One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has a habit of introducing important characters in silhouettes or mysterious forms, only revealing their full illustration much later in the story when the time is right. However, there is now a chance for One Piece fans to force Oda to reveal the character’s official design early. The character in question is one of the most significant figures in the narrative, having first been mentioned in the Fish-Man Island Arc over a decade ago. Since then, hints about this character’s importance have been dropped throughout the story, and the Egghead Arc even provided a silhouette of the character.
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The mysterious and significant character is the one revealed to be the first-ever pirate, Joy Boy, and there is now an opportunity for fans to reveal the design of this character. This opportunity comes from the second worldwide popularity poll for One Piece, dubbed the WORLD TOP 100, which began on March 4, 2026, and will run until June 11. The results of this poll will be revealed in August, along with special illustrations for the top 100 characters who make the list. Thus, fans can effectively force a special illustration of this mysterious character from the creator, and the same could also apply to other mysterious characters.
One Piece Fans Can Bring Mysterious Characters Into Full View Through Votes
While Joy Boy is one of the mysterious characters currently depicted only in silhouettes, Imu, presumably the final villain of the series, also remains shrouded in mystery. The popularity poll includes more than 1,500 characters from One Piece, covering the story from Chapter 1 to Chapter 1166. This means that if fans manage to push Imu into the top 100 as well, Eiichiro Oda would have to create a special illustration for this mysterious character, too. However, since both of these characters are extremely significant to the narrative and their appearances are intentionally kept ambiguous for a major reveal later on, the special illustrations could still portray them in silhouette.
There is also the possibility that the One Piece manga itself may reveal these characters before the results are announced. The current arc in Elbaf is at a crucial point, with Imu at the center of the conflict and Monkey D. Luffy seemingly set to confront them. A flashback during this stage of the story could potentially reveal the full designs of Joyboy and Imu. It would make sense if this possibility had already been considered, and Oda may indeed be planning to unveil their appearances before the results of the popularity poll. In any case, all One Piece fans need to do to potentially see the full designs of Imu and Joyboy in a special illustration is consistently vote for them and wait for the results in August 2026.
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