Cultures whose mythologies are represented in one piece

Key points

• One Piece draws inspiration from Japanese mythology for characters like Kaido and Onimaru, reflecting yokai and Oni influences.
• Chinese mythology influences devil fruits such as the Blackbeard Pirates' Kitsune and Momonosuke's SMILE dragon.
• Greek mythology appears in One Piece through character names like Zeus, as well as Speed ​​and Doc Q's steed.

One piece has many influences that help color and create aspects of the world shown in the series. In addition to the documented history of piracy around the world, another notable historical influence is the mythologies of various cultures.

With varying degrees of implementation, one can examine various aspects of etymology, design, or other similarities between the established world of One piece and the myths of various real-world cultures.

1 Japanese mythology

What better choice for a manga?

Considering the source, Japanese culture seems like an obvious choice for the One piece series to embrace. This can be seen, especially, in some fruits of the mythical Zoas, which have a Japanese influence. An example of this is Onimaru, a fox who can transform into an Onyudo named Gyukimaru. Historically, Onyudo are giant yokai said to resemble Buddhist monks. There are reports of them being able to transform into animals, which is probably why it was written that one of them ate this devil fruit.

An example outside of Devil Fruits is Kaido. Its basic design clearly takes after depictions of Oni, a yokai that resembles an ogre or demon in Japanese folklore. More specifically, Kaido is thought to invoke Shuten-Doji, a well-known Oni with an equally unquenchable thirst for love. Shuten-Doji is also the inspiration behind Ashura Doji, known by the alias Shutenmaru as a mountain bandit. Shuten-Doji himself was notably a bandit. Ancient giants are also thought to be inspired by Oni due to shared design elements.

2 Chinese mythology

An adjacent inspiration

Chinese mythology appears everywhere One piecesometimes overlapping with mythologies recalled from other regions, for the various existing counterparts. An example is the Devil Fruit owned by Catarina Devon of the Blackbeard Pirates, which allows the user to transform into a Kitsune. The Kitsune derives, to some extent, from the fox spirits of Chinese mythology whose tales spread to other regions of East Asia, such as Japan. In Chinese culture, an example of such a fox spirit is a Da Ji, a romanticized version of a consort of the last king of the Shang Dynasty, who is credited with the end of the dynasty. This spirit, according to some accounts, safely killed and replaced the real Da Ji. While it is unclear how long its disguises can be maintained, it is shown that Devon's devil fruit at least has the potential to mimic the deceased.

Kaido's Devil Fruit (and Momonosuke's SMILE) are based on the Azure Dragon, or Qinglong, a Chinese dragon god representing the East and one of the legendary Four Guardians of the Chinese Constellations. While Kaido's Devil Fruit matches accounts of the legendary Azure Dragon, Momonosuke's differs in color scheme, which is why it was classified as a failure. It's also notable that other dragons have also appeared in the series, particularly ones with a more Western flair.

3 Greek mythology

A constant influence on works of fiction

The wide cultural diffusion of Greek mythology makes it seem like an even incidental source material for many works of fiction. Having said that, One piece he deliberately invokes Greek mythology through various means, commonly naming beings after figures from Greek myth. A favorite in this regard would be Nami's companion, Zeus, a storm cloud referencing the Greek god of thunder. Other Homies (i.e. some created from the souls of the respective users of the Soru Soru no Mi), such as Hera, Prometheus, and Pandora, also take their names from Greek mythology.

Two unfamiliar examples are Ikaros Much, a giant squid-fish-man, and his deceased friend Daidalos, a true giant squid. Icarus is a boy who was given wings by his father, Daedalus, but flew too close to the sun and drowned. Daidalos met a similar but reversed fate to Icarus, swimming too close to the sun and drying himself to death. The experience was traumatic enough that Ikaros suffered breakdowns every time he witnessed a fire.

An unnamed example of Greek mythology invoked is Speed, a Horse SMILE user from the Beasts Pirates, whose design resembles more than a Centaur, a human who has the body of a horse below the waist. Additionally, Doc Q's steed, Stronger, has a Devil Fruit that can transform him into a Pegasus, originating from Greek mythology. Since Stronger is already a horse, this just seems to give him wings.

4 Egyptian mythology

Particularly in Alabasta

While perhaps not as common as Greek mythology, Egyptian mythology enjoys enough popularity for its cultural touchstones to be widely present throughout pop culture.

A figure often invoked in this regard is Anubis, a god representing the afterlife, with the head of a dog, as well as a body that is variably canine or human, depending on the tale. This design convention is thought to be reflected in Chaka, a royal guard whose devil fruit transforms him into a jackal. Some also think that the name Chaka comes from fiction, specifically a more modern Japanese story set in Egypt, known as Stardust Crusaders. With his hybrid form truly giving him a canine head, he can probably even fully embody the animal, as Zoan users tend to do.

A similar example is Chaka's guard companion, Pell, who represents Horus, an Egyptian sky god with a falcon's head. Pell's devil fruit allows him to transform into a hawk. Like Chaka, the nature of Zoan Devil Fruits can allow Pell to appear in one of two ways as their divine counterpart did: as an animal or a humanoid hybrid.

5 Norse mythology

Especially in Elbaf

The best-known pieces of Norse mythology are repeated in popular culture, largely tied to Thor, the god of thunder, who has become a staple of Marvel Comics. However, this is not the only context in which Norse mythology has been popularly reiterated. One piece shows a level of connection to Norse mythology, with Loki previously teased and recently introduced.

Loki is the brother of Hajrudin, a captain of the Straw Hat Great Fleet. This giant is said to have killed his father, Harald, due to a devil fruit inherited from the family (this devil fruit is speculated to be a mythical Zoan, which some think can allow its user to change shape). His power was such that he needed to be bound by virtually every giant warrior on Elbaf. While not as dramatically powerful, the Loki of myth is still said to have been responsible for the death of the god called Baldr, which also led to him being bound.

The Loki of One piece seems to desire the destruction of the world. This reflects the prophecy of the mythological Loki who will be freed during the apocalyptic event of Ragnarok, where he will participate in the war and die in battle against Hemidallr. His brother Hajrudin also reinforces the Norse mythology theme, with his powerful Gungnir attack named after Odin's legendary spear. The Road of the Gods contained in his realm also reflects this convention, as does the Raven, Muginn, which is named after Odin's two pet ravens. It's likely that as the arc continues, even more instances of invoking Norse mythology will become known.