Summary
Ever since he was introduced in the initial chapters of the Elbaf arc, Loki has already shot up as one of the most interesting characters in all ofOne Piece. At the beginning, he was portrayed as a ruthless and mischievous villain who wanted nothing more than to spread destruction everywhere he went, which he was able to do unchallenged due to the awesome power of his legendary Devil Fruit.
However, as the arc progressed, a newOne Piecefan theory claimed that there must bemore depth to the Accursed Princethan could be gathered at first glance. Currently, it seems that fans were correct, as Loki seems to be a far more nuanced character who isn’t as evil as he wants people to believe. Because of this, many are convinced that he will eventually become the hero of Elbaf, so let’s see how this could be the case.
Story Arc
Elbaf
Loki was a character whose entire birth and existence were preceded by terrible omens. Even before he was born, a fortune-teller prophecized that he was going to be followed by grave misfortune, which ended up being true since the Royal Steed of the Elbaf family died, with his mother eventually passing away shortly after his birth. These events convincedthe Giants of Elbafthat this baby would be incredibly evil and dangerous.
As he grew up, Loki reinforced the ill omens associated with him, since he ended up being an incredibly mischievous child, constantly causing carnage and destruction wherever he went. Because of this, he became known as the ‘Accursed Prince’ and was avoided by all other Giants. However, once he grew up, he eventually rebelled against his father and presumably killed him, cementing himself as Elbaf’s greatest villain.
Why Loki Will End Up As Elbaf’s Greatest Savior
The Prince’s Redemption Arc
To understand why some fans claim that Loki will eventually become a hero for his country, it must first be shown exactly why he was demonized in the first place. Even before he was born, Loki as a character was always spoken about with a ton of superstition, causingmany of the residents of Elbafto form opinions on him before he even did anything.
Because of this, the residents of the country alienated Loki in his youth, which inadvertently set Loki down the path of becoming the Accursed Prince since he likely found no other avenue. He desired companionship which he never got from his people due to their superstitions and preconceived notions about him, prompting him to befriend the creatures of Elbaf’s underworld, which were already thought to be evil by the Giants.
No man chooses to be chained. And I am no exception in this regard. I would rather be free.
In Chapter 1143 of the manga, we even see Loki admit to Hajrudin and the others that he didn’t kill Harald, which shows that there is much more nuance to the character than him simply being the embodiment of evil that he wants to portray himself as. Due to this, fans are convinced that he will have a great amount of development in the Elbaf arc which will likely end up with him becoming one of the saviors of the island. At the current moment, there is very little that the heroes can do against theforces of Imu and their Demon Army.
When Luffy first met Loki at the start of the arc, he opted to help him break out of his imprisonment at the base of the Adam Tree. Although Luffy is aloof about pretty much everything and is outright stupid at times, he has always been a great judge of character and has a great sense of people’s intentions, something which fans have picked up on multiple times in the series. His willingness to break Loki out of his imprisonment is corroborated by the mysterious Mosa, who stated that Loki is a kind soul underneath all that bravado.
These points, along with Loki revealing that he didn’t kill his father in cold blood, imply a much more layered backstory for the Prince, one that will help the heroes against Imu and their Demon Army. At the current moment, Imu has arrived on Elbaf and no one can stand in their way, with the Gods' Knights and the Demon Army wreaking havoc upon the country to bring itinto the fold of the World Government. Even though the Monster Trio haven’t made their debut in the fight, their battles are quite apparent.
Here, Luffy in his Gear 5 form will likely fight Imu, signifying the pseudo ‘reunion’ between Joyboy and Imu which has been 800 years in the making. Seeing how Sommers and Kilingham are still active, Zoro and Sanji will likely face them, leaving the Demon Army itself and the apparitions from Kilingham’s Devil Fruit left to deal with. This is where Loki comes in, since he will likely be charged with keeping the entire Demon Army at bay with his Nika fruit powers alongside Hajrudin and the other members of the New Giant Warrior Pirates.
This would serve as the perfect opportunity for Loki to become the hero of the land he has historically been demonized by. When Loki fainted, Gerd commented that it’d be months before he would be back at full strength, so this casual nerf gives the perfect opportunity for him to have a meaningful battle against the demonic version of Dorry and Brogy, where he will finallydebut his legendary Nika fruitand save the island of Elbaf.
