“I have to put brakes on him”: Eiichiro Oda Reveals the One Piece Character That Gives Him the Most Trouble While Trying to Advance the Story
Eiichiro Oda has proven time and time again that he is one of the best mangakas, establishing his name worldwide with his magnum opus, One Piece, which continues to be serialized despite starting two decades ago. As One Piece enters its final arc, fans are reluctant to let go of the series, depicting how impactful the series has been in their lives. Over the course of two decades, Oda has built a sprawling world with hundreds of places and thousands of characters.
While Oda loves the story and characters to bits and pieces, there are certain aspects of the series that give him a headache. Oda has spoken at length about the things that he has found difficulty with while tackling One Piece and of course, the characters which trouble him the most. Out of the thousands, there is one particular character Oda has singled out for being too bothersome, and it is none other than Luffy.
Eiichiro Oda Reveals Monkey D. Luffy Is The Most Bothersome Character
One Piece is riddled with iconic characters with distinct personalities. There is no doubt that Oda is a master of character writing, with decades of experience under his belt. One Piece’s characters are one of the many aspects why viewers have stuck around for so long. Although the series has some really good action-packed scenes, it is not known for the flashiest of fights. What makes One Piece so distinctive is the storytelling, worldbuilding, and meticulous attention to detail in both plot and characters.
This, naturally means that Oda had to handle his characters precariously or risk losing all the characterization he took decades to build. Of course, as the story continues, it is going to be even more difficult for Oda to make sure his characters stay in line. This is not an easy feat, considering he has more than thousands of characters in the series. Moreover, keeping your characters in line is a difficult task when your protagonist is one Monkey D. Luffy, and according to Eiichiro Oda, the most bothersome one. Here’s what Oda had to say about Luffy and his character over the years:
“Luffy bothers me the most. I have to put brakes on him with obstacles, or he’ll soon defeat the villain. My characters act as if they have a will of their own. When I forced them to move for the sake of the story, my audience complained.“
Luffy is the heart and soul of the series and there would be no One Piece without him. Of course, Oda does not necessarily mean that Luffy is difficult to deal with. It is simply that his character is so well-written, it takes a life on its own and Oda often has to put brakes on him so the story does not take a completely different direction than intended. It is possible for an author to make a character do anything. However, the author needs to keep in check whether the action the character is taking is in line with their personality.
Eiichiro Oda Had To Nerf Luffy On Many Occasions
Luffy is a boisterous character who is not afraid to take challenges head-on. However, this makes things difficult for Oda, especially post two-year time skip. Luffy is way too powerful at this point and it is quite a challenge for him to stand in front of a villain and defeat them immediately. But you can leave it to Oda to find an intriguing obstacle and nerf Luffy accordingly in the different arcs so that the events make more sense to the viewers.
This problem has been apparent from the beginning of the post-time skip of One Piece. In Fishman Island, Luffy could have defeated Hody immediately. Luffy could have easily wrapped up the arc even after Hody consumed the steroids. However, Oda had Luffy earn the trust of all the Fishmen first, which is more in line with his personality and also serves to make the plot more interesting.
By doing that, Oda skilfully shot down two birds with a single stone. This instance also highlights the problem Luffy’s powerful character poses for the creator. Similarly, in Punk Hazard, there was no actual threat to Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates, yet, Oda had to come up with interesting trials that would delay Luffy from defeating the enemies too quickly.
One Piece is available to read via VIZ Media. The series can be read by the fans for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app.
