One Piece Fans Missed This Hilarious Big Mom Easter Egg

If there’s one thing that One Piece loves quite dearly, it has to be easter eggs. These easter eggs can range from instances of subtle yet genius foreshadowing like the Elbaf mural to sneaky appearances of gag characters like Pandaman, who often graces the inner back covers of One Piece’s volumes. That said, One Piece’s latest chapter has one hilarious easter egg that fans may have overlooked, which not only pokes fun at one of the oldest running jokes about the series but also serves as a clever reminder of Big Mom and her troubled history with Elbaf.

Chapter 1142 of One Piece sees the Holy Knights turn the Giant children’s worst fears into a reality, setting fearsome beasts like Jörmungandr, Fenrir, and Nika loose on Elbaf. The latest chapter includes a stunning double spread of these nightmarish beasts wreaking destruction on Elbaf, and included among them, partially hidden under a speech bubble to the left of the panel, is a figure that looks a lot like Big Mom. Funnily enough, this iteration of Big Mom strongly resembles Oda’s earlier, highly inaccurate silhouette of Big Mom, seemingly poking fun at the running joke of Oda’s silhouettes always being unreliable and wildly different from the final version of the teased character.

One Piece’s Elbaf Arc Pokes Fun at Oda’s Silhouettes

When the Emperors of the Sea were first introduced in the series, Oda provided readers with a set of intimidating silhouettes with each of the Emperors cast in shadow. Admittedly, this was very early on in the series when Oda likely did not have the designs for Emperors set in stone just yet. With the exception of Shanks and Whitebeard, the silhouettes in this image were eventually proven to be hilariously inaccurate, which would go on to become a running trend in the series, albeit a funny one.

Kaido and Big Mom were, of course, the biggest victims in this situation, with their final character designs not even remotely resembling these shadowy silhouettes. However, what makes things even funnier is that this issue continues to plague One Piece’s silhouettes, with the most recent instance being Loki, who, when first mentioned during the Whole Cake Island Arc, looked nothing like what fans know him today. As such, it’s quite funny that the latest chapter included the reference to this infamous early silhouette of Big Mom, down to the same giant curly hair, cheekbones, and circular eyes.

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One Piece’s Newest Chapter Highlights Big Mom’s Significance in Elbaf

Despite being a major antagonist for much of the series, Big Mom has seemingly faded into obscurity since her defeat on Onigashima. That said, One Piece’s Elbaf Arc subtly reinserts the former Emperor of the Sea into the narrative with a hidden easter egg in the latest chapter, which indirectly teases Big Mom is still very much an important figure among the Giants. The fact that Big Mom is included among the nightmare beasts hints that some of Elbaf’s children still greatly fear Big Mom.

It is very much possible that fearsome tales of Big Mom’s evil deeds have been passed down in Elbaf over the decades, especially since some, like Gerd, knew Linlin firsthand. Many Giants also clearly hold a grudge against Big Mom as even Gerd, who considered herself Linlin’s friend years ago, claims she did something unforgivable to Elbaf in Chapter 1133, likely referring to Jorul’s death from the injuries Big Mom gave him. The Giants also know about how Big Mom massacred the House of Lambs, which would have added to the terrifying stories passed around about her, particularly among the children.

Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how strong this powerful imagination of Big Mom ends up being. Considering her rather inaccurate appearance, this nightmare version of Big Mom will likely be a bit weaker in terms of her powers and abilities, as the child who fears her may not have complete, detailed information about these things. Another interesting thought is who will take her down again if One Piece chooses to make this more than a passing easter egg.

One Piece is available to read from Manga Plus and Viz Media.