Luffy being the new Joy Boy hasn’t been up for debate since Zunesha confirmed it back in Wano. What’s still unresolved is who the original one was, and One Piece Chapter 1188 just handed Imu a line that sounds like it’s challenging that whole premise.
Chapter 1187 ended with Imu addressing Luffy as Joy Boy mid-fight, and Luffy immediately rejected it, insisting he’s Monkey D. Luffy, the man who’s becoming Pirate King on his own terms. Chapter 1188, titled “Void”, picks up that fight and ends with Imu delivering a verdict that sounds a lot more personal than it first appears.
What Imu Actually Says About Joy Boy
The chapter opens on Imu’s own flashback, not Luffy’s, and for the first time, we get an actual look at the man himself. We only see the lower half of a smiling face, but it’s drawn to look identical to Luffy’s grin. Imu’s line over that memory is blunt.
“That’s right, Joyboy is already dead.”
Luffy and Imu trade blows for most of the chapter, and Luffy is outclassed at nearly every turn. By the final pages, Imu shape-shifts their weapon into a new blade called Void and drives it into Luffy, echoing the exact moment Crocodile stabbed him back in Alabasta. The verdict lands right after.
“I know you are not Joyboy, and if you were Joyboy, you wouldn’t be this weak.”
Does This Actually Debunk Anything?
Not really, and if you ranked the theories with us a few days ago, this chapter is closer to a confirmation than a contradiction.
Imu isn’t arguing that Luffy has the wrong name. Imu is comparing Luffy to a specific man from 900 years ago who apparently fought and died in a real war, which lines up exactly with the top-ranked theory that Joy Boy led the Ancient Kingdom’s army against the twenty kingdoms that became the World Government.
That flashback smile matters here too. It’s the first time Oda has shown Joy Boy as a distinct physical person rather than just a name on a Poneglyph, and it makes the theory that Joy Boy was only a symbolic title even harder to defend than it already was.
So Imu isn’t debunking the idea that Luffy is Joy Boy’s heir. Imu is debunking the idea that Luffy has already caught up to what the original one actually was, which is a much narrower claim, and one that the story was always going to make Luffy grow into rather than arrive with.
One Piece is on a scheduled break after Chapter 1188, with Chapter 1189 set for July 26, 2026.
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