One Piece has five carriers of the Sun God’s power. Only three of them are Sun Gods in the story’s own terms. Nika, Joy Boy and Luffy hold the title. Jewelry Bonney and Saint Killingham borrow it, and the way they borrow it is the most useful thing Oda has added to the lore since Gear 5.
The count is not mine. Eiichiro Oda confirmed three Sun Gods through the Harley in chapter 1138, and the Elbaf arc has since shown two more characters producing the power without being the god. If you only remember one thing from the arc, remember that split. Being a Sun God and copying one are different abilities, and the story now runs on both.
The three Sun Gods the Harley actually names
Oda named three Sun Gods across three separate eras, and each one arrived when the world was being destroyed. Nika came from Elbaf in an age the Harley places at roughly 3,000 years ago or earlier. Joy Boy lived through the Void Century. Luffy is the third, and his era is the one we are reading.
That pattern matters more than any power ranking. The Sun God is not a strong fighter who shows up once. He is a recurring answer to the same event. Luffy is not the first person to hold this role, and the story has already told us how the last one ended.
| Carrier | When | How the power arrived | What it proves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nika | Around 3,000 years ago or earlier, from Elbaf | Born the god | The original. Fought the Earth God and the Serpent of Hellfire |
| Joy Boy | Void Century | Held the title in his own lifetime | Lost to the 20 Kings, and his will survived him |
| Luffy | Present | Awakened the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, chapter 1044 | Inherits Joy Boy’s will and fights the same enemy |
| Jewelry Bonney | Present | Toshi Toshi no Mi, a future she believes in | The power can be copied by conviction |
| Saint Killingham’s Nika | Present | Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Kirin, built from fear | The power can be manufactured from a nightmare |
What chapter 1138 changed about the world
Chapter 1138, released on 3 February 2025 in Weekly Shonen Jump issue 10, did the structural work. Oda confirmed three separate Worlds on the Blue Planet, and that the world has been destroyed twice. A Sun God was present each time.
Read that again as a rule rather than trivia. The Sun God appears at a destruction, not at a coronation. Nika fought the Earth God and the planet did not survive the fight. Joy Boy stood against the 20 Kings and the Ancient Kingdom fell. Luffy is now standing in front of the World Government that beat Joy Boy, and the Harley has already told us the shape of the ending.
The Elders described the fruit plainly in chapter 1044, released 28 March 2022: “Possessing a body with the powers of rubber, and fighting in whatever way he fancies, bringing smiles to the faces of people, the Warrior of Liberation…also known as the Sun God, Nika!” That is a job description, not a power set.
Bonney is the fourth, and her copy has a rule
Bonney is not a Sun God. She is a 320 million berry pirate with the Toshi Toshi no Mi, a Paramecia that lets her manifest any future she believes is possible, and in chapter 1118, released 24 June 2024, she used it to become Nika.
Her line in that chapter is the whole argument. “Distorted Future! Give me a future where I’m totally free!” She does not inherit anything. She imagines a version of freedom hard enough that the fruit builds it for her, and the cost is that the form drains her.
This is the same fruit family the site looked at in the four time powers of One Piece, and it lands in the same place. The interesting fruits are the ones that describe a limitation. Bonney can be the Sun God for a few minutes because she can picture it. That is a character beat dressed as a power-up.
Killingham makes one out of fear
Saint Killingham is the fifth, and the least like the others. His Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Kirin is a Mythical Zoan that manifests dreams and nightmares, and in the Elbaf arc he produced a Dark Nika out of the nightmares of Elbaf’s children.
After an Omen powered him up in chapter 1180, the ceiling moved again. By chapter 1182, released 10 May 2026, the same fruit put Rain God Zaza on the field at a size that Dorry, Brogy and most of Elbaf could not hold back. The article reporting this notes he can fuse with the manifestation, which is the part that should worry you.
So the Sun God can be inherited, believed into existence, or frightened into existence by a Holy Knight. Oda has spent two years making a title that sounded unique feel like a category.
Why the copies matter more than the gods
Three original Sun Gods is a mythology. Five carriers is a system, and systems can be gamed. Bonney shows the power responds to belief. Killingham shows it responds to terror. Luffy’s version responds to something closer to joy, and chapter 1193 confirmed that he still has a long way to go before he peaks. New chapters run in Manga Plus and Viz Media.
That is the argument the arc is making. Whoever holds the title is not chosen by blood or by a fruit alone. The Sun God is whoever the world’s fear or hope is pointed at, and right now the World Government has a Holy Knight who can point it.
The counterargument I take seriously
Lore essays date badly. Oda revises, and a neat five-part taxonomy can look silly in eighteen months when a sixth carrier appears or one of these turns out to be a misread translation. This piece rests on chapter numbers and release dates rather than on interpretation, which is the most I can do, and the interpretation is mine.
What I would watch for next is simpler than a power level. If Killingham’s Nika can be beaten by Luffy’s, the story is a fight. If it cannot, the Elbaf arc is about something else entirely: whether a manufactured god can be distinguished from a real one, by the people who have to live under it.
