There are a lot of One Piece characters who generate massive amounts of love and a fair few who conjure a pretty shocking level of hate, but very rarely is there a character who is capable of both love and hate. At the same time, fans also wonder when Sabo appear in One Piece, and we are going to reveal that today.
I really can’t think of a topic that fractures the One Piece fanbase more than the very existence of Sabo, maybe the Zoro vs. Sanji debate, but even then, that tends to spawn purely from the love side of things.
You know, we have two very passionate individuals arguing over why their pirate is better than the other person’s pirate, which I guess is just what fully grown men were born to do, but Sabo is very different. I genuinely don’t think that there is a more divisive character among the well over the thousand that One Piece has to offer, and along with examining how Sabo, just by nature of existing, manages to fracture an entire fanbase, we are also going to find it when Sabo appears in One Piece.
How Sabo Came Into Existence
To begin with Sabo’s discussion, I would like to share my views which is that the more I think about Sabo, the more he sounds like Fan Fiction. This is because, let’s say, you love One Piece and love writing, so we want to combine the two, but in order to do so, we are going to need a self-insert character, but that character can’t be Strawhats because that impacts the canon a little bit too much, and so what can we do?
I know myself insert the character in the unknown third brother of Luffy and Ace, and when I say “unknown,” I mean even to himself. He didn’t even remember his deep connection to the main character until I started writing my plot of this character.
That is also why Luffy looks up to him and respects him. In addition to that, he is super powerful as well, as he can beat a Vice Admiral in one hit and even fight equally with an Admiral. In fact, he is so strong that he is second in command of the Revolutionary Army, despite the fact that he is only 22.
Along with that, he also has the Mera Mera no mi because fire is pretty cool, and they can’t quite think of original power. Plus, he is accompanied by a cute girl who fawns over him at all times and a Fishman dude. Although he is kind of weak, that is the point because he makes Sabo look even cooler in comparison.
In addition to that, he also spent two years with Robin, and that is why they are really good friends.
The Reality of Sabo as a Character
To me, Sabo is one of the most non-One Piece characters who has ever existed in the series because he is just so perfect! Within the world, everyone either loves or respects Sabo. This is a sort of status that Luffy doesn’t even have, which is why he tends to feel like a self-insert to me.
This is because, generally, when people self-insert, they are not going to be too critical of the character, representing themselves for some reason, and they are really going to just gun straight for living that perfect power fantasy.
With that said, I can really understand people loving Sabo because his status in One Piece is very desirable, but there are several controversial or at least controversial we can get talking about fictional pirates, but at the same time, there are collective of controversies that contribute to Sabo’s divisive popularity.
The first of which is a case of replacement syndrome. No matter what your views on Sabo are as an individual character, there is an overwhelming impression that Sabo is very similar to the existence of the certain Ace.
This is also because they use the same powers as the Devil Fruit, and both are Luffy brothers, but that in and of itself is not quite enough to kickstart replacement syndrome.
When it comes down to how they were both introduced into the story, Ace was first gifted to us as part of a classic One Piece Era, making his first appearance at the end of Drum Island. While arguably he didn’t do a whole lot, his seed was planted in the very early days of the series, allowing the idea of Ace to grow with readers and watchers until his eventual heartbreaking death of Marineford.
When Does Sabo Appear In One Piece?
Sabo was introduced into the anime in Episode 494, which was titled, “Enter Sabo! The Boy From Gray Terminal” However, the first time we see him in the manga is in Chapter 583, which was titled “Gray Terminal – The Final Destination of the Uncertainty.”
Whereas Sabo very much had the opposite kind of journey, he is not a classic character, but he holds the same status as one. This is because Luffy has probably spent more time with Sabo than he has, say, Zoro. That is why it is a bit of a retcon to have a character like this pop up so late in the story. Sanji’s family would be a good example of that; the Germa is a very, very, very late addition to One Piece, considering their deep connection to one of our protagonists, but the main difference between the Germa and Sabo is all about the timings.
This is because while there were a couple of hints to the existence of Sabo, he was not actually revealed to us until Ace died. Not only that, Sabo then appeared ten chapters later following the death of Ace. Which is so sudden and feels like a bit of “replace”. You know, we have just had our one established brother, and before we have the time to really absorb that, the gaping gap of the brotherhood has already been filled by a new character who will all know is still alive because that is how One Piece works.
It was like Ace was an old family pet, who suddenly passed away, but to lessen the pain of kids, aka the readers and watchers’ parents, that means Oda immediately went out and bought a new pet less than a week after the passing of our beloved Ace.
A new pet who immediately assumed Ace’s old position within the family, which is not at all fault of our brand new Sabo, he is adorable. It is just the timing is quite jarring, and it makes it very clear that it is intended to fill a gap.
The other way I describe the situation is to imagine it was not Ace who had died. Let’s say it was Zoro who died pre-time skip, and nine chapters later, we have a Luffy flashback to where it was revealed that he was in brotherhood with another child from the same village who we are going to call Rozo Norazoro.
Sadly, Rozo went missing during their childhood, but then he grew and reappeared as Luffy’s post-time skip, inheriting all of Zoro’s Swords and basically taking his place. In the series, Rozo’s main motivation may not be to become the World’s Greatest Swordman, and he probably has completely other character traits to deserve, but that will not stop the feeling that he is just a “Zoro Replacement.”
This does sound ridiculous, but if Oda had planned this and really wanted to did then he could sell justice as well as the Sabo Situation, and I am sure that Rozo would have a massive fanbase as well because he is just so cool.
Everyone loves him and respects him as he is powerful. So strong that he is now the second in command of the Straw Hats. Sabo has other issues as well that have very much splinted the fanbase. A big one is the good old “A” word; Amnesia. If you are a writer, never give “Amnesia” because it is so insanely difficult to do work because it almost always feels like a bit of a lazy solution because Oda had a problem.
Oda had plans for this cool Sabo character to be introduced, but the issue is how he excuses the fact that such a profound character has been completely absent from the series for the past decade, and the answer is “he forgot.”
Also Read: Who Are The God Knights In One Piece?
