One Piece: The Extinction Of The Lunarians, Explained

The Lunarians were quite a special race in the world of One Piece that existed long ago. Fans were properly introduced to this race in the Wano Country Arc of the series, and while one might have thought that this race was just one that had its role in this particular arc of the story, they couldn’t have been more wrong.

As the story continues, the Lunarian race has proven itself to be far more important than any fan could ever have imagined. This race has ties directly to some of the biggest secrets of the One Piece world, and the key to solving the major mysteries of the Lunarians lies in the clues that Oda has left behind.

Who Were The Lunarians?

The Lunarians Are A Special Winged Race In The One Piece World

The Lunarians were a very special race in the world of One Piece. Fans are very well aware of the fact that within the world of One Piece, there are winged races. The first introduction to these winged races came during the Skypiea Arc of One Piece. There, fans were introduced to the likes of the Shandians, the Skypieans, and the Birkans. All of these winged races had a common trait, which is evident from the name itself. All of them had wings on their backs. Of course, they couldn’t actually use these wings to fly. However, it was a trait observed among the winged races of the One Piece world, and it is what separated them from the humans.

There are three races missing from my country. One of them was supposedly extinguished from history itself. But, you’re standing here, King! – Big Mom

As the story progressed, Oda introduced another winged race in the One Piece world and, quite curiously, this is the only winged race in the world of One Piece with black wings instead of white. This introduction came through King the Wildfire, one of Kaido’s three Right Hand Men and the strongest All-Star in the crew. King had absolutely massive black wings on his back. At first, they were attributed to his Devil Fruit powers, but it was soon made clear that he was from a special race. This clue was given to the fans by Big Mom, moments after she was brought to Onigashima.

Clearly, there was something special about King, and during the Raid on Onigashima, where King started fighting against Zoro, secrets about the Lunarian race started being made clear. For starters, it was confirmed that the Lunarians are an extinct race. King the Wildfire was the last known living Lunarian in the world of One Piece that the fans know of. In fact, the World Government was still actively seeking information on King. Providing any sort of information pertaining to King would earn one a reward of 100 million berries. Clearly, the World Government were on the lookout for people from this race, which suggests there is bad blood between them in one way or another.

During the raid, Marco also remembered Whitebeard speaking profoundly about the Lunarian race. According to Whitebeard, those of the Lunarians were actually the Gods of the world. In fact, he believed that long before Marijoa was even created, there existed a country of Gods atop the Red Line. This country of Gods is where the Lunarians were living and given that they held the title of Gods, they likely had tremendous powers up their sleeve.

Why The Lunarians Were Called Gods

The Lunarians Had Special Power Unlike Any Other

The question of why the Lunarians were called Gods is a very intriguing one. There are two ways in which Oda could have framed this idea. The very first one is that the Lunarians are very strong. When it comes to the races of the One Piece world, of course, strength matters quite a lot when it comes to how fans view them. Lunarians were quite special. While the Giants are physically the strongest race in the One Piece world, as has been confirmed canonically, the Lunarians are more mystical. For instance, the Lunarians have giant black wings. They have a flame on their back which, as long as it keeps burning, ensures that this race can survive just about anything. Even the most extreme conditions can be handled by the Lunarians effortlessly as long as the flames on their back are burning.

In combat, if they ever need more speed, they can shut down the flames on their backs and this increases their speed drastically. Only when their Flames are down can they be hurt.

The flames on his back are burning, which means I cannot harm him yet!

While this already makes them incredibly special, that isn’t all they possess. They also have the ability to manipulate fire freely. In fact, their control over fire is so strong that they can actually manifest magma like Flames, as seen during Zoro’s battle against King. All these things taken into consideration make them one of the most ferocious races of the One Piece world, which is why they could have been respected a lot and worshiped as Gods.

However, there could be another element at play here. Fans know that the winged races in the One Piece world actually came from the Moon. The Skypieans, the Shandians, and the Birkans are all not residents of the planet Earth. After their energy source was depleted, they came down from the Moon and resided on Earth at different places. This is why the Shandians were actually residents on the Blue Sea, while the Skypieans were high up on the Sky Islands, along with the Birkans. It is highly likely that the Lunarians came down from the Moon as well and they settled atop The Red Line, creating a country so high up that they were perceived as Gods.

At the same time, fans know that these individuals who came from the Moon had their own energy sources. Perhaps this has something to do with the Mother Flame, which in itself is a flame that looks just like the one that burns on the back of the Lunarians. Perhaps there is a link between the Mother Flame and the Lunarian power to manipulate the flames. Of course, the Mother Flame is much more potent. However, the Lunarians might have the ability to manipulate these flames at a much smaller level, which is why they are far more special. It is because of this reason that the Lunarians could potentially have been called the Gods of the world.

How The Lunarians Became Extinct

The Lunarians Were Eventually Hunted By The Government

Of course, then, one would wonder as to how the Lunarians could have gotten extinct. The answer to that is obvious. During the Void Century, they likely sided with Joy Boy. This is proven by the fact that King was waiting for Joy Boy’s return. In fact, it is entirely possible that the Lunarians were the source of one of the Ancient Weapons created by the people of the Ancient Kingdom, and it was likely the Ancient Weapon Uranus. It is implied their power potentially fell into the wrong hands, which ties things back to the hole under Enies Lobby. Since this war was lost by the people of the Ancient Kingdom, the Lunarians were likely erased almost completely. The few survivors that were left would likely have been scattered, leaving fans with just King In the current timeline.