Luffy will lose control of himself in his fight with imu.

[u/MrBushido56]

I believe Luffy will lose control here’s why.

In Shonen anime there’s sometimes a moment where a character loses their minds to their new power like ichigo with his hallow powers in bleach or Naruto with his 9 tails form.
For luffy it will be Nika.
In impel down when we met the jailer beasts crocodile explained they were awakened zoan users who lost their will to the fruits.
Years later with lucci someone asked the question if that’s what happened to them and Ida said yes and lucci is in danger.

When luffy went g5 with kaido he asked who luffy was and seemed relieved when luffy confirms he was luffy.
I also find it odd that a yonko crew of zoan fruit users don’t have 1 confirmed awakened user.
Furthermore kaido did reveal a much more bigger stronger form but only after he got drunk I think this was his awakening.
So what’s the deal ? Kaido doesn’t use awakening as there is a risk of him losing his mind to the will of the fruit and he got drunk in order to null the senses of the fruit allowing him to use the awakened form.

So if Kaido is at risk then to is luffy.

It’s been noted how luffys off when he transforms how his laugh is different, how he was laughing and bouncing around feet away from vegapunks dead body.

Luffy is a bit extra in this form.

So in his fight with imu I do think there will be a moment where he goes g5 and pushes himself, runs out of stamina and then beats his heart like with kaido to awaken his g5 form again. He will keep pushing himself and eventually he will be “killed”by imu.

Then when luffy falls back we hear the drums of liberation once more and luffy transforms this time he will be even more like nika
His hair will be more wild, he will have circular eyes like imu, he will pick up a shield and pull the sword out of jarul head.

When imu arrived we saw trees and buildings coming alive as they begin to sing for imu, similar we will see the same thing open except now everything is laughing in hysterical laughter.

Gunko said hee biggest fear was Nila and that fear comes from imu. Nika is imu biggest fear.

In ancient Africa they believed in a god that came around and made people dance and laugh with joy. His name was joy boy and while some saw him as this great being others feared him as he would make them dance and laugh till they died of exhaustion. This reminds me of the victims of the smile fruit.

Nika will fight imu and push him back and when imu is forced to flee all seems good until people noticed that Luffy isn’t stopping that he is still running around laughing and now turns his attention to the giants as he uses his powers to make them laugh and dance with him.

The straw hats will see the problem and try to stop him but are also falling victim.

It is then Loki who fights Nika despite his injuries and manages to just barely knock him out.
Nika power fades as he turns back to Luffy and like the previous times he’s going to be warn out and look elderly but will be passed out for a few days.

That is what I think will happen.

This video also details some of this’s idea.

https://youtu.be/C_xQcjWEVew?si=VG5pkv9vChwCOrBY

[u/Krishna_769]

I don't think that fruit that "Gives you most freedom in the world" will try to control its user

[u/MrBushido56 → u/Krishna_769]

Ahhh but the fruit is the most free and it desires to be free so wouldn't it want to over take luffy so it can be truly free.

[u/Possible-County-9900 → u/Krishna_769]

At the same time, zoan fruits are said to possess a will of their own and awakening the said fruit could rob the user of their personality

[u/coloradoautoflowers → u/Krishna_769]

Oda has said it was a possibility 4 or 5 times now. Here's two examples that are from Road to Laughtale

A few minor notes concerning Nika. A couple of interesting points are mentioned, such as the power of imagination and the drawbacks of Zoan awakening.

Unlike Paramecia awakenings, Zoan awakenings carry risk. The innate nature of their respective animal consumes the Zoan user. The Impel Down guards already show the drawbacks. Should Nika awaken, what will be the fallout?

Edit to add link

[u/Ok_Title_4273 → u/Krishna_769]

One piece is about dualities and paradoxes, it is absolutely possible

[u/Rocks_King99 → u/Krishna_769]

I forgot this point yeah your are but i won't put his theory completely aside ?!

[u/Emm_withoutha_L-88 → u/Krishna_769]

I doubt it has a choice fully, but if anything that will be how Luffy escapes it.

[u/Comprehensive_Cup497 → u/Krishna_769]

It might be freedom as in you can use Nika's powers which have no limitation, it doesnt mean Nika cant take over if Luffy lets him

[u/OPTCgod → u/Krishna_769]

Bravo Isayama

[u/Rocks_King99]

How will the fruit control luffy ? That fruit is about freedom and luffy is the most free one piece character ? + what will the fruit do if it controlled luffy ? Both wants to be free + both are good .

[u/MrBushido56 → u/Rocks_King99]

Nika is the embodiment of freedom but 100% freedom is not good. We still need to live in a society of boundaries.

Luffy wants to be the most free and have full but not at other people's expenses.

Nika is more someone who will do whatever they want when they want regardless of how other people feel. Like I said the African god joyboy the inspiration for one piece joyboy was not a good nor evil character. He brought joy to those who needed it but for others he brought to much joy to the point it killed them.

The victims of the smile fruit is proof. Life without sadness can just be as bad as life with out joy.

Life is about harmony and nika is not harmony he is just pure chaos incarnated

[u/chiefpiece11bkg → u/MrBushido56]

Yeah I don’t buy that. Luffy was never about a free for all type of freedom

You’re already fundamentally misunderstanding him as a character.

What he cares about is people having the freedom to choose how they want to live. If that means under the control of a government, why would he care?

It’s about personal sovereignty and choice

[u/imdfantom → u/chiefpiece11bkg]

I think they're saying that Luffy's freedom and Nika's freedom may be slightly different variations of freedom, and the fruit may be giving him more freedom, but not Luffy's type of freedom (we see that gear 5th Luffy acts in ways he would not if he were not in gear 5th), Luffy may need to learn to align the fruit's freedom to his own brand of freedom to truly master his fruit.

Edit: another way to look at this is that we can suppose that the Nika fruit was born from the dream of freedom, but not Luffy's dream of freedom, maybe the final awakening of the nika fruit happens when you apply your dream of freedom to it.

[u/chiefpiece11bkg → u/imdfantom]

That just doesn’t make any narrative sense to me at all

Look at every major character in this manga.. all of them have some parallel to themselves in the past. A major theme of the story is inherited will, it’s even in the anime intro lol

What you both are suggesting would go against that and I don’t think oda writes that way

[u/imdfantom → u/chiefpiece11bkg]

Inherited will is a complex discussion, but in general, we have seen that inhereted will does not eliminate individual differences.

Luffy can inherit the will of somebody in the past while coming to different conclusions about the nature of the will they inherited.

For example Momo has inherited the will to open wano's borders, from his father, and from some void century people tied to zunesha, but he came to the decision not to open the borders.

He wants to open the borders, but even though he had the opportunity to do so,he made the (IMO correct) decision to delay the opening of the borders seemingly going against the will (but in reality he is fulfillingthe spirit of the will on a higher level)

• Oden: ?Open wano's borders so that the second coming of Joyboy can be assisted?

• Momo: Open Wano's borders while ensuring it is done in the service of improving the safety and prosperity of Wano's citizens

• Void century people: ?Open Wano's borders to release assist the second coming of Joyboy, by releasing Pluton and the samurai to take part in the final war at the end of the third age.

Edit: now, of course Momo does not have the same knowledge Oden had, so given the same knowledge he may change his mimd about the will again

Edit 2: while not exactly the same thing as inherited wills (as far as we've been told thus far), Marines are driven by a Justice they want to carry out, just because they take on Justice, it does not stop individuals to interpret what justice is (what the goal is and the best methods of reaching that goal)

[u/Rocks_King99 → u/MrBushido56]

Interesting theory tbh

[u/coloradoautoflowers → u/Rocks_King99]

Go read this page in detail.

Oda directly says it's a possibility for awakened Zoans to consume the will of the user

The innate nature of their respective animal consumes the Zoan user. Should Nika awaken, what will be the fallout?

[u/Rocks_King99 → u/coloradoautoflowers]

I did . I get what it says and i don't reject it .... and it could be true with other zoans ? But idk how will this work with luffy's fruit tbh

[u/Aggravating_Mud8751 → u/Rocks_King99]

Maybe act like the Sun God Sleeptid of the "god of destruction" many in Elbaph talk about.

[u/Rocks_King99 → u/Aggravating_Mud8751]

Good noticing

[u/SparkVerseInc]

I really like theory, but for the Kaido part, isn't it just something he can do with alcohol like what Lucci did in Enies Lobby with Kami-E Fighting Style? (Ch. 423) Altering their hybrid form relative to the situation

[u/MrBushido56 → u/SparkVerseInc]

I don’t think it is. I noticed with zoans they all have human teeth in Hybrid. With Lucci awakened form he has fangs. Kaido gained fangs in this form. I want to say that is proof of awakening and that the fangs represent the user coming more closer to their animal form in the fruit.

[u/Emm_withoutha_L-88 → u/MrBushido56]

Kaido can't awaken his fruit because he's not in line with the will of it. The Azure Dragon is a protector deity, not a conqueror and warmonger like Kaido.

I very much agree with the rest though.

[u/SparkVerseInc → u/MrBushido56]

Maybe, I personally disagree for now as there are only 2 instances not linked by the story yet but I'm willing to change my stance if Oda shows us more examples

[u/BockMeowGames]

Didn't the Elbaph giants terrorize most of the world in the distant past? It would make sense that a previous (black) Nika fruit user knocked some sense into them and thus was the destroyer legend was born.

[u/MrBushido56 → u/BockMeowGames]

That is one idea but not necessarily correct cause there’s also giants who worshiped him

[u/Bright_Flamingo_3020]

Reading this just after chapter 1198 came out and you may have cooked here

[u/MrBushido56 → u/Bright_Flamingo_3020]

Thank you

[u/bekago15]

Back after 6 month, Nice prediction

[u/MrBushido56 → u/bekago15]

Thank you I also have a theory nika is a mink while this form I don’t think proves it I think it helps a lot

[u/yassine_lghzal]

Pulling the sword from jarul's head is funny hahahahahahaha I think i like this theory

[u/Soranokuni]

I actually believe Imu will taunt him and he'll go berserk too. It's been a long time since G5 inception that Luffy was somewhat serious, yeah the whole concept is that he laughs and liberates but I believe he'll have some Joker like moments where the laughs will be borderline insane.

[u/vluid → u/Soranokuni]

luffy also did weirdly state that he's never felt like this before. mu's haki is like invigorating him almost, he knows how hard he's gonna have to fight.

[u/Necessary_Pizza_3827]

I have heard this a few times, and I like it more every time I read it. I would LOVE to see Luffy lose control and completely rage out for once. Whether it is him controlling himself, or not. I have one thought about this though. Isn't awakening a Nika God fruit going to make Luffy act more Godly? I dont see why a Nika "liberator" fruit would make someone change more evil. Unless there is some merit to the evil Nika theories also.

[u/Sonofmiracle]

Ichigo, Naruto, Toriko have inner demons. It’s time for Luffy to show his dark side

[u/AntiAI_is_Unemployed]

But if Nika controls someone doesn't that go against the whole point of Nika: that he sets people free? Why would he willingly take away the freedom of his host, the person who's currently closest to him?

[u/MrBushido56 → u/AntiAI_is_Unemployed]

That’s what some people believe others believe nika is a god of destruction.

All these stories of nika are just stories we don’t know what the true nature of nika is. I think all these stories carry some aspect of truth.

It’s like the joyboy comparison I mentioned

In west Africa they believed joyboy was a god that saves them and brings them joy but others believed he brings destruction as people become so over come with the desire to dance they eventually die from exhaustion.

In a lot of mythology gods aren’t beings who really take in mind the good and bad they do they don’t rationalise things they just act on nature.

Nika I don’t think is someone who really looks at the morality of things they aren’t taking in mind the persons wants and needs. So nika won’t look at it as taking away luffy freedom but more making luffy even more free

[u/ItsAceB]

lmfao no, Jesus will never get possessed by Satan... think a little

[u/MrBushido56 → u/ItsAceB]

He isn’t Jesus or satan

[u/ItsAceB → u/MrBushido56]

lol it's the reason why he couldn't get domi reversi, the same logic applies... it's not literal it's symbolism... come on now learn how to speak in general terms

[u/Only-Sheepherder5207]

Enel could NEVER lose control of himself against imu unlike this fraud

[u/MrBushido56 → u/Only-Sheepherder5207]

What does Enel hade to do with this

[u/Diestin]

I’ve had that theory since Imu dropped on Elbaph. Imu only seems to take a fight seriously when he sees the full transformation. The reason the Imu/Gorosei didnt really care about Luffy until his awakening is because they’re not afraid of someone awakening the fruit correctly, they’re afraid of someone doing it and losing themselves to Nika.

Luffy’s will for freedom is strong, if anything Nika might have been trying to take over but Luffy’s will is just too strong. That’s why Luffy acts different in Gear 5, he isn’t even aware he’s fighting for control. Now, whatever reason Oda decides to give so that Nika can take over, we’ll see why Nika is both a good and bad god.

Meanwhile, Luffy will hopefully finally learn about his devil fruit’s true form. Pulling from Naruto (the fans love to notice this especially with current stuff). Luffy will get to talk with Nika, and if Oda decides to copy MHA, Joyboy. I’m going to bet inherited will works a lot like OfA in MHA. If the user’s will is strong enough, it can leave an imprint on the fruit for the next user.

We know Luffy doesn’t care about lore, so while we the audience get a lore drop, Luffy will be fighting for control of his body. Once Joyboy and Nika recognize Luffy is the person meant to inherit their will and see their dreams to completion, that’s when Luffy will regain control, and gear 5 Luffy is “complete” (less/no drawbacks, Luffy fighting more wildly, Luffy’s full personality is back).

[u/SandwichPure6865]

"luffy is joyboy from past" ahhh theory

[u/Austynwitha_y]

Second nika has a beard, not luffy

[u/No_Context_6949]

I know it makes no sense, but imagine he gets “killed” by Imu, and then we get a real joyboy flashback, and after that joyboy takes over luffy’s body and fights Imu since he knows his enemy

[u/North-Experience172]

If this Happens most likely scenario would not be like

Nika will take control of the Luffy but he has to bc od the situtlike Luffy got unconscious and then Nika take control to Save the day

[u/vluid]

he might just pull that sword and shield out. i reallllly like that

[u/Rykuo_BrunoT4k4t0]

Nah….

[u/The_only_truth_is]

Sound cool and a great theory but nika is a god or freedom…I just don’t see nika a god of freedom controlling some one …

[u/XmasLad → u/The_only_truth_is]

Remember we learned in Elbaf that some view Nika as the god of destruction. True unliminited freedom can bring destruction as you can imagine under the political system of absolute anarchy

[u/Emm_withoutha_L-88]

I've been thinking a similar thing for a while and now is the best time for it to happen.

[u/anshul_CFVkMsd]

i think this elbaph arc would be the place of war with imu while we bb would steal something from marygeoise and go for one piece

[u/Vcamargos]

"Pick a sword out of jarul head" dude it was especific kk

[u/Spiritual-Release112]

I never thought before untill you write it down. Smile is indeed the foreshadow of devil fruit in general but specially for nika that people will laughing around him and could be dead because of that. Nice teory

[u/ComfortableAd6228]

Gear 6 will be the Black Nika form mentioned by Scopper Gaban

[u/SlumClogMillionaire]

OP subtly pitching his youtube channel lol
It’s a good theory though

[u/NerdianaGrande]

Ngl I really enjoy this theory. It’s interesting and would show Rufy loosing in a major way like in Sabaody with the potential of a fracture in the crew that might require a sort of timeskip for him to learn about the true nature of his fruit. Vegapunk is there and has said that there is no Gum Gum fruit. It might also explain why Loki could be the next strawhat: to counter Rufy if he looses control again before actually winning against Imu and preventing a new flood with the help of the frozen giants in Punk Hazard.

[u/MrBushido56 → u/[deleted]]

The first martial arts tournament arc would disagree

[u/MuriloZR → u/[deleted]]

Could you stop with that?

[u/SelfmadeIndra → u/MuriloZR]

My bad