In the latest chapter of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda revealed a new fact about the 5 Elders of Gorosei. They are, in fact, the remaining kings who became allies to Im Sama during the war against Joy Boy in the era of the Void Century. This war happened over 900 years ago and it has been revealed that the 20 kings who remained loyal to Im Sama and fought against Joy Boy have now been reduced to 5 Elders of Gorosei.
The Gorosei are so loyal to Im Sama that they are willing to do whatever it takes, even come out of the shadows, when the existence of the new God Nika within Luffy appeared. Looking back 900 years ago, Nika was within Joy Boy and ruled over the ancient kingdom. This was when Im Sama and Joy Boy had their historic conflict.
The story starts with Luffy going back in time 900 years to when two brothers were in power and how their destinies changed. One of the brothers was Im Sama, while the other was Dyras, aka Joy Boy. In Luffy’s journey to the past, many interesting things are revealed, including why Im Sama turned on Joy Boy.
It turns out Joy Boy decided to pass his throne down to his younger brother as he was the rightful heir. However, the firstborn Im Sama was not happy with this, which led him to start a coup d’état, working with the 20 kingdoms they got rid of Joy Boy. Nika was revealed to be Joy Boy’s Devil Fruit power, used before Luffy.
Back in the present day, Im Sama felt the same two heartbeats when Luffy returned from the past, revealing his knowledge of the past. All was revealed when the Elders of Gorosei noticed Luffy’s straw hat while thinking it was Shanks’ hat. The knowledge of the past was a threat to Im Sama, who saw the need to eliminate Shanks.
The 20 ancient kings mentioned earlier were revealed to have betrayed Joy Boy and fought alongside Im Sama. 14 of them perished in the war, but 6 survived, with 5 becoming the Elders of Gorosei we know today. The Pemerintah Dunia we see in the current era of One Piece is made up of these 5 Elders of Gorosei and Im Sama.
The story of One Piece revolves around Joy Boy, Im Sama, and Nefertari Lily, the Queen of Earth, who together form the Lord of Ancient Kingdom and the Queen of Sea. Though some of the above is just speculation and entertainment, it’s interesting to explore the theories around the characters in One Piece.
