The fundamental lore of the One Piece universe got thoroughly dismantled with the new shocking information released in Chapter 1179. Indeed, it was widely accepted throughout many years by fans that the World Government was established based on a democratic alliance of twenty royal houses until the Nefertari family refused to become the twentieth one. Nevertheless, the existence and role of Saint Nerona Imu as the actual “Creator” completely redefine our perception of the Empty Throne as a relic of peaceful relations among these families for many generations.
Imu’s revelation rewrites 800 years of history
It is impossible to ignore the terrifying implications that followed the latest “Akuma no Mi” reveal, as the community has generated a truly wild and revolutionary theory concerning the current events in the story: Is Saint Nerona Imu the “Devil” who made and gave rise to these fruits of hell? While the title of Devil Fruit always was a mystery due to its literal nature, Chapter 1179 proves that there is something else behind these fruits than simple metaphorical names.
If Imu is indeed the creator or embodiment of this curse coming from the sea, then there are other meanings in this eternal fight between the “Warrior of Liberation” and the “King of the World,” because now this enemy seems even more primordial.
In such a case, the story behind the 19 Kingdoms gets another interpretation, implying that the founding monarchs were not only the allies of each other but also subordinate members of some kind of pact concluded with the Devil eight centuries ago. The Great Cleansing initiated by the Five Elders took away the freedom and humanity from its members in order to establish the World Government and serve their ruler’s will.
As a result, many fans try to look through old chapters for additional facts and discover that the ability of the saint to create shadowy arms and absorb Sabo’s fire in the Reverie arc perfectly corresponds with his devilish nature.
Moreover, the connection between this mysterious entity and the emergence of Devil Fruits suggests that Imu has somehow influenced the visions of Dr. Vegapunk and thus changed the meaning of these dreams.
In fact, while Nika fruit embodies absolute liberation from all restraints, Imu’s actions seem to show the complete opposite direction: he has been eating people’s dreams during the Void Century in Pangea Castle for more than 1000 years. Thus, Nika can be considered the incarnation of freedom, while Imu can be regarded as the very opposite—Hell.
As you can see, the new development of the story changes the perception of the entire One Piece universe. Therefore, the war between Eiichiro Oda’s characters takes place in a much deeper sense than just fighting over the throne, since they are trying to liberate the world from the evil spirit who enslaved everything in this universe.
As it has been said before, there are some things worse than the tyrannical government, so Imu becomes a major obstacle in this final conflict.
