Ever looked at the skull on Onigashima and wondered how big a person has to be to wear it? It's massive. Honestly, it makes regular giants look like toddlers. We’ve been following Luffy’s journey for decades, but the mystery of the ancient giants one piece has kept us guessing since the Little Garden arc. These aren't just big dudes with beards. They are something else entirely. Something older. Something that probably shouldn't exist anymore according to the World Government.
They're terrifying.
Most fans get confused between "regular" giants from Elbaf and the true Ancient Giants. It’s an easy mistake. Elbaf giants are usually around 12 to 20 meters tall. Big, sure. But the Ancient Giants? They tower over them like skyscrapers. We are talking about creatures that could move entire continents. That isn't hyperbole; it's literally their nickname.
The Continent Pullers and the Tragedy of Oars
The most famous example we have is Oars. Remember Thriller Bark? Gecko Moria wasn't just being a creep for the sake of it; he knew the value of an Ancient Giant's corpse. Oars was known as the "Continent Puller." Think about that for a second. In the world of One Piece, where the geography is a mess of scattered islands, a guy who could physically drag landmasses together is a walking natural disaster.
Oars died centuries ago, supposedly from frostbite because he didn't wear enough clothes in a frozen land. Kind of a lame way to go for a legend, right? But it highlights a weird detail about these creatures: they seem to be extinct in their pure form. His descendant, Little Oars Jr., showed up at Marineford to save Ace. He was smaller than his ancestor but still dwarfed every marine and giant on the battlefield.
The visual difference is striking. They have horns. They have fangs. They look more like "Oni" than humans.
This leads to a massive theory that's basically been confirmed by the existence of the Numbers in Kaido’s army. The World Government has been obsessed with "Gigantification" for hundreds of years. Why? Because they want to recreate the ancient giants one piece history mentions. They failed, of course. The Numbers were the result of those failed experiments at Punk Hazard. They were mindless, drunken messes that couldn't hold a candle to the original Oars.
Why the Numbers Matter More Than You Think
People clowned on the Numbers during the Wano arc. They were basically fodder for the Straw Hats to beat up. But if you look closer, they tell a dark story about the World Government's desperation. Caesar Clown and Vegapunk were both tasked with making these things. Vegapunk eventually walked away from it because he realized you can't just "make" a soul that big.
The Government bought these failed experiments from Caesar. They wanted a private army of continent-movers. If you have a crew of Ancient Giants, you don't need a Buster Call. You just have a giant walk over and kick the island into the sea.
The Elbaf Connection and the Prince Loki Mystery
We are finally at Elbaf. Finally. And the talk about the ancient giants one piece lore is peaking because of Prince Loki. We’ve seen him silhouetted, and he looks... different. He doesn’t look like Dorry or Brogy. There is a malice there, and a scale that suggests he might be the bridge between the Elbaf we know and the Ancient Giants of the past.
Remember, the Big Mom flashback showed us that Elbaf is the strongest nation in the world. Their military might is unmatched. But even they seem to fear certain lineages. There is a "bloodline" factor in One Piece that Oda loves to play with. Is the "Ancient" part of the name just a time period, or is it a specific race of Oni that once ruled the world before the Void Century?
- Normal Giants: Human-like, proportional, live ~300 years.
- Ancient Giants: Horned, massive, "Oni" features, seemingly extinct or rare.
- The Yeti Cool Brothers: Maybe related? They’re huge and hairy, but we still don't know their deal.
Honestly, the most chilling part is the skull at Onigashima. It’s bigger than Oars. If that was a living person, they would be as tall as a mountain. Some fans think it's the skull of the "original" Oars, but the scale doesn't even match up. It suggests there were creatures in the One Piece world that make the current giants look like ants.
The Void Century and the Great War
It’s almost a certainty that the ancient giants one piece history hides were the muscle for the Ancient Kingdom. If Joy Boy was a giant (or could turn into one via Gear 5), he probably had a crew of these behemoths.
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The World Government spent 800 years trying to recreate them because they remember what it was like to fight them. They’re scared. You don't spend billions of berries on failed lab experiments unless you are terrified of the original thing. Joy Boy’s massive straw hat in Mary Geoise is the smoking gun here. It’s too big for a human. It’s even a bit big for a standard Elbaf giant. It fits the proportions of an Ancient Giant perfectly.
What You Should Keep an Eye On
As we move deeper into the final saga, keep your eyes on the "Iron Giant" in Egghead. It’s a robot, sure, but it’s shaped like a human. It attacked Mary Geoise 200 years ago. The size of that robot is roughly in the ballpark of an Ancient Giant. It’s likely that the Ancient Kingdom used the biology of these giants as a blueprint for their technology.
If you want to stay ahead of the curve on these theories, go back and read the Thriller Bark arc again. Look at how Oars' body was preserved. Look at the specific way Moria talks about him. Then compare that to the way the Elders at the top of the world react when "Nika" is mentioned. There is a direct line between the size of a person and their ability to change the world in this manga.
The next few chapters in Elbaf will probably drop the biggest lore bomb yet regarding the "Oni" race and their connection to the giants. We might find out that the Ancient Giants weren't just a different race, but a cursed one.
Next Steps for the Savvy Fan:
Pay close attention to Prince Loki's design when he's fully revealed. If he has those signature Oars-style horns, it confirms that the "Ancient" bloodline is still active in the royal family of Elbaf. Also, re-examine the map of the One Piece world. If the Ancient Giants were "Continent Pullers," then the weird, jagged nature of the islands might be their fault—or their masterpiece. They didn't just live in the world; they built it. Keep track of the "Numbers" numbers too; the fact they were numbered 1 through 10 implies there might be more successful versions tucked away in a cryogenic chamber somewhere in Mary Geoise.