Joy Boy's pirate crew is the answer to every question on One Piece's D. Clan, including its members, their deaths, and more

By Umer

Modified Aug 21, 2024 04:00 GMT

The Will of D is one of the biggest mysteries of One Piece that has hardly been put in the spotlight by Eiichiro Oda in the series. However, fans consider this 'D' a clan, the members of which are linked together through different characteristics like their laughs and other things. All of this could be true but the 'D' makes more sense once looked at through the eyes of JoyBoy, the first pirate.

The existence of people like Saul D Jaguar and Nefartari D Lili proves that 'D' is not a clan but a group of people who follow JoyBoy.

Exploring the truth behind the meaning of 'D' in One Piece

Saul as seen in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

The Will of D in One Piece is a will inherited from generation to generation in the D clan that existed in the Ancient Kingdom during the Void Century. Moreover, after the reveal of JoyBoy as the first pirate and the familiarity of Emeth with the word 'D,' this will made more sense that it could most definitely be connected to the Ancient Kingdom.

However, the Will of D being the will of the D clan could be false considering how the members with this initial in their names are not even from the same race and background. Saul D. Jaguar is a giant who belonged to the World Government, whereas most of the members of this clan are humans, like Luffy, Dragon, and Roger.

A visual of Lili as seen in the manga (Image via Shueisha)

Similarly, Nefartari D Lili was the first leader of the Arabasta Kingdom and she belonged to the opposition side of the Ancient Kingdom, the First Twenty Kingdoms who destroyed the Ancient Kingdom. So, this proves that the D clan was more of a group of people who reunited, instead of a clan. We can even consider the D to be a pirate crew.

After it was revealed that JoyBoy was the first pirate of the Grand Line, the Will of D became more prominent as D could be the name of his pirate crew. So, the Will of D could be the Will of Dawn Pirates, as JoyBoy's crew was the first pirate crew of the grand line. They could be considered similar to the Whitebeard Pirates as they were united through their will and not by blood.

While Saul's role seems much more obvious because he could have joined the World Government to gain information, Nefartari D Lili is still the oddity because she was revealed as a D member by King Cobra in front of Imu. Imu always considered it Lili's blunder to help in the spreading of the Poneglyphs but Cobra's reveal of Lili as a D member made things much more clear.

Imu's thinking of Nefartari D Lili (Image via Shueisha)

So, the true role of Lili in all this could be that she was a secret member of the D clan who helped JoyBoy spread the Poneglpyhs, as she is considered the previous owner of the Paw-Paw fruit. Her role could be considered similar to Nefartari Vivi who could be considered a part of the Straw Hats, as they shared the X mark during the Arabasta arc, even though she was not an official member of the Straw Hats.

Lastly, another characteristic of the people who follow the Will of D is their characteristic laugh before death. As the majority of descendants of the D clan have shown such laugh, Kozuki Oden could also be considered a part of this pirate crew considering how he died with a big smile on his face.

This could link him to a potential member of the Dawn Pirates who were also a part of the Kozuki clan because this clan was responsible for writing the Poneglyphs in the first place. This could even make Oden a part of the D clan who didn't have the initial in his name.

The evil in D

Marshall D Teech as seen in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Blackbeard is one of the final antagonists of One Piece who has the initial D in his name. But why would someone evil be part of the group of liberators? The answer is simple and one that has been recurring from the start of One Piece. But first, let's look at how similar the journeys of JoyBoy and Oden were in One Piece.

Oden and JoyBoy were the trend-breakers as they looked at their kingdoms in different ways. Both of them eventually fought for their kingdoms and died, which turned their kingdoms upside down. Coincidently, both of them asked their followers (the Nine Scabbards and Emeth) to continue their legacy.

So, similar to Oden's followers who had Kanjuro as a traitor, the Dawn Pirates could also have a traitor whose descendants continued his teachings, and the teachings were passed down to Marshall D Teech.

Final thoughts

Witnessing how there are similarities between Oden and JoyBoy, there are chances that there be a flashback from the Void Century of One Piece, showing how the Dawn Pirates came into being. This flashback could be bigger than Oden's because it would feature the ancestors of all the current pirates like Luffy, Law, Teech, and so on.

Related Links

Edited by Sreerupa Das