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One Piece Chapter 1038 officially released on Sunday, January 30, and with it brought many questions about a particular Straw Hat’s future. The chapter paints Zoro in a life-or-death situation as a strange skeleton stands over him, seemingly preparing to swing his scythe down onto Zoro.
While there are several theories floating around the community right now on what could be happening, evidence seems to mount towards the skeleton being an embodiment of Enma. Fans and leakers are pointing to consistencies in certain design aspects across the series as the theory’s major evidence.
This article breaks down the new evidence for Enma being Zoro’s mysterious visitor in One Piece Chapter 1038
Evidence mounts for Zoro’s One Piece Chapter 1038 skeletal stranger being an embodiment of one of his swords, most likely Enma
Evidence for Enma’s embodiment being the skeleton
As previously mentioned, fans recently saw Zoro finding himself in a sticky situation as of One Piece Chapter 1038. The Straw Hat Swordsman is unable to move after having beaten King due to the effects of the Mink medicine. What’s even more concerning is the seemingly fatal situation Zoro finds himself in, with a mysterious skeleton seemingly preparing to swing a scythe down on him.
While fans understandably assumed this was Brook, more and more evidence seems to be disputing this fact and other guesses. Reputable One Piece leaker and Twitter user @Orojapan1 recently highlighted design similarities between the skeleton’s aura and the aura of Kitetsu swords when discussed during Loguetown.
Another One Piece fan followed this up by pointing to the same similarity being present when Shimotsuki Kozaburo discusses the personality all swords have. While these similarities could be coincidental, there’s very little author Eiichiro Oda includes in his story that stays purely coincidental. As a result, it’s fair to assume a pattern is being established here for a reason.
While many seem to be asserting that the skeleton is the Sandai Kitetsu’s embodiment, this wouldn’t be consistent with the importance placed on Enma thus far in Wano. Furthermore, Shimotsuki Kozaburo even stated himself that Enma was named after the King of the Underworld. This further establishes an evidential pattern for the scythe-wielding skeleton being Enma’s embodiment as opposed to Sandai Kitetsu’s.
The importance of Zoro confronting Enma’s embodiment and earning full control over the sword is integral to the story. It’s entirely possible this is the first step on Zoro’s journey of completing a Black Blade, which would be his first Mihawk-level feat in the series. At the very least, it’ll likely lead to Zoro being able to wield Enma as effortlessly as Oden was seen to do in his flashback.
Wrapping up
While many fans are steadfast in their opinion that the enigmatic skeleton is Brook, it’s much more likely Zoro is face-to-face with Enma’s embodiment in One Piece Chapter 1038. While Brook isn’t necessarily a bad guess, the Straw Hat Musician has his hands full with protecting Robin right now.
Furthermore, One Piece Chapter 1038 has already established Franky as looking for Zoro. It’s highly unlikely multiple Straw Hats will converge on Zoro’s location, even if the Onigashima Raid is nearly over at this point.
