History Recap / OnePieceZouArc

** Cat Viper and Dogstorm are said to have been at odds ever since their return to Zou, which was before Carrot was born. Despite this, Momo, who is eight, knows them and correctly assumes their disagreement came from what happened to his father Oden. The disconnect in the time frames involved is a hint to the reveal in the Wano arc that some of the Red Scabbards traveled through time.

* EpicFail: The older members of the crew (Robin, Franky, and Brook) stand watch outside the entrance to Zou in order to ward off Kin'emon and Kanjuro, specifically citing, as the adults of the crew, their need to be responsible. When the samurai arrive, all three have passed out.

** Cat Viper mentions that Robin might be wanted by very strong enemies (Kaido, Big Mom and their men) if the Straw Hats are after the red poneglyphs, because she can read them. She assures him that she also has very strong friends protecting her.

** Jack, the crazy, bloodthirsty right-hand man to Kaido with a 1 billion Berry bounty, tries to kill Zunesha -- the eponymous island-sized Zou (elephant) -- with his fleet of ships and some cannons, but he and his crew are immediately sunk by Zunesha's trunk once Momo gives the order to fight back. This may be a world where the strongest fighters can beat literal giants, but Zunesha's still an ''island-sized'' elephant with the strength and mass to match that size. Meanwhile, Jack's just a large human whose Devil Fruit power lets him turn into a still-not-even-close-to-that-size woolly mammoth with a human crew (some of whom ate artificial Zoan fruits) firing cannons from his fleet of ships on the ocean (which, of course, sinks Devil Fruit users like rocks).

** Now that they finally got some down time Usopp upgrades Nami's Clima-Tact again at the end of the arc.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Brought up by the Beast Pirates to Kaido, saying that underestimating Luffy could prove dangerous. Kaido, however, [[EnforcedTrope became enraged at the idea of taking Luffy seriously]], saying that the Worst Generation is nothing compared to him, using his defeat of Captain Kidd as proof. Once these two actually meet, Kaido takes out Gear 4 Luffy with a single strike.

* YourLittleDismissiveDiminutive: Kaido refers to the Supernovas' activities so far (namely, those of the Luffy-Law Alliance as well as the defeated Kid's) as "little pirate games", which also provides the name of Chapter 824.

* TakeThatAudience: A mild example. After the reveal that the Straw Hats need to find four Road Poneglyphs to determine the location of Raftel, a small but vocal subset of the fandom insisted that they should still be able to find it with the info from only three Road Poneglyphs, with some of them refusing to be convinced even after the rest of the fandom tried to show them the math behind it to explain why this wouldn't work. When the anime adapted this chapter later, the writers went out of their way to add a few lines of dialogue discussing this; Chopper wonders aloud to Nami if they would only need three of them, and Nami replies that no, all four of them are necessary.

* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Bege makes it clear to Sanji that the invitation to his own "wedding" is mandatory and Sanji has no say in the matter--especially since the Straw Hats and Caesar are targets of Big Mom anyway. Then there's whatever the Firetank Advisor, Vito, whispers to Sanji, which forces Sanji to accept. Pekoms later tells the Straw Hats that if Sanji had not gone to the Tea Party, Big Mom would would have sent him the head of someone he cares about, be it someone from the Straw Hats, Baratie, or Kamabakka Kingdom.

* BrickJoke: Zoro in ch. 822 expects Sanji to be attracted the woman he's partnered with already by just being Sanji. Come ch. 824, Zoro's proven right.

** Tons of previously seen kings and royal families ([[Recap/OnePieceAlabastaArc Vivi and Cobra]], [[Recap/OnePieceDressrosaArc the Riku family, Mansherry, Elizabello II]], [[Recap/OnePieceDrumIslandArc Wapol, Dalton and Kureha]], [[Recap/OnePieceFishmanIslandArc the Neptune family]], and [[UnexpectedCharacter even]] [[Recap/OnePiecePostWarArc Stelly]]) return to the main story in chapter 823 as they make their way to the Reverie. Whether or not they'll end up involved with the Straw Hats again remains to be seen.

* HowWeGotHere: Luffy's half of the Straw Hats are surprised to find the cities destroyed, and to receive a warm welcome from the Minks despite their reputation of being human-haters, upon their arrival to Zou. They also reunite with Nami, Chopper, and Brook, but find Sanji and Caesar missing. The former three, as well as the Minks, then spend the next several chapters--presented as flashbacks--explaining how all of this happened.

** Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Brook and Pedro (and, revealed in the next arc, Carrot, who's a stowaway) are going with Pekoms to retrieve Sanji from Big Mom.

* LiteralMetaphor: The two leaders of the Mink tribe--Duke Dogstorm and Master Cat Viper--don't get along at all. They ''literally'' "[[CatDogDichotomy fight like cats and dogs]]", because that's what they actually are.

* OnceMoreWithClarity: Near the end of the Dressrosa arc, in chapter 795, we finally saw the Curly Hats again...in the middle of a tense situation on Zou, with no explanation as to what was happening and why. The flashbacks in the first half of this arc depict events leading up to this scene, repeat it, and show what happened after, providing the necessary context.
* OutGambitted: Bege originally hopes to bring Sanji's whole group of Straw Hats with him to Big Mom when he's holding them hostage. However, Sanji manages to save Nami, Chopper, and Brook by shoving them out of Bege's castle-body, and holds Caesar at gunpoint--knowing Bege was ordered to make Sanji and Caesar the major priority--to keep the Firetank Pirates from going after them. The arrival of Master Cat Viper, one of the kings of Zou, as well as Bege shooting Pekoms and leaving him where he was collapsed, also contributes to keeping him from re-capturing them.

** Jack, the crazy, bloodthirsty right-hand man to Kaido with a 1 billion Berry bounty, tries to kill Zunesha--the eponymous island-sized Zou (elephant)--with his fleet of ships and some cannons, but he and his crew are immediately sunk by Zunesha's trunk once Momo gives the order to fight back. This may be a world where the strongest fighters can beat literal giants, but Zunesha's still an ''island-sized'' elephant with the strength and mass to match that size. Meanwhile, Jack's just a large human whose Devil Fruit power lets him turn into a still-not-even-close-to-that-size woolly mammoth with a human crew (some of whom ate artificial Zoan fruits) firing cannons from his fleet of ships on the ocean (which, of course, sinks Devil Fruit users like rocks).

* OutGambitted: Bege had hoped to bring Sanji's whole group with him to Big Mom when he was holding them hostage. However, Sanji managed to save Nami, Chopper, and Brook by shoving them out of Bege's castle-body and holding Caesar at gunpoint--knowing Bege was ordered to make Sanji and Caesar the major priority--thus keeping the Firetank Pirates from going after them. The arrival of one of the kings of Zou, as well as Bege shooting Pekoms and leaving him where he was collapsed, also contributed to keeping him from re-capturing them.

* PutOnABus: Sanji and Caesar mostly appear in flashbacks rather than the present day, since said flashbacks show that they were captured by Capone Bege and taken to Big Mom. Sanji finally reappears in the present time in the last chapter of the arc

* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine: After taking the Curlyhats + Caesar captive, Bege let Sanji sit at a nice table (with the others chained up on the floor), apologized for keeping them waiting, and offered Sanji food or drink; unsurprisingly, Sanji refused.

* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: The Heart Pirates [[AndTheRest certainly felt that way]] when Law introduced them to Luffy, then immediately went away with him so they could talk privately.

** The Mink tribe were nearly wiped out by one of Caesar's weapons. It's Caesar that helps save them (albeit begrudgingly) when Sanji forces him to dispel the gas.
** When discussing Sanji's MIA status, Luffy and Zoro aren't too worried, with Zoro commenting that he left a note and Luffy adding, "It's not like he was captured or anything." We find out later that he really ''was'' captured (kind of); he allowed himself to be taken, but only to save his friends and take care of something dark from his past that had caught up with him.
** The Straw Hats spent the first half of the arc trying to hide their association with the Wano samurai because they were afraid that the Minks, whose country was just destroyed by someone seeking them, must surely hate even the idea of samurai with a passion as a result. However, the Minks are actually generations-long ''friends'' with the samurai's Kozuki clan and in fact ''had'' been hiding Raizo on the island the entire time; it's highly likely that, if the Minks had known that Raizo's companions were traveling with the Straw Hats, they would have told their saviors the truth.

** In Chapter 806, Kinemon and Kanjuro correctly surmise the nature of the eruption rain, even though the Mink Tribe are supposed to hate the Samurais. This clues to the fact that the Minks and the Samurais are indeed close.

* CurbStompBattle: Jack and his crew really thought they could take down Zunisha because it doesn't seem to act against its assailant, but they are proven absolutely wrong when Momonosuke orders Zunisha to fight back and it uses its trunk to not only destroy five of Jack's ship but also took out Jack himself with one hit.

* DoNotTauntCthulhu: Jack tries to kill Zunisha to destroy the city on his back. Zunisha only doesn't fight back because he ''can't'' without orders. As soon as he gets it, Jack's fleet doesn't stand a chance.

* FlyingDutchman: Zunisha revealed to Momo (and subsequently the people on Zou) that, long long ago, he was punished for a crime to forever wander on the seas and not to do anything unless he's ordered to.

* {{Irony}}: The people of Zou are nearly killed by Jack who wields an Mammoth Zoan Devil Fruit. When he comes back to finish the job, he's taken down by an even bigger elephant, Zunisha, ''the Zou island itself''.

** Momonosuke and Dogstorm will remain on Zou until it's time for the gang to get back together, in the hopes of learning the secrets of Zunisha.

** Jack's crew becomes terrified when they see Zunisha's trunk heading towards them, and while his crew tries to run away on their own ship, Jack just stands there looking completely petrified.
** PlayedForLaughs when Luffy cheerfully grabs his Whole Cake Island group and ''jumps off Zunisha'', resulting in the entire watching crowd (except the rest of the Straw Hats, who, of course, are used to such eccentricities from Luffy) having a hilarious and epic Group WildTake.

** Jack, the crazy, bloodthirsty right-hand man to Kaido with a 1 billion Berry bounty, tries to kill Zunisha--the eponymous island-sized Zou (elephant)--with his fleet of ships and some cannons, but he and his crew are immediately sunk by Zunisha's trunk once Momo gives the order to fight back. This may be a world where the strongest fighters can beat literal giants, but Zunisha's still an ''island-sized'' elephant with the strength and mass to match that size. Meanwhile, Jack's just a large human whose Devil Fruit power lets him turn into a still-not-even-close-to-that-size woolly mammoth with a human crew (some of whom ate artificial Zoan fruits) firing cannons from his fleet of ships on the ocean (which, of course, sinks Devil Fruit users like rocks).

* TurtleIsland: Or rather, "Elephant Island". Zou is located on the back of a giant elephant named Zunisha.

* ADayInTheLimelight: Zig-zagged, Sanji hasn't yet appeared outside of flashbacks, but said flashbacks have developed him quite a bit, in comparison to the last several years which he spent either as comic relief or OutOfFocus. It's also the start of a much larger arc that will focus on saving him.

* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Bege makes it clear to Sanji that the invitation to his own "wedding" is mandatory and Sanji has no say in the matter--especially since the Straw Hats and Caesar are targets of Big Mom anyway. Then there's whatever the Firetank Advisor, Vito, whispered to Sanji. Whatever it was, it was enough to force Sanji to accept.
** Pekoms later told the Straw Hats that if Sanji had not gone to the Tea Party Big Mom would would have sent him the head of someone he cares about. It could have been either someone from the Straw Hats, Baratie, or Kamabakka Kingdom.

* DistractedByTheSexy: Sanji angrily tells Tamago and Vito that he has no intention of marrying Pudding, a woman he's never met... but is immediately distracted and gets his usual heart-eyes when he sees a picture of how beautiful she is.

* NonMammalianMammaries: All the female Minks have breasts. Then again, if the legend that the Minks descended from people who consumed animal Devil Fruits is true, this could be {{justified}}.
** Arguably, it could also be justified due to the fact that all Minks seen so far are based on some form of mammal, as evidenced by the fact that they all seem to have fur, meaning that there's nothing 'non-mammalian' about their mammaries to begin with.

* PutOnABus: Sanji and Caesar still only appear in flashbacks rather than the present day, since said flashbacks show that they were captured by Capone Bege and taken to Big Mom.
** Sanji finally reappears in the present time in Chapter 824.

** The Straw Hats' introduction to Raizo the ninja is one big shout-out to ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' (fitting, considering the authors of the two series are friends). Raizo himself is an {{Expy}} of Jiraiya, and he uses ninja scrolls, shuriken techniques, and Naruto's signature clone ability.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Brought up by the Beast Pirates to Kaido, saying that underestimating Luffy could prove dangerous. Kaido, however, [[EnforcedTrope became enraged at the idea of taking Luffy seriously]], saying that the Worst Generation is nothing compared to him, using his defeat of Captain Kidd as proof. [[spoiler: Of course, once these two actually meet, Kaido takes out Gear 4 Luffy with a single strike.]]

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Brought up by the Beast Pirates to Kaido, saying that underestimating Luffy could prove dangerous. Kaido, however, [[EnforcedTrope became enraged at the idea of taking Luffy seriously]], saying that the Worst Generation is nothing compared to him, using his defeat of Captain Kidd as proof.

* PettingZooPeople: The Minkmen are anthropomorphic animals.

* QuitYourWhining: Luffy initially turns down Kinemon's request to save Wano. It turns that he's willing to do it, but he wants to hear the request from Momonosuke, demanding that he stop crying and start acting like the heir that he's supposed to be.

* FiveManBand: The Dressrosa arc had one with the Straw Hats who stayed there, but flashbacks show that the Zou half of the crew also had one:
** TheLeader: Sanji (this group is even called the "Curlyhats", referencing Sanji's curly eyebrows).
** TheLancer[=/=]TheChick: Nami, the only female in the group, but also the navigator who got them there safely.
** TheSmartGuy: Chopper, who (together with Caesar) made the poison antidote that saved the Minks.
** TheBigGuy: Brook, who (in addition to actually being the tallest by a wide margin) provided backup to his crewmates
** SixthRanger: Caesar and Momonosuke, who are along for the ride:
*** EvilGenius[=/=]TokenEvilTeammate: Caesar, who was only with the Curlyhats as a hostage, but was forced into helping them save the Minks.
*** TagalongKid: Momo, who's traveling with the Straw Hats for now (with Kin'emon and Kanjuro, who were in Dressrosa) to return to Wano.

!!Short Summary

** Sanji is one of the main characters of the series and the third son of an infamous family of assassins, [[Manga/HunterxHunter sounds familiar]]?

* SurroundedByIdiots: For once, ''the Straw Hat crew'' (the Dressrosa half) deals with this when they see how incompetent Bartolomeo's crew is at sea. [[NobodysThatDumb Not even]] [[NobodysThatDumb Luffy]]'' [[NobodysThatDumb was dumb enough to go to the Grand Line without at least having a decent navigator]].

* SurroundedByIdiots: For once, ''the Straw Hat crew'' (the Dressrosa half) deals with this when they see how incompetent Bartolomeo's crew is at sea. [[NobodysThatDumb Not even Luffy was dumb enough to go to the Grand Line without at least having a decent navigator]].