One Piece -Theme of Betrayal in Wano Arc -Who betrays who? (986+)

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It has been more than 150 chapters that Doflamingo mentioned about the throne war and the betrayals that will inevitably accompany to achieve it. With series in Wano and the treasure “One Piece” closer than ever, betrayals have become a norm in the series in recent arc.

From Robin betraying Crocodile in Alabasta to Lucci, Kaku and Khalifa betraying Iceberg to Squardo stabbing Crocodile, betrayals have always been part of One Piece. But the concept of betrayal has never been more emphasized before like in Wano now. With so many groups/characters in Wano and each having their own inner agendas, it is inevitable to see so many betrayals.

Let us those who have betrayed others so far in Wano and those who will betray in future of the arc.

Betrayals so Far in Wano Arc

1. Scratchmen Apoo betrayal of Kidd and Hawkins

Technically this actually occurred before the start of Wano arc but it still deserves a spot here considering it directly involves Kaido.

After Law asks Hawkins, Hawkins reveals the truth between the alliance between between him, Kid, and Apoo. Hawkins reveals that Apoo had set them up, having been working for Kaido since before the alliance’s formation.

Kaido wanted to strengthen his army by recruiting the Supernovas into his crew. Hawkins being calculative and with zero chance of winning decides to submit to him. Kid and Killer, on the other hand, chooses to fight against the Yonko and inevitably loses.

2. Orochi’s betrayal of Yasuie, Sukiyaki and Oden.

Orochi in his younger days, under the guidance of Kurozumi Higurashi plans to become the Shogun of Wano. He initially works under Yasuie and steals money from him and blames it on Oden. Then he later goes to Kuri to work under Oden and gets Oden to lend him money many times since Oden considered Orochi to be a friend.

During the time when Oden went on a journey outside Wano, Higurashi disguises herself as Oden with her Devil Fruit powers and asks Sukiyaki to give Orochi a job at the castle, and Sukiyaki obliges. The old woman poses as Sukiyaki and decrees that Orochi will temporarily succeed him as shogun until Oden returns.

When Oden returns and confronts Kaido and Orochi, Orochi promises Oden that he will spare the citizens if Oden dances naked in public. And also they will leave Wano in five years. In the end Orochi didn’t keep his word and Oden sacrifices himself to save his retainers.

3. Kanjuro’s betrayal of Scabbards

In Zou arc, the possibility of traitor is brought up since Jack finds the island of Zou easily since only Vivre card can be used to reach it. Also Jack seems to have no doubt that Raizo is in Zou as if someone with inside knowledge informed him. What makes his betrayal very impactful is the length that Kanjuro willingly goes to serve Orochi and Kurozumi family.

As a child Kanjuro sees his parents killed before his eyes due to being a part of Kurozumi family. When he had no will to live Orochi approaches him and asks him to be a follower of Kozuki family till death. Being loyal to Orochi, Kanjuro even prepares to die along with other retainers of Oden eventually known as the Nine Red Scabbards.

Back in the present, the Scabbards sees the 4,200 men he gathered fails to arrive and begins to ponder how their plans were foiled, confirming the spy is one of them. Kanjuro then reveals himself to be the spy, to the rest of the Scabbards’ shock and disbelief. Questioning this reveal, Kanjuro claims he has no ill will towards them, he is just loyal to Orochi and kidnaps Momonosuke.

4. Kyoshiro/Denjiro’s betrayal of Orochi

Right from the start Kyoshiro’s role as Orochi’s bodyguard seemed suspicious. He mocks Orochi behind his back and also fakes Komurasaki’s death to protect her. But Orochi completely trusts him and he becomes one of his closest body guards.

Later On the day of the Fire Festival, while Orochi departs for Onigashima Kyoshiro frees the imprisoned 1000 samurai. Kyoshiro then attacks one of the Beast Pirates ship and reveals himself as Denjiro before Kinemon and the group.

5. Kaido’s betrayal of Orochi

Kaido decides to team up with Big Mom and declares that they will find the Ancient Weapons and the One Piece. He also plans to move his base to the Flower Capital and to transform Wano into a pirate nation to which Orochi objects. Kaido with no hesitation beheads Orochi and declares Yamato as the Shogun of Wano.

This is definitely the most shocking and unexpected event in the list. But I am not even sure whether we can call it a betrayal since Kaido never seems to have shown any sort of genuine friendship or respect for Orochi as an ally. Orochi is the one who uses Kaido’s name to extend his power in Wano and suppress people.

6. X Drake’s betrayal of Kaido

Sometime during the two-year timeskip, Drake joined Kaido and the Beasts Pirates and became one of the crew’s Headliners and one of the Tobiroppo.

Later we get to know that Drake is the captain of the special Marine force known as Sword. He even informs to Koby about the events happening in Wano and also frees Law who is captured.

He is still under Kaido as his subordinate with his identity as Marine remaining a secret. It will be interesting to see what his impact will be in future.

Who will betray who in the future?

Let us see who will potentially betray whom in the coming future.

1. Law’s betrayal of Luffy

Oda has foreshadowed Law’s potential betrayal of Luffy on several occasions. Luffy considers Law as a friend and trusts him fully but Law’s loyalty remains mysterious.

Earlier Nico Robin warns Luffy about betrayals in pirate alliances since Luffy is very trusting and will be easy to deceive. Then Smoker questions Law about his real intention behind the alliance and even Doflamingo questions him about the same.

Even Hawkins questions Law about the state of his alliance with Luffy when speaking about Kidd, Hawkins and Apoo alliance. Also Law seems to get frustrated with Luffy’s antics in several instances. These clear foreshadowings suggest that Law betrayal of Luffy will be in the cards.

I personally believe that Oda is setting up a subplot where Law’s loyalty will be questioned but in the end he will prevail as Luffy’s ally.

2. Flying Six’s betrayal of Kaido

Almost all of the members of The Beasts Pirates have their alliance with Kaido just due to their fear of him. Kaido captures strong people and breaks their spirit to make them his subordinate. Since so many members are under him mainly due to just fear, can we really expect them to be loyal to Kaido even in dire situations?

There are several events that highly foreshadows a future rebellion. Tobiroppo doesn’t like All Stars and most of them await an opportunity to fight one of the All Stars and become an All star themselves. They openly discuss about killing Queen and Kaido even offers them a fight with All stars.

Queen later tempts other lower ranked members of Beasts Pirates to defeat Luffy and Zoro and thus become a Tobbiroppo since Queen plans to kill one of the existing Flying Six by himself. X Drake as we already know is a spy for Marines. Hawkins joined the crew since he had no possibility of victory against Kaido and if there is a slight chance that Kaido can be defeated he will probably take that side.

Even though Big Mom has several flaws and issues, her crew composed mainly of children follows her wholeheartedly due to love for her and others like Pekoms remains loyal due to respect for her ideals. Kaido on the other hand has a crew that is mainly due to fear of him.

3. Betrayal in Kaido and Big Mom alliance

Does anyone really think Kaido and Big Mom will remain allies till the end. They say that they will discover Ancient Weapons and find One Piece as allies but in the end who will claim its glory.

Though both Big Mom and Kaido intend to become “The Pirate King” they differ in their ideals so much. Big Mom’s real goal is to have a crew with members from all the tribes in the world. Kaido on the other hand only wants to have a large scale war. It really looks like the alliance was started just because it will be fun.

We see Big Mom’s crew reaction to their alliance and it is interesting to say the least. Perespero says outright that he doesn’t approve of this alliance and Big Mom pirates will be the ones standing last.

Final Thoughts

Do you have any other characters/groups in mind that may betray others. Kindly share your thoughts in the comments below.