Warning: Contains spoilers for One Piece chapter #1149.Recent chapters in One Piece's Elbaph arc have set up a mysterious connection between Brook and Gunko, a Holy Knight obsessed with his music to the point of wanting to make Brook her slave. It quickly became clear that there was more to it than that, and in a surprise twist, chapter #1149 heavily implied that it was because Brook was Gunko’s father.

At the time of this writing, there still isn’t an explicit statement that Brook is Gunko’s father in One Piece, with the only thing that can be confirmed being that Brook knew Gunko when she was a child. Even so, the idea of Brook being Gunko’s father is an incredible twist, and what makes it even better is how One Piece set up room for Brook to have secretly been a father since his debut. It’s another hallmark of how great the series is at foreshadowing, and the ultimate payoff to everything will be great to see.

One Piece Always Made It Clear That Brook Had A Bigger Backstory To Explore

One Piece Is Finally Paying Off Brook's Foreshadowing

As abrupt as the reveal that Brook might be Gunko’s father is, there’s a surprising amount of foreshadowing for him having a hidden backstory. While most of Brook’s history revolved around his time in the Rumbar Pirates, when Brook ed the Straw Hat Pirates, he briefly mentioned being a knight for a kingdom before becoming a pirate. Because of that, One Piece has always set up the idea of there being more to Brook’s backstory, not unlike how Sanji’s one-off comment about being born in the North Blue foreshadowed his history with the Vinsmoke family.

Going even further is how surprisingly knowledgeable Brook is. Not only is Brook old enough to that the Germa Kingdom is real and not a piece of fiction, but in the Elbaph arc, he was the first person to realize that Gunko was a Holy Knight, despite seemingly having no reason to be familiar with the term. Brook has always been the Straw Hat with a surprising amount of knowledge about One Piece’s world, and that could easily be foreshadowing a secret past that would necessitate having such knowledge.

On a smaller note, something that could also have been foreshadowing is Brook’s eyes. Whether as a skeleton or as a human, Brook’s eyes have never been shown, and while that seemed innocuous, considering Gunko’s unique heterochromia, One Piece might have been hiding the fact that Brook had the same heterochromatic eyes as Gunko the entire time. That would be an amazing reveal, specifically because of how little people would have thought about it, and hopefully, One Piece is set to go in that direction.

One Piece’s Big Reveal Can Finally Give Brook The Respect He Deserves

Why One Piece's Big Twist Will Be Good For Brook

The biggest reason why Brook possibly being Gunko’s father is a big deal is because it could give Brook some much-needed character development. Of all the Straw Hats, Brook has always been the one with the least amount of development and plot relevance, as his introduction was immediately followed by the crew’s separation at Sabaody and the eventual timeskip, after which he became relegated mostly to comedic relief. Brook is a great character, but unfortunately, Brook is undeniably the Straw Hat with the most wasted potential in One Piece.

One Piece chapter #1149’s big reveal completely changes things, however. Whether Brook is Gunko’s father or just someone heavily involved in her past, their connection will undeniably put Brook at the center of the Elbaph arc’s narrative, so overall, Brook’s connection to Gunko can give him some much-needed development by fleshing out his past. These recent developments are the most exciting for Brook since his debut in One Piece, and hopefully, the series will find a way to deliver on all of it as satisfyingly as possible.