One Piece: Brook’s unexplored backstory hides a Holy Knight's connection

Eiichiro Oda has built an exceptional world in his One Piece series. Not only is it massive, but he has also packed a lot of secrets and mysteries to uncover. With a massive cast, it seems like even characters who were either briefly mentioned or were part of this journey for a long time could suddenly become relevant again. All thanks to a plot twist or random revelations. Out of them, currently, one character stands out, Brook, the Straw Hat Pirates’ quirky musician.

While Brook in One Piece is often seen as a comic relief character and is known for his emotional backstory as the lone survivor of the Rumbar Pirates, recent developments in the manga surrounding the Holy Knights suggest that maybe his role is more significant than it was previously anticipated.

So a question about him arises: Could Brook’s past hide a secret link to the Holy Knights? To answer this question, let us explore the possibility of the Brook, the Soul King’s connection to the World Government. As there is a high chance that he was once closer to them than anyone ever realised.

Brook’s character was introduced during the Thriller Bark arc, as a living skeleton who was brought back to life because of his Devil Fruit powers known as Revive-Revive Fruit (Yomi Yomi no Mi). He was alive 50 years before the current timeline and a member of the Rumbar Pirates.

Brook was the crew’s musician and a skilled swordsman. All of his fellow pirates lost their lives to disease and injury, including him. His soul took a long time to find this body, and by that time, his physical body had rotted to a skeleton.

His tragic backstory was initially focused only on him losing his crew and Laboon, the whale they had left behind. Oda cleverly hid every other fact about him before joining the Strawhats crew by layering it with tragedy. Fans knew that he was a capable warrior and a great musician, but most of them wanted to see through what was said about him and try to fill in the gaps of the history of his life that were missing or not yet revealed.

When One Piece manga released Chapter 1146, it introduced the Holy Knights, who are a military organization that takes commands only from the Celestial Dragons. They seemed to be the highest entity that claimed they were the enforcers of divine justice. What sets them apart is that they are no simple soldiers but mythic figures, enforcers of ultimate authority who act when the balance of the world is threatened.

They were given a brief mention, but it highly implies that from now on, they could have a major role in the future. Now, after getting a brief idea about who they are, things get a little interesting. There could be a world of possibility where Brook was once part of, or trained by, a proto-Holy Knights organization.

Brook is 90 years old and is currently the oldest active character. He died around age 38 and was revived roughly 50 years before the current timeline. This means that there is a void in his history about his past before he joined the Rumbar Pirates. We know that he was the captain of a battle ship of certain unnamed kingdom. Maybe Brook served the World Government or even directly to the Celestial Dragons.

This brings us to another theory that may sound far-fetched is how Devil Fruit works. Brook literally came back to life after being dead, and he can also astral project. These abilities do not sound like normal Devil Fruit powers. It is an extremely rare ability to possess.

Now, what if the original members of the Holy Knights were trained in a manner that allowed them to access soul-based abilities or even possess special knowledge about the afterlife? And the Devil Fruit he had was an engineered fruit specifically given to the Holy Knights members.

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Foreshadowing and Future Payoff of Brook’s backstory in One Piece

Oda is a master of foreshadowing. Often, a small element introduced 100 chapters ago would make sense later on. This makes fans keep an eye on the smallest of details. After the release of chapter 1146, fans have noticed Brook and have started speculating that maybe he was more involved than he remembers.

Interestingly, during a confrontation with the Holy Knight Gunko, it looked as if she recognized Brook, even his facial expression suggested this possibility. They had a small exchange of words, but he looked shocked, not surprised, again pointing towards that maybe they knew each other when he was alive.

Also, it is not uncommon for One Piece characters to have gaps in their backstories. Additionally, it is also known that the World Government has the power to erase inconvenient truths. If Brook was once part of a secret order or connected to the Holy Knights, it’s plausible that his history was erased or he chose to bury it.

Furthermore, another speculation could be that his connection with the Rumbar Pirates in One Piece was a way to restart his life away from all the corruption he faced. The death of the Rumbar Pirates in the Florian Triangle may also have been part of the plan of the Celestial Dragons. But now, as the Holy Knights begin to move again, Brook’s past may come rushing back, and fans will get all the answers they have been waiting for.

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Whether or not Brook was a Holy Knight in One Piece, or merely connected to them through a forgotten kingdom or training, remains a major speculation. But the clues we have gotten till now are too rich to just ignore. As One Piece is heading into its story in Final Saga, perhaps the Soul King will still have an ace up his sleeve.