One Piece

When loved ones​ are involved he can be moved. But Big Mom's an enemy, so unlikely to pop up here

edited 20th Apr '17 4:21:39 PM by sgamer82

He's caring but not that caring.

If you hurt his bros then he's not gonna give a plain shit about you.

He gets upset if you abuse your friends, but I don't think he gives you any credit for treating them well.

It's probably because, to Luffy, you're suppose to treat your friends well. There's a reason why Wants a Prize for Basic Decency is a trope...

edited 20th Apr '17 5:51:59 PM by dragonfire5000

Was the portrait supposed to be a soul jar at all? I went back and reread some chapters, and I didn't see anything that implied it was more than just a precious memento.

According to Bege, the portrait being accidentally damaged at a prior tea party caused Big Mom to unleash an ungodly, Conqueror's haki infused scream and fall to her knees, injuring herself in the process by scraping her knees when she's otherwise very hard to damage

edited 20th Apr '17 6:39:48 PM by sgamer82

My take from that was that Big Mom values the portrait so much that she mentally breaks down when it's at risk. I didn't get the impression that the portrait was in any way connected to her powers, just that she lashes out (with Haki) out of emotional distress and can't focus on maintaining her physical defenses.

Given the nature of her soul powers, a Harry Potter style Horcrux was the first thing I thought of when I heard damage to this photo sent Big Mom into a state today let her vulnerable. Others made a look to The Picture of Dorian Gray for similar reasons.

My own take was by infusing​ the picture with some of her own soul, it left her resistant/impervious to harm so long as the photo remained intact.

Whether it's any of that or her getting upset, we'll find out next chapter in the aftermath.

edited 21st Apr '17 5:30:39 AM by sgamer82

I'm just left still wondering who in the hell Mother Caramel is (not to mention that the portrait is almost hilarious itself in its presentation) Some people theorized that she is Big Mom's true face, and the behemoth we're seeing right now is just a doll like Cracker's, complete with convincing red jelly or something. Don't really know what to feel about a bait-and-switch like that, though, and it's far-fetched to say the least.

I wonder how the fighting matchups will be arranged. There are a lot of characters at that party...

edited 21st Apr '17 2:47:02 PM by ChefFailure

I mean, it would explain why she's a giant, unless she's been stated to be a member of that race at some point in the past. Even then, the fact that she's really the only one of her family who isn't house-sized is also kind of iffy.

A big deal was made about her wanting to make her family gigantic so they could all eat at eye-level. Given recent events her caring about that might seem out of place, but it seemed like that was supposed to be genuine. If she was just wearing a disguise or something that the aforementioned problem wouldn't exist, and the family would probably know about it.

Plus, Big Mom's reaction to Mother Caramel doesn't really mesh with them being one and the same.

edited 21st Apr '17 2:51:22 PM by LSBK

No mention of giant heritage (certainly not of Elbaf blood), but it's kinda rendered moot when you take Whitebeard and co. into consideration.

There are other giant cultures, but I don't think Big Mom is part of them either.

edited 21st Apr '17 2:53:09 PM by ChefFailure

She's not a giant. As far as we know she's just a big human. Hardly unusual in the OP world. There's some speculation she may be part giant and that's what started the animosity with them, but the fact their Prince fell for otherwise human Lola suggests that's not it

Which still doesn't really explain how none of her kids inherited the whole giant thing from her, unless whoever the fathers were just kind of overrode that. That or it's recessive and she's just really unlucky.

Well that or she had them all when she was a more manageable size, which seems to not have lasted that long if her being giant in Pudding's flashback is taken away from this.

edited 21st Apr '17 2:55:32 PM by Ssj3Gojira

Nah, Lola's dad was huge, remember? I think her size is just another way of showing how she lets her appetite run her MO.

Still, very interested in Mother Caramel and her aside-glance-with-cigarette-on-hand.

edited 21st Apr '17 2:55:59 PM by ChefFailure

Isn't her first daughter pretty big?

Also her extra size might be due to getting to live long without ever stopping to grow.

You're right, she's huge.

Wait, some humans in One Piece grow like lobsters?

...Fair enough.

Carmel is Big Mom's own mother, is my guess. Maybe they were really poor and had nobody but each other, which is why Big Mom wanted an XBOXHUEG family?

Not the first time somebody's gluttony and power-mongering is explained in that way.

I'm looking at Katakuri's character page right now, and I'm just kind of interested in where the description for his powers came from. The way I saw it, he turned his body into actual mochi (the sticky rice cake), which he then reinforced with Armament Haki.

edited 21st Apr '17 3:07:50 PM by ChefFailure

I was about to suggest the same. From what I can tell, "Mother Caramel is Big Mom's own mother" seems like the by far most logical explanation for her identity.

edited 21st Apr '17 3:07:13 PM by LeChuck4

Given the running theme of family this arc, I'm pretty sure she's some manner of relative if nothing else.

I'd image she was more of a surrogate mother/caretaker than her biological mother. Like Big Mom was orphaned at an early age and Caramel took her in.

edited 21st Apr '17 6:30:28 PM by LSBK

It's not impossible. According to the One Piece wiki, Carmel (not "Caramel", apparently that is the official name) is a possible reference to a religious sect of nuns called Carmelites. They sell candy in Japan, apparently.

Since Stickness is an element now, I do wonder what other Bizarro Elements Oda can come up with.

Neon? Video?