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With One Piece having just entered its endgame, Eiichiro Oda is finally starting to uncover all the secrets that he teased fans with. The latest installment of the series is trending, having seemingly revealed the real appearance of Dr. Vegapunk, the greatest scientist at the disposal of the World Government and one of the most mysterious characters in the One Piece world.
With the Strawhat Pirates having arrived on Egghead Island, Vegapunk's place, further revelations about the genius are about to come. On an island near Egghead, some marines are also present. While that is not surprising, given that Vegapunk works for the World Government, these sailors are members of SWORD, the secret group within the Marines. Follow this thread to learn everything about it.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to Chapter 1061 and reflects the opinions of the writer.
One Piece 1061 puts the SWORD group under the spotlight, again
What is SWORD and why does it have a feud with CP0?
The SWORD unit is an organization within the Navy itself. Known as the Marine Headquarters Secret Special Force, its leader appears to be X Drake. SWORD's objectives and purpose are yet to be disclosed to the readers. The group's operations seem to involve undercover missions to monitor the Four Emperors' activities, eventually discussing urgent developments.
The Navy is the World Government's main military sea force, tasked with law enforcement, international security, and military operations. Despite being Marines, the members of SWORD are seemingly uninformed of operations and other covert activities implemented by Cipher Pols, secret agencies directly employed by the World Government to conduct investigations and assassinations.
Moreover, the SWORD name clearly contrasts with the name of the CP0, the mightiest of all Cipher Pols, whose full name is Cipher Pol Aigis Zero. The word "Aigis" comes from the word "Aegis," meaning "Shield" in ancient Greek. As a result, there appears to be manifest opposition between the sword and the shield, hinting at a similar contrast between the two secret organizations.
To communicate, SWORD members use code words to verify secure channels and try to be wary of pirates. However, they don't seem to put much confidence in Cipher Pol agents, or even in their fellow marines as well. Surprisingly enough, even Admiral Kizaru, despite his high rank within the Navy, was not aware of Drake still being part of the Marine when he met him and the other Supernovas at Sabaody.
Who are the members of SWORD?
At the moment, there are five confirmed members of the organization: X Drake, Koby, Helmeppo, Prince Grus, and Hibari. It seems that the officer in charge of the unit is Drake. After joining the Navy, he pretended to quit being a marine, and feigned to be a pirate, as a cover-up for his espionage activities. Before the time skip, he became one of the Eleven Supernovas of the Worst Generation.
During the time skip, Drake infiltrated the Beasts Pirates, pretending to join Kaido's side as one of his Flying Six. After being exposed, he allied with Luffy, Zoro and the others during the events of One Piece's Wano Arc.
Drake prioritizes the mission over anything else, acting as a serious and honorable individual. When Apoo wanted to invite him into forming an alliance to take down the victor of the war, he refused, openly displaying his distrust in the proposal. Later, they reluctantly teamed up to take on the CP0 agents who attacked them. At one point Apoo left, and Drake was defeated by CP0.
Drake ate the Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model: Allosaurus, earning him the ability to transform into a carnivorous dinosaur. He is also a skilled dual wielder with a sword and a four-bladed ax. In Onigashima, Drake easily defeated one of the Numbers and showed impressive physical strength, stamina, and tolerance to pain. However, he was no match for the CP0 agents.
Koby is a Marine captain. An old acquaintance of Luffy and Zoro from the East Blue Saga, he was inspired by them to follow his dreams. Aiming to become an Admiral, Koby joined the Navy together with his friend Helmeppo. The two trained hard under the supervision of Monkey D. Garp, the legendary marine who fought on par with Gol D. Roger.
Garp's training has helped Koby and Helmeppo improve immensely, to the point that they have become remarkable fighters. Koby not only improved his strength, but also his mental fortitude, growing into an individual who is not afraid to put his life on the line for the sake of what he feels is right. This is evidenced by his behavior during the Paramount War, where he stood up to stop the senseless bloodshed.
Koby's fighting skills are most likely worth a higher rank in the Navy. He has shown to possess impressive speed and physical strength, and to be an excellent swimmer who can move very fast even when underwater. A master of the Rokushiki martial arts techniques, Koby is a very advanced user of the Observation Haki, having an innate predisposition for this ability.
During the time skip, Koby was involved in the Rocky Port Incident. On the issue, he played a prominent role, saving many civilian lives and enabling Blackbeard to defeat former Rocks Pirates member Ochoku. Amidst the Wano Arc, X Drake contacted Koby to update him on the progress of his mission and the events related to the alliance between Big Mom and Kaido.
Koby headed for Amazon Lily to capture Boa Hancock, following the abolition of the Seven Warlords of the Sea system. Unfortunately for him, Blackbeard also arrived on the island. He defeated Boa and was determined to steal her Devil Fruit Power. With Koby unsuccessfully trying to negotiate, the situation was saved by the sudden appearance of Silvers Rayleigh, the man hailed as the "Dark King."
Rayleigh's outstanding reputation was enough to intimidate Blackbeard, who gave up his intent and left the island. Roger's former right-hand man acted as a mediator for the situation. In exchange for being freed, Hancock restored the Marines and the members of the Blackbeard Pirates she pietrified, and all the contenders left the island. However, during their getaway, they abducted Koby.
As a result of the aforementioned events, two of the five confirmed members of SWORD are temporarily out of the game, with Drake having to heal the serious injuries he suffered during the Wano Arc and Koby being detained at Blackbeard's hands. As shown in One Piece chapter 1061, the remaining three, Helmeppo, Hibari and Prince Grus, all gathered at the G-14 Marine base.
The latest One Piece chapter hinted at more development
One Piece 1061 shows Helmeppo being extremely worried for Koby's well-being. He was joined in his struggle by Hibari, another young officer. She even started crying, mentioning that Koby has done a lot for her in the past. However, their superior officer, Rear Admiral Prince Grus, appears to be very level-headed, refuting their requests and suggesting to be more calm and reasonable.
Grus is a noticeably powerful officer. He was able to easily defeat Gotti, the second strongest subordinate under Capone Gang Bege of the Eleven Supernovas. However, he is not overconfident. Instead, he is a patient individual who obeys the usual Marine protocols and avoids unnecessary recklessness.
Having not regained contact with Drake yet, Grus affirmed that they couldn't properly operate. He rejected Helmeppo and Hibari's requests to deploy the Seraphim Unit and invade Beehive, Blackbeard's place, to rescue Koby. Grus suggested that they calm themselves down and wait, to better assess the situation.
What's interesting is that other Marine officers were also there. After the events of the Punk Hazard Arc, Smoker and Tashigi headed for Egghead Island. One Piece 1061 showed Tashigi being at the G-14 Marine base, which means that it is most likely that Smoker is around as well.
Considering this, many One Piece fans speculated that vice admiral Smoker went to meet Dr. Vegapunk. Realizing that he couldn't keep up anymore with Luffy and the others, he may have asked the scientist for assistance in becoming stronger, and he may have asked him for some sort of enhancement.
Smoker knows that he can't protect justice if he lacks power, so he would probably be ready to swallow his pride and let Vegapunk's science help him achieve the needed strength. Smoker is one of the very few Marine members to follow his own perception of justice, rather than the order of his superiors. Sometimes he even allied with pirates, for the greater goal of saving innocents.
Having repeatedly expressed his discontent with the World Government and having a strong moral code, Smoker seems to be the perfect profile for a SWORD member. In fact, many One Piece fans believe that he could be revealed to be among the ranks of the organization.
Other possible members of SWORD to be revealed in the future
Many One Piece fans have argued that SWORD lacks the needed strength to operate against its enemies, whether they are the most powerful pirates or the World Government itself. While valuable fighters in their own right, Drake, Koby and the others don't seem strong enough to fulfill the organization's goal, should they be opposed by fighters above a certain level of power.
For this reason, fans speculated that not only Smoker, but many more powerful Marine officers, some of them being among the strongest characters in the entire One Piece series, will be disclosed in the future as secret members of SWORD, and possibly its true leaders.
Some theories assume that there are a number of marines who disagree with the system and how things are run. These marines aren't necessarily friendly to pirates, but believe in Moral Justice, rather than in Akainu's Absolute Justice. With Koby, a SWORD member, being a direct subordinate of Monkey D. Garp, it appears very feasible to think that Garp is at least aware of the secret unit.
Garp is an extremely prominent individual and seems to be a good person. Thus, it will be interesting to see where his allegiances lie. He apparently works for the World Government, but may not be willing to fight his own grandson, Luffy. Garp was already torn about which side he had to take during the Paramount War, with his indecision indirectly fostering the death of Portgas D. Ace, his other nephew.
Many One Piece fans assumed that Garp's best friend within the Marine, Sengoku "The Buddha," is also a part of SWORD. The former Fleet Admiral is no stranger to covert investigation and espionage, and is an individual with a strong sense of duty and justice. Moreover, Sengoku is the person who raised Drake, the current SWORD member, when the latter was a child.
Admiral Fujitora could be another member of SWORD. Unlike most marines in the series, he only cares about doing the right thing, protecting the innocents and administering justice. This led him to strongly despise the Seven Warlords of the Sea system. Fujitora was even willing to swallow his pride and let Strawhats take credit for bringing down Doflamingo and freeing Dressrosa.
Fujitora is a kind man with a pure heart, to the point he willingly blinded himself to stop seeing the world's evilness. If the Marines were to be reformed by the end of the One Piece series, in most fans' opinion, he would be a great candidate to lead the charge.
While most fans assume that SWORD is an anti-World Government squad within the Marines, some disagree on the issue of the group trying to put up a rebellion against Absolute Justice. On the contrary, the true leader of SWORD could be none other than Admiral Akainu, the current Marine Fleet Admiral.
Some One Piece fans noticed that Akainu has a sword-themed tattoo on his arm, and suggested this could be a hint that he is a part of the organization. Akainu strongly despises the World Government, so it wouldn't be surprising if he was secretly working to overthrow the Five Elders.
While SWORD seems to have a positive connotation, Akainu doesn't appear to be a redeemable character. He is ruthless, to the point of having killed many civilians from Ohara in cold blood, plus some of his own soldiers, without any regret. Moreover, it wouldn't make much sense if Koby, who Akainu tried to kill because of his insubordination, was now his underling in a secret organization.
Former Admiral Aokiji is another character often involved in theories about the SWORD group. Despite his status as an Admiral, he is a forgiving and laid-back guy who enjoys cycling and napping more than anything else. Moreover, he has Garp and Sengoku as his mentors, making it very feasible for him to share the same ideals as them. If they are a part of SWORD, Aokiji likely is as well.
First appointed by Sengoku himself to be his successor for the Fleet Admiral office, Aokiji was opposed by Admiral Akainu. The two fought a fierce battle, which lasted ten days. Ultimately, Aokiji ended up losing the fight. After that outcome, he left the Marines and started an unspecified affiliation with the Blackbeard Pirates.
Aokiji saw Akainu as excessively cruel, to the point of being detrimental to the Marines’ cause of preserving peace. On the other hand, the latter saw him as too soft and lazy to put a true end to evil. As a result, their tremendous battle occurred. However, when Akainu ultimately ended up as the winner, despite his usual ruthless behavior, he decided to spare his colleague's life.
What possibly happened was that after their brutal fight, Akainu realized that, despite his usual relaxed attitude, Aokiji also possesses a strong sense of duty and justice. Seeing him ready to die for his beliefs, Akainu started to respect him, which is why he didn’t kill him. Instead, he recruited him into SWORD and charged him with the most dangerous mission: to infiltrate the Blackbeard Pirates.
This, of course, goes with the assumption that Akainu is the leader of SWORD. Besides, after defeating him in battle, there is no way Akainu would let Aokiji go rogue and possibly sully the name of the Marines.
Final thoughts
A widely shared opinion among One Piece fans is that SWORD represents a faction within the Navy, gathering all the officers who are disappointed with the organization's allegiance to the World Government, and wish to change it from the inside. However, at the moment, this is nothing more than a conjecture that the next installments of the One Piece series will confirm or disprove.
Fans can't wait to find out which other Marine officers are a part of SWORD, and to learn the group's true purpose. With chapter 1061 revolving around some SWORD members, it is likely that One Piece author Eiichiro Oda is about to reveal something more about the organization.
