The true purpose of the Holy Knights, explained

This article contains spoilers from One Piece's Elbaf Arc.

Summary

• The Saint Knights were introduced in One Piece to give the Sky Dragons a capable army.

• Holy Knights are incredibly powerful, standing above marines and even capable of passing judgment on other sky dragons.

• With the abolition of the Shichibukai system, the Holy Knights emerged as a new and exciting group of formidable foes in One Piece.

One Piece's the final saga has excited all the fans to no end and things are getting incredibly heated at this point in the story. With the big players finally making their moves, fans are looking forward to the big battles that will take place in this segment of the story. Along with the established main players, there are some that Oda has thrown into the mix as well, the biggest of all being the Holy Knights, also known as God's Knights.

They are a powerful bunch that fans want to see more of in the story as their strength is considered incredible. That said, most of the details about them still remain unknown, and their sudden involvement has fans wondering what their actual roles are One piece is. As the story progresses, their role seems to become more and more clear.

The need for powerful sky dragons

• One Piece didn't have powerful sky dragons

• The five elders and Imu were the exception.

Sky dragons One piece world were long ago revealed as the leaders of the world in the story. During the first part One pieceespecially around the Great Line, Oda continued to emphasize the fact that the Celestial Dragons were the descendants of the founders of the current world and that they were far superior to the vast majority of humans living in One piece world. The Heavenly Dragons residing at the top of the red line in the Holy Land of Marijoa are considered to be different from those living in the world below. They claim to be superior to them, so much so that they refuse to even breathe the same air as them.

Given their stature, it should come as no surprise to know that they are powerful. However, Oda took the exact opposite path for most of the Sky Dragons. Sky dragons are more often than not just stupid and weak. Until recently, it was incredibly difficult for fans to imagine that the Sky Dragons would ever take over the world. However, in the Final Saga, fans finally got a glimpse of their heavy hitters. For example, the Five Elders are shown to be monstrously powerful in this segment of the story. It was confirmed through the elders that Imu is also very powerful. But despite that, the numbers just weren't enough to justify their level of control over the world. Here come the holy knights.

I've already decided on the last panel and how the last chapter will be. In the final saga, I will focus not only on the Straw Hats, but also on the events that are happening around the world. The question is how many years will it take for the final saga to begin. – Eiichiro Oda (1999)

Oda introduced the Holy Knight One piece give the Sky Dragons a capable army. These holy knights are known to have tremendous power and great authority, ranking directly above the marines. Their power is such that they can even pass judgment on other sky dragons, a clear sign that they are among the most dangerous sky dragons to be wary of.

This is further supported by Dragon, the Supreme Commander of the Revolutionary Army, who clearly states that even though he has successfully declared war on the World Government, his real battle will only begin after the Holy Knights are mobilized. Until then, the Dragon War means absolutely nothing. It once again shows how powerful the Holy Knights really are, while also trying to get fans very excited for what's to come in the future of One Piece.

Filler for Seven Warriors of the Sea

With Shichibukai No More, an exciting new group has appeared

Until recently there were seven warriors of the sea One piece world to deter pirates from the seas. On several occasions, Luffy ended up fighting and defeating them, making a great name for himself along the way. However, now the Shichibukai are no more.

The system was abolished by the World Government, meaning newer enemies needed to be introduced. Of course, Oda could have simply continued towards the Yonko instead, and while that would be exciting, the World Government also needs more attention, especially with the story so close to the final saga, and more importantly, the Celestial Dragons need their own fighters if they want to hold on keep pace with straw pirates and other dangers of the world. This means that this decision can end One piece longer, as was the case with Shichibukai.

The reason why 'One Piece' has been running continuously for the past 20 years is because of the Seven Sea Warriors (Schibukai). 'One Piece' was originally intended to be a story about the fight against the four emperors (Yonko) that ended after only five years. I thought it would be awesome to have these great Seven Sea Warriors in a comic; it was really just a passing thought. And then it turned into such a long series, like a horror movie!! Why couldn't it be Five or Two Warriors of the Sea? I thought “Seven Warlords” sounded much cooler!! Well, I don't regret it because I already drew what I wanted to draw. A little more!!” – Ode

Government response to revolutionary army forces

The World Government needs someone to fight the dragon

World government One piece the world is quite powerful, but without the holy knights, they would not have the necessary forces to face the revolutionary army in battle. Oda had to come up with a competent fighting force for the Celestial Dragons, which is exactly why the Holy Knights exist. That's not to say the Holy Knights weren't planned from the start. It is highly likely that Oda earmarked them to appear in the Final Saga. After all, Shanks' twin first appeared in the story about 6 years ago. As such, Oda had always planned to introduce the Holy Knights.

Fans are sure to see the full force of the immensely powerful order that is the Holy Knights soon, especially in Elbaf where two members of the group have already made their presence known. It's only a matter of time before their strength is revealed and fans get an idea of ​​how strong they really are.

One Piece is available to read through Viz Media. Fans can officially read the series for free on the Shonen Jump and Manga Plus apps. The release date for the next One Piece chapter, One Piece 1136, is set for January 19, 2025.