Elbaph may be One Piece world's first civilization

Modified Nov 28, 2024 09:30 GMT

One Piece might make a huge revelation regarding the land of Elbaph (Image via Toei Animation).

The One Piece manga is currently developing the long-awaited Elbaph arc, which the fandom has expected for decades. There are a lot of speculations about what author Eiichiro Oda might reveal in this arc. Additionally, there is a theory that the land of the Giants could have been the first civilization in this series, which presents many questions.

This theory was presented by an X account named @merlinidc. The X user explains that the One Piece author used a specific set of animals in chapter 1131 to represent the beginnings of humanity and how the Giants were perhaps the first real civilization. Moreover, this user also suggests that civilization in this series was created by intergalactic intervention, pointing out the moon and the Birka race.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series and reflects the author's opinions.

Explaining why the Elbaph Giants could be the first civilization in One Piece

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X user @merlinidc starts the theory by focusing on the statements of chapter 1131 of the manga, where it says that the mountains of Elbaph have existed "for tens of thousands of years," which already reveals that this land has existed since ancient times. Moreover, the theory points out that the giant animals known as the “Great and Deadly Sentinels” were chosen because of the inspiration behind them and how they represent human evolution.

The giant ape could be inspired by the Gigantopithecus, which was considered a "Dragon Bone" in real life and was thought to be a part of human evolution. On the other hand, the wolf could be inspired by the Dire Wolf, with these creatures linked to human evolution, having potentially competed against early humans for prey. Then there is the Cave Bear, which, according to research, was worshipped by the Neanderthals a long time ago.

The serpent could represent the Titanoboa, which is supposed to still exist and be an ancient race of animals, and the Wolly Mammoth, which has always been associated with a bygone era of ancient human beings. It could be argued that author Eiichiro Oda could have chosen these creatures to represent the Underworld of Elbaph and feature creatures that have been forgotten outside of this land.

More details of this theory

Loki, the Elbaph prince, as seen in the manga (Image via Shueisha).

The theory explains that the Ancient Kingdom people were responsible for the creation of biological life in One Piece, and the first human could be named Adam, hence why the name of the Treasure Tree Adam. Perhaps the first biological beings were giants, but they were seen as failures because they were too big and harder to move around.

It was already confirmed that the Treasure Tree Adam could connect with the sky islands, which could have been done by design. There is a possibility that the Birka and the people of the moon could have reached the planet at some point and chose to do experiments, with them being interpreted in history as the Ancient Kingdom.

Final thoughts

The One Piece manga currently has a lot of business and the Giants of Elbaph being the first true civilization could be an interesting twist. It could also connect them with the Ancient Kingdom and perhaps the war between Joy Boy and Imu, although all of that is mere fan speculation.

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Edited by Shreya Das