I was reading through the reddit forums theories regarding Imu-Sama and Joy Boy and re-reading certain panels and I can’t help but find certain parallels seem to stick in some arguments and some seem too obvious. For those who might be interested, here are my old One Piece tinfoil theories such as Imu-Sama ordering Vivi’s death and Garp possibly being Imu-Sama. So, here are my new tinfoil theories that probably aren’t going to be true; but hey, all in good fun. I’ll start with what is probably the least likely to what I think is most likely. So, it’ll be in reverse order, but I’d like to preface some of them with why I think what I do.
Tinfoil Theory 1: Usopp is Joy Boy and Luffy is a Red-herring (Weakest)
My main argument for this is that Luffy is way too obvious, I do think it’ll probably be Luffy simply because of all the build-up, but assuming Oda wants to throw a curveball here and Luffy is POSSIBLY a red-herring, if the prophesized Joy Boy is going to be someone who isn’t Luffy, then I think the next best candidate is Usopp.
Usopp’s goal is to be a vague, undefined “brave man of the sea” and get to Elbaf. Elbaf is obviously fable backwards and Usopp has two separate bounties which are both based on lies that he himself spread. Sogeking and the “God” Usopp legend. Interestingly enough, his lies always come true. Joy Boy made some mysterious promise, which many theorize is getting rid of the Redline so that the All Blue is created and all these different fantasy races and humans live together in harmony. It is Usopp’s story throughout One Piece that shows him befriending and aiding different fantasy races throughout One Piece from the giants in Enies Lobby to the Dwarves in Dressrosa. Assuming any of those hare-brained “Joy Boy is Luffy from the future sent back in time” have any kernel of truth and that’s where Oda takes the story of One Piece, then I find Usopp being sent off back in time to become the legend of Joy Boy to be of a far greater likelihood with Luffy dying in a bittersweet ending from his lifespan depletion by the end of One Piece. Of course, this presents its own tragedy, since Usopp will never reunite with Kaya or his young pals ever again, but I think the fact we all assume that Usopp will return to his village and settle down with Kaya as a given might be Oda playing with our heartstrings. One seemingly innocuous thing that bothered me which seems like a bizarre and purposeful oversight is that we still don’t know Usopp’s last name. Nami’s is never mentioned because Nojiko found her during some pirate raid before Bellmere found and saved them, but we actually know both of Usopp’s parents but not his last name and given the fact that Sanji’s last name and parents ended-up being so relevant to the story and Sanji’s backstory when before we only knew him as “Sanji” in the story, I can’t help but feel perturbed that we still don’t know Usopp’s last name. I suspect we’ll learn more about Nami and her mysterious ability to detect weather in the future, because both seem like very curious omissions. These seem like huge Chekhov’s guns and if Usopp is indeed Joy Boy reincarnated or becomes Joy Boy in his future by somehow going back in time, then it strangely fits that Roger’s crew would be laughing at a joke that Joy Boy made since Usopp makes very funny jokes in the Strawhat crew or that Joy Boy invented weapons of mass destruction when we know Usopp can invent some of the best weapons. It also seems strangely fitting since it was Usopp who briefly left the Straw Hat Pirates during the Water 7 Arc only to come back as Sniper King and it fits the theme of being friends no matter how far the distance such as with the Strawhat farewell to Vivi. Usopp being separated from the crew forever, becoming the legendary figure of Joy Boy, and setting it all in motion like a god seems like something I could see Oda doing. He would indeed fulfill his dream of becoming a Brave Man of the Sea, would invent the greatest weapons, would be able to tell one final joke to Luffy (thus making the Roger Pirates laugh when they read Usopp’s joke message), and Roger wanting to have lived in Joy Boy’s era would have meant the future and not the past. The two things that might immediately come up is Shanks with Yassop in his crew and Rayleigh thinking Joy Boy was Luffy and not Usopp; Shanks didn’t make the full journey and probably doesn’t know what’s written there. It is also possible that Usopp left things vague or deliberately lied in his message so that Rayleigh and others would think it is Luffy. Whatever the message was is clearly vague enough that Roger hoped it’d be his own son.
I must repeat I doubt any of this’ll happen, but if Joy Boy has any connection with time travel, then I see this as the most reasonable conclusion.
Tinfoil Theory 2: Imu-sama zombified Roger’s body and is personally using it (Weak)
Since zombies were introduced via Gecko Moria and we have no idea what the World Gov’t did with Roger’s body, and fan theorists on here suggesting that Roger or Xebec are somehow Imu-Sama; I postulate that – assuming Imu-sama isn’t somehow Garp, which I think is more likely – Imu-sama is using Vegapunk and the supposed magic 1000-year fruit in the Celestial Dragon territory to make Roger’s dead carcass a powerful, zombified body in order to keep himself alive and in peak condition. Assuming he’s some ancient person, it’s possible that his real body died out because the fruit giving the Celestial Dragons their supposed “immortality” may have a limit and upon capturing Vegapunk, Imu-sama has been using the mad doctor to prolong his own life. It’s possible a lot of these secret world government experiments have been specifically at the behest of Imu-sama so he can continue ruling in the shadows forever. Perhaps there’s a reason why the bodies that he uses couldn’t become unkillable like Kaido’s body. Imu-sama may have wanted to procure the strongest fighters to pilfer their strength and decided to do that with Roger. So the final fight of One Piece will be a person who sees strength only on the outside, procuring and using Roger’s dead husk to rule the world forever versus Luffy, who represents Roger’s Inherited Will and the true spirit of Roger himself.
Final Tinfoil Theory: Blackbeard literally is Rocks D. Xebec (Highly Likely)
A lot of people speculate that Blackbeard is his son, Blackbeard inherited Rocks D. Xebec’s will, or he’s a huge fanboy since he named one of his ships Saber of Xebec and their base of operations, Hachinosu, is the exact same location area where the Rocks Pirates were formed. More than that though, their entire modus operandi is the same. Both Rocks and Blackbeard find strong people to put in their pirate ship without any concern for camaraderie and they do the bare minimum with forming those ships; what united both Rocks and Blackbeard’s crew is simply power and acquiring more of it for themselves. Shiryu even stated that they’d disband if Blackbeard failed to be able to use two devil fruits at once during the Marineford war.
Initially, it seemed like Marshall D. Teach had found a journal of Rocks somehow (similar to Oden’s journal) since the age difference between Rocks’s supposed death and Teach’s age seemed to make that idea problematic, but Rocks is said to have dabbled in taboo material and Blackbeard just so happens . . . to know quite a lot about taboo material from using two devil fruits, to the ins and outs of the specific devil fruit that he killed Thatch for, and to his lack of ability to sleep and irregular body structure. There’s also been rabid speculation as to Teach possibly having multiple personalities to explain his double devil fruit usage, what Luffy and Zoro meant by “them” during their first meeting with him, his pirate flag having 3 skulls, and – what really caught my attention – his teeth. Usually they’re knocked out, yet there’s one panel where Teach has a full set of teeth. Well, what if Rocks – a man who is stated to have dabbled in the taboo by Sengoku – and the mystery behind Blackbeard’s body are one and the same? The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. If you recall, many people get annoyed when Teach screws-up initially (facing Magellan, in particular) and then beats his opponents with sheer ruthlessness such as with Ace. What if it’s literally two different people behaving of their own accord when they’ve “taken control” of Teach’s body? The screw-up, Marshall D. Teach, who has dreams of becoming Pirate King but has Xebec somehow in his head or in control of his body whenever he needs to “sleep” within himself and Rocks D. Xebec as the ruthless mastermind who knew about what the Darkness fruit did, probably ate Whitebeard’s heart after exploiting his old crewmate’s weakness in wanting a family, captured and sent his bitter rival’s son to be executed by the Marines, destroyed Chopper’s hometown with ruthless zeal, and went back to starting up his Rocks Pirate crew with a different name. A Man’s Dream Will Never Die / People’s Dreams Never End, after all. Perhaps that was more literal than we thought.
When I first heard of Rocks, I had thought since Jewelry Bonney got into the Celestial Dragon domain, that maybe Rocks was taken as a slave and her plan was to give him back his youth using her Awakening; but that is still a huge Chekhov’s Gun that has not been given any further explanation as to what she’s doing there. Since the narrative has moved away from Rocks a bit, I would say that the mystery behind Blackbeard’s body is that sometimes he’s Marshall D. Teach and sometimes he’s Rocks D. Xebec and that’s a possible reason why he can use two devil fruits. People speculate on whether Shanks asked the Gorosei about Blackbeard or – with the revelation of Xebec’s existence – speculate he asked the Gorosei about Xebec . . . but what if that question is the exact same because Teach and Xebec inhabit the same body? Teach’s knowledge of the forbidden (such as what mysterious thing he did to acquire Whitebeard’s fruit); could it have come from some secret diary of Rocks that only he has privy to or could he literally be Rocks D. Xebec himself?
Of course, all this tin foil theorizing doesn’t explain the how and I think we’ll get that explanation from something regarding Vegapunk and his connections to the taboo. Perhaps he fulfilled a request for Xebec similar to Kuma for some yet unspecified reason such as owing Xebec a debt or support for his cause due to his own self-interests. Vegapunk somehow put Xebec’s consciousness or soul into a Guinea pig Marshall D. Teach in fulfillment of Xebec’s wishes; Teach having been born two years prior to Rocks Pirates fall according to the timeline. As for why? We probably won’t know until a much later time. This would pit the narrative as Luffy, someone who inherited Roger’s will voluntarily versus Blackbeard, a Frankenstein monster who had Xebec’s “will” imposed upon him because Xebec was more brutal and took the concept more literally without caring about the ramifications of imposing his will on a helpless child and then manipulating Marshall D. Teach into becoming his puppet from inside Teach’s own body by twisting his boyhood dreams of becoming Pirate King. The final fight between them being about Freedom of Will vs Imposition of Will.
Anyway, perhaps the last one could be true, perhaps it is not. I think it is most likely to be true and that the mystery of Rocks and Teach’s body will converge to be one and the same and Luffy will have to fight Rocks D. Xebec himself one-on-one to obtain the One Piece.
That’s all, enjoy this anime clip of Roger finding One Piece.