Soooo, yeah. First post here and I don’t really know what to put this as, hence the Misc thing. It’s one part theory, one part speculation, and one part fun thing to think about. Basically, this is going to be one of several post about what I PERSONALLY believe/think the straw hats are going to evolve into power wise. Haki awakenings/advancements, DF awakenings, the works. Obviously, I’m starting with Brook and working my way backwards through the straw hats till I end with Luffy. Now Disclaimer: This is not by ANY MEANS to discredit my boy Jinbei. I feel like he is pretty strong as is and has some room for growth but not as much as the others. Not to mention, these 9 are the OGs and I feel like I’m speaking for us all when I say I wanna see them reach their peak. Secondly, this isn’t me straight up saying “this is what’s gonna happen.” I ain’t Oda. This is just a fun thought experiment thing that I wanted to share with y’all and get reactions. In any case, let’s get the show going with my boy, “Dead Bones” Brook. Strap in, this is a long one.

Haki

So Brook’s Haki. Personally, I can see Brook awakening both Armament and Observation Haki. Obviously, the armament would help with his sword work a lot, plus Brook with black bones is just a badass mental image in my book. The Observation Haki would work just as well in that department as well and I would even see him advancing it into the Future Sight like Luffy. My only real evidence I have to this is that Brook (at least from what I can gather and think, don’t quote me on this) is based off of Baron Samedi of Vodou Religion. Both have canes, both are skeletons, both have ties to the underworld to a point, I could go on. So I feel like Future Sight would fit Brook because there is a lot of “Fortune Telling” in Vodou, especially in New Orleans. Plus, It would make him opposite Zoro both in the sword work work AND in the Haki world, with Zoro being obviously more Armament/Conquerors based. Not to mention, Brook with glowing red eyes is also a good mental image.

Devil Fruit Awakening

So I could go on about Brook’s sword work and how many moves I can think for him BUT, I feel like the real interesting nugget for Brook is his DF. The Yomi Yomi no Mi, or the Revive-Revive Fruit, is a very interesting Paramecia on various levels so I feel like the awakening is gonna be something great and not that far off. Correct me if I’m wrong but, Brook has had his DF the longest out of all the Strawhats so I think if anyone is close to having an Awakening the most out of the DF users that haven’t (Aka, between him and chopper because I think Robin is already awakened but I’ll get to the that when I talk about her). If ya need evidence to why I think he’s close to an awakening, I splint you to the Soul King thing from Whole Cake where his literally ripping the souls out of the chess soldiers. If that ain’t close to an awaking of the fruit, I don’t know what is.
In any case, let’s first talk about what it would look like and well, I think we already seen it…kinda. Let me explain, in two color spreads (maybe more), Brook has been seen with that kinda green “soul-fire” that made up the Soul King thing I mentioned before in his Afro [ Evidence Above ]. The raid suit one shows it a little bit but the ninja one shows it complete consuming the Afro. I think that’s perfect and exactly what it would look like, not to mention it could give Brook eerie green eyes within those empty sockets of his. (Bring on the sans memes). As for a name, why not Soul Requiem, may sound a bit cliche but I think it fits.

Soul Requiem

This would be a form where “Brook’s Soul Dances”, kinda like Luffy’s Gear 5 form. Now, this ain’t to say Brook has a God Fruit like him. As much I would like to make that meme a reality, no. It’s just a kinda a mechanic I wanted to give his awakening for reasons. In any case, while in this form, Brook would get your typical boosts but mostly to speed because of how Brook Fights. As for abilities, I have several ideas. For one, that soul-fire I mentioned. It can be manipulated be Brook in various ways, one of the main ways is to imbue them into his sword by sticking Soul Solid into his new flaming Afro. His new flaming sword would, obviously, give him some new offensive and defensive abilities as these are no normal flames. These are the flames of the underworld. Flames so Cold they Burn…..yeah, it doesn’t make sense when I say it like that but ya know what I mean. Basically, instead of this fire burning you, they freeze you as they slowly spread over your body until you’re nothing but a frozen statue, soul included. I can see moves that stem from this being enhanced version of his “Soul Parade” techniques and new ones, like one being a move similar to Zoro’s Lion Song. I would call this ”Soul Parade: Maman Briggitte’s Wedding Song”, as a reference to Baron Samedi’s wife in Vodou myth.
For another ability, soul manipulation. We kinda see this with the Chess Soldiers I mentioned before but imagine this with ALL things with souls in them. People, animals, the works. I can see a variation of Brook’s Lullaby Parry that I would dub, “Baron’s Lullaby”. Instead of using a Violin, yes I miss it too, Brook would hum this song. When heard, the targets of this attack will slowly fall asleep and when they drop, their souls would, for the lack of a better word, “pop” out of their body and into the air. They would be “alive” technically, as their bodies would be in a comatose like state of neither life nor death while their soul are separated from their bodies. This would lead into another move, “Baron’s Lullaby: Lost Festival”. Here, Brook would raise his sword like a Conductor’s Baton and Orchestrate the souls as he pleases before sending them into random directions. Doing this would send the souls in different bodies, objects, animals, ect, causing mass panic for his foes. Think like Silver Chariot Requiem’s ability from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure’s Part 5. Another move comes in the form of “Baron’s Lullaby: Black Parade”. Same thing happens, the enemies fall asleep but instead of their souls leaving their bodies, they would just fall asleep standing up. Taking his sword like a Baton once more, he would control these sleeping individuals like toy soldiers. Sure, this may lean into a bit more “villian-like” powers but I feel like it would still be useful to him AND it brings in the Haitian Zombie idea.
Another ability I see him having is something we have seen before actually. That being, the creation of Homies. I know, I know, this is already a DF on it’s own but what else do you think Brook’s awakening could do? Turn building’s into Souls? As stated in the wiki, Paramecia Awakenings extend the user’s powers to the world around so this seems like a good evolution for it. However, there are differences between this awakening and Big Mom’s Fruit. For one, the type of “souls” Brook can make. By pulling off pieces of his soul-flame Afro, he can imbue things with either simple souls or complex souls. Simple souls are well, simple. They have no free will and just are animated, moving to Brook’s command. Think like this living weapons from DND. Complex Souls are your typical Homies, having their own personalities and all BUT take much more energy to create/maintain since it’s an awakening thing, not mention more of his Afro. Simple souls return to Brook after he revers from his awakening while Complex stay around until Brook orders them to return. Not only does this give Brook some background singers, who I would name after Different Loa from Haitian Vodou Myth like how Big Mom had Greek names (mostly), but it could give an answer to Nami’s Zeus problem. Let’s face it, Big Mom won’t live forerver so that means Zeus won’t as, I think, he would disappear after Big Mom passed away and her fruit goes back into the cycle. However, with this power, Brook could just replace Big Mom’s soul power with his own since, he’ll probably live forever for as far as we know, meaning Zeus will have a much longer life.
Finally, I can see him talk to dead people and utilize the souls of the dead. I know this maaaayyyy be a bit fanfic-y but hear me out. We know that souls exist thanks to both Brook and Big Mom’s fruits, not to mention ghosts (maybe) from Perona. So I don’t think it would be THAT out of the question for Brook to communicate with the dead. Maybe not full on conversations, at least at first, but maybe some whispers here and there. Maybe he could even see dead folks, giving use a good scene where Brook meets Ace from beyond the grave. Not to mention, I can see Brook going full Return of The King and summon an army of fallen souls to help in a battle. However, I would keep this to only pirates he met personally so he doesn’t whip Ghost Roger out of his pocket. This would be a move I would call ”Deadman’s Tale: Epic of the Rumbar Pirates”, where Brook would pull out his guitar and play a damn good metal cover of Bink’s Brew. As he plays, the fire from his Afro will build and build before exploding around him, reforming into the images of his old crew to aid his new crew. With them being ghosts and all, they would be a helpful addition to combat as they can’t be hurt by traditional weapons, only Haki as haki is one’s spirit manifest so spirit on spirit. However, Brook will have to keep playing the song or they will disappear, meaning Brook can’t fight while he uses this attack.
Finally, for a weakness to all this, it’s awakening so Brook can’t use this stuff for long, it is taxing. Plus, for the Homie part, Brook can’t just create things whenever he wishes. He only has so much Afro to around, unlike big mom who can just still souls for her homie creation. That ain’t Brook’s style, at least in my book. Not to mention, Brook has to keep his soul “in Rhythm” like how Luffy needs to keep his heart drumming to the beat of the Drums of Liberation or he will fall out of it. Again, just another fun mechanic I wanted to throw in.
Soooo yeah, that be it for my boy Brook. Hope y’all like this long boy post. Next up is Franky so stay tuned for whenever that gets posted.