Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Dressrosa arc as well as some speculations.

Last month, I wrote an article that discussed the historical references in Trafalgar Law’s name and another article that tackled the religious motifs surrounding his flashback. To complete the Trafalgar Trilogy, here is an article detailing the cultural aspects of the colors surrounding the Surgeon of Death, and how it may allude to a future role as the Whitebeard of the next generation.

When associating colors with Law, the colors that come to mind are yellow and black, considering both are the main colors of his Jolly Roger, his outfit, and his submarine. Noticeably, yellow is a more dominant color for him before the timeskip, a period during which he is shown having a more relaxed personality. After the timeskip, Law is re-introduced in Punk Hazard wearing a black fur coat, giving him a reaper-esque appearance.

Black is a color associated with negative things such as death and evil, as well as positive ones such as power and solemnity. After the timeskip, Law developed a more serious personality and had grown powerful enough to become a Warlord. On the other hand, yellow is a color associated with optimism and cheerfulness. As a highly visible color, yellow contrasts with black very well. The two colors are commonly used in conjunction for hazard symbols, which includes signs for high voltage, ionizing radiation, and biological hazard. Two of those signs are referenced by his medical profession and his Counter Shock ability. These two colors effectively indicate how dangerous he can be.

In addition to the colors mentioned above, Oda has also made some use of the color white in Law’s design. Like Luffy’s ubiquitous Straw Hat, Law is commonly seen wearing his white furry hat, even during his childhood. Whenever separated from it, he would always get it back within several chapters. With the patterns on his hat in mind, Oda had noted in the SBS of Volume 76 that Law is represented by the spotted seal, while acknowledging the snow leopard figure used by designer Toshio Asakuma to represent Law. Both animals live in cold climates. The former is a polar animal whose color ranges from silver to white, while the latter is a spotted animal featuring white underparts. This animal motif also extends to his crew, where the aforementioned SBS also confirmed the animal themes represented by three of his crew members. Bepo is a polar bear whose fur is perceived to be white. On the other hand, Penguin and Shachi are named after the penguin and the Japanese word for orca which is shachi (鯱), where both animals are generally black and white in color.

White has also been associate with tigers in Chinese mythology. Fittingly, Law’s surname contains tora, the Japanese word for tiger. The White Tiger is also one of the Four Symbols in Chinese mythology and serves as the mythological guardian of the west. Due to the close integration of Buddhism and Asian culture, the west has been associated to Sukhavati, a land of bliss analogous to heaven. As such, the western direction has also attained some connotations to death. Unlike the Western perception of white as the color of purity and innocence, white has been traditionally used as the color of funeral attire in East Asian culture, thus is also commonly associated with death. Known as the Surgeon of Death, this color serves to subtly emphasize Law’s death motif.

The white motif is reinforced by Law’s hometown – Flevance, which gained the somber nickname of White Town due to the deadly mineral deposits found underneath the city. The poisonous mineral caused an outbreak among the citizens of Law’s hometown, leading to chaos among surrounding nations and the destruction of Flevance. Called Hakuen (珀鉛) in Japanese, the name of the mineral literally means Amber Lead, though is translated as White Lead in the English version of the manga. Just for comparison, the Japanese term for actual white lead is enpaku (鉛白), which resembles the name of the mineral. While haku (珀) forms part of the term kohaku (琥珀) meaning amber, it contains the character for white (白), where both 珀 and 白 share the same reading haku. The other part of the character 珀 is jade (玉), a radical commonly attached to words relating to precious objects such as shinju (真珠) meaning pearl, takara (宝) meaning treasure, and sango (珊瑚) meaning coral. In most cases, the dot in the radical is omitted when it is attached to form characters, making it resemble the 王, meaning king, instead.

Similar to the White Lead in One Piece, lead had a number of applications in real life before being banned for its lethal effects to the human body and the environment. Due to its availability, malleability, and relatively low melting point, lead had been used for plumbing and weaponry since the ancient Roman times. White lead, a compound of lead in the real world, was used as an ingredient for paint and cosmetics to give it a smooth white finish. In One Piece, the widespread use of White Lead in Flevance gave the town a snow white appearance. However, this increased contact with the mineral, gradually poisoning the citizens. One of the symptoms of the White Lead Disease involves the appearance of white patches on the skin. Due to this condition, young Law was referred to as a “White Monster” by the doctors and nurses who refused to treat him.

Even then, Law went on to follow in the footsteps of his parents and became a surgeon. Going by a Western perspective, the color white is associated with cleanliness. As such, a laboratory coat is traditionally white in color. Given that professionals involved in laboratory work and the medical field are expected to keep themselves clean in handling their operations, they are traditionally associated with this color. This relates to Law’s profession as a surgeon.

Considering their opposing symbolism, white has also been commonly used to contrast red. Being the color of blood, red is an auspicious color that symbolizes birth and life in Asian culture, as well as Western culture. In Japanese, the word for infant is aka-chan (赤ちゃん), which contains the character aka (赤) meaning red. The two colors are commonly seen together during festive occasions in Japan, particularly used in decorative panels known as kōhaku maku (紅白幕) which is a red and white curtain. This tradition has its roots in the Genpei War where the two opposing sides used the respective colors in their flags. The Minamoto clan used the white flags, while the Taira clan used the red flags. Today, the two colors can also be seen in the national flag of Japan. With Luffy being associated with the color red, Law’s theme of white also serves as another foil to our lovable hero.

Like Luffy, Gol D. Roger is commonly portrayed wearing the color red. Due to his willpower and his goal to become the King of the Pirates, Luffy has also been commonly associated with Roger by the other characters in the story. Basing on their interactions, Edward Newgate was seen as a formidable rival and close friend to Roger. Judging by his alias “Whitebeard”, it’s quite clear that he is also associated with the color white. His ship is even named the Moby Dick, which shares the same name as the albino sperm whale in the eponymous book. Incidentally, Whitebeard has been referred to as the “White Monster” or Shiroi Kaibutsu (白い怪物) in the title of Chapter 569. The title of the chapter where Law is referred to as such is also titled “White Monster” or Howaito Monsutā (ホワイトモンスター), but using the English translation of the phrase. While it may be done to differentiate the two titles, it is quite suspicious that Oda would use the same term rendered in a different language. This potential allusion can serve as a hint to Law’s role in subsequent arcs.

The contrast between red and white also gives an interesting symbolism to the alliance of the two captains. There’s a history between the two colors in the One Piece world that relates them to a rivalry between two people. Considering the tradition, it may imply a long-lasting impact of Luffy and Law’s alliance, just like how Roger and Whitebeard had a strong influence in the world. Keeping the symbolisms and references in mind, Oda has cleverly utilized colors to effectively illustrate the nature of a character, as well as serve as potential foreshadowing to an eventual role for him.

Chao Time will now be a biweekly editorial from here on out.