Charlotte Linlin is better known as Big Mom, both because of her massive size and her many children. Big Mom in fact has eighty-five children, with forty-three different fathers. So, who is the Big Mom, Emperor of the Sea in One Piece, and how in the world does she get that way?
Fair warning this article contains spoilers through the current chapter 1089 of One Piece. The manga is available to read on MangaPlus, Viz, and Shonen Jump online or at local bookstores. Proceed with caution!
Who is Big Mom?
Charlotte Linlin, better known by the title of Big Mom, is one of the Four Emperors of the Sea in One Piece. She’s a tough old broad and has the power to make souls leave their bodies if they feel even the slightest fear of her. She uses this fear to rule over all of Totto Land, controlling a massive swathe of the ocean and islands that settle along with it. Despite the monster that she is, it’s not like she was always this way.
Linlin was once just a young girl. Larger than her parents, but still young. She had an insatiable appetite though, and would often eat anything she could get her hands on. This led to her parents abandoning her as a child to an orphanage run by Mother Carmel. Linlin loved Mother Carmel and all the other children she lived with, until on Linlin’s birthday one year they all mysteriously vanished.
The Children of Big Mom
Now Linlin has a family of her own with children of every shape and size. She makes it her goal to make a place where everyone can live equally, no matter how big or small. Big Mom has done that by becoming a mother to eighty-five children over the years, with forty-three different fathers adding plenty of variety to the batch. Most of Big Mom’s children marry off to other royal nations to create alliances.
Sometimes they’re married off to pirates too, in the case of Charlotte Chiffon, Lola’s twin sister. She marries Gang Bege, one of the Worst Generation Pirates, and assures his crew now sails under Big Mom’s banner. That’s not to say it stays that way for long though, as Bege quickly unveils a plan to assassinate Big Mom before they flee Whole Cake Island. It doesn’t quite go through though, as all hell breaks loose during Sanji’s wedding to Pudding.
Where is Whole Cake Island?
While Cake Island lies right in the center of Totto Land, the massive territory controlled by Big Mom. Totto Land is more strange than other parts of the Grand Line or New World. Mostly because almost every island serves some sort of specialty when it comes to food. There are biscuits, chocolate, soda, and even jelly bean islands throughout the land. All of which inspires some of the most strange weather seen on the Grand Line.
Cotton candy flurries blanket one area the Straw hats pass through, while another is occupied by a sea of syrup. Some areas of the ocean boil everything in it while another consists almost entirely of jelly. There’s no explanation as to if these are man-made features by one of Big Mom’s children, or if everything is like this naturally.
What Are Big Mom’s Powers?
Big Mom has the powers of the Soul-Soul Fruit, a Devil Fruit that allows her to manipulate souls. She uses this ability to create the numerous homies that populate Totto Land, inanimate or organic objects that receive souls. They don’t have much personality of their own, but end up as mindless slaves only working in Big Mom’s interests. More sinister, she uses these powers for a tribute once every year, taking two weeks of lifespan from every inhabitant of her territory.
The interesting part of her Devil Fruit power is that she didn’t even eat a Devil Fruit. Big Mom doesn’t remember the truth of it, but during her birthday she became lost in a dessert rush, eating everything on the plate in front of her… and not. Linlin devours her fellow orphans that day, along with Mother Carmel, who held the power of the Soul-Soul Fruit. Big Mom is the first confirmation that Devil Fruit’s powers can transfer through cannibalism, which opens a world of theories.
How Did Big Mom Become Emperor?
She’s already pre-qualified for her Emperor of the Sea position thanks to her position with the Rocks Pirates. Alongside her, Whitebeard and Kaido went on to claim positions as Emperors of the Sea, though they wouldn’t remain on great terms during their rule. Big Mom often feels that Kaido is a hard-headed fool, Whitebeard is a senile old man, and Shanks is a wet-behind-the-ears amateur who’s in over his head. Sounds like Big Mom needs to take a good look in the mirror before she casts judgments.
Alliance With Kaido
Despite their hatred for each other, Big Mom’s time chasing the Straw Hats into Wano leads to a reunion with Kaido. The two hit it off like old times, and decide to form their own alliance for going after the One Piece. Of course, the same night they announce their intentions for an alliance, the raid on Onigashima begins. Big Mom ends up face to face with Eustass Kid and Trafalgar Law, both formidable Worst Generation pirates. The two combine forces, each Awakening their Devil Fruit abilities.
With Big Mom buried in metal thanks to Kid’s Magnet-Magnet Fruit, Law uses his Fruit to strike the finishing blow. He stabs Big Mom straight through the ground and into a magma cave deep below.
Is Big Mom Dead?
Big Mom’s fate is in the same unknown status as Kaido. The two are both hit hard enough during Onigashima to fall deep into the underground. That said, nothing is ever sure unless the dead body is shown in One Piece. For all fans know the two could be on a weird road trip through Hell to get back home. Unlikely, but it would make one hell of a comedy series. Who knows, it’s just the kind of thing Oda would pull off in a cover series before chapters.
Now, Big Mom leaves behind her children along with all of Totto Land to carry on without her. With Katakuri ruling, it’s a good bet that things may begin to change for the better, as he was by Luffy’s ideals. Big Mom’s fate is uncertain, but if she is alive then it’s doubtful anyone has heard the last of her. Until then, her children may possibly come to help the Straw Hat Pirates, especially since Katakuri wants to fight Luffy again.
