The Dream World of D.: Joy Boy, Blackbeard and the Awakening of Wills
I came across a post on Instagram that suggested an unusual theory: Blackbeard never sleeps because the spirit of Xebec resides within him. If Blackbeard were to fall asleep, Xebec would seize control and unleash chaos upon the world. At first, the idea didn’t strike me as particularly convincing—but it planted a seed.
There are many theories about the existence of a kind of "parallel world," a dreamlike realm that runs alongside the world of One Piece. And then I had a strange thought: nearly every character with the initial “D.” is shown smiling just before their death. Fans know this well—Gol D. Roger died with a smile, Ace too. That curious detail made me connect it back to the earlier theory.
Here’s what we know: the Gum-Gum Fruit (or rather, the Nika Fruit) seems to possess a will of its own. It didn’t “allow itself” to be found until the right time came. Joy Boy, most likely, was its original bearer—and without doubt a carrier of the D. His spirit, traveling across centuries, could only resurface in the real world through his inheritors of the D. line. That’s why, when they died, their final smile wasn’t just acceptance—it was Joy Boy’s spirit briefly surfacing again.
But because those who smiled had never eaten the Gum-Gum Fruit, the spirit always vanished afterward. Until Luffy. When Kaido struck him down, Luffy was essentially dead—yet he smiled. And in that instant, Joy Boy’s spirit reemerged. But this time, it didn’t fade away, because it had finally found the one who had eaten the Gum-Gum Fruit. That’s why Luffy’s transformation is called an “awakening”: it wasn’t just the fruit, it was the long-awaited reunion between Joy Boy’s spirit and the Nika Fruit itself.
As Vegapunk said, Devil Fruits are more than powers—they’re crystallized dreams, the manifested desires of people.
Let’s imagine it this way: the “Will of D.” is not simply a family trait or a bloodline. It’s a key, a bridge between the tangible world and the dreamlike realm where spirits, desires, and lost wills exist. In this dream world reside both forgotten souls—like Joy Boy’s—and the essence of Devil Fruits themselves, since Fruits are said to embody human dreams and desires.
Now, here’s the critical point: the Gum-Gum/Nika Fruit wasn’t just waiting for anyone. It was waiting for the D. who could act as a vessel strong enough to anchor Joy Boy’s spirit from the dream world back into reality. That’s why Luffy’s “death” at the hands of Kaido triggered the awakening. His body failed, but his will—combined with the Nika Fruit—pulled Joy Boy fully into the world again. It wasn’t just Luffy awakening the fruit; it was the fruit and Joy Boy awakening through Luffy.
And this circles back to Blackbeard. If Xebec’s spirit truly lingers inside him, then Blackbeard may be living proof of the same connection between the dream world and reality—but in a darker, chaotic form. Where Joy Boy represents freedom, laughter, and inherited dreams, Xebec embodies domination and destruction. Blackbeard’s strange body, capable of holding multiple Devil Fruits, might be the result of his spirit straddling both realms at once.
In the end, the Will of D. might not just be a mystery about bloodlines—it may be the very ability to serve as a “doorway” between worlds, letting forgotten wills, dreams, and powers shape reality itself.
