One Piece keeps piling up on mysteries after mysteries by introducing new characters or stories. Believe it or not, it keeps us asking for more. In the latest Wano Country arc, Eiichiro Oda introduced a new character who has come up with some answers (and new questions?). I am talking about the infamous Sun God “Nika”.
The shocking revelation was brought forth during Jinbe’s battle against Who’s Who. This “God” of the Sun, Nika was a legendary figure centuries ago, with no relevance to the current plot of One Piece.
However, that’s never the case with the series. So, it is safe to assume that Sun God “Nika” will heavily influence the story moving forward.
Not only that but there are also rumors going around that Luffy has some sort of mysterious connection with the Sun God. I will talk about this further in the article.
Continue reading to know more about this legendary mysterious figure! Please note that the theories are speculative to some extent, based on what little evidence is available to us. Read at your own discretion.
Who Is The Sun God Nika?
From what we know so far, “Nika” is a legendary figure who was revered as a God by slaves centuries ago. However, his association with the Sun, as in his name the Sun God Nika suggests, is still unclear.
It is said that Nika was prophesied to free the slaves and bring smiles to the faces of the people. As the legend grew popular, the slaves from across the ancient world began praying to him piously and hoping for the freedom that Nika would bring to them.
The legend said that he would protect the slaves from anyone who would harm them. But Who’s Who expressed that it is unknown if he was real or a phantom created from the dreams of the slaves from back then.
But whether he was real or not has little importance as the legend seems to run far more profound than meets the eye.
Who’s Who was captured by the World government for failing to protect a devil fruit. There he heard about the legend from a prison guard and started praying to Nika, hoping to escape from the prison. He eventually broke out of the facility. Later, when he was fighting Jinbe, he spoke about the Sun God.
Who's Who Discusses Nika During His Battle Against Jinbe
But, why is it that it took us so long to come across such a legendary figure? It turns out, that the World government was trying to hide Nika’s existence. So it was next to impossible to know about something that the government had gone to such lengths to hide. More about this further in the article.
Evidence for this claim, however, can be derived from when the guard who told Who’s Who about Nika mysteriously disappeared; hinting at the fact that the government is trying hard to keep the veil over the mystery of Nika.
Fun Fact: The devil fruit that Who’s Who failed to protect was stolen by Shanks and it was none other than Gomu Gomu no Mi that Luffy consumed!
How Are Nika & Luffy Related?
Fasten your seat belts, because this revelation is gonna throw you off the chair. Luffy and Nika share similarities to an extent that you can call Luffy Nika’s reincarnation. Yes. Luffy and Nika are related, but not by blood.
It's more based on the other aspects of their lives and personalities. For starters, Nika’s appearance in the silhouetted image shows that he may have had the same noodly and lanky limbs as Luffy has.
Then it was revealed in One Piece’s manga chapter 1044, that the devil fruit that Luffy owns, Gomu Gomu no Mi, is, in reality, a Zoan-type Hito Hito no Mi, modeled after Nika. The World government is hellbent on destroying the fruit because of its connection with Nika.
Gomu Gomu no Mi stolen by the Red Hair Pirates That Luffy Eats
They even went as far as to change its name to Gomu Gomu no Mi so that it would avoid unnecessary attention. Unfortunately for them, Luffy is the current owner of the said devil fruit.
And if they want it, they will have to put up one hell of a fight. Luffy is not going to make it easy for them. This could be one of the things that can be addressed in the final saga of one piece!
Fun Fact: Luffy mirrors the legend of Nika perfectly about liberating the slaves. The rubber man may not have liberated the slaves in the exact sense, but he has liberated many cities and towns from various villainous adversaries.
For example, He freed Cocoyashi village from Arlong and the Arabasta Kingdom from Crocodile and Baroque Works.
Now, onto the next one.
What is Sun God Nika’s Connection to Skypiea?
I’m going to throw another surprise your way. A certain Sun God was mentioned during the Sky Island saga and none of us made gave it much of a thought until much later. Believe it or not, it was 400 years ago, when Shandora and Jaya were one.
Back then, Shandora was facing a deadly curse and a dying priest suggested offering young girls as a sacrifice so that the curse would disappear.
Mousse, great warrior Calgara’s daughter mentions to her mother how she would get to meet the “Sun God” after her sacrifice. The young botanist Montblanc Noland managed to stop the sacrifice, earning the slander of the Shandia warriors.
Calgara's Daughter, Mousse Talks About Meeting Sun God
Shandia warriors from 400 years ago worshipped the Kishigami snake as the Sun God. But of course, we still don’t know if Nika was somehow related to Skypiea itself.
However, Nika wore the same clothes as the Shandia warriors as seen from the silhouette. To know anymore about Nika, we will have to wait for Oda to make more revelations.
Until then, stay tuned for more updates!
