One Piece Chapter #1014 hints at a connection between Kaido and the series’ most enigmatic character.
One Piece Chapter #1014 picks up where Chapter #1013 stops, with Luffy plunging straight from Onigashima into the sea below after Kaido defeats him. While this was a huge disappointment, another shock followed closely: Kaido has named one of the most mysterious characters in One Piece.
At the beginning of the chapter, Kaido overcomes the war with himself. Copying Kaido, Luffy has found a way to infuse his body with his Conquering Haki, using it in the same way as Armed Haki. However, as Kaido said, Luffy’s methods were sloppy, leading to his defeat. After throwing Luffy on board, Kaido makes a strange comment, saying that Luffy “can’t be Joy Boy either.”
Ever since Joy Boy was first mentioned in Fishman Island, he has been at the center of many mysteries and speculations. Over 1,000 chapters in One Piece, there are still a lot of unknowns about Joy Boy – for a long time the only truth we got was from the account Robin translated from the Sea Forest Poneglyph.
According to Robin and King Neptune, Joy Boy was someone who existed 800 years ago, in the Void Century, who made a promise to the people of Fish-Man Island during that time. He swore to bring the mermaids to the surface with the giant ark, Noah, and the power of the ancient weapon, Poseidon, but the plan never came to fruition. However, the people of Fish-Man Island agreed to keep Noah safe as Joy Boy assured them that someone would eventually come in the future to make his final deal.
Robin actually mentions that the Sea Forest Poneglyph is written differently from previous Poneglyphs she has encountered, reading like an apology letter from Joy Boy to the Mermaid Princess at the time, who also possessed the ability. Poseidon to talk to Sea Kings like Princess Shirahoshi.
Nothing new about Joy Boy would be revealed until fairly recently, during Kozuki Oden’s flashback of his travels with the Roger Pirates. After obtaining all four Road Poneglyphs, the Roger Pirates finally reached the last island in the Grand Line. The treasure they found was something that Joy Boy left behind in a strange way that made the whole crew burst into laughter. After that, the Roger Pirates decided to appropriately name this unnamed island Laugh Tale, and the rest is history.
What Kaido means by Luffy “can’t be Joy Boy either” is unclear, but there are two major theories. Of all the Yonko, including Whitebeard, Kaido is the only one whose age has not been revealed. It’s likely that Kaido is much older than he is now, as we don’t even know if he’s actually human. He might have been around Joy Boy’s time, 800 years ago. There’s a chance that Joy Boy could go head to head with Kaido in the meantime, but that’s purely speculation.
A more likely scenario is that Kaido is aware of Joy Boy’s promise to the people of Fish-Man Island and is keeping an eye on possible candidates to make Joy Boy’s final deal. The promise seems to be common knowledge among Mermaids, as Neptune seems to know despite being unable to read the Poneglyph. Furthermore, the fact that Kaido says “either” means that he may have met other people whose potential ultimately failed, like Luffy.
Luffy being the one to fulfill the Joy Boy’s promise has been fan-hypothetized for years, and given how much the Pirate King would love to prove people wrong, Kaido suspects he’s just really adding oil. into the fire in One Piece.