The Treasure of 'One Piece' Has a Long and Mysterious History in the Series (SPOILERS)

We've been watching One Piece for over 1,000 episodes. Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates have been on an adventure so that he becomes the King of all Pirates. To do so, he and his crew are journeying to find a mythical treasure called the One Piece. But what exactly is it and what mysterious nature does it entail? It turns out that this object connects to our main character in an unexpected way.

Spoilers for the overall storyline of One Piece below!

This treasure is the ultimate goal for Luffy. According to the One Piece Fandom, there isn't much of anything known about what the One Piece is and we don't even know what it looks like. It's referred to as a "treasure of unimaginable value" in Chapter 967 of the manga and there have been stories of its power that have traveled across the world in the series.

For now, all we really know is that the One Piece was left on Laugh Tale a.k.a. the last island of the Grand Line. It was left there by someone who held the title of Joy Boy during the Void Century (about 900 years ago). Not much is known about this person either but that is probably because Gorosei and World Government have been suppressing information about him and his existence for years.

Nevertheless, we know Joy Boy was a prominent figure during the Void Century and played a big part in the history of Fish-Man Island. He left a message all that time ago that he would be returning in 800 years. Although at this point in the story, it's been 900 years later and this person has yet to come back.

According to Screen Rant, Joy Boy was first mentioned in Chapter 628 of the One Piece manga but there have been numerous mentions of him ever since.

Other than this person, the only other person to ever obtain the title of Joy Boy is Luffy himself. In Chapter 1044, Zunesha says he can hear the "Drums of Liberation" and said that Joy Boy has returned. Although some fans may have thought that the original Joy Boy would be coming back, that's not the case.

Instead, the beat of the drums synced with Luffy's own heartbeat, and his Devil Fruit awakened. It's also here that we find out that Luffy's Devil Fruit is actually a Mythical Zoan called the Hito Hito no Mi: Model Nika. The Nika is said to bring all kinds of freedom to its owner that is basically unlimited. This means that it's possible that the original Joy Boy never intended to return as himself but that someone else would earn the title.

Although Luffy now holds this title, we still don't know much about the original Joy Boy and what happened to this person throughout their lifetime. Fans will be upset to find out that the One Piece story will conclude in the next few years so there's only so much time and manga left to finish out the story. Although, it's likely that we'll get to understand who this mysterious character is before the end of the series.