Nika could be One Piece's Jesus Christ, and Joy Boy his first apostle

Modified May 23, 2024 21:21 GMT

Nika could be One Piece's Jesus Christ, and Joy Boy his first apostle (Image via Toei Animation)

One Piece chapter 1114 revealed Nika and JoyBoy to be entirely different entities, with the former being a myth passed down through generations and the latter being a significant historical figure as the first pirate of the Grand Line. However, there could be a bigger connection between these two, irrespective of JoyBoy having the devil fruit powers that emerged from Nika. This could be the latest religious theory of the series connecting these two through Christian beliefs.

God manifested into Nika the same way God manifested into Jesus after he achieved enlightenment through the Human-Human devil fruit. This made JoyBoy Nika's apostle, the spreader of Nika's beliefs, similar to what the apostles did for Jesus' teachings. The theory forms a close bond between this series and Christianity.

Disclaimer: This article contains potential spoilers from the One Piece manga series and contains the author's opinion.

Exploring the relationship between Christianity and One Piece

Monkey D Luffy as seen in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Nika, or the Sun God, is a mythical creature famous among the slaves. This diety has special importance among the Elbafian and Buccaneer races. Nika is said to be a deity that would one day appear to save the slaves from enslavement. One of the characteristic features of this deity was his laugh.

The powers of Nika are still a mystery as his figure consists of him holding a sword and a spear. Moreover, Kuma has revealed one of the diety's powers. He had a stretchy body that made him capable enough to fight in any manner possible.

This ability is the same as the devil fruit powers of the protagonist of One Piece, Monkey D Luffy. Moreover, the real name of Luffy's devil fruit was revealed as the Human-Human devil fruit, Model: Nika. This revelation means this devil fruit emerged from the Sun God, Nika.

The reveal of JoyBoy as by Dr Vegapunk (Image via Shueisha)

Chapter 1114 saw Vegapunk reveal JoyBoy as the first person who inherited this devil fruit. Just like Nika, JoyBoy was one of the biggest mysteries, and this chapter gave the first lead about him as the first pirate of the Grand Line.

Moreover, Vegapunk also revealed that JoyBoy lived during the Void Century, thus making fans wonder what was JoyBoy's purpose during that time. This could be where the relationship between Nika and JoyBoy would become more obvious: by relating them to Jesus and his apostles.

Jesus is a historical figure in Christianity and the central figure of this religion. According to this religion, God himself resided inside him, making Jesus 'the Great Apostle.' Before being crucified, Jesus selected 12 apostles from his disciples who would spread his religion around the world.

So, God manifested in Nika, making him the Sun God who would free the slaves from imprisonment. This could make Nika the parallel of Jesus. Moreover, Nika left his teachings in the form of a fruit, which JoyBoy was the first person to inherit, making him similar to the first apostle of Jesus.

Luffy awakening his Nika fruit (Image via Toei Animation)

This made JoyBoy the person who spread Nika's freedom of freedom and liberation during the Void Century, which made the government at that time label JoyBoy as a 'pirate,' thus making the term 'pirate' bad. This could be the start of the government going after pirates as they were scared of the emergence of another liberator like JoyBoy.

After JoyBoy's death, the Nika fruit went into circulation and returned after 800 years into the hands of Who's Who, the Beast Pirate. Fortunately, Shanks got his hands on this fruit, knowing nothing about this fruit other than its fake name the World Government had assigned it, the Gum-Gum devil fruit.

As fate had already decided, Luffy accidentally ate this fruit and awakened it as Gear 5, becoming another liberator like JoyBoy, who spread the message of Sun God Nika.

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Edited by Ivanna Lalsangzuali