Netflix's One Piece: Who Is The Huge Villain Teased At The End Of Season 1?

The quest for the One Piece, Gold Roger's legendary treasure, is about to get a lot harder for the Straw Hat Pirates thanks to the introduction of a powerful and notoriously persistent new adversary. At the end of Season 1 of Netflix's "One Piece," audiences get their first live-action glimpse of an important character, for now just a silhouette shrouded in smoke. This mysterious figure is, without a doubt, the great pirate-hunting Marine Smoker, recognizable by his dual cigars perpetually hanging from the side of his imposing maw.

Though the choice to obscure Smoker entirely is rather convenient for the streamer, the character is actually first introduced very similarly on the anime. Since then, he has become a frequent and formidable antagonist for Monkey D. Luffy and his companions, hunting them with the same ferociousness with which Vice Admiral Garp hunted Gold Roger. It doesn't help that he's also a Devil Fruit user, with the power to transform into smoke.

As fans of Netflix's adaptation have now seen, the modern wave of piracy experienced by those in the "One Piece" universe was sparked by the legendary pirate Gold Roger, whose satisfied reaction to his own execution betrayed an inner fulfillment won only by living the free life of a pirate. On the anime, Smoker catches a glimpse of this personality trait — apparently indicative of a truly dangerous pirate — in Monkey D. Luffy when Buggy almost executes him. Smoker immediately attempts to apprehend Luffy after seeing this but is prevented by a mysterious figure (who — spoiler alert — turns out to be Luffy's father).

Smoker's closest ally in his quest to bring the Straw Hat Pirates to justice is his protégé Tashigi. The two of them are rarely in conflict, with Tashigi treating Smoker's judgment as gospel — though she once reprimands him for his pride even in the face of certain death. That said, the duo has been known to put their desire to capture the Straw Hats on hold should a more dangerous threat emerge that would require both parties to work as one. Such is the case in the Arabasta Arc, which could be the perfect end point for Season 2 of Netflix's "One Piece."

With some deviation, Netflix's "One Piece" has stayed fairly true to its source material (for better or for worse). Season 1 covers a majority of the East Blue Saga, finishing with the Arlong Park Arc and teasing the arrival of Smoker — the last arc in the saga, the Loguetown Arc, is when Smoker is introduced.

Choosing to end Season 1 before the Loguetown Arc rather than attempting to barrel through the entire East Blue Saga is actually a fairly ingenious structural move from writer and showrunner Matt Owens, leaving a perfect window of arcs wherein Smoker gets a compelling storyline.

Assuming Owens gets ambitious, Season 2 will likely stretch from the Loguetown Arc to the last arc in the Arabasta Saga, the Arabasta Arc, a period that essentially shows the full range of Smoker's character and handily establishes him as a central figure on the show moving forward.