Before we get started with this One Piece theory, please note that this theory is connected with One Piece Chapter 1043. If you still haven’t read the chapter, be reminded that this article contains spoilers.
Luffy is Joyboy?! How do we explain what is happening to Luffy at the moment? Is this Awakening? Somehow it seems different to that. This chapter repeatedly re-emphasized the idea that Luffy actually died. Whatever is happening, it seems like that was the trigger.
This could explain why Kaido believes that death completes a man & why he is so desperate to die in a grand way. He is aware that death itself is the trigger for this unique form of Awakening.
But what is this ‘unique form of Awakening’? How is it different? The fact that Luffy actually supposedly died at this moment, suggests that the heartbeat, the Liberation Drums, is not Luffy’s but a secondary ego taking over his consciousness.
That brings us back to the quote from the Gorosei in 1037. I myself had said it couldn’t be Luffy’s fruit, but it seems that was wrong. “Why would they give a specific fruit a unique name?!” Gomu Gomu no Mi = Joyboy.
With this in mind, it becomes apparent that the subject that the Gorosei were discussing here with the legend of Joyboy. One is concerned that the fruit known as ‘Joyboy’ may awaken once more, given its ties to Wano’s history and the current situation.
But how can the fruit be Joyboy? That implies it has consciousness. I believe that is actually true. ‘Devil’ Fruits are sentient organisms. As Shanks referred to it. ‘Incarnations of the Sea Devil.’
Speaking of Shanks, it probably can’t be considered as a coincidence anymore that he just so happened to slip this fruit into the possession of Luffy ‘by accident’
So if Devil Fruits really are sentient organisms, or, ‘incarnations of the Sea Devil, how would that work? Why has it never popped up before? Perhaps that can be explained through the relevance of Lineage Factors.
We had learned quite a while ago, back in Punk Hazard, that the way Ceaser’s artificial Devil Fruits worked, was through the chemical compound ‘SAD’. This chemical compound forcibly altered the subjects Lineage Factors, literally changing their genetic code.
We know quite well by now that Ceaser’s versions of these fruits are massively flawed. Instead of actually becoming a Chicken Zoan, you can end up with your head as a Chicken’s anus.
Vegapunk has created an artificial fruit that is more perfect, doing so by extracting and applying Kaido’s Lineage Factors. This demonstrates how Devil Fruit binds to and alters the Lineage Factors. The fruit can be copied by extracting DNA.
This suggests then, that actual Devil Fruits also follow this principle. It binds to the Lineage Factors and forcibly alters them. Resulting in the eater being granted whatever power the fruit possesses.
If this is the case, then it would effectively mean that Devil Fruits function like Symbiotes. A secondary organism living in a primary organism’s body. For the most well-known example in fiction, there’s Venom. Irl, the Bobtail is symbiotic with bioluminescent bacteria.
Perhaps this could be the true significance of the old mystery revolving around the symbolism of a closed left eye. It implies a secondary state of consciousness or an alter ego. The awakening of the Devil Fruit Symbiote.
This would also still leave room for it to be possible that being Joyboy is not limited to Luffy and his fruit, which is the one implied to be Joyboy. It would mean that potentially anyone could achieve a state of Devil Fruit Symbiosis, & explain why Kaido still wanted to die.
That’s all I’ve got for this one, thanks for reading!
