 Could the reason why Dragon got his tattoo be so that it will serve as a marking to distinguish him from an evil twin? What about Shanks? Does he have an identical redhead lookalike out there that is missing his other most prominent feature? Clones, clones, clones are starting to become a more prominent feature in One Piece. Is it possible we will be seeing more of these? And what does this all have to do with the Holy Knights? Well, keep watching because in this video we're going to discuss everything we know about the Holy Knights in One Piece. Not to be confused with the Royal Guards nor God's Army, the Holy Knights are a new addition to the series. This new mysterious group, first mentioned in Chapter 1054, is a force of at least 9 people whose function seems to surround maintaining order in the Holy Land of Marajor. And I'm sure we're all asking the same question. Just how strong and important are they? As an anime rule of thumb, it's safe to assume that if these individuals are only being introduced this late into the series and with characters like even Sakazuki and Dragon weary of their movements, they just may be the biggest threats we've encountered so far. But let's dive a little deeper. When we're first introduced to the Holy Knights, we're told that they have intervened in the dispute about Saint Mure's Guard and what this suggests is that one of the Holy Knights' roles as part of maintaining order in Marajor is to resolve disputes between the celestial dragons and therefore hold judicial power in the Holy Lands. And in this way, they sit above the ranks of the Marines, being directly involved in the matters of the celestial dragons with even the power to determine what happens to one of the world's nobles. And with the existence of figures like Imu and the Gorosei, the latter of which I had previously expected to govern disputes concerning the celestial dragons. It's crazy to think that there is another group with this much power. And it's even crazier to think how much power you could have once you click the subscribe button. But this seems to be explained with the Holy Knight's other role, which is to also serve as law enforcement. Because as we've recently found out, the Holy Knights are the group that the world government will mobilize against the attacks of the Revolutionary Army. And this does a great deal to paint a better picture of how exactly things work at the top of the world government. While the Marines do exist to keep order in the rest of the One Piece world, there is another layer of government and authority for the world nobles. Making the political structure and system in One Piece even more complex and interesting. And it seems to be that the Gorosei play the role of heads of state and possibly the ones responsible for making the laws. While the judiciary and law enforcement branches of government are headed by these Holy Knights, responsible for keeping the peace between the world nobles. If we think about it in real world terms, Imu and the Gorosei can be thought of like the President and the Congress, whereas the Holy Knights plays the role of both the courts and law enforcement such as the police or a military army. Which brings to mind an intriguing question. Although we've now seen that they can be called to deal with matters outside of marriage while, given we haven't previously seen them being mobilized in any situation thus far, it does seem to be that they are primarily concerned with conflicts that affect the world nobles directly. In which case, how much practice do they really get when it comes to combat? As far as we know, life at Marijoua has been pretty peaceful. Sure, there has been the occasional conflict and disturbance, such as in the case of Fischer Tiger's attack or the more recent assault by the Revolutionary Army, but these seem to be isolated incidents that are few and far. For the world government to rely on this group to carry out the counter-attack on the revolutionaries, suggests a high level of confidence. In a similar way, Dragon as the man orchestrating covert operations against the world government and as a leader to the likes of men who have clashed with two admirals, Dragon still seems to recognize the Holy Knights as a real threat. Acknowledging their involvement would be a sign that the fighting has truly started. But just how strong would these knights really be if they're not in combat situations all that often? Are we to presume that they're constantly training, fighting against each other, or similar to a once popular theory about the Gorosei? Could these Holy Knights be immortal beings themselves? A group of prestigious warriors who have had centuries of experience? Are they devil fruit users with the world government having special access to special devil fruits? Or is there something else that is special and something deeper going on with these individuals? For example, from the way that Dragon made reference to them, mobilized. This is a term that, yes, could be taken at face value as a common way to direct soldiers or an army. But given everything going on at Egghead Island right now, it's also a term that feels very impersonal and very reminiscent of how the Seraphims have now been mobilized in the One Piece world. And if the Seraphims are clones of the former Seven Warlords, could the Holy Knights be clones or somehow related to the series' strongest characters? The reason I bring this up is because we see the silhouettes of nine figures when Dragon mentions the Holy Knights. And we'd have to say that at least two of these seem very familiar. The figure standing at the front, presumably the leader, feels very reminiscent of Shanks. Everything from his stature to choice of weapon, not to mention the attire and even the way that his head is drawn. The figure to his right is also oddly familiar, although I'd have to say less striking than the Shanks-like leader. This one resembling Dragon with his horn-like long hair. You could even say that this large silhouette in the back could resemble Lucky Rue, or this one with what seems to be uneven shoulders being somewhat like bonk punch carrying monster. And so the immediate thought may be that there is actually some weight to the evil Shanks theory, which is a somewhat widely entertained speculation about Shanks somehow being in cahoots with the world government. A theory that was primarily spawned from his conversation with the Gorossae. But another lesser-known theory amongst One Piece fans is that Shanks actually has an evil twin, and it is this twin that we saw speaking to the Gorossae at Marijoua. After all, we only see the right side of his face where his scar is not visible, which is interesting because in a very similar panel when we are only shown the right side of Shanks' face from an essentially identical angle during his meeting with Whitebeard, the tip of Shanks' scar is still visible. And now we could easily reason this to be the case of an innocent inconsistency between the two panels or Shanks' scar being hidden by the shading in this chapter. Or alternatively, it could be a hint of something deeper, and not to delve too deep into tinfoil hat territory. When we see Shanks in chapter 903 reading Luffy's then-latest bounty, Shanks is on a random, indistinguishable island. The next time we see him, a full four chapters later, this is when he's at Marijoua speaking to the Gorossae. But interestingly in the anime, these two events happen within the span of just one episode. The Shanks-like figure appearing before the Gorossae right after we see Shanks commenting on Luffy's bounty at the unknown location. Now, this could very well be a case where the anime has just condensed and reorganized the events for the purpose of timing, but it is food for thought. So rather than these figures being Shanks and Dragons themselves, are these silhouettes actually versions of these popular characters? And is that the reason why these knights are so strong? They're all related to other extremely strong, perhaps the strongest characters in the series. At the end of the day, it could really go a number of ways when it comes to Shanks and Dragons. Despite seeing more interactions with these enigmatic characters in recent times, both Shanks and Dragon are still shrouded in a whole lot of mysteries. Even the recent reveal in Film Red and the accompanying special volume 4 Billion Red that Shanks was found by Goldie Roger and his crew inside a treasure chest takes the question of who placed Baby Shanks in a treasure chest and for what purpose? In Film Red, it's heavily hinted, perhaps almost confirmed, that Shanks is a part of the figureland family. And although we don't know the significance of the family for sure, from the Gorossae's reaction and its mention in connection to Shanks, it's possible that the figureland family is one of the noble families and that Shanks is, by blood, a celestial dragon. You know, maybe it's one of those classic storylines where the figureland bloodline has always produced a holy night and becoming one of these revered nights is a part of a figureland descendants destiny. But Shanks has been spared this fate, with someone wishing for Shanks to live out his own life, where Shanks's twin dutifully stayed the course and became the head of the holy nights. Because according to a quick Google search, figure can mean loving change, high intelligence, but also ironically, master of their own destiny. Or alternatively, it's one of those other classic scenarios where Shanks had a twin brother, but during the God Valley war, the two twins got separated. One baby growing up in the holy lands, following the royal life he was always destined for, where Shanks was lost during the war, hoped to be kept safe by hiding him in a treasure chest, only to be found by Roger and leading a life of piracy instead. The two brothers fated to meet at long last. And similar dramatic scenarios can easily be conjured up for dragon and his supposed look alike. Because another popular idea is that dragon was once a marine and a comrade of Sakazuki. And so it's an interesting detail that the only two people who have ever referenced the holy nights in the over 1000 chapters of One Piece, are Sakazuki and Dragon, adding another intriguing connection between the two. Is it even possible that both these two men have closer ties to the holy nights? Could they have even been part of this group instead of the Marines? And can you imagine just how much One Piece fans would lose their minds if we were to see a face reveal of these holy nights, two of whom resembling Shanks and Dragon, the only difference being the lack of their most distinguishable features? I mean, Oda is notorious for forgetting to draw certain character features from time to time, such as Garp, Scar, going missing or even the inconsistency in Blackbeard's missing teeth. But if we were to see a reveal of Shanks minus his Scar and Dragon without his tattoo, this would be a no-excused reveal that would pretty much guarantee we are seeing some doppelgangers in the story, such as their brothers or clones or even their fathers. I can totally imagine a scenario where the holy nights are seasoned veterans, still able to hold their own against the likes of Shanks and Dragon. It may just be the Game of Thrones fan in me, but imagine if this seemingly leader figure is like Sir Barristan Selmy, considered to be one of history's best swordsmen and warriors even despite his old age. I think we've definitely seen that the old grandpas of One Piece are not to be dismissed, but if we're considering doppelgangers, why stop there? The holy nights sound like a religious group after all, and there are plenty of One Piece characters that scream religious influences in their design. For example, that big silhouette at the back. What if, instead of Lucky Rue, this is instead a doppelganger of another familiar character, Bartholomew Kuma. Kuma's demeanor and bible is a fitting look for someone who is to be called a holy night. Granted, there are plenty of Kuma look-alikes already, with the creation of the pacifistas being modelled after the late warlord. But what if there is yet another sentient being with Kuma's face and body? Another example is Mihawk, whom I would also consider a good candidate to be called a holy night with his cross-shaped necklace. And after all, we really don't know all that much about Mihawk. Although his design alone invites a lot of questions, such as his eyes, which are eerily similar to Imu's eyes. Could it be that Mihawk has also always been more closely linked to the throne than we've ever known? But I've gone on a bit of a tangent here, and I do realise that we have already seen clones or copies of both Kuma and Mihawk in the form of S-Bear and S-Hawk, but hey, triple the chaos, triple the fun. And if we do indeed have more clones, this could again explain their supposed strength, but getting back on track. With the very little information we have about the holy nights, I've tried to do some of my own research to see if I could find what could have inspired Oda with the creation of this new group. And I have come across not one, not two, but three historical examples of real-life groups or factions that may have served as the inspiration for the holy nights, as well as the number nine, corresponding to a number of very interesting things. Going back to the religious theme, which Oda clearly likes to incorporate, and in fact, Oda's interest in biblical or religious illusions seems to pre-date One Piece with one of his first manga publications being a one-shot titled God's Gift for the Future. But this is a theme definitely present in the series and very much so when it comes to the celestial dragons with the likes of the world government and imu who play gods and call the decline God's natural enemies. And when it comes to the Bible, the number nine signifies divine completeness and finality or the end of a cycle or era, which seems very fitting when you consider that One Piece is fast approaching the end game with this group of holy nights only being introduced in this final saga. But then interestingly in Japanese, the number nine can be considered as bad luck due to it sounding like the Japanese word for suffering. And this seems equally fitting for a group who is supposedly the maintainer of order and therefore I imagine deal a lot of suffering to others. There is also the pagan belief of the nine noble virtues, courage, discipline, fidelity, honor, hospitality, industriousness, perseverance, self-reliance and truth. Or if we are to look at groups, one of the first I came across is the Templar Knights. The Templar Knights was a military order of the Catholic Church which originally started off as a group of nine knights who lived in Jerusalem or aka the Holy Land after the first crusade. The order grew to become a highly skilled and wealthy unit during the Middle Ages, tasked with the mission to protect Christian travelers visiting the Holy Land while also carrying out military operations with their utmost allegiance to the Pope which at the time was a role that held perhaps the most power in the world. The connection between the Templar Knights and the Holy Knights are clear. A group of at least nine with direct allegiance to the celestial dragons protecting the Holy Land and carrying out military operations as and when needed. But another well-known group is the Nine Worthies consisting of Hector, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, David, Judas, King Arthur, Charlemagne and Godfrey of Bouillon. These nine men spanning across vastly different centuries were identified as legendary figures distinguished for their demonstration of chivalry and moral virtues frequently becoming the subject of literature and art during the Middle Ages. Or how about the Nine Unknown? A well-known novel about Talbot Mundi published in 1923 which some claim to be about a real-life secret society formed by Emperor Ashoka in ancient India. The Nine Unknown men were tasked with preserving and developing knowledge that could be dangerous to humanity if it fell into the wrong hands. And this group were also considered to be the embodiment of good opposing another group of Nine who sowed confusion and chaos. And this is where I get highly excited at the possibility of a face-off between the Nine Holy Knights and the Nine Straw Hats. I know that the Holy Knights are en route to clash with the Revolutionary Army but the fact that there were only nine silhouettes shown makes me curious and honestly very excited with the idea that the Straw Hats might face them themselves. Although it's highly discussed that Blackfeet and his crew are the frontrunners to be Luffy and the Straw Hats' final opponents but this clash between the two Yonko crews seem to be approaching much sooner than expected with the Yonko race for the One Piece truly underway. So what could be a bigger event than a fight between two Yonko crews than to see the Straw Hats face God and his soldiers? Luffy versus Imu and the Straw Hats versus the Holy Knights. And that may be just another one of my wishful thinking. Let me know what you think whether there's any way to some of these crazy ideas or if you have more information that can shed light on the Holy Knights. Let me know in the comments below. Don't forget to subscribe and like this video. Thank you for listening to another one of my rambling thoughts. This is Joygirl and I'll see you again soon.