Joyboy's Downfall from within

Joyboy had the strawhat. He had the devil fruit. He had Luffy's same incredible force of will, that same tendency to draw people to him and inspire loyalty, that same burning desire to protect those closest to him.

Really, you could argue that Joyboy is just Luffy but better. More powerful, more experienced. And still, Joyboy failed. How??

The members of Joyboy's crew, Zunesha and Emeth, carry a centuries-old guilt. We failed Joyboy, they say. It's our fault, they say. Throughout the story, Oda has emphasized the SH crew's importance, and Joyboy's story seems to drive this message home and put it into practice. The ultimate cautionary tale.

Joyboy is a Luffy whose crew failed him.

How did they fail him? That remains unclear. They could have been tricked. They could have betrayed JB. But personally, I think the answer is simpler. I think they were just too weak to support their captain when it mattered. And I think Joyboy destroyed himself, trying to protect them.

"Don't you think Luffy's new fighting style is too hard on his body? If the enemies we face from now on are even stronger, he's just going to keep on being this reckless." - Chapter 483 Post-Thriller Bark

We see it time and time again: with Lucci and Gear 2nd, with Magellan, at Marineford, with Oars in Thriller Bark. Luffy is reckless to the point of suicide in order to protect those he loves. He will go until he can't anymore; he will sacrifice whatever he has to - his arms, his body, his lifespan; he will push himself until he breaks. Given their similarities, I'd imagine that Joyboy was the same.

What does it look like for a Zoan fruit user to overextend themselves and push too far? Well, consider Chopper, pushing past his natural limits via his rumble balls and becoming a mindless beast. Consider the Jailer Beasts at Impel Down. Consider Vegapunk's warning: when a Zoan-type Devil Fruit awakens, the user's mind and personality risk being completely consumed and overwritten by the primal, innate will of the animal.

A friendly note from Oda himself: Unlike Paramecia, Zoan Awakenings carry risk.

I'm sure you can tell where I'm going with this.

Here's the theory: Joyboy was not defeated in a traditional sense. He was pushed too far and, while attempting to protect his crew, was ultimately consumed by the Nika Devil Fruit. An out-of-control Joyboy threatened to destroy the world, providing Imu with the threat/excuse he needed to bring the 20 kingdoms under his banner in false democracy.

I think this allows a couple things to fall into place.

1. This could explain why someone like Nefertari D. Lili would side with Imu. Joyboy was legitimately a threat. By the time Lili learned the truth about what was going on with him, it was too late to reach JB and change what Imu had already set in motion.

2. Vegapunk and Rayleigh both imply that the Void Century conflict was not black and white. I think this scenario provides some grey area, rather than a strict good vs. evil conflict. It allows for Imu to genuinely (technically) save the world from an actual threat. It also touches on a core tension in the series (explored mostly via the pirates vs. marines conflict): the idea that too much freedom is just as dangerous as too much control.

3. It also reconciles the two conflicting reputations that Nika users seem to have: the liberator (i.e., the in-control user) and the destroyer (i.e., the user that has been entirely lost to the will of fruit and gone bananas).

4. Like I've implied since the beginning of this write-up, whatever defeated the Luffy of the past will surely be relevant for the Luffy of the present. No, I don't think that Luffy is currently possessed by his devil fruit. But personally, I think it's inarguable that the fruit is influencing his behavior and mood. He pretty much says this outright the first time he transforms: "What's happening? I just lost, but I feel like I'm having a blast." < Hello, he's artificially happy because of the fruit, how else do you explain that. It's not the last time Luffy's mood does a 180 because of Gear 5 either. I think these are threads that Oda could expand on.

   Oda has been having characters question who Luffy is over the past couple of arcs. Is that really Luffy?? Even the crew asks this question, upon seeing Gear 5. Even in Gear 5, Luffy has continued to insist that he is himself. But Oda often builds these patterns in order to break them. No one can eat two devil fruits, until Blackbeard does. Luffy will always save those he loves, until Ace dies before his eyes. Luffy is unabashedly himself...until he isn't anymore?

Lol. Thanks for reading 👋