Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece manga is full of mysteries and surprises, which is not the least surprising for a manga that is more than two decades old and has more than 1,000 chapters. Some of these mysteries are bigger, some are less important, but one of the biggest mysteries from the whole manga was the identity of an almost legendary figure known as – Joy Boy! Now, Joy Boy was first mentioned back in 2011 and it took Oda a total of 11 years to – as it seems – reveal the identity of this mysterious figure.
Joy Boy was an extremely relevant figure in the history of Fish-Man Island, who left behind a certain item of unimaginable value on the last island of the Grand Line. Due to the fact that he is expected to reappear after roughly 900 years, “Joy Boy” likely refers to a title or identity someone can attain. In Chapter 1043, which comes out on March 14, 2022, Oda seemingly confirmed that Luffy was Joy Boy All along.
In the rest of this article, we are going to tell you everything we know about the persona of Joy Boy in the One Piece franchise. You’re going to find out the known history and notoriety of the character, as well as how the upcoming Chapter 1043 seemingly solves the decade-long mystery of Joy Boy’s identity.
Who or what is Joy Boy?
Joy Boy was a figure that existed during the Void Century and played an important role in the history of Fish-Man Island. He was first mentioned in the Sea Forest Poneglyph. Joy Boy delivered the Noah to Fishman Island 900 years ago and the poneglyphs were invented 800 years ago where he wrote his apology.
This would mean that Joy Boy existed and was relevant in the world for more than a century. Joy Boy was also the previous owner of at least part of the One Piece. About nine hundred years ago, the inhabitants of Fish-Man Island made a promise to a man named Joy Boy. He gifted them the Noah, which will have an elemental role one day, however, it seems that Joy Boy couldn’t keep the promise.
The inhabitants of Fish-Man Island promised that they would keep the Noah safe until a certain day came. In the aforementioned poneglyph is a letter of apology from Joy Boy to Poseidon, apologizing for breaking his end of the bargain. He was also Zunesha’s partner. At some point, Joy Boy sailed to the final island of the Grand Line, leaving behind part of a treasure that would come to be known as the One Piece.
Part of the Fish-Man Island promise was broken during the events of the Fish-Man Island arc, when Monkey D. Luffy was asked to protect the island no matter the cost, even if it meant the Noah had to be destroyed in the end. the process.
Before Luffy completely destroyed the ship, the Noah was stopped by a group of Sea Kings who were unknowingly summoned by Shirahoshi, saving Fish-Man Island and keeping the promise of the nation with Joy Boy. However, the ship was still badly damaged. The sea kings later took the ship to the Sea Forest, where it is planned to be repaired.
The figure of Joy Boy has been shown on more than one occasion as a title waiting to reach the world: Oden mentioned that he was to open Wano Country “before Joy Boy’s arrival.” When Kaido defeated Luffy for the second time, he mentioned that “he couldn’t be Joy Boy either.” Now, it seems that Kaido’s theory was wrong.
Has Joy Boy’s identity been revealed?
A preview for the upcoming Chapter 1043, titled “Let’s Die Together”, which is going to come out on March 14, 2022, seems to suggest that the Joy Boy’s identity is finally going to be revealed. Now, you know that there have been speculations, both in-universe and among the fandom, about the nature of the Joy Boy persona and the theories that it was a title proved to be correct.
Now, the reappearance of the wandering elephant Zunesha opened the door for the big reveal, since Zunesha was connected to the original Joy Boy 800 years ago and would, as it seems, be able to recognize him. A preview panel for Chapter 1043 revealed this:
This scene takes place in the aftermath of Luffy’s battle against Kaidou. Luffy ends up on the floor, defeated, but smiling and as Zunesha approaches and sees him, he seems to recognize his old companion. This suggests that Monkey D. Luffy, the series’ protagonist, was Joy Boy all along, and such a theory would certainly make sense. Now, this is, of course, just a preview panel and we have to see the whole context, but it does seem that the mystery of Joy Boy has finally been solved.
