Blackbeard’s attack on Drum Island years ago may turn out to be one of One Piece’s most important pieces of long-term foreshadowing.
In the world of One Piece, some mysteries remain buried for years before suddenly becoming extremely important. Tony Tony Chopper may be connected to one of them. Long before Chopper became a member of the Straw Hat Pirates, Blackbeard and his crew attacked Drum Island.
However, the story has never fully explained why Teach went there in the first place. Now that Blackbeard is aggressively hunting powerful Devil Fruits, that mysterious attack has become more intriguing than ever. One popular theory suggests that Chopper’s Devil Fruit may have been the real reason behind the raid.
Blackbeard’s attack on Drum Island remains one of the strangest unresolved details in One Piece. Before Luffy and his crew arrived there, the raid was revealed in Chapter 133, which established that the Blackbeard Pirates had attacked the country and forced Wapol to flee.
What makes the incident particularly noteworthy is that Eiichiro Oda has never provided a clear reason for the attack. That leaves a major question about what Teach was actually searching for. One possibility is that he was hunting Chopper’s Devil Fruit.
At first glance, the Hito Hito no Mi appears to be a relatively straightforward Devil Fruit. It gave a reindeer human-like abilities, with Chopper eventually becoming the Straw Hat Pirates’ doctor. However, One Piece has already demonstrated that Devil Fruits can conceal their true identities.
Luffy is the most obvious example. In Chapter 1044, the fruit long believed to be the Gomu Gomu no Mi was revealed to actually be the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika. The World Government had concealed its true name and nature for centuries. That revelation completely changed the way fans looked at other unusual Devil Fruits, and Chopper’s fruit naturally became one of the leading candidates for further speculation.
At the same time, Blackbeard’s attack on Drum Island makes the theory even more compelling. Teach has built much of his power around stealing and collecting Devil Fruit abilities. If he knew that Chopper’s fruit was something far rarer than an ordinary Hito Hito no Mi, Drum Island suddenly becomes a much more logical target.
There has been no official confirmation in the story that this was Blackbeard’s objective, but Oda’s decision to leave the reason for the attack unexplained has created plenty of room for the theory to grow.
The Forest God theory takes the idea even further. Some fans believe Chopper’s Hito Hito no Mi may actually be connected to a Forest God, similar to how Luffy’s Devil Fruit is tied to the Sun God Nika. The theory stems from references to ancient gods in Skypiea, where the story mentions the Sun God, Rain God, Earth God, and Forest God. Following the introduction of Nika, those seemingly old details suddenly became much more intriguing.
Chopper also fits this theory surprisingly well. His story has always been closely connected to nature, animals, and medicine. Chopper dreams of becoming a doctor capable of curing every disease, while his Devil Fruit allows him to shift between human and animal forms.
Since awakening the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, Luffy has continued developing new ways to use his abilities, with Gear 5 granting him an entirely different level of freedom. If Chopper’s fruit is also secretly a Mythical Zoan, its awakening could potentially work in an equally unusual way.
Rather than simply giving Chopper another variation of a standard human form, an awakening could reveal an entirely different transformation connected to the fruit’s true identity. While Chopper’s advanced transformations are currently the result of his medical genius and the Rumble Ball, a story-driven awakening could completely redefine those abilities during the Final Saga.
As One Piece has repeatedly shown, seemingly minor details can be planted years before their true significance is finally revealed. Blackbeard’s unexplained visit to Drum Island could potentially be another example. If Chopper’s Devil Fruit really does hide a major secret, Blackbeard may have a very specific reason to target one of Luffy’s longest-serving crewmates.
Sources: gamek