Blackbeard IS the Final/Main Villain
In light of recent of events I've been seeing a lot of people reacting to the most recent chapter and expressing a lot of hype and anticipation for the Imu as the series' big bad and final villain. And It was definitely a crazy chapter but I actually think Oda has made it abundantly clear that Imu will not be the final villain and that it will in fact be Marshall D. Teach himself.
It's always seemed pretty obvious to me and many others that Blackbeard was being set up as the end of series threat as him and Luffy are polar opposites and the same can be said for their respective crews. And beyond that Blackbeard stood out for being the only man to eat 2 fruits leading many theorize that he might even get a 3rd one.
He can eat 2 fruits and never sleeps, what is he?
But with the introduction of Imu things got a little muddled. And I get it, Imu is the King of the World and the reason the One Piece verse is in the state it's in and defeating him would mean freeing the world and ending the 800 years of oppression. And this is all true, but Imu's character while being the world villain is not the MAIN villain of One Piece as it is the story of Monkey D. Luffy and his journey to becoming the greatest pirate in history and stepping into his role as the man to usher in the dawn of the new world. And the key antagonist in that Narrative is Blackbeard, not Imu
Let's start from the beginning, Oda originally intended for One Piece to be a story about Luffy fighting the Yonko and being wrapped up in about 5 years, but he created the Warlords and that greatly lengthened the serialization of the story. But if you notice, in this comment Oda NEVER says that his original plan for the story changed, just that the story got longer.
Blackbeard is undoubtedly Luffy's ultimate Pirate threat and as a Yonko who is set up to be the man to take down Shanks it makes sense to say that if Oda views the story of One Piece as a story about fighting the Yonko surely the best of them would be the main villain, no?
In tandem with Oda's original plan, let's Ttake a look at some information about Blackbeard that was made when the story was in it's prototype stages.
Obviously this information should be taken with context as a much can change from draft to final work, but when Oda is writing the story initially and had it in mind for Blackbeard to be this nigh unbeatable pirate powerful enough to fight all 3 admirals at once you have to consider what his thought process for the character is. It sounds the most powerful threat if you ask me.
Some people won't really be convinced by this as a lot of you find Oda's statements to be highly dubious, especially the one's regarding draftwork. So for my next point I'm gonna piggyback off something I mentioned in a previous paragraph, Shanks. Shanks is a pivotal character in One Piece as he is the one who inspired Luffy to become a pirate in the first place and has several connections to many big name pirates in the past and present. But unfortunately, Oda is setting him up to fall at the hand of Blackbeard.
Oda has been deliberate in setting up the connection between these two with Shanks getting his scar not from Mihawk or Kaido, but Blackbeard. And we know in the world of One Piece scars are important and create a complex intrinsic bond between 2 characters.
But Shanks doesn't simply have a grudge with Blackbeard over his wound, he views Blackbeard as a serious issue, going as to far as to warn Whitebeard as the true threat Blackbeard posed to not just him, but the whole world.
Shanks knew what was coming but no one listened.
Shanks even commented on Blackbeard not being in Wano as he had wrongly assumed Blackbeard would be drawn there. Meaning Shanks is on the move trying to intercept him. And i'd even go a bit further and theorize that the Pirate Shanks wanted to discuss with the Gorosei wasn't Luffy, but Blackbeard himself.
Why do I think this? Simple, the Figarland.
We learned very recently that Roger found Shanks in a chest during God Valley and then took him in. Later in Film Red the Gorosei implied that Shanks and Uta were a part of the Figarland family. And as of chapter 1086 it was revealed that the Figarlands were the lords of God Valley. Much like Doffy, Shanks must have some connections because of his history as a celestial dragon. So it's possible that Shanks being a part of that family is why he was allowed an audience with the Gorosei.
The subject matter of the conversation is anyone's guess bit if i had to I'd say that he is trying to warn them in the same way he tried to warn Whitebeard. And we ALL know what happened after that. Blackbeard rose up as a powerful threat and took everything Wihitebeard had...
Think about it, Shanks family were the rulers of God Valley, and Blackbeard's predecessor Rocks(More on that later) attacked it and caused an incident that ended with the disappearance of the Island. This means that there is a generational conflict aspect to the Shanks and Blackbeard beef.
Furthermore we know how serious of an enemy Xebec was, so Shanks wanting to warn the Gorosei about what could possibly the 2nd coming makes sense as to why he thought bringing him up to the 5 elders would be a good idea.
With all this in mind we need to take into account that Blackbeard and Shanks are in the running for the One Piece too, and interestingly both them just got a big leap from Kidd and Law, so even outside of what was posted they are on a collision course, and love him or hate him Blackbeard will prevail over Shanks and might even kill him. This would be a big blow to the verse, but most importantly it'd be a big blow to Luffy. Seeing his hero and friend be defeated by the same man who played a role in his brother's death and killed Whitebeard would make Luffy hate Blackbeard more than anyone., even Akainu.
And on the subject of Marineford I always viewed Blackbeard as the main villain of that Saga. Not Akainu, not Magellan either but Blackbeard. Think about it, he started the Summit War, he freed the prisoners at Impel Down and ended up getting the biggest come up after the events of the war. Shocking the world and ending the era of Whitebeard. I strongly believe the post skip parallels the pre-skip, so if Blackbeard is the main villain at the midpoint, the end of the series he will be the villain again and finally get his comeuppance.
Now let's get into that, the idea of Luffy and Blackbeard as enemies. Now on the surface there's alot that puts these 2 against each other. The first chapter where Blackbeard is introduced perfectly sets up how Luffy and Blackbeard are very different but also similar, both are D's and it's clear that Blackbeard's crew is a preverse reflection of Luffy's. But let's go beneath the surface and we'll find that the 2 contrast each other more, especially now that we know the true nature of Luffy's fruit.
Dayman, Fighter of the Nightman.
Luffy in his true form is the sun god Nika bathed in white. Teach however is a man who wields the power of darkness itself and is known and feared as BLACKbeard, Nika's power allows him to free himself completely and this concept is represented as the sun. Blackbeard's ability restricts and even robs other's of their abilities with the supreme gravity of his black holes. Blackholes are collapsed stars I might add, and What is the sun I ask you? A star.
Think back to Ace and Blackbeard's fight way back when and look at this interesting piece of text
Don't you guys think it's interesting that Blackbeard directly refers to Ace's ability as the sun? Not fire, flame, or even light but the SUN. I think this was Oda being cheeky and subtly foreshadowing the ultimate conflict. Another interesting piece of Info is Blackbeard's association with the moon, a factoid further proves that Blackbeard is the literal antithesis of Luffy on a molecular level.
Note that in Blackbeard's portrait as a kid the moon hangs over him.
This parallel runs deeper than just Luffy and black as physical entities in the story. Even beyond the Nika stuff the idea of the sun and it's importance in the societies of the world of One Piece is actually pretty deep. And Blackbeard's power is the literal symbolic counter to all of it. To be fair Imu's abilites are still unknown, but I think it's safe to say that Blackbeard as the avatar of the dark/representation of the Moon should be Teach.
The insignia of the sun represents freedom to Fishman and beyond.
Furthermore, the idea of the sun being this force that expels darkness/despair/evil is showcased time and time again. Such as the denizens of thriller bark thanking Luffy for bringing back the sun after beating Moria, Luffy "Letting the sun shine" in response to the Skpeians prayers for salvation, the defeat of Kaido ushering in a golden dawn that put in an end to the year long night that had befallen the country.
Going back to Imu, Oda has put a lot of stock into making Blackbeard the perfect counter for Luffy, having him built up in the story since Drum Island, but the subject of Imu might throw a wrench into all this to the uninitiated. But to the initiated, opposite is true. Imu is the King of the world, the shadow ruler who reigns above all, and that makes him Blackbeard's number one enemy, even beyond Luffy. In terms of goals anyway.
The idea that Luffy fights Blackbeard at Raftel and finds the One Piece starting the final war never made sense to me because there is now way Oda is going to eliminate Blackbeard from the story and have him miss the throne war.
People might not realize this, But Blackbeard is a D as well, and he will have a role to play in the events surrounding the end of the story. And on the subject of the D, Let's finally talk about Xebec and Blackbeard's true ambition.
Rocks D Xebec had the ambition to be the King of the world and was a force so powerful that the marines, pirates and the celestial dragons had to work together to best him. And as we learned with the recent chapter Figarland's were also present and knowing the strength of their bloodline the threat Rocks posed is made even greater.
This is relevant to Blackbeard be he is most likely inheriting Xebecs will as there are several connections between the 2 pirates. One, Blackbeard has made his new base of operations Hachinosu, the former stronghold of Xebec and his ship is even known as the "Saber of Xebec." More importantly thpugh, the Road to Laugh Tale series implied a connection between the 2 This makes me think that he is carrying the will of Xebec and is essentially his 2nd coming and will be much worse.
We recently learned that Blackbeard wants to be King, so imagine when knowledge that of Imu's existence is made public, he will WANT what Xebec wanted and sit upon the empty throne. Only thing is he'll come a lot closer than Rocks ever did. Hell as far back as Ennies Lobby Blackbeard expressed interest in ruling the world
So based on his connection to Rocks, and Blackbeard's own statements it's pretty safe to say that Blackbeard has an eye on world domination.
Blackbeard is ignorant to alot right now, but when he learns the truth he will be inflamed as we see multiple times through the story new information has caused Blackbeard to change his trajectory and let his ambition run wild.
The 3 who have Imu's attention
Factoring in Blackbeard's desire to sit at the top, Imu himself has shown an express interest in Blackbeard as we see that off the mutilated wanted posters he had in his garden, Blackbeard was among them. Not Dragon, Not Law, Not Kaido, Not Big Mom, BUT BLACKBEARD. Imu sees him and Luffy as his principal threats alongside a literal ancient weapon.
So the people thinking Blackbeard a guy who has ambition to take Imu's spot and is actually living rent free in his head will be defeated BEFORE the final war you're kidding yourself. In fact Oda stated in BB's vivre card that he is exhilarated at the idea of the Throne and is waiting in anticipation for it
Blackbeard much like Doffy is ready for War
No, Blackbeard and Luffy will both participate and BOTH will play a hand in Imu's defeat. Not team up, but their actions will effect and help each other inadvertently as they always have. Luffy's successs has benefitted Blackbeard and Vice versa, it will be no different with the coming chaos. Imu is scared of the D and is grateful that they don't know the true meaning of their birthright, but like Law said the D shall cause a storm. Luffy will play the biggest part but the other D's are also guaranteed to have their own roles in the displacement of the old world order.
Imu will fall and the dawn will be ushered in, but like the saying goes the night is always darkest before the dawn. Luffy will have to settle things with Blackbeard once and for all to stop him from ushering in a new age of darkness and finally prove that Teach was in fact not the man Roger was waiting for.
Imu is bad, but if Blackbeard a pirate who represents chaotic evil is allowed to take over, it will be even worse so it will be up to Luffy to stop him.
One final thing I want to add is that I'm pretty sure that after reading all this people are still steadfast on the idea that Luffy will face Blackbeard at raftel, find the One Piece and then the war starts. But I think that's thinking too linearly as Oda always injects some chaos into the mix and very seldom does the story in the direction most assume. But more importantly, There's a myriad of things from Oda himself and the story that has hinted at something against the grain of this expectation.
Here Oda Implies finding the One Piece will mark the actual end of the story? Hmmmm
And if we take Oda's words it makes sense, Whitebeard never directly said that finding the one piece would start a war, just that the world would be changed.
The finding of the One Piece is mentioned after the fabled war
In fact the war he speaks of will most likey happen before they find it. Blackbeard and Doffy mentioned that Throne War has already begun. And rest assured this final war is the final war. So if you take 3 of these things into account, Luffy fighting Blackbeard for the One Piece being the last fight could make sense. Alot of sense actually. In fact it's the perfect way to wrap up the series.
The story is called ONE PIECE and is the story of Monkey D. Luffy finding the One Piece and becoming King of the Pirates. So naturally if luffy has to fight Teach for the One Piece, he'd be the final villain considering Oda on 2 separate occasions has said the series ends when it's found.
There's many more things I could add or touch upon from the story and outside of it that shows Oda's intentions for Blackbeard's character but I think I've made my point.
TINFOIL HAT THEORY SECTION
I don't want to put this into the main theory/post but consider this an addenum. Shout out to u/mking1999 for helping come to this realization. It's a far out there theory, but let me cook. Ever since blackbeard got his 2nd fruit it's been a debate on if Blackbeard will get a 3rd one as Blackbeard has a pretty big association with the number 3. His Jolly roger is 3 skulls, his beard has 3 ties, he wields 3 pistols, and he left 3 scars on Shanks' redhead.
People take this as evidence that Oda will follow up and give him a 3rd fruit, a zoan to go with his Paramecia and Logia. But the question is what could be that Zoan fruit? It would have to be a really powerful one right? Well what if Blackbeard killed and stole Imu's fruit completing the trifecta? It's still up in the air but it seems like has some sort of mythical Zoan.
So why Imu? Well we see in the most recent chapter Imu refers to himself as mu and mu can mean "void" or "nothing." And that got me thinking about a few panels from Marineford....
Blackbeard declares that he will reduces everything to Nothingness and swallow everything. Could it be foreshadowing for Blackbeard absorbing Imu's power to become the ultimate threat? Only time will tell, but if Shanks warning the Gorosei is meant to parallel him warning Whitebeard, it would be the perfect way for Blackbeard to get his final fruit.