 Inherited will, the swelling of the changing times, and the dreams of the people. These are things that cannot be stopped. As long as people seek the answer to freedom, these will never cease to be. Hello and welcome to One Piece 101, the series that breaks down everyone and everything in the One Piece world. And today, we are going to explore one of the most mysterious underlying concepts within the entire series, and the driving force behind so many of its greatest characters, the will of D. The will of D isn't as of yet unexplained force that surrounds select individuals within the One Piece world, all of whom carry the middle initial D. And of course, it should come as no surprise that our protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, is a carrier of this initial, and we do primarily experience this force through his various exploits. With that said, despite wielding the mighty D, Luffy himself has absolutely no understanding of its true significance, and to be fair, neither do we as the audience. In fact, within the series itself, there is so far only one bearer of the initial who is confirmed to have discovered its meaning, being the former pirate king, called D. Roger. And while he and several others in the series are privy to its secrets, for now, they have kept their lips sealed. However, that is not to say that we know absolutely nothing because there are several identifiable phenomena that occur when the will of D makes itself known. The first of which is a general sense of extreme chaos. Those who bear the will of D are said to cause a storm which can quite clearly be seen in almost every action Luffy has ever taken, such as the invasion of any slobby, the mass breakout of Impel Down, or the conflict with Charlotte Lynn Lynn on Hawkeek Island. But this storm is not exclusive to his actions alone, as other bearers stow their own brands of chaos, and probably the best example of which is the major antagonist, Marshall D. Teach, who more or less single-handedly plunged the vast forces of the Marines into an all-out war against the white-beard pirates. However, a second common phenomena occurs in the unfortunate or perhaps even fated event in which the bearer of the initial D faces the unavoidable prospect of death. In such situations, they are often seen laughing or smiling, having come to an incredibly quick acceptance of their fate and holding no fear of death whatsoever. This is a trend so common that it has been observed no less than six times in the series, the most prominent of which being the very first moments of One Piece where Goldie Roger is executed. However, it has also arisen in figures such as Jaguar D. Saul upon his death, as well as Luffy and Trafalgar Law in their respective situations, almost certainly facing death. Now, as for this quick acceptance of death, this may have to do with the third common factor surrounding the will of D, which is the nature of inherited will. Now, this idea is a huge part of One Piece in general, and it certainly isn't only the bearers of D who carry inherited will, however, it does seem to be particularly potent within them. And this is highlighted by the final words of the legendary figure Whitebeard, who, while not a D himself, was told of its significance directly by Roger, who went on to claim that killing someone bearing the will of D would not extinguish the flames of their will, and that someone would eventually rise to inherit that will. And Whitebeard went on to specifically mention that someday someone would appear to carry on his old rival Roger's wishes. And it is assumed that this would come in the form of another D bearer, which in the belief of Silver's Rayleigh is Luffy, but Luffy didn't just pop into existence as a result of that. And he inherited the middle initial directly through his familial line from his father, Monkey D Dragon, and grandfather, Monkey D Garb. And these family units are fairly common, another example of which being the Portgas family name, which was held by Portgas D Rouge and Portgas D Ace. And while we've not met any of them at the time of this recording, it was also mentioned by Jaguar D Soul that everyone in his family also bore the initial D, which is interesting because the familial nature of it would potentially point to the idea of an old nation or clan who all bore the initial and who were split up and moved all over the world for unknown reasons. In that regard, one particularly popular theory even postulates that the will of D represents the even more mysterious ancient kingdom, which was defeated by the alliance of the 20 kingdoms who went on to become the world government, essentially making those bearing the initial D the forgotten refugees of the world. Some evidence to back up this idea would come courtesy of Don Quixote Rosinante, a former world noble who explained to a young Trafalgar law that within a certain land, which is inferred to be the Holy Land of Marajor, those who bear the initial D are considered the natural enemy of God, which makes a lot of sense because the world nobles or celestial dragons, whatever you want to call them do refer to themselves as gods. However, at this time, I want to emphasize that all of this is pure speculation, but when covering a topic like this, I do think it's important to give out those little hints that the series has left for us. What is less than speculation is the fact that these figures in the world all go on to possess some sort of profound prominence within it, either by achieving some form of perceived greatness or by playing an integral role in the destiny of another figure. And now to demonstrate the former, you need look no further than our three monkeys. Monkey-de-Garp is quite possibly the greatest marine to have ever existed and is referred to as the hero of the world. Then we have his son, Monkey-de-Dragon, who is the exact opposite, being the leader of the revolutionary army, and as a result is dubbed the most wanted criminal in the world. And then, of course, we have Luffy, whose aim is to dwarf both of these achievements and become the pirate king. But it's important to note that there are other members of the D world whose lives have been a fated encounter for the sake of another, such as Jaguar D. Sol, who would come to sacrifice himself for the sake of saving Niko Robin during the destruction of Ohara, a girl who knew how to read the ancient language and who would go on to join the crew with Monkey-de-Luffy. So no matter who we encounter with the Will of D, they always seem to display a greater purpose in life than your average monkey's character. They possess a flame that cannot be snuffed out even by death, and so we will continue to closely watch these fated figures as they cause a storm in the world like no other. Some more fun facts about the Will of D. Outside of SBS segments, the very first mention of the Will of D in the series occurred all the way back in the Drum Island arc, when Dr. Kureha revealed that Roger's true name was Goldy Roger rather than Gold Roger as we had been led to believe, which was also interesting because at the time, Drum Island had been somewhat sandwiched by a good old storm of D, having been sacked by Marshall D. Teach and then subsequently visited by Monkey-de-Luffy. It's also worth noting that Kureha went on to mention that her student Chopper had joined forces with a very dangerous man referring to Luffy. While they aren't recognized as confirmed carriers of the Will of D, it would also be a reasonable assumption to make that either one or both of Trafalgar Law's late parents, as well as his sister, Lammy, carried the middle initial as well. And not only that, but his parents may have had some greater knowledge of its meaning as Law was aware of the fact that he needed to keep his true name a secret. And of course, that also opens up the idea that really anyone in the world could be a secret bearer of the Will of D and just hiding the initial to keep themselves somewhat under the radar. And finally, a truly useless fact. Amongst the more common comical traits shared by certain individuals who possessed the Will of D are a large appetite, as well as a predisposition towards an arcolepsy. But that pretty much does it for the Will of D for now. If you enjoyed this video and the content this channel produced in general, then please do consider donating to the Grand Line review Patreon because the support of all of your amazing people is what continues to make this channel possible. And if you'd like to see more videos like this but apply to other anime manga series, then please do check out my second channel, New World Review for all of your wider needs. And if you'd like to join the fun at any time, then please do head over to my Discord server where a wide array of shenanigan retakes takes place on a daily basis. And finally, please do comment with who, what, or where you'd like to see featured in the next One Piece 101.