One Piece Teases the Holy Knights May Be Far Stronger Than Fans Believed

After the grand adventure on Egghead and facing off against the Five Edlers in all their glory, it seemed like any antagonist in One Piece henceforth would only be a step down. Having said that, as great as the Egghead Arc was, the Elbaf Arc is already pulling its own weight with new, just as exciting opponents for Luffy and the Straw Hats in the form of the Holy Knights, an elite guard serving the World Nobles that has finally made its debut with four newly introduced members. Though the Holy Knights rank below the Five Elders both in terms of their status and powers, the latest chapter of One Piece teases that they may still be far stronger than they look.

In Chapter 1146 of One Piece, Gunko displays the same ability to regenerate as the Five Elders, down to the same crackling onomatopoeia as when St. Nusjuro was seen regenerating in Chapter 1120. In the chapter, Gunko is hit by one of Usopp’s exploding stars, which blows away the entire upper half of her torso and head, however, Gunko unflinchingly recovers from the attack and regenerates almost instantly, just like the Five Elders. While Gunko is the only one to display this ability so far, it is very much possible that the rest of the Holy Knights also possess similar regenerative abilities and this could prove to be very troublesome for the Giants and the Straw Hats going forward.

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One Piece Gives the Holy Knights a Game-Changing Five Elder Ability

So far, other than their rank, the only difference between the Holy Knights and the Five Elders was that the latter have proven to be immortal, along with possessing regeneration and demonic transformations. While the Holy Knights also possess quite fearsome devil fruit abilities, it is safe to say that neither Shamrock, Gunko, Killingham, or Sommers’ abilities rival the fearsome transformations of the Five Elders, putting them a step below and making their defeat by the Giants and the Straw Hats at least somewhat of a possibility.

However, the possibility that all the Holy Knights may also possess the same level of regeneration as the Five Elders certainly changes everything, making the Holy Knights infinitely harder to beat. It is unclear whether the Holy Knights are also immortal or unaging like the Five Elders just yet, though considering that Shanks and Shamrock are twins and still appear to be the same age, this may not be the case. This distinction makes sense as it would reserve immortality only for those who rise to the rank of the Five Elders, which is understandably necessary for the World Government to maintain equilibrium.

Regardless, immortal or not, the Holy Knights just got a whole lot tougher to beat, and if the manner in which Gunko just overwhelmed Nami, Usopp, Brook, and Jinbe is any indication, Elbaf may be headed for complete destruction. Of course, there is still hope for the Straw Hat monster trio to defeat the three Holy Knights, especially with Gaban and Loki on their side, though One Piece certainly has some very challenging battles on the horizon.

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