The Worst Generation is incredibly important to the story of One Piece currently. These are powerful pirates of the new generation who have taken the world by storm. These pirates are a group the rise of which was unprecedented. In the history of the One Piece world, there has never been a pirate group of rookies who set out with such terrible infamy attached to their names.
Oda introduced them shortly before the 2-year timeskip of the story, and, since then, they have gone on to make a great name for themselves. While the Worst Generation have made an incredible name for themselves in the New World, Oda's initial plans for them were very different.
The Eleven Supernovas
The Eleven Supernovas came into existence during the Sabaody Archipelago arc of One Piece. As soon as Luffy left Thriller Bark and set sail for Fishman Island, he had to stop by Sabaody. On this island, the crew had to get their ship coated and then, sail downward to get to the incredible country that is Fishman Island. However, before the crew managed to get to Fishman Island, they ran into some of the legendary figures from the pirate era before them, such as Rayleigh and even Shakki. It was through Shakki that Oda revealed the existence of the 11 Supernovas.
Luffy was one of the many rookies who had arrived on Sabaody Archipelago and with him were 10 others. These Supernova pirates had all acquired a bounty of greater than 100 million berries on their way to this island. Once again, this was unprecedented in the world of One Piece and just went to show that the new age was blooming with these immensely powerful pirates with tremendous potential.
Among the 11 Supernovas was Monkey D. Luffy, with a bounty of 300 million berries, Roronoa Zoro with a bounty of 120 million berries, Basil Hawkins with a bounty of 249 million berries, Trafalgar Law with a bounty of 200 million berries, Jewelry Bonney with a bounty of 140 million berries, Urouge with a bounty of 108 million berries, Scratchmen Apoo with a bounty of 198 million berries, Eustass Kid with a bounty of 315 million berries, Killer the Massacre Soldier with a bounty of 162 million berries, X Drake with a bounty of 222 million berries, and finally, Capone Gang Bege with a bounty of 138 million berries.
The incredible powers of the 11 Supernovas were on display as soon as the Sabaody Archipelago arc began. Fans got to see the many Devil Fruit powers that they possessed and, at the same time, the voracity of these characters. At the end of their short-lived battle with the Navy, all the members of the 11 Supernova decided to go their own way and, eventually, cross paths once again in the New World.
Oda's Original Plan For The Rookies
While the 11 Supernovas have uniquely defined One Piece, Oda had very different plants for them initially. In fact, the 11 Supernovas weren't even going to be a part of the Sabaody Archipelago arc until days or hours before the author even started illustrating it. Their addition was a last-minute idea and Oda completed drafts for them after his editor told them he needed to do more to make the arc more interesting. These characters were created on the spot, which is not usually the way that Oda writes his stories.
Nonetheless, it just goes to show that not everything has to be planned years ahead. The Eleven Supernovas have, since then, been very important in the story. Some of them took part in the Paramount War and others made a great name for themselves in the New World. This has surprised even Oda to quite a big extent. Oda has previously stated that the importance of the 11 Supernova, now known as the Worst Generation with the inclusion of Blackbeard, has surprised him quite a lot. He expected over half of them to have dropped dead already by the time the story got to the Dressrosa arc. He expected Eustass Kid to have an important role in the story, however, the bigger roles that characters such as Law or even Bege ended up receiving shocked him.
Oda did not initially intend for the supernovas to be as important as they are. In fact, the members of the 11 Supernovas have defined the post-timeskip in a very intriguing manner. As soon as Luffy stepped into the New World, he was greeted by Trafalgar Law, and together, the two brought down a Yonko of the Sea. Other characters, such as Bege played a huge role in Whole Cake Island while the likes of Kid, Killer, Drake, Apoo, and even Hawkins played a big role in the Wano Country Arc.
Currently, One Piece is in its Egghead Island Arc and there, Jewelry Bonney is now the center of attention. Nearly every member of the former 11 Supernovas have received focus in a particular segment of the story aside from Urouge, who could end up becoming important later on in the story.
How They Have Fared In The New World
The 11 Supernova, also known as the Worst Generation, fared incredibly well in the New World. Luffy, one of the leaders of the new era, is now a Yonko worth 3 billion berries. His right-hand man, Zoro, is a master swordsman worth 1.11 billion berries and that just goes to show how far they have come since the first time they stepped foot on Sabaody Archipelago as Super Rookies. At the same time, Trafalgar Law is a feared pirate worth 3 billion berries, and along with him is Eustass Kid, also worth 3 billion. These two played a massive role in Wano and helped bring down Big Mom, another Yonko of the Sea. They were in the hunt for the One Piece until recently, however, sadly, they faced the force of other pirates and are currently out of commission.
Regardless, these pirates have done incredibly well for themselves even though Oda initially expected them to not be as relevant and probably wanted to kill them off in the New World. The likes of Hawkins, Apoo, and Drake also played important roles in the series. They served the Beast Pirates with different motivations until recently and gave the fans an idea of what the wrath of a Yonko is like. Other characters, such as Bege played a very important role in the Whole Cake Island, and now, Jewelry Bonney is doing the same in the Egghead Island Arc.
The Worst Generation have stamped the new era with quite some authority and they will continue to do so as the story of One Piece moves forward. In fact, even those who were knocked out of commission, such as Law and Kid, will likely not have died and could return to the story once again to play a big role moving forward. Fans absolutely love the Worst Generation and would hope for Oda to keep giving them more focus as One Piece continue to unravel its final saga.