Nearly 12 years after its release, The One Piece series introduced one of its most important characters, Joy Boy. In the manga series, Joy Boy was first introduced in chapter 628, whereas in the anime series he was introduced a bit earlier, in episode 548.
The name Joyboy, as believed by some, is a title given to somebody who wielded the power to change the world. However, some believed him to be a historical figure with great powers that existed during the Void Century.
Even after going over thousands of chapters, fans are yet to learn about the Truths behind Joy Boy and his connection to Luffy. But as they say, patience is the key, we might have to wait for some time, as Oda just recently dropped some more info about this man.
Till then you can go through this article, in which we have tried our best to gather some information about the mystery person, Joy Boy.
Who was Joy Boy?
In the series, it was said that nearly 900 years ago during the years of Void, there was a man named Joy Boy. He made a promise to the residents of Fishman island. He promised to take them to the surface by using the powers of an Ancient Weapon, Poseidon. Along with the powers of Poseidon, he was going to use the gigantic ark, Noah, that lay in the Fishman District of the island.
Because Noah was such a huge ship, almost half the size of the island, Joy Boy decided to use Poseidon’s power in order to move the ship. During that time, the power of Poseidon was wielded by a mermaid of the Ryugu Kingdom’s royal bloodline. After her death, her descendants gained the powers.
After their 2 years of Hiatus, the Straw Hats reunited and headed to Fishman Island. There Robin came across Ryugu Poneglyph, which seemed like an apology letter rather than information on the history or whereabouts of places. There they were welcomed by the King of Sea, Neptune. He told them how the Poneglyph was an apology letter, from Joy Boy to the then Mermaid Princess. He also told them that Joy Boy was someone that the world was trying to remove from history.
Very suspicious!
The Poneglyphs were large, mysterious stelae with historical knowledge inscribed on them in an ancient script. Nico Robin was the only person alive to be able to read them.
The Void Century
The Void Century was a time period that recorded some of the most important events in history. The World Government banned the study of this period, as they were afraid that people would come to know about the Truths of the world. Since this was such a confidential era, not much was disclosed about this period. Hence, it earned the name The Void Century.
Legend of Joy Boy
On the Poneglyph, Joy Boy wrote about how he was sorry towards the islanders and the mermaid princess as he was unable to fulfill his promises. In his letter, he even said that after eight hundred years, he would come back. Furthermore, he stated that someone would certainly come in the future who would carry his will and fulfill his promise.
Many tried to find the truth about Joy Boy, among which Amatsuko Toki, wife of Kokuzuki Oden, was one of them. With the help of her devil fruit powers, she was able to transport herself to the future. Seeking if Joy Boy had appeared in the future or not, Toki arrived at the time of Oden and decided to settle down with him.
In the series, King Neptune also said that even in the Royal Family there was a legend. The legend believed that there would come a time when a person, who bore the will of Joy Boy, would come and fulfill his promise.
How did Gol D. Roger find out about Joy Boy?
It all started when the Roger Pirates conquered the Gold Line by reaching the then-unnamed island. There they found out about the engraved stones, Poneglyph. They were able to learn the truths of the world and about Joy Boy. However, he decided to leave it as it was. Upon learning about the history, he wished that he was born at the same time period as that Joy Boy.
The unnamed island was then named Laugh Tale by Roger.
During the Roger Pirates Journey, Oden and Toki joined Gol D. Roger. Together, they traveled to Fishman island. Both Roger and Oden heard the Sea Kings talk about the birth of someone who will lead them to a new era in 25 years. They even heard them talking about someone being the new Poseidon. After their Journey, Oden returned to Wano Country. He was planning to open its borders in order to prepare for Joy Boy’s return. But sadly he was killed by Orochi and Pirate Kaidou.
Fishman Island Arc
This is one of the most important arcs of the series. Most of the great battles of history were shown in this arc. From Fisher Tiger and Queen Otohime to Joy Boy, many important characters in the series were introduced in this arc.
The arc started with Luffy and his crew members sailing off to Fishman Island. Before entering the island, they were stopped by the New Fish-Man Pirates. They were given two choices, either to join the Fish man pirates or they were going to sink Luffy and his crew mates in the sea. Luffy being Luffy, decided to go for option three, which was to force their way in. Using the Coup de Burst, they successfully got into the island. However, they were separated.
Later on, they were found by King Nepute and welcomed into his palace. There Luffy met the mermaid princess, Shirahoshi. Although a shaky start, Luffy and Shirahoshi soon became friends. However, she told Luffy that she had to stay inside the palace, as Vander Decken IX was dead set on marrying her. Luffy agreed to protect her as her bodyguard and promised to save her and the island.
Shirahoshi publicly rejected Vander. Not taking the rejection well, Vander, together with Herdy Jones, bombarded the palace. However, they were defeated by the Straw Hat crew and were captured. Finally, Shirahoshi was able to go to her mother’s grave.
The most important part of this arc was probably Luffy saving the island. As the fight was commencing in the plaza, Decken had some other plans. By using his powers, he resurrected Noah and was about to destroy the island. However, when Shirahoshi stepped up to sacrifice herself for the island, Decken diverted the ship towards her, making her his main target.
Upon seeing the ship heading towards Shirahoshi, everybody was trying to save her. Luffy on the other hand had no option but to destroy the ship in order to save the island. This made King Nepute apologize to Joy Boy for such actions. But luckily, Shirahoshi had powers that made her able to talk to the Sea Kings. By doing so, she successfully managed to convince the Sea Kings to put Noah back in its original place. And hence, the island was saved.
There they learn about how Fisher Tiger and Queen Otohime were assassinated, just because they believed that humans and fish could co-exist together.
How many Devil Fruit did Luffy ate?
Joy Boy’s connection to Luffy
Since not much is known about this man, Joy Boy, many fans are still in confusion. But don’t you worry, here are some points that can be used to connect him to Luffy.
The Fishman island
During his introduction, it was said that he made a promise to the islanders but was unable to fulfill them. So this shows that somehow they must have had some connection to make promises to each other. He also did make a promise that someone would come to fulfill his promise, and coincidentally, Luffy arrived at the Island and saved it.
The One Piece
Many fans believe that the massive treasure that Gol D. Roger talks about was actually Joy Boy. Roger said that only the one who was truly meant to find the treasure will get to it, indicating that if the treasure really belonged to Joy Boy, only someone who carried his will would be able to get it.
You do remember Luffy talking about some kind of treasure, right?
The Final island
Many believed it was Gol D. Roger and his crew mates to set their foot on the Final island. However, this was proven wrong, when in chapter 967 Roger mentioned that Joy Boy had already been on the island roughly 800 years ago, making him the first one to arrive there.
And guess who’s heading to the Final Island?
Joy Boy and Poseidon
Now, remember when the Sea kings were talking about the birth of Joy Boy and Poseidon seems like they were true. Well not to mention, Joy Boy himself told that somebody would certainly come in his place. However, as for Poseidon, it was passed down to SHirahosi.
Luff and Shirahoshi existed in the same time period. Hmm…interesting! Definitely not Joy Boy and Poseidon.\
The Straw Hat
In the Reverie arc, some information about the World government was revealed, along with the fact that Imu was the actual king of the World. However, what shocked the fans more was the Giant Straw hat that Imu had. The Hat had a very close resemblance to the one that Roger had and the one that Luffy wears now.
Coincidence? I don’t think so.
When does Luffy use Gear four?
Luffy as Joy Boy
During his fight with Pirate Kaidou on the Skull Dome Rooftop, Luffy was badly defeated. After the fight, Zunesha proclaimed that she could hear the sounds from the Drums of liberation, which indicated that Joy Boy had returned. Surprisingly, the sounds of the drum matched Luffy’s heartbeat, awakening his Devil fruit. After awakening his true powers, Luffy then transformed into his Gera 5 for the first time.
Zunesha is a huge elephant that existed during the time of Joy Boy. It is believed to be cursed to roam the world, while carrying the Mink tribe on its back, till eternity.
Luffy’s devil fruit
Luffy’s devil fruit, Gomu Gomu no Mi, was actually one of the most powerful devil fruits to have existed in the series. It was actually a devil fruit named Zoan Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, but the Government changed its name in order to hide its true power.
According to the series, the bearer of such fruit was believed to wield abilities close to that of the Sun God, Nika. The slaves believed that the sun god was the one who would liberate them and make them free from their miseries.
So if we connect the dots, many years ago, Joy Boy was actually going to do the same, making many fans believe that if Joy Boy was an actual title, then Nika would have been the first Joy Boy.
Similarly, in modern times, Luffy after awakening his Devil Fruit Power successfully defeated Kaidou and Orochi and liberated the citizens of Wano from them. Thus, earning the title of “Warrior of Liberation”. So, this made many believe that Luffy was indeed the next Joy Boy.
What Is the One Piece Treasure?
When will Joy Boy appear?
Now if you have been following the series for some time now, a long time now, the biggest turning point has to be the recent chapters of the Manga. During chapters 1043 and 1044, Zenusha, who was believed to be the companion of Joy Boy 800 years ago, could hear the drums of liberation and felt nostalgic after hearing the sounds.
As Luffy’s heart was beating in the same rhythm that of the drums, Zenusha claimed that the time had come, finally uttering the words, “ Joy Boy has returned.”
By now, many fans are convinced that Luffy, indeed, is Joy Boy. But since it is not really revealed to the fans, and considering the story running for more than two decades now, we can expect some twists and turns in the series. Hopefully, the truth about Joy Boy will be finally revealed too.
