Joy Boy's failure in One Piece may have been preventable with Luffy's personality

Modified Feb 15, 2025 07:53 GMT

As the final saga of mangaka Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece manga series, one of the most exciting aspects for fans has been seeing so many answers to the series’ longest mysteries. Examples such as the origin of Devil Fruits, the recent Void Century mural and accompanying Harley texts, and more serve as the most notable.

One Piece’s final saga has also given fans significant information on Joy Boy and his actions during the Void Century war, which has led to some conflicting interpretations among fans. One such interpretation paints Joy Boy’s failure as due to his personality, or more specifically a certain aspect that is antithetical to the series protagonist Monkey D. Luffy.

Joy Boy’s failure may be due to his not valuing freedom as much as Luffy does in One Piece

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In One Piece’s Egghead Arc, fans learned a significant amount about Joy Boy which portrayed him as a heroic figure. He was said to have fought against what eventually became the World Government, become the world’s first pirate, and implicitly hold the same Devil Fruit Luffy does now. However, one line from Emeth, Joy Boy’s robot companion, about failing to make Joy Boy the king has led many fans to believe that he may not be as heroic as they thought.

Further supporting this was the reveal that Joy Boy is the one who chose to pass down the Ancient Weapons to the next generation. While one can argue that he had no choice given how strong Imu and their allies seem to be, there’s also an argument to be made that destroying them evens the playing field best. Combined with his apparent desire to be king of something per Emeth’s words, it’s certainly possible that he was villainous in some way.

However, a more likely explanation may stem from what will likely be revealed as the key difference between Joy Boy and Luffy. With how little fans know of Joy Boy, it’s unclear if he held the same ideals that Luffy does, specifically when it comes to freedom, and the pursuit of it. While he may have once held the Nika Fruit and become his era’s Warrior of Liberation, this doesn’t necessarily mean Joy Boy the person, the man, valued freedom highly as a concept.

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One Piece’s protagonist, however, has made it clear time and time again that he prioritizes freedom above all else. Likewise, this may prove to be why Luffy succeeds where Joy Boy once failed; whereas Joy Boy may have wanted to defeat Imu to become the king, even if he promised to be a just one, Luffy cares not for such titles and just wants to be free. His not being interested in the Ancient Weapons as established in the Water 7 Arc further supports this.

This also contrasts with Joy Boy’s choice to preserve the Ancient Weapons despite the chance of their being used for oppression rather than liberation. In turn, Joy Boy not valuing freedom highly enough to do away with such potentially oppressive weapons may choose to have been his destruction. Thus, Luffy will succeed where Joy Boy failed by making the choice he could not and successfully destroying every Ancient Weapon he can.

Final thoughts

Imu may not be the only villainous force from the Void Century (Image via Toei Animation)

While the above is still speculative, there is narrative evidence which suggests this distinction between Luffy and Joy Boy exists. Likewise, making such a distinction would further differentiate their character arcs and explain why Luffy is able to succeed where Joy Boy failed. Although an official answer may not come for quite some time, fans can expect to learn such truths before Oda’s story ends.