Perchance, I might have found what that famous treasure, searched for in the One Piece manga, is. I have a theory. I should warn you that the rest contains spoilers. What is that famous One Piece that the character Monkey D. Luffy looks for? Who is Joy Boy? Of course I also outlined my theory with visuals below.
There is no information about the color, sound, smell, weight, size, animateness, inanimateness etc. of the One Piece. How will we recognize the One Piece when we see it in the manga?
About the One Piece…
My One Piece Theory
I will explain my theory about what the One Piece is in detail below. Those who wish can watch the video above and take a look at the manga images below at the same time. It will be much more understandable.
We will go by analyzing my theory step by step. For this reason, I divided it into various headings. At the end of each step, we will get closer to the One Piece, and finally we will find out what it is.
Section 1: The One Piece World
The One Piece world and the real world are connected to each other.
In order to understand what the One Piece is, we need to properly understand the One Piece world. Call it inspiration or call it connection, the result will be quite the same. I call it connection because my One Piece theory is based on this. So what are these connections?
People
As you know, many people seen in the One Piece world are taken from real life. These people can be a singer in real life, yet a pirate in the One Piece world; or they can be an actor in real life, yet an admiral in the One Piece world. Some of these characters are revealed by the mangaka himself saying “yeah, that character was inspired from that person”. We can very well liken the rest ourselves. Below are some characters that appear in the One Piece world and have a look-alike in real life.
Places
“People” is just one thing! We also see number of places from real life in the One Piece world. Let’s see some of them below. Of course there are lots of other places I didn’t include below. But this many is enough. It’s also very clear that some more places will be added to the series until it’s completed. Who knows, maybe Raftel island too looks like somewhere on earth?
Other things taken from the World
Racism towards those from Asian or African countries is dealt with via Fish-men. We can also see things like the Flying Dutchman, Kabuki, Kraken in One Piece. There are also transsexuals, homosexuals, those who don’t accept their genders, who change their genders in One Piece. There sure are things unique to One Piece too. Devil fruits, cursed swords, unique races, unique climates, haki, those who can see the future, and so on. These too make up the scenario of One Piece.
But what’s the big deal? There are thousands of characters, thousands of events in One Piece. We’re talking about a huge universe. Despite all this, there is one exception in One Piece: Ryuma.
Mystery of Ryuma
Well, let’s think about that; the mangaka who has designed thousands of characters, somehow outsourced the character Ryuma to the series. So for those who may not know: the character Ryuma is originally the main character of another manga called Monster. He kills a dragon there. We saw the character Ryuma in One Piece later on. Somebody asked the mangaka Oda at that time: “Is this Ryuma, the Ryuma in the Monster manga?”. And Oda confirmed it. Now the question is, why? Why is it that the mangaka who has created thousands of characters, added Ryuma to the One Piece series? I mean, he could’ve designed a brand-new character and not added Ryuma at all. But he didn’t.
What was the point of including Ryuma, whom he designed earlier and was the strongest swordsman and also the strongest person in his universe-of his time, to the One Piece series?
Pay attention here!
Keep this question above in mind. I will later relate this to One Piece. Now let’s move on to the second section.
Section 2: Shanks’ Bet in One Piece Story
What did Shanks bet on?
Shanks stayed for about a year where Luffy was. There, he met Luffy, who was just a kid. This kid named Luffy was someone who wanted to join Shanks’ crew and become a pirate. And besides, he was talking like Roger. He even said, “I’m going to find the One Piece, I’m going to be king of the pirates, I’m going to found a stronger crew than yours”. All these sure brought to Shanks an interest in Luffy. But was it actually like that? Because a lot of characters in One Piece already search for the One Piece. Lots of people want to be king of the pirates. Even now, Kid and Law started out. So you know, Shanks could’ve found maybe hundreds of kids like Luffy. But what made him sacrifice his arm to save Luffy?
Of course we know that Shanks normally wasn’t going to lose his arm. Since the editor made such a request to make it more dramatic, the mangaka drew such a scene. He did, right, but the scenario besides proceeded accordingly. For example in his conversation with Mihawk, Mihawk said he wouldn’t fight a duel with a one-armed man. In his conversation with Whitebeard, Whitebeard asked him what kind of an enemy he’s lost his arm to. Meaning the scenario proceeded correspondingly. And Shanks told Whitebeard that he put his arm on a bet?
We’ve always interpreted this bet as “Luffy will be king of the pirates, will find the One Piece, Shanks is talking about this bet.” Really? Let’s think. Whitebeard is alive at that time. Kaido is alive. Bigmom is alive. There are a bunch of pirates out there. Whitebeard is considered to be the closest person to the One Piece. But then there’s Shanks sacrificing his arm for a kiddo, a nipper just because he may find the One Piece? As if there wasn’t these others? This is ridiculous. Now, what is this One Piece thing, that you sacrifice your arm? What would happen if he found the One Piece or became king of the pirates? What would happen that he regarded as so important that he sacrificed his arm? Did he sacrifice his arm for Luffy? For a kid? Nope. Something more than is apparent is going on here. There’s something else going on here, other than what’s apparent. Let me explain.
You know that Luffy’s devil fruit actually turned out to be not the Gum-Gum fruit. He turned out to be a Zoan who once ate the Sun God Nika fruit. You see him below. In his fight with Kaido, Luffy died and got reincarnated. It was at this moment that he awakened his devil fruit and underwent a Zoan transformation where his hair turned white and all. Luffy calls his devil fruit-awakening-self “Gear 5”. We readers call him “Nika”. This awakening state of Luffy also showed us that he is Joy Boy.
I will mention Luffy’s devil fruit awakening in the rest of this post. Shanks is the issue now. So here’s what I claim. Shanks has learnt that Joy Boy ate the Nika fruit. He might have hidden this even from his crew. Because his crew called the fruit the Gum-Gum fruit. Or perhaps they all know and might have called it the Gum-Gum fruit so that nobody would know. But that’s not the point. Why did Shanks, who waited patiently all these years, take action? Because Luffy was reincarnated as Joy Boy, and that’s seen in the wanted poster. Shanks saw this and figured out that Joy Boy was reincarnated. You can see it below.
Because Shanks knew that the one who’ll find the One Piece was Joy Boy, the one who’ll also save Wano someday. Shanks didn’t eat the fruit. Because he didn’t have the ability to hear the voice of all things. Apparently devil fruits choose their owners. There was a chance that Luffy could later develop the ability to hear the voice of all things, since the Nika fruit chose him. Now, Shanks said that he put his arm on a bet, for all these reasons. But this is not the real reason. When Roger went to the last island, he realized that they had arrived early. He said he wishes he lived in Joy Boy’s time. Nika isn’t necessary to find the One Piece. Roger found it without Nika. That’s not the point. The thing was, to be found by the right person at the right time. Whatever Roger has learned, he’s learned that something would happen after finding the One Piece. But who’s supposed to find it, wasn’t born yet. That’s why he decided to have a child. So it’ll mean nothing even if Shanks goes and finds the One Piece. Because he’s not the one supposed to find. Shanks knows this. Because when Roger went to the last island, he learned that, who’ll come as Joy Boy wasn’t born yet. For that, he decided to have a child. And Shanks knew of this, so he didn’t eat the Nika fruit. Then years later, Shanks became a grown man and met Luffy. Luffy was born at the time Joy Boy would come. He grew up together with Roger’s son Ace already. Shanks knew that he himself wasn’t Joy Boy. That’s why he didn’t eat the fruit. He put his arm on a bet because Luffy ate the fruit, also that Luffy wanted to find the One Piece and become a pirate. But Luffy is not the one on this bet. It’s Nika.
If I and Luffy fell into the sea at once, if I were the one who ate the Nika fruit, and Shanks had a chance to save only one of us, so had to choose between me and Luffy, he would absolutely save me. Because I ate the Nika fruit.
Pay attention here!
Shanks spotted Luffy undergoing a transformation in the wanted poster. Thus, he found out that Joy Boy has come. That meant the One Piece could now be found by the right person at the right time. That’s why Shanks took action now. I mean, what stopped Shanks wasn’t Kaido, Bigmom, or Whitebeard. In order to take action, he waited for Joy Boy. What did he do next? The answer is below. He told his right-hand man that it was now time to take action for the One Piece. Because Joy Boy has come. But what’s so important about the One Piece?
Okay but what about the arm?
If Shanks hadn’t saved Luffy, who knows how many years later the Nika fruit would’ve appeared and who knows into whose hands it would’ve fallen. Shanks could not waste this chance. So he had to save Nika. Otherwise, he could have not found this fruit again. We know that Shanks stole the fruit from a ship while under the watch of Who’s-Who. My point is that Shanks knows everything. Maybe Roger has told him, huh?
Section 3: Toki in the One Piece manga
How did Toki know the future?
A woman named Toki comes to Oden’s times from hundreds of years ago by jumping in time. She does this using her devil fruit which gives her the ability to travel into the future. But her devil fruit does not send back through time. This woman meets Oden and travels with him. Up to this point, she has no abilities like giving prophecy or reporting from the future at all. Yet somehow, she talks about prophecies after she goes back to Wano and Oden comes over. But how?
In the image above, Oden tells Toki to go 20 years into the future. Because Oden has gone to Raftel. He knows what the One Piece is. He knows of the Void Century. He knows of the 800 years. He knows of Joy Boy. Oden knows everything. And he wrote everything in his journal. How does he know all these things that happen in the future? The fortune teller girl on Fish-Man Island was not revealing the future this clearly. Oden wrote everything in his journal after he went to Raftel. Oden’s wife Toki, sure must be curious about his journey. She definitely must have read his journal. Because Yamato read the journal and saw that some pages were missing. There’s no way Oden tore those. Even if Oden did tear, he told his wife first. And then they tore it so what’s written there wouldn’t fall into Kaido’s hands. Let’s see what we got now. Yamato and Momonosuke read the journal. Although they both knew Luffy was searching for the One Piece, they didn’t tell Luffy nothing. Robin is searching for the date. They didn’t tell him either. Because they don’t know. There was the One Piece and the date on the missing pages. Because of this, they couldn’t learn these and couldn’t say anything to anyone. But Toki and Oden knew the future very well. And probably no one but them knew.
Then what was there on Raftel, what kind of thing was the One Piece, that he told what will happen to them in the future?
Very important!
See, Roger and his crew, who saw the One Piece, found out the truth and laughed. They learned the things that will happen 20 years later. One Piece is a story that gives information about the future. Because Roger called this a funny story and therefore called the island Laugh Tale.
Let’s get to another issue.
Oden was extremely serious and ambitious until he fought with Kaido. But after being defeated, both he and Toki, who knew the truth, were quite like retreated. By saying “That’s my limit”, Oden didn’t actually mean his own strength. He was put in prison and was hamstrung, his hands tied. He also knew he would die. That’s why he said, “I was born to boil”. Oden knew he’d lose to Kaido and be boiled to death, as well. Oden knew Joy Boy would come and Wano’s borders would open. But he thought that would happen 20 years later. He probably didn’t know anything about the fact that Joy Boy would come and take Kaido down. That’s why he went fought with Kaido and lost. He did this knowing what would happen in the future. Consequently, he lost. He understood that he couldn’t change the future. This is why he said, “That’s my limit”. I’ll explain this matter later. Let this remain a mystery for now.
Section 4: Toon Force
Luffy’s Toon Force
As you know, Luffy got killed by Kaido at the rooftop fight. Then his devil fruit awakened, and he came back to life. And when he came back to life, you know, the giant elephant said “Joy Boy has returned” about him. Let’s see it below.
In the image above, we see the moment Luffy awakens his devil fruit. Very strange things happened after this point. Turns out Luffy didn’t eat the Gum-Gum fruit. He actually ate a fruit called Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika. Nika was someone known as the Sun God. And the fruit was a Zoan type. As Nika’s body was made of rubber, Luffy’s body too was made of rubber. So what? The mangaka said “It contains clues about the One Piece” for Wano country. One was Toki. I explained above. Another one is Joy Boy. Luffy gained incredible flexibility after awakening the fruit. I put the image of giant Luffy at the very top. He becomes huge. He is so big that he even jumps rope with Kaido. You see it below.
We did see some weird stuff at this stage. Luffy was acting just like a cartoon character. When he ran through the air, there was fire coming off. When he hit the enemies, their tongues were coming out, and stars were circling around their heads. People’s eyeballs were popping out of the sockets. Kaido said to us the most important thing. “You’re like out of a picture book”. Like?
What if Luffy is really a cartoon character?
The biggest clue!
This sentence of Kaido is very important for us. Soon you’ll all find out what the One Piece is. We’re almost there. Keep on reading :)
Section 5: Dimensions
The dimensions Luffy has visited
In the series, as far as I remember, Luffy came in and out of the dimensions of anyone who opened up one. He entered Blueno’s door. He entered Brûlée’s Mirro-World. He entered Mont-d’Or’s World of Books. And he came out of them all.
Luffy, who went in and out of so many dimensions, has never thought “I wonder if this life I’m living could be inside something else”.
Let’s just cut to the chase now.
Luffy has never thought “What if this world in which I look for the One Piece, is in another dimension? What if there is a dimension higher than ours, and we don’t know that?”.
He probably will realize this on the last island. We’re coming to the end now. I’ll connect everything to a Joy Boy, but be patient a little more.
Section 6: Scenes and Silhouettes
Luffy’s hands, and silhouettes which are frequently seen
Anyone who reads One Piece knows very well that this series is filled with silhouettes. First, a character’s name is featured. Or it doesn’t have to be featured. Let’s say a character is to enter the scene. We first see them as a silhouette. Below you see Oden’s silhouettes. Yes, we saw countless silhouettes of Oden, until he was clearly shown. Indeed, there are so many silhouettes in One Piece that, at some point makes you wonder what’s the need.
But why? Luffy will finally go to Raftel. When the battle is over, he will hear a voice there at the sky. Since he’s rubber, he will stretch out his arm and pull that person down. We’ll see that person as a silhouette as well. Luffy will ask him who he is.
Who’s the person Luffy will pull down?
Lord of the silhouettes.
I will soon answer all the questions in your mind. A little curiosity is good. Coming to the scenes. These scenes explain to us why Luffy’s power is rubberiness. Because it’s very suitable. Yeah, actually in many parts of the series, we saw scenes similar to the one below. Luffy stretches his arm out of the manga. And below he holds One Piece. It’s actually Luffy here… :)
There are a lot of scenes similar to the one above in the manga. I mean, Luffy always stretches out his hand towards us. As if he’s going to come out of the sheet. Then let’s explain what the One Piece is.
Section 7: The Walls
What does “breaking the walls” mean?
In things like comic books, cartoons, cinema, theater, there’s this thing called breaking the 4th wall. By breaking the 4th wall, Luffy will find out that he is a manga character. I mean, Luffy will realize our real world, which is an upper dimension, and that he doesn’t actually exist. I didn’t tell about the dimensions for nothing. Everything has a base already. It’s just that Luffy never thought about it. So how will he realize? He will do this probably through Nika, and the ability to hear the voice of all things. He will hear the mangaka’s voice via the ability to hear the voice of all things. Nika wanting to be free is actually also this. Nika will be so free that he will as well figure out that he’s a manga character. That’s when he will ask: “What is the name of this manga?”. One Piece! Meaning the One Piece Luffy has been looking for all long, is the very same One Piece manga that we hold in our hands in real life, that we buy in the bookstores.
Coming to Ryuma. What Ryuma did is called breaking the 5th wall. This means, Ryuma came out of his own manga and is playing himself in the One Piece world. Now that’s what you call breaking the 5th wall. The mangaka actually gave us the hints. Where the 5th wall is broken, and there is toon force, why wouldn’t the 4th wall be broken? Let me put a One Piece below :D We’ve been holding it in our hands for 25 years. It’s been on our shelves. Dude literally hid the tree in a forest :) We’ve got the One Piece in our hands for years. It even has One Piece written on it. And we’ve been thinking “wonder what the One Piece is” :)
‘Course Roger and his crew found Joy Boy’s treasure on Raftel. And that treasure was the One Piece manga. They took it, read the story, and laughed. The story had everything they needed to know ever. And that’s how Oden learned the future. Of course, the mangaka didn’t write everything so clearly for them, perhaps. Okay but who’s the first Joy Boy? Who’s that man Luffy pulls down? Let’s finish up.
But first, what did Whitebeard say in Marineford? The One Piece is real! Yeah, it sure is. We already hold it in our hands.
Section 8: Joy Boy
Who is Joy Boy?
The person Luffy pulls down from the sky is Joy Boy himself. I told you at the beginning of this post that One Piece is related to the real world. Eiichiro Oda, i.e. the mangaka, transferred what he saw from the real world to the series. All right, in the One Piece world, whose treasure is the One Piece? Joy Boy’s treasure. And in real life, whose is One Piece? Eiichiro Oda’s. All the fame, wealth, and power of Oda come from One Piece. One Piece is the biggest treasure of Eiichiro Oda. Now, if this man includes himself in the series, who would he be? You got that right: Joy Boy. I mean, the man Luffy will pull down breaking the 4th wall will be none other than Eiichiro Oda. Here’s another silhouette. Because Luffy will pull the man down, and ask him who he is. We’ll see a silhouette again. A week later, a new episode will be released. And what is that? He drew himself. And that way, what will have happened? Luffy will have broken the 4th wall, and Eiichiro Oda will have broken the 5th wall including himself in the series as the owner of the whole series. ‘Course he might not draw himself in his own appearance. But I believe he will. Now at this point, Luffy will be the freest man on the seas. Because he’s so free that he even met the man who had created him. But how? The limit of the Nika fruit’s power is his imagination. He can do anything he imagines. All he needs to do is to want to pull the man down.
You know that in Conqueror’s Haki Clash in One Piece, the heavens split sometimes. All well and good, but if we get through there when the heavens split, what is on the other side? There we have our world. I mean, through that split, Luffy will open that dimension, and hear the mangaka. That’s when he’ll be like “there comes a sound” with his ability to hear the voice of all things, stretch out his arm, grab and pull the mangaka down.
Now let’s answer the questions in our minds.
What is Ryuma’s mystery?
You know, each captain also has a right-hand man in the series. The strongest ones’ right-hand men are all swordsmen. The strongest man of Whitebeard’s crew was Oden. Roger had Ray. And Luffy had Zoro. So if I will come to the series as Joy Boy, I’d make Ryuma, the strongest man I’ve drawn up so far, my right-hand man, of course.
Why did Roger say: “I won’t die”?
He found out that he’s a cartoon character. But he couldn’t feel it. Only Luffy can feel that. Because the Nika fruit makes it possible. Roger wouldn’t die; because he didn’t actually exist, anyway. He’d exist again once he was drawn again. Naturally, it’s technically impossible for him to die. Plus, perchance he might have read on Raftel that his own willpower will be transferred to a kid. He might have as well believed that he’d live as willpower in this way.
Why did Roger laugh?
Roger and his crew laughed at us, actually. We’ve got One Piece in our hands for 25 years. We’ve been reading it, discussing it, watching its anime, going to its movies, but still wondering what the One Piece is. Think about it. You have One Piece in your hand. Eiichiro Oda holds a book signing. You go, get it signed and ask him what the One Piece is. He signs it for you and gives it back :D If I were Oda, I’d laugh out loud when I got back home. I laughed until my eyes were tearing when I first realized it. I mean, seriously, think about it. How will you know what the One Piece is? Are you expecting to see a paper written One Piece on it in the manga? Though, it’s written on it. It literally is written :D Probably for the first time in world history, manga characters laughed at their own readers. Like, a lot a lot. What a scandal :D
What is Luffy’s dream?
Luffy’s dream is to talk to god. And who created Luffy is the mangaka. Luffy will break the 4th wall and talk to Eiichiro Oda. Thus, he will have achieved his biggest dream. Because breaking the 4th wall makes it possible for him. When the crew heard about Luffy’s dream, they all reacted like “that’s impossible”. Zoro doesn’t believe in god anyway :D
Above, you see the reactions given after Luffy revealed his dream. Like “ain’t no way!”. There are even some who find it childish.
Why did Shanks say he put his arm on a bet?
Shanks too, perhaps, might be wishing to talk to god. And the only way is if Joy Boy finds the One Piece. Both he and Roger might know that Joy Boy will talk to god. In fact, Roger too might have been dreaming of this. But Roger couldn’t achieve this dream since he’s not Nika. Shanks laughed a lot when he heard about Luffy’s dream. Maybe it’s because he’s had the same dream. I believe it’s for this reason he couldn’t let Nika disappear. But of course, it’s okay if I’m wrong about this part.
Why didn’t Rayleigh go to go save Ace?
Why would he? He’s aware of everything. He knows that Ace will exist again once he’s drawn again. It’s just that Rayleigh won’t know when Ace is drawn again. Yet, Rayleigh did cry when Wb died. Because he knew the series was coming to an end.
Why is Luffy rubber?
Because this power fits perfectly. Imagine, what impact would he have if he always pulled over people by teleporting? It wouldn’t be that impactful, right? But a hand always stretched out as if it’ll come out of the manga sheet is much more impactful? And doesn’t it literally look like he says, “I’m already going to do this someday”?
Why is One Piece named One Piece?
What is Luffy for the One Piece manga? One piece of One Piece. What does “One Piece” mean? It means one piece, part, fragment. I mean, Luffy is a piece (part) of One Piece. Zoro too is a piece of One Piece. Sanji too, and the others too. The islands too, the swords too, the devil fruits too… They’re all a piece of One Piece. When all of them combined, it becomes One Piece again. Because One Piece is a story. And isn’t a story, a piece (one piece)?
Who gave the name One Piece?
Roger went to the last island. People who learned of this called him Pirate King. They gave a reasonable name. When Roger found the One Piece, he said “it’s a funny story”. And he called the island Laugh Tale. Reasonable. Okay but nobody knows what the One Piece looks like. Nobody knows about the color, size, weight, sound, or smell of the One Piece. But people called this treasure on the last island One Piece. Why? It’s either that Roger named it, and people knew so. Or that the newspaperman named Morgan knew something, and wrote news in the newspapers like “People called that treasure One Piece” to manipulate. And it spread like this among people. Maybe they called it One Piece because Roger returned from the last island in one piece, who knows. We’ll find this out later.
Since I wrote this post quickly, there are many things that I mentioned in the video but not here. So I definitely recommend you watch the video as well.