Thread by @TypicalJAnt

One Piece Analysis

How Oda Foreshadowed Luffy's Fruit

#ONEPIECE

Warning, if you somehow have still not seen 1044, this thread will contain spoilers.

Now you've been warned, I hope that you enjoy

We just learned that Luffy's fruit is not the Paramecia type, Gomu Gomu no Mi but is actually a Mythical Zoan type, Hito Hito no Mi. But where did this come from? Did Oda set this up?

This thread will aim to identify all of the instances of foreshadowing that Oda has created.

The first examples of foreshadowing take us back to chapter 1 & these are details that made people begin to suspect that Luffy was Joyboy.

Shanks said making fun of Luffy was his 'joy'

Later on, Luffy comments on how eating the fruit has made him even happier & he pulls his face into a big smile.

We now know that his fruit is actually called the 'Nika model', Nika meaning grin. This connects to the subject of artificial fruits, known as Smiles.

This lends new meaning to the reveal that Kaido, Doflamingo & Ceaser named the artificial fruits affect their affects, smiles. This same is true of Luffy's fruit. It's name was changed to the 'Nika model' because it brought smiles to everyone's faces.

The next clues came quite a bit later & it was these that originally made myself & others theorise that Luffy's fruit was actually a Zoan type.

Since as early as Enies Lobby, Luffy was revealed to be able to use forms. It was noticeable that this is not normal for Paramecias

This suspicion was only deepened when we got Gear 4th & now we have Gear 5th, proving that Luffy is a Zoan that can use more than 3 forms. This detail connects us back to Drum Islands. Where Oda highlighted Luffy's fascination with Chopper's Hito Hito no Mi having 7 forms

Now we know that Luffy's fruit is actually also a Hito Hito no Mi & we have seen exactly 7 forms from Luffy.

Base, G2, G3, G4: Bounce Man, G4: Tank Man, G4. Snakeman, & G5: Joyboy

The confirmation that the fruit is actually called the 'Nika model' also connects us back to what is perhaps the most well known piece of foreshadowing. The parallel of the silhouettes of Luffy looking exactly like Nika in both Skypiea & Wano.

Other pieces of foreshadowing have also been pointed out by people since the chapter scans first came out. These details are a lot more obscure & should be considered as foreshadowing through misdirection. Quite a few times, it is denied that anything is special about the fruit

Examples of this foreshadowing through misdirection also appear in more implicit forms throughout the story. Luffy's insane durability is an example of this, being written of as being because of the rubber traits of his fruit. It makes more sense now we know he's actually a Zoan

Perhaps the most on the nose examples of foreshadowing that Luffy's fruit is actually a Zoan, is his attack names. For a very long time now, Luffy has been naming his main attacks after animals.

Elephant Gun, Red Hawk, Kong Gun, Leo Bazooka, Snakeman, etc.

It was these details that originally led people to theorise that Luffy would take Kaido's title of 'King of the Beasts'. Now that we know that Luffy's fruit is a Zoan, that actually seems like it may become true.

Luffy has been repeatedly shown to be able to tame beasts

It's important to remember that although Luffy is a Zoan, the fruit still gives the user properties of rubber, making it a unique Zoan type.

People have pointed out Luffy being immune to electricity as a plot hole but that remains consistent with this explanation.

The connection to Enel brings us to another example of foreshadowing but this one is currently less tangible than the other examples.

In hindsight, the Luffy vs Enel fight can now be understood as God vs God.

However, this part is a bit more complicated than that.

It's important to remember that 'God' was originally only meant as title for the leader of the winged people.

The 'Sun God' Nika was most likely not a literal God but actually just the leader of the original winged people.

This ties in to the idea that Joyboy was from Jaya and is based on the mythology of Jayabaya from Java. Depicted with the symbol of the sun on his crown.

That's just about all of the example of foreshadowing that i've been able to find, although i'm sure there are a lot more.

If I carry on any further, this will end up turning into two theories instead of one.

The Joyboy analysis can have it's own thread

Thanks for reading 🙏