One Piece: All Users Of The Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, Explained

The Elbaf arc of One Piece is well and truly underway and fans are getting a ton of exciting content to look forward to in the story. As things stand, Oda has already revealed a ton of lore regarding both Elbaf, and with it, the ancient history of the One Piece world. If there’s one thing that is held in very high regard among the people of Elbaf, it is the Sun God Nika, and that just means the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, better known as the Gomu Gomu no Mi, must be sacred here.

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Oda introduced Luffy as the first known user of this Devil Fruit, but as the story continued and more details were made known about Devil Fruits and how they function, it became clear that Luffy was, in fact, not the first user. There have been multiple users of this fruit and that’s exactly what is being discussed here.

The First User Of The Hito Hito No Mi, Model: Nika

• The Original Nika Was Not A Devil Fruit User
• Joy Boy Became The First User Of The Devil Fruit

For the longest time, fans were confused as to whether the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika was first eaten by Joy Boy, or if it existed before him and the original Nika had its power too, or if Luffy was actually the first user of the Devil Fruit. With One Piece chapter 1044, some context was given to the fans about this and it became apparent that Luffy was not the first user of the Devil Fruit. However, things only got fully clear once the Harley was introduced in the story during the Elbaf arc. Once Nico Robin read the Harley and fans got to see a mural in the bark of the Adam Tree, it became very clear that Luffy was, in fact, not the first Nika at all.

Here’s what the Harley had to say about the World Myth, and the idea of the Nika:

First World

Flames engulfed the land, and humans succumbed to their desires, touching the forbidden Sun. The enslaved prayed, and the Sun God appeared. The Earth God was enraged, and together with the serpent of infernal flames, shrouded the world in death and darkness. They would never meet again.

Second World

Breath stirred within the void, and the Forest God sent forth demons. The Sun did nothing but spread the fires of war. The people of the half-moon dreamed, the people of the full-moon dreamed. Humans slew the Sun and became Gods, and the Sea God raged. They Would never meet again.

Third World

In chaos, there is void. The troubled shadow remembers the promised day, and hears the voice of the fractured moon. The Sun God dances and laughs, leading the world to its end. The sun will return once more, and a new dawn will arrive. Surely, this time, they will meet again.

It is clear based on the Harley that Nika first came into existence during the First World. This was long before the Void Century. During this time, Joy Boy didn’t exist. It is said that the world had gained the ability to control Mother Flame, an undying source of energy, and with it, flame many wars. There was a sovereign of the world at the time, and even more than that, fans also saw slavery being put into practice to mine the raw materials for the Mother Flame as well. Because of the abuse they suffered, the slaves prayed and the Sun God Nika appeared. How Nika came into existence isn’t known yet, but it is clearly mentioned in the Harley that the Devil Fruits spawned in the Second World. Meaning, the original Nika existed during the time of the First World without any Devil Fruits.

In the Second World, the people of the Half-moon and the Full moon saw a dream, and perhaps it was this dream that led to the creation of the Nika fruit. As fans know, Joy Boy ended up consuming this Devil Fruit and he awakened it as well. He became the Warrior of Liberation. Eventually, Joy Boy awakened the Devil Fruit, becoming Nika in the process, and this is when he fought against the 20 Kings and lost.

Joy Boy was slain by Imu and his men, and events the world was destroyed.

The Second Known User Of The Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika

Luffy Is The Second Known User Of The Nika Fruit

It has already been established in the story that Devil Fruits reincarnate once the user dies. As such, these fruits will never cease to exist. Once Joy Boy died, it was only a matter of time before the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika would resurface. The Government tried to get their hands on the fruit for years, but failed. They came incredibly close to gaining it at one point, when Who’s Who and his CP9 were transporting the fruit to the Celestial Dragons, specifically the Five Elders. However, much to their surprise, they were attacked by Shanks, who stole the fruit.

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Eventually, Shanks set up base in Foosha village, which is where Luffy ended up consuming this Devil Fruit by mistake, becoming its second user. Luffy has learned the powers of this fruit well enough, and he’s even awakened it, tapping into the power of Gear 5.

Could There Have Been More Users Of The Nika Fruit?

Oda Wanted To Do A Story With A Previous Gomu Gomu no Mi User

Although not many fans know this, there could’ve been a previous user of the Gomu Gomu no Mi between Joy Boy and Luffy. Now, it must be remembered that the Gorosei said that they had been chasing the Devil Fruit for centuries and that they were never successful. It must also be remembered that they clearly stated that the Devil Fruit has not been awakened for 800 years. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there was no other user of the fruit. It could also mean that someone else had the Gomu Gomu no Mi but failed to awaken it.

In fact, according to the scriptwriter of Film Red, the original plan of the movie was for Luffy to go into the past and meet the previous user of the Gomu Gomu no Mi. Oda also suggested adding more characters like Doflamingo and Crocodile into the mix. This idea was, expectedly, scrapped. But, Oda usually discards ideas that he uses for movies, and since this was scrapped, it means that there exists another boy with the Gomu Gomu no Mi after Joy Boy, but before Luffy, is very real.

One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus apps. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1140, is set to be February 23, 2025.

One Piece

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

Directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

• 

  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

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  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)