One Piece, as people outside the community could observe, has some strange body proportions. With various characters stretching to ridiculous proportions in both their height and width, identifying these characters just by a silhouette is truly an easy task. However, strangely enough, One Piece silhouettes suffer from a very peculiar problem that has been present throughout the entire story.

Namely, the silhouettes of new One Piece characters tend to look nothing like the final results of the character when they are officially revealed. In fact, the difference is so great and immediately recognizable that the One Piece community constantly makes memes about this very issue. Although the silhouette problem isn’t a bad thing, it most likely has a root cause in how Oda develops characters for the story.

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One Piece Silhouettes Look Nothing Like Their Final Designs

These Silhouettes Are Lumpy Blobs And Not Epic Character

In One Piece, oftentimes, before a character is officially introduced, which tends to feature their full design and a title card, other characters and flashbacks will briefly mention them, hinting at their existence. For example, in the post-Enies Lobby Arc, Garp reveals the existence of the Four Emperors. Although Shanks and Whitebeard are shown in full, mainly because they’ve been introduced to the story at this point, Big Mom and especially Kaido are shown with silhouettes.
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Life isn’t a series of simple questions and answers. – Kaido

As anyone who has seen Kaido’s full release could probably tell, this silhouette looks nothing like the Captain of the Beast Pirates. The silhouette, rather than showing the massive, muscular behemoth that is Kaido, shows a smaller, squat person who isn’t half as intimidating. Although Kaido is the most extreme example, this phenomenon has happened to plenty of One Piece’s other mysterious characters, with one of the more egregious examples being Loki, who suffered from a similar fate to Kaido.

Silhouettes In One Piece Are Mainly Unfinished Designs

It’s Better To Share A Simple Design Than An Unfinished Complex One

One Piece Silhouettes Are Mainly Placeholder Designs
A Complex Design Wouldn’t Work As A Silhouette Anyway

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Firstly, one of the main reasons that these silhouettes look nothing like their counterparts in One Piece is due to the fact that Oda hasn’t entirely decided what he wants his design to be for these characters. One Piece characters have strange body types and weird proportions, meaning that they would be instantly recognizable from a silhouette. However, if the character isn’t quite finished yet, it’s better to use a simpler silhouette that doesn’t distract viewers from One Piece’s finished designs. Otherwise, if Oda were to commit to designing characters at an early point and providing an accurate silhouette, it would be harder to go back and redesign the character that has a fully fleshed-out look.

Next, the mysterious silhouettes of One Piece characters help preserve some mystery and suspense for their final reveal. If Kaido were to just look like a shadowy figure of himself in Garp’s story, it would take away from his epic introduction in the post-time skip era. Although the silhouette doesn’t need to be so drastically different to achieve this effect, at the very least, it should be incredibly plain so it doesn’t invite comparison to the final design.

One Piece Silhouettes Could Have Been Prototype Designs

Kaido Could Have Been A Very Different Character

Finally, the strange silhouettes could also be used as a placeholder and initial concept for some of the more important characters of One Piece. Although these look nothing like the final designs of the characters, some believe that characters like Kaido and Loki were supposed to look like their silhouettes before receiving a complete design overhaul. For example, some believe that Kaido was originally supposed to be a far more squat character with a big smile. However, sometime between post-Enies Lobby and post-Dressrosa, Oda completely changed his mind and overhauled the character.

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Kaido, King of the Beasts

Despite all the strangeness surrounding the initial silhouettes of One Piece’s best characters, the final designs of the characters have turned out absolutely amazing. However, it would still be interesting to see how these strange designs would have looked if they were introduced officially to the series. Now, fans will have to wait to see how the biggest silhouettes of One Piece, namely Imu and Joy Boy, turn out by the end of the story. Hopefully, these silhouettes compared to their official designs provide just as much of a laugh as Kaido’s.