One Piece & Freedom

Discussing Mythical Inspirations for Luffy’s Gear 5

Purupurupurupuru, Purupurupurupuru, Gacha- 

Moshi-Moshi, welcome to Myths & Mischief! This is your captain Leslii speaking and I’m gonna be–!!!! chatting with you about the Myths and Legends that might have inspired the renowned mangaka Eiichiro Oda when crafting his story and recent mind blowing revelations about the m.c. Monkey D. Luffy!

Bounty-ful are the themes of the hit manga, anime and now Netflix live action show, One Piece — ranging from dreams and one’s sheer force of will, to politically aligned themes such as authoritarianism, racism or slavery but, while intrinsically connected within in the story, very few are as prevalent and overarching as Freedom. From episode one, we follow Monkey D. Luffy, the ragtag and rambunctious protagonist who wants nothing more than to be King of the Pirates! Though being king to Luffy doesn’t necessarily mean the same to him as it would to any of us. To Luffy, being the King of the Pirates means being the freest on the seas, and as you watch — or read — you’re able to see just how free Luffy is, in his very essence, and the unbridled joy and liberation he brings to others, to entire islands, on his journey to find the legendary treasure, the One Piece. 

Though he’s always been thought of as a liberator, just recently, One Piece mangaka Eiichiro Oda has taken Luffy’s freedom fighting reputation to a whole new level, giving Luffy’s character and the overall story far more depth with the introduction of his latest and final transformation— Gear 5. [Gear 5! The form that broke the mold of what a Shonen protagonist’s final and most notable power-up should be; the chaotic form that shifts reality to Luffy’s whim; the form in which he gleefully laughs in the face of authority and adversity. The beautifully profound treasure that is Gear 5!]

Without harping on about the incredibly extensive lore within the story, I’ll just give you the gist of it. Long story short, the devil fruit name, powers, even the type, we’ve always known Luffy to have for over 1000 installments, for over 25 years of weekly chapters and episodes, isn’t his true devil fruit. Long gone is the iconic Paramecia, the Gum Gum Fruit, and in comes the Zoan — the Human Human Fruit, Mythical Type, Model: Nika.

Chapter 1044 was arguably the most monumental and mind-shattering chapter of the entire series. Simply put — you just had to be there. But what does this new revelation have to do with freedom? The Sun God Nika, also known as the Warrior of Liberation, is the mythical figure within the story — someone who gave slaves of the past hope and release, whose legend has persisted through various attempts of total erasure and has been passed down through generations and lineages to today’s current storyline — that Luffy’s fruit embodies, connecting him to another historical figure who obtained the same powers nearly a millennium prior — Joy Boy.

Not much is known about either, as the authorities of the world have a knack for going to extreme lengths to hide history and prohibit the desire to know more about said history, but given how well we’ve come to know Luffy, we can understand the significance of such a reveal. 

Luffy is a freedom fighter, is a liberator, is Joy Boy, is the Sun God. And he always has been.

Inspirations for Luffy’s Final Transformation

Ra & Amaterasu

To anyone who keeps up with the story, it is well known that Eiichiro Oda pulls inspiration from various aspects of the real world, combining it with his impressively unbridled imagination to create a world as rich and lively as that of One Piece. And, while the Sun God Nika by name may not be a myth in our own world, there are still countless gods throughout humanity’s vast collection of folklore that Oda might’ve pulled inspiration from.

Such examples being the Egyptian God Ra, or the Japanese Shinto deity Amaterasu, whose motifs of the sun are comparable to that of Luffy’s because they bring the dawn. Both Ra and Amaterasu are known to have restored light to the world after a bout of darkness — Ra having to fight off the serpentine agent of chaos, Apopis, in the Underworld, and Amaterasu, whose curiosity allowed her to be lured out of her cavernous reverie by dancing and laughing. 

Bringing the Dawn, the light, in One Piece is a euphemism for bringing about freedom and hope for the oppressed, and in a world both fictional and real that is often riddled with despair and suppression, Gear 5 represents a pure rebellion through laughter. It evokes a kind of spiritual joy — a weapon not forged in steel but in soul — showing how resistance doesn’t always roar, but sometimes dances.

Joyboy

The silhouetted figures of the Sun God Nika and Joyboy sprinkled throughout the story are very reminiscent of the stylized depictions of African or Caribbean folklore figures and deities. Even in name, Joyboy is, while currently unconfirmed by Oda himself, more than likely to have derived from the West Indian figure “Joyboy”, who’s known as the personification of the human need to dance, sing, and jubilate. 

Sounding off his drums, the Caribbean figure is said to cure humanity of their strife and troubles, to compel those who hear the beat to sing and dance until they’ve shaken off the black cloak of despair. He, much like Luffy, is a beacon of hope, of release, of joy. And Luffy, much like the West Indian figure, has his own drum beat, his heartbeat — the Drums of Liberation! — That does the very same. 

Ahhh, just like that, it seems that our transponder snail is growing tired, so the call must end! But, captains order, be sure to call back whenever you can! The Myths and Mischief crew had a blast chatting with you!

Works Cited

 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Re”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Apr. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Re. Accessed 11 May 2025.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Amaterasu”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 May. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amaterasu. Accessed 11 May 2025.

Ingpen, Robert, and Michael Page. “Joyboy.” Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were: Creatures, Places and People, Penguin Studio, New York City, New York, 1985, pp. 26.