Imu


 * The subject of this article is also called Im.

Imu is the mysterious occupant of the Empty Throne, holding supreme authority and power within the World Government as the one whom even the Five Elders bow to and act out the will of. However, Imu's existence is kept an absolute secret within the government and from the world at large, to maintain the lie that there is no singular ruler of the world. According to Nefertari Cobra, Imu shares their name with one of the First Twenty.

Due to their status and actions, Imu can be considered one of the primary antagonists of the Final Saga and an overarching antagonist of the One Piece series as a whole.

Appearance
Imu has only been shown as a silhouette so far. They possess a humanoid figure with a hand resembling a human's and sharp, almond eyes with red irises, each having a thin ring around the pupil. In terms of attire, Imu dons a crown that has four sharp, incredibly tall spikes on the top and an extremely long robe that flows upon the ground a great distance behind them.

Personality
Little is known about Imu's personality, but they have developed a particular interest in Monkey D. Luffy, Marshall D. Teach, Shirahoshi, and Nefertari Vivi. During the events of the Levely, Imu kept wanted posters or photos of all four on their person. Despite this, Imu seems to have a calm demeanor, as shown when they gently handled the butterflies in the Room of Flowers; though in that same moment, Imu was also shown to have left the aforementioned pictures (save for Vivi's) pierced through and cut apart by weapons. Imu has demonstrated greater cruelty and apathy than the Five Elders, who reluctantly ordered the destruction of Ohara, while Imu coldly annihilates entire islands in order to erase them from history, causing said destruction for personal reasons.

Despite their existence being meant to be secret from the world at large, Imu is not above revealing themself to individuals of interest, as with Nefertari Cobra when he questioned the lost records of his ancestor. However, Imu and the Five Elders had no intention of letting Cobra leave the room alive after Imu showed themself. Likewise, when Sabo appeared and attacked, Imu was furious that their existence was revealed to an outsider.

When confronting Cobra, Imu was initially polite in their speech patterns and offered to explain what the Will of D. actually meant, but quickly became much more hostile when talking about the subject of the Poneglyphs. Likewise, Imu has an intense hatred of those who bear the Will of D., as the moment Imu discovered Cobra's ancestor was a D., Imu immediately attempted to kill him.

Imu uses the unique first person pronoun "Mu" (ムー) seemingly derived from their name, as well as the unique second person pronoun nushia (ヌシア) for others.

Abilities and Powers


The full scope of Imu's abilities is unknown, but the fact that they sit on the Empty Throne, a seat whose occupant would be associated with sole authority over the entire world, plus the fact that the Five Elders—who are publicly considered the World Government's highest authorities—bow before down before Imu and address them with a great honorific, would indicate that Imu indeed holds the highest authority within the World Government.

Imu appears to have control over an immensely powerful ability or weapon which enables the complete annihilation of entire islands within seconds. This weapon manifests in the sky, shrouded in clouds, and rains down sixteen beams of energy resembling lightning bolts or lasers, which engulf their target in a massive explosion upon striking and leave nothing in their wake. Imu employed this ability and/or weapon to destroy the Lulusia Kingdom, readying and firing it within seconds.

Transformation
Imu has shown the ability to transform themself into a massive beast-like humanoid creature capable of eating fire, as well as control what appears to be a sharp-pointed appendage or tentacle used for stabbing, a technique strong enough to even injure the Logia user Sabo. It is unknown what exactly this ability entails or even what its nature might be.

Weapons
Imu possesses a saber. It has not been seen being used in combat, but it has been used to cut apart wanted posters and photographs or stab them.

Levely Arc


As royals gathered at Mary Geoise for the Levely, Imu went to a underground frozen chamber deep within Pangaea Castle, and approached a large straw hat while carrying several wanted posters and photographs including Monkey D. Luffy's. Imu later went to the Room of Flowers and cut apart Luffy and Blackbeard's wanted posters and stabbed the photo of Princess Shirahoshi. With a photo of Nefertari Vivi in hand, Imu then met with the Five Elders while sitting on the Empty Throne. The elders requested that Imu reveal the name of the "light" that needed to be extinguished from history.

Wano Country Arc


On the fourth day of the Levely, Nefertari Cobra went to the Empty Throne room to talk with the Five Elders about why Nefertari Lili, the Queen of Arabasta 800 years ago, was not officially documented after the Void Century. As the two parties conversed, Imu listened in on their conversation from Room of Flowers. Without notice, Imu then entered the Empty Throne room and proceeded to sit on the throne in front of the Five Elders and a confused Cobra.

Imu went on to speak with Cobra and reveal to him the meaning of the Will of D., the nature of the poneglyphs and Lili's involvement on the stones' presence around the world, like Cobra wished for, but refused to answer any questions about their own identity. In exchange, Imu, who had shown interest in a letter written by Lili that Cobra mentioned having beforehand, ordered the Arabasta king to reveal the full name of its author. Realizing he had no chance to escape and was set to die anyway, Cobra admitted that Lili carried the moniker D. on her name and was impaled by a strange shadowy tentacle summoned by Im. Sabo, who was eavesdropping nearby, quickly jumped in to attack the Five Elders and Im, but the latter was able to cancel Sabo's flames with their own ability. Having let Sabo witness some of their biggest secrets, the top brass of the Government gave chase to the revolutionary and Cobra, only managing to stop and kill the latter. Wapol also happened to witness the whole thing through a peephole and ran away as far he could.

Sabo managed to escape, and the World Government went on high alert to locate him.

Egghead Arc
The World Government eventually traced Sabo's location to the Lulusia Kingdom, after intercepting a call where he attempted to reveal Imu's existence to the rest of the Revolutionary Army. After crossing the Lulusia Kingdom off a map, Imu annihilated the country with an explosive energy barrage, with the Five Elders proclaiming that it never existed at all.

Translation and Dub Issues
In the VIZ Media translation, Imu talks in first person with the standard subject form pronoun "I", but instances of the objective form "me" are replaced by "mu".

Imu's unique second person pronoun nushia (ヌシア) in Japanese is seemingly derived from the dated "you" pronouns onushi (御主) and nushi (主). In the VIZ Media translation, Imu uses the archaic English pronouns "thou" and "thee".

Trivia

 * Im is the name of a Jotunn appearing in Norse mythology.
 * When written in katakana, Imu's name is composed of the two radicals comprising the character 仏, which means "Buddha".
 * Imu's position as ruler of the world is a title which the infamous pirate Rocks D. Xebec once aspired to obtain. It is not known if Rocks was ever aware of Imu or the Empty Throne, though the island in which he met his downfall, God Valley, was later wiped off the map much like the Lulusia Kingdom and a great kingdom during the Void Century that also disappeared.
 * According to Nefertari Cobra, the name Imu has something to do with the First Twenty, however, the details are currently unknown.

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