Netflix’s One Piece Writer Falsely Claims Villain Based on Donald Trump
Recently, Netflix’s One Piece staff writer Randy Troy stirred controversy by claiming that a villain in the series is based on President-elect Donald Trump, despite the character’s debut in the Japanese manga back in 2000.
Character Analysis: Wapol
The character in question is Wapol, an absurd dictator who brings ruin to his kingdom in the series.
According to a report by Bounding Into Comics, Wapol was confirmed to be a character in the second season of the live-action adaptation of One Piece in June.
The report explains that Wapol, a major villain in the early era of One Piece, was announced to be portrayed by Rob Colletti in Season 2 of the live-action adaptation.
Despite Wapol making his debut in the manga almost a quarter-of-a-century ago, Troy believes that the character was created by the series creator, Eiichiro Oda, as a critique of Donald Trump’s presidency.
Troy, an experienced Hollywood production assistant known for his One Piece-centric YouTube channel, took to Twitter to allege that Wapol’s character is based on Trump, citing similarities in their characteristics and actions.
One Piece fans quickly responded to Troy’s claims, expressing skepticism about the connection between Wapol and Trump. One fan pointed out that Trump was not a prominent political figure in 2000 when Wapol was first introduced in the manga.
Despite the backlash, Troy defended his claims by stating, “He planted seeds as early as 1986, leading to many jokes about him as a US president in pop culture well into the early 2000s when Drum was serialized. Even the famous Simpsons episode ‘Bart to the Future’ referenced this idea, predating the start of the Drum arc.”
Following the backlash and scrutiny from fans, Troy eventually deleted his controversial posts.
It remains to be seen how this controversy will impact the portrayal of Wapol in the upcoming season of the One Piece live-action adaptation on Netflix.
