One Piece fans have theorized about Joy Boy and his connection to Luffy for years. Arguably, the most popular theory was that Luffy is Joy Boy reincarnated.
It was a controversial theory among fans, as many hate the idea of Luffy’s character falling under the Chosen One or Child of Prophecy tropes. Many Shonen protagonists adhere to these tropes, like Naruto Uzumaki or even Izuku Midoriya with One For All. Fortunately for everyone, this is not the case with Luffy’s Devil Fruit playing a key part in explaining how he is connected to Joy Boy.
Luffy’s Devil Fruit, the Gum-Gum fruit, is not exactly what it was once believed to be. In Chapter 1044, the Five Elders revealed that Luffy’s Devil Fruit was a special Human-Human fruit and is not a Paramecia type. It’s a mythical Zoan fruit that allows the holder to transform into and gain the attributes of the legendary Sun God Nika. That’s how Luffy unlocked Gear 5 and triumphed over the seemingly invincible Kaido at the end of the Wano saga.
How Does Nika’s Legend Connect to Luffy?
Nika Was a Mythical Deity with Rubber Body Powers
Nika seems to have been a mythical warrior from ancient times who was venerated as the Sun God by enslaved people who believed he would liberate them. Nika was first mentioned by Who’s-Who in Chapter 1018 of the One Piece manga. He heard about the legend from a prison guard who suddenly vanished after telling the tale. He took this to mean that the information was likely meant to be kept a secret, and the World Government didn’t want it getting out. Chapter 1044 proved that his thoughts were correct and that there’s much more to it.
Devil Fruit: Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika
Type: Mythical Zoan
Other Users: Joy Boy
Debut: Episode 1
Nika’s legend is reminiscent of Luffy’s character arc. From the beginning of One Piece, Luffy has been liberating people from all kinds of suffering. Each member of the Straw Hats was freed from an undesired situation by Luffy, whether it was a villain’s tyranny, loneliness, imprisonment, impending unjustified execution, and so on. Luffy has never been one to stand by and let others suffer. He liberated entire nations from oppression for no greater purpose other than it simply felt right to him. This emphasis on individual freedom is what made Luffy a standout shonen star. He fought not to save the world or become the symbol of peace but to project his freedom onto others in benevolent ways. He would rather die free than be someone’s subordinate or slave.
The Mystery of One Piece’s Mythical Human-Human Fruit
The World Government Covered Up Its Existence
The World Government has been desperately trying to acquire this particular Human-Human Devil Fruit for over 800 years. The Five Elders claim it was so elusive that it’s almost as if the fruit itself was evading them. Initially, this seemed like a joke, but they go on to casually mention that all Zoan fruits have a will of their own, and this one carries the name of a God. The Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika grants its user’s body the properties of rubber. It’s said that they’re only limited by their imagination and are the embodiment of the Warrior of Liberation (Nika), putting smiles on faces far and wide.
That said, Awakening the fruit greatly increases the strength of their rubber body, giving them more freedom. The Five Elders claimed that the former Gum-Gum fruit was the most ridiculous power in the world. These details are why the World Government is adamantly trying to eliminate Luffy. There’s still plenty of mystery surrounding the Human-Human fruit, even after its recent Awakening, not to mention Zoan fruits in general. Fortunately, as One Piece‘s Final Saga begins, the time is now to finally reveal the truth of this world’s deepest, most consequential mysteries, including Joy Boy and the Drums of Liberation.
Joy Boy Was Briefly Highlighted in Recent Manga Chapters
The Character is Among One Piece’s Most Enticing Mysteries
The history of the world of One Piece goes back only 800 years, with the Void Century forming a black hole of historical information. This is because the World Government has consistently suppressed any knowledge of the Void Century, going so far as to cause genocides and massacres to prevent this knowledge from slipping out. One of the most precious pieces of information to the world government is the existence of Joy Boy during the Void Century.
Joy Boy was the previous user of the Nika Human-Human Fruit and the first pirate. In-world lore suggested that he would return after hundreds of years, and both Zunesha and Emet referred to Luffy as Joy Boy. Whether Luffy is a reincarnation of Joy Boy or the Chosen One of some ancient prophecy is currently unclear in One Piece, but the story strongly suggests that the protagonist shares many of his features with Joy Boy. Fans can only hope that Oda will offer backstories for Nika and Joy Boy.
Gear 5 Freed Luffy from All Fear & Reservations
Gear 5 Might Be the Last Proper Transformation for Luffy
During the climax of the Wano saga, while Luffy’s coalition of pirates and samurai waged war on Kaido and Big Mom on Onigashima Island, the true nature of Luffy’s Devil Fruit and his destiny as Joy Boy became wonderfully clear. Gear 4 was no longer enough — to beat an unbeatable foe, Monkey D. Luffy reached his lowest, most vulnerable point, then bounced back, literally and otherwise. Gear 5 had been awakened as the Gum-Gum fruit awakened, and Luffy became a carefree, cartoony warrior with boundless power. Luffy didn’t just physically transform with his white hair. He kept laughing, free from all fear and doubt, even compared to his old carefree self. He was almost laughing at himself for taking everything so seriously up to this point, liberating himself from that burden. Luffy was trapped in his own mind, but with Gear 5, he transcended all human fear and doubt.
Luffy’s heartbeat marched to the Drums of Liberation, the minimum requirement for transforming into Gear 5, allowing him to defeat Kaido once and for all. Luffy even broke the laws of physics, freely using any Looney Tunes-like moves he could think of to beat an otherwise unbeatable enemy. Luffy almost became a meta-character with the Gum-Gum fruit’s authentic power, especially with his Egghead Arc battles against Rob Lucci, Admiral Kizaru, and the Five Elders. Gear 5 is exhausting to use for extended periods but Luffy is sure to surmount this drawback, or at least weaken it. This is the reality of the Gum-Gum fruit, the mythical Zoan-type that freed Luffy from One Piece‘s combat system and his own fears and doubts, just in time for the Revolutionary Army’s endgame.
All-out war is here, the final struggle to either topple the tyrannical World Government or die trying. Whatever connection the Human-Human fruit might have to things like Imu, the Void Century, and the One Piece itself, the answers are bound to rock the entire world and usher in a new era in ways Gol D. Roger never could. Starting with Wano, the world is no longer afraid of tyranny and oppression, and the beat of the Drums of Liberation cannot be stopped. Luffy might become a symbol of peace and freedom for the world, even if he never meant to, and that makes him a bigger target than ever. With that said, One Piece fans have no doubt Luffy is ready for the consequences of his historic actions.
One Piece’s Truth About the Gum-Gum Fruit Was Foreshadowed
There is no doubt that the sudden reveal of the Gum-Gum Fruit’s true nature was a game-changer; one that made One Piece fans rethink Luffy’s relationship with the fruit he ate in his boyhood. The question that may divide fans is whether the reveal of the Gum-Gum Fruit’s true nature is a delightful plot twist to keep things fresh or a mere contrivance to inject some much-needed variety. Each argument has its merits, but ultimately, as many One Piece fans may agree, the reveal of this mythical Human-Human Fruit and its connection to Nika is an organic step forward in the story’s lore. There’s little evidence that One Piece author Eiichiro Oda made up that plot twist at the last moment just to disorient his many readers.
Earlier One Piece story arcs did not directly mention the Sun God Nika, Gear 5, or the Drums of Liberation, but the story did drop relevant hints that combined to form a solid foundation for the Gear 5 reveal in the Wano saga. The concept of a Human-Human Fruit, which may sound ridiculous initially, was established in the Alabasta saga when Tony-Tony Chopper the reindeer ate one to become a reindeer-man hybrid. For most characters, such a fruit is redundant, but the mere fact that One Piece revealed such a fruit made the Human-Human Fruit for Nika less bizarre. In fact, like the basic Human-Human Fruit eaten by Chopper, there are three canonical Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits in the story.
The other major hint of the Gum-Gum Fruit’s true nature was an even subtler but more persistent one in One Piece. Gear 5 isn’t just a knockoff Super Saiyan mode for Luffy to defeat foes like Kaido — it has a thematic connection to Nika, the liberator of slaves, and Luffy used that power to free Wano’s people from Orochi and Kaido’s tyrannical grip. That was the latest of several examples of Luffy liberating oppressed people, to the point that it’s almost the default One Piece story formula. Examples are many, from Luffy freeing Coco Village from Arlong’s reign and saving the people of Alabasta from Sir Crocodile’s schemes to Luffy defeating Enel/Eneru, the “god” of Skypiea.
Everywhere Luffy went, he freed innocent people from cruel despots and self-styled kings or tyrants, a trend that continued with the fight for freedom in Dressrosa as well as the mass jailbreak in the underwater prison Impel Down. Luffy’s joyous giant shadow after Enel’s defeat was a direct symbol of Joy Boy, even if it wasn’t recognized as such at the time. Looking back, it was supposed to be something like “Luffy’s role as Nika the slave liberator is inevitable.” All this means that in properly subtle but substantial ways, the story of One Piece laid the groundwork for the truth of the Gum-Gum Fruit and its relation to Monkey D. Luffy, the ultimate liberator of the world.
