One Piece is a story with a certain talent, especially when it comes to making despicable characters like Wapol. It’s honestly even more surprising when writer Eiichiro Oda manages to redeem the big baby of a king. Wapol is honestly one of the most compelling minor villains to become allies in the story, and at the current point, has a big part to play. So, who is Wapol, and why has he become such an important piece in the final arc scheme?
This article contains some BIG spoilers for One Piece. Catch up on Crunchyroll or Viz before continuing further to avoid spoilers!
Who is Wapol?
A gross excuse of a human when he first appears, Wapol is thought to be a pirate. Turns out he’s just a little lost trying to get back to the kingdom he’s been tossed from. When your first introduction is taking bites out of the Going Merry though, you’re going to get a really bad reputation in the fandom from then on. Even worse, when someone as dick-ish as Wapol is around, that reputation is going to carry when you show up nearly eight hundred chapters later.
His Munch-Munch Fruit powers make him one of the heaviest eaters in One Piece too. With an insatiable appetite, he’ll easily swallow up anything or anyone in his path. That includes people too, because Wapol isn’t afraid of cannibalizing anyone who gives him the slightest annoyance. Only now in the story is he starting to earn some sort of redemption for his awfulness. It’s still slow going though, because despite his rescue of a fan favorite, he’s still just as much of a jerk as he was over two years ago in the story.
Drum Kingdom Heir
When Wapol’s brief history comes into view, it’s told that he was the son of Drum Island’s former ruler. That said, he’s nowhere near the good person that his father was, instead growing into a spoiled brat. Thinking that he’s the only one entitled to everything, Wapol becomes a general nuisance among the population while growing up, taking as he pleases with little pushback from his father. When the ruling king finally passes, it’s his turn to step into the spotlight though, and Wapol does so with gusto. Taking unethical to a whole new level, the Drum Kingdom virtually changes overnight the moment he takes over.
Wapol decrees that only doctors who exclusively and privately serve him will remain in the Drum Kingdom. Now, the Twenty Doctors serve him and him alone, with all others being outlawed by death. They’re hunted mercilessly, with a few like Kureha and Hiriluk being the last remaining free doctors. However, their services come at a price, whether it be quackery or exorbitant fees. Wapol rules over the kingdom with lackadaisical negligence, not bothering himself with those that he deems lesser than himself.
Munch-Munch Fruit
It’s unknown how long Wapol has had the Munch-Munch Fruit, but it certainly fits his gluttonous character. This Devil Fruit allows Wapol to eat anything and not get full, like an endless black hole in his stomach. The man has a titanium reinforced jaw to help too, able to unhinge his mouth and ensure he can eat the most of whatever is nearby. This includes everything from people to animals to whole buildings, with nothing out of range of his extensive palette. That’s not the only secret that the Munch-Munch Fruit holds though, or where its power comes to a stop.
With the Munch-Munch Fruit, anything that Wapol eats can be incorporated into his body. It’s not clear whether the incorporations are temporary or stored permanently though. He could lose things once they’re used, with evidence that he’ll throw stuff up if made to. It’s also clear that the Munch-Munch Fruit allows him to incorporate people, as he does with Chess and Kuromamino. They’re able to fully incorporate into a battle formation with their consciousness still intact, so there is evidence they can return to normal after. Devil Fruits are weird that way with rules changing as Oda needs, so nothing necessarily has to make sense.
Defeat By Blackbeard
Just days before the Straw Hats arrive at Drum Kingdom searching for a doctor, a different pirate crew rolls through. The Blackbeard Pirates, at the time still a new crew after Blackbeard defects from Whitebeard’s fleet, make a visit. When they do, they end up coming into contact with Wapol, and through Blackbeard’s Dark-Dark Fruit powers, take the ruler down with ease. By some power, they manage to throw the ruler and his minions out of the kingdom, freeing the people of Drum Island from their medical tyranny. However, they also throw out the Twenty Doctors with them, leaving the kingdom with just Kureha and Chopper for medicine.
After they’re ousted with no log pose and no way out, Wapol’s group forms the Bilking Pirates. They wander the seas near Drum Island, keeping within the constant blizzards to try and find their way. When they do get back, it’s Wapol’s plan to reclaim his throne. With most of the soldiers in the Drum Kingdom are unable to fight back against his vicious Munch-Munch powers. They finally have a stroke of luck in their journey when a new crew sails by in a ship with a Ram’s head on the bow.
Attempted Return
Wapol makes his first attempt at return by taking the Straw Hat’s ship from them. The Going Merry undergoes multiple injuries from the ruler before Luffy manages to send him flying, but the damage is pretty extensive. After the Straw Hats manage to get away though, Wapol and friends end up back at the Drum Kingdom anyway. They try to take back Drum Castle, high at the peak of the tallest mountain, but find there’s more opposition than they expected.
Thanks to the newly combined efforts of Luffy and Chopper, along with other Straw Hat help, they take Wapol down for good. With the Jolly Roger flying high over Sakura Kingdom now, Wapol is a permanent exile, with no means of returning. Now displaced with nowhere to go, Wapol wanders for a time before finally finding a decent calling. Then throwing that entire calling way to chase money on top of money instead.
Black Drum Kingdom
Wapol becomes a titan of the industry by building toys with his Munch-Munch Fruit abilities. Now that he’s out and about though, he has to find some land to run his business from. Finding an island and wooing them with his toy-making abilities, Wapol very quickly turns it into a fascist oligarchy where money is power. Now, he calls it the Black Drum Kingdom in some sort of edgy comeback to his previous tyranny, even though it doesn’t inspire much fear.
It is enough to gain him access to one of the most important events though. However, it’s still unknown if he gets that status thanks to the actual size of his country or just buying his way in. It’s definitely quite the surprise for when the Sakura Kingdom, formerly the Drum Kingdom he ruled over, notices him at the Reverie of all places. When you show up there, it’s known that you’re someone important, but Wapol is really playing above what he’s capable of here. He’s about to find that out the hard way too.
Reverie
When Wapol arrives at the Reverie, he thinks it’s going to be a great chance to gloat to his former Kingdom about how well he’s doing. Honestly, the guy is treating the Sakura Kingdom like the ex-girlfriend who dumped them and moved on to someone who treated her better. It’s kind of funny, but also very, very pathetic when you really look at it. Still, he has the status to do it, so he uses his power to try and sway things in his favor at the Reverie. He thinks he can get further by schmoozing up to the Gorosei too, and tries to peek in and figure out how best to do that.
That big, big mistake on his part there too. Wapol, peeking through a hole he bit in the wall, witnesses Imu’s reveal to Cobra. On top of all that, he sees the murder of Nefertari Cobra, though he believes it was Sabo when he sweeps in. That’s the narrative Morgans goes with later, anyway. Now, seeing that the Gorosei won’t let anyone live after seeing Imu, Wapol takes off crashing through walls to escape. In doing so he picks up a very unlikely passenger, saving her from death at the hands of Cipher Pol 9’s Jabra and Kalifa.
Where is Wapol Now?
Wapol might have unwittingly saved Nefertari D Vivi, but he’s got no interest in being a hero. She just happens to end up with him as he flees to Big News Morgan blimp, the roaming headquarters of the news. Vivi has no idea about what her father left as a message to Sabo, and refuses to believe that the Revolutionary may have murdered her father. Ever the warrior princess, Vivi knows that there’s something much more sinister behind her father’s death.
It remains to be seen where Vivi will end up, though it’s likely with the Straw Hat Pirates. Wapol is going to stay on the run though, making sure to hide from the Gorosei and Imu whether they know who he is or not. Morgans has said that he’s okay to stay with him as needed in return for the scoop about Cobra, but there are always limits to tolerating the Munch-Munch Man. No doubt he’ll wear out his welcome soon, but until then he gets points for being decent enough to take Vivi along with him.
Wapol remains as cowardly as ever though. There’s a non-zero chance that he’ll try to sell out Morgans and Vivi at some point to save his own skin. That said, he’s one of the more dynamic characters to come back after an extended absence, so there could be more to do in his future. Wapol is definitely one of the more unlikeable One Piece characters, but he’s still around despite all.
