Eiichiro Oda has introduced quite a few characters over the last few years who have shown immense levels of strength and versatile superpowers. Characters like Lord Imu, and the five elders - the Gorosei, and Kaido have set a new bar for strength and power in theOne Piecefranchise. One such character that was introduced by Oda in the franchise is the commander-in-chief Kong. The fans were given a glimpse of Kong’s appearance in a special chapter published inOne PieceVolume 0 at the same of chapter 565’s publishing.
It covered the events like the Battle of Edd War that took place around 20–25 years before Luffy started his journey as a pirate. However, fans have not been given a lot of information about Kong’s past and his position as commander-in-chiefof the World Government. It is quite possible that Kong is powerful and possesses amazing abilities that are yet to be revealed to the readers.
The Battle of Edd War
The Battle of Edd War was a sea battle fought betweenthe Golden Lion piratesand the Roger pirates. The captain of the former, Shiki wanted to form an alliance with the captain of the latter, Gold D. Roger since he had found an ancient weapon by deciphering the Poneglyphs, but he refused Shiki’s proposal. Hence, the two pirate crews went into a full-fledged sea battle where the Roger pirates had luck on their side as half of Shiki’s heavy fleet got sunk after being hit by a sudden storm.
It was also the time when Kong was in his prime years and was the fleet admiral of the marines at the time. It was also under his tenure that the King of the Pirates, Gold D. Roger, was publicly executed. As soon as Kong got the news of a battle breaking out between the two pirate crews and sentSengoku and Garp who was admiral and vice-admiralrespectively at the time to handle the situation. However, the battle was over by the time they reached the Edd War seas.
Strength and Authority
As far as the character traits, strength, and super abilities are concerned, Kong’s overall strength seems ambiguous as not much has been shared about his past and how he achievedso much in his life by Oda. However, the one thing that is not blurred about Kong is the fact that only a super powerful person can fill in the shoes of the former fleet admiral of the marines and current commander-in-chief of the World Government. He is only second to Lord Imu and the five elders in terms of authority. He must be a super-powered person addressing the fact that he is old and does not look his age not to forget that he is still serving as the commander-in-chief. Although, there is quite a lot yet to be revealed about his strength and abilities. It would not be an error to speculate thathe is an efficient Haki usersince it has been stated that all marines ranked vice-admirals and above can efficiently use Haki. And provided that he holds the highest rank that a marine can attain, it only proves his yet unrevealed prowess in using Haki.
His authority extends over the marine organization, the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the Cipher pols, and Enies Lobby. His other authority-related powers include being able to revoke the title of any warlord and declaring a buster call on any island or region that he perceives as a threat to the World Government.
Kong’s Connection to Monkey Family
Fans have been speculating and have forged a fan theory ever since Kong made an appearance in the manga and anime. Fans have been linking him with the Monkey familyclaiming him to be Monkey D. Garp’s father and Monkey D. Luffy’s great-grandfather. To back this theory, the fans seek refuge in the potential shreds of evidence like Kong has a scar on the left side of his face beneath his left eye just like Garp, Dragon, and Luffy; his name kind of fits right with the weird monkey family naming pattern.
The fans also try to back up this theory by stating that as explained by the author ofOne Piecehimself, Eiichiro Oda,normal people can live up to 141 yearsin the world ofOne Piece. Hence, the fans claim that he can be Garp’s (who is 78 years old) father. On the other hand, some fans have speculated Kong is Garp’s older brother instead of his father. All in all, these remain claims of fan theories that either might get confirmed by Oda sometime later in the story or get discarded by him in the same way. Nonetheless, the fans ofOne Pieceare eager to know what powers and strengths lie at the disposal of the commander-in-chief Kong and what would be his role in the future of the story. Oda is saving him and other major characters for the later part of the story. But one sure thing is the fans are in for a blast when these characters get to the forefront in the pages of manga or on the screens in anime.
