The creator of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, hides many clues in his manga. For example, he hints at events in the future or introduces important characters before their first appearance. Did you know that one of the most popular characters was actually seen 11 years before his first appearance?
Attention, spoiler: We are talking in this article about an important “family member” of Luffy who is part of the Revolutionary Army. If you haven’t reached the Dressrosa arc yet, you might encounter spoilers here.
Who is it about? We are talking about Sabo. He is a “blood brother” of Luffy who tragically perished at sea during his childhood. Luffy assumed that his “brother” died in that incident, but he reappeared as one of the participants during the Coliseum battles.
Sabo’s first appearance was actually in chapter 583, which was released in 2010. However, the character was already seen in two chapters from 1999. Eiichiro Oda knew 11 years before Sabo’s actual appearance that he wanted to incorporate the character into the story in the future.
One Piece is now so successful that there is even a live-action series on Netflix:
So subtly did Eiichiro Oda hint at Sabo’s existence
How was Sabo seen? In chapters 98 and 99, the events in Logue Town were discussed. In the city, Luffy and his crew arrive at the square where Gol D. Roger was executed. The events will also be featured in season 2 of the Netflix series.
In the images, among the many people, there is one person with light hair, a black cylinder, and a black cloak. The clothing is Sabo’s trademark, as reddit user JasonNMP shows:
It even makes sense that Sabo was in Logue Town at that time. We already know from the manga that Monkey D. Dragon was in the same city at that time and saved Luffy from Smoker. Since both hold high positions in the Revolutionary Army, it is likely that Sabo traveled with his leader.
Luffy is captured by Buggy in the chapters and is supposed to be executed on the gallows, just like Roger. At that time, however, Sabo had lost his memory. He could only remember Luffy again when he had to read the death notice of his other “blood brother”.
What do readers think? In the comments of the reddit thread, there are some fans who do not believe that Eiichiro Oda plans that far ahead. But upon closer inspection, they notice that Sabo indeed stands out from the crowd due to his clothing.
Perhaps Oda designed the character early but only later gave him his backstory. Fans hope that this topic will be addressed in a SBS. In that format, fans can ask Eiichiro Oda questions that he will answer.
There is also a funny fun fact that Oda himself revealed: 2 pirate crews are to blame for One Piece having over 1,000 episodes – “I regret it a little”
