This article contains spoilers from One Piece's Elbaf arc.
The Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika is one of the most legendary Devil Fruits to exist in the world of One Piece. It is also the very first Devil Fruit to be seen in the world of One Piece, and that makes it very special. Luffy ate this Devil Fruit in the very first chapter of the story, but the true power of this fruit wasn't revealed to the fans until the Wano Country arc, specifically until One Piece Chapter 1044. Luffy's Devil Fruit was initially portrayed to be a Paramecia-type fruit with the powers of rubber. In reality, it is a very powerful Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit with the name of a deity, the Warrior of Liberation, Sun God Nika.
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Luffy's Devil Fruit is incredibly strong, and just like all other Devil Fruits in the world of One Piece, this one has had more than one user as well. In fact, Oda was going to reveal the previous user of the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika in 2022, but he then went on to change his plans.
Oda Wanted To Do A Movie For The Last Gomu Gomu no Mi User
The Movie Was Changed To Film Red
- The Straw Hats would go back in time
- Uta became the main character of the movie instead
Luffy is the current user of the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, but just like all other Devil Fruits, this fruit has been in circulation for centuries, meaning multiple people have come across it over the years.
I am Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will surpass you guys and become the Pirate King! — Luffy to Kaido and Big Mom
Luffy's Nika fruit actually had a completely different user long ago, and this boy was supposed to be central to a story supervised by Oda himself. According to Goro Taniguchi, Oda wanted to do a story where the Straw Hat Pirates traveled back in time and met the previous user of the Gomu Gomu no Mi before Luffy.
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This was supposed to be the main plot of One Piece: Film Red. Unfortunately, the plot was then changed and Uta became the main character of the story. It would've been incredibly interesting to see Luffy meeting the former Gomu Gomu no Mi user, and it would most certainly have made for a very exciting movie. Through this character, fans would've also gotten a look at the previous era of the One Piece world, but this opportunity is now gone.
He was the first man to set sail on the seas. The first to be called a pirate. — Vegapunk on Joy Boy
Joy Boy Is The Canon Last User Of The Nika Fruit
Joy Boy Had The Same Powers As Luffy
Since Oda never wrote the story about the boy with the Gomu Gomu no Mi before Luffy, it is hard to say if this is still canon in the world of One Piece or not. For now, fans know that the official canon user of the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika before Luffy is none other than Joy Boy, who lived around 800 years ago. He is one character fans will most definitely see more of in the future of One Piece.
One Piece Chapter 1163 will be out this week. As usual, One Piece is going to drop on Sunday. In Japan, One Piece drops at 12AM JST on Monday. However, the vast majority of international readers will see the chapter available on October 26. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1163 is October 26, 2025. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus.
- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga's popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
