Imu Once Told A Caller Claiming To Be Joy Boy That Joy Boy Is Already Dead

Status: pending · Technique: dialogue-from-dead-character, chekhov-explicit

The seed

(TCB-sourced). Chapter 1188 opens on a flashback (“Recalling a certain day,” pp. 2–3): a Den Den Mushi caller declares “I’M… JOY BOY!!!”; Imu replies “JOY BOY IS ALREADY DEAD.” A new, undated Joy-Boy-contact beat in Imu’s past — who called, and when, is unstated. Reads against Imu’s present-day recognition-then-recantation of Luffy (Ch. 1187→Ch. 1188). Feeds Joy Boy Identity, Imu Identity.

Earliest known caller

(TBD — flag for research.)

Why this matters

An explicit, second-person Joy-Boy exchange planted in Imu’s past — Oda rarely stages a call this bald without a later hook. The flat “already dead” denial contrasts with Imu’s visceral torment at the name (@1122 heart-pound, @1179 “still you continue to torment mu!!”), which may date this call to a moment when Imu believed the matter closed. Cross-links Joy Boy Identity, Imu Identity.