One Piece has confirmed a long held theory about King Imu with the newest chapter, and it really shakes things up heading into the series finale. One Piece has been building the steps towards its final climax with the first major arcs of Eiichiro Oda’s Final Saga so far, and each of them has been steadily revealing more about the World Government’s biggest secrets. With each new reveal, a new villain that could only currently be described as the “final” villain has emerged. King Imu stands at the center of the world, but very little is known about them at this point.
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Imu has been depicted covered entirely in shadow with each of their appearances so far, and seemed to even look that way in brightly lit rooms. This first seemed to be a deliberate choice by Oda to keep Imu’s true identity hidden until a later date when their character design could be fully revealed, but it turns out that this fully black look is how the characters in the series see Imu as well. The villain is only seen as some kind of black mass entity by others, and could tease a big reveal as to how to defeat them later.
Imu’s Identity Isn’t Just Hidden From Fans
One Piece Chapter 1165 continues through a new flashback arc exploring what really happened during the infamous God Valley Incident. It was revealed that Imu got directly involved and took over Saturn’s body at the time (much like how they did Gunko during the present day events of the Elbaph Arc), and unleashed its devilish power to control Rocks D. Xebec’s body and kick off the final battle there. But as depicted before, all fans could see of this incident was Imu sprouting from the darkness.
It’s then revealed through a small bit of dialogue between Roger and Garp where Roger asks “Garp, did you know about that enormous black monster the government has?!” Garp confirms he had no knowledge of the monster in question, but it also stealthily confirms that Roger or Garp could only see the black material from Imu. So it’s not that Oda has been hiding Imu’s real look through this silhouette just to keep it a mystery to fans, it’s how Imu actually looks in the One Piece world. No one is getting a clear look at them.
What Does This Mean for Imu in One Piece’s Finale?
If King Imu is being set up as the final villain that Luffy will have to defeat at the end of it all rather than just a clash with Blackbeard or Shanks, this reveal is even more game changing. As this Final Saga sees Imu getting more directly involved with things, fans have started to see the true terror of their power. Imu not only has access to immortality, but is able to pass that on through others like the Holy Knights in exchange for each of their bodies.
It’s an ability that’s unlike any that we have seen from the Devil Fruits, and even starts to really emphasize the true nature of the “devil” at the center of One Piece‘s power system overall. If Luffy is facing off against someone who’s so imbued with power that they can’t even be perceived by anyone else around them, then Luffy isn’t going to be able to find his way to a victory in the same ways he has done before.
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