Has Dragon Been A Useless Character?

Every faction in the One Piece world has a main figurehead that represents who they are and embodies everything they stand for. For the World Government, it seems to be Imu; a mysterious and enigmatic figure who stands alone at the top of the world as its supreme ruler, while for the pirates, Luffy and Joyboy can both be seen as the heralds of a new world and the liberators of the oppressed. For the Revolutionary Army, it’s Monkey D. Dragon.

Dragon made his appearance very early on in the series and has been said to be one of the most important players across the entirety of One Piece. However, many disgruntled fans don’t buy into his hype, claiming that despite being stated as one of the biggest threats to the World Government, he has never actually done much damage to them, so let’s analyze Dragon’s position in the world and see whether or not he’s been useless all this time.

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Why People Claim Dragon’s Useless

How He Could Have Done Much More

Dragon was first introduced during the events of Loguetown, where he saved the Straw Hats from having their journey end before it even began. From here, it was teased how strong Dragon was being built up to be, since his arrival on the island was preceded by violent storms that were sending the Marines flying, allowing the Straw Hats a moment of reprieve to escape.

From here, Dragon’s appearances in the story have been very rare but the Revolutionary Army has always played a significant role narratively. As the biggest threat to the order established by the World Government and Celestial Dragons, the Revolutionary Army has cemented itself as one of the biggest threats to their foundation, with Monkey D. Dragon himself being labeled as the ‘World’s Worst Criminal’.

However, many fans think that he hasn’t done much to warrant this. Sure, his past remains a mystery but as for how the story is now, he hasn’t really done much to be called the World’s Worst Criminal when extremely powerful and evil pirates roam the seas unchallenged. In over 1100 chapters of One Piece, the Revolutionary Army has done very little when it comes to destabilizing the rule of the World Government, which is pretty strange considering that they are the ones that the organization deems to be one of their greatest enemies.

Only recently, the revolutionaries finally attacked Marijoa and Sabaody, destroying supply lines to the city and crippling the intake of food and other supplies to the Celestial Dragons. Admittedly, this is incredibly important for their cause and it is causing great damage to the rulers of the world, but the fact of the matter is that it happened in Chapter 902 of the manga. Before this, they didn’t really do much in terms of damaging the rule of the World Government.

Even here, Dragon wasn’t present, prompting many fans of the series to claim that he has more of an advisory role rather than a combat one. Moreover, they argue that he should have been present for Luffy at many other critical moments in his journey seeing as how he made time to get to Loguetown to save the Straw Hats. A notable moment that is often quoted is Dragon’s absence during the events of Marineford, which some fans claim would have been a perfect moment for the Revolutionary Army to make a move and significantly damage the World Government.

One of Dragon’s most notable character traits has to do with how he’s always looking to the East, presumably because that’s where he left his family. Keeping this in mind, it’s strange how he has never come out to help Luffy in his moments of need, especially during Marineford where Dragon’s appearance definitely would have turned the tide. Even when he saved Sabo from Foosha Village when he was a kid, he could very well have saved Luffy and Ace from there too.

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Why He’s Being Saved For The Future

Dragon Has A Bigger Role To Play

When it comes to Dragon’s entire character arc, he is someone who Oda has always intended to be far more important in the later stages of the story. Due to this, it’s very clear why he has been shown very conservatively and why he will likely only make a proper appearance against the World Government when the Final War breaks out. So, to show his abilities or just show him throughout the story would lessen the impact he is surely going to have.

It can be said that the same goes for the Revolutionary Army too, since they will likely almost definitely side with the pirates in the Final War. Although they’ve finally made their move with the attack on Marijoa, they’re still largely being saved for the ultimate battle against the forces of evil in the world. With the Final Saga of One Piece finally underway with Elbaf, Dragon and the Revolutionary Army will definitely have a far more proactive role in the story.

One Piece can be streamed on Crunchyroll.

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One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates’ ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga’s popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Seasons

20

Creator

Eiichiro Oda

Number of Episodes

1122

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