Oda Reveals His Plans For Akainu In The Future 

This article contains spoilers from One Piece’s Elbaf Arc.

Key Takeaways

• Oda plans to make Akainu a major villain in the Final Saga.
• Luffy and Akainu will have a clash at some point in the future.
• Fans can expect Akainu to be defeated by Luffy by the end of the series.

Akainu is one of the most important antagonists in One Piece and someone who has been getting quite a lot of attention, all thanks to Oda’s recent comments about him. As fans know, Akainu serves as the Fleet Admiral of the Navy right now, but even aside from that, he was always going to be extremely important. He’s been involved in some of the most crucial events in One Piece, which include things such as the Ohara Incident and, of course, more importantly, the Summit War, which shook the entire world from top to bottom.

Naturally, fans expected Akainu to be even more involved in the plot ever after the Summit War. However, Oda took the foot off the gas in regards to this character and pushed him to the sidelines. That said, there is a big reason for that. It is not that Oda doesn’t care about Akainu. It is simply that he is being saved or something much bigger and will play a major role in the Final Saga, just like many of the characters, suggest Shanks and Dragon. Akainu is now finally being involved in the Final Saga, fans absolutely cannot wait to see what he has to serve up next.

Akainu’s Involvement In The Story So Far

• Oda Has Set Up Akainu To Be A Big Villain
• Luffy And Akainu Will Clash At Some Point

So far, Akainu’s role in One Piece has been rather limited, but one can already tell that he’s very important. For instance, when fans saw him briefly around the time of the Ohara Incident, his ideology was clearly visible. Akainu believes in Absolute Justice, and to that end, he is willing to commit heinous acts such as genocide and whatnot. Akainu is truly evil from the fans’ perspective, but, to him, this is the price to pay for Absolute Justice. He is incredibly harsh, not just on the pirates and those whom he deems will go on to become a threat even if they are innocent, but even on his own Navy men. Those whom he deems worthy of being sacrificed, he will sacrifice. Those who he thinks are not doing their jobs properly, he will execute. Akainu is a very dangerous character and fans know that he will have an interesting role to play in the future.

Do you not like flashy funerals, Whitebeard? – Akainu

In the Paramount War, fans got yet another look at Akainu, and there, he showed immense potential for scheming and, at the same time, great strength. He was directly responsible for weakening Whitebeard using a ploy that saw Squard stab him. More than that, he showcased his immense strength with the power of the Magu Magu no Mi, and this ability allowed him to go head-to-head with Whitebeard. Of course, Akainu still could not defeat Whitebeard and was left on the losing side, but fans know for sure that his strength paved the way for Marine victory and aided it greatly. Without Akainu, it is possible that the battle would’ve been lost, and that speaks volumes about his importance in this arc. Most importantly, Akainu managed to execute Ace, which was absolutely massive. Luffy holds a grudge against Akainu, as do characters such as Sabo. This individual surviving the Paramount War means that there is a lot to look forward to, which includes major fights and, of course, Luffy finally exacting revenge on him.

One Piece has finally entered the Final Saga, which means that the story is now going to get more exciting than ever before. This also means bigger characters, such as Shanks, Mihawk, Dragon, and of course, even the likes of Akainu, are now finally going to enter the fray, and it is their job to raise the stakes in the story like never before and excite the fans to the end.

Oda Reveals His Plans For The Future With Akainu

Oda Plans To Take Good Care Of Akainu

Naturally, Akainu not being involved in the main plot ever since he became the Fleet Admiral has been a cause of concern for the fans. After all, he is one of the most important One Piece characters, and certainly someone that fans would love to see in action more often. Akainu is strong, and he is capable at the same time.

More than that, he is a terrific villain that Oda has written to be hated not just by Luffy, but by the fans as well. This is one of the biggest reasons why fans were concerned about the fact that Akainu has not been involved in the main plot up until now.

However, all things written by Oda have a set time, and it was not time for Akainu to play a major role in the story after the timeskip, at least until yet. But, with the Final Saga having finally begun, Akainuis going to get very much involved in the plot and slowly start revealing his strength once again. In fact, Oda is very carefully handling Akainu. He might just be one of Oda’s favorite characters as well, which is yet another surprising thing for the fans to know. This is what Oda had to say about Akainu a few years ago.

Oda: When creating a protagonist, it’s important not to make him too strong. If Akainu became the protagonist, he would be too strong and the series would end within a year. Akainu is the most handsome guy in the world. I’ll take good care of him.

Not only does Oda highlight Akainu’s tremendous strength here, which he states is enough to end the entirety of One Piece in one year, if he were to be the protagonist, but at the same time, he also says that he will take very good care of him, because Oda believes he’s a handsome guy. Now, this is certainly not about his looks, but more so about the value that the character holds.

Oda believes Akainu to be incredibly important in One Piece, and he definitely thinks that whatever role he has laid out for him will be perfect for this character. At the very least, fans need not be sad about his lack of involvement, because he is certainly going to take center stage in the Final Saga and dispense justice in his own way. Above all, fans might even get to see him clash with the likes of Luffy, and many other characters.

How Will Akainu Get Involved In The Final Saga?

Akainu Will Be Defeated At The End

As was made clear, Akainu will stand in the path of the pirates in the Final Saga. This is his endgame and he will most likely come face to face with the likes of Luffy. Perhaps, a confrontation between these two will happen at some point. But, after everything, fans can rest assured that Luffy will eventually go on to take him down. Akainu cannot be left in charge of the Navy, because if he is, then there cannot be a revolution within the ranks of the Marines. In order for a revolution, those with a very vicious idea of justice in their heads need to be eliminated.

This includes characters like Akainu, all those under him who believe in Absolute Justice, such as Onigumo, or even Dark Justice, like Rob Lucci. These characters have no space in the new Marines or World Government order, unless they have a major change of heart, which is highly unlikely. Many fans expect Akainu to take up arms against Imu as well, and while that certainly is a possibility, it is not something that one should bank on because, for Akainu, the main goal is to eliminate pirates as best as he possibly can.

One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus apps. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1132, is set to be November 17, 2024.