One Piece fans have “proof” major character was nerfed
At the end of the day, the writer controls who wins in the big fight in stories – but fans may be catching onto this One Piece character being nerfed.
As we approach One Piece’s final saga, the power-scaling is ramping up with massive threats clashing head-to-head with the Straw Hat crew. This means the crew feels very vulnerable when their captain isn’t around, so any villain not active needs a reason to do so, even if it is incredibly subtle.
While powerful punches are being thrown, a particular fan has felt a character that has made their presence known on Egghead Island has been nerfed in terms of power for a reason that takes a significant amount of evidence to justify from a narrative perspective.
Warning: this article contains major spoilers for One Piece chapter 1104 and the Egghead Island arc.
One Piece fans claim that Admiral Kizaru is nerfed for Egghead Island
When Kizaru arrived on the scene, fans were gobsmacked by the sudden reappearance of this admiral. Reddit user jibatbalvonas says he’s been justifiably nerfed during the chaos with Bartholomew Kuma.
During Egghead Island, we get a good look into Bartholomew Kuma’s backstory with his daughter Jewelry Bonney, Kizaru, and his adopted nephew Sentomaru as they all become close with Vegapunk in this makeshift family. Leading to Kizaru’s wavering in his fight against the group; this internal turmoil leads to Kizaru seeming like he’s been heavily underpowered during Egghead Island.
Naturally, Kizaru is very attached to Sentomaru, Bonney, Vegapunk, and Kuma. He is exceptionally hesitant towards fighting everyone in the situation, even Luffy, with whom he has no qualms about fighting. The Elder Saturn even calls out his sluggishness. Kizaru wavers whether to hurt his friends even when it’s an order, leading to a significantly nerfed combat showcase by the previously imposing admiral from Saboady Archipelago and Marineford.
They add that a prominent theme of fighting in One Piece is to be certain without hesitation, uncertainty, doubt, guilt, wavering, or hesitancy. All of these things play a major role in making a person significantly weaker in One Piece.
It’s a well-established rule in One Piece manga, but readers overlook it or downplay it as if it’s not that important.” Whether readers actually do this or not is another story, but they further back up their school of thought significantly.
Knowing the situation and the proposed outcome can help when it comes to willpower in a battle. Backing them up are mentor characters continually reassuring this message and using the fight against CP9 in Water 7 as an example where the crew was easily beaten because they hesitated due to not knowing what’s happening with Robin. After figuring everything out, they can finally put up a fair fight with a clear conscience.
In Chapter 1104 of One Piece, Luffy has vanished from the scene as Vegapunk appeals to Kizaru’s humanity, which is very reluctant to personally keep the fight going; Saturn calls in the infamous Buster Call, authorizing the destruction of Egghead Island and all that inhabit it. This may be the cover Kizaru needs to assist Vegapunk, or is he thankful he doesn’t have to do the deed himself anymore? Only time will tell.
