This Chinese Flood Legend Explains Everything | One Piece Theory

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[@duser]

Luffy going infinite gear five because the people he saved are constantly giving him food would be crazy.

[@sebastianmartinez5508]

Don't let my cat know or he will become joyboy to get constant food from his allies

[@pencilcheck]

While his heart keep beating with the drum of liberation to signal he needs food lol. So the robot and elephant apologized because they can't give joyboy food in time ... lol

[@crowofjudgement4718]

"Gear Mugen!"

[@tonionio]

25:15 theres a bit of dialogue from luffys flashback after marineford where bluejam says, “humans beings are strange creatures, when we’re thrown into the deepest pits of misfortune we start to laugh” so it’s possible they laughed realising that they served no purpose in saving a doomed world and that after all their work to reach the end they dont really play a role in fixing it. They made it there too early, they werent the main characters of this world.

[@nanach6276]

Thats why we're gonna cry our eyes out when Luffy dies laughing but we know he has hurt inside all this time. Something like that. I would cry for weeks if Oda pulls something like that and i think he will.

[@PezzaTheFlezza]

10:00 So Yu can turn into a Bear, but his wife turns to stone and he has to raise their child alone? Does that sound familiar to anyone else?

[@TertiaryTrash]

hmm.. Bear..

[@TertiaryTrash]

literally one to one comparison

[@robinthestate6548]

????

[@PezzaTheFlezza]

@@robinthestate6548 Bear in Japanese is Kuma. So if we sub in Kuma for Yu, this is exactly what happened with him, Ginny and Bonney.

[@linkshunter608]

Wtffff

[@vongolashodaime1975]

I think the Roger pirates laughed partly because they did everything they could to get to this last island and despite all that they couldn't do anything when they got there. But also probably because what they discovered there : the truth of the world, the void century, the way to "finish" what the ancient kingdom started and their goal was so absurd yet plausible they couldn't help but laugh

[@pumpkinLive]

In other words, Luffy has the mandate of Heaven

[@ArrakisHeir88]

He certainly appeals to heaven a lot when fighting corrupt leaders and restoring rightful rule, even if he doesn't say it outright

[@ANunes06]

This joke *slaps* so hard it's name has reached the gods.

[@ChargeQM]

I mean, heaven did save him from being executed in Loguetown. Thunder from heaven is VERY Chinese.

[@november4196]

@@ChargeQMI assumed that was Dragon

[@luisfelipes.fernandes8539]

@@november4196 that was Dragon for sure, but with Dragon being luffy's father and the whole "inherited will" cameos throughout the story, the parallel sustains itself

[@azizyeo4965]

Look at Merphy theory crafting and researching ancient chinese mythology. So inspirational!!🙌🏾

[@raymanforever]

In costa maya, there was a kingdom that was lost for 800 years and i would not have thought to much about it until i found out a major export of the area was their abundant supply of rubber trees.

[@bboops23]

Fascinating. Do you know what I can look up to find out more about this lost kingdom?

[@raymanforever]

@@bboops23 actually yes, look up the.ruins of costa maya

[@clayoldman4036]

When you said you'll talk about a Chinese flood myth, the only thing comes into my mind is "大禹治水". I'm so confused because I have never thought this story could connect to one piece. After watching this video, some parallels you mentioned actually make a lot of sense to me. Great job!

[@arenkai]

That Gomu Gomu no Mi pronunciation was immaculate

[@kennisthecreator]

The version of the tale in which Yu turns into a bear and his wife turns to stone is parallel to what happened to Kuma (bear in Japanese) and Jinny/Bonney (Sapphire scale disease) I think you’re onto something!

[@riduanaqil1452]

Joyboy being the one to make the red line would be a hella good twist and there was an idea (not quite a theory) that imu might not be evil but was misguided by the gorosei I think it could also make sense that this myth is only for wano. Like you said, maybe different island will reflect different myth from the real world and wano already had a wall for presumably 900 years

[@MalMalWasTaken]

I love this theory so much. I do believe that by the end, Oda is gonna take inspiration from a lot of mythologies and history and this is most probably one of them.

[@mohan9465]

in my culture(india) we have similar noah arc story" The Hindu flood narrative centers around the figure of Manu, found in texts like the Matsya Purana and the Satapatha Brahmana. Manu is warned by the deity Matsya (Vishnu's fish avatar) about the impending deluge and is instructed to build an ark to save himself, sages, and seeds of life". notice here manu is warned by deity matsya which is in avatar of fish - odas notes are always with a fish head in water and luffys final attack to kaido is "bajrang gun'' here bajrang means hanuman(monkey god of hindus).

[@LSClubhouse]

Is this story also in Buddhism? I know there are many parallels & shared aspects between Buddhism & Hinduism so I’m just curious

[@MonkeyD.3892]

Matsya avatar is a great reference .

[@mohan9465]

@@LSClubhouse yes it is...buddhism came from india and almost both buddhism and hinduism are same and therefore share same stories

[@YehudaEvreuklovic]

Every culture has its flood. Also bajrang is just a move s name mate. Almost every important term or name in OP, has greek origins.

[@abhijith6589]

The ark in OP having chains which are meant to be used by giant sea kings to tug the ship is a huge similarity to Matsya avatar tugging the huge ship in the purana

[@glittermasterofarrakis6730]

Just a bit of mythological connection, but one of the most powerful weapons in Chinese mythology was the staff or rod of Yu. This rod was later said to be found and used by the Monkey King in his journeys.

[@HerculesOfHate]

As far as Roger and his Crew laughing at the One Piece, I can only assume from Rogers words that "Joyboy" told the story in an absolutely ridiculous way. Imagine Luffy trying to explain the whole situation and you'd probably laugh too, "This dumb ruler guy is flooding the world and the only way to fix it is to break this big ole mountain but when I punched it, it didnt break!" and honestly that doesnt even remotely give justice to how goofy Luffy would sum things up.

[@jcnot9712]

I find it hard to believe that, of all countries, the land of the tsunami has no flood mythology to speak of.

[@JJames666male]

It's not mythology for them, it's Tuesday

[@Nexmindscape]

I think that's because flood is common so people don't paint it as some special events while for other countries something that happens very rarely that thing has a special cause.

[@jcnot9712]

@@Nexmindscape you’re pulling that out of thin air. There’s tons of stuff people experience on the regular that they create mythologies around. Even from what little I know, Japan has that myth about catfish predicting/causing earthquakes with their whiskers. A better explanation would be that Japan isn’t prone to “end of the world” mythos in general, which I’d agree with ‘cause nothing comes to mind. Compared to things like Revelations from the bible.

[@bendover7841]

They've been isolated for a very long time.

[@Nexmindscape]

@@jcnot9712 First, I never said japan is prone to "end of the world" mythologies. Second, I never said people don't create mythologies on regular things. Third, What i said was that due to floods being common in japan they didn't saw as a world ending disaster that they can't defend themselves again, that's why they built elevated houses. Now I am not saying there isn't any myth around flood , there are some deities in japan that people worshipped to protect themselves from flood. But floods never were considered a world ending disaster like potrayed in bible.

[@nevembra9850]

How hilarious would it be if Imu and Lily were siblings or childhood friends and Lily decided to help JoyBoy and Imu is still upset about it. It would be a "We could have ruled the world together side by side" kind of situation

[@clayrixj5822]

learning about chinese mythology from Merphy through the lens of One Piece is not something that i think i will get to experience and certainly will not think of in a million years😂😂

[@ItzOnno]

The Noah was such a huge in your face hint and everybody went, yeah the world is covered in water so the Noah was made when this wasn't the case yet. However the Noah might have been made because people knew the flooding would happen again or become worse

[@fei9165]

This is so interesting Merphy, you did an amazing job in researching all of this, makes me want to go through all these flood myths and legends myself.

[@bannedtalks2030]

Merphy looks like if she was drawn by GOda

[@udithsethu552]

What do you mean?

[@soluslunares6682]

This is the wife I thought I'd have when I was young. Young dreams... 😅

[@udithsethu552]

Is it because she is a manga nerd or for the looks?

[@LeonardoGPN]

I think Joyboy made a mistake in focusing too much in his objective and postponing his friends needs. Because of that they couldn't help him when he needed and he was unable to achieve what he wanted. Now he is doing things in a different way, helping his friends along the way. Also, the One Piece world has 5 moons maybe, when the 5 align at one side of the world, all the waters will come to that side, flooding one side and uncovering the other side. Maybe even uncovering an ancient realm under water. The Red Line might be able to hold the waters.

[@Axelblaze1022]

I think the main reason Roger was too early was because Posiden wasn't reborn yet. I think Roger laughed because Joyboy probably told stories about the crazy inventions in his time and if Joyboy is like Luffy he probably did the most ridiculous things with these inventions. An example would be there was a void century version of the Automatic Cooking Machine and Joyboy made some ridiculous meal with it; stories with his opinion on flying cars etc If I had to assume there are probably multiple ponelgths on Laughtale and Roger probably read the ponelgth with Joyboy's goofy stories first

[@ThebassTHX]

merphy i‘m so happy to see theories videos of yours.❤ keep them coming, so proud how much of a one piece fan you‘ve become i didn‘t expect when you were first reading east blue.

[@courtneymr5u1cid39]

A coworker of mine told me a theory that gol d. Roger created the pirate era to save the people that the government or celestial dragons would leave behind.

[@NewbPhil]

Imagine my disappointment when I realized it was a "Chinese Flood" Legend, not a "Chinese Food" Legend 😔

[@deismaccountant]

There’s also the Norse flood myth that connects to it’s creation myth. When the first giant, Ymir, is killed by Odin, his blood is a brine that floods the universal void and kills all the giants except for Berlgemir and his family. Odin and his brothers then grow the World Tree, Yggdrasil, and other cosmological features out of Ymir’s corpse. I’ll be looking for such references in Elbaf for sure. The general process of a god becoming the universe is called Pandeism, and I think there’s another flood myth that connects to the Chinese primordial god as well, Pangu.

[@jackshao126]

There’s another flood myth where two gods was fighting and broke a pillar of heaven which caused the heavenly river (reference to Milky Way) to flood the lower world. Another god Nuwa who created humans from mud went on a quest to find a special stone, melted it down, and patched the heaven.

[@nidsim808]

honestly i really like your take on it. you understand oda and how he gets his own inspiration for one piece. keep up the good work with these types of videos.

[@lixogram]

Thank you for this! Amazing research as always... It's crazy how much we can learn with One Piece. It's really one of my favourite aspect of the show

[@jec15]

I was waiting for this! Since you mentioned this Chinese folklore in that last video, I searched for it. But then I fell into the rabbit hole of Theory theory no mi via the change of dynasties (with the Zi clan from Shang dynasty, cautionary stories on what happens to corrupt kingdoms, Shun and Gun and the great flood, and the 5 grains etc etc Goda's unbelievable

[@KorantinM]

The un-natural "ground" used to build the red line was one of the moons. Which would make anyone laugh, no?

[@migueldominguez78]

That could be the reason the Lunarians lived on top of the Red Line, if their moon was used as building material for a new continent. It's a little far fetched but has enough logic that i could get behind it. It would definitely blow some minds, especially if Enel comes back to give some elaboration on Moon history

[@royalfun1031]

​@@migueldominguez78ye

[@royalfun1031]

Enough otherworldly but not too much

[@beckhampang191]

Would also make sense why they are called LUNARIANS

[@divyanshsharma1999]

Great video, the Yu legend indeed has a lot of parallels- due to this video my head is buzzing with theories and information

[@justinbeumeler462]

Was just checking out your channel and went to click on the next vid and this came out 2 min ago omgggg

[@James_Wisniewski]

It checks out that China would have its own flood myths. The Yellow River is rather notorious for flooding. In fact, the modern city of Kaifeng sits atop eight previous iterations of itself that were destroyed in floods, one of which was manmade, caused by army leaders exploding a dam during a war.

[@Enjun38]

These videos are the best, thank you for your research!!

[@anonymeruser2016]

Really fun theory and really possible that Oda was inspired by this myth :)) It's really cool to witness the start of your journey with One Piece, experiencing the joy of catching up and theorizing along with the rest of us while we wait like goons for the next chapter . :3

[@rcookie5128]

I like this theory a lot, nice job!

[@FrantifaSuperSoldier]

Merphy is a treasure to the one piece community. I can’t express enough how much I love these deep dives

[@NeonGeminis]

This is one of my favourite things you do!

[@2gjones1]

Roger laughed because the answer to the flood and the world was hilarious and crazy and he didn't know or have a way to achieve it. So all he could do was sit back and laugh.🤣 I have had a crazy theory brewing in the back of my head ever since G5 was revealed that maybe the answer is to do something so insane everyone else looks and laughs, but for someone that can dream and do anything in this world that they can think of, it makes sense. Imagine if Luffy were to rubberize every nation in this world and tie them together like one big raft so that they could weather the storm. I'm not saying that's going to happen but that's insane enough to laugh at from a distance and impossible for anyone else to achieve. But for Luffy, it might be possible.

[@millkkmonterr]

Lil theory i cooked up, ik in one video you attributed water rising to the destruction of islands, but that might just be one aspect of it, i think most of the water flooding the world is from reverse mountain spewing loads of water out of an unknown source (maybe water at the core of the world in one piece?)

[@sunMMVIII]

The hole around Impel Down?

[@jackroberts4361]

Imu causing a great flood and then telling Joy Boy to fix it seems like something Imu would do.

[@jorelvalencia9233]

years later, couldn't been more spot on merphy

[@hibblesnicker]

I always thought that in the Roger laughed scene. They weren't laughing joyfully but hysterically like they reached their goal at the end and found out they were too early whatever that means

[@cwega2463]

Oda is just pulling from the stories of my life i tell him about.

[@Aether-wd6wn]

One thing i really love about these types of theories is that when religion/myth starts being discussed and what stories oda may be taking inspiration from, you see that alot of cultures share similar stories. Its one of the reasons myths are so interesting, bc stories were passed from region to region with each place adopting its own rendition.

[@underthempire5389]

I enjoyed hearing the legend, and love whenever you bring in outside sources like this! I cannot help thinking Imu and his ilk stole the sand from the gods or at least supplanted the people who originally did, and then turned that ancient weapon said to create the flood upon the world (Imu being the one capable of hitting the button since only an immortal can do it without dying like Doflamingo wanted done on him by Law). As for the ancient weapons, I think Luffy is going to reject the need to use them like he dismissed Pluton which is going to set him apart. I doubt the flood is the only thing Roger read in Laughtale, for the number one reason that it would spoil the surprise about what has been waiting there all this time, and Luffy would no longer be down for the adventure.

[@leod5179]

I feel like the Chinese flood myth Merphy tells in the beginning of the video sounds like the inspiration for the farming arc in vagabond

[@SnakeAndTurtleQigong]

Sending gratitude from a Daoist monastery! We study some of these old stories to understand the metaphors embedded within our practice. 💙

[@maxxandubar503]

I can never guess why people wanna guess what’s gonna happen. I’m not watching any end theories because I’m going to sit back and enjoy. So many times I see youtubes guess what’s gonna happen and be let down, or be right and be not as hype cuz they knew. Love your chapter reviews though!

[@hunterwindham1086]

I love thinking about luffy being on the Noah just picking up all his old friends because to him it would just be a big party

[@BtFML1]

i know you always say like “oh i’m still so new to the community i don’t think i can really theorize like a lot of the big dogs out there” but i think you don’t give yourself enough credit, stuff like this is great and awesome!

[@Marpaws]

great video^^

[@wildmax4355]

Now I want to replay The Wind Waker. You never know, it might spark some inspiration for future theory crafting.

[@AnyMEmdq]

3:15 That also correlates with the Chinese Four Symbols: The White Tiger of the West (Metal), the Black Tortoise of the North (Water), the Azure Dragon of the East (Wood), and the Vermillion Bird of the South (Fire), all four represented by the Four Mountains (and 4 of their 5 elements), and in the middle of all four, the Emperor, representing the Yellow Dragon (Earth), the Fifth of the Four Symbols (and of the five elements). And as some extra trivia, Yu the Great's creation of the Dragon Gate falls by parting the mountains for the Yellow River (again named after the Yellow Dragon) to flow, that's deeply connected to this myth, is where the myth that inspired Kaido comes from. EDIT: 14:20 Needless to say, Yu parting the mountain for the water to fall can also be a reference to Luffy destroying the Red Line.

[@topramen5344]

Roger laughing could just sort of be a laugh of futility, like when you’re in such a bad situation all you can do is laugh, but that could easily be wrong considering the significance of laughter in one piece

[@SirVampyr]

My guess as to why Roger laughed is that maybe Joyboy had some crazy, almost childish idea to stop the flood and wrote his plan down. Maybe it's so comically absurd, it has something to do with, idk, moving the moon farther away, idk (because moon and flood... idk). That would at least tie into why there is an actualy civilization there and goes back to Enel being canonically on there.

[@jrcell5832]

After this I want a Sawyer7mage collaboration Merphy

[@zeenukcheolakee5203]

What I love about One Piece is that it made a LOT of people all around the internet really study deeply into old histories and legends from long long times ago. Oda's just sharing his love for history with us one chapter at a time.

[@banzeebanz2923]

My guess is that Joyboy was the Gun of this story. He was selected, not by Imu but whoever the ruling king of the ancient kingdom was. Roger may have been a false Yu, thinking he was the answer to a problem potentially caused by Imu. Similar to how kaido thought he was Joyboy's successor before Luffy came along. Roger's laughter may have been the realization that he was SO under qualified to carry out the will that all he could do was laugh at his own folly.

[@rouyrreducolibri6624]

Floods and giants are common themes in myths

[@sunMMVIII]

Laugh Tale - the story of the origin of crafting and using a smile and unique laugh to inspire yourself and others. The laugh is intentionally enunciated so it can be used even if the user doesn't feel it. The time will not be right until the world can laugh together.

[@cuthip]

Ooooooh Merphy cooking 🔥🔥🔥

[@animeandboxing]

Merphy the poster alignment in the background is setting off my ocd

[@djgoku7774]

Amazing video.....I do have a random intrusive thought. Does she own a rapier 🤨? I've been doing a fanfic about One Piece KZbinrs being in the OP world. Merphy would definitely be a swordsman with a black rapier 😂. Also if they were in the OP world with their knowledge and theories her, Tekking, KOL. JoyBoyTheories and especially Artur would be on the WG hit list 😂

[@tunnosummer889]

About roger laughing, thinking about the prophecy I couldn't help but think about the ending of a 100 years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, trying not to spoil it since its my favorite books, but the final scene with the mysterious manuscripts on that story would fit the reason roger is laughing so well. Also merphy mob psycho 100 i cannot recommend this enough :)

[@elimsyldog4858]

The One Piece is a nest of giant birds that was not ready to hatch when Roger arrived at laughtale.

[@Javier.M.]

Roger's laugh could be a Will of D. laugh. Something like "We arrived too soon. Oh well, we are death hahaha"

[@endermah5995]

I misread the title as food and somehow thought that made sense

[@lesleysnipe]

my sleepy-eyes clicked the notifications and read "the chinese food ....." im like "really Merphy? even food have theory about One Piece?"

[@BAL_D_CORNELL]

Nice work.

[@Atomysk]

Dont know if it was mentioned but im pretty sure theres a cover story where Blue Gilly and Ideo ended the fued between the long limb tribes.

[@mahgeetahh]

i just can't wait for the scene with all of the allies they've made along the way come to help in the final war and we just see the entire city of Water 7 pull up

[@et.anthem]

How does Oda even collect so many folk stories? This guy is a freakin genius. Also, day 81 of asking Merphy to read Bleach

[@FakeMehdiXxX]

I'm personally subscribing to KoL's recent crazy theory. But this Chinese legend has lots of similarities to One Piece so I'm glad you made this video. Infinite gear five through mother flame? Or maybe even a gear 6? Awesome theories.

[@storysmith5626]

I need to throw an image out there that I heard fr somewhere else…..buggy on the empty thrown. Sitting it it the same way he was introduce

[@marcusharris9265]

You have a beautiful voice. You could definitely get paid to do readings on audio book.

[@rishabhsahlot7481]

To add to you theory, there is also the mention of a 'Bo Yi'(sounds like Boy) in wiki of this flood in china

[@TangerinePanda13]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE look into the Wampis people and the flying rivers they’re trying to protect. I think it’s VERY connected especially since “Wampis” sounds literally like “One Piece”

[@TangerinePanda13]

My theory is that what Emu causes the big ocean sinkholes by taking water out of the sky and thats depleting the sky rivers and thats why no one uses them anymore. Every time Emu uses it to transfer water from the sky to the sea it rises the tide because its quicker than the natural cycle. Im betting that before the void century that sky rivers were utilized all the time and when people knew to look and were able to notice that they were depleting that they got mad as heck because they new the environmental impact it would have and the NWG had to shut that down QUICK hence the void century maybe

[@jackhageman9983]

I’m still reeling from the pirate octopus incident

[@Scarletcroft]

I sometimes say: I would be crying about it, if I wasnt laughing about how terrible the situation is.

[@EstebanBrenesV]

Just going to drop here something that could tie with the flood but is more related to the tie ins, some people have been saying the Will of the Drowned

[@geomancer91]

The one piece is a giant golden tub plug that reads "Joy Boy only"

[@HiopX]

Took me way to long to realise that this Yu is the same that is a System Lord in Stargate

[@gonfftheprince]

Merphy is the David Lightbringer of one piece, just with actually watchable videos

[@Crimsonraziel]

"Haha, y'all gonna drown!" - Gol D. Roger, probably

[@nikoburazer437]

As always a great video, Merphy. The only thing i would disagree on is Imus involvement. The gorosei when we first saw them outside the room of authority when they went to the throne room nusjuro said that it seems there is a need for a great cleansing. World sinking = great cleansing. I think I'm will initiate the sinking of the world

[@c.whitney1066]

@MerphyNapier did you also look into the Epic of Gilgamesh and its flood legend?

[@isadorae9551]

I even waited for lunch time to watch this with food 😇

[@nikgokuhil]

Laugh-tale is story, whether they read story of Joyboy of past or joyboy to come, its going to make you laugh a lot

[@ATOMICO7]

One piece is basically a fever dream, crossover and references to real world, myths and weirdly addicting. Reading it you never actually feel that its 1100+ chapters rather it feels compressed.😂

[@toms18]

is there a hiking bear story somewhere in that Chinese legend?

[@soma6906]

Wow great video Merphy! This story really got me thinking about the legacy a father leaves behind for his son! What if we got it all wrong! What if Imu is not some other worldly supernatural villain… What if Imu is Joyboy’s son?! Imu is resentful of his father maybe because his father’s planned ultimately failed or maybe because he just didn’t agree with his father’s ideals. In other words, Imu did not inherit his father’s (Joyboy) will! Joyboy was crowned King for his temporary success, but ultimately fails. He then dies or gets murdered, and that is how Imu is crowned king. A Son that hates his father is an ongoing idea throughout One Piece. Which reminds me that there are several characters that did not inherit their father’s will. 1. Ace being resentful of living under Roger’s legacy. 2. Doflamingo resents his father for his ideals and he believes himself to be superior. 3. Sanji hates his father and his ideals. 4. That one octopus pirate that stabs White beard because he believes White Beard doesn’t care about him. 5. Luffy becoming a pirate and not a marine. It’s never the son who inherits the will of the father! If this theory is correct I want to be to be the first to state: JOYBOY HAD A SON AND HIS NAME WAS IMU!!!

[@ClanDWoolz]

Merphy you should audition for Robyn!!

[@udithsethu552]

She does have lot of similarities to Robin, both loves books, are pretty and have big tits. She will be perfect

[@kellythefury]

I'm so convinced the One Piece is alcohol. Binks's Brew/Sake reminds me of revolutionary songs and I'm pretty sure Luffy's dream is to have a party with everyone in the world. It would make sense if everyone was in Noah, survived a flood and partied afterwards with said alcohol hahaha

[@riggmeister]

Will of dancing?

[@cwinchcarwash2629]

god bless your brain for what it went through to put this together HEHE

[@TrinexxSlayer]

maybe i will have some stories to tell after the flooding here in south brazil passes

[@bencorbett6474]

Once the Red Line gets destroyed, the seas merge to create the All Blue to make Sanji's dream come true! Oda's inspirations all converging, years ahead with all the different cultures and histories making the world feel alive. Thanks for the video!