Over the last few arcs of One Piece, most of the biggest revelations have come from the main story, be it Vegapunk’s broadcast or the easter egg-filled Elbaf mural. As such, as interesting as the cover stories about Germa 66’s exploits and Yamato’s journey of self-discovery have been, fans have largely been overlooking them. However, One Piece’s latest chapter just proved that fans need to be paying closer attention to these cover stories, as the newest one just revealed a Warlord’s unexpected connection to Wano and the Kozuki Clan.
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In the cover story of Chapter 1158, One Piece reveals that the grave Yamato and Kiku were seen visiting in the previous cover story issue belongs to a man named Kozuki Moria, who has also been dubbed the “heroic pirate of justice.” This mysterious hero is said to have fought Kaido to defend his village, leaving not even a body behind. On the surface, this seems to imply that Gecko Moria could be a Kozuki and a potential distant relative of Oden and Momonosuke, which would completely recontextualize his battle against Kaido. However, it is also possible that there’s more to the story than meets the eye.
One Piece’s New Cover Story Teases Gecko Moria Could Be A Kozuki… Or Is He?
Right off the bat, it’s hard to believe that Moria could be related to the Kozuki Clan in any way, as there isn’t even the slightest bit of physical resemblance. Gecko Moria is also said to have hailed from the West Blue, though it is still possible that he was raised in Wano. The biggest piece of evidence suggesting a connection between Moria and the Kozuki is the fact that “Gekkō” also means moonlight in Japanese, much like Kozuki.
It is even possible that Kaido threatened Moria the same way he did Momonosuke, forcing him to abandon his Kozuki heritage after being defeated. Thus, Moria may have changed his name to this subtle homage instead. One could argue that this is only a coincidence; however, when it comes to One Piece, there is no such thing as a mere coincidence.
If the Kozuki Moria mentioned in the latest chapter were, say, Gecko Moria’s father, who was killed by Kaido, this would explain why Moria challenged Kaido despite the latter’s infamy. This would imply it was more of a revenge-motivated fight, which would in turn explain Moria’s obsession with defeating Kaido to the point that he took Kaido’s former crewmates Rocks Pirates, and turned them into his zombie soldiers to someday challenge him again.
Moria’s Kozuki Heritage Could Change His Character Forever
If these speculations are true and Moria is indeed a Kozuki through some twist of fate, then perhaps he was trying to fight for Wano in his own way. This would explain why he stole Ryuma’s corpse and Shusui as a potential means to protect the two from Kaido, who was hellbent on breaking the spirit of Wano’s people at the time. This would also make Moria a much more benevolent character than fans thought him to be, even turning him into a potential future ally to the Straw Hats, much like Ulti and Page One. Moria would also be quite a valuable ally at that, as being a Kozuki would make him another one of the rare individuals in One Piece who can read the Poneglyphs, that is, if the ability was passed down to him in the first place.
All that said, the most realistic and likely explanation is that the Kozuki Moria mentioned in the cover story and Gecko Moria are one and the same, with this just being some kind of misunderstanding because of how Gecko and Kozuki share the same meaning. Perhaps in his fight against Kaido, Moria was misunderstood as a “heroic pirate” protecting the village when, in fact, he was only challenging Kaido for his own personal reasons. It is also very much possible that Gecko Moria simply took over the body of an actual former member of the Kozuki Clan, as this would explain why the cover story states there was no trace left of this so-called Kozuki Moria. But of course, knowing One Piece, fans likely won’t get any solid answers unless it’s in the SBS section.
One Piece is available to read on Manga Plus and Viz Media.
What do you think about Gecko Moria’s connection to the Kozuki Clan? Tell us in the comments below!
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