Summary
The story ofOne Pieceis filled to the brim with incredible character dynamics, the most notable of which is the way pirates react with their crew members. As expected, there is no better example of this than the Straw Hats, as these pirates are the focal point of the story and function more like a family than any other group in the series. However, even among them, the bond between Luffy and Zoro stands out.
Being the first official members of this crew, Luffy and Zoro have spent the most time together, acting more like brothers than crewmates. ManyOne Piecefans believe that this is the most important relationship in the story, formed from when they first met in Orange Town. However, some think that their connection goes even deeper than this, and their chance meeting wasset in motion centuries ago, so let’s see how this can be.
Luffy And Zoro Share A Connection Since The Void Century
The Modern Versions Of Joyboy And Ryuma
From the beginning of the story, Oda has made it clear thatthe concept of Inherited Willis perhaps the most important aspect of theOne Pieceworld. This essentially states that the dreams and aspirations of everyone live on forever, and that if these goals aren’t met, they are naturally inherited by someone else who will go on to complete them, which can range from being insignificant to important enough to change the course of history.
As such, the greatest example of this concept is Luffy, who has inherited the will of the legendary figure known as Joyboy; the first person to battle against the tyrannical forces of the World Government 800 years before the start of the mainOne Piecestory. Because of this, many have speculated about familial connections between these two characters who have embodied the role of Nika in their respective ages, but ultimately, such a connection is irrelevant because they both stand as the figureheads leading the world to freedom.
I hear the drums of liberation. For the first time in 800 years… he is here! Joyboy has returned!
Joyboy was known as the first pirate in history, which implies that he must have also had a crew. Because of this, many fans believe that the first person he may have ever recruited would have beenZoro’s ancestor, Shimotsuki Ryuma, mirroring the journey of Luffy and his first crewmate. This man was known as the God of the Blade and is still considered the greatest swordsman in history, alive many centuries before the start of the series. His exact time is currently unknown, but many suspect that he could have been active during the Void Century.
If this is true, it would definitely put him and Joyboy on a collision course, which would be the perfect mirror to Luffy and Zoro. Since Luffy is considered to be the modern-day reincarnation of Joyboy and Zoro is confirmed to be the latest living descendant of Ryuma, many believe that, similarly to how the events of the Void Century are repeating in the modern era, so too are the heroes.
The legend of both of these mythical beings also seems to be on a relative scale, since Joyboy is known as the greatest pirate ever, while Ryuma has always been considered the greatest swordsman in history, which is eerily similar to theaspirations of both Luffy and Zoro. While their journeys undoubtedly match, the connections to their ancient counterparts are the most damning, since the Gomu Gomu no Mi actively sought out Luffy as its first user after Joyboy and Zoro was the first to inherit the legendary Shusui after Ryuma himself.
There are many connections to be made here, all of which lead to the same conclusion of Joyboy and Ryuma being crewmates. Judging by Joyboy’s incredible strength and legendary stature, it only makes sense for his other crewmates to at least be on a relative scale; otherwise, it simply wouldn’t make sense. Ryuma is a legend in the world renowned for his strength and being one of the only two people to create a Black Blade, so his stature as the strongest swordsman in history would definitely land him a spot on Joyboy’s legendary crew.
Captain
Joyboy
Since it is known that Inherited Will is the most important concept in the entire franchise, it opens the door for a lot of possibilities in the future. At the current moment, the story is clearly leaning towards Luffy being the reincarnation of Joyboy andZoro being the reincarnation of Ryuma, so many fans believe that the only other characters from the Void Century that we currently know about may also be connected to other Straw Hats.
These characters are the giant robot Emet and Zunesha, the Naitamie-Norida Elephant. These are the only characters from the Void Century that we currently know of who have an established knowledge/relationship with Joyboy. Many fans think that Emet is the ancient counterpart to Franky, while Zunesha is a parallel to Chopper, both of whom could have been part of Joyboy’s crew. There are reasons to believe this and the possibilities are great, since this implies that each of the Straw Hats has an ancient counterpart in this crew, showing that their journeys started many centuries ago.
