Elbaph almost became slaves to the World Government, who only saw them as weapons of war that they could cultivate.

Otohime's self respect, perseverance, and kindness is what created a genuinely meaningful change that gave Fishman Island the chance to immigrate to the surface - towards the real sun. And it eventually saved her daughter from being enslaved.

While Harald's self hatred, frustration, despair, and shame nearly destroyed him and his country in one fell swoop.

However.

While Harald failed where Otohime succeeded, he succeeded where Otohime failed.

Because, despite everything going so horribly wrong in the end, his country did change for the better.

There's much less xenophobia and bigotry, to the point where a human and a giant can peacefully build a family together without any issues. Humans helped save Elbaph from starving in the past, and Shanks and his associates seem to come and go pretty regularly.

The adults of Elbaph are the last generation of warriors on the island, because - thanks to Harald's leadership - the new generation was raised to be kind and peaceful. They find the very idea of violence to be scary and wrong.

And when the little boys were "bullying" Luffy and Usopp, the little girls ran in and scolded them for being mean to the humans just because they were smaller - just like Ida.

While Harald's efforts were misguided due to the World Government's manipulation, they weren't in vain. He truly was able to build the peaceful Elbaph he had long dreamed of creating for his people.

Otohime & Harald's Legacy

In the end however, both Otohime and Harald were killed because of the love they had for their country. They tried so hard to create a better future for their people, doing everything possible to make that happen - and they both died for it.

But even if they're gone, their children saw their efforts.

Loki & Shirahoshi were both there in their parent's final moments. They heard their parent's last wishes.

Otohime asked for her children to not hold hate in their hearts for the person who killed her. To end the cycle of hatred.

Harald asked Loki to tell everyone about what really happened - to reveal the truth, and take the crown.

Shirahoshi held on tight to that promise, and kept true to it, regardless of all the pain it brought her.

Loki, on the other hand, refused to fulfill his father's last request. He didn't believe that he was the right person to carry out Harald's dreams, and so he sought another way to pay respects to his father - by leaving the country and seeking revenge on the government instead.

Even tho they both reacted very differently to their parent's last wishes, Shirahoshi and Loki never forgot about their ideals and what motivated them to work so hard in the first place.

That's why, when presented with the opportunity to reveal what actually happened regarding their parents deaths - how Otohime was killed by Hody, and how Harald was manipulated by the government - they both chose, instead, to hide the truth.

Shirahoshi knew that telling anyone would only allow the cycle of hatred to continue. People would want to get revenge, to hurt and kill Hody for killing Otohime, and if that came to pass, then all of her mother's efforts would go to waste.

Her last promise to her mother would be nothing more than empty words.

She was not going to let that happen if she could help it. So she kept it all to herself, and forced herself not to hate the man who killed her own mother so she could honor the last promise they made together.

Loki, similarly, refused to tell Elbaph the truth. He let them all believe that he was a monster who killed his father out of pure, selfish greed, in order to protect his father's reputation and to keep the peace that Harald built.

Peace that, I'd like to add, Loki didn't even care for in the first place.

But even if he didn't honor the last request Harald specifically made of him, Loki still tried, in his own way, to protect everything his father sacrificed himself to create.

Because one of the last things Harald said to him was, "All that matters is Elbaph's future."

Loki is shown recalling these words more than once.

Seeing how far he was willing to go made Loki truly understand just how important this was to Harald. Loki would rather be hated as a villain by the very people his father cared so much about than allow his father's efforts to go in vain.

He wouldn't put Elbaph's hope for a peaceful future in jeopardy, even if he couldn't lead the country there himself.

By hiding the truth, Shirahoshi and Loki put their parent's dreams before themselves.

They willingly suffered in silence, alone, for years, faithfully protecting those ideals.

Because, in the end - they were both children who deeply loved their parents, and wanted to honor everything Otohime and Harald worked so hard to create.

Even if they would never get to see it for themselves.

Additionally, both of their beloved mothers were killed due to racism and xenophobia within their own communities.

They both saw the consequences of unchecked hatred in action, experiencing it in real time.

I'm sure the circumstances of their mother's deaths helped fuel their desire to protect the future their parents dreamed of.

With that all said...

If Mosa/Shaggy really is Shirahoshi, then their friendship actually makes perfect sense. Because Loki and Shirahoshi share far, far too many highly specific traumas, experiences, and similarities that only they can relate to.

And while some of them could be coincidental due to Oda's writing style, that doesn't account for all of them.

There are just too many narrative parallels between them.

And if there's something Oda loves, it's creating narrative parallels. (Arlong Park/Fishman Island, Alabasta/Dressrosa, Enies Lobby/Egghead, Luffy/Roger, Whitebeard/Blackbeard, Eneru/Nika, etc. There are dozens and dozens of examples across the series.)

Speaking of, I wanna go back to Fishman Island for a moment.

Luffy, JoyBoy & Nika

Not long after the crew arrived, Sharley sensed something calamitous in Luffy and decided to look into his future. I wanna emphasize that she specifically looked into Luffy's future because of the danger she sensed.

She then had a vision of Luffy destroying Fishman Island. And her predictions have never been wrong before.

But, assuming Luffy really does fulfill the prophecy, why would he do that? It doesn't seem to fit his character. That's his friend's country, he wouldn't want to destroy it.

Well, to answer that, I wanna take a quick look at Nika the Sun God.

In Elbaph's culture, Nika is an incredibly important religious figure. But amongst the people, there is no one, unified interpretation of them. Everyone has different ideas of what they represent.

This is because the original text describing them is so ancient, the original language has been lost and it can no longer be translated. The only thing everyone agrees on is how Nika always shows up when the world is about to go through a massive change, for better or for worse.

Meaning that, depending on your interpretation of what that means, the very idea of Nika can change drastically from person to person.

Nika might be a hero that will save the world, or they might be a destroyer who will doom it all. It all depends on interpretation.

The debate regarding Nika's true nature directly parallels a scene in Fishman Island, when Luffy tells the citizens to decide for themselves whether they view him as a friend or foe.

Because Luffy isn't going to tell you how you should feel about him. He'd rather you figure that out for yourself.

However - I wanna note something particularly interesting about this moment.

Just before this scene, the citizens of Fishman Island started crying out to Luffy, begging for him to come and destroy everything like he was prophesied to do. If he was going to ruin everything, then they rather he come and do it now.

In this moment, because of Hody's attack on the royal family and finally revealing his true nature, the citizens of Fishman Island, as one, all chose to transform the meaning of the prophecy.

Instead of causing despair, the idea of Luffy destroying the island became a source of hope.

Which, again, parallels the idea of Nika being viewed both as a God of Liberation and a God of Destruction. It all depends on interpretation.

Now let's put a pin in that and as we go back even further, all the way to Water 7.

Iceburg, Elbaph & Noah

During Franky's flashback, we see Tom showing him and Iceburg the blueprints to the ancient weapon Pluton.

Those blueprints were created to be a counterforce, should something terrible happen.

Iceburg held onto those blueprints for years, until he handed them over to Franky. The government already suspected him of having them, so he had to throw them off his trail somehow.

But during that time between receiving the blueprints and handing them off, he created a ship building company by the name of Galley-La.

Hundreds of chapters later, we see Harald and Jarul discussing the legend of the Galleila Band, who, we learn, were an amazing group of shipwrights from Elbaph.

Jarul confirms that they really existed. Apparently, one day, they sent back a letter saying how they had all been taken prisoner.

A hardy group of giant shipwrights, who even had ancient giants among them, were all somehow captured - it's hard to believe. What kind of ancient enemy could have done this? There's speculation that the government - or at least, the entity that would later become the government - possibly did.

And since Harald thought they were only a myth, we can assume that they were never seen again. At least in Elbaph.

Because only a panel later, Jarul brings up rumors about an army of giants frozen somewhere out in the world.

Now, why does that sound familiar?

Hmmm.

Later on, we find out why Rocks wanted to recruit Harald so badly.

Because he was the only one in the world who had the power to command a group of incredible destroyers called the "Galleila," who were apparently slumbering somewhere in the world.

A group with the same name as the missing shipwrights.

And as we learn more about Loki, it becomes clear why Rocks thought that only Harald had access to this power. Because it was tied to Ragnir, a legendary hammer that the royal family of Elbaph was tasked with protecting for generations.

But now that Loki was chosen by Ragnir, he alone has the power that Rocks coveted.

It's also revealed that Ragnir can freeze people indefinitely, but only it can melt the ice.

Putting the pieces together, it all becomes pretty clear.

The seemingly random frozen giants back in Punk Hazard must be the missing Galleila shipwrights from Elbaph, and for whatever reason, Ragnir was the one responsible for freezing them years and years ago. And now it's the only one who can free them.

The frozen giants are even wearing prison uniforms, which matches the information in the letter Jarul spoke of.

But, if that's the case - Did Iceburg name the Galley-La company after the group of ancient shipwrights who designed the ancient weapon Pluton?

Franky even asks if humans could build such a thing as they were looking at the blueprints.

What if they didn't? What if they couldn't?

Was that why the government caught onto Iceberg so quickly? Because he literally named his company after the group of giants who built the very thing that the government both wants and fears most?

And considering Imu has been alive since the Void Century and is obsessed with destroying and/or controlling anything that could oppose him and the World Government, I'd be surprised if he didn't remember the name of the shipwrights who built an goddamn ancient weapon.

Thinking about it, Iceburg might've been trying to honor those ancient shipwrights - or maybe he thought he was just being clever - but either way, he kinda painted a huge target on his back instead.

(Not that he could have known that someone from the Void Century was still alive and kicking and could fact check his little inside joke.)

Anyway-

From the information we're given, it's heavily implied that the ancient Elbaph shipwright group, Galleila, at least designed or built the ancient weapon Pluton. And it's very likely that they're still alive, and have been frozen for centuries on Punk Hazard.

Let's keep that in mind as we go back to Fishman Island.

Noah, Galleila & the Two Sovereigns

After Luffy nearly destroys the Noah to protect Fishman Island, giant Sea Kings show up, answering Shirahoshi's call, and catch it - pulling the ship away by the chains attached.

We see them discussing the state of the ship, wondering if it can be fixed before the promised day arrives.

"We will need their help to fix it... but it is a different age now..."

Who are they talking about? Who can fix the ship? Who are "they"?

The Noah is huge. It's literally half the size of Fishman Island. Not to mention, despite being underwater for 800 years, at the very bottom of the ocean, it hasn't rotted away.

Given the information presented earlier, it seems fairly likely that the Sea Kings were talking about the Galleila Band. If they built Pluton, then they're probably the only ones in the world who can fix the Noah. And the fact that Noah hasn't crumbled away over the centuries might be because they used Adam's wood to make it.

But they're currently frozen in Punk Hazard.

Let's put a pin in that.

During Roger's flashback, we see the Sea Kings excitedly talking about the upcoming birth of Shirahoshi.

"Our sovereign will soon be born... And another, in a distant sea..."

But who's the other person they're talking about?

It's hard to say, since the phrasing is so vague in both languages.

The obvious answer is Luffy, since he's the main character. But when the Sea Kings run into him as they catch the Noah, they show almost no reaction to him.

At most, they're kinda curious bc it seemed like he heard their voices, like Roger before him. But otherwise, they don't really care.

And if the meeting of the two sovereigns is such an important event, wouldn't they be more excited to see Luffy and Shirahoshi together?

But, again, they don't react. They care more about the condition the Noah is in. Luffy is barely a footnote, a catalyst for Shirahoshi's powers, so it's really doubtful that it's him they're waiting for.

They could be waiting for Luffy as JoyBoy/Nika to show up - but, even if he becomes the Pirate King, Luffy doesn't want to rule over anyone. And he doesn't really have a "domain" he could rule over anyway. Not like Shirahoshi, who's effectively Queen of the ocean itself.

But then, who could they be talking about? Who else could it be?

Poseidon

"The birthing is at hand! Our sovereign will soon be born... And another, in a distant sea..."

"生まれるよ……ぼく達の王が生まれるよ…遠い海でも生まれるね…....."

The Sea Kings use "生まれる" when describing the two kings. Looking it up, it means "to be born."

However, from what I understand, "生まれる" has a very broad definition.

It can be used to describe ideas, concepts, traditions, etc. It's the most common, every day thing to use when talking about "birth," and it's meaning can change drastically depending on the context.

If you want to be more specific, it seems like "産まれる" would be a better choice. From what I understand, it's more closely tied to the biology, pregnancy, and physical act of giving birth, and not just the basic concept.

So, it seems like the Sea Kings are describing the general idea of a birth happening at some point. Not someone actually giving birth, or being birthed from someone.

With that in mind, could the long awaited "birth" actually be metaphorical?

The Sea Kings are excited about these two sovereigns meeting again. The whales are delighted in anticipation for when it happens.

We know for a fact that one of them is Shirahoshi. When the Sea Kings speak to her, they say this:

"Princess Shirahoshi... we have been waiting and waiting... for you to be born."

"This ship was built for us to pull."

"It has been spoken of for years and years among us."

"Every few hundred years, our sovereign... is born in the form of a mermaid, for some reason."

"Why is that?"

"From the moment of your birth, you have been our queen."

The Sea Kings consider her their natural born Queen.

This is something they understand intuitively, on a deeply instinctual level, knowing exactly when her birth would take place and how long they would have to wait. They have no idea why their sovereign is born in the form of a mermaid, just that they are.

Please note tho, the Sea Kings don't say "A mermaid princess."

Just "In the form of a mermaid."

Similarly, the legend passed down through the Royal family states that, "A mermaid who can communicate with the Sea Kings is born once every few centuries."

Again, not a "Mermaid Princess." Just "Mermaid."

The Sea Kings don't seem to care about human politics. It's completely irrelevant and has nothing to do with them. Shirahoshi is their queen because their natural born instincts tell them that she is.

And the last known person to have this power, to be their queen, was the mermaid princess of the Void Century.

Despite both descriptions stating that "A mermaid will appear," implying that anyone could be born with these powers, twice Poseidon has been born in the form of a mermaid princess. And the legend is still passed down through the royal bloodline.

(From what we understand, this story could have been more well known in the long forgotten past. But only Vander Decken's family remembers bc it's what drove his ancestor to Fishman Island in the first place.

Although his family's retelling of the legend does actually specify a "Mermaid Princess," likely because they didn't know the actual details - they were just aware of the rumors stating that a Mermaid Princess with the power to control Sea Kings possibly existed down in Fishman Island.)

I wonder if Poseidon being born through the Ryugu royal family has less to do with the fact that they're royalty - and moreso that the family became royalty because of the powers of Poseidon being passed down through their bloodline.

All that to say - the sovereign the Sea Kings are waiting for likely has nothing to do with traditionally human concepts of royalty and nobility. They might not even be royal at all. Because it's not about the title, it's about something innate, intrinsic, instinctual.

Shirahoshi - Poseidon - is the sovereign of the seas. Not because she was handed down the position or inherited the title from her parents, but because that's how she was born.

You can dethrone a king, but you cannot remove Shirahoshi from her powers.

With all that said. The Sea Kings are still waiting for her to meet someone, a sovereign from a distant sea.

Who could the other sovereign be? Who could the Sea Kings view as being an equal, in both status and power, to their Queen - someone whose power is so great that it could easily destroy the world if misused?

And while highly speculative, I do think it could be Loki.

Niddhoggr

After Loki is accepted by Ragnir and eats the Niddhoggr fruit, becoming the first person to do so in centuries, Harald says this:

"Loki... I knew it... You possess the blood of the Supreme King!!"

"やはり... ロキ... お前には...はおう“覇王„のちなが血が流れてる... !!"

The blood of the Supreme King. Not the will of the Supreme King, but the blood.

I went to check the Japanese, and it uses the same characters as Conqueror's Haki.

血 - Blood

覇王 - Supreme King

覇王色の覇気 - Conqueror's Haki / Color of the Supreme King

覇王 is even written in quotations so we know it's important.

But what does that mean? How did Harald know that Loki had it in him? Hajruden is also Harald's child, and yet he said that he knew it was Loki.

He doesn't even say "I knew it, you also have the blood of the supreme king," which implies that this isn't just something passed down from parent to child - because from Harald's reaction, it seems like he did not share this trait with his son.

So what is the Blood of the Supreme King?

Whatever it is, Harald implies that it's something inherent to Loki, specifically. Something built into him, much like how Shirahoshi's position as Queen of the Sea Kings is built into her. It's in his being, literally in his blood.

Does it have something to do with Loki's eyes? Does it just mean that he possessed the natural disposition necessary to earn the right to be chosen by Ragnir and eat the Niddhoggr fruit?

If we lean into the metaphorical birth idea from earlier, Loki basically became "King of the Skies" after he ate the Niddhoggr fruit. That was 14 years ago, 11 years after the Sea Kings talk about Shirahoshi's upcoming birth.

If they were waiting for a new user of the Niddhoggr fruit to be "born," then it fits. Because a new user is only born once they eat the fruit. And, in this case, a new user can only be born once they prove themselves worthy, thanks to Ragnir guarding it.

Shirahoshi's birth was prophesied by Sharley, and the Sea Kings knew when it would happen. And even then, she still had to awaken her powers.

You know what else was prophesied?

Loki killing Harald, which only happened after he ate the Niddhoggr fruit.

Shirahoshi is the natural born Queen of the seas. The entire ocean is her kingdom. The Sovereign the Sea Kings are waiting for her to meet has to be someone of equal importance. Not in terms of silly little human concepts like royal titles and lineage, but in the vastness of their natural domain and power.

And what could compare with the enormity of the ocean other than the vastness of the skies?

Niddhoggr is also a zoan type fruit, and we know that they can awaken to even greater power. Loki can already change the weather with just his and Ragnir's presence alone, without even trying.

Could Loki, who became the first Niddhoggr fruit user in hundreds of years, and his supposed "blood of the Supreme King," be the sovereign they've been waiting so long for? Could he be the Sovereign of the Skies?

We already have a potential connection between the Elbaph and Fishman Island through the Galleila Band and Noah. It's directly stated that the ship was made to be pulled by Sea Kings.

In addition to all this, I think it's possible that Niddhoggr and Imu were actually allies in the past.

That's why it's implied that the Galleila Band is frozen in Ragnir's ice - because, at the time, Imu and Niddhoggr were working together. And that's why the Warrior God who seemingly had the Niddhoggr fruit has a myth about them fighting against Nika.

But much like Nefertari Lily, at some point in time, they ended up switching sides. That's why Imu called them a traitor, and that's why there's a legend about Niddhoggr and the Sun God appearing together. Because they swore to work together the next time they met, to right the wrongs of the past.

Now, again. How does this connect to anything?

Luffy, Loki & Blackbeard

Here are the facts about the current situation in the OP world:

Shirahoshi is the ancient weapon Poseidon reborn.

Caribou is aware of this fact, and is about to tell Blackbeard all about it (along with Pluton's location).

Blackbeard has been kidnapping people left and right, prioritizing those who'll be of most use to him (Koby, Pudding, Garp).

Blackbeard highly covets destructive power.

Blackbeard's late father was Rocks D. Xebec (real name Davy D. Xebec).

Loki deeply admired Rocks.

Loki cares deeply about Mosa-kō/Shaggy, wanting to get revenge on their behalf for trauma they recently experienced.

Shirahoshi has almost been kidnapped and enslaved, twice, at Reverie just recently.

Mosa-kō/Shaggy called to say thank you, and that they'll be unable to call for a while, with Loki believing they might be in danger.

Luffy is prophesied to destroy Fishman Island.

Sharley's prophecies are never wrong.

Given everything we know, it's very possible that Blackbeard is on his way to Fishman Island to capture Shirahoshi.

Oda has been setting up Caribou for years now, there's no way he's not planning to give us the ultimate, worst case scenario payoff for what he knows. Blackbeard being his idol just confirms it, in my opinion.

Blackbeard loves chaos, destruction, and disorder. He would gladly use Shirahoshi's powers to cause widespread mayhem.

Hell, his mother was named after Eris, the Goddess of Discord - someone whose actions famously caused a war, entirely for her own entertainment. It's literally in his blood.

And Blackbeard's major appearances in the story usually coincide with the worst possible outcomes happening.

Ace being defeated (leading to Marineford, which is where the first two real deaths in the series took place, one after the other), Blackbeard killing Whitebeard and stealing his fruit (somehow getting two Devil Fruits, which should be impossible, and now two of the most dangerous powers in the world belong to him), Blackbeard kidnapping Koby which leads to Garp almost dying (Luffy already lost Sabo once, then Ace, and now he might lose his grandpa too), etc.

The man's presence alone feels like a bad omen upon the series.

Loki already thinks that Mosa-kō/Shaggy is in danger, and wants to help them. He was already upset on their behalf for the trauma they experienced before. If we assume Mosa-kō/Shaggy is Shirahoshi, then it's possible that that Loki might go to Fishman Island to rescue her.

And of course, Luffy would want to save his friend. He'd be even more motivated once he finds out that Blackbeard has his grandpa locked in a cage and near death.

And we have a lot of set up regarding Loki's idolization of Rocks. It's too heavily pushed not to come back in some way. Loki even dresses similarly to him as an adult, and he casually mentions how he understands how it feels to idolize a pirate when Luffy talks about Shanks. Rocks is still very much important to him.

And I wanna point out. Blackbeard's mother was named after Eris, Goddess of Discord. Loki is named after the God of Mischief.

Given that they both have linguistic connections to gods well known for causing chaos for their own amusement, and they both have a connection to Rocks, this might be Oda's way of drawing some kind of parallel between Loki and Blackbeard that he wants the audience to take note of.

In other words, Loki meeting Blackbeard feels inevitable.

Given how opportunistic he is, Blackbeard might see Loki and try to ally with him in order to capture Shirahoshi. He might even push harder once he finds out that Loki knew and idolized his father.

But, assuming Mosa-kō/Shaggy is Shirahoshi, if Loki found out that Blackbeard wanted to kidnap and use his friend for nefarious purposes, he would not take kindly to that.

Look at Brewers Village after they poisoned Ida. Look at how he became a pirate to get revenge for his father. Look at how upset he was at hearing about Mosa-kō/Shaggy's recent trauma, and how he wanted to get revenge on their behalf.

It would be very reminiscent of when Blackbeard tried to recruit Ace so they could capture Luffy together.

And amidst all that chaos, it's entirely possible that Luffy might, accidentally or otherwise, end up destroying Fishman Island.

However, because of the circumstances, similar to before - instead of causing despair, it might actually inspire hope.

When Shirahoshi is talking to the Sea Kings after they stop the Noah, they tell her this:

"No... You were guided by the Straw Hat boy's powerful desire, and prayed."

"Just as he tried to save the island... you wished to be a source of strength to him."

"Our power is your power. We lent him our aid... Because you called us."

As mentioned, according to the legend passed down in the royal family, every few centuries a mermaid princess is born who can command the Sea Kings.

The legend also says that someone will come along and help guide her on how to use her powers for good. And when that time comes, the world will change.

So, to break it all down:

Nika only arrives during times of great change.

JoyBoy left an apology forever engraved in stone to the mermaid princess of his time, for being unable to keep his promise.

The Noah is the ship of Promise, and was meant to be pulled by Sea Kings. Only Shirahoshi can command them.

It's heavily implied that the person who will help guide her is Luffy.

Neptune implies that Otohime's goals (to have the citizens of Fishman Island be free to live under the real sun), are the same as the people who left behind the Noah.

But the Noah is heavily damaged, and needs repairs. Repairs that the frozen Galleila shipwrights on Punk Hazard could possibly fix.

But to do that, Loki has to unfreeze them first, since he's the only one who can.

Punk Hazard isn't that far away from Fishman Island.

If the Noah can get fixed beforehand, then it doesn't matter if Luffy (or anyone else for that matter) destroys Fishman Island. Because Shirahoshi could order the Sea Kings to carry them all away on the Noah.

Symbolically, JoyBoy will have finally returned to fulfill his long forgotten promise to the mermaid princess.

And, if we assume Loki is the other sovereign, it would allow for him and Shirahoshi to finally meet.

An event that's deeply anticipated by the Sea Kings.

Loki also, as far as we know, isn't aware that the Galleila band were a legendary group of shipwrights. He just heard that they were a group of fiercesome giants that only Harald could control.

If Loki realized that they were on Punk Hazard as they were heading over to save Shirahoshi, he might just release them in order to have extra manpower. But maybe Luffy mentiones something about almost destroying the Noah, and that's how they find out that Noah needs repairs.

Or maybe it'll all happen a different way. There's dozens of ways for all this set up to finally pay off.

Adam & Eve

"And they will never meet."

"And they will never meet."

"And they will surely meet."

There's a lot of debate on what the text on the Harley really means regarding these lines. Both within the series and outside of it. And that's by design.

However, given the topic of this post (and the ridiculous length of it), I'm only gonna explore the idea that it's talking about Loki and Shirahoshi.

The Harley says that, in the First and Second Worlds, "And they will never meet."

But in the Third World, that changes to "And they will surely meet."

The Sea Kings are awaiting the day the two sovereigns meet again. We know for certain that one of them is Shirahoshi.

"Our sovereign will soon be born... And another, in a distant sea..."

"The whales are delighted in anticipation... of the day the two sovereigns shall meet again."

"We have been waiting for so long."

"It is almost here... and surely all will go well this time."

What does that mean? "And surely all will go well this time"?

What happened last time? Did something go wrong?

Why is it so important for these two sovereigns to meet?

To explore that, I want to point out some things:

The great Library of Ohara was called the Tree of Knowledge.

Fishman Island was created because of the sunlight provided by the Sun Tree Eve.

The treasure of Elbaph, the Niddhoggr fruit, was considered a Forbidden Fruit.

Elbaph is entirely made of the Jewel Tree Adam.

Vegapunk Lilith plans to set down roots and live on Elbaph.

The great ark Noah rests beside Fishman Island, waiting to fulfill the promise JoyBoy made.

It's subtle, bc of the amount of time between the arcs they first appear in, and all the set up leading up to it, but... Oda seems to be leaning pretty heavily into biblical symbolism in regards to Fishman Island and Elbaph.

Like. It feels... very on the nose. Aggressively so.

Shirahoshi was born under the Sun Tree Eve. Loki was born on the Jewel Tree Adam. At least one character in the story believes that there might be a connection between these two trees because of their names. Not to mention, both are massive trees that provide life, sustenance, and comfort to entire cultures with their existences alone.

Niddhoggr is described as a forbidden fruit. Not just because it's a devil fruit, but because of the destructive power it holds. And as far as we're aware, the last time someone had it was around the time of the Void Century, and we can guess that bc Imu knew them.

Loki ate the forbidden fruit. In this metaphorical turn of events, instead of Eve, it was Adam.

Even the Tree of Knowledge - the tree that bore the forbidden fruit that Eve ate - has a connection to Elbaph. Because all of the books and the knowledge contained within Ohara's great Tree of Knowledge library now reside on Elbaph, thanks to Saul's efforts in rescuing them.

And then we have Lilith, who was made to isolate Vegapunk's "Evil," although it's pretty clear that she's anything but.

However, it's obvious that Oda is leaning into the interpretation of Lilith being Adam's first wife, who became tempted and corrupted by evil.

Lilith is a Vegapunk. Vegapunk directly helped Saul restore and preserve the knowledge that Ohara gave their lives to save.

Vegapunk is also the person who created the Mother Flame, something that was created in order to help all of humanity - but it was used, instead, to cruelly and mercilessly destroy an entire island of innocent people, which proved that such terrifying weapons of mass destruction still exist.

Even if Lilith didn't pull the trigger, she still helped to create the power source that was used to cause unimaginable destruction.

And now she's going to be living on Elbaph - that is, on the Jewel Tree Adam. In other words, Lilith and Adam have been reunited.

And then we have the fact that you could consider Fishman Island a hidden paradise, which is - at some point, according to Sharley's prophecy - going to be destroyed. And the Noah, whose purpose seems to be to carry the people of Fishman Island to the real sun.

Not to mention, Kuma and Bonney are on Elbaph now, and both have extremely deep narrative ties to Nika. Kuma specifically was known for constantly carrying around a book that looked like a bible.

These parallels feel like more than just surface level symbolism. And Oda is a very well learned guy - it's obvious that he loves to research different cultures, religions, and history, considering how grounded and expansive his world feels. Even within Elbaph, along with the stuff previously mentioned, we also have tons of references to Norse mythology and culture too.

So honestly, it'd be pretty disappointing if the themes set up here didn't actually go anywhere, especially ones considered so ubiquitous, symbolic, and weighty.

Again, I don't know how deeply Oda wants to go here, but he's at least got the ground work set up for something.

And again, it just. It just feels very on the nose. Like I don't even know how else to describe that. It feels like a billboard being waved in the audience's face.

Most people have to pass through Fishman Island to enter the New World - making it, and the Sun Tree Eve that gives the island its light, one of the first stops the crew visits post timeskip.

Elbaph seems like it's closer to the end of the New World - closer to the end of the journey.

And, as mentioned, at least one character has made a connection between the two trees because of their names.

If Oda is genuinely leaning into biblical symbolism here - enough to use two of the most famous names from the bible - then why are Adam and Eve so far apart?

Adam and Eve are well known as the first man and woman, the world's first lovers, and famously ruined paradise by taking a bite of the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. Why aren't they together?

Why is everything else relating to their story all with Adam - such as Lilith, the Tree of Knowledge, and the forbidden fruit - but Eve herself is so far away?

It almost feels like a Romeo and Juliet scenario.

One of the constants of the series is how the Government will go to any lengths to destroy inconvenient knowledge.

They burned down Ohara because they dared to look into the True History of the world. Studying the Poneglyphs is a death sentence. And according to what Vegapunk said, something happened during the Void Century that caused the sea level to rise by 200 meters. It's implied that this was done to hide evidence.

Meaning that the shape of the entire world was changed in order to keep information hidden. Information that terrifies the World Government, and especially Imu.

They hunt down and discriminate against rare bloodlines, like the Buccaneers, Lunarians, Three Eyes, Fishmen and Mermaids...

If we assume that the two sovereigns who are destined to meet are Shirahoshi & Loki, and we consider how the Sea Kings said "everything should go right this time" - implying that there were other attempts to bring these two figures together, which ultimately failed -

And we assume that the Harley was talking about them, and how they will surely meet, when they weren't able to in the First and Second Worlds -

Along with the fact that they're each associated with Adam & Eve, the first man and woman, and how they're at opposite ends of the New World -

And we tie this all back to the biblical symbolism associated with them -

It almost feels like...

Like their previous incarnations were purposefully ripped apart from each other.

And if we consider Imu, who believes himself to be the King of the World and a god above everyone else, controlling the whole world from his peaceful little garden, up high in his castle on the Red Line...

And with how hard the government tries to keep the world in the dark, punishing any attempt to learn "more than what they should know," keeping everyone from learning the true history of the world...

It... It almost feels like Imu is supposed to be some kind of metaphor for God punishing humanity for eating the forbidden fruit of knowledge, and ruining his perfect paradise. And he's trying to "fix" the world and make it "right" again by erasing that knowledge, and he separated Adam and Eve to keep it from ever happening again.

However, because of all the horrors the government has caused, this is explicitly framed as a bad thing. It's reiterated time and again how important history is, and how it's a human right to have access to it - both the good and the bad. We can't learn from our mistakes if we don't know what they are.

But somehow, Adam & Eve's reunion, represented through Loki & Shirahoshi - combined with all the other plot important things in the series, like finding the One Piece - will eventually culminate in the world being symbolically given that knowledge.

Which... Would be honestly fucking wild. I'm honestly not even sure where to go from there.

Tho as a side note, I'd like to point out something interesting.

Loki and Shirahoshi are both associated with a biblical figure, as pointed out before - but both are also associated with a god of a completely different culture.

Shirahoshi has a connected to Eve, but she's also the ancient weapon Poseidon, named after the God of the Sea.

Loki has a connection to Adam, and he's named after the Norse God of Mischief.

I have no idea what that might mean in reference to everything else, but I thought it was kinda neat.

So, with all that said - what could all of this possibly be leading up to?

Towards the Sun

Another topic I want to explore are the Jewel Tree Adam, Sun Tree Eve, and JoyBoy's promise.

Now, to start - both trees are shown to be extremely strange.

The Sun Tree Eve is noted for being able to somehow bring both sunlight and air down to the very bottom of the sea. No one knows why this is, just that it is.

Meanwhile, the Jewel Tree Adam has such an insanely perfect climate - enough so that it can support a vast amount of different environmental conditions - many of which that shouldn't even be able to coexist with each other. And yet it does.

As mentioned earlier, we already have a connection between Fishman Island and Elbaph, if we assume the Galleila Band built the Noah.

And JoyBoy made a promise to the mermaid princess of the Void Century - heavily implying that he promised to carry all of Fishman Island up to the sun using the Noah, and that it was specifically built for this very purpose.

So, I want to ask. What does that mean? Where was he going to take them exactly? Where would you go to take someone "To the sun"? Well. It could be Elbaph.

The fact that both places have a direct connection to Nika supports this idea.

JoyBoy, the person, wasn't from Elbaph. We know this because of Vegapunk's broadcast, where he says that JoyBoy's country of origin had extremely advanced technology - far more than even what he's capable of creating. And it's very heavily implied that the country no longer exists.

We know that JoyBoy ate the Nika fruit, because of Emett mistaking Gear 5 Luffy for JoyBoy, Vegapunk pointing out the similarities JoyBoy had in appearance to Elbaph's Nika, and Imu getting pissed after seeing Luffy in Gear 5 and screaming JoyBoy's name.

And it's implied that he promised to bring the people of Fishman Island towards the sun, using the Noah - a ship likely built by giants from Elbaph, using wood from their sacred Adam tree.

What better place for JoyBoy to take them than to Elbaph, the country that worships the Sun God Nika? The very same country that seems so readily willing to help them reach that sun that they long so desperately for?

Luffy made a promise to take Shirahoshi to a real forest one day, something she's longed to do for years. And Elbaph's climate can sustain the bubbles that mermaids use to move around - among other things. It can even create lakes so huge within it's branches, that they almost looks like a sea.

If the people of Fishman Island moved to Elbaph, then Shirahoshi would get to live in a giant tree, and be surrounded by forest for miles and miles. She, and her people, could finally experience all the natural wonders around the world that Elbaph provides, never again having to long for what they can't have.

They could all live within the branches of the Sun World - both literally and symbolically reaching the sun - and get to see the most beautiful view of the horizon that they could have ever dreamed of - every single day.

And - given the biblical symbolism from before - should this all come to pass, metaphorically, one could say that Adam provided Eve the means for which she could return to him in paradise.

Sovereigns of the Sea & Sky

With all that said, I wanna propose one last, final, kinda wild and out there theory.

To give a little review, here are some points I wanna explore and address:

Assuming that the two sovereigns are Loki and Shirahoshi, why is it important that they meet?

Why would it matter for the sovereign of the seas, and the sovereign of the skies to meet at all?

Why are Shirahoshi's powers inherently biological, while Loki has to eat a devil fruit?

How do their powers connect to the events of the Void Century?

Why did the previous Niddhoggr user freeze the Galleila Band?

Why did Imu call them a traitor?

And to start off, I would like to first describe the structure of the planet.

The whole world has a giant continent encircling it called the Red Line. Meanwhile, the Grand Line passes through it at a right angle, and it has two strips of sea besides it, separating it from the rest of the world.

The Grand Line is known for it's chaotic and crazy weather, and it's because of this that makes it such a dangerous place to live. And the Calm Belt is unusual, because it doesn't have any wind, and it's a breeding ground for Sea Kings. This makes it almost impossible to cross without getting killed, up until recently.

It's been revealed that, during the Void Century, there used to be other continents around the world. But some event caused by something or someone pushed them all into the ocean, causing the sea level to rise 200 meters.

The only known route to the One Piece is through the Grand Line, and we can assume this is fact because of Roger's crew finding it.

It's been pointed out before that the Red Line and Grand Line's designs feel very artificial.

Here is my theory.

The reason the Grand Line and Calm Belts exist is because the previous Poseidon and Niddhoggr fruit users created them.

The Grand Line is the only known route to the One Piece. The world government wants it to either be destroyed or never be found. They're willing to reshape the world for this goal.

And so, the Poseidon and Niddhoggr of the Void Century decided use their own strategy against them.

In order to protect the One Piece so that future generations had a chance at finding it without Imu/the government finding it first and destroying it, Poseidon used her powers to command the Sea Kings to permanently guard each side of the Grand Line. That's why it's a breeding ground for Sea Kings.

Meanwhile, Niddhoggr is a Zoan type devil fruit. And we know Zoan types can awaken, which allows the user to influence the physical area around them with their powers. The fruit itself allows the user to become a huge dragon with control over lightning, and combined with Ragnir, it can mess with and alter the weather.

The previous Niddhoggr user used their powers to get rid of the wind in the Calm Belts to make it even harder to pass through, and then permanently altered the weather on the Grand Line itself to make it completely chaotic and dangerous, as a detterant to keep Imu from finding the One Piece for as long as possible.

That's why Shirahoshi/Poseidon's powers are part of her from birth, while Loki/Niddhoggr had to eat a devil fruit. Because narratively, devil fruit users are rejected by the sea, so Shirahoshi had to be born with her powers. But only a devil fruit has the kind of reach necessary to change the weather on such a planetary scale.

And that's why it's so important for the sovereigns of the Sea and Skies to meet.

Because they're the only ones who can help reshape and reuinite the world once the time comes.

IN CONCLUSION

Anyway. So. Uhhhhh

Ok so I spent like 3 weeks on this and was losing my mind bc every time I thought I was done, I ended up finding something new to connect to something else that all connected back to Loki and Shirahoshi in some way, and each time that happened it added like another 1k words to this, and now this is the longest piece of text ive ever written, and if i get any of this right ill consider it a fucking miracle

I have no idea how to end this