Why Loki Is Not Elbaf's Villain Explained

This article contains spoilers from the Elbaf Arc of One Piece.

Key recommendations

• Loki may not be Elbaf's main villain, as his background and misinformed nature suggest that he could be an ally of Luffy.
• Luffy's lack of hostility towards Loki suggests that there are greater enemies in the Elbaf Arc that they both may need to face together.
• The World Government's potential involvement in Elbaf could introduce a bigger threat that Luffy, Loki and the Straw Hat Pirates must band together to stop.

Loki's character is one of the biggest talking points in One piece right now, and there's certainly a good reason for that. As fans know, Loki is a monstrously powerful individual who was first introduced to readers in the Whole Cake Island arc. Since then, it has slowly been incorporated more into the story, and Elbaf has finally fully revealed it to all readers. It's safe to say that Oda absolutely understood Loki's introduction to the Elbaf Arc.

Everything about him, like his power and even his personality, fits perfectly with what this individual is supposed to represent, to say the least. At this point, fans think of Loki as a villain, and while there is a solid basis for believing that Loki is an enemy at this point, fans may be surprised to see later that Loki is actually an ally. of sorts.

Loki meets Luffy and has created himself as a villain

• Loki killed his father to eat a devil fruit
• Loki and Luffy had a hostile encounter

When Loki was first introduced in the One piece chapter 1130, Oda's introduction to him easily made him look like a badass. First, Oda made it seem like Loki was hated by everyone in Elbaf, especially after it was revealed that he killed his own father, Harald, to eat a devil fruit. Once he consumed this devil fruit, Loki thought that he was now the Sun God and destroyer of the world. This may seem extreme to many people, however, but when looking at the culture of Elbaf, which glorifies war and violence, this is not out of the ordinary. The only thing Loki did wrong was kill his own father. But once again, fans don't know what kind of person King Harald really was and whether Loki's killing of him was justified or not.

I am the Sun God who will destroy the world! – Loki

Even though Loki's killing of King Harald was not justified, fans know that this character, despite having an evil side, can still be of help to the Straw Hat Pirates. It's also interesting to note that Luffy, who is a very good judge of character, didn't even feel threatened by Loki. He could feel its magnificent energy from far away, but at the same time, it didn't feel like he was an enemy. In fact, Luffy got close to Loki without much trouble and even started talking to them as if they were friends. Clearly, Luffy's behavior towards Loki is more indicative of what kind of character he will be in the story, and as it stands, he certainly doesn't look like a villain at all.

This is exactly why One Piece fans might be wrong about Loki, and why there might be more to his character than meets the eye. While it's undeniable that Loki is portrayed as something of a villain at this point in the story, it's highly likely that as One Piece continues, Loki's character will become richer and fans will see him for who he really is.

Why Loki isn't Elbaf's main villain

There are bigger enemies to tackle in One Piece's Elbaf Arc

The reason Loki isn't Elbaf's main villain is pretty simple. First off, Loki doesn't seem like a massive threat to Luffy. Luffy is a great judge of character and if he truly believed that Loki was an enemy then he would act accordingly. Clearly, as things stand, Luffy doesn't think Loki is his enemy, and fans have no reason to believe so, despite how much other characters in the story portray him as a major villain.

At the same time, fans know that Loki claims to be the Sun God. He also claims that he is the destroyer of the world. But, fans know that the Sun God himself is an entity that brings peace and liberates people around the world. The Sun God is a good deity and not an evil one, which means that if Loki is to be the Sun God, then surely he cannot be evil.

Loki seems more misinformed than anything, and that certainly means he's not here to serve as a major villain, but to fight alongside the true Sun God and the one who truly carries that identity, namely Straw Hat Luffy.

Release me and I will destroy a crew you have chosen for yourself! – Loki

Of course, that doesn't mean Luffy and Loki won't fight. After all, Loki promised to kill Luffy the moment he was freed from his chains. This essentially proves that Loki is trying to trick Luffy and that would also play into his trickster nature. But once again, fans know that Luffy is more than confident in his abilities and at the same time is a great judge of character.

Even if Loki were to attack Luffy once he is freed, Luffy will handle the threat on his own and eventually stop Loki. After this, fans will most likely get to see these two cooperate, and that can only come in the face of a bigger threat that may appear at a later point in this arc.

Who will be the main villain in Elbaf?

The world government could get involved in Elbaf in some way

As it stands, Elbaf doesn't have a major villain. So far, Oda is only building Loki up to be a big threat to the entire country, and that could very well be true for the first half of this arc. Ultimately though, Elbaf will need a bigger threat than Loki if this Arc is going to move fans. This threat may come in the form of the World Government, which is the only organization capable of destroying this earth. As for why the world government would attack Elbaf, the answer is quite simple. Luffy is currently on Elbaf and this is something that every member of the World Government is very aware of. Imu himself knows the location of Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates. This specifically means that Imu can use Uranus to destroy Elbaf.

Until now, Imu lacked the fuel, called the Mother Flame, needed to fuel Uranus again and destroy his enemies. This time, however, thanks to York, Imu acquired more Mother Flame and, at the same time, the means to create even more Mother Flame. There is absolutely nothing stopping Imu from destroying Elbaf, which essentially means that the biggest villain in this arc could be an ancient weapon that could lead to the destruction of the entire country. Luffy, Loki and the Straw Hat Pirates will surely have to work together to stop this monstrously powerful ancient weapon and prevent the destruction of this land.

Of course, all of this will definitely take time to develop, or it may not happen at all. However, theorizing about different ideas is the real beauty of One pieceand fans can't wait to see what happens next in the series as the arc continues.

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