One Piece Reveals Imu’s Face for the First Time and Fans Are Losing It

For a long time, One Piece believed Blackbeard was the final villain of the series until a shadowy ruler suddenly appeared during the Reverie arc. There has been a secret king called Imu who has been ruling the world by pulling strings from the shadows. However, Oda made a clever decision to conceal Imu’s true form, making the king appear in a pitch-black silhouette all these years. Following nearly a decade of waiting, Oda finally reveals Imu’s face and even confirms the supreme ruler’s gender in One Piece Chapter 1179.

Imu’s True Form Revealed in One Piece Chapter 1179

In the final panel of One Piece Chapter 1178, Imu declared that they would be leaving Mary Geoise, the Holy Land, for some time. This has never happened before in the manga, and fans were curious to see if Imu would descend to Elbaf. Well, it turns out that we were right on the money as Nerona Imu finally descends from the Holy Land to the lower realm and arrives in Elbaf in One Piece Chapter 1179.

Not even the Five Elders could stop Imu from going to Elbaf. With the God’s Knights defeated, Elbaf is still recovering from the immense damage the Holy Knights did to their land. But there is no time to rest as all the houses are turning into possessed ones and dancing to the tune of the Drums of Oppression (as opposed to Luffy’s Drums of Liberation during Gear 5) as Imu arrives. Imu finally emerges from the dark magic circle at the Aurust Castle in Elbaf.

The outburst of Imu’s Conqueror’s Haki upon their arrival attracts everyone’s attention in Elbaf. Without wasting any time, Imu transforms into his awakened form and climbs on top of Aurust Castle’s spire. This is the exact moment when Oda lifts the veil of the silhouette to reveal Imu’s true form, with a close-up of his face.

Yes! Imu’s gender is confirmed to be male based on his appearance. Fans who endlessly debated that Imu is a female and the queen of the world can now rest. One look at Imu’s character design shows that Oda was clearly inspired by the arrogant god Sun Wukong.

Imu’s face reveal drops some major clues about his origins: his curled horns hint at his Oni side, and his overall design also resembles Oda’s Lunarians depiction. With Imu’s hair covering, fans now speculate that he may have a Third Eye like Charlotte Pudding. Thus, Imu seems to hail from a multiracial background at the moment.

Saint Nerona Imu Is Hinted to Be a Devil in One Piece

What’s even more interesting is that as Oda introduces Imu as the World Government Creator, and he mentions that Imu’s ability is Devil’s Fruit. Now, Oda always mentions a certain individual’s devil fruit power clearly during the respective reveal.

Now this piece of info suggests Imu is the devil himself (as hinted before with Imu’s Abyss-themed devil contracts), possibly the creator of Devil Fruits as well. We have to wait and see how this further unravels. In addition, Imu wields a polearm, his entire attire, and the awakening design strongly give off a devilish aura.

With the supreme ruler’s first trip away from the Holy Land, Oda has chosen the perfect time to unveil Imu’s true form. Imu’s face reveal signals the beginning of One Piece’s endgame, with fans commenting, “Oh man, we’re really at the end…” We are only a few arcs away from One Piece’s end.

If you observed closely, Imu was coughing up blood after arriving on Elbaf, and you can even see the blood dripping from his lips during his complete face reveal. So, Imu’s sudden arrival clearly has great consequences, and it may be tied to his powers. What if Imu made a deal to receive the devil powers, but in exchange, he has to remain in the Holy Land forever?

But Imu had to take the matter into his own hands after seeing both Luffy and Loki immune to his mighty Domi Reversi attack. Unfortunately, the One Piece manga will be on a break next week. So, we will have to wait for two more weeks patiently to see Imu’s counterattack. Until then, what do you think about Imu’s face and true form reveal? Let us know in the comments below.