There have been a number of threads discussing whether or not Luffy will defeat DD 1 v. 1, and this is not one of them. This is a thread where we discuss how the story will play out if Luffy needs help to defeat DD.
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There seem to be a few camps in regards to the DD fight. Some say Luffy will need help to defeat DD, whether that be Law, Chinjao, Sabo, or others. Some say Luffy and one other person should do it, some say Luffy will need at least two others to do it. There are also others that say a guy like Sabo will do defeat him 1 v. 1, though the way the story has progressed, it seems less and less likely Sabo will do it, though we have no idea where he is right now so he might already be up there ready to fight DD. And there are others, like me, think Luffy should defeat him 1 v. 1.
I wanna know from those who think Luffy will need help to defeat DD how the story will progress. The reason why I think Luffy should do it isn't a fanbase reason or a main protagonist reason, my thinking is because of the way the story is laid out and how it would be utterly detrimental to the story. I've gone over this many times before in threads about this, but I wanted to make a thread dedicated to this discussion.
I feel that if Luffy requires help to defeat DD, then it will negatively impact future fights. The two main possibilities for future fights will be that Luffy will require help to defeat future enemies or Luffy will be able to defeat future enemies. Both main possibilities have big issues in my eyes.
With the first possibility, I see the whole idea of Luffy's becoming PK go out the window if he'll need help to defeat future enemies. How can Luffy become PK if he needs help to defeat the big, strong enemies? Hell, how can Luffy surpass Shanks if he needs the help of 3 others to defeat him? The thing about it is if it does happen, the series will shift into a more shonen'y type of series with the whole nakama powerup stuff. Thing is I don't see that happening. Luffy has never needed the help of others to defeat his enemies, why start now? And by help, I mean the actual fight, not the getting there and buildup for the fight, the help there has been consistent and obvious. So if Luffy will require help to defeat future enemies, that would mean the way the series formula will change drastically. Some say that's a good thing to have some variety, but to me, that's changing the very fabric of OP. Changing the formula would be Luffy's fighting two enemies at once to rise up in power or creating alliances and the like the way he has with Law to progress through the story and defeat enemies. So this first option doesn't make all that much sense to me.
The second main possibility is that Luffy would need help to fight DD here, but would be able to win future fights 1 v. 1. The problem with that is future wins would either be a total asspull, or you'd be asking why Luffy didn't fight future enemies the way he fought DD. Some may say that maybe DD was matched up better against Luffy and Luffy just was able to handle the other enemy better. To me, I just don't see that. The only situation where that occurred was with Enel. Unless we have a situation where rubber has such an obvious advantage, I call BS on that. And it's not like these future guys are that close to DD in fighting strength. DD really is at the bottom of the food chain compared to some of these guys. Just looking at how DD reacts at the thought of an upset Kaido shows he's that much weaker than they are. When you look at it in the big picture, DD is a little ***** hiding behind the support of the WG and big names like Kaido for his success. So to me, it would make little sense for Luffy to somehow find a way to beat future guys far more powerful than DD, but no be able to defeat DD 1 v. 1.
There is a sub possibility within the 2nd possibility that Luffy will defeat future enemies by developing a new technique to defeat future enemies that he didn't have against DD. My issue with that is I feel that's what the timeskip was for. We are very far into the series to the point that another timeskip doesn't seem to make very much sense. I feel like the TS was setup for the final battle similar to Naruto's, rather than a break from training to develop the characters even more and have a little more story only to go on another timeskip for further development. So to me, with Oda's saying the timeskip was the halfway mark, that it just doesn't seem to be very likely that there will be another timeskip, especially since the last TS was like 2-3 weeks ago OP time. And if he learns new technique through the help of future allies, like the Happo Navy's hasshoken, then why even have the TS? Why not continue to learn things on the fly the way he did through the 1st half of the series? To me, the TS was for Luffy to train both physically and mentally to become strong enough to not only survive, the NW, but also conquer it. So that possibility goes out the window imo.
So, for all of you who think Luffy should and will need help to defeat Doflamingo, how do you think Luffy's progression will go? To me, it seems like the only way it would really make sense is if Oda starts drastically changing around the OP formula. You'd be ok with that? Or do you think my opinions on the main possibilities are flawed and you think it can work without feeling like an asspull or changing the story drastically? Or do you think there's another possibility that'll work cleanly with the story? I'm really curious to your opinions on this. Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to give my opinion on it all before you give your responses.
