Over a thousand chapters after the island was first mentioned, One Piece is finally taking the Straw Hats to Elbaf, the home of the Giants. The latest chapter finally brings the explosive Egghead Arc to a close and eases into the Elbaf arc on an ominous note with a mysterious figure awaiting Luffy’s arrival.

Chapter #1124 of One Piece sees Luffy and the Straw Hats feast with the Giant Pirates as they head towards Elbaf. At the same time, a mysterious figure is seen on the shore of Elbaf, drinking while looking out towards the sea. The mysterious figure only utters two beckoning words, presumably, directed towards Luffy and the Straw Hats, who are currently making their way to Elbaf.

Little of the mysterious character’s silhouette is visible, with the panel conveniently cutting off any recognizable markers that would help identify the character. However, a popular theory suggests this mysterious figure waiting at Elbaf could be Scopper Gaban, Roger’s left-hand man.

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While the silhouette doesn’t provide any immediate clues as to who the character could be, one popular fan theory is that the upper half of the silhouette could be a hat like the one worn by the mysterious character seen drinking with Crocus in the cover story of chapter #631. The identity of this character has haunted fans of One Piece for hundreds of chapters, with Scopper Gaban being the top possible candidate.

Though the hair of this character is blonde or yellow in the digitally colored manga, this could still be dismissed as an error as the digitally colored manga has previously been inconsistent. The mystery man does have the same spiky hair as Gaban, if not a bit shorter, and the lighter color can be explained by Gaban’s black hair having gone grey over the years, much like Rayleigh. The silhouette in the latest chapter and the character in the cover story also appear to be seated in the same position with both having a drink in hand.

Most importantly, Gaban being at Elbaf could also explain who the old friend Shanks mentioned meeting at Elbaf in chapter #1076. While these friends were previously assumed to be Dorry and Brogy, a former Roger Pirate would make more sense given that Dorry and Brogy have been dueling at Little Garden since before Shanks was even born.

That said, the strongest proof that the mystery man is Gaban is the strong parallels between the Egghead Arc and the Sabaody Arc. From the reappearance of the same characters like Sentomaru, Kizaru, and Kuma, to the way both arcs highlight the wickedness of the Celestial Dragons, Egghead strongly mirrors Sabaody, with both acting as a measuring stick of Luffy’s abilities after gaining a new significant powerup and title.

Except, instead of being sorely defeated like he was at Sabaody, Luffy this time faces the entire might of the Navy and the World Government and manages to successfully escape with his entire crew intact. These parallels suggest that, since Luffy met and was trained by Roger’s right-hand man Rayleigh after Sabaody, he may be destined to meet Roger’s left-hand man Gaban this time around. In fact, though Luffy has made it out of Egghead unscathed, his struggle against the Five Elders suggests there may still be more he could learn from Gaban.

The Mysterious Character at Elbaf Cannot Be Shanks or Saul

As far as silhouettes in One Piece go, they have proven to be unreliable time and time again. As such, even though Scopper Gaban fits the bill of the mysterious man in chapter #1124 perfectly, it is impossible to be completely sure. Some fans have argued that the silhouette could be Shanks and that the curved upper part of the silhouette is the collar of Shanks’ coat.

However, the main issue with this theory is that Shanks was already seen at sea on his ship in chapter #1121 and appeared to be quite drunk. Not much time has passed since that part of Vegapunk’s message aired, which means it is not possible for Shanks to have sobered up and hurried back to Elbaf in that short time frame for any valid reason. Moreover, if it were really Shanks, Oda would logically have no reason for the secrecy and would likely just have Shanks appear in full.

Another theory is that the character in chapter #1124 is Jaguar D. Saul who is speculated to be the man marked by flames. However, this too does not make much sense given that Saul is in hiding and would not risk being seen in the open on the coast of Elbaf. Like with Shanks, if the mystery figure were indeed Saul, Oda would have simply just depicted Saul as is, instead of showing him in silhouette form, which he usually reserves for a new introduction.

Nonetheless, One Piece is kicking off the Elbaf Arc with a bang with a mystery to keep fans on their toes until the next chapter. Regardless of who the mystery man awaiting Luffy and the Straw Hats ends up being, the Elbaf Arc is sure to be full of excitement.

One Piece is available from Manga Plus and Viz Media.