The following contains spoilers for One Piece Chapter 1073, “Miss Buckingham Stussy,” by Eiichiro Oda, Stephen Paul and Vanessa Satone, available in English from Viz Media.
One of the most unexpected but monstrously powerful characters introduced after the time-skip in One Piece was Edward Weevil, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. He seemingly appeared out of the All Blue, wielding a naginata and sporting a mighty crescent moon-shaped white mustache — very similar to that of the formerly Strongest Man in the World, Edward Newgate, a.k.a. Whitebeard. With his mother, Buckingham Stussy, at his side and directing his strength, the pair were traversing the seas in search of Whitebeard’s fortune; Weevil is under the belief, mainly from his mother’s manipulation, that he is Whitebeard’s trueborn son and the fortune is his birthright.
In the recent One Piece Chapter 1073, Weevil found himself captured by the Marines after protecting Whitebeard’s home island, Sphinx, and was defeated by Admiral Ryokugyu. However, with the unveiling of CP0 Agent Stussy being a clone created by Vegapunk of the former Rocks Pirate — who turned out to be Buckingham Stussy — the possibility of Weevil actually being Whitebeard’s real son increased. Whilst it was once a hilarious joke that Weevil, a complete oaf of a character and pirate, could be the trueborn son of one of the greatest pirates, recent story developments have now shifted the scale in favor of Buckingham’s claims being true.
Evidence of Whitebeard Being Weevil’s Father
Weevil’s weaponry and mustache were never solid evidence of his claim — anyone can pick up a naginata and start swinging it around, and the mustache appeared even faker than Whitebeard’s. Aside from his incredible strength, there was little to go on when deciding if Weevil was telling the truth all those years ago. Yet, One Piece has now revealed that Buckingham Stussy truly was a member of the Rocks Pirates and appeared like quite the alluring figure; it was not impossible to imagine Whitebeard finding her attractive in his younger and more adventurous days. Romance is not a major theme within One Piece, but all the world’s characters had to spawn from somewhere.
When considering the timeline, Weevil is currently 35 years old and the Rocks Pirates were defeated by Monkey D. Garp and Gol D. Roger and disbanded 38 years before the story’s beginning. This would imply that if Whitebeard and Stussy had decided to have a night of passion or a relationship, it would have occurred after the Rocks Pirates come to an end. Not much is known about what those crew members did directly after the Battle at God Valley — or what even truly occurred on the island — but it is believable that Whitebeard and Stussy may have stuck together for a time before Whitebeard established his own crew. Either way, the time in history is predominately speculative.
One Piece’s Edward Weevil Could Be Something Else Entirely
The new information revealed in recent One Piece chapters implies another conception of Weevil’s existence. It is clear that Weevil is nothing like Whitebeard in his face, toothpick legs, or robust form and dim-witted persona. It could be due to the upbringing Stussy gave him, perhaps over-parenting him, that he turned out this way. There is another possible solution — Weevil himself is a construct or clone of Whitebeard, but a failure. There is a Frankenstein-esque characterization to Weevil; a mindless monster that turns to violence wherever the one who holds the reins dictates. Where the CP0 Stussy was a successful clone of the former Rocks Pirate, Weevil could be a failure of a clone, constructed in a manner far less efficient than that of his “mother’s” clone.
This narrative route would go hand-in-hand with One Piece’s current direction. It is no accident that the idea of cloning and the Rocks Pirates is coming up now, alongside a side plot concerning Marco, Buckingham and Weevil. One Piece has a way of coming full circle with its story points and themes, and Weevil being an imitation of Whitebeard at the hands of the World Government would fall in line with the story. Should he not be Whitebeard’s son, it would make more sense that Weevil is connected in some manner, rather than being a random powerful pirate who believes they are Whitebeard’s child. That, or his legs would imply he could be Kaido’s son, brother to Yamato.
Eiichiro Oda is skilled in subversion and the unexpected. By making it appear that the chances of Weevil being Whitebeard’s son are so small, to then switch it to making it a real possibility, could lead to a double bluff. With so much being revealed within the story, it may only be a matter of time until fans learn the truth behind Weevil’s heritage. Either way, it is very likely he is connected to Whitebeard in some manner — maybe just not the manner fans currently expect.
