Episode 974 from One Piece anime gave us another hint at an important figure that is going to appear in the series. When Kozuki Oden was getting boiled in the hot oil, he told his vassals to open the country of Wano. Furthermore, he added that the whole world is waiting for an important figure to appear and Wano needs to be accommodating for that individual when he arrives.
Note that there have been multiple mentions about this subject throughout the manga. Even in this flashback, this is a second time.
So who could be this important individual? Do we know about it? Have we met him? Is he going to be a new character? Find out below as we unravel the mystery behind this person in this article.
Is It Joy Boy?
The most likely and famous speculation among the One Piece community is that this person could be Joy Boy. Joy Boy is a character who has been vaguely mentioned by different characters on various occasions. We first learned about him during the Fishman Island arc where Robin found a Ponygylph that revealed the apology from him for not fulfilling his promise.
Recently, when Roger found One Piece he said he wished he was born during the same era as JoyBoy. So it’s also possible that JoyBoy has a huge connection with One Piece, in fact, One Piece itself could be a story about JoyBoy and the history of the world.
Is He From Void Century?
During his final moments, Whitebeard uttered that someone carrying 800 years of history on his back will appear soon. Now Joy Boy definitely has a connection with the void century and this again cements the argument of Joy Boy being an important figure.
Even when Roger mentioned he wished he was born in the same era as Joy Boy, he may have pointed it towards void century.
Kozuki Oden’s Explanation
When returning to Wano, Oden mentioned opening up his country to welcome this individual. He said the same thing to the scabbards during his execution. Now we have only this particular piece of information related to the important figure from Oden.
Apart from this, Oden also made another prediction that in some 20 years, a strong group of people will appear in Wano to take down Kaido. Now we are not sure if this group is related to the important figure but it could have some connection. This again leads to the argument of Luffy being Joy Boy and the important figure himself.
Why Luffy Being Joy Boy Doesn’t Work
Many One Piece fans believe that Luffy is the reincarnation of Joy Boy or simply himself, however, there are some facts that don’t support this argument. Oden specifically mentioned that they must open the country to welcome this individual. Furthermore, we have other clues about a global scale war that will happen in near future.
Now Luffy is already within Wano and the borders of the country still remain closed. From the information available to us, it seems like Luffy is among the group of individuals that will defeat Kaido and the important figure is someone who will appear after Kaido’s defeat.
We hope that Oda uncovers this curtain and tells us about one of the most anticipated reveals of the series.
Who do you think this important person is? Is it Luffy, JoyBoy, or both? Let us know your thoughts down below. We post news and updates about One Piece on social media so make sure to follow us.
