One Piece: 8 Characters Who Could've Become Joy Boy Instead Of Luffy

The One Piece series has showcased many incredible Devil Fruits over the years, but one of the craziest so far is the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika. This Devil Fruit was eaten by Luffy, and upon awakening it, he unlocked Gear 5 and became the new Joy Boy. Luffy fits the role to perfection, but these other characters could have also been the new Nika for various reasons had Oda decided to go ahead with not making Luffy the person whom Roger was waiting for.

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Roger

Could Have Been Nika Had He Been Born A Bit Later

Gol D. Roger is the man who became the Pirate King, a title Luffy aspires to get one day. Roger and Luffy share many parallels, but while Luffy got the Nika Devil Fruit, Roger relied on just his Haki. Roger did, however, have the potential to become the new Nika just like Luffy, but he was too early. When Roger was adventuring, Poseidon wasn’t even born yet, and Roger was low on time. The Nika fruit would have been wasted on him.

Shanks

The Child of Destiny Who Had The Nika Fruit in His Possession

Shanks is currently one of the strongest characters alive in One Piece. Shanks, however, has no Devil Fruit and relies purely on Haki. At one point, he did have in his possession the Nika fruit and could have eaten it.

Shanks is referred to as the Child of Destiny, after all. He would have definitely been one of the best options for the Nika fruit.

Loki

Believes He Has The Nika Fruit

Loki has been central to the current ongoing Elbaf arc, but he has yet to showcase his true potential. After all, his Devil Fruit is still a mystery, but fans know it must be incredibly powerful, as he claims he has the Nika fruit. Fans, however, know this can’t be the case.

Either way, Loki really believes himself to be the new Nika. Had things turned out differently with Harald, and had the fruit stayed in Elbaf, he might’ve become the next Nika.

Bonney

Has Turned Into Nika Once

In the current One Piece story, only two characters that fans know of have turned into Nika. Luffy is the first, but the other one is Jewelry Bonney.

Bonney turned into Joy Boy through her Devil Fruit, the Toshi Toshi no Mi. In her alternate future, she ate the Nika fruit and unlocked Gear 5. Bonney would’ve been a great candidate for this power.

Blackbeard

A Descendant of Davy D. Jones

Blackbeard is one of One Piece’s main antagonists, but it was recently revealed that he is the descendant of one of One Piece’s most legendary figures—Davy D. Jones, a pirate who lived during the Void Century.

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There are many theories about Jones, one of them being that he is the real Joy Boy, the Void Century’s Nika. This would be interesting for Blackbeard’s character. But either way, Blackbeard is always on the hunt for powerful Devil Fruits, and he would’ve jumped on the opportunity to get the Nika one.

Kaido

Kaido Wanted to Become Nika

Kaido tasted defeat in Wano at the hands of the man he wanted to become—Nika. Luffy finally awakened his Devil Fruit against Kaido and tapped into Gear 5, which is his Nika form.

Fans quickly learned that Kaido himself wanted to become Nika. Kaido held this desire for unknown reasons, but likely because he was sick of the Celestial Dragons and wanted to tear the Government down.

Harald

Rocks Wanted Harald To Eat The Nika Fruit

Harald is a phenomenal character who has been getting fleshed out in the Elbaf arc, and fans have learned a lot about him, especially his friendship with Xebec.

One thing fans learned is that Rocks wanted Harald to have the Nika fruit, and Jarul even stated that Harald tried to be like Nika, in his own way. Of course, fans also can’t forget the importance that Nika holds in Elbaf, so naturally Harald wanted to be him.

Bartholomew Kuma

A Buccaneer Who Was Enslaved

Kuma is from a rare race in the One Piece world, called the Buccaneers. This race was ostracized by the World Government, in large part due to their connection to Nika, a deity they worship and look up to. Kuma himself is a Nika worshipper and held out long for his return.

Kuma was tormented by the World Government and turned into a slave. His becoming the next Nika would have made a lot of sense had he gotten the Devil Fruit.

One Piece's next chapter will be out this week. As usual, One Piece is going to drop on Sunday. In Japan, One Piece drops at 12 AM JST on Monday. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus.