Gunko Parts Z...

Franky is...ALIVE..!!

    What did Franky see at the Adam Tree? Himself. Us, the readers shared Franky’s astonished expression at the history of the One Piece world laid out before us. Immediately our gaze scanned the tapestry for any details we can garner from it. But I believe Franky is staring at the base of the Adam Tree. His silhouette covers the most integral part of that history; his birth. I suspect that Oda draws inspiration from the Frankenstein monster and Astro Boy to model our favorite cyborg; Franky.

    First of all, the identity of the person responsible for the mural is a mystery. Ripley suspects the artist to be a child, partly because it looks like the stuff of dreams. As we mature and grow further from our child-like imagination, we also become less capable of creating such expressive works of art. That is one of the great challenges of a professional artist; balancing boundless imagination and practicality. The conclusion I draw from this is that the one responsible for the mural was a traveler to explain his/her expansive knowledge of the world. Or more likely, connected to all of the dreamers like Dr, Vegapunk’s dream for Punk Records. With the power of science, artificial intelligence can glean the most likely possible future of the world. Dreams fuel people’s drive. People’s drive is their will. He was created to process chaos and develop a forecast of the future. So my hypothesis is that Franky was and is the most advanced innovation the world has ever seen. Though just like any creation, they’re bound to the whims of their creators. Franky’s challenge will be to challenge his programming to achieve true sense of self.

    There are other details that support this theory throughout the story. Franky’s photographic memory which he demonstrated when he burned the blueprints to Pluton. The clue that led me to believe this theory of Franky was “The God of the forest”. As the book of Harley described “gods”, I searched the mural for what could represent these gods. I matched the “god of the land” to the giant serpent from the “advanced civilization” that I believe represents industrialization. Relevant creations include a tunneler like the shape Ju Peter of the Gorosei took on Egghead, and a subway. Yes, someone with a child-like imagination would recognize a train as some kind of “strange beast” if they aren’t familiar with science. And the Giants of Elbaph have never been versed in such things. Their culture is their might. I considered the silhouette of the dragon on the north side of the mural of the forest, but that didn’t fit. I gravitated towards the “green blood” that ran through the mechanics of the seraphim. It’s that “green blood” that gives seraphim the ability to use devil fruit powers. Then it hit me, Franky uses cola as a fuel source. And cola carries the pronunciation of “coal” which was big in the industrial era. I considered Franky supplementing Adam Tree sap for cola to raise his potential output and the idea sailed from there. Cola is what supplements his true power source; the SAP of the Adam Tree.

    Allow me to make sense of it. There are schematics made by scientists and engineers today that can’t be realized, because we don’t have the sufficient power source or materials to synthesize the element. Just like Tony Stark in Ironman 2. He rediscovered an element his father discovered, but Howard Stark didn’t have the technology to realize it. The Franky Project required power the advanced civilization couldn’t harness. So in an act of impatience, a “mad” scientist built a lightning rod/tuning fork to summon the fuel source from the future to bring his creation to life. That fuel source is the Ark Maxim. The figure in the mural that looks like a queen with a crown is actually a tower with a coil/inductor on top. Forgive my inexperience in engineering, but bear with me. The shock from the Ark Maxim brought Franky to life and grew the Adam Tree in mere moments. Much like how God biblically made Adam from mud, born a full grown man.

    The excerpt from the first world in the book of Harley describes the story of Icarus. He flew too close to the sun and it melted his wings of wax, and thus, he plummeted to his doom. The pursuit of innovation has caused society to run its people ragged in an attempt to fast track the human race. It seems Oda is describing that Franky’s goal is to free himself so that no one can use him as the weapon/device he was intended to be. Much like how he burned the blueprints for Pluton. Keeping it out of the hands of those that would abuse it. "Suuuuper..!" Visor. An Easter egg for my readers. Find the pattern, and you will understand the inspiration behind the character, story, and artist/author/architect/mangaka.

    This is only a fraction of what I can surmise from the mural. Next article, I’d like to describe the “city fueled by dreams”. Stay tuned DonQuix fleet.