God Of Thunder Will Come Back For The One Piece! - Enel: Character Analysis

 Do you also think this is one of the most underrated characters in One Piece? A character that literally gets called a god, has also awakened observation Haki and ultimately got knocked out by Luffy. I'm of course talking about the one and the only Enel, god of thunder, maker of great faces, and ruler of the moon.

 Because he plays a much more important role in the story than you might think. Enel is the only villain in the story that is neither pirate nor marine, he's just this random guy, with a ridiculously powerful devil fruit that has an absolutely terrible god complex. The great about Enel is that we can talk about both, his absolutely fantastic character as well as all the world-building that surrounds him and the Arc of Skypiea. Seriously,, do you even remember how much worldbuilding we got through Enel? So, what exactly was Enel's role in the story, what does he teach us about the One Piece world? And will he ever come back from the moon?... This is the story of God Enel.

 When you really think about it at the time, Enel and the Skypiea Arc felt sort of out of place with the rest of the story. Usually, Arcs tie into each other like Fishman island and Arlong park, build to a climax like the Alabasta or Wano Saga or represent a fundamental turning point in the story like Marineford. Every new island that the Straw Hats visit and every new villain we meet fits in smoothly with the path that the Straw Hats have taken so far, and brings them closer to their goal. And then there is this entire Arc, up in the clouds, that almost seems to be a side-adventure for the crew, where we get to see Robin as part of the Straw Hats, the spirit of the Mary, and the importance of dreams and believing in them.

 The villain is yet another corrupt ruler of a country that has to be liberated by Luffy. But I would argue, that it's just the opposite, Skypiea might actually turn out to be one of the most important Arcs in the entire story, and Enel is one of the most interesting characters. 

 It's not that people fear God, fear itself is God

 Personality-wise, I think you agree that Enel is an egocentric maniac. Skypiea, which is inhabited by three races of sky people is full of conflict. We have the tribal Shandians, who were at war with the angel-like Skypieans, only for Enel to come in and make enemies out of both. He conquers the land and declares himself God, ruling the comfort of his residence, where surrounded by pretty women, with the heavenly mantra he controls and punishes anyone who would speak badly of him.

 And in general, the God theme is actually pretty strong with Enel. First of all, his name: Enel, is most likely based on the deity Enlil or El, from which many names honoring the biblical God are descended. Micheal, Raphael, Ezekiel..., you get the idea. Funnily enough, Enel is also the name of Italy's largest electricity provider.

 Now Enel on the powers, of course, a reminiscent of deities like Zeus, while the metal ring with Tomoe drums set into his back is clearly inspired by the Japanese thunder deity Rajin, by the way, this must be the most uncomfortable piercing anyone ever had. In other words, Oda made it a point to match as many different gods into this character as possible, and the cherry on top is the fact that Enel's big goal is leaving earth and reaching the Fairy Vearth, or as I like to call it: Moon. For Enel, the moon is the natural realm of God, so clearly he must get there. After all, he believes himself to be a God. 

I'm returning... to where God should be...

 A god complex is an unshakable belief in one's own importance, characterized by consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility.

Watch your mouth! I am God.

 And so, a person with a god complex may refuse to admit the possibility of their error or failure, even in the face of irrefutable evidence, intractable problems, or difficult or impossible tasks. such a person is also highly dogmatic in their views, meaning that these persons speak of their personal opinions as though they were unquestionable facts. 

This is the sky! God's domain! The people, the trees, the land! Return to where you belong!

 Someone with a God complex may exhibit no regard for the conventions and demands of society and may request special consideration or privileges, basically, making all of this a very severe form of narcism.

 Now, understandably, all this may sound twisted and delusional to you, because it is, but Enel has the power to back it up, wielding the powerful Goro Goro no Mi, which allows him to control, transform into and create electricity at will, next to Blackbeard's Yami Yami no Mi and Whitebeards's Gura Gura no Mi, it's named as one of the most powerful and destructive devil fruits in the One Piece world's. So powerful in fact, that it can easily annihilate an entire island, something that the ancient weapon Pluton is infamous for! So, Enel is basically a one-man buster call if you want. Oda even stated that at the time, Enel would have gained a bounty of at least 500 million Berries if he were a pirate down on earth, simply for his power alone. 

 But Enel was not only strong and evil, terrifying a whole plan, he's also charismatically smart and has a decent sense of humor as well. Now, just to get it straight Enel can come across as pretty stupid in some ways, and in some ways he is, but he is also the guy who restarted his own heart and a God spaceship powered by himself to reach the moon. And here people are saying that Luffy is creative with his devil fruit. Enel is not a villain, he's an experience. 

 What fundamentally sets Enel apart from other antagonists in the story is his Arc with Luffy, which is also why I strongly believe that we will see him again in the story. Here's the deal: For most major villains in the story, just like for Enel, we get a decent amount of set-up for how bad and evil they are, and indeed we do get the impression of how tyrannical and frightening his rule over Skypiea truly is. Plus, Enel and his men are messing most of the Straw Hats up worse than in almost any other Arc until that point. The fact that Enel himself came for many of the straw hats unlike even Crocodile, was a first, that made it clear how much of a threat he was. And yet, Enel's encounter with Luffy like some of the most fundamental, all other major villains in One Piece share. First of all, we get no backstory or motivation for his actions, all we know is that he destroyed the island of his people, Birka, and took an army with him to subdue Skypiea. What's up with that? We don't know why he ended up destroying an entire island, why he doesn't have wings, where he got his devil fruit, or why he even wants to go to the moon so desperately. 

 Enel is the type of character that seems to have a very fascinating and relevant backstory, and we never get to hear it. The second thing is that Luffy's actions always punish the villain in some way or form their deeds, and end their desire. Crocodile and Doflamingo end up in prison, Lucci has to let Robin escape, Ceasar loses his lab, Big Mom loses the Vinsmoke technology, ... Enel however, while robbed of the Golden Bell, simply proceeds with his plans to go to the moon as if nothing had happened. Yes, Luffy protects Skypiea and fulfills his promise to ring the Bell, but he doesn't change Enel or stop his initial goal. And so to me, these two things strongly suggest that Enel might be returned at some point in the story, but of course, there is a lot more to that.

Now let's get into worldbuilding...

 First of all, as you know, Enel is the first enemy that openly uses observation Haki against Luffy, also pretty potent observation Haki at that, being aware of the entire island. 

In addition to my strong Mantra ability, I hear conversations by using my lightning power to read radio waves.  

 Since we haven't met Whitebeard yet, this is also the very first devil fruit we meet, that in terms of destructive ability, blows everything completely out of proportion. The most important thing about Skypiea, however, is what it tells us about the history of the world. Skypiea tells us not only about the existence of islands in the sky, an entire world above the clouds, but it also teaches a lot about the past. And as it turns out Shandora, the ancient city of one of the Skypiea races, was in some way a forme affiliated with the ancient kingdom. Not only do we find a Poneglyphe there pointing to Fishman island, but we also find a legendary city of gold, that already trumps anything the One Piece could offer in terms of gold and silver.

 Additionally, we are introduced to Norland, a very Roger-like character, which plays an important role in the story. But, as if all of this wasn't enough already, we also find out in probably the most important cover story we ever got, that this race of sky people, did not only have ancient civilization down on earth, all 3 to the races actually come from the very some moon Enel went to, and here things got crazy. We learn that the sky people had this ridiculously advanced country there on the moon, creating sentient machines, before flying down to earth after using up all the resources there. We also see some robots being built on Karakuri Island, accidentally some highly technological place that Dr. Vegapunk is from, and where Franky spent the time skip. there are space pirates as well, and their Logo looks exactly like Fukurokuju from Wano, who has the exact same earlobes as Enel. I'm pretty sure Skypiea will be one of the most important Arcs in retrospect, once we enter the endgame. And going back to Enel, who now has this entire army of robots on the moon, one more important thing is the name of his home that he destroyed: Birka. 

 Birka is not only the name of the ancient moon city but also a real historical place. The real-life Birka was one of the most important trade centers in Scandinavia during the Viking Age. And what island is Viking-themed? Yes. Exactly, Elbaf. And we know that Elbaf has this giant tree growing into the sky, and we also know that there is a proper entrance to the sky islands somewhere in the new world. Coincidence? 

 Now all of this implies to me, that one of the most interesting characters with an unfinished character Arc, should come back at some point in the future. And even if he doesn't, Enel wasn't just a villain, he was an experience.