Who is Louis Arnot in One Piece? Explored

Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece series has now become a staple of pop culture, and it’s impossible to overlook the franchise’s incredible worldbuilding as one of the main reasons for its overwhelming success. With its myriad of different characters, organizations, and locations, the setting of Oda’s pirate-themed story is a brilliant creation that truly gives the feeling of a lifelike, ever-evolving fictional world.

Each element is placed in a specific context, leaving nothing to chance as even the most trivial particular can provide valuable insight into major plot twists. This builds up a compelling narrative that keeps fans interested and adds more depth to the lore of the series. One Piece chapter 1132 once again emphasizes the mangaka’s astounding ability to pick up on seemingly minor details at a later date to enrich the narrative of the story.

Finally resuming the manga’s serialization after a two-week hiatus due to Oda’s health issues, One Piece chapter 1132 surprised the fandom by mentioning the name of Louis Arnot, a mysterious character first cited in the series more than a thousand chapters earlier. He was an adventurer and an author whose writing was featured in Brag Men.

Read on to find out everything that is known about this enigmatic individual whose name may probably ring a bell to One Piece’s most seasoned fans.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to chapter 1132 and reflects the author's opinions.

One Piece chapter 1132 links Elbaph to Little Garden through Louis Arnot's enigmatic words

Louis Arnot and the secrets of Brag Men

Nami remembering the book (Image via Shueisha)

Louis Arnot never directly appeared in One Piece. His name was first mentioned in chapter 115 when the Straw Hat Pirates arrived at Little Garden. When the crew landed on the island, Nami remembered hearing the name “Little Garden” in a certain book, the title of which was later revealed to be Brag Men.

Brag Men contains many tales about the Grand Line’s strangest places based on a collection of journals written by famous explorers and adventurers. As the title suggests, the stories featured in Brag Men are bizarre and outlandish, which is why their authors are considered to be overly imaginative liars.

That said, the Ohara scholars valued Brag Men enough to keep it in the Tree of Knowledge, the 5,000-year-old three they used as a library. When the World Government issued a Buster Call on Ohara, the scholars managed to save some of their books before perishing in the destruction of the island, and Brag Men was one of them.

Little Garden (Image via Toei Animation)

The book was later mass-produced, becoming famous all over the world, which explains why Nami owned a copy of it. This is how fans first heard the name of Louis Arnot. His writings were featured in Brag Men as he was the explorer who discovered and named Little Garden. One Piece chapter 115 directly quoted Arnot’s words:

“To its inhabitants, the island truly is a little garden. Therefore, let us call it Little Garden, land of the Giants.”

Louis Arnot named Little Garden based on the presence of the Giants, and the only members of the Giant Race ever seen on the island are Dorry and Brogy, who began dueling there about a hundred years before the present narration. This implies that Arnot visited Little Garden less than a century ago.

Brag Men was among the books kept and salvaged by the Ohara scholars (Image via Toei Animation)

The presence of the Giants in Little Garden was an established fact, which might suggest that the stories told in Brag Men aren’t so untrue after all. At least, the part written by Arnot isn’t.

In the SBS of volume 42, Eiichiro Oda described the adventures of the Straw Hat crew as a looking glass into the tales contained in Brag Men and said that it’s up to the readers to follow them and then decide whether the stories in the book are true or not.

This is particularly interesting as Brag Men was included among the books that the Ohara scholars deemed important enough to protect and, respectively, the World Government considered dangerous enough to destroy. Moreover, Louis Arnot’s name was mentioned again in the story, more than a thousand chapters after the first time, and in a way that is just as intriguing.

The enigmatic quote in One Piece chapter 1132

Louis Arnot and the book Brag Men may have seemed like minor details lost in the vast sea that is the lore of the series, but they made an unexpected comeback in the latest chapter of Oda's manga. Titled Adventure in Elbaph, One Piece chapter 1132 resumes the narration of the Straw Hat crew’s odyssey in the fabled homeland of the Giants.

The chapter, which will be officially released on Shueisha’s MANGA Plus website and app on December 2, 2024, sees the Straw Hat Pirates reuniting as they are officially welcomed to Elbaph. According to One Piece chapter 1132’s spoilers and raw scans, Dorry and Brogy explain the geography of the island to the Straw Hats.

As a marvelous double spread shows Dorry and Brogy’s native village, which Luffy and the others are extremely touched to see, some text boxes appear. They describe Elbaph’s imposing handsomeness, claiming that no world would do justice to its panorama.

Dorry and Brogy (Image via Toei Animation)

On the last page of the chapter, the writings are revealed to be part of another tale by Louis Arnot, implying that the explorer visited Elbaph in addition to Little Garden. After presenting Arnot’s comments on the majestic size of Elbaph’s trees and animals, the issue shows the silhouette of an unknown person walking through the forest of the island.

As if the appearance of this mysterious individual – whom, due to their alleged appearance, many fans have identified as “Golden Lion” Shiki – didn’t add enough suspense to the situation, the chapter concludes with Louis Arnot’s even more cryptic words about Elbaph:

“However, if I am to record only one thing about the mysterious land of Elbaph, the place where everything is huge... I wish for you to remember my words somewhere in the back of your mind... do not prolong your stay in this land for too long.”

Big things are about to happen in Elbaph (Image via Shueisha)

The reason for Arnot’s ominous words remains to be seen, but they may potentially hint at some dark secret that is hidden within Elbaph. When Arnot’s tales first appeared, the Giants were introduced into the story. It’s probably no coincidence that Arnot’s stories reappear now that the Straw Hats are entering the very home of the formidable Giant Race. Perhaps, the adventures of the legendary explorer are more significant than what was previously thought.

One Piece chapter 115 was titled, Little Garden of Adventure and ended with a quote from Louis Arnot’s tale in Brag Men. Likewise, One Piece chapter 1132 is titled Adventure in Elbaph and ends with another quote from Louis Arnot. Only the following chapters will reveal whether this is simply a self-citation by Eiichiro Oda or has a deeper meaning.