What is the Titanomachy?
In Greek mythology, the Titanomachy was a ten-year battle fought by Titans (older generation of gods) against the Olympians (younger generation of gods). This battle culminated in Zeus, the sky god, sending some Titans to Tartarus, a deep abyss in the underworld.
References from the Titanomachy
But what does the Titanomachy has to do with One Piece? Well, you might have already connected the obvious dots, but… it seems the Titanomachy really has inspired this whole Kaidou epic, more than you can see at first, from the point where Luffy and Law agree to take him down, to 1050 where Luffy is declared victor.
Time span
This is probably the most mind-blowing reference from this list. Remember how I mentioned the Titanomachy was a ten-year battle? Well, in chapter 668, Luffy agrees to join Law in the plan to defeat Kaidou. That chapter was released on May 28, 2012.
On chapter 1050, Luffy is finally declared victor, putting an end to the plan. The unofficial release of this happened more or less on May 27, 2022, while the official release is scheduled to be on May 30, 2022. If you ignore the really insignificant difference of two days, you may notice it’s been exactly TEN YEARS since their alliance started.
Wow, Oda is really a genius. Even if it was not related to the Titanomachy at all, it was really incredible how he managed to manipulate Wano’s pace, as that special date got closer and closer, in order to match both releases (yes, that’s how I think he pulled this off).
Olympians vs. Titans
The Titanomachy is all about different generations of gods clashing against each other. Basically, it’s the older generation, the Titans, against the younger generation, the Olympians. In One Piece, it’s mentioned all the time about how Luffy, Law and Co. are the new generation, and how they’ll take down the old generation (Kaidou, Big Mom, Shanks…).
In the Greek mythology, Zeus fought alongside folks like Poseidon and Hades. Hades is also known as Pluton. Have you heard those names before somewhere else? Let’s talk about that later.
Tartarus
On chapter 1050, Kaidou and Big Mom were sent straight underground, falling in a magma pool. You know what lives underground and looks like hell? Tartarus.
Tartarus is the place where Zeus imprisoned some of the Titans after the Titanomachy. Considering our analogy, Kaidou and Big Mom are exactly those Titans, being sent to a hellish place just like Tartarus.
Zeus
As coincidences sum up, some evidences are a little more explicit. I’m talking about Luffy’s representation as Zeus. At some point in the battle, Luffy tries to strike Kaidou with a lightning. That’s cute and all, but what’s the purpose of that scene? At that point we already knew Luffy could turn things into rubber due to his awakening. Maybe Oda wanted us to see it?
Based on these evidences, what can we speculate? Although the Greek mythology is obviously not mapped 1:1 with One Piece’s story, we can speculate some subjects by doing some parallels .
Poseidon and Pluton
In the Titanomachy, Poseidon and Hades were allied to Zeus. Hades is also known as Pluto (or Ploutōn).
One certainty is that Poseidon (Shirahoshi) is allied to Luffy, and Luffy plays the role of Zeus here (and maybe it’s not limited only to this epic). Would that mean Pluton will be used by The Straw Hats on their favor? Is it in possession of an ally?
If we consider that Pluton was once said to be in Alabasta, how Vivi is suddenly important to Im-sama and also that Vivi is friends with the Straw Hats, well… my guess is she’s directly related to it! Therefore, she might now join the crew, but instead join them in the final battle, using Pluton to destroy something big (the Red Line maybe?).
Uranus
Forget about this funny pun for a while. In the Greek mythology, Uranus was the father of Titans. Although not a Titan, I cannot not relate Uranus to Shanks, considering he’s the last pirate from the older generation (although he’s younger than Blackbeard), and is yet to to be defeated in One Piece now. But if Titanomachy is over with Kaidou and Big Mom’s defeat (according to evidences), then who is he exactly? Friend or foe? A Titan or an Olympian?
We know there’s an ancestral weapon called Uranus, which is still to be unveiled. Whoever Uranus is in this analogy, I think they’re the ones that hold (or even are) Uranus. A possibilty is that it is not Shanks, but he’s still guarding it for whoever Uranus is.
Also, in the Greek mythology, Uranus, the father of Titans, has direct relation with Giants (I think he’s their father as well). Yeah, Giants are also part of the Greek mythology. So does Uranus have something to do with Elbaf and its giants? Or at least with the ability to turn others into giants? Is Shanks, “the last Titan”, related to giants somehow? We all know the WG and some other folks have been trying to “giantify” people. Why is there so much obsession with giants, and what’s their story?
Another possibility could be that Uranus is related to Dragon, since Uranus is considered the primordial god of the sky, and there’s a possibility that Dragon is able to manipulate the sky, as we’ve seen some times in the story. He’s also part of the old generation (even older?), taking into account that he’s Luffy’s father, which makes Luffy his successor (just like Zeus is to Uranus as god of the sky).
Other possibilities include it to be Rocks or Im-sama, given how they might be considered “fathers” of the Titans, but without knowing their back story it’s really hard to tell. It can also be Blackbeard (as he is of interest of Im-sama as well) or even Nika (if we consider Luffy is Nika’s successor, just like Zeus is Uranus’s successor).
Gigantomachy
Another important clash in the Greek mythology is the Gigantomachy, a clash between the Olympians and Giants. Even if giants in Elbaf (and Shanks himself) are more tied to Norse mythology, let’s speculate some things.
First of all, I can’t see Luffy fighting giants for any reason, but this myth still exists, so Oda may use it somehow. We know the prince of Elbaf, Loki, is the commander of the strongest military in One Piece, according to chapter 858. We don’t know Loki yet, nor who will be the villain for Elbaf.
One thing I imagine, but of course this is just a guess, is that the WG may use giants against the Straw Hats at some point, just like they used those two giants in Enies Lobby, or maybe the WG are the giants in this case, making it a metaphor. Who knows?
Last but not least, if Straw Hats have got Poseidon and Pluton, then the enemy might have Uranus. If somehow Uranus is a tool that allows making WG soldiers giants, then there’s our Gigantomachy: they would not fight Elbaf people, but giantified marine soldiers instead. That would make a lot more sense considering our friendly expectations on Elbaf.
Conclusion
There were some subtle references, like the time span one, but also some more aggressive ones, like Luffy looking a lot like Zeus at some point. Have this tale also inspired other elements of the story? Or is this pure coincidence? Again, Oda is a genius. Personally, I don’t believe in coincidences when it comes to him, but who knows?
Theory by gbrlsnchs (https://www.reddit.com/user/gbrlsnchs)
