What is Egghead's Iron Giant in One Piece? Explored

Eiichiro Oda’s magnum opus One Piece series is full of mysteries and unanswered questions, one of which concerns the so-called “Iron Giant." This enormous robot was built about 900 years ago, meaning that its creation dates back to the Void Century, the blank period in history during which the ancestors of today’s Celestial Dragons formed an alliance to destroy the Ancient Kingdom.

The mysterious events of the Void Century occurred, in fact, 800 to 900 years ago. Taking this into account, the Iron Giant can be viewed as a relic of that time. Things get even more interesting as it is revealed that, about 200 years ago, the Iron Giant attacked Mary Geoise, the place where the Celestial Dragons reside. However, the assault failed, as the robot ran out of power before it could do any damage.

Totally motionless, the Iron Giant was taken to Egghead, where he remained until the present day, when it suddenly reactivated itself after hearing the Drums of Liberation from Luffy’s Gear 5 form. As per the spoilers of One Piece chapter 1111, the Iron Giant is now ready to go into action, but the surprises don’t end here, as the robot mentioned the intriguing name of Joy Boy.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to chapter 1111.

Egghead’s legendary robot joins the fray in One Piece chapter 1111

A robot built during the Void Century

The Iron Giant as seen in the One Piece anime (Image via Toei Animation)

The Iron Giant, an extremely large robot, is as tall as the Ancient Giants, a unique tribe whose members are three times larger than a standard Giant. Interestingly, the robot also has features, such as the same large, demon-like horns, similar to the Ancient Giants.

After climbing the Red Line, the Iron Giant ran out of energy, and couldn't carry out its attack on Mary Geoise. Hence, to this day, the exact extent and type of its abilities remain unknown. However, it can be assumed that this robot was a force to be reckoned with.

Upon examining the Iron Giant, Dr. Vegapunk, the greatest scientist in the One Piece world, asserted that its technology was far beyond the scientific knowledge of the time. Through one of his six satellites, Lilith, Vegapunk built the Vegaforce-01, a mecha modeled after the Iron Giant.

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The Vegaforce-01 was quite powerful, considering that it could easily subdue the Mecha-Shark, a huge shark that dwarfed the Thousand Sunny in size. Among its other attributes, the Vegaforce could move underwater at great speed as well as fly through a combination of jet propulsion and anti-gravity technology.

Vegapunk recreated these features based upon the technology of the Iron Giant, which means that the ancient robot should possess the same characteristics. Despite his own scientific knowledge and genius, however, Vegapunk was unable to replicate the power source of the Iron Giant, an enigmatic substance called "Ancient Energy."

The Iron Giant is a major enigma in One Piece’s Egghead Arc

Egghead as seen in the One Piece anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Dormant and unmoving, as if it were asleep, the Iron Giant was kept in Egghead, where Vegapunk analyzed it. Following the arrival of the Straw Hat Pirates on the island, the robot was accidentally discovered by Luffy, Chopper, Jinbe, and Jewelry Bonney.

Curious as usual, Luffy attempted to climb inside the robot, aiming to find the cockpit, but couldn't find one. This emphasized that the robot was meant to move by itself rather than to be guided.

Some time later, the eyes of the Iron Giant lit up, and the robot started moving. The trigger for this unexpexted event was Luffy's Gear 5 transformation, whose signature Drums of Liberation resonated all around, somehow reactivating the robot after 200 years of dormancy.

The exact reasons for this remain unexplained, but the fact that the Iron Giant's awakening was triggered by Luffy entering his Nika-like form suggests that the robot is strongly connected with the "Sun God".

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It's also possible that 200 years ago, the last time that the Iron Giant was active, there was another user of the Human-Human Fruit Model: Nika that currently belongs to Luffy. Interestingly, 200 years before One Piece's current narration was also the year when people began discriminating against the Fish-Men.

These events might be connected, as is often the case in One Piece's intertwined plot. The Iron Giant responds to Luffy becoming Joy Boy, and this legendary figure was known to have a major connection with Fish-Man Island.

Possibly, the World Government started the discrimination against Fish-Men because they helped the Iron Giant attempt his attack on Mary Geoise. The robot, in turn, acted following Joy Boy's instructions or reacting to someone who, like Luffy is currently doing, used the Mythical Zoan of Nika.

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However, it was stated that, before Luffy, no one had managed to awaken Nika's powers and become Joy Boy for centuries. This implies that, among the aforementioned options, the correct one is probably the first.

It's not too farfetched to think that, like Zunisha, the Iron Giant was once a comrade of Joy Boy. As such, the robot might have attacked Mary Geoise to retrieve the "giant straw hat" kept in the Pangaea Castle. This item, in all likelihood, belonged to Joy Boy.

Granted, this raises more questions than it answers, as it's intriguing to understand why Imu-sama keeps Joy Boy's straw hat instead of destroying it.

At any rate, what is certain is that a connection between the Iron Giant and the legendary Joy Boy exists. Gear 5's cheerful rhythm seems to have the same effect as the Ancient Energy that not even Vegapunk's technology could replicate.

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One Piece chapter 1111 lays the foundations for the complete reveal of the lore behind the Iron Giant and Joy Boy. In the chapter, the Marines on the ships surrounding Egghead's north-eastern shore reported that a huge creature was advancing on the island, passing through the flames as if they weren't even there.

The alleged creature was none other than the Iron Giant, fully reactivated and back on its feet.

"I'm sorry, Joy Boy...," whispered the robot.

Looking forward to the next One Piece chapters to explain the issue, this implies that the Iron Giant has something to be forgiven for from Joy Boy, just like Zunisha. With Monkey D. Luffy being engaged in a fierce battle against the World Government's Five Elders, helping the second coming of Joy Boy might be the perfect way for the Iron Giant to pay off its debt with the original Joy Boy.