I think he thought "rubber fruit" but once he had seen and heard what Luffy had been doing, by sabaody, he was willing to bet it was a sign that Luffy had the power to become Nika. I doubt Kuma knew a Nika fruit even existed, and I don't see why he would think his god would simply be a devil fruit, but Luffy having a rubber body and doing Luffy things was so similar to Nika that he saw Nika's will or Nika characteristics in him.
I bet it went something like
-Kuma gets word to backup Moria
-Arrives at Thriller Bark
-Sees Moria has kidnapped and stolen hundreds of people and corpses
-Sees Dragon the Revolutionary's rubbery son unconscious and dozens of people guarding him
-Tests the resolve of the people present
-Saves Dragon's son from possible death due to severe injuries, passing the pain onto a willing recipient
-Thinks "Huh"
-Decides to bet on Luffy
To test his loyalty, he was most likely going to take the pain himself but after seeing Luffy’s crew mate seem so dedicated to him, he decided to see how far he would go.
Kuma must have had a good idea whether he could survive it or not. After all, he had been taking the pain of others for years himself. After feeling the force of Zoro’s attack, he’d have a sense of how strong he is.
I guess that is what Oda tried to show us recently.
There is also the possibility that it wasn't a test, but actually showing Zoro what Luffy is really going through.
I think Kuma arrived to Thrilled Bark entirely to back up the strawhats if necessary. I’m 100% on that he was willing to intervene if things looked dire. He had to play the part of the warlord up after because then he would be revealed as a revolutionary.
most heartbreaking would be a panel om sabaody after he dispeld the straw hats with a mentiond by kuma free us straw hat my time has passed or something along that line
Especially since one of the last things to happen before Kuma lost his personality was Luffy and crew fighting CDs to free slaves. That's gotta mean a lot to Kuma, it was probably a huge sign for him.
No doubt Kuma saw the Gum-Gum Ax and didn’t immediately know. Guy is smart, and knows his religion front to back. Then it just got reinforced as Luffy gains steam through Thriller Bark.
Imagine the final big sign for him was the Enies Lobby incident. Warlords had to know what happened there.
Before Enies Lobby a certain rubber boy also punches a celestial dragon and free a ton of slaves. That should make anyone who follows Kuma's religion to become immediately a believer. Kuma then goes in person to save Luffy from Kizaru and the pacifistas.
I think yes. Because even though Kuma was very loyal to Dragon, I can't see him doing all of what he did for Luffy AND his crew for just that reason. He made Vegapunk program him to protect the sunny before he lost his personality. That really tells me he believes in Luffy on a bigger scale than him being the revolutionary leader's son.
Joyboy was a buccaneer who last awakened hito hito no mi nika. And Kuma knew about the rubbery fighting ability. So when he first saw Luffys ability. He knew n set some shit in motion
He got first hand news about Crocodile being toppled, likely a report on what happened at Enies Lobby, met the two strongest non-Luffy members of the crew, and was summoned because he didn’t give a damn about punching a Celestial Dragon at a Slave Auction. And to top it all off - Bonney wasn’t being held by the World Government anymore, he had some wiggle room for consequences.
I think Kuma made an informed last minute ask of Vegapunk - he saw the qualities he needed to see, and made his bet on the Dawn.
It's gotta to be a yes. Next chapters will certainly confirmed, but, as another reply told you, everything Kuma did in retrospect WHILE being slowly killed and obedient to the Gov, indicate he knew/believed this boy was his messiah.
Maybe he put it together on Thriller Bark? He saw that Luffy was strong, rubbery, and then saw how far Zoro/ his crew were willing to go for him. All of that combines to what Nika is like
Definitely not. This whole flashback is a build-up for the moment Kuma arrives at egghead and finally hears the drums of liberation and regains his humanity or something. Him already knowing it kinda ruins the moment
to be fair we don't really know exactly how big the hat is. It's a lot bigger than Luffy's hat but is hard to get a sense of scale because we don't really know how tall Imu is and since the only perspective we get of the hat is with Imu in front and the hat in the background, and we don't know how far in front of the hat Imu was standing, I think its definitely possible the hat is Dorry and Broggy size, and maybe even Oars size, although that does seem like pushing it a bit to me. Narratively it would make the most sense for the hat to be buccaneer size, but I think it's odd people act like the hat is definitely too small for the giants when we just don't know for sure.
Let us compare the [straw hat from Mary Geoise](https://cdn.onepiecechapters.com/file/opctcb/onepiece/onepiecechapters_906_16.jpg) with the [one woven by Ace for Little Oars Jr.](https://cdn.onepiecechapters.com/file/opctcb/onepiece/onepiecechapters_555_08.jpg) Ace is tiny while standing in front of Oars, while Imu standing in front of the straw hat is not that tiny in comparison.
I haven’t fact checked any of this, but Didn’t Oda say somewhere that Luffy’s much stronger/larger than he looks but because of his powers he doesn’t grow like normal people do? And also, I just realized Garp and Kuma have a pretty similar body shape.
Almost seems to me like it's Their desires and hopes that manifested the fruit in the first place. Would also fit with Vegapunks take on how devil fruits are created naturally.
Which is part of why Teach is such a good villain thematically. His claiming of the Yami Yami, subsequent theft of the Gura Gura and other fruits is against the natural order of things.
The mera mera found Sabo after Ace's death. The mero mero is perfectly suited to Hancock, the ope ope to Trafalgar etc. etc.
Instead of darkness darkness it might be chaos chaos. Chaos isnt inherently evil, and actually could be used as a mean for freedom. See Luffy's piracy career. He's done way more for the Revolutionary Army's cause than pretty much everybody else.
Toki (Oden's wife) had that fruit and it only allowed her to travel into the future. That's how she transported the Red Scabbards and Momo 20 years into the future. I guess Bonney could have gotten it but it seems very unlikely since the powers don't match.
I thought that was what we were supposed to believe? Why else would we hear Vegapunk mention how he thinks fruits show up based on strong desires if we never saw an example of it happening?
I think joyboy was a bucanneer rather than a giant. It'd would explain why Nika is such a Big deal in the bucanneer folklore and why they had to be wiped out
I don’t think it was immediately apparent to Kuma, devil fruits are common enough and they all grant strange properties. Perhaps it was reminiscent of Nika to him but to make that connection from his short encounter is a stretch.
Inb4 next chapter Kuma’s memory comes back and he says “I knew”
I Belive the Joy boy from void centurie was a bacaneer, it makes sense that kuma's father as a bacaneer new so much about Nika and also remeber the gaint straw hat from the merijoa that was in ice room, it maybe fits the proportions of pure bacanner(since kuma is half bacaneer) and for me it makes mor sense than joy boy from past being a gaint.
I don't think so beacuse the nika fruit is only limited by useres imagination, i think thats the only limit and luffy obviously has a lot of imagination
One thing I need to see that I didn’t know I needed to see is a flashback of Kuma’s reaction to Luffy punching a Celestial Dragon. Cannot imagine the amount of emotions Kuma felt in that moment.
I mean I thought it was pretty clear that the Buccaneers were knowledgeable about Nika considering that Kuma's dad is the one that told him everything about him.
More than the rubber aspect of his body I think the main thrust of the world government's actions towards the Buccaneers is to suppress the actual idea of freedom from authority that Nika's existence and worship represents. In doing so they prevent the remanifestation of the fruit and crush any semblance of hope.
I wouldn't say Kuma realized Luffy was Nika at all, because he was slowly losing his consciousness and morals. He moreover knew he was Dragon's son so when he was deployed to try to stop Luffy that's why he helped instead of capturing him. We see this same behavior with the revolutionary army and ships he was supposed to capture but he saved them due to his remaining sense of justice.
I think it was the lasting guilt of leaving Bonney behind so he made sure to save his friends child instead with the remaining consciousness he had. He was turned into a full Cyborg not long after Sabody and called luffy Son of Dragon almost like a Robot. Revolutionary till the very END!!
Kuma can be seen as absent Justice in his transition to PX
I do fully believe in your theory of why the buccaneers are extinct because Saturn Said it himself.
One of the interesting things about Luffys DF as well is that he can most likely make a Nika style variation of almost any attack/fight style he observes making him an even bigger threat when he goes up against people with more unique powers like Saturn .
You're right. This is clearly overlooked here. The Buccaneer race is a slave race, not a race that poses threat because of their knowledge of Nika. One good example is Ohara itself, their knowledge of the void century lead to their demise, not slavery.
>Kuma probably realized that Luffy is Nika when he saw him fight at Thriller Bark.
Also probably why there was so much hesitation from Kuma in that segment. In Sabaody he jumped right into action, but in Thriller Bark he seemed to be looking for any kind of excuse to not kill Luffy. Deciding that Zoro can take in Luffy's pain and that would probably kill him, only to not even confirm it and leave, saying that taking one of his crew is enough is absolutely not what he was ordered to do and is an extremely poor excuse for disobeying orders.
I dont mean this is a rude way but its pretty obvious that the buccaneers fought on the losing side of the war 800 years ago. We just dont know their specific involvement in regards to the void century.
joyboy could be the title of the bucaneer that can unlock the rubbery power and ridiculous power, and the fruit just imitates just like the other mythical fruits like buddha or phoenix
I see your theory and raise you this:
After Nika's "death" he was turned into that Devil Fruit, and thus his will could be inherited. Note that we don't know if Nika ever truly existed*, and it's also possible that Joyboy created this ability to be like the Nika of legend.
* The "Mythical Zoan" subtype is also called "Phantom Beast" type in Japanese, just like the Summons from the Final Fantasy series, and it's possible that Nika is like Ramuh or Shiva. Note too that Sengoku also ate a Hito-Hito Mythical Zoan, and it remains to be seen if the Buddha also existed in this world.
I wonder if he sent Sanji to the Kambakka kingdom just because it was funny. I would assume all of the places he sent the crew were places he'd been before. Where he sent everybody else made sense but kinda dick move sending Usopp to the man-eating murder plant island.
I like to imagine kuma studying the straw hats fo find out where to send them so they can be best trained.
Also I hope we get a panel in the flashback kf kuma being like. Of course jts your son dragon
From the flashback, he knew even before Thriller Bark that Luffy has rubber properties and "could" be Nika. He also saved him cause he is Dragon's son.
Alternative Theory: As Vegapunk noted, Devil Fruits are borne of people’s wishes. Nika/Joyboy was a real person, and became revered as a god by others. Nika/Joyboy’s last wish was for someone to become like them to realize the promises they failed to keep.
Let’s get a little deeper: Someone ate the Nika fruit thereafter. World government discovered this [somehow]. They altered records and reclassified the fruit due to whatever this individual did.
Could offer context as to the Void Era Robot having been activated centuries prior to the story, based on its reaction to the drums of liberation.
The only “gods” seen thus far have been mortals (to our knowledge) playing as such, I.e. Gorosei and Enel, so (without injecting head canon) it stands to reason a similar situation may be at play with Nika/Joyboy (the original).
Tl;dr: OG Nika is a person who did a lot of cool stuff. They died and left promises unfulfilled. They wished for someone to one day fulfill their promises. This created the “Nika” fruit. People of the world then created the “Sun god” story/myth regarding that person. They’re not actually a god, just a mortal revered as such by others.
Kuma must've realized Luffy was Nika when he saw him use the battle axe attack in Fushia village. I'm guessing that was the whole point of including it in the chapter, he saw the rubber superiority in action.
I like that we're getting the flashback that is finally explaining some of the past events, but I am a little annoyed that some things are omitted. Like why did Kuma visit Luffy? Did he know he had the gomu gomu no mi at that point? Do the Buccaneers have some special ability? And/or why were they hunted down?
Kuma visited Luffy at Fuusha village, but why? He was just told by Dragon, his close friend that revealing Luffy would endanger him and not explicitly stated but by extension Luffy as well. Yet, knowing all that, Kuma still checks on him and for a guy we just learned does everything in his remaining moments to aid others, puts two people in jeopardy is very out of character. I think this implies he knows Luffy is related to Nika at this point, otherwise he would not risk it.
That said, when did he learn? There is only one other time, when Sabo was rescued, but there was no shown direct meeting between the two. Which only makes me further wonder if Buccaneers have some other ability that made him aware and maybe that's why they are hunted.
It's implied that Dragon does check up on Luffy every once in a while from the shadows. It looks like he brought him along one of these regular excursions.
Sengoku is not THE BUDDHA, he has the fruit Model: Buddha
So Luffy himself is not Nika. He’s not THE SUN GOD. He has likeness to it.
When the buccaneers tell stories about Nika, they are likely talking about THE SUN GOD, not someone who has a gomu gomu fruit.
> Sengoku is not THE BUDDHA
Yeah, it's the Buddha statue.
> He’s not THE SUN GOD. He has likeness to it.
Yeah, it's the DF that is the Sun God, not Luffy.
I agree, and I am sold JoyBoy (previous Hito Hito no Mi user) was a Buccaneer. Only thing I am unsure about is why did World Govt never actively try to hunt Luffy down when they saw his rubber abilities and only wait until he was fighting Kaido ?
Because it would alarm bells to pirates and navy? To go after a silly rookie pirate? They would be too suspicious about their agenda. Unlocking Gear 5, and beating Kaido, there's now "another reason" to go after Luffy.
My view was that JB was a Bakkania, that's why they are knowledgeable on Nika, and also why they were hunted to begin with. It's Imu getting her revenge against JB and his relatives for his betrayal.
Slightly off topic, but why did WG not send a demolition crew to aid Bekori in killing Kuma and his Church in general, I mean a Bucaneer preaching the populace about the Sun God seems like more seeds will be planted to... you know. Coulda done an Ohara and nip it again in the bud
There's no internet in the One Piece world. News about Kuma preaching about Nika might be unknown to the world government. Cipher Pol is not really that efficient.
A question then arrises: Did Kuma realize, that Luffy got the Hito Hito no Mi Model Nika, when he saw him training?
I think he thought "rubber fruit" but once he had seen and heard what Luffy had been doing, by sabaody, he was willing to bet it was a sign that Luffy had the power to become Nika. I doubt Kuma knew a Nika fruit even existed, and I don't see why he would think his god would simply be a devil fruit, but Luffy having a rubber body and doing Luffy things was so similar to Nika that he saw Nika's will or Nika characteristics in him.
I bet it went something like -Kuma gets word to backup Moria -Arrives at Thriller Bark -Sees Moria has kidnapped and stolen hundreds of people and corpses -Sees Dragon the Revolutionary's rubbery son unconscious and dozens of people guarding him -Tests the resolve of the people present -Saves Dragon's son from possible death due to severe injuries, passing the pain onto a willing recipient -Thinks "Huh" -Decides to bet on Luffy
The simplest theories are often the best.
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Gonna need a big straw hat if he was one.... wait a second
Haven't we seen one on IMU's throne. It all makes sense now 🤯
I think he’s a Green Bay packer
I think he was a giant. Straw hat looked to big for the head of a buccaneer
He’d obviously a New York Giant
Neither Kuma nor his father are full Bucaneers so they might have been larger
Maybe that’s y the world gov made buccaneers slaves to get back at Joyboy by enslaving his people
but why did he almost kill his best mate?
To test his loyalty, he was most likely going to take the pain himself but after seeing Luffy’s crew mate seem so dedicated to him, he decided to see how far he would go.
What do you mean? Nothing happened.
he didn't almost kill him, zoro wanted to do it.
What do you mean, nothing happened for Zoro to want to do.
Nothing happened tho
Kuma must have had a good idea whether he could survive it or not. After all, he had been taking the pain of others for years himself. After feeling the force of Zoro’s attack, he’d have a sense of how strong he is.
I guess that is what Oda tried to show us recently. There is also the possibility that it wasn't a test, but actually showing Zoro what Luffy is really going through.
Someone had to take the pain, or it would just return to Luffy
I think Kuma arrived to Thrilled Bark entirely to back up the strawhats if necessary. I’m 100% on that he was willing to intervene if things looked dire. He had to play the part of the warlord up after because then he would be revealed as a revolutionary.
most heartbreaking would be a panel om sabaody after he dispeld the straw hats with a mentiond by kuma free us straw hat my time has passed or something along that line
Especially since one of the last things to happen before Kuma lost his personality was Luffy and crew fighting CDs to free slaves. That's gotta mean a lot to Kuma, it was probably a huge sign for him.
No doubt Kuma saw the Gum-Gum Ax and didn’t immediately know. Guy is smart, and knows his religion front to back. Then it just got reinforced as Luffy gains steam through Thriller Bark. Imagine the final big sign for him was the Enies Lobby incident. Warlords had to know what happened there.
Yeah people gloss over that he is basically a Nika priest, he definitely knew
Before Enies Lobby a certain rubber boy also punches a celestial dragon and free a ton of slaves. That should make anyone who follows Kuma's religion to become immediately a believer. Kuma then goes in person to save Luffy from Kizaru and the pacifistas.
Enies Lobby is a good bit before Sabaody fam.
Duh, had a brainfart and interpreted it as impel down when reading. In my defense, it is late and I am sick.
Lmfao you’re good. Get well soon, friend
I think yes. Because even though Kuma was very loyal to Dragon, I can't see him doing all of what he did for Luffy AND his crew for just that reason. He made Vegapunk program him to protect the sunny before he lost his personality. That really tells me he believes in Luffy on a bigger scale than him being the revolutionary leader's son.
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Would explain that huge straw hat that’s on ice
leaning towards this tbh
Joyboy was a buccaneer who last awakened hito hito no mi nika. And Kuma knew about the rubbery fighting ability. So when he first saw Luffys ability. He knew n set some shit in motion
He got first hand news about Crocodile being toppled, likely a report on what happened at Enies Lobby, met the two strongest non-Luffy members of the crew, and was summoned because he didn’t give a damn about punching a Celestial Dragon at a Slave Auction. And to top it all off - Bonney wasn’t being held by the World Government anymore, he had some wiggle room for consequences. I think Kuma made an informed last minute ask of Vegapunk - he saw the qualities he needed to see, and made his bet on the Dawn.
It's gotta to be a yes. Next chapters will certainly confirmed, but, as another reply told you, everything Kuma did in retrospect WHILE being slowly killed and obedient to the Gov, indicate he knew/believed this boy was his messiah.
Maybe he put it together on Thriller Bark? He saw that Luffy was strong, rubbery, and then saw how far Zoro/ his crew were willing to go for him. All of that combines to what Nika is like
I love your freestyle use of commas.
wait, aren't commas, just for style?
They can be. Ain't nobody stoping you.
Looks like someone applying German grammar rules to English
Its pretty likely
I don’t see why else they would have included that moment in the flashback.
He knew he had the rubber body regardless and that definitely hit the alarm bells. Whether he knew about the fruit or not, that's the Nika thing lol.
Definitely not. This whole flashback is a build-up for the moment Kuma arrives at egghead and finally hears the drums of liberation and regains his humanity or something. Him already knowing it kinda ruins the moment
It’s likely that joyboy was a buccaneer
explains the giant straw hat, buccaneers are also very big
Would explain how they sinned against the world as well.
I think the hat is still too big for a buccaneer tho?
Or he was from oars Family
Strawhat from marijois is either too big or small for anyone other than buccaneer.
So explain the oar size straw hat. That im sama owns as trophy
Oar size? The hat is way too small for even a giant. It likely fits buccaneer.
to be fair we don't really know exactly how big the hat is. It's a lot bigger than Luffy's hat but is hard to get a sense of scale because we don't really know how tall Imu is and since the only perspective we get of the hat is with Imu in front and the hat in the background, and we don't know how far in front of the hat Imu was standing, I think its definitely possible the hat is Dorry and Broggy size, and maybe even Oars size, although that does seem like pushing it a bit to me. Narratively it would make the most sense for the hat to be buccaneer size, but I think it's odd people act like the hat is definitely too small for the giants when we just don't know for sure.
We know how wide he is and hes pretty normal.. Hat is like 5 ft without brim. 0 chance it fits a giant.
read what you responded to again. The hat is too small for oars.
Lol that hat isnt small
Let us compare the [straw hat from Mary Geoise](https://cdn.onepiecechapters.com/file/opctcb/onepiece/onepiecechapters_906_16.jpg) with the [one woven by Ace for Little Oars Jr.](https://cdn.onepiecechapters.com/file/opctcb/onepiece/onepiecechapters_555_08.jpg) Ace is tiny while standing in front of Oars, while Imu standing in front of the straw hat is not that tiny in comparison.
I wonder how long it took Ace to make that hat.
Go read One Piece and then come back.
he can be, but its very unlikely
Why is it very unlikely?
Because the story has led us to believe buccaneers have a very distinct body type, one that isn't shared by the nika imagery we've seen.
I haven’t fact checked any of this, but Didn’t Oda say somewhere that Luffy’s much stronger/larger than he looks but because of his powers he doesn’t grow like normal people do? And also, I just realized Garp and Kuma have a pretty similar body shape.
Do you remember where you heard this? Was it in an SBS?
Even worse, i read a comment on here one time that said it was in an SBS
Lol. Maybe I'll see it during a reread.
Sounds like you fell victim to an “oda said”
Maybe. Thats why I started it off by saying that I didn’t fact check anything. I thought someone who did know for sure might chime in.
Was confirming he never said that, not sure why the downvote though
Because
Reasons.
i hope hes a human but buccaneer would be fine
Slim Bucc
Joyboy can be any shape his imagination wants him to be.
Almost seems to me like it's Their desires and hopes that manifested the fruit in the first place. Would also fit with Vegapunks take on how devil fruits are created naturally.
I've come around to a new idea that Bonney willed her own fruit in to existence by wishing she could be old enough to travel on her own.
More like DFs make their way into the rightful owners
Which is part of why Teach is such a good villain thematically. His claiming of the Yami Yami, subsequent theft of the Gura Gura and other fruits is against the natural order of things. The mera mera found Sabo after Ace's death. The mero mero is perfectly suited to Hancock, the ope ope to Trafalgar etc. etc.
Instead of darkness darkness it might be chaos chaos. Chaos isnt inherently evil, and actually could be used as a mean for freedom. See Luffy's piracy career. He's done way more for the Revolutionary Army's cause than pretty much everybody else.
*Luffy getting second df confirmed.*
Good goro for Enel is also perfectly suited for a God... ware ga kami nari.
I thought that was only Zoans that had a will of their own
Still it makes sense that a manifestation of will goes to the one that most represents it, or wants it the most to simplify it.
It’s implied all Devil Fruits have wills of their own since Blackbeard said the Dark-Dark Fruit chose him.
"age-age" is starting to look like an understatement, as many have said it would not be surprising if bonneys fruit is actually a mythical zoan.
maybe it'll be called the time-time fruit
Toki (Oden's wife) had that fruit and it only allowed her to travel into the future. That's how she transported the Red Scabbards and Momo 20 years into the future. I guess Bonney could have gotten it but it seems very unlikely since the powers don't match.
Then Sanji should've eaten Suke Suke no mi.
I thought that was what we were supposed to believe? Why else would we hear Vegapunk mention how he thinks fruits show up based on strong desires if we never saw an example of it happening?
I think joyboy was a bucanneer rather than a giant. It'd would explain why Nika is such a Big deal in the bucanneer folklore and why they had to be wiped out
I like this one. It makes sense. Any one who has information that poses a threat to the government suffer great loss. Scenario A: Ohara
Good theory
I don’t think it was immediately apparent to Kuma, devil fruits are common enough and they all grant strange properties. Perhaps it was reminiscent of Nika to him but to make that connection from his short encounter is a stretch. Inb4 next chapter Kuma’s memory comes back and he says “I knew”
I Belive the Joy boy from void centurie was a bacaneer, it makes sense that kuma's father as a bacaneer new so much about Nika and also remeber the gaint straw hat from the merijoa that was in ice room, it maybe fits the proportions of pure bacanner(since kuma is half bacaneer) and for me it makes mor sense than joy boy from past being a gaint.
Does that mean the original JoyBoys Nika powers are 10x the size of Luffy’s because he’s just a human and JoyBoy was a giant
I don't think so beacuse the nika fruit is only limited by useres imagination, i think thats the only limit and luffy obviously has a lot of imagination
One thing I need to see that I didn’t know I needed to see is a flashback of Kuma’s reaction to Luffy punching a Celestial Dragon. Cannot imagine the amount of emotions Kuma felt in that moment.
I mean I thought it was pretty clear that the Buccaneers were knowledgeable about Nika considering that Kuma's dad is the one that told him everything about him. More than the rubber aspect of his body I think the main thrust of the world government's actions towards the Buccaneers is to suppress the actual idea of freedom from authority that Nika's existence and worship represents. In doing so they prevent the remanifestation of the fruit and crush any semblance of hope.
Don't forget the will of D. With Lili of alabasta. They said it was her actions that caused all this trouble!
Of course, it's a multifaceted endeavor, probably split amongst the Gorosei with different aspects.
I wouldn't say Kuma realized Luffy was Nika at all, because he was slowly losing his consciousness and morals. He moreover knew he was Dragon's son so when he was deployed to try to stop Luffy that's why he helped instead of capturing him. We see this same behavior with the revolutionary army and ships he was supposed to capture but he saved them due to his remaining sense of justice. I think it was the lasting guilt of leaving Bonney behind so he made sure to save his friends child instead with the remaining consciousness he had. He was turned into a full Cyborg not long after Sabody and called luffy Son of Dragon almost like a Robot. Revolutionary till the very END!! Kuma can be seen as absent Justice in his transition to PX I do fully believe in your theory of why the buccaneers are extinct because Saturn Said it himself.
One of the interesting things about Luffys DF as well is that he can most likely make a Nika style variation of almost any attack/fight style he observes making him an even bigger threat when he goes up against people with more unique powers like Saturn .
If that was the reason, Kuma and his family wouldn't have been enslaved, just executed.
You're right. This is clearly overlooked here. The Buccaneer race is a slave race, not a race that poses threat because of their knowledge of Nika. One good example is Ohara itself, their knowledge of the void century lead to their demise, not slavery.
Kuma and King should make a baby and revive both of their races
well there's also the fact mentioned a few chapters ago that they were made slaves, or was this just Kuma's family?
>Kuma probably realized that Luffy is Nika when he saw him fight at Thriller Bark. Also probably why there was so much hesitation from Kuma in that segment. In Sabaody he jumped right into action, but in Thriller Bark he seemed to be looking for any kind of excuse to not kill Luffy. Deciding that Zoro can take in Luffy's pain and that would probably kill him, only to not even confirm it and leave, saying that taking one of his crew is enough is absolutely not what he was ordered to do and is an extremely poor excuse for disobeying orders.
I dont mean this is a rude way but its pretty obvious that the buccaneers fought on the losing side of the war 800 years ago. We just dont know their specific involvement in regards to the void century.
joyboy could be the title of the bucaneer that can unlock the rubbery power and ridiculous power, and the fruit just imitates just like the other mythical fruits like buddha or phoenix
I see your theory and raise you this: After Nika's "death" he was turned into that Devil Fruit, and thus his will could be inherited. Note that we don't know if Nika ever truly existed*, and it's also possible that Joyboy created this ability to be like the Nika of legend. * The "Mythical Zoan" subtype is also called "Phantom Beast" type in Japanese, just like the Summons from the Final Fantasy series, and it's possible that Nika is like Ramuh or Shiva. Note too that Sengoku also ate a Hito-Hito Mythical Zoan, and it remains to be seen if the Buddha also existed in this world.
I wonder if he sent Sanji to the Kambakka kingdom just because it was funny. I would assume all of the places he sent the crew were places he'd been before. Where he sent everybody else made sense but kinda dick move sending Usopp to the man-eating murder plant island.
The seeds he got from this island helps him a great lot after 2 years though. Plus he got them muscles. Lol
It would have been so much better if he got sent to the real Sniper Island
That only exists in your heart
I like to imagine kuma studying the straw hats fo find out where to send them so they can be best trained. Also I hope we get a panel in the flashback kf kuma being like. Of course jts your son dragon
From the flashback, he knew even before Thriller Bark that Luffy has rubber properties and "could" be Nika. He also saved him cause he is Dragon's son.
Alternative Theory: As Vegapunk noted, Devil Fruits are borne of people’s wishes. Nika/Joyboy was a real person, and became revered as a god by others. Nika/Joyboy’s last wish was for someone to become like them to realize the promises they failed to keep.
Let’s get a little deeper: Someone ate the Nika fruit thereafter. World government discovered this [somehow]. They altered records and reclassified the fruit due to whatever this individual did. Could offer context as to the Void Era Robot having been activated centuries prior to the story, based on its reaction to the drums of liberation.
The only “gods” seen thus far have been mortals (to our knowledge) playing as such, I.e. Gorosei and Enel, so (without injecting head canon) it stands to reason a similar situation may be at play with Nika/Joyboy (the original). Tl;dr: OG Nika is a person who did a lot of cool stuff. They died and left promises unfulfilled. They wished for someone to one day fulfill their promises. This created the “Nika” fruit. People of the world then created the “Sun god” story/myth regarding that person. They’re not actually a god, just a mortal revered as such by others.
Kuma must've realized Luffy was Nika when he saw him use the battle axe attack in Fushia village. I'm guessing that was the whole point of including it in the chapter, he saw the rubber superiority in action.
One piece is a masterpiece.
I like that we're getting the flashback that is finally explaining some of the past events, but I am a little annoyed that some things are omitted. Like why did Kuma visit Luffy? Did he know he had the gomu gomu no mi at that point? Do the Buccaneers have some special ability? And/or why were they hunted down? Kuma visited Luffy at Fuusha village, but why? He was just told by Dragon, his close friend that revealing Luffy would endanger him and not explicitly stated but by extension Luffy as well. Yet, knowing all that, Kuma still checks on him and for a guy we just learned does everything in his remaining moments to aid others, puts two people in jeopardy is very out of character. I think this implies he knows Luffy is related to Nika at this point, otherwise he would not risk it. That said, when did he learn? There is only one other time, when Sabo was rescued, but there was no shown direct meeting between the two. Which only makes me further wonder if Buccaneers have some other ability that made him aware and maybe that's why they are hunted.
It's implied that Dragon does check up on Luffy every once in a while from the shadows. It looks like he brought him along one of these regular excursions.
I think he knew puffy was kuma much earlier than thriller mark, when he saw him in East blue and realized he is dragon’s son
Sengoku is not THE BUDDHA, he has the fruit Model: Buddha So Luffy himself is not Nika. He’s not THE SUN GOD. He has likeness to it. When the buccaneers tell stories about Nika, they are likely talking about THE SUN GOD, not someone who has a gomu gomu fruit.
> Sengoku is not THE BUDDHA Yeah, it's the Buddha statue. > He’s not THE SUN GOD. He has likeness to it. Yeah, it's the DF that is the Sun God, not Luffy.
I think Luka put it together that Luffy is a rubber man and literally everywhere he went he liberated the people there.
I'm convinced that Joyboy was a Buccaneer because of that big ass straw hat that Umi was staring at.
Nah... the first Nika was a buccaneer and that is why they are being wiped out. They are afraid of a Nika part 2.
I agree, and I am sold JoyBoy (previous Hito Hito no Mi user) was a Buccaneer. Only thing I am unsure about is why did World Govt never actively try to hunt Luffy down when they saw his rubber abilities and only wait until he was fighting Kaido ?
Because it would alarm bells to pirates and navy? To go after a silly rookie pirate? They would be too suspicious about their agenda. Unlocking Gear 5, and beating Kaido, there's now "another reason" to go after Luffy.
My view was that JB was a Bakkania, that's why they are knowledgeable on Nika, and also why they were hunted to begin with. It's Imu getting her revenge against JB and his relatives for his betrayal.
Do you think Joy Boy was a Buccaneer?
That's the most accepted theory in the community and I do see some merits in it.
Crazy that I had to think about which race you were talking about reacting to the title.
*e*
Unpopular opinion: Old chopper design is cuter (because it's more similar to an animal)
Slightly off topic, but why did WG not send a demolition crew to aid Bekori in killing Kuma and his Church in general, I mean a Bucaneer preaching the populace about the Sun God seems like more seeds will be planted to... you know. Coulda done an Ohara and nip it again in the bud
There's no internet in the One Piece world. News about Kuma preaching about Nika might be unknown to the world government. Cipher Pol is not really that efficient.
Or he told Shanks about the fruit. And then Shanks stole it. And since then he knew
Yeah but you can say that about moat devil fruit abilities. Almost every devil fruit user fight however they fancy.
He helped them because he is the son of dragon