Toys are normally just man-made playthings for children, but on the island of Dressrosa, toys were living beings capable of independent action and human behavior who coexisted alongside humans. They were first introduced in the town of Acacia.
In actuality, the toys of Dressrosa are human beings and animals who were turned into toys by Sugar, thanks to the Hobi Hobi no Mi, who came to the island ten years ago with the Donquixote Pirates. Only the toys themselves have any memory of them being human, while everyone else they knew forgot about them, even each other, no matter how close their previous relationship was.[1]
The living toys of Dressrosa, much like ordinary toys, come in a large variety of forms, sizes and appearances. Many of them resemble marionettes, toy soldiers, dolls, animals, robots and other common forms of toys but are about the size of humans. Oddly enough, there appear to be toy children and toy babies as well who look much like the adults but are far smaller in size. They also seem to be made of different materials, depending on what toy they are, ranging from metal and wood, to even cloth with cotton stuffing. Toys bear no resemblance to their original form, regardless of their race or species, looking completely different from what they used to and their size might not even match their original height. Dwarves however seem to stay the same size even as toys and individuals who have lost a limb will continues to miss it even after transforming.
Living toys are only seen on Dressrosa and appear to live happily with its human inhabitants, coexisting without difficulty and some humans and toys are even seen walking together arm-in-arm.[2] Even the toy children are seen together with human children and are treated like regular kids by the guards.[3] However, the peace between them is but an illusion as the toys' behavior is completely decided by Sugar, with many toys actually being miserable individuals incapable of truly interacting with other humans or former loved ones, and other toys actually being wild animals who've been made to act like intelligent toys. It is a strongly enforced law that no toys must ever visit a human's house and no human must ever visit a toy's house, likely as to avoid any suspicion about the true nature of toys. [1]
Wanting to return every toy to their original forms, Thunder Soldier joined forces with the Tontatta Kingdom in an attempt to overthrow the Donquixote Family.[4] When Sugar was finally scared into unconsciousness, every toy that was still alive returned to their true forms, with families and friends reuniting and pirates and wild animals running rampant. The Donquixote Pirates became the target of the victims' revenge and hate.[5]
Beliefs
People who have been turned into toys by Sugar usually tend to lose their free will and personalities if they happen to fall under her contract, but if they manage to get away before that happens they will retain their original identity and free will.[6][1] Animals who have been turned into toys and forced into a contract by Sugar are capable of acting and speaking like humans, as shown with many of the toys attending the Corrida Colosseum who were revealed to be wild and savage animals after Sugar was incapacitated.[5]
Toys, along with the human citizens of Dressrosa, believe in the existence of fairies which have been an important part of their lore for as long as they can remember and because of this they revere them as deities. Their "fairies" are responsible for the random thefts that occur on their island,[7] but they do not mind this at all due to their reverence of them, however after finding out that the fairies were actually dwarves it is unknown how their feelings towards them regarding their thefts have changed [8]. According to Thunder Soldier, toys believe that they are supposed to make people laugh and that there is no such thing as a serious toy.[9]
Any toys who express their human side are diagnosed with "Human Illness" (人間病,Ningen-byō?) and are thrown into the scrap heap.[1]
