Did time destroy Franky's character?

Important takeaways

• Franky's design changed drastically over time, making him more robot than human.
• Some fans are divided on whether Franky's character was ruined by the time skip.
• Despite visual and personality adaptations, Franky remains an iconic and distinct character in One Piece.

Since its launch in 1997, One Piece has changed drastically over the years. With a different tone, intensity and scale, it hardly feels like the silly pirate adventure it once was. This is especially true for many characters in the show, who have been changed in some way to better fit what One Piece is rather than what it was.

While some members of the Straw Hat team, like Brook or Luffy himself, have gone through minimal design changes over time, others, like Chopper and Franky, look completely different compared to their original appearances in the series. Additionally, their personalities have also gone through some small, but noticeable tweaks. While many are disappointed with the changes to Chopper, it is One Piece the community seems divided on whether or not the time jump ruined Franky's character.

Franky went from Humanoid Cyborg to More Robot Than Man

Robotics Overdrive

Franky the cyborg is the shipbuilder of the Straw Hats, and joins the crew after the events of One Piece's Water 7 Saga. During his introduction, Franky is revealed as a tough, but emotional crime boss with a dark past and a great love for both invention and musical style. His over-the-top personality and penchant for invention also went well with his appearance. In the beginning, although he looked like any other human, some cyborg elements in the character made for fun surprises. Plus his iconic shirt and Speedo tied the design together very nicely overall.

Super! – Franky's Catchphrase

After One Piece's Time Jump Franky upgraded himself in many important ways, although in the eyes of some fans this was a major downgrade. Now Franky doesn't look like a human with hidden cyborg parts. Instead, he's a huge machine that's more robot than human. While this is undoubtedly the natural progression of Franky's ingenuity, for some fans it was just too much of a change. Additionally, the character now feels a bit more individual in terms of his personality, with most of his interests centered around machinery and building.

Franky's new design is bulky and weird

But it fits his character

Overall, Franky's design may not be as much of a downgrade as most One Piece the fans think. Looking at Franky's visual design alone, previously, Franky had an excellent design that combined his toughness, ingenuity, and emotional nature into a cyborg package. But when it comes to the new design, while less visually appealing, it still hits the three main points of Franky's character.

Plus, with the amount of extra physical changes and visual gags that this design changes into One Piece Franky is more distinct than he's ever been before. While the design may be ugly, it definitely stands out a lot more than it did before. In addition to this, the design strangely suits Franky's personality. Franky is someone so self-aware that he rarely cares what others think of him, especially when it comes to his looks. If Franky thinks it's cool to be a big, big, cyborg, he's going to do it, no matter what anyone thinks.

Franky lost part of his personality in one piece

More robotic ingenuity than anything else

Goes on to One Piece Straw Hat, Franky's somewhat adapted personality, the character's extreme love of robotics remove some of the more diverse aspects his personality once had. Maybe it's because Franky has been sidelined in some of the recent arcs, but Franky seems to have fewer and fewer moments to show off his bombastic self. When Franky also has a comedic moment to shine, it mostly focuses on his love of robotics and strange inventions rather than any other aspect of the character.

If you wouldn't ask a lion to put on underwear, why a man? – Franky

Ultimately, being such an iconic part of One Piece universe, it would be a very difficult task to completely destroy Franky's character. Despite losing some of his appeal in the visuals and personality department, Franky's character is far from ruined. The fact is that nowadays in One PieceFranky has given fans new reasons to love the character, unlike anything audiences have seen before. That being said, any Franky fan can agree that perhaps another great Franky moment is the best thing for the character at this point in the story.