- For the founder of the World Government from the Nerona Family, see Nerona Imu.
Imu is the supreme ruler of the World Government, who occupies the Empty Throne and whom even the Five Elders bow to and serve.[2] 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.[3]
Imu is revealed and first appears during the Levely Arc. Due to their status and indirect actions, they are the overarching antagonist of the Egghead Arc, and one of the primary overarching antagonists of the Final Saga and the One Piece series as a whole.
Quick Answers
Who is the true supreme ruler of the World Government in One Piece?
What is the significance of the Empty Throne that Imu occupies?
Why is Imu's existence kept a secret within the World Government?
What is the role of Imu in the Levely Arc?
Appearance
Imu has only been shown as a silhouette so far. They possess a humanoid figure similar in size to a regular person, 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.[1][2] In the anime, Imu's voice has a distorted echo to it.
Gallery
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Personality
Little is known about Imu's personality. When not speaking with the Five Elders, Imu usually spends their time in the Room of Flowers in complete silence, gently handling butterflies and listening in on conversations that may be of their interest.
Imu has developed a particular interest in Monkey D. Luffy, Marshall D. Teach, Shirahoshi, and Nefertari Vivi, keeping wanted posters or photos of all four on their person. Imu was also shown to have left the aforementioned pictures (save for Vivi's) pierced through and cut apart by blades.[2] Imu appears to have a high degree of familiarity with Nefertari D. Lili, one of the First Twenty, and this interest appears to extend to her descendant, Vivi.
Imu has a kingdom destroyed.
Imu has demonstrated greater cruelty and apathy than the Five Elders. While the Elders tend to feel hesitant about ordering mass executions to protect their secrecy, Imu annihilates entire islands in order to erase them from history with a level of enthusiasm.[4] This immense callousness is best evidenced by Imu ordering the destruction of Lulusia Kingdom purely to field-test a Mother Flame-powered Ancient Weapon, completely disregarding the lives of its inhabitants, solely due to the close proximity of the target island.[5]
Despite their existence being meant to be secret from the world at large, Imu is not above revealing themselves to individuals of interest, as with Nefertari Cobra when he questioned the lost records of his ancestor and Ohara's scholars.[6] However, Imu and the Five Elders had no intention of letting Cobra leave the room alive after Imu showed themselves. Likewise, when Sabo appeared and attacked, Imu was furious that their existence was revealed to an outsider.[3]
When confronting Cobra, Imu was initially polite in their speech 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 had the "D." in her name, Imu immediately attempted to kill him.[3]
Imu has no tolerance for their subordinates' failure to carry out their orders. When Jaygarcia Saturn failed to stop "Joy Boy" from escaping Egghead, Imu admonished Saturn before stripping the Elder of his immortality, effectively killing him, and wasted no time filling his position with Figarland Garling.[7]
For all of Imu's necessity of being anonymous, they seem to lack a certain degree of subtlety, as they appeared before Cobra without any warning,[6] and executed Saturn while a group of Marines bore witness to it, not even bothering to let the other Elders know of their choice to replace Saturn with Garling beforehand.[7]
Imu uses the unique first-person pronoun "Mu" (ムー, Mū?) seemingly derived from their name, as well as the unique second-person pronoun nushia (ヌシア?) for others.
Relationships
Five Elders
The Five Elders bow before Imu, the true ruler of the world.
As the true supreme leader of the World Government, the Five Elders are all extremely loyal to Imu and obey them without question. The Five Elders often come to their all-mighty sovereign for council about matters of the utmost importance. What Imu personally thinks of the Five Elders is currently unknown, but they seem to trust them enough to handle government affairs on their behalf. The Five Elders understand that any outsider that learns of Imu's existence must be eliminated to maintain the illusion of peace and equality among the allied nations. However, Imu has no qualms of killing and replacing the Elders at any time if they fail particular orders, as seen with Saturn, who failed to stop "Joy Boy" from escaping and disobeying the direct order to scrap Emet, swiftly filling his vacant position with Garling. Even the other Elders were shocked by Imu's choice to dismiss Saturn without letting the rest of them know beforehand.[7]
Will of D.
Imu possesses an immense hatred for those who bear the letter D. as the middle initial of their names, due to it being the moniker of an "ancient enemy". For this reason, they sliced up the wanted posters of Monkey D. Luffy and Marshall D. Teach, who are both possible threats to them, and became angered when Cobra admitted that his ancestor, Lili, also had it.
Nefertari Family
Imu shows great disdain for the Nefertari Family, particularly because of the actions of Queen Lili during the Void Century that resulted in the dispersing of the Poneglyphs across the world and suspected that it was no mere accident. However, despite this disdain, Imu seemingly keeps a portrait of Lily inside Pangaea Castle to look at for unknown reason.[8]
Despite their utter contempt for Lili, they were polite to her descendant King Cobra, although they fully intended to kill Cobra when the conversation ended because he had become aware of Imu being the shadow ruler of the world. Hostilities intensified when Imu learned that Arabasta's royal family had the initial "D" in their middle name. When Cobra sacrificed himself to ensure that Sabo escaped Mary Geoise, this greatly angered Imu.
Imu has also developed an interest in Princess Vivi for currently unknown reasons. After she escaped the custody of CP0, Imu ordered the Five Elders to capture and bring her to them.
Shirahoshi
For unknown reasons, Imu seems to greatly dislike Princess Shirahoshi, as shown when Imu stabbed a portrait of her with a saber. It is unknown if they are aware of her ability to control Sea Kings.
Sabo
When he and his fellow revolutionaries infiltrated Mary Geoise, Sabo inadvertently learned of Imu’s existence. Sabo was surprised and appalled by the fact that there was a secret monarch of the world, while Imu became furious at their existence being revealed to him. After Sabo escaped, Imu became extremely determined to silence him.
Joy Boy
Imu carries a profound hatred for Joy Boy for reasons unclear, as they were kneeling in pain after Joy Boy's Supreme King Haki was unleashed during the Egghead Incident, instantly recognizing that the Haki used belonged to Joy Boy.[9] Their hatred for the latter is permeated in the fact that the World Government had essentially erased all knowledge and existence of the first pirate from known history. Their vendetta would even extend towards Monkey D. Luffy, whom they refer to as Joy Boy once Luffy had awakened his Devil Fruit. Upon revoking Saturn's immortality, Imu furiously reprimanded Saturn over Luffy's escape and that Saturn had allowed it to happen.[7]
Abilities and Powers
The full scope of Imu's abilities and power is unknown, but the fact that they sit upon 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 down before Imu and address them honorifically, indicates that Imu indeed holds the highest authority within the government.[2] However, their power seems limited insofar as they cannot publicly exert their authority, thus electing to direct the Five Elders to act out their will instead, by proxy.[2][5] Imu has the sole authority to designate new Elders to replace any old ones should the need arise, while just as easily dismissing any of them from their posts.[7]
Notably, Imu appears to have possession of one of the Ancient Weapons,[10] which is powered by the so-called "Mother Flame" invented by Dr. Vegapunk. This weapon, which floats in the sky above the target location, can effect the total annihilation of an entire island within seconds, as proven when it wiped out the Lulusia Kingdom.[4]
Transformation
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Imu has shown the ability to transform themself into a massive, bestial, yet vaguely humanoid creature capable of consuming fire, as well as control what appears to be a sharp-pointed, arrowhead-shaped appendage or tentacle used for impalement, strong enough to severely injure even the Logia user Sabo.[3] It is unknown if this ability stems from a Zoan-type Devil Fruit power, though it is evident that the similar transformations of the Five Elders are the results of awakened Mythical Zoan fruits.[11][12]
Unique Powers
Imu causes Saturn to wither away.
Though Imu has relied on modern technology to communicate with the Five Elders,[13] Imu was capable of directly communicating telepathically with at least Jaygarcia Saturn. Saturn, who was capable of healing injuries and regeneration in at least his Zoan forms,[14] as well being regarded as immortal,[15] was susceptible to being killed in his Human Form by Imu. The process involved a dark colored substance being emitted from and around Saturn, leading to him withering him away and resulting in a large explosion, which left only his skeleton.[16]
Weapons
Imu possesses a saber, which they used to cut apart wanted posters and photographs or stab them.[2] If they have any skill in wielding it for combat is unknown.
History
Past
Most of Imu's life is unknown, but it has been speculated by Emporio Ivankov that they have been alive since the Void Century. This assumption is supported by Imu being able to recognise Joy Boy's Haki, and being familiar with Nefertari D. Lili, both of which lived during that time period. What is known is that they have been the publicly unseen supreme ruler of the World Government for some time.
Whole Cake Island Saga
Levely Arc
Imu approaches Mary Geoise's Straw Hat.
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.[1] Imu later went to the Room of Flowers and cut apart Luffy and Blackbeard's wanted posters and stabbed the photo of Princess Shirahoshi. Afterwards Imu is alerted by an unknown servant that the Five Elders had arrived, while carrying 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.[2]
Wano Country Saga
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 the 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 surprised Cobra.[6]
Imu refused to answer any questions about their own identity but went on to reveal that the Will of D. was the moniker of the government's ancient enemy; it has cropped up more frequently in recent times, but Imu referred to it as nothing but a faint echo and individuals who carry the name aren't even aware of its true meaning. Imu then explained Lili's involvement that caused the Poneglyphs to be scattered all over the world, considering it the worst possible outcome for the World Government. 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.
Imu and the Five Elders target Cobra and Sabo.
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 Imu. Sabo, who was eavesdropping nearby, quickly jumped in to attack the Five Elders and Imu, 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.[3]
Sabo managed to escape with knowledge of Imu, and the World Government went on high alert to locate him.[4]
After the Levely ended, Imu called the Elders. They wished to test out Vegapunk's latest creation, the Mother Flame, and upon being asked where to use it on, Imu named Lulusia Kingdom as its target simply due to the Kingdom's proximity to the Mother Flame, regardless of the people living there. Imu also ordered the Five Elders to capture Vivi and bring her to them.[5]
Final Saga
Egghead Arc
Coincidentally, the World Government eventually was able to trace Sabo's location to Lulusia, after intercepting a call where he attempted to reveal Imu's existence to the rest of the Revolutionary Army. In the Room of Flowers, Imu listened in on the Five Elders' discussing the discovery of Sabo's location and the country of Lulusia being destroyed by an explosive energy barrage from the sky, with the Five Elders proclaiming that it never existed at all.[4] Imu is seen witnessing the rise of the sea in the world.[17]
Imu notices Joy Boy's Haki.
The next day, Imu listened to Vegapunk's broadcast message about that rise of the sea and the discoveries he had made about the Void Century while looking at a painting of Nefertari Lili.[18][19][20] With the broadcast nearing its end, Imu listens to Vegapunk state that the fate of the world will be decided by whoever is able to claim the One Piece.[21] After Emet used Joy Boy's stored Supreme King Haki to force the Five Elders back to Mary Geoise, Imu fell to their knees screaming and cursed Joy Boy's name.[9]
Following the conclusion of the Egghead Incident, Imu would blame Saturn for his role in allowing Luffy (whom he referred to as Joy Boy) and his allies to escape. As a result, Imu stripped Saturn of his apparent immortality, killing him. At the same time, they promoted Figarland Garling to Saturn's previously held position as Warrior God of Science and Defense.[7]
Major Battles
- Imu and Five Elders vs. Sabo
Translation and Dub Issues
In the VIZ Media translation, Imu talks in first person with the standard subject 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
- Regarding Imu's name:
- The existence of an authority even higher than the Five Elders within the World Government was first hinted in Chapter 793 when Fleet Admiral Sakazuki learnt from the Five Elders that the orders approving Doflamingo's charade of falsely quitting the Seven Warlords came from an authority that superseded their own.[22]
- Emporio Ivankov has hypothesized that Imu may be one of the First Twenty from 800 years ago: specifically, a member of the Nerona Family named Saint Imu, who may have received the "Perennial Youth Operation" since no ordinary Celestial Dragon would be able to command the Five Elders.
- This belief is supported by Marcus Mars referring to Imu as a "Creator" the same way as the First Twenty are referred to, although whether Imu is indeed one of those 20 kings is unknown as of now.[23]
- This theory is further reinforced when Imu collapsed and seemed to recognize the Haki of Joy Boy, who lived and died 800 years ago. [24]
- Imu's position as ruler of the world is a title that the infamous pirate Rocks D. Xebec once aspired to obtain.[25] It is not known if Rocks was ever aware of Imu or the Empty Throne, though the island on 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.
Notes
- ↑ The ending credits of Episodes 1118 to 1120, in which Imu is heard speaking, list Imu's voice actor as "???".
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 90 Chapter 906 (p. 16-17) and Episode 885, Imu is first seen before a Straw Hat.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 90 Chapter 908 (p. 15-17) and Episode 889, The Five Elders bow before Imu taking the Empty Throne.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 107 Chapter 1085 (p. 2-12) and Episode 1119.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 105 Chapter 1060 (p. 13-15) and Episode 1089, Imu destroys the Lulusia Kingdom.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 107 Chapter 1086 (p. 6-10) and Episode 1120.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 107 Chapter 1084 (p. 9, 17) and Episode 1118.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 One Piece Manga — Chapter 1125 (p. 12).
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Chapter 1116 (p. 2), Imu keeps a portrait of Lily despite condemning her for her actions.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 One Piece Manga — Chapter 1122 (p. 14).
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Chapter 1116 (p. 7), Vegapunk theorizes that the weapon that destroyed the Lulusia Kingdom is an Ancient Weapon.
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 108 Chapter 1094.
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 108 Chapter 1100 (p. 3-6).
- ↑ One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 107 Chapter 1086 (p. 8) and Episode 1120.
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 108 Chapter 1095 (p. 4).
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Chapter 1111 (p. 17-18), Luffy calls the Five Elders immortal.
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Chapter 1125 (p. 11-13).
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 108 Chapter 1089 (p. 5).
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Chapter 1114 (p. 11).
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Chapter 1115 (p. 17).
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Chapter 1116 (p. 2).
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Chapter 1121.
- ↑ One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 79 Chapter 793 (p. 4-5) and Episode 736.
- ↑ One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 107 Chapter 1086 (p. 13-14) and Episode 1120.
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Chapter 1122 (p. 14).
- ↑ One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 95 Chapter 957 (p. 6-11) and Episode 958.
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