One Piece Manga Reveals Imu's Face And Powers After 8 Years

Spoilers for "One Piece" chapter 1,179 ahead.

Contrary to the "One Piece" manga's reputation for being incredibly long and impenetrable, it's arguably not long enough. Indeed, once you get into its plot and fully grasp the scope of what author Eiichiro Oda is doing with his best-selling manga's lore and world-building, you realize that his story could go on forever and still never reveal the entire picture.

Here's the thing: Oda is an author who knows how to pay off little details years down the line. Heck, "One Piece" only just paid off a Marco Polo joke 20 years after introducing its set-up. Elbaph, where the current story arc is taking place, was similarly first discussed in 1999 before finally coming back into play in 2024. So, while it may sometimes feel like "One Piece" will never reach its ending (à la George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice And Fire" still-unfinished novels), it's become excruciatingly clear lately that the manga has actually begun its endgame.

Case in point: Oda has finally revealed the true face of Imu, one of the most mysterious characters in his manga. The World Government's true ruler, he was first depicted back in chapter 906 (published in 2018) as merely an enigmatic, dark figure with piercing red eyes and shaped like a nun with a crown. 

In Chapter 1,179, however, we learn that the ultimate antagonist of "One Piece" is formally known as Saint Nerona Imu, the King of the World. He has two long horns (recalling Yamato from the Wano arc and the ancient giants), while his dark skin is reminiscent of the extinct ancient Lunarian race. More than that, we're shown that his evil powers basically infect the world around him and learn something truly crucial: Imu's devil fruit.

In the "One Piece" manga's biggest reveal since the debut of Luffy's fifth grear, the official English translation for Chapter 1,179 states that Imu has "The Devil's Fruit." Mind you, the fact this this is written in a manner that's clearly different from every other devil fruit we've seen so far (there's notably no possessive and no repetition of the fruit's name) means that this is something decidedly unusual. Specifically, "One Piece" fans have long speculated that Imu is the originator of the devil fruits and might be older than the fruits themselves. If nothing else, this reveal appears to support that idea. 

Furthermore, while we've yet to see Imu unleash his full powers, we have gotten to see the world react to his mere presence. As soon as Imu appears in Elbaph, the trees and houses in the area seem to become possessed, growing evil-looking smiles and singing a song that heralds the villain's arrival. It not only feels like something out of an old-school cartoon, but it also serves as a dark parallel to Luffy's Gear 5 powers, in particular his Drums of Liberation. To be sure, it's telling that where Luffy makes those around him sing and dance in joy, Imu makes them grimace and twist in cheerful agony.

We'll no doubt learn even more about Imu in the coming chapters of the "One Piece" manga. Still, with this reveal out of the way, there's really just one more major mystery (!) left to unravel at this point in the story's (end)game: What does Laugh Tale hide, anyway?