This article contains spoilers from One Piece's Elbaf arc.
Summary
- Big Mom can give and take life, while Imu can give and take immortality.
- Imu's powers might be linked to the Leviathan, representing death and consuming souls.
- Imu controls the Abyss and death contracts, marking Elders and Holy Knights as their slaves.
The Egghead arc of One Piece finally showed the terrific abilities of both the Five Elders and Imu to the fans, although fans are far more invested in the powers and the identity of the latter than anything else. During Sabo's flashback, Oda finally gave the fans a sneak peek at the abilities of the Five Elders, and at the same time, the power of Imu as well.
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While the Five Elders went on to have their abilities fully revealed in the Egghead arc towards the end, Imu's powers still remain a big mystery, but Oda might already have revealed the power subtly, though not many would have picked it up.
Imu's Devil Fruit Ability Parallels Big Mom
- Big Mom Can Give And Take Life
- Imu Can Give And Take Immortality
Although this parallel might seem rather random to the fans, Imu and Big Mom have multiple parallels that connect them. For one, Big Mom and Imu can use abilities that are thematically similar. One of Big Mom's abilities is known as “Mother's Flame,” while Imu openly makes use of Mother Flame. While Big Mom aims to see eye to eye with everyone one day and have them on the same table, Imu is the complete opposite, standing atop everyone else in the world of One Piece. In Wano, Big Mom wanted the Lunarian King to join him, while Imu themself deposed the Lunarians on top of the Red Line. Big Mom keeps a picture of Carmel with her all the time, while Imu keeps a picture of Lily with her in a similar manner. Big Mom devoured Mother Carmel accidentally, while Imu is shown to be able to consume even fire.
Roger, what is it? I'm sure there's a piece of it in this country too, isn't it? — Big Mom on the One Piece
Big Mom also married men and had children with them to grow her own family and power, and conversely, Imu couldn't be with the one he seemingly desired, likely to be Lily. Clearly, there are many things that show Imu and Big Mom are two sides of the same coin, but none do it more so than their abilities.
Big Mom has the power of the Soru Soru no Mi, allowing her to freely manipulate souls and give her own soul or that of anyone else to things, including animals, around her, making them her slaves in a way. Other than humans, Big Mom can bestow souls to anyone.
If Imu's powers are opposite to this, then it is likely that Imu can pass on their own ability to others, which explains why the Elders and the Holy Knights have immortality and powers connected to others, such as the Aro Aro no Mi for Gunko. In other words, Imu can bestow demonic beast-like powers to others, and even grant them immortality, as shown in the story. But, how exactly does this work? The answer is simple. Just as Big Mom needs one to give her soul as payment to live in Totland, Imu demands death from the person in exchange for gaining immense power. By giving Imu their death, they become immortal, but can be killed by Imu at any point.
Imu Has The Power Of The Leviathan
The Best That Represents Death And Consumes Souls
Taking all that has been discussed already into account, fans know that there is only one ability that Imu could have. It is the power to give or take life from others, and the ability to give demonic powers to others. There is one ability that fits this power perfectly, and it is none other than Leviathan. For those who don't know, the Leviathan is a demonic sea serpent known to consume all due to its unending appetite. Appearance-wise, Leviathan would be fitting for Imu, and even ability-wise, it fits. Imu easily ate the fire that Sabo threw at them, and this could easily be the power of the Leviathan at work.
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Bring me Vivi at any cost! — Imu
Imu Can Take In Souls Of The People
The sea serpent Leviathan is known to steal other people's souls as well. In fact, in the Bible, the Mouth of Hell is called the Abyss, and it is inside this Abyss that the souls of the sinners are thrown. This very mouth of hell is also known to be the mouth of the Leviathan.
Fans know that Imu controls the Abyss in One Piece, which is a pentagram that Imu, the Elders, and the Holy Knights use. In other words, the Abyss clearly represents Imu’s Devil Fruit ability and the Leviathan is a pathway for souls. This is the opposite of Big Mom's power, where instead of offering life, a person offers their death, and gains immortality instead.
Those who sign the death contract with Imu get a certain mark, and only they can utilize the Abyss, as was made clear by Killingham in One Piece’s Elbaf arc. This mark in itself is a parallel to the hoof of the Celestial Dragon that they put on their slaves. In other words, the Five Elders and the Holy Knights themselves are slaves of Imu, despite being Celestial Dragons themselves.
One Piece chapter 1148 will be out soon, in two weeks' time. As usual, One Piece is going to drop on Sunday. In Japan, One Piece drops at 12AM JST on Monday. However, the vast majority of international readers will see the chapter available on May 11. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1148 is May 11, 2025. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus.
- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
