Who Is Loki? The True Story of Elbaph’s Prince in 'One Piece'

In the Underworld of Elbaph, imprisoned for six years by Sea Prism Stone chains on the Treasure Tree Adam, a crucified giant waits. That is where Luffy first found him, and that is where the story of Loki, the prince his own people call cursed, truly began to be told in One Piece.

Loki is the son of King Harald and Queen Estrid, and the younger half-brother of Hajrudin, the giant readers already knew from the Dressrosa arc. He was born 63 years ago under omens the giants took seriously from day one: in the year of his birth, the royal steed died and the hero Jorul was killed by Charlotte Linlin. There was even an old prophecy that had been circulating in Elbaph for generations, saying Harald would be killed by his own son's hands. Loki’s childhood did nothing to shake that burden. His mother rejected him because of the eyes she believed were cursed, and the boy grew up isolated and bitter, dreaming of running away from home to join the Rocks Pirates.

Fourteen years before the series’ current events, the prophecy seemed to come true. Loki killed his own father in a battle that destroyed part of the royal castle. The version that spread among the giants was simple: he wanted a legendary Devil Fruit, guarded by the royal family for generations and never eaten by anyone, and he killed the king to get it. That was enough to turn him into the greatest outcast in Elbaph’s history. He was given titles like "Cursed Prince" and "Shame of Elbaph," and it took the combined strength of several giants to restrain him—along with help from Shanks, one of the Emperors. Chained and condemned, he was locked away in the Underworld, where he remained until Luffy crossed his path.

The reconstruction of the events, revealed little by little in the manga, completely changes that version of the story. Harald had been manipulated by Imu, the story’s great villain (so far), through a contract known as the Abyss, and he saw no other way out. It was the king himself who asked his son to eat the family’s legendary fruit and kill him, understanding that this was the only way to free himself from what bound him to Imu. Loki granted his father’s request. And he hid the truth from everyone, including the giants themselves, to protect Harald’s honor. If Imu’s manipulation came to light, Elbaph would declare war immediately, which went against everything the king stood for: he dreamed of opening the kingdom to the world and building a future through education, not bloodshed. By hiding the truth, Loki fulfilled his father’s final wish and, at the same time, condemned his own image forever.

The fruit in question is the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Nidhöggr, a Mythical Zoan that transforms its user into the largest dragon in the world. According to the elder Jarul, the size of the dragon form depends on the stature of the one who eats the fruit, and only an Ancient Giant can unleash its full potential. In a giant of Loki’s size, the result is a creature capable of covering Elbaph’s entire sky with its own shadow and unleashing devastating lightning. The comparison the community keeps repeating is this: even Kaido’s Azure Dragon, until now treated as the largest living creature in the series, is described as smaller than Loki’s dragon form.

Now free and alongside the Straw Hats, Loki remains a contradictory figure. He calls himself the Sun God, the same central deity of Elbaph’s religion, and even declared that he intends to destroy the world—a line that carries very different weight now that it is known what he really did for his father. Before his imprisonment, he had already been promised in marriage to Charlotte Lola, Big Mom’s daughter, in an arranged deal meant to ally Elbaph with the Empress’s pirates. Lola ran away before the ceremony. And it was Shanks who captured Loki and delivered him to Elbaph for crucifixion, six years before the current events, making him the prince’s last visitor before the Straw Hats arrived. It is a thread that still has not been fully pulled, and one that promises to fuel entire chapters on its own.

For now, what remains is an open question. The prophecy said Loki would kill his father, and it came true, but not in the way Elbaph believed for fourteen years. What remains to be seen is whether the other part of the legend—that he will destroy the world—will also come true in a way no one expects.