After revealing the Five Elders and their demonic powers in full-on Egghead, One Piece‘s Egghead Arc has gone on to introduce the next biggest threat from the World Government, the Holy Knights. This elite guard has stepped into the spotlight in full on Elbaf with the introduction of various members like Shamrock, Gunko, Sommers, and Killingham. Of the lot, however, Gunko is easily the most intriguing, and not just because she seems to be a host of sorts for Imu.
Gunko has been at the center of various fan theories ever since her debut, owing to her peculiar powers, appearance, the symbolism behind her name, and her mysterious connection to Brook, the Straw Hats’ resident musician. All that said, the one thing that has sparked the most speculation surrounding Gunko since her introduction was her lack of the “Saint” epithet or any indication of which World Noble Family she belonged to, leading many to doubt whether she was truly a Celestial Dragon from the start, or at all. Well, One Piece’s latest chapter has finally settled the debate once and for all, finally confirming Gunko’s World Noble lineage.
One Piece Confirms Gunko Belongs to the Manmayer Family
In Chapter 1160 of One PieceGunko is reintroduced to fans during the God Valley flashback, this time as St. Gunko of the Manmayer Family. Even though Gunko did appear alongside the unnamed member of the Manmayer Family in Chapter 1159, the latest chapter goes the extra mile, giving Gunko her own introduction box, and it has finally cleared up all of the confusion surrounding her character.
As for the source of this confusion? When Gunko was first introduced in One Piece Chapter 1137, her introduction box read “Gunko” along with the name of her devil fruit, which was especially vague in contrast to Shamrock’s introduction, which not only revealed his exact standing in the Holy Knights but also his lineage tracing to the Figarland Family. Gunko’s introduction box was eventually corrected in Volume 112, which was released in Japan on July 4th, 2025.
In the volume, the introduction box in Chapter 1137 added that Gunko was a member of the Manmayer Family. However, as the volume has yet to announce an English release date, the digital version of the chapter hasn’t yet been updated on Viz or Manga Plus. As such, many fans were still unsure of Gunko’s World Noble status, which is why it’s quite nice that the latest chapter cleared the air at long last. Overall, while this update might resolve a huge inconsistency, it also shoots down many popular theories about Gunko, but there’s no doubt that One Piece still has big plans for her and many more interesting revelations in store.
One Piece is available to read on Manga Plus and Viz Media.
How do you think Gunko’s World Noble heritage will affect her connection to Brook? Tell us in the comments below!
