The One Piece manga started in 1997, meaning we’re just a couple of years past its 25th anniversary. However, in the world of One Piece itself, sometime under three years has past. And two of those three years was off-screened during the time skip.
But with the Egghead arc, the manga (and anime) have entered the first arc in One Piece‘s final saga. And as is only befitting of such an epic story, mangaka Eiichiro Oda is bringing characters and events from the series’ early arcs back into the action.
One example is Dorry and Brogy, two giants whom the manga first introduced us to in 1999. Since that was a cool 25 years ago, you might need a refresher on who they are and why we like them.
Little Garden
Dorry and Brogy’s story is the centerpiece of the Little Garden arc, a relatively short and very fun romp that began in 1999 in the manga and 2001 in the anime. For perspective on exactly how long ago that was, Little Garden happens after Vivi (and Karoo!) join the crew, but before Chopper does. It’s just after Whiskey Peak, so we just met Robin and are under the impression she’s evil. Nostalgic, no?
Dorry and Brogy were co-captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates, one of the most feared non-emperor-level pirate crews on the seas. But when we meet them, they’re in the middle of a 100-year-long argument for reasons they can’t remember, where they brawl it out every day to try to settle the score. Giants live for hundreds of years, at least. As is the custom in their homeland, the giants’ island Elbaf, these duels are very honorable but to the death. However, Dorry and Brogy end in a draw every single time. They’ve been fighting so long that the island’s very name, Little Garden, is in homage to them.
The Straw Hats happen to land on Little Garden and are separated into two groups, each of which befriends one of the two giants. Usopp in particular is incredibly taken with the warrior’s pride inherent in Dorry and Brogy’s duels and becomes infatuated with one day going to Elbaf.
Mr. 3 of Baroque Works interferes with Dorry and Brogy’s honorable duel, placing a bomb in Dorry’s rum. Brogy was able to beat Dorry, but soon learned that he received “help” from a third party and became infuriated at the interference. It ruined his warrior’s pride, because it wasn’t a real victory.
At the end of the day, Baroque Works was beaten by the Straw Hats. The near-death incident caused Dorry and Brogy to finally made amends. They helped their new Straw Hat pals safely leave the island before setting out to sea themselves.
What happened on Egghead?
Major spoilers for One Piece’s Egghead arc!
Essentially, the major takeaway is that Luffy and his crew helped mend Dorry and Brogy’s fissured friendship and revive the Giant Warrior Pirates, which means that Dorry and Brogy are definite fans of the Straw Hat Pirates.
During the Egghead arc—which takes place over two years after the events of Little Garden—we learn not only that they headed back home to Elbaf, but that they’re buddies with Shanks, too. So much so that they backed up Shanks’ sudden decision to utterly decimate the Kid Pirates, as they viewed Kid as actively threatening Elbaf’s safety. In fact, Dorry and Brogy are the ones who—in one hit—shattered the Kid Pirates’ ship into pieces.
They use the exact same move days later, but this time on Navy ships. Vegapunk has mentioned that Elbaf is quite close to Egghead, and Big News Morgans printed that the new emperor Monkey D. Monkey was taking on the Navy at Egghead. Assuming that the Kid Pirate Decimation Incident happened the day before Dorry and Brogy show up on Egghead, the travel time actually checks out.
Dorry and Brogy apparently saw the paper and said they were here to back up their pal Luffy. Though it should also be noted that the giants of Elbaf worship the Sun God—another name for Nika, or the figure Luffy transforms into while in Gear 5. The Winter Solstice festival which served up the semla that caused a young Charlotte Linlin to have her first Hunger Pangs was, in fact, related to the Sun God.
Dorry and Brogy’s appearance on Egghead totally blindsided most fans, and their grand re-entry into the Straw Hats’ lives was greeted with overwhelming glee. You just have to not think about Kid.
(featured image: Shueisha / Eiichiro Oda)
