“Inherited will, a man’s dream, and the flow of time. As long as man continues to seek out the answer to freedom, these things shall never be stopped.”
— Chapter 100, One Piece
Let’s be honest with each other for a second.
You’ve been watching or reading One Piece for years — maybe since you were a kid, maybe you binge-watched 1,000+ episodes in what felt like a fever dream — and you still don’t have the answers to the questions that matter most. Who is Joy Boy? What even is the One Piece? Why does Imu give off “final boss who’s been waiting 800 years for someone to ruin their day” energy?
Eiichiro Oda is a genius. He’s also, without question, the most gloriously diabolical tease in the history of manga. The man planted seeds in 1997 that are only now blooming in 2026, and somehow we’ve all just been along for the ride, yelling theories into the void.
So buckle up, because we’re diving deep — Grand Line deep — into the 8 biggest One Piece mysteries that are keeping the fandom alive, unhinged, and constantly refreshing their Twitter/X feed at 2 AM.
Mystery #1: What Is the One Piece? (The Question That Started It All)
Let’s start with the obvious one. The treasure that launched a thousand ships, ruined childhoods, and gave Gol D. Roger the world’s most legendary mic drop. After 25+ years, we still don’t know exactly what’s sitting on Laugh Tale.
But here’s the thing — we actually have really good guesses at this point.
Theory 1: The World Itself Is the One Piece
The most compelling theory isn’t about gold or jewels. It’s geography. The name “One Piece” in Japanese is Hitotsunagi no Daihihou, and the word hitotsunagi has three possible translations:
- “Something in one piece” — as in the unified world
- “That which connects people” — as in bonds, friendship, brotherhood
- “One sea at peace” — as in after the great war
That’s not an accident. Oda doesn’t do accidents.
The theory goes like this: the world is currently divided into four seas by the Red Line, an artificial continent that acts as a global prison wall. The “One Piece” isn’t a thing you pick up — it’s a state of the world you create by tearing that wall down using the three Ancient Weapons (Pluton, Poseidon, and Uranus). When the Red Line falls, the four seas merge into one ocean, the world literally becomes one piece, and Sanji finally gets his All Blue (which, given how much that man has cried about it, would be very cathartic for all of us).
Theory 2: It’s a Bottle of Sake (Yes, Really)
Hear me out before you close the tab.
When Roger’s crew reached Laugh Tale, they laughed. Not cried. Not gasped in awe. They laughed. That reaction suggests the treasure is something funny, humble, or absurdly simple — like an enormous stash of sake meant for a party that’s been waiting 800 years to happen.
Joy Boy’s ultimate dream was to throw the world’s biggest party — a global celebration where all races unite. In pirate culture, sake is how you seal bonds and forge brotherhood. The song “Binks’ Sake” isn’t just a catchy tune; it might be the oral history of the Ancient Kingdom itself, disguised as a drinking song to survive 800 years of World Government censorship.
The “One Piece” might literally be: the invitation to that party.
Theory 3: It’s a Multi-Layered Answer
The smartest take? It’s all of the above at the same time. A physical treasure (sake, records, or the Rio Poneglyph — the final piece of the True History), representing a geopolitical event (the fall of the Red Line), embodying a philosophical ideal (the liberation of the world and the Dawn of a new era).
| What It Could Be | What It Would Represent |
|---|---|
| Sake / Physical Treasure | Joy Boy’s promise — the party that was never held |
| The Rio Poneglyph | The complete True History of the Void Century |
| The Destruction of the Red Line | Literal world unification — making it “One Piece” |
| The All Blue | Fulfillment of every Straw Hat’s individual dream |
| The Will of D. Realized | The 800-year plan finally coming to fruition |
Whatever it is, Roger cried when he couldn’t do anything about it. And Shanks called it “the world’s greatest treasure.” At this point, it better be spectacular.
Mystery #2: Who — or What — Is Imu? (The Final Boss Is Terrifying)
Right. Let’s talk about the scariest character in One Piece who’s barely even done anything yet.
Imu sits on the Empty Throne — the seat that was supposed to signify that no single person rules the world — and the Five Elders, the most powerful figures in the World Government, bow to them. We spent 900 chapters thinking the Gorosei were the top of the food chain, and then Oda went, “Nope. Here’s the real final boss. Good luck.”
What We Know (Which Isn’t Much, and That’s the Point)
Imu has been alive for at least 800 years, almost certainly through the Perpetual Youth Surgery — the secret ability of the Ope Ope no Mi, the same fruit Law used. They possess what appears to be the Ancient Weapon Uranus, which they used to casually erase an entire kingdom (Lulusia) from the map, causing global sea levels to rise. No big deal.
More recently, at Elbaf, Imu revealed the ability to possess and control other bodies, treating battle like a game of Reversi — literally flipping people into devil minions. Whether this is a Devil Fruit or something far stranger is still anyone’s guess.
And they speak with a childlike voice in Japanese, using the pronoun “Moo,” which can be read as the kanji for “nothingness” or “void.” The Empty Throne isn’t empty — it belongs to Nothingness itself.
The Best Theories on Imu’s True Identity
The Ancient Devil: If Nika (Luffy) is the white Sun God of freedom and joy, then it’s almost poetically perfect that Imu is the opposite — a dark entity of oppression, secrecy, and control. Imu as a literal ancient evil, not just a human ruler, would explain why their true form has never been shown and why characters speak of them with genuine existential terror.
The Usurper of the Void Century: The most grounded theory identifies Imu as a member of the original 20 kings who founded the World Government 800 years ago — specifically of the Nerona family. Using the Perpetual Youth Surgery granted by the Ope Ope no Mi’s original user, Imu has simply refused to die for 800 years while the rest of the world moved on, desperately clinging to a regime built on lies.
The Twisted Mirror of Joy Boy: What if Imu didn’t just defeat Joy Boy — what if Imu preserved Joy Boy’s body as a vessel? Some theories suggest Imu’s immortality comes from repeatedly inhabiting different bodies, with Joy Boy’s original form being the first and most important. That would mean the “Natural Enemy of God” has been physically imprisoned inside the very system that destroyed him. Luffy won’t inherit Joy Boy’s body — only his will.
The Rogue AI: The wildcard. The Ancient Kingdom had technology far beyond modern capability. What if the World Government’s secret weapon isn’t a person at all, but an ancient artificial intelligence that has maintained control through calculated manipulation for eight centuries? Imu’s hollow, silhouetted form, their childlike yet inhuman speech patterns, and their treatment of geopolitics as a board game all fit this unsettling possibility.
The one thing that’s certain? When Imu finally steps fully into the light, it will be the moment One Piece’s endgame truly begins.
Mystery #3: What Happened in the Void Century? (The 100 Years That Changed Everything)
The World Government made it illegal to research this period of history. Not frowned upon. Not discouraged. Illegal. The scholars of Ohara were wiped out for daring to study it.
When something is that aggressively suppressed, you know the truth is absolutely devastating.
The Broad Strokes
Here’s what the Poneglyphs — those indestructible stone tablets Joy Boy had carved before his fall — have told us so far, pieced together across decades of theorizing:
About 800–900 years ago, there existed an impossibly advanced civilization: the Ancient Kingdom. This wasn’t just “technologically ahead of its time” — we’re talking about a civilization with access to the Ancient Weapons, technology that the modern world can’t replicate, and a philosophy of radical, universal freedom.
Their ruler — likely the historical figure now known as Davy Jones in legend — was called by some the “real king of the world.” He championed an ideal: all races, all peoples, united and free under the same sun. Then Imu, leading a coalition of 20 human kingdoms, decided they wanted that power for themselves. They went to war.
The Propaganda Machine
What makes the Void Century truly sinister isn’t just that there was a war — it’s how the winners rewrote history. The Ancient Kingdom’s warriors were branded “criminal pirates.” Davy Jones, the freedom-loving king, was framed as an aggressive warmonger who attacked weaker nations. The 20 kingdoms positioned themselves as “Gods” and saviors.
The Celestial Dragons — who currently walk around the modern world demanding tribute, shooting civilians for sport, and owning people as slaves — are the descendants of those original 20 kings. The system wasn’t just built on injustice. It was built on the erasure of a better world.
Joy Boy’s Gamble
Joy Boy saw the end coming. Rather than let everything die with him, he made preparations:
- He worked with the Kozuki Clan to carve the indestructible Poneglyphs — a distributed, nearly indestructible record of the True History
- He left the treasure (and the truth) on Laugh Tale, accessible only to someone who could read the Poneglyphs
- He entrusted the massive ship Noah to the Fishmen, for a purpose that would only become clear 800 years later
- And somehow — through mechanisms we don’t fully understand — he ensured his will would reincarnate
Nefertari Lily, Queen of Alabasta and one of the original 20 kings, defected at the end of the war. Her “grave mistake” that Imu still holds a grudge over? She scattered the Poneglyphs across the world, ensuring Joy Boy’s message could never be fully destroyed. That act of apparent recklessness was actually the greatest act of rebellion in history.
The Void Century wasn’t just a war. It was the original version of the story we’re watching right now — and this time, the good guys are trying to win.
Mystery #4: What Is the Will of D.? (The Secret Handshake Hiding in Plain Sight)
Monkey D. Luffy. Gol D. Roger. Portgas D. Ace. Marshall D. Teach. Trafalgar D. Water Law. Rocks D. Xebec. Monkey D. Garp. Monkey D. Dragon.
All of the most world-shaking characters in One Piece share that single initial. The World Government once said of the D. clan: “They are the natural enemies of God.” And Imu simply acknowledged, “The name of those who once opposed us.”
Theory 1: “D” Stands for “Davy”
The theory that’s been gaining serious traction: the “D” stands for Davy — as in Davy Jones, the name of the Ancient Kingdom’s ruler and the first pirate. The Will of D. is the Will of Davy — not a bloodline, but a fellowship.
Think about it like the “X” mark the Straw Hats drew on their arms in Alabasta — a simple visual symbol that allowed allies to identify each other without the World Government catching on. The “D” works the same way, except it’s been operating for 800 years. It’s a secret handshake across generations, passed down not through blood necessarily, but through shared conviction. That’s why D. carriers span wildly different races, backgrounds, and motivations. What they share isn’t DNA — it’s the inheritance of an ideal.
Theory 2: D. Is a Symbol of Joy
Here’s a beautiful detail: visually, the letter D looks like a sideways smile. Carriers of the D. almost universally die with a smile on their face — Ace grinning as he fell, Roger laughing at his execution, Whitebeard dying on his feet with a grin.
The D. is the mark of those who carry “Joy” — the specific variety of unbreakable, infectious, defiant joy that refuses to be extinguished even in death. It’s the smile of someone who knows that their will outlives their body. That’s why it’s associated with Joy Boy, with the Sun God Nika, with liberation. And that’s exactly why Imu and the World Government fear it so much. You can execute a person. You can’t execute a smile.
The Monkey Family Wildcard
One delightful sub-theory ties the Monkey family specifically to the Shandian tribe of Skypiea. The evidence: Garp’s iconic beast-head hat closely resembles Shandian chief attire; the legendary Shandian warrior Kalgara shares a voice actor with Dragon in the Japanese dub; and Volume 27’s cover features Luffy with a wink that mirrors the missing eye of the skull-shaped island of Jaya — the Shandian ancestral homeland.
If the Monkey family are descendants of the Shandians — the people who fought God for 400 years to reclaim their birthright — then Luffy isn’t just the next Joy Boy. He’s the literal heir of the most stubborn, God-defying people in history. Which honestly explains everything about him.
Mystery #5: What Is Shanks’ Real Plan? (The Most Patient Man in the World)
Red-Haired Shanks is the most frustrating character in One Piece for one specific reason: he clearly knows everything, and he’s not telling us anything.
He was on Roger’s ship as a child. He was present at Laugh Tale. He held the Gum-Gum Fruit (secretly the Nika fruit) for years before Luffy accidentally ate it. He met privately with the Gorosei. He declared it was time to “claim the One Piece” the moment he learned about Gear 5. He gave Luffy his straw hat with the words “give it back when you’ve become a great pirate.” Shanks isn’t just a retired pirate living his best life. He’s been playing a very long game.
The Original Plan: Ace Was Supposed to Be the One
Roger explicitly believed his son would be the one to find the One Piece. Sources suggest Shanks’ original mission — following his tearful final conversation with Roger — was to find the Nika fruit and give it to Portgas D. Ace. Shanks stole the fruit from the World Government precisely when Ace would have been the right age to begin his journey.
Then Luffy ate it by accident.
Shanks, to his credit, pivoted immediately. He lost his arm protecting a seven-year-old he’d known for three years, gave the kid Roger’s hat, and essentially bet his entire life plan on a rubber child with no survival instincts. Then he sailed away and spent the next decade quietly pulling strings.
The Guardian’s Role
Think about what Shanks has actually done for the last two decades:
- Kept the One Piece off-limits by maintaining an Emperor’s territory over that region of the sea
- Calibrated the timing — by declaring it was time to move only after Luffy’s Gear 5 awakening
- Ensured the right people recognized Luffy — giving him Roger’s hat means figures like Whitebeard, Rayleigh, and Mihawk immediately understood who Luffy was
- Removed obstacles — his meeting with the Gorosei almost certainly involved negotiations that bought time for the Straw Hats
His sword is literally named Griffin — a creature whose mythological purpose is to guard treasure. That’s not a coincidence from Oda. Nothing is.
The Final Phase
The moment Shanks confirmed Luffy had awakened Gear 5 — the Sun God Nika — he declared the plan was entering its final stage. The 25-year wait (the exact time needed for Shirahoshi to be born and grow into Poseidon) was over. Every piece was finally on the board. Shanks is the bridge between eras. Roger couldn’t complete the mission. Shanks couldn’t complete it. Their job was to ensure that when the right person arrived, the world would be ready to change. That’s what a guardian does — they don’t fight the final battle. They make sure the hero survives long enough to.
Mystery #6: What Is Monkey D. Dragon’s True Power? (The World’s Most Wanted Man Has Never Actually Done Anything)
Can we just acknowledge how absolutely wild it is that the most wanted man in the world has appeared in maybe fifteen chapters total, done basically nothing on-screen, and we still consider him one of the most powerful characters in the series?
Monkey D. Dragon is One Piece’s greatest ghost. The father who wasn’t there, the revolutionary who’s been building for decades, the man with the tattoo and the stare that says “I’ve been planning the overthrow of a god for thirty years and I’m calm about it.” And his powers? Still officially unknown. Oda has been teasing this for over 25 years.
The Clues Hidden in Plain Sight
In Chapter 100 — yes, that Chapter 100, the same one that establishes the series’ entire thesis — Dragon uses something called a “Wind Blast” to blow away a group of Marines. In Loguetown, a sudden storm appears seemingly out of nowhere the moment Dragon shows up, and a lightning strike saves Luffy from Buggy’s execution at the last second.
In the more recent Elbaf arc, Oda dropped another strong hint — Dragon’s presence continues to be associated with powerful atmospheric phenomena. Dragon has been seen manipulating winds, rain clouds, and lightning. That’s three separate weather phenomena. Nobody does that with Haki alone.
The Leading Theory: Storm God / Mythical Zoan
Wind Logia (Kaze Kaze no Mi): A Logia-type fruit that lets Dragon transform into and control wind. This explains the Loguetown gusts, the Marine Wind Blast, and his general association with gales wherever he appears. Logia fits because it would make him nearly untouchable in direct combat — and the most wanted man in the world presumably has to be nearly untouchable.
Mythical Zoan — Thunderbird: Dragon’s tattoo resembles the symbol of the Algonquin tribe, which revered the Thunderbird — a creature associated with storms, lightning, and divine power. A Mythical Zoan of this type would give him weather control and a transformation that embodies the spirit of revolution itself. A giant storm bird showing up to tear down the World Government has a certain poetry to it.
The Amaru / Storm God: Some theorize Dragon’s fruit is based on the Incan storm deity Amaru, a serpentine creature associated with powerful weather. This would make him not just a weather controller, but a literal embodiment of the storm that’s been gathering against the World Government for 30 years.
The Deeper Answer: Dragon IS the Revolution
Here’s what makes Dragon uniquely interesting compared to every other powerful character in One Piece: his greatest power might not be a Devil Fruit at all.
Dragon is the only person in history who looked at the World Government — an institution that can casually erase islands, that has the Five Elders, the Admirals, the God’s Knights, the Celestial Dragons, and apparently an immortal elder god sitting on the Empty Throne — and said, “I’m going to dismantle all of this. I’ll build something that can fight it.” And then he actually did it.
Dragon was once a Marine. He walked away from the most powerful military in the world because his conscience wouldn’t let him stay. He founded the Revolutionary Army from nothing. He recruited Sabo, Koala, Belo Betty, Morley, Lindbergh — people who had nothing to fight for until Dragon gave them something. He’s been the only character actively trying to change the system rather than just survive it or profit from it. The world is waiting for his answer — and it’s coming.
Mystery #7: What Is Blackbeard’s Body Secret? (The Man Who Breaks the Rules of Reality)
Marshall D. Teach — Blackbeard — is wrong. Fundamentally, physically, cosmically wrong. And that wrongness is precisely what makes him terrifying.
He’s the only person in history to have consumed two Devil Fruits and survived. That alone should be impossible — the rule in One Piece is absolute: one person, one Devil Fruit. Eat a second one, and your body destroys itself. Marco explicitly stated that Blackbeard was able to do what he did because of his “atypical body structure.” But what does that mean?
The Three Souls / Three Hearts Theory
Look at Blackbeard’s iconography:
- His Jolly Roger has three skulls
- He always carries three flintlocks
- He gave Shanks his three facial scars
- His attacks often invoke three-themed imagery
The theory: Blackbeard doesn’t have one soul. He has three. Three separate entities sharing one body, each capable of housing a different Devil Fruit’s “spirit.” This would be why he can absorb multiple fruits — there are multiple spiritual “containers” within him to hold them.
It’s also why he never sleeps. Buggy noted this during the three-day battle between Roger’s and Whitebeard’s crews — Teach never once closed his eyes. If multiple souls are inhabiting one body, they might take turns being “active,” meaning there’s never a moment when all three are dormant simultaneously.
The “They” Moment
When Luffy and Zoro first encountered Blackbeard in Mock Town, they referred to him instinctively as “they” rather than “him.” The Straw Hats dismissed it as a reference to his crew, but Luffy and Zoro both have highly advanced instincts — Observation Haki in its rawest form. They may have been sensing multiple presences within one body without consciously understanding what they were detecting.
The Special Lineage
During the Egghead arc, Saint Saturn confirmed that Blackbeard comes from a “very special lineage.” The leading theory connects him directly to Davy Jones himself — the king of the Ancient Kingdom during the Void Century. This would make Blackbeard not just a powerful pirate but the direct heir of the original king of freedom, twisted into the embodiment of destructive anarchy. Which sets up the ultimate contrast: Luffy, who inherited Joy Boy’s will, versus Blackbeard, who may have inherited Davy Jones’ blood. The philosophy of freedom vs. the genetics of freedom — both on a collision course.
The Ultimate Vessel Theory
The darkest version of the Blackbeard body theory: his unique physiology makes him the perfect host for something far larger. If Imu is a parasitic or soul-fragmenting entity looking for the ultimate vessel to inhabit, Blackbeard’s three-souled body might be the only frame in the world capable of containing such a being.
If Blackbeard is the final raid boss before Imu… imagine him with three Devil Fruits, including Imu’s power, all housed in a body that was literally built to be a vessel for gods. Yeah. We’re not okay either.
Mystery #8: Who Was Joy Boy, Exactly? (The Ghost That Haunts Everything)
Every single mystery in One Piece eventually traces back to this one name.
The Poneglyphs exist because of Joy Boy. The Will of D. traces back to Joy Boy. The ship Noah waits for Joy Boy’s promise to be fulfilled. Zunesha has wandered the seas for 800 years as Joy Boy’s companion. The Ancient Weapons were meant to serve Joy Boy’s plan. The Sun God Nika is inextricably linked to Joy Boy. When Luffy awakened Gear 5, Zunesha announced: “Joy Boy has returned.”
The First Pirate
The most foundational understanding: Joy Boy was the world’s first pirate — not in the sense of a sea-raiding criminal, but in the philosophical sense. He was the first person to declare that the sea belongs to everyone and no one, that freedom is not given but claimed, and that a single person’s will can outlast their lifetime.
He lived during the Void Century, approximately 800–900 years ago. He was the king of the Ancient Kingdom, or at the very least its greatest champion. He wielded the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika — the same fruit that now lives in Luffy — and its power of liberation and joy was likely central to everything he stood for.
He fought the coalition of 20 kingdoms that would become the World Government. He lost.
The Promise He Couldn’t Keep
What we know concretely: Joy Boy made a promise to the Mermaid Princess (the Poseidon of that era) involving the ship Noah and the relocation of the Fishmen to the surface. He couldn’t fulfill it — possibly because Poseidon died, possibly because he was defeated before the plan could be completed — and left an apology on a Poneglyph at Fishman Island.
Roger, when he read that Poneglyph, reportedly wept — and then laughed, because he understood. He was “too early” to fulfill the promise. The pieces weren’t in place yet. Poseidon (Shirahoshi) hadn’t been born. Luffy wasn’t here.
The promise has been waiting 800 years for the right person to arrive.
Was Joy Boy a Title or a Person?
This is the question the fandom has been wrestling with ever since Zunesha declared Luffy to be Joy Boy after his near-death at Wano.
If Joy Boy was a title: Then anyone who awakens the Nika fruit and embodies its spirit of liberation becomes “Joy Boy.” Roger could have been Joy Boy if he’d awakened the fruit. The title passes with the will, not the bloodline.
If Joy Boy was a specific person: Then Luffy isn’t Joy Boy — he’s the reincarnation or spiritual successor of Joy Boy, someone who has been spiritually reborn into the world at the moment when the 800-year plan can finally be completed.
Both interpretations lead to the same place: Luffy is the fulfillment of a promise made before his grandfather was born, by a man whose name the World Government erased from history because they were terrified of what it represented.
The “Son God” Theory
One of the most intriguing fringe theories: “Sun God Nika” is a World Government distortion of the original title “Son of God” — meaning Joy Boy was literally the heir of Imu. He was born into the very system he rejected, renounced his birthright, and chose to liberate the world instead.
This would explain the personal nature of Imu’s hatred. This isn’t just political opposition. This is the rage of a parent — or a predecessor — who was betrayed by the person who should have continued their legacy. Imu built an 800-year empire specifically to erase the memory of the child who walked away from it. And now that child’s will has come back, wearing a straw hat and grinning like a fool.
Joy Boy’s Giant Straw Hat
There’s one physical detail that keeps everyone up at night: the giant straw hat preserved in a freezing room deep within Mary Geoise, a hat so enormous it could only belong to a being of tremendous size. Imu holds it with what appears to be genuine emotion — grief, obsession, or something darker.
Recent manga revelations have shown Joy Boy’s design as that of a normal-sized human, which raises the question: whose hat is it really? Is the giant straw hat Roger’s? Is it some precursor to Joy Boy? Is it connected to the God’s Knights’ mysterious leader?
Oda put that hat in Mary Geoise’s coldest room for a reason. And whatever that reason is, it’s going to hit like a freight train when we find out.
The Big Picture: It All Connects
Here’s what makes One Piece unlike any other story ever told: every single one of these mysteries is the same mystery.
Joy Boy → made a promise he couldn’t keep → left behind the Will of D. → encoded history in Poneglyphs → his enemy Imu survived for 800 years → scattered D. carriers kept the flame alive → Shanks and Roger were the last guardians → Luffy inherited the will → and now every domino is finally falling.
The “One Piece mysteries” aren’t separate puzzles. They’re one puzzle, and every new answer reveals another piece of the same picture. Oda planned this. Chapter 100 told us everything about how the story would end — we just didn’t have the vocabulary to understand it yet. Skypiea was the practice run. The Void Century is the origin. The Will of D. is the fuel. Imu is the obstacle. Joy Boy is the goal.
And Luffy — the rubber boy who just wants to be free and have the greatest adventure — is somehow, improbably, magnificently, exactly the right person to bring the dawn.
Final Thoughts: The Dawn Is Coming
One Piece has spent 25+ years building to something. And unlike other long-running series that lose their thread, Oda has been threading the same needle since the beginning, just with increasingly fine thread.
The final war is approaching. The Revolutionary Army is moving. The Ancient Weapons are being gathered. Imu has shown their face. Joy Boy’s name echoes from Elbaf to Laugh Tale.
We don’t have all the answers yet. But here’s what we do know: when the Red Line falls and the seas become one, when the dawn finally breaks after 800 years of long night, it’s going to be the single most satisfying payoff in the history of storytelling.
And we’ve all been here for it. Every single chapter. That, in itself, might be the real One Piece.
What theory do you believe in most? Drop your hottest take in the comments — the fandom awaits.
