Warning: Contains spoilers for chapter #1122 of One Piece.
Summary
One Piecehas finally revealed itsmost powerful haki user,and it isn’t Shanks or even Luffy for that matter, butJoyboy the mysterious first pirate. Joyboy, the enigmatic figure at the center of all ofOne Piece’s mysteries, has finally made his debut in the series with a stunning display of haki that has deepened the intrigue surrounding his character.
In chapter #1122 ofOne Piece,Emet uses Joyboy’s haki that was sealed inside him in the form of a knotted rope. Upon pulling the knot free,Emet unleashes a wave of Joyboy’s Conqueror’s Hakiwhich instantly knocks out countless Marines in the vicinity. In fact, the black sparks of Joyboy’s haki are seen emanating from Egghead, even from a great distance away.
More importantly, armed with Joyboy’s haki, Emet not onlymanages to force the Five Elders back into their human forms,which seemingly forces them to retreat to Mariejois. The fact that a single hit of Joyboy’s haki was able to subdue the Five Elders so easily especially given how muchLuffy has been struggling against themall but proves thatJoyboy might just be the strongest Haki user in all ofOne Piece.
Joyboy’s First Appearance In One Piece Confirms a Major Theory About the Giant Straw Hat
One Piece has made its biggest revelation about Joyboy yet with his first-ever appearance finally linking him to the giant straw hat at Mariejois.
One Piece Reveals Joyboy’s True Power and Haki
Created by Eiichiro Oda Chapter #1122, “Time Is Right”
Despite how crucial he is to the story, very little has been revealed about Joyboy and his identity or even his power and abilities for that matter until very recently. It was only towards the end of the Wano Arc thatOne Piecefinally confirmed thatJoyboy was the previous user of the Nika Fruitwhen Zunesha recognized the Drums of Liberation.
While the Nika Fruit alone was enough to cement Joyboy as a truly fearsome figure, the latest chapter ofOne Piecepaints him in an entirely new light, making him seem more formidable than ever beforewith the revelation of his powerful Conqueror’s Haki.
Interestingly, towards the end of chapter #1122, Joyboy himself describes the haki sealed inside Emet as “the greatest of haki,” a description his haki most certainly lives up to. It is a bitunclear if the Five Elders were forcefully sent back to Mariejoisby the attack itself or if they hastily retreated of their own accord, though the fact that Saint Mars is seen already seated while the others are out of breath seems to suggest they willingly fled Egghead.
Regardless, the fact that Joyboy’s haki was able to strip the Five Elders of their demonic forms alone is quite a feat.Luffy has notoriously struggled to fight the Five Eldersdespite his own powerful Conqueror’s Haki.
This, of course, raises many interesting questions aboutwhether Luffy will be able to acquire the same level of haki by the end of the seriesor whether there is some secret to it that Luffy is yet to discover. The revelation of Joyboy’s haki also begs the question of how he was defeated despite possessing such powerful haki and the ridiculous abilities of the Nika Fruit at his disposal.
The Revelation of Joyboy’s Haki Challenges the Current Understanding of Haki
Haki May Be Explored in Greater Detail in the Final Saga
It is still unclear how Joyboy was able to seal his haki away inside Emet using just a rope for 900 years after his death. While many have imbued their weapons with haki inOne Piecebefore, the latest chapter is certainly an anomaly that challenged everything th series has established about haki so far.
Logically, the haki within Emet should have faded along with Joyboy’s death, but again,technology during the Void Centuryhas been established to be much more advanced than fans can imagine, which means there could have been more to this “sealing” process than meets the eye. Seeing as Vegapunk was able to justify the existence of even devil fruits using scientific logic, it is possible that haki too can be explained by a very logical explanation.
Still, it is clear from chapter #1122 that there is still a lot about haki that fans are yet to discover and perhaps everything thatOne Piecehas revealed thus far about haki has only scratched the surface of what the ability is truly capable of. Haki, as a power system, is still fairly new and is clearly still hiding many secrets. However, therevelation of Joyboy’s hakimay have finally opened the door to exploring the ability in greater detail in the Final Saga ofOne Piece.
One Pieceis available from Manga Plus and Viz Media.
One Piece
Created by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece is a multimedia franchise that began as a manga series and follows the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates as led by Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy, an enthusiastic pirate with a thirst for adventure, is afflicted by a mysterious curse that gives him various powers he uses to protect himself and his friends. The manga eventually gave way to the anime series, with the two being some of history’s longest-running anime and manga series. Along with over fifty video games made over the years, the series entered the live-action world with Netflix’s 2023 adaptation.
