SUMMARY

Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece features an intriguing world with mysterious characters that serve as the breeding ground for countless fan theories.
A One Piece fan comes up with a convincing theory of how Monkey D. Dragon was the former Admiral Shiroryu.
The theory is reinforced as the fan draws a parallel between Chinese mythology and the series.

Eiichiro Oda’s magnum opus One Piece stands as a monumental figure in the anime and manga industry for featuring a rich and captivating story with vibrant characters with a mysterious past. Oda-Sensei’s world has been ravaged by pirates on the hunt for the legendary treasure which happens to be the same name as the show. It has been 27 years since the first chapter of the Shonen series which was published in 1997, none has managed to find it. 

One Piece Fan Believes Eiichiro Oda Used Chinese Mythology To Hide Monkey D. Dragon’s Past

Eiichiro Oda’s expansive world-building and complex character writing within One Piece serve as the ground for countless speculations. The mangaka has often foreshadowed and given subtle hints that fuel these theories about the future plot, character development, and even their backgrounds!

As a result, these clues encourage fans to take a closer look into the series and look out for hidden meanings and connections, giving a sense of direction about the true motives or identities of certain characters. This time Gobee129, an ardent One Piece fan has come up with a theory that Oda-san has used a Chinese mythology in his series to hide Monkey D. Dragon’s past.
The 3 Navy Admirals: Aokiji, Akainu, and Kizaru
As per the fan, in Chinese mythology there used to be 4 seas: North, South, East, and West. These 4 seas were represented by four different colors, that is yellow, blue, white, and red. However, these four colors were also represented by 4 animals which happened to be a monkey, a bird, a dragon, and a dog.

The North Sea would have a yellow monkey, which screams Admiral Kizaru, the South Sea with a blue bird stating Admiral Aokiji, and the West Sea with a red dog meaning Admiral Akianu. This leaves the East Sea with Admiral White Dragon aka Shiroryu.
Monkey D. Dragon, the leader of the revolutionary army

However, the dog was too loyal to abandon his kind, the monkey was a dimwit to understand the weight of the situation, and the pheasant was too lazy to do something. Now, if we compare the myth with Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece, these two ideas resemble a lot. The colors, animals, and their attitudes.

How Does The Fan Theory About Monkey D. Dragon Come to Life?

The fan compares the myths with Oda-Sensei’s Navy Admirals comparing their actions and traits which resemble immensely. They ardently believe that Akainu’s unwavering loyalty to the Navy and his ultimate sense of justice make him the dog, Kizaru wearing yellow and acting goofy makes him the monkey, and Aokiji’s dress code with his lazy tendency makes him the pheasant.
Monkey D. Dragon in One Piece
This leaves White Dragon as the bird, who saw the king’s real nature and left his side. Since he left the navy, he used the alias of Monkey D. Dragon, who now is the leader of the revolutionary army to overthrow the World Government and the Navy. Moreover, Dragon was the son of Monkey D. Garp, the Hero of the Navy, who wanted Luffy, Ace, and Sabo to join the Navy.

If we take that into consideration, it can be believed that Garp wanted the same for his son as well. Hence, it can be believed that the former Admiral Shiroryu was Dragon who joined the Navy initially, but left their side once he learned the real intentions of the World Government.
Monkey D. Garp
Furthermore, the Navy learned about this and put a huge bounty on his head because he deserted his position and formed the Revolutionaries, who wanted to change the world, and the system making the world a better place for everyone to live in.