A fearsome legend in the Grand Line, Oars was known as the Continent Puller thanks to his massive size and strength. It’s not unearned either, as he’s a huge character even in the wildly disproportionate world of One Piece. So, what made the legend of this ancient being so fearsome, and how in the world does he still play a part in the present-day story?
This article contains spoilers for One Piece! Catch up on Viz or MangaPlus before continuing further!
Who Was Oars?
Also known as the Continent Puller, Oars was a being in times hundreds of years before the current One Piece timeline. He’s a race that resembles the Oni which Kaido and Yamato are descendants of. The difference in looks is likely because of how they existed in older times. That’s before the species began to die out and intermarry with others, losing size in the process. Still, there was someone for Oars to shack up with, because he still has a descendant centuries later. One who takes up a place with the Whitebeard Pirates.
Oars dies under mysterious circumstances, disappearing entirely from the world one day. In the present, he is found by Gecko Moria. He uses his Shadow-Shadow Fruit to bring the giant creature back to life. He’s huge, as big as the towers in Thriller Bark, and able to demolish them with little effort. It’s a testament to his strength that he’s still a fearsome legend to this day. Even with some even believing him to be a myth due to how ridiculous his story seems.
Descendants
Oars did manage to find love and have a child sometime, and his descendant lives on in Little Oars. Or, he did live on until the battle at Marineford. Little Oars was a beloved member of the Whitebeard Pirates. Always looked at as a lovable big goof by all the others on the crew. He even looked up to Ace, who would often make him little straw hats since they reminded him of Luffy. Little Oars cherished those, and gave his all to save his friend at the Battle of Marineford.
Unfortunately, giving his all also meant giving his life. Little Oars died trying to make a way through the front lines for the pirate alliance to break through. His death wasn’t in vain, as he was able to get them in with a great advance, taking a fair amount of ground before being shot down. Simultaneous hits from the Admirals took him down, killing Little Oars and seemingly bringing the family line to an end.
Gecko Moria’s Experiments
When Oars died, nobody was able to find his body. Nobody until Gecko Moria that is, who has made it his mission to track down the strongest bodies to make into zombies of war. With Oars, Moria finds the original body frozen in ice and snow, bringing it into a freezer on Thriller Bark to preserve it until he can find the right shadow. In the meantime, he and Hogback make various improvements to the still-frozen and dead body of Oars, putting in a whole cockpit to pilot him like a mech-suit.
Luffy’s shadow eventually gets shoved into Oars, leading the massive creature to come to life with all the quirks of the Straw Hat boy. It’s definitely one of the sillier scenes in the series to see this goliath of a creature fighting in the same style as Luffy, attempting Gum-Gum Fruit attacks without the abilities. Despite his lack of rubbery limbs, Oars still puts up a major fight against the entire Straw Hat Crew before they take him down.
Oars, for as big as he is in stature, is surprisingly shallow when it comes to character information. His past is still shrouded in mystery, but perhaps something will come along to give context one day. In the meantime, Oars and his family line are at rest now, with Little Oars bringing things to a definitive end at Marineford. Despite that, the legend of the Continent Puller lives on, and Oars is becoming a greater myth in the world of One Piece thanks to his strength.
