⚠️ SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers up to One Piece Chapter 1086 and beyond. Read at your own risk!
Who Is Kozuki Toki? A Quick Profile
Before we dive into the theory, let’s establish who Kozuki Toki actually is. First appearing in Chapter 964 (Anime Episode 963), Toki is one of the most mysterious figures in the entire One Piece world. Here are the key facts:
- Full Name: Kozuki Toki (maiden name: Amatsuki Toki)
- Husband: Kozuki Oden
- Children: Kozuki Momonosuke & Kozuki Hiyori
- Devil Fruit: Toki Toki no Mi (time-travel fruit — sends people forward in time)
- Age at Death: 36 years old
- Height: 190 cm
- Origin: Unknown — one of the very few characters in the entire series with no stated home sea
- Key Quote: “My age? I’m 26. But I was born… about 800 years ago.” (Chapter 964)
That last bullet point is the crux of everything. Toki openly states she was born 800 years in the past — smack in the middle of the Void Century. So who exactly was she back then?
The Unresolved Mysteries Surrounding Toki
Even after the conclusion of the Wano arc, several of Toki’s mysteries remain wide open:
- The “Mu” mystery: As Oden was dying, he began to say something — “20 years from now… the Mu—” — before Toki covered his mouth (Chapter 973). What was that word? “Mugiwara (Straw Hat)”? Something else? The Wano arc ended without answering this.
- Unknown origin: Toki says she doesn’t know where she was born, only that her parents were from Wano. This is an oddly specific yet incomplete piece of information.
- Her hair color: Toki sports blue hair — the same distinctive shade shared by Nefertari Vivi and her mother Nefertari Titi of the Alabasta royal family.
- Her death: Officially listed as deceased (her Vivre Card lists her as “late”), though One Piece has surprised us before — Saul’s Vivre Card also said the same, and he turned out to be alive.
Who Is Nefertari Lily? The 800-Year-Old Queen
On the other side of this theory is Nefertari D. Lily, the Queen of Alabasta who lived 800 years ago. Here’s what we know from Chapters 1085–1086:
- She was one of the 20 kings who allied to defeat the Ancient Kingdom during the Void Century
- Unlike the other 19 royal families, she refused to move to Mariejois and did not return to Alabasta either
- She left behind a short letter for the Nefertari family and scattered the Poneglyphs across the world
- Im is furious about this — calling it “Lily’s mistake” that allowed the Poneglyphs to spread (Chapter 1085)
- Lily carried the initial “D.” in her name: Nefertari D. Lily
After her Poneglyph-scattering act, Lily simply… vanished. Where did she go?
Ruling Out the Other Candidates
Before making the case for Toki, let’s eliminate the other popular theories about Lily’s fate:
- Lily = Im? Initially the most popular theory. But Chapter 1085 shattered it — Im is enraged at Lily’s actions and speaks of her as a completely separate person. Ivankov also notes Im has been alive since ancient times, far predating the Void Century.
- Lily = Zunesha? This has some logic — “Zunesha’s sin” (Chapter 821) and “Lily’s mistake” could theoretically be the same event, with an Ope Ope no Mi personality transplant involved. However, if Im could reach Zunesha, they would have gotten answers (and revenge) long ago rather than remaining ignorant of Lily’s true intentions. Zunesha’s voice actor is also unmistakably male. This doesn’t fit neatly.
- Lily = A new Amazon Lily character? Possible, but introducing a fresh character to explain this mystery would be far less satisfying than connecting it to an established one.
The Case for Toki = Lily: Key Evidence
With those options set aside, here is the evidence that Amatsuki Toki and Nefertari D. Lily are the same person:
- The 800-year timeline matches perfectly. Lily lived 800 years ago. Toki was born 800 years ago. The overlap is exact.
- The iconic blue hair. Vivi and Titi both have blue hair — a trait consistently presented as a Nefertari family bloodline characteristic. Toki also has blue hair. If Toki was born into the Nefertari line, this is exactly what we’d expect to see.
- Unknown origin — but parents from Wano. Toki says she doesn’t know where she was born, but her parents were from Wano. If Lily was originally of the Amatsuki family (one of Wano’s noble moon-bearing clans) before becoming Alabasta’s queen, this gap in her self-knowledge — possibly due to time-travel disorientation or memory fragmentation — makes narrative sense.
- Both connected to Pluton. Wano holds the ancient weapon Pluton, and Alabasta had a Poneglyph revealing its location. If Toki/Lily bridged both nations, her involvement with Pluton’s secret would be natural.
- The “D.” connection. Lily officially bore the “D.” — and Toki, raised toward the philosophy of the “D.” clan and embedded in Wano’s resistance against tyranny, aligns with that heritage.
- Momonosuke can speak to Zunesha. Oden already predicted this (Chapter 1041). If Toki carried Nefertari blood, and if the ability to communicate with Zunesha is tied to that lineage, Momonosuke’s unique gift (which even Roger and Oden didn’t fully share) could be inherited through Toki.
- The time-travel escape from 800 years ago. After scattering the Poneglyphs and writing her farewell letter, Lily needed to disappear completely. Using the Toki Toki no Mi to leap forward in time is a clean, elegant solution — and would explain why Im could never find her.
A Speculative Timeline: Nefertari Lily / Amatsuki Toki
Putting the evidence together, here is a possible reconstruction of events:
- 800+ years ago: Toki’s parents belong to Wano’s Amatsuki clan. Toki is born — possibly in Alabasta or somewhere connected to the coalition of kings.
- 800 years ago: As the Void Century war ends, Lily (Toki) serves as Queen of Alabasta. She refuses Mariejois, scatters the Poneglyphs, and writes a final letter — then uses the Toki Toki no Mi to leap into the future, vanishing from history.
- ~30 years before present: Toki “arrives” in this era, retaining only fragmented memories. She knows her parents were from Wano and heads there, eventually meeting Oden.
- ~26 years before present: Toki disembarks from the Roger Pirates’ voyage early at Wano, alongside Momonosuke, Hiyori, Inuarashi, and Nekomamushi.
- ~20 years before present: Toki sends the Nine Red Scabbards forward 20 years before dying at Onigashima.
The Biggest Counterargument: Was Lily a Nikyu Nikyu User?
The main challenge to this theory is Im’s language when discussing Lily’s “mistake.” Scattering Poneglyphs across the entire world — to many different locations simultaneously — sounds like it would require something like the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi (Kuma’s paw-paw fruit that repels and launches objects at extreme distances), not a time-travel fruit.
If Lily used the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi to spatially scatter the Poneglyphs, then she and Toki cannot be the same person (since Toki’s fruit only moves people and objects through time, not space). Notably, when Toki sent Momonosuke’s group forward, they all landed in the same physical location — Oden Castle — suggesting she cannot choose destinations freely across geography.
However, there is a counterpoint: perhaps Lily used the Toki Toki no Mi to send each Poneglyph to a different point in future time, trusting that the people who discovered them in various eras would scatter them further across the world. This would be a remarkably long-term plan, consistent with Lily’s apparent strategic genius — though admittedly, it requires a leap of faith about how exactly Poneglyphs spread.
Conclusion: Toki Is the Most Compelling Candidate for Lily
Of all the candidates for Nefertari D. Lily’s true fate, Kozuki Toki is by far the most narratively satisfying answer. She matches the timeline, shares the blue hair of the Nefertari bloodline, has an inexplicably unknown origin, carries a time-travel ability that could explain her disappearance from history, and is directly connected to Wano — the same location tied to Pluton, just as Alabasta was. The fact that Momonosuke can speak to Zunesha while others cannot adds another intriguing genetic thread linking back to his mother Toki.
The Nikyu Nikyu question is a genuine hurdle, and Oda may resolve it in a way that rules Toki out entirely. But right now, with all the evidence laid on the table, the theory that the woman who arrived from 800 years ago to change Wano’s destiny is one and the same as the queen who scattered the Poneglyphs and vanished from history is one of the most compelling ideas in all of One Piece fan theory. Keep your eyes on the final saga — the answer may be closer than we think.