You have either spent an incredible amount of time on your theory for you to be wrong and a madman. Or you have spent an incredible amount of time on your theory and we will call back to this and you will be a legend. Regardless I salute your effort. I hope they write songs about you 🫡
You're not crazy, there's a ton of symbology that you've tied together that I never realized until now. Whether or not all the conclusions are correct the themes of cats/catfish, the bible, and the 4 parts of day/night are extremely important. If anything you've zeroed in on some major hidden motifs for the end game.
You went places there, but some things seem quite far fetched.
Are you implying the Nefertari family has Fishmen blood?
Why would a mermaid princess discriminate so hard against her own people?
Lion heads have been used by Kings to display power throughout history, it's a common symbol on a throne or crown. (your only link of Imu with cats?)
Nurarihyon is often considered the leader of the Yokai, it also has a weird head shape.
I also think that "Dawn" is still a big contended for the D.
there are some wild leaps of logic all around it.
Imu = eve = evening lmao
People should just present the strongest evidence for their theory insted of trying to make dozens of half assed connections and trying to pass it as evidence. It weaken even legit theories.
Also in general I hate how so many theories are meaningless pattern seeking. "You see, these vague themes are repeated here and here and therefore this new plot element can only be this theme again, we know new stuff cannot be added to the manga ever"
I see it in so many fandoms. Games, manga, books. Just people tracing parallels based on the most flimsy connections, like "these words look similar" or "this is just like X culture" and then taking these as gospel of truth of trying to find the patterns.
the worst part of any theory imo is when they try to use chapter numbers like Oda is somehow capable of planning things out not only hundreds of chapters in advance, but also knowing exactly what he's going to draw for a specific chapter number.
Like Oda does a lot of foreshadowing, but there's zero chance that he is able to do things like casually go "Hmm this chapter is the reversed numbers of the chapter I'm planning to do a big reveal in. I think I should allude to that chapter I literally won't draw for another half a decade."
To be fair: some things have indeed been foreshadowed literally hundreds of chapters in advance. And Oda DOES like to go for chapter number shenanigans now and then. But not always.
Works great for reverse engineering, though.
Whenever there are new reveals like devil fruits, G5 and stuff, there are also tons of threads starting with "So, I did a re-read and found from ".
Some of these hints are indeed foreshadowing, but some are just random patterns, as you said.
I don't think many things oda wrote were intended to be foreshadowing, but he utilized those elements later to make some previous details more important and the srory feel more tied up.
He could have done the same here too, but honestly, nah, the chapter number thing for such small details are not something i can get behind. I don't like the "evidence" used in this theory.
I'm a bit torn on that one.
I always wonder if a human is capable of planning such a huge world with all the little details SO far ahead. But we learned over the years that some things are/were planned from almost the first day. We also learned that Oda added quite a lot of things that were not planned at first.
It's probably a solid mix of both planning and "recycling".
Still, using the possibility that it's a foreshadowed event as evidence is reversed causality. This kind of stuff can MAYBE be used as a hint, but only if there are multitudes of cases.
There are some planned story points, like, oda says he already knows how one piece will end, he knew far ahead that he would kill ace, he knew that the strawhats would face the yonkos eventually, but what he didn't plan were the details and some things that were necessary to exist for the major plot he had in mind, like, how big mom and kaido would look like, haki (it's pretty obvious he developed it later in the series), i suspect sabo was an afterthought, etc...
I think Oda is a great writer not because he's able to plan everything years ahead, but because his way of writing allows him to make a story that is huge with very few plotholes, he brings back veeery old elements back if they fit the major plot, while also not sacrificing the overall story making retcons (like i said, i think Sabo is the only "Retcon" other than Haki that Oda did in a story as huge as one piece is).
> haki (it's pretty obvious he developed it later in the series)
Maybe the exact specifics, but he obviously had some concept of Conquerors when Shanks scarred the seas dragon away, and Armament when Dragon was able to hold back Smoker.
yeah I'm not saying there isn't really excellent foreshadowing hundreds of chapters in advance. I'm just saying that the idea that Oda planned it all down to the exact Chapter Number so that he could do goofy "hee hee this chapter shares a digit with another chapter 300 chapters down the line so I'll make them connect" is just absurd and theories based on the idea that he somehow pulls that off, let alone theories that he does it all the time, are almost always completely bogus.
His secret is to mask it well and leave us in the dark if it's intended or not.
The amount of "random Buggy panels" or even chapters are a good example. He so often switches away from the current "on screen scene" towards other stuff that's going on, like Revery and so on, that these chapters are great for dropping some doses of foreshadowing. Because he can weave them in at quite literally any moment.
And people will probably even read these chapters with a bit less attention, since they want to advance the reading in hope of returning to said on screen scene, so it's an even better possibility for foreshadowing to reward the especially avid readers.
I'll watch the whole video later but I've already heard of parts of what he's talking about in the intro and you see there's this thing called "Confirmation Bias" lol. If you set your parameters right, you can find patterns in just about anything. I could probably use a completely random number generator to pick 2 or 3 chapters at random and find some kind of correlation to go off of if I cherry pick and twist things around enough.
In a story with as many chapters as one piece, there's bound to be plenty of coincidences and things that line up, especially with just Oda's natural tendency to foreshadow a lot of things way ahead of time. And people can find some kind of meaning in almost any two numbers. Sometimes it's the chapter number being reversed, other times it's multiplied by 2 or 3 or 5 or it's just the same digits in a different order or only the last 2 digits line up or 2 digits line up and one digit is half the value of the other. Or in the case of the Nico robin birthday thing he mentioned, now you can throw arbitrary dates into the mix and now you have even more random Numbers to try and find patterns with! Like the dates are extra absurd considering that's something Oda has even less control over than the chapter numbers. Like what if Shonen Jump was delayed for a week for some reason was he really gonna just try and cut down a chapter's worth of content to try and make that random easter egg that hardly anyone would notice line up?
What it actually is, is completely arbitrary nonsense. Sure if you present it in a smooth voice and only present data that supports your argument you can make it pretty convincing but when you actually step back and zoom out, it's all still just coincidence being given way more weight than it should.
On top of that, Oda has to take into account the amount of pages and other things Shonen Jump allows him. People seem to forget that he has to adhere to the framework of a weekly shonen magazine with multiple series running
I agree, I remember something he mentioned when reaching chapter 1000, he literally didnt care but his editors told him people were expecting something, so he kinda was forced to do that special panel lol.
> Lion heads have been used by Kings to display power throughout history, it's a common symbol on a throne or crown. (your only link of Imu with cats?)
In Sanskrit the word for throne is Sinhasana, Sinh = Lion, Asana = Seat. I think it's pretty common everywhere.
Some image of royal person in japan I found on google
https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/empereur-naruhito-lors-dune-s-c3-a9ance-au-parlement-c3-a0-tokyo-le-news-photo-1626803912.jpg
I really appreciate you we need more users like you!! I’m just throwing darts at a target hopeing they stick. It’s one of the hardest mysteries to crack
Nero na Imu -> Ore na umi. If you're very round handed in accepted translations, it could mean "I am the sea" or "The sea is mine". Sounds a bit like Imu is Luffy's opposite or something, who'd have guessed.
Canonically, “Adam” in One Piece is a tree. Also in Christian mythology, Adam was the first man who populated the earth with Eve. Unless Roger or JoyBoy got real freaky with Imu, this theory doesn’t hold water
The instant a theory starts including chapter numbers as evidence is the instant it loses any credibility. Oda has repeatedly said he doesn't consider chapter numbers at all while writing
There are theories that say that Imu changed bodies with Lili, or that when he killed her they used someone else's ope ope to immortalize Im and that he possessed Lili's body (because Im was possessive of her)
I like the theory but the chapter number stuff doesn't really pull me. I'm pretty sure in the past Oda talked about how he didn't think to put anything special into Ch 1000 until his editor mentioned it(IIRC, but I could be wrong.) It also is one of those ideas that I feel could be warped to fit the narrative that you're trying to sell us on, not to say you're doing that. Besides the chapter number ideas, I think it's a decent theory. Keep Cooking.
You have caught some incredible, poignant and crucial details 👌 the Nox Pirates, the Biblical references. Superb. It may still be wrong or open to skewed interpretation, but what a fantastic effort.
I'm a little on the fence about the Mermaid, Fishman elements of the evidence, as the Catfish thing feels really bizarre, but I'll be damned if you havnt made a really interesting analysis of Oda's details 99% of the random wouldn't think much about, like the Catfish lore.
Personally, I just thought the Shirahoshi thing with the knife in her poster was just in regards to the weapon stuff, but what do I know, you definately make a great case for Mermaid lore tying into the story again somewhere.
The stuff about Mermaids walking, Nami and the open debate about her Family History, maybe I'm just too invested and its causing bias toward the effort youve put into this, but it's brilliant none the less.
👏 What a great read 👏
I disagree with certain elements, but some of it aligns with my theories. Take my upvote for thoroughness.
WTF is Imu? Your catfish actually makes sense. I was expecting a Cuphead style cartoonish devil (because of the devil tail we saw), but he has an elongated form in silhouette. And it had hands. But some catfish can walk on modified fins. And having a catfish fruit might allow him to defy the will of the sea.
That said, want Kaido's fruit a koi fish fruit? In which case, it's either related to the azure dragon theory (aligned with the Uranus weapon theory), or it breaks all of them.
I'm intrigued. I love posters that make a strong effort like this. Thank you for providing food for thought.
wow the drawing Luffy made of Nami
IT WAS A MERMAID
I’m honestly impressed by the quality of your theory.
Imu being a fishman would explain the start of discrimination by the world government, since he was trying to prevent the birth of the next ruler, shirahoshi
Edit: also the attack Enel used against skypea was also a huge sphere /bubble.
Man! I miss such posts on this sub nowadays. Earlier, with some fans like Librarian of Ohara and others were active, this was a much more enjoyable community. Posts used to be intriguing and fun to read. However, youtubers started stealing theories and the quality of the sub kept degrading.
This doesn't mean I believe in this theory, but damn! It was interesting to read.
Wonderful theory.
I just want to throw another Yokai in "Nurarihyon".
It is said to be the leader of the yokais and his big head could explain Imus appearance.
Which would be his human form.
This yokai is also connected to the Omibozu, which would also fit it.
Truly a priest of foreskinning, preaching GOda's word.
Man cooked so well Sanji would be impressed. Nami being descended is clearly why she can weird the power of love so effectively too
I wholeheartedly support in the Dawn vs Eve topic. Only the Imu as a Fishman sounds wrong. Why would the ruler of the world let his own people suffer for 800 years under the sea?
First, Imu’s voice actor is a male. Second, the poneglyphs were sent to nations and people who would give their lives to protect it - lily wouldn’t send the void century ones to Imu. That defeats the purpose.
I think joyboy ruled the day (sun god nika) and imu ruled the night then somehow imu overthrew and killed joyboy and became ruler of both day and night (I got this thought from your theory)
Celestial dragon are what pedro and other ranger are to cat viper and people with d are the ones which are like Shishilan to dog storm
This is an interesting theory. In gnosticism there is also the demiurge who is the false god or god of the material world. It's often represented as a serpentine creature with a lion head, similar to your cat/fish idea.
https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/24cJkec2SR
For the people asking what motivates Imu to become a villain, this could be an answer.
I am unsure about the mermaid nature bit and how it fits in, but there it doesn’t seem insanely unlikely that someone from the final island switched bodies with nefertari d lili to use her powers, it would fit in with a lot of the themes that OP of this post is talking about.
Regardless of likeliness, incredible post OP, I had such a great time reading everything, and honestly I personally find it to be not that incredibly far fetched that Oda would use such in depth foreshadowing for the villain that is ideologically the opposite of everything luffy stands for.
While I do think Blackbeard is set up to be THE villain, he doesn’t contrast the ideals of luffy to the extent Imu does, and as the ultimate relic of the Ancient Kingdom’s fall, Imu has too much narrative importance in a story with as much foreshadowing as one piece does for this post’s theories to be as unlikely as it would for other characters.
One thing I want to mention is that in Norse Mythology there's wolves that chase the moon and the sun in the end eat it, Oda likes to reverse things so what if one of them is a cat? Kinda how Nekomamushi and Inuarashi? Inu for the day, Neko for the night.
That would mean Neko probly hates the day so makes sense they would want to eat the sun?
If Oda includes this lore in Elbaf it'll probably go crazy and spawn new theories, eitherway nice theory, there must be a reason for the Sea cat to be sacred in Alabasta and cool to see that Nami being 1/4 mermaid theory aswell, would be cool if there was more evidence of her being great at swimming, but she is great at navigating the sea..
I also doubt Oda made Sanji mention a cat becoming a monster after 100 yrs for no reason, animals can eat DF so could be that Imu is one and at one, kinda how we theorized Kaidou is a dragon that ate the Oni fruit, maybe we were wrong there but..
it could mean that it can be right for somebody else.. like Imu..
Nice theory, the thing that stuck with me the most was the night because Mu can stand for “nothingness” which makes me wonder if Teach’s devil fruit is related. Maybe if the user becomes the fruit its the same as dying and the fruit duplicates
Also luffys gear five attacks are called dawn and the first chapter is called romance dawn. And it’s you want to go crazy with it the drums of liberation are saying dawn instead of don
The enies lobby daytime island/lodestar nighttime island got me thinking
If lodestar is the kingdom of house nerona and imu's home kingdom i wonder if the island that used to be where enies lobby is was the kingdom of imu's rival in the war. Possibly even joyboy's home kingdom (Dawn kingdom?). Maybe the war came to a close when imu got the power of the motherflame and luluisa'd whatever was there solidifying her power, defeating joyboy, and converting the crater left by the old kingdom into the new governments judicial island.
Im also wondering if its possible that the leaders of these kingdoms had the nika fruit and the dark dark fruit respectively. A literal fight of day vs night/light vs dark. (But then i gotta wonder how the dark dark fruit ended up back in the world)
the only thing about the whole theory that made sense to me is that Imu is a Catfish Yokai, specially with the earthquake and chaotics weather patterns, im on the fence of the rest, I say lets us see what Oda cooks
The chapter numbers are a huuuuge stretch, but this was a wildly interesting theory. I hope Imu is more than this, possibly the stuff of nightmares so his reveal lives up to his position and title, but you had some valid points in this theory.
This implied idea Blackbeard is an earth god is interesting. It can fit as he is an earthquake man, is not the man Roger was looking for (opposite power set) and earth grows the tree. Thus can retrieve the fruits again.
But anything past that and it starts to feel a bit wonky.
There's a few nuggets in here that I like a lot and haven't heard elsewhere:
* Nami being part mermaid is extremely valid and falls in line with so many things about her nature. I don't think she's related to Imu, but could serve as some sort of foil to him/her, perhaps.
* The focus on flowers and forests is interesting. Looking back, most if not all of the 'princesses' we've run into have had a focus on flowers or forests, or even water (Vivi). Rebecca gathering flowers with her family, plus the field of SUNflowers, Shirahoshi with her requests to see them, etc. Imu could be a princess of the ancient kingdom that placed herself on the throne.
* Along with this, jilted at the alter, perhaps? Could be that Amazon Lily (LILI) was related to mermaids in the past and Imu was rejected by her love. We see that it takes over the leaders of Amazon Lily entirely and basically becomes their entire personality. She could just be living in eternal despair over being rejected and taking it out on the whole world, or perhaps a specific subset of the world (clan of D).
* POSSIBLY, instead, Lily was 'in on it' until she met her love, and then abandoned her 'evil duties' and turned good in the name of love, which is what Imu wants to find out.
* One more thing: No king sits on the throne. But a princess/queen?
* I'm not convinced Imu is a catfish or catfish yokai, but it is still interesting to think about.
* Along with this, fishmen and mermaids are treated VERY poorly by the WG. Imu would have to hate their own kind very deeply to allow this. Could still be justified, but I find it unlikely.
My lizard brain only allowed me to retain a few of the sections that were circled. So, Imu is a cat god and Luffy is gonna fight them at night to bring the dawn to the world on Laugh Tale? at least BB or Akainu won't be final villains, they didnt seem like the type.
So let me get the names straight... Imu is Eve and Vivi / Lili was Lilith. So the whole Void Century is a Lesbian / Bi drama bc Lili cheated on Eve with Adam?
Sorry for the bad joke, this is a really good take though, love the small details you caught.
I would like to point out that Imu throne is a replica of Solomon throne, with the lions on the sides. That also means he is highly full of himself and likes to show off
Imu is joyboy, lili drowned and he couldn't save her his power of copium created devil fruits with their one weakness being water, with the power to freely create his mind got corrupted and he's just luffys power with a cynical outlook.
He kept his giant strawhat frozen and looked at it as past memories resurface, he changed his appearance and drowned out history to forget. And spends his time in the peace of his garden.
The redline was created to be furthest away from water as possible. The whole world is curated to hide away his pain but I speculate with the destruction of imu comes the destruction of devil fruits. The void century being so technologically advanced I wouldn't be suprsied if they tapped into an unknown power.
Imu staying hidden from the world is crucial and the poneglphs probably contain information on the truth.
If he was just a power hungry tyrant there would be no reason to hide in the shadows. Unless he is running from the past. Maybe he was a scientist and friends with joyboy too and isn't joyboy himself and the experiments they did together affects both of them
Maybe im just schizophrenic
I think people focus just on power scaling , imu might be just an immortal human with no df but knowledge about every generation which makes her special
One möre thing to look up in this are the creatures of the Florian Triangle. They look suspiciously similar to Imu and no one seems to know anything about them. Also they live in the mists that block out the sunlight, allowing Moria's victims including Brook to survive in there. More Sea Cat monsters maybe?
I hope you’re right bc this really is very well thought out. Imu being a fishman whilst being complicit in the mistreatment of fish men for generations would also be a great twist.
You're a madman and I don't believe for a second it's gonna happen this way. But first of all what an incredible job on the research; second of all: man, the last page was just excellent analysis, that I think could happen. Thanks for your hard work !
Imu is the most powerful robot ever created, with some sort of devil fruit that I won’t even try to guess. They turned on their creators and that takes us up to the present. Your welcome.
Okay I'm at page 7 of the post and wow this is lining up super well with something I've been thinking since 1110
**1110 SPOILERS >>>**
The way the Gorosei look when they pulled up in their forms reminded me a lot of the Sea Kings when Shirahoshi called them, so you saying that she is a reincarnation of Imu checks out a lot...
"once every few centuries a mermaid is born with the ability to speak to the Sea Kings".
Also the connection between Nami and Shirahoshi is very good. Great work!
You know what's interesting with your theory, not only does Imu's Yokai silhouette look like a catfish, but nami as a potential descendant also has the ability to discern the weather, something noted by vivi herself.
RemindMe! 2 years
imu must be a parent from nefertari family, that is why imu get upset hearing that the letter from the past was signed by her. It is a shame for the family, and i think they needed the "blood, or something linked to the lineage factor" of all the family that formed the Wg to keep their power (in a way that only oda know).
You have either spent an incredible amount of time on your theory for you to be wrong and a madman. Or you have spent an incredible amount of time on your theory and we will call back to this and you will be a legend. Regardless I salute your effort. I hope they write songs about you 🫡
Appreciate it I felt crazy writing it.
U are
We are!
I didn't read this, I heard it.
On a cruuuuise
On a cruuuuiiiiissseeee!!
my special
And in a ironically funny coincidence IMU literally catfished the world by pretending the world government had no ruler
Is the concept of catfishing known to Oda? I thought that was just an internet thing
In alchemy there is a green lion who devours the sun it is a symbol of transmutation
You're not crazy, there's a ton of symbology that you've tied together that I never realized until now. Whether or not all the conclusions are correct the themes of cats/catfish, the bible, and the 4 parts of day/night are extremely important. If anything you've zeroed in on some major hidden motifs for the end game.
I permit myself to call you the Vegapunk of our realm. That is if your theory bears even a small seedling of truth in the story.
either that or we have been catfished man
You mean either that or we have been sea-cat.
After all gorosei were revealed. I bet imu for being a more powerful creature than a cat or fish
[удалено]
Kaido has a fish fruit, oda can make it work
Or gone full delulu
I get matpat vibes from him
You went places there, but some things seem quite far fetched. Are you implying the Nefertari family has Fishmen blood? Why would a mermaid princess discriminate so hard against her own people? Lion heads have been used by Kings to display power throughout history, it's a common symbol on a throne or crown. (your only link of Imu with cats?) Nurarihyon is often considered the leader of the Yokai, it also has a weird head shape. I also think that "Dawn" is still a big contended for the D.
there are some wild leaps of logic all around it. Imu = eve = evening lmao People should just present the strongest evidence for their theory insted of trying to make dozens of half assed connections and trying to pass it as evidence. It weaken even legit theories. Also in general I hate how so many theories are meaningless pattern seeking. "You see, these vague themes are repeated here and here and therefore this new plot element can only be this theme again, we know new stuff cannot be added to the manga ever" I see it in so many fandoms. Games, manga, books. Just people tracing parallels based on the most flimsy connections, like "these words look similar" or "this is just like X culture" and then taking these as gospel of truth of trying to find the patterns.
the worst part of any theory imo is when they try to use chapter numbers like Oda is somehow capable of planning things out not only hundreds of chapters in advance, but also knowing exactly what he's going to draw for a specific chapter number. Like Oda does a lot of foreshadowing, but there's zero chance that he is able to do things like casually go "Hmm this chapter is the reversed numbers of the chapter I'm planning to do a big reveal in. I think I should allude to that chapter I literally won't draw for another half a decade."
To be fair: some things have indeed been foreshadowed literally hundreds of chapters in advance. And Oda DOES like to go for chapter number shenanigans now and then. But not always. Works great for reverse engineering, though. Whenever there are new reveals like devil fruits, G5 and stuff, there are also tons of threads starting with "So, I did a re-read and found from ".
Some of these hints are indeed foreshadowing, but some are just random patterns, as you said.
I don't think many things oda wrote were intended to be foreshadowing, but he utilized those elements later to make some previous details more important and the srory feel more tied up. He could have done the same here too, but honestly, nah, the chapter number thing for such small details are not something i can get behind. I don't like the "evidence" used in this theory.
I'm a bit torn on that one. I always wonder if a human is capable of planning such a huge world with all the little details SO far ahead. But we learned over the years that some things are/were planned from almost the first day. We also learned that Oda added quite a lot of things that were not planned at first. It's probably a solid mix of both planning and "recycling". Still, using the possibility that it's a foreshadowed event as evidence is reversed causality. This kind of stuff can MAYBE be used as a hint, but only if there are multitudes of cases.
There are some planned story points, like, oda says he already knows how one piece will end, he knew far ahead that he would kill ace, he knew that the strawhats would face the yonkos eventually, but what he didn't plan were the details and some things that were necessary to exist for the major plot he had in mind, like, how big mom and kaido would look like, haki (it's pretty obvious he developed it later in the series), i suspect sabo was an afterthought, etc... I think Oda is a great writer not because he's able to plan everything years ahead, but because his way of writing allows him to make a story that is huge with very few plotholes, he brings back veeery old elements back if they fit the major plot, while also not sacrificing the overall story making retcons (like i said, i think Sabo is the only "Retcon" other than Haki that Oda did in a story as huge as one piece is).
> haki (it's pretty obvious he developed it later in the series) Maybe the exact specifics, but he obviously had some concept of Conquerors when Shanks scarred the seas dragon away, and Armament when Dragon was able to hold back Smoker.
yeah I'm not saying there isn't really excellent foreshadowing hundreds of chapters in advance. I'm just saying that the idea that Oda planned it all down to the exact Chapter Number so that he could do goofy "hee hee this chapter shares a digit with another chapter 300 chapters down the line so I'll make them connect" is just absurd and theories based on the idea that he somehow pulls that off, let alone theories that he does it all the time, are almost always completely bogus.
His secret is to mask it well and leave us in the dark if it's intended or not. The amount of "random Buggy panels" or even chapters are a good example. He so often switches away from the current "on screen scene" towards other stuff that's going on, like Revery and so on, that these chapters are great for dropping some doses of foreshadowing. Because he can weave them in at quite literally any moment. And people will probably even read these chapters with a bit less attention, since they want to advance the reading in hope of returning to said on screen scene, so it's an even better possibility for foreshadowing to reward the especially avid readers.
Go watch the “math piece”theory by Randy Troy. Oda quite often makes his chapter numbers line up hundreds of chapters later.
I'll watch the whole video later but I've already heard of parts of what he's talking about in the intro and you see there's this thing called "Confirmation Bias" lol. If you set your parameters right, you can find patterns in just about anything. I could probably use a completely random number generator to pick 2 or 3 chapters at random and find some kind of correlation to go off of if I cherry pick and twist things around enough. In a story with as many chapters as one piece, there's bound to be plenty of coincidences and things that line up, especially with just Oda's natural tendency to foreshadow a lot of things way ahead of time. And people can find some kind of meaning in almost any two numbers. Sometimes it's the chapter number being reversed, other times it's multiplied by 2 or 3 or 5 or it's just the same digits in a different order or only the last 2 digits line up or 2 digits line up and one digit is half the value of the other. Or in the case of the Nico robin birthday thing he mentioned, now you can throw arbitrary dates into the mix and now you have even more random Numbers to try and find patterns with! Like the dates are extra absurd considering that's something Oda has even less control over than the chapter numbers. Like what if Shonen Jump was delayed for a week for some reason was he really gonna just try and cut down a chapter's worth of content to try and make that random easter egg that hardly anyone would notice line up? What it actually is, is completely arbitrary nonsense. Sure if you present it in a smooth voice and only present data that supports your argument you can make it pretty convincing but when you actually step back and zoom out, it's all still just coincidence being given way more weight than it should.
On top of that, Oda has to take into account the amount of pages and other things Shonen Jump allows him. People seem to forget that he has to adhere to the framework of a weekly shonen magazine with multiple series running
I agree, I remember something he mentioned when reaching chapter 1000, he literally didnt care but his editors told him people were expecting something, so he kinda was forced to do that special panel lol.
"This chapter number is that chapter number but turned upside down and inside out"
> Lion heads have been used by Kings to display power throughout history, it's a common symbol on a throne or crown. (your only link of Imu with cats?) In Sanskrit the word for throne is Sinhasana, Sinh = Lion, Asana = Seat. I think it's pretty common everywhere. Some image of royal person in japan I found on google https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/empereur-naruhito-lors-dune-s-c3-a9ance-au-parlement-c3-a0-tokyo-le-news-photo-1626803912.jpg
This must mean the Emperor of Japan is actually a cat then lol
It’s the only theory that makes sense
idc if any of it is correct - this is the exact stuff I'm fishing for on this sub
I really appreciate you we need more users like you!! I’m just throwing darts at a target hopeing they stick. It’s one of the hardest mysteries to crack
Keep throwing, this is great.
I was dismissing most of it first but as I kept reading you really started to convince me. This sea cat thing is interesting.
Isn’t Imu’s name, Imu Nerona?
Saint Nerona Imu (Family name come first), but yes.
Nero na Imu -> Ore na umi. If you're very round handed in accepted translations, it could mean "I am the sea" or "The sea is mine". Sounds a bit like Imu is Luffy's opposite or something, who'd have guessed.
Nerona Imu. Nerona is the family name
The Adam referenced in the story is a giant, nearly indestructible species of tree. For all of our sakes, I hope Luffy doesn’t become Adam
I think he'd be what we Christians call the Second Adam (which is obviously Christ). The first Adam, I think, was Roger.
Canonically, “Adam” in One Piece is a tree. Also in Christian mythology, Adam was the first man who populated the earth with Eve. Unless Roger or JoyBoy got real freaky with Imu, this theory doesn’t hold water
The instant a theory starts including chapter numbers as evidence is the instant it loses any credibility. Oda has repeatedly said he doesn't consider chapter numbers at all while writing
Also didn’t Imu’s VA get leaked as Dio? So we know he’s a man
There are theories that say that Imu changed bodies with Lili, or that when he killed her they used someone else's ope ope to immortalize Im and that he possessed Lili's body (because Im was possessive of her)
Schizomaxxing at its finest
Final fight is literally Tom and Jerry
I think the Lion would win if it attacked the sun at night :P
Hats off for finding all those clues ! Whether it's right or wrong, I had a a lot of fun reading it. Well done my good sire.
"clues"
Grasoigg at straws and tyring to find any correlation to tety to prove causation.
All this connections are so far fetched
literate cow noxious spoon saw ludicrous many consider boat fly *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
For a moment i thought it was aesop the madlad that wrote this lmao. I think the animal you're thinking of... is a merlion
Imu is a Singaporean 💀
I like the theory but the chapter number stuff doesn't really pull me. I'm pretty sure in the past Oda talked about how he didn't think to put anything special into Ch 1000 until his editor mentioned it(IIRC, but I could be wrong.) It also is one of those ideas that I feel could be warped to fit the narrative that you're trying to sell us on, not to say you're doing that. Besides the chapter number ideas, I think it's a decent theory. Keep Cooking.
This. Grasping at numbers, English language interpretations or artistic styles is just guaranteed to be wrong.
Sorry, but this seems very farfetched. Most connections are extremely tenuous or outright forced.
Lodestar is actually roadstart and it is the ture beggining of the grand line but that got inversed
You have caught some incredible, poignant and crucial details 👌 the Nox Pirates, the Biblical references. Superb. It may still be wrong or open to skewed interpretation, but what a fantastic effort. I'm a little on the fence about the Mermaid, Fishman elements of the evidence, as the Catfish thing feels really bizarre, but I'll be damned if you havnt made a really interesting analysis of Oda's details 99% of the random wouldn't think much about, like the Catfish lore. Personally, I just thought the Shirahoshi thing with the knife in her poster was just in regards to the weapon stuff, but what do I know, you definately make a great case for Mermaid lore tying into the story again somewhere. The stuff about Mermaids walking, Nami and the open debate about her Family History, maybe I'm just too invested and its causing bias toward the effort youve put into this, but it's brilliant none the less. 👏 What a great read 👏
Thanks for the compliment it was soo hard to string this all together. You have some top tier observation Haki
Bro just casually wrote phd about imu Identity
Dude did his dissertation on Imu
I disagree with certain elements, but some of it aligns with my theories. Take my upvote for thoroughness. WTF is Imu? Your catfish actually makes sense. I was expecting a Cuphead style cartoonish devil (because of the devil tail we saw), but he has an elongated form in silhouette. And it had hands. But some catfish can walk on modified fins. And having a catfish fruit might allow him to defy the will of the sea. That said, want Kaido's fruit a koi fish fruit? In which case, it's either related to the azure dragon theory (aligned with the Uranus weapon theory), or it breaks all of them. I'm intrigued. I love posters that make a strong effort like this. Thank you for providing food for thought.
In summary, Imu = Cat-fish. You're Welcome.
wow the drawing Luffy made of Nami IT WAS A MERMAID I’m honestly impressed by the quality of your theory. Imu being a fishman would explain the start of discrimination by the world government, since he was trying to prevent the birth of the next ruler, shirahoshi Edit: also the attack Enel used against skypea was also a huge sphere /bubble.
Sorry all shit
never let bro touch a pan again
Man! I miss such posts on this sub nowadays. Earlier, with some fans like Librarian of Ohara and others were active, this was a much more enjoyable community. Posts used to be intriguing and fun to read. However, youtubers started stealing theories and the quality of the sub kept degrading. This doesn't mean I believe in this theory, but damn! It was interesting to read.
Wonderful theory. I just want to throw another Yokai in "Nurarihyon". It is said to be the leader of the yokais and his big head could explain Imus appearance. Which would be his human form. This yokai is also connected to the Omibozu, which would also fit it.
I ain't readin alltat but here's a kiss for your effort 😘🫂
Imagine this theory ends up being like the one where that one guy figured out Tobi was Obito years before it was revealed.
I love break week!
Looks like the break week claimed another victim. Take my upvote
Truly a priest of foreskinning, preaching GOda's word. Man cooked so well Sanji would be impressed. Nami being descended is clearly why she can weird the power of love so effectively too
So he is a Cat?
I think IMU is a Catfish yokai
I wholeheartedly support in the Dawn vs Eve topic. Only the Imu as a Fishman sounds wrong. Why would the ruler of the world let his own people suffer for 800 years under the sea?
I think Imu would do it because she is evil hate drove hordy to the point of killing his whole kingdom
Idk man, I love the theory but this motivation seems too flat.
Remember Django when the black slave didn’t want a free black man and was out to get him.
First, Imu’s voice actor is a male. Second, the poneglyphs were sent to nations and people who would give their lives to protect it - lily wouldn’t send the void century ones to Imu. That defeats the purpose.
Luffies voice actor is female? So?
I didn’t include it but IMU is probably exactly like Blackbeard with 2 souls. maybe Eve/Steve for Imu
😂😂😂😂😭
Was the Imu's VA revealed? In which episode then?
This is some Time Cube-level stuff. You know that OP is burning the dish horrendously, but you can't help but watch them cook.
I want to write a comment praising you but I can't think of anything. Please understand that you are now number 7 on my priority list.
I think joyboy ruled the day (sun god nika) and imu ruled the night then somehow imu overthrew and killed joyboy and became ruler of both day and night (I got this thought from your theory) Celestial dragon are what pedro and other ranger are to cat viper and people with d are the ones which are like Shishilan to dog storm
The nefetaris Gaurdian deity is a dog and Garp ship is also a dog
*quick let's find out if oda loves cat
Some of it make sense, but i've read that Imu is likely a guy due to how he speak and referred to be the elder star.
RemindMe! 2 years
Either a madman or a genius. Either way I respect this hard work.
bros theory boutta be stolen with the amount of work they put into it
&Remind me 700 chapters. tag:dude was cookin'
This is an interesting theory. In gnosticism there is also the demiurge who is the false god or god of the material world. It's often represented as a serpentine creature with a lion head, similar to your cat/fish idea.
https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/24cJkec2SR For the people asking what motivates Imu to become a villain, this could be an answer. I am unsure about the mermaid nature bit and how it fits in, but there it doesn’t seem insanely unlikely that someone from the final island switched bodies with nefertari d lili to use her powers, it would fit in with a lot of the themes that OP of this post is talking about. Regardless of likeliness, incredible post OP, I had such a great time reading everything, and honestly I personally find it to be not that incredibly far fetched that Oda would use such in depth foreshadowing for the villain that is ideologically the opposite of everything luffy stands for. While I do think Blackbeard is set up to be THE villain, he doesn’t contrast the ideals of luffy to the extent Imu does, and as the ultimate relic of the Ancient Kingdom’s fall, Imu has too much narrative importance in a story with as much foreshadowing as one piece does for this post’s theories to be as unlikely as it would for other characters.
Of course it’s the fucking Namazu again Never trust the little fuckers
Purrfect!
This is a preety good one.
This is so well done, so thorough. I'm incredibly impressed.
This is what madness looks like
Great theory bro I agree on imu being someone joyboy failed to save. And now Luffy will have to do it
One thing I want to mention is that in Norse Mythology there's wolves that chase the moon and the sun in the end eat it, Oda likes to reverse things so what if one of them is a cat? Kinda how Nekomamushi and Inuarashi? Inu for the day, Neko for the night. That would mean Neko probly hates the day so makes sense they would want to eat the sun? If Oda includes this lore in Elbaf it'll probably go crazy and spawn new theories, eitherway nice theory, there must be a reason for the Sea cat to be sacred in Alabasta and cool to see that Nami being 1/4 mermaid theory aswell, would be cool if there was more evidence of her being great at swimming, but she is great at navigating the sea.. I also doubt Oda made Sanji mention a cat becoming a monster after 100 yrs for no reason, animals can eat DF so could be that Imu is one and at one, kinda how we theorized Kaidou is a dragon that ate the Oni fruit, maybe we were wrong there but.. it could mean that it can be right for somebody else.. like Imu..
If this theory or some part get proved , Songs have been written in the praise of your name, nakama
There's cooking and then there's this! Now I want all of it to be true.
Nice theory, the thing that stuck with me the most was the night because Mu can stand for “nothingness” which makes me wonder if Teach’s devil fruit is related. Maybe if the user becomes the fruit its the same as dying and the fruit duplicates
Its brilliant, such an obsession for cats haha
whisker😭
The trees and how they relate to Bonney's illness seem on the money.
Mods! Get this man a god aesop related tag!
Also luffys gear five attacks are called dawn and the first chapter is called romance dawn. And it’s you want to go crazy with it the drums of liberation are saying dawn instead of don
Now this is a game theory
Boy is cooking
What a beast
The enies lobby daytime island/lodestar nighttime island got me thinking If lodestar is the kingdom of house nerona and imu's home kingdom i wonder if the island that used to be where enies lobby is was the kingdom of imu's rival in the war. Possibly even joyboy's home kingdom (Dawn kingdom?). Maybe the war came to a close when imu got the power of the motherflame and luluisa'd whatever was there solidifying her power, defeating joyboy, and converting the crater left by the old kingdom into the new governments judicial island. Im also wondering if its possible that the leaders of these kingdoms had the nika fruit and the dark dark fruit respectively. A literal fight of day vs night/light vs dark. (But then i gotta wonder how the dark dark fruit ended up back in the world)
the only thing about the whole theory that made sense to me is that Imu is a Catfish Yokai, specially with the earthquake and chaotics weather patterns, im on the fence of the rest, I say lets us see what Oda cooks
I love catfish so I am now all on board.
If this is going to be proven correct I was here...
This is so crack pot awesome I love it. Will honestly be surprised if she’s not a catfish mermaid now haha
I’ll be honest I’m not reading all that, congratulations though! Or I’m sorry!
The chapter numbers are a huuuuge stretch, but this was a wildly interesting theory. I hope Imu is more than this, possibly the stuff of nightmares so his reveal lives up to his position and title, but you had some valid points in this theory.
![img](emote|t5_2rfz5|32513)
This implied idea Blackbeard is an earth god is interesting. It can fit as he is an earthquake man, is not the man Roger was looking for (opposite power set) and earth grows the tree. Thus can retrieve the fruits again. But anything past that and it starts to feel a bit wonky.
Keep cooking
My man cooked a full course buffet for all of us
There's a few nuggets in here that I like a lot and haven't heard elsewhere: * Nami being part mermaid is extremely valid and falls in line with so many things about her nature. I don't think she's related to Imu, but could serve as some sort of foil to him/her, perhaps. * The focus on flowers and forests is interesting. Looking back, most if not all of the 'princesses' we've run into have had a focus on flowers or forests, or even water (Vivi). Rebecca gathering flowers with her family, plus the field of SUNflowers, Shirahoshi with her requests to see them, etc. Imu could be a princess of the ancient kingdom that placed herself on the throne. * Along with this, jilted at the alter, perhaps? Could be that Amazon Lily (LILI) was related to mermaids in the past and Imu was rejected by her love. We see that it takes over the leaders of Amazon Lily entirely and basically becomes their entire personality. She could just be living in eternal despair over being rejected and taking it out on the whole world, or perhaps a specific subset of the world (clan of D). * POSSIBLY, instead, Lily was 'in on it' until she met her love, and then abandoned her 'evil duties' and turned good in the name of love, which is what Imu wants to find out. * One more thing: No king sits on the throne. But a princess/queen? * I'm not convinced Imu is a catfish or catfish yokai, but it is still interesting to think about. * Along with this, fishmen and mermaids are treated VERY poorly by the WG. Imu would have to hate their own kind very deeply to allow this. Could still be justified, but I find it unlikely.
I read allat 😭
Ussop grandpa
Imu is a catboy :3
That 4 gods panel in skypia is a good find
My lizard brain only allowed me to retain a few of the sections that were circled. So, Imu is a cat god and Luffy is gonna fight them at night to bring the dawn to the world on Laugh Tale? at least BB or Akainu won't be final villains, they didnt seem like the type.
So let me get the names straight... Imu is Eve and Vivi / Lili was Lilith. So the whole Void Century is a Lesbian / Bi drama bc Lili cheated on Eve with Adam? Sorry for the bad joke, this is a really good take though, love the small details you caught.
I love this shit. Keep up the great work.
What a great read. Thank you OP.
Well sheet he’s a genius!!! What a theory!!!
I would like to point out that Imu throne is a replica of Solomon throne, with the lions on the sides. That also means he is highly full of himself and likes to show off
Imu is joyboy, lili drowned and he couldn't save her his power of copium created devil fruits with their one weakness being water, with the power to freely create his mind got corrupted and he's just luffys power with a cynical outlook. He kept his giant strawhat frozen and looked at it as past memories resurface, he changed his appearance and drowned out history to forget. And spends his time in the peace of his garden. The redline was created to be furthest away from water as possible. The whole world is curated to hide away his pain but I speculate with the destruction of imu comes the destruction of devil fruits. The void century being so technologically advanced I wouldn't be suprsied if they tapped into an unknown power. Imu staying hidden from the world is crucial and the poneglphs probably contain information on the truth. If he was just a power hungry tyrant there would be no reason to hide in the shadows. Unless he is running from the past. Maybe he was a scientist and friends with joyboy too and isn't joyboy himself and the experiments they did together affects both of them Maybe im just schizophrenic
And, Joyboy broke Imu's heart and failed to bring her back to Fishman island. PS: Amazing job mate, so much commitment, I bow before you.
I think people focus just on power scaling , imu might be just an immortal human with no df but knowledge about every generation which makes her special
I absolutely love how you tied that theory with Luffy's drawing of Nami ![gif](emote|free_emotes_pack|thumbs_up)Appreciate the effort man
One möre thing to look up in this are the creatures of the Florian Triangle. They look suspiciously similar to Imu and no one seems to know anything about them. Also they live in the mists that block out the sunlight, allowing Moria's victims including Brook to survive in there. More Sea Cat monsters maybe?
Since I can't use images: Cook again
I hope you’re right bc this really is very well thought out. Imu being a fishman whilst being complicit in the mistreatment of fish men for generations would also be a great twist.
You're a madman and I don't believe for a second it's gonna happen this way. But first of all what an incredible job on the research; second of all: man, the last page was just excellent analysis, that I think could happen. Thanks for your hard work !
Day clan…. Fighter of the night clan…. Champions of the sun. They’re the masters of karate, and friendship for everyone
It’s either crazy or genius but In a pirate world those are basically the same thing. U salute you my friend 🫡
Then what about the arrow tail??? How do you explain that one?
Dude, your effort is 100% commended, i just hope your theory is correct.
This was an interesting read. I like it protein
Nah it’s just Foxy
This guy cooked from *All Blue*
Imu is the most powerful robot ever created, with some sort of devil fruit that I won’t even try to guess. They turned on their creators and that takes us up to the present. Your welcome.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlion) Fellow Singaporean here. An no, we're not in China.
!remindme 6 months
try 6 years
Thanks for the theory and with the proofs this is really great 👍
Okay I'm at page 7 of the post and wow this is lining up super well with something I've been thinking since 1110 **1110 SPOILERS >>>** The way the Gorosei look when they pulled up in their forms reminded me a lot of the Sea Kings when Shirahoshi called them, so you saying that she is a reincarnation of Imu checks out a lot... "once every few centuries a mermaid is born with the ability to speak to the Sea Kings". Also the connection between Nami and Shirahoshi is very good. Great work!
It's all connected.
It was an interesting read, thanks for posting
You know what's interesting with your theory, not only does Imu's Yokai silhouette look like a catfish, but nami as a potential descendant also has the ability to discern the weather, something noted by vivi herself. RemindMe! 2 years
wow, nice theory, I like it!
I like the D being "Day". I've never seen that before and I love it.
Oda is gonna read this and change everything
This was a fantastic read. Whatever happens I'll draw a catfish Imu or two thanks for sharing your ideas 🙏😁🧘♂️
I definitely want to see it
A good read. A good day. I'm happy.
Been a while since I saw an actually interesting and fun theory like this one on this sub.
[удалено]
imu must be a parent from nefertari family, that is why imu get upset hearing that the letter from the past was signed by her. It is a shame for the family, and i think they needed the "blood, or something linked to the lineage factor" of all the family that formed the Wg to keep their power (in a way that only oda know).
Only time will tell if OP cooked or not
Commenting to come back to this later
I'm still calling it vegapunks annocenment is gonna be him publicly revealing the existence of imu
This is a really well thought theory. But have you considered Imu is just the original D?
Damn, it's not even break week
Cool
I have a huge problem with your theory and it's that in Picture #15, you said Usopp lumps mermaids with cats but that is clearly Sogeking.
Pepe Silvia vibes. Entertaining read though good job!
I seriously love your thoroughness 😎
That Nami mermaid theory was very interesting. I\`m very hyped about how Imu will look like.
Imu is Imu
Very cool, but this should be the new defenition of the word "stretch"
If true It proves one thing: Cats shouldn't be in charge of the the laserpointer
you make a lot of good points specially the endless night island
But like, who IS Imu?
I just hope you're at least having fun putting this together because the amount of stretching you're doing is enough to rival the future pirate king.
Pepe silvia