Summary
The villains ofOne Pieceare among the anime industry’s best and most iconic. Ever since the start of the series, most of the antagonists in the story arcs have been some of their best aspects, often going from being hilariously incompetent like Buggy to being masters of manipulation like Doflamingo. However, fans are yet to see what the main villain of the franchise will end up being like.
Imu was first teased duringOne Piece’sReverie Arc, and despite this happening hundreds of chapters and many years ago, the villain remainsas elusive and mysterious as back then. However, a few details about this character have been revealed, the most important of which are the hints towards their ultimate goal that they have been planning ever since the end of the Void Century. So, let’s take a look at what this could be.
Story Arc
Reverie
For the majority of the series, fans believed the 5 Elders to be the highest authority in the world as the leaders of the World Government, and this remains true to a certain degree. However, despite having absolute authority and control over the entire organization, they are merely figureheads for the World Government, and thetrue leader is the mysterious Imu,who sits upon the Empty Throne.
Not much is known about this character, only that they are incredibly old and have been active since at least the Void Century. On top of this, they have a mysterious ability to bestow their subordinates with terrifying Mythical Zoan-like powers that transform them into Yokai and grant them immortality, which explains the unyielding power of the 5 Elders. Imu also seems to have had some sort of relationship with the legendary Joyboy, as they recognize his incredibly powerful Haki even to this day.
With all of this known, the question arises of what this mysterious character even wants. Being active since the Void Century, it’s strongly implied that they were the mastermind behind the plan to overthrow Joyboy all those centuries ago, which involved the Sovereigns of the 20 ancient kingdoms who all banded together to verify this happened. The descendants of these rulers wouldgo on to become the Celestial Dragonsthat we know today.
This also gives somewhat of an idea as to what Imu’s plan could be. In the Egghead Island arc, Vegapunk revealed that the world is sinking beneath the waves, and Elbaf revealed that such destruction has happened at least twice before. The general consensus among the fans is that Imu is seeking to destroy the world again by drowning it.
The balance of the world… cannot be maintained forever. It seems like there is a need for a Great Cleansing.
But what would this achieve? The entire society of Celestial Dragons is founded on the basis of them being superior to the rest of the world, and that they have the right to impose their racist and xenophobic ideologies onto whomever they choose due to their pedigree of beingdescendants of the 20 ancient kingdoms. There is a high likelihood of Imu being the one to birth such a belief in their society in the first place, which would work with their plan to sink the rest of the world.
According to some fans, Imu wants to sink the whole world so that there are no people left except for the Celestial Dragons themselves. Evidence of this can be seen throughout the series, most notably from the fact that the Holy Land of Marijoa is located at the top of the Red Line, which is one of the highest points in the world, meaning that it would be safe from the flooding. Moreover, it was recently revealed that the Gods' Knights were sent to take over Elbaf, which would provide the same assurances of safety due to its titanic size. By sinking the world, Imu would make sure that they and their people would be the only ones left to inherit the planet and leave none to stand against them.
How Does Imu Fulfill This Plan?
The Best Way To Go About Doing This
To achieve such a goal, one would need the greatest power on the planet to be able to pull it off. The only way that Imu could pull off the sinking of the world could bethrough the Ancient Weapons, of which one is currently suspected to be in the control of the World Government, since they were able to destroy Lulusia and cause a slight increase in the global water levels.
Perhaps this is why Imu has been searching for the Ancient Weapons for all of these years since the end of the Void Century, since they would provide them with the means to do something so ambitious. At the same time, gathering these weapons for the World Government would eliminate the possibility of their enemies getting them for their own means, which would make Imu the strongest force in the entire world.
One Piececan be streamed onCrunchyroll.
One Piece
One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, to become the next king. The manga’s popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
