Throughout the years, One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has been introducing his ensemble of villains with every new arc. While Blackbeard and the Five Elders stood out as the final villains of the series, Oda introduced us to Imu, the mysterious character who has been secretly ruling this vast realm for hundreds of years from the shadows. Imu has only appeared a handful of times in the series, leaving the fans to come up with their theories and solve the enigma around their identity.
Spoiler Warning:
This article includes spoilers about Imu in One Piece. We suggest you read the manga to avoid ruining the intended experience.
Imu’s most recent appearance was in chapter 1149 is where they took control of Gunko, one of the God’s Knights, and arrived in the Elbaf nation. The Holy Land is engulfed in flames, so they made it clear that they need the God’s Knights back on Mary Geoise. So, Imu took the Elbaf matter into their own hands and declared, “Allow Mu to show you the dominance of the god.”
Imu Is Inspired By a Yokai From Japanese Folklore
Ever since their introduction, Imu has been revered as God by their disciples, aka the Five Elders. Everyone got the gist that they are set up to be a god-like presence among humans. Now Imu’s cold message to the Giants further suggests they are not merely a human ruling from the shadows but a celestial being. So, if Imu is more than human, what could they be, if not the devil themself?
Oda sensei always liked to draw inspiration from real-life mythologies around the world and create his version of them in his One Piece story. For example, the devilish powers of the Five Elders are based on various yokai creatures from Japanese and Chinese mythologies.
As such, fans speculated Imu to be inspired by a yokai. Thus came the popular One Piece theory, where fans claimed Imu could be the Sea Devil. If you reverse Imu’s name, it comes out as ‘Umi’, which means the sea in Japanese.
There is a specific eerie demon in Japanese folklore that is related to the seas called Umibōzu. One look at this devil, and you can see the similarities between Imu and Umibozu. It is uncanny.
For starters, the Sea Devil from Japan is a tall monster in pitch black color, which appears almost like a silhouette with strange eyes. This sea monster is known for haunting the sailors and bringing their ships down out of nowhere in a calm sea.
The Sea Devil Theory Connects With the Planet Theory in One Piece
When Vegapunk revealed the truth about Devil Fruits in the Egghead arc, he mentioned that they are loathed by the Sea, also referred to as Mother Nature, in the world of One Piece. The devil fruits are born into this world as manifestations of people’s dreams.
Now this gives us the clue that Imu, the sea devil, is also the mother nature or the earth god we call in general. If you are wondering why we are bringing this up now, it’s because the sea devil theory connects with another famous theory based on our planetary system.
If you aren’t aware, the majority of the characters in the final saga of One Piece are metaphorically related to planets. For instance, the Gorosei are named after planets such as Mercury (St. Topman Warcury), Mars (St. Marcus Mars), Venus (St. Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro), Jupiter (St. Shepherd Ju Peter), and Saturn (St. Jaygarcia Saturn), respectively.
The remaining planets, Pluto (Pluton), Neptune (Poseidon), and Uranus (Uranus), are assigned for the Ancient weapons in One Piece.
Now, if you observe closely, the only planet left is Earth, and that’s where Imu takes their place as the Earth God (Sea Devil). We received even more confirmations in Oda’s three worlds message (via an ancient mural) in One Piece chapter 1138 when he mentioned the earth god numerous times in various passages. For example, Oda said that “the earth god tamed the demons” in the second world message.
Now, the introduction of Figarland Garling (associated with the moon due to his appearance) as the new elder replacing Saturn also makes sense since the moon is the natural satellite of Earth. This leaves us to predict that Garling will become the hand of Imu, similar to how the moon revolves around Earth. If you are wondering where Luffy fits in this grand scheme, of course, he takes the spot of the sun as the new Sun God Nika in the story.
Imu Will be Announced as a Primordial Being in One Piece
Now, if we look at all the information we have, it clearly paints Imu as a primordial being rather than just a human who managed to secretly rule. We should stop questioning what will be Imu’s devil fruit power, as they are indicated to be the devil themselves. Although Oda is yet to confirm Imu is a god-like being, all the details so far point towards the fact that they are indeed one. It is only a matter of time before Oda unmasks this mysterious character completely, as we are in the final saga.
Once we get the complete picture about the history of the gods, One Piece won’t be the same pirate adventure it was at first, as the introduction of gods changes our perceptions about Imu’s identity forever. Imu will not just be the easy final human boss anymore, as Luffy has to overthrow a primeval malevolent god as he guides the world to its dawn in the finale.
This also makes Gear 5 the perfect power-up for Luffy, as it transformed him into a literal Sun God from a boy. From now on, we are entering a different league of villains as the final antagonists of One Piece are the devils. Luffy and his nakama will crusade against the demonic adversaries in the final holy war.
Right now in the Elbaf arc, the God’s Knights are already showing off some of the demonic powers of the devils, such as the regeneration ability. Scopper Gaban has countered the godly abilities and will likely teach the crucial information to the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates. In addition to a battle between the pirates, we will step up to witness the battle between the gods in One Piece soon.
Imu may have defeated Joy Boy, the previous Sun God, during the Void Century, but Luffy will rewrite history by vanquishing the devils from the face of the earth. Now, all these ideas may seem far-fetched at the moment, but lately, One Piece has been heading towards the mythological route since Luffy awakened his Gear 5.
Elbaf is the land where myths and might are born. The giants revealed their connection to Nika from Elbaf’s fables, and the ancient mural cryptically gave away answers to the longstanding mysteries of One Piece. So, we might get to learn more about Imu’s identity as they’ve arrived on the homeland of the Giants and are about to unleash the wrath of god as teased in the previous chapter.
In the meantime, what do you think about this Imu theory? Do you believe Imu is the god of this earth? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Shashank Shakya
