Ever since the reveal of the Sun God Nika, it seems like the whole story of One Piece revolves around it now. But what exactly is this legendary figure in the One Piece world, who is the Sun God Nika in One Piece that gives hope of freedom to the oppressed and is a symbol of terror for the oppressors? This article will examine the Sun God Nika in One Piece manga.
Who Is The Sun God Nika In One Piece
After the reveal of Monkey D. Luffy’s devil fruit’s real identity was not that of the paramecia type Rubber-Rubber fruit but the mythical zoan type Human-Human fruit model: Sun God “Nika” instead. Ever since this reveal everyone who knows about the Void Century has made Luffy either their saviour or enemy. But what does Luffy want to do? How has the Sun God’s fruit affected him? What is the connection with Joy Boy? We will try to answer all these questions in this article.
Luffy in Sun God Nika form
Unveiling the Mystery: The Sun God Nika in One Piece
The sun has had a huge importance in the overall plot of One Piece since almost every race other than the humans share the common theme of symbolizing the sun as something relayed to liberation, hope, or freedom.
After 1000 chapters we finally hear the name of Nika and most readers still aren’t sure whether they like this concept or not but it sure is an interesting one. Every race has a different interpretation of how they look at it. But it is heavily implied that Sun God Nika will bring the Dawn of the World and Joy Boy was the previous user of the Nika fruit.
Whispers from the Void Century: Nika’s First Appearances
We first hear about the Nika fruit from Who’s Who the former CP-0 agent who was assigned to deliver the fruit to the World Government but was attacked by the Red-Haired Pirates who stole the fruit from him. He also explains the legend of the Sun God Nika who is worshipped by the slaves of the Celestial Dragons at Marie Jois.
But recently it was also revealed that Kuma who is a Buccaneer worships Nika and is a preacher of its religion just like his father. Nika represents freedom and when Zuniesha felt Luffy awakening Gear 5, Zuniesha stated that it was the heartbeat of Joy Boy and the drums of liberation. This implies that Joy Boy had the Nika fruit and fought the World Government 800 years ago before the Void Century.
Warrior of Liberation: Nika’s Myth and Legacy
Nika is the symbol of hope for the oppressed. The slaves worship the warrior of liberation and Nika. The world government is so afraid of the Nika fruit’s existence that they try to get their hands on it every time it reincarnates but it escapes their grasp since it has a will of its own in a sense. So to hide its existence the World Government even changed its name to the Rubber-Rubber fruit.
Since ancient times Nika has been worshipped by many this is not only limited to the slaves but also the Buccaneer race is the true followers of its religion. The legend of Joy Boy is connected to Nika as well and the people of Fishmen, Wano, Elbaf, and Zou also know about that legacy to some extent.
Fruit of the Sun: The Devil Fruit Connection
Sun has had a big role in the story of One Piece whether it is the Fishmen who want to live under the sun and that’s their main goal in the story. Also, Fisher Tiger created the Sun Pirates after freeing the slaves and all of them who had the symbol of slavery from the Celestial Dragons marked themselves with the symbol of the Sun to get rid of the discrimination between the former slaves.
Kuma who is the last surviving Buccaneer knows the most about the religion of the Sun God not only him but it seems the whole race worshipped the Sun God and knew the truth about him and that’s the reason why the World Government has exterminated the race.
The people at Skypiea more specifically the Shandians worship multiple gods and the Sun God was mentioned among them. Skypiea is also the first arc we see any hint or foreshadowing of Luffy’s Gear 5th in his Sun God form since we see Luffy dancing the same way he looks in Gear 5.
The Giants worship the Sun God and we see Dorry and Broggy coming to Egghead to rescue the Sun God Nika who is Luffy.
This all connects back to Nika the Sun God. But since the World Government has tried their best to get rid of the history of Void Century and Nika this might be the reason for the different races having different interpretations of the Sun God’s story.
Nika’s Influence: Echoes in Luffy and Joy Boy
Whenever Luffy uses Gear 5 he just can’t stop smiling and laughing since he’s enjoying himself so much and he says that’s his peak. The Sun God represents freedom which Luffy embodies the most in the story.
In Gear 5, Luffy has the freedom to change the properties of his surroundings into rubber. Against Kaido he turned a mountain into a shield by making it rubberlike which deflected Kaido’s Boro Breadth attack back at him. This is not only limited to his surroundings or objects but people as well. Luffy can change a person’s body too when he punches them the punch stretches their skin just like cartoon characters. Luffy can turn into a giant too and pull stuff out of nowhere because he can use a toned-down version of “Toon Force”.
Unanswered Questions and Future Revelations
The biggest question so far is “Why wasn’t the Sun God Nika mentioned in the first 1000 chapters of the story?” since now the whole plot revolves around him. “Why did the World Government not go after Luffy when they knew about his devil fruit?” and the list goes on.
The future revelations will mostly include the history of Joy Boy and how he obtained the power of the Sun God. The reveal of the actual Sun God and the role he played in the world of One Piece.
Beyond the Manga: Nika’s Impact on One Piece Fandom
At the reveal of the Sun God, the reaction was very positive from the One Piece fandom but as time has passed the hype has toned down. People have expressed their concerns that when Luffy is in Gear 5 the tension of the fights is taken away because all he does is smile and laugh which means we won’t be getting serious fights anymore like we used to.
The Nika fruit has taken away from Luffy’s hard work and has just made him the chosen one. He was destined for greatness from the start. His devil fruit was supposed to be a crappy paramecia but it turned out to be an overpowered mythical zoan.
The biggest concern for the fandom is why all the plot revolves around Nika now. Will Oda be able to resolve all the plot threads without making them connected to Nika?
Conclusion
In the end, the mystery of the Sun God Nika made a huge change in the direction of the story of One Piece and also in the way people looked at not only the One Piece world but also how people perceived Luffy’s character to some extent as well. The reveal is a welcoming one although many people have different opinions on the execution and reveal it still everyone interested in how the story will unfold in the future.
Recommended
Top 15 Strongest Characters in One Piece [Ranked]
10+ Strongest Supernovas in One Piece That Exhibit True Strength
[Revealed] Straw Hat Pirates New Bounties + Zoro’s Bounty Correction
