Imu is one of the most important characters in the world of One Piece, despite being introduced relatively recently in the story. Usually, Oda, the author of the story, introduces his important characters early on and builds them up slowly. With Imu, this formula was changed quite a bit, however, it has worked wonders, nonetheless. They have gone on to become incredibly important to the story.
Arguably, Imu is one of the most valuable characters when it comes to the overarching plot of One Piece as they stand tall as one of the most important villains in the story. With One Piece entering its final saga now, the time has come for Oda to shed more light on Imu. One Piece 1085 did that with quite some style and fans finally have a lot of information related to Imu and their powers.
Who Is Imu?
Before fans dive into the powers that this legendary person possesses, they should know who exactly they are. Imu made their way into the story during the Reverie arc, which followed the Whole Cake Island arc. The short Reverie arc introduced the Empty Throne to the fans. It was revealed to Stelly and, through him to the fans, that the Empty Throne is a sign of respect among the world leaders and proof that they are all equal in terms of power and authority. Immediately after, fans were shocked to see a person sit atop the Empty Throne. This person was covered in a silhouette and remains to be covered to this day and they are none other than Imu.
Fans then went on to see the Five Elders, also known as the Gorosei, bow to this person and ask them which light they wanted to be erased from the world next. Imu also made their way down to a room under Pangea Castle, known as the Underground Chamber, where they led the fans to a giant Straw Hat that was frozen. This Straw Hat likely belonged to a person from the Void Century and, thanks to that, fans could draw connections to Imu and the 100-year void that plagued the world of One Piece. Since then, Imu has remained in the shadows and worked their way to relevance, as now, One Piece has finally entered its final Saga. It is time for Imu to shine and take their role as the main antagonist of the entire series.
Imu's Devil Fruit Ability
Many fans questioned whether Imu would possess any sort of powers or if they were only going to have political influence within the One Piece world. Granted, it was rather obvious that no person would find themselves in their position without any power, but Oda went and confirmed it in One Piece 1085, when Cobra met them for the very first time. Upon meeting Imu, Cobra was utterly stunned and the two discussed Queen Lily in quite some detail. Imu revealed the fact that Lily was actually a member of the D Family.
While they did not delve into the secrets of the Void Century and the fate of going Lily, they did, in fact, talk about the people of the D and revealed that they are enemies of the Gods who created the current world order as people of the One Piece world know it. Despite that, Imu also mentioned that the people of the D that exist currently are a shadow of their former selves.
When the Five Elders attacked Cobra and sealed his fate, it was none other than Sabo who jumped into action and attacked them, as well as Imu with a powerful Technique of his Devil Fruit. Much to the surprise of everyone, Imu transformed into a giant creature and ate the fire attack completely, devouring it with ease.
What Imu's Devil Fruit Could Be
It is beyond a shadow of a doubt that Imu does in fact possess a Devil Fruit power. Imu certainly is not going to be a different race and his transformation stems from a Devil Fruit. Given that all the Gorosei were able to transform into their respective Devil Fruit forms, it should be given that Imu also possesses a Devil Fruit. By the looks of it, Imu has a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, however, which fruit it is remains to be seen at this point in the story. However, there are a few guesses that fans can make already.
First things first, it can be established already that Imu possesses the powers of a Mythical Zoan fruit that will likely parallel whatever ability Luffy possesses. Fans know that Luffy has the power of the Nika fruit and this fruit gives him the ability to spread laughter, joy, as well as freedom wherever he goes. Luffy becomes the Warrior of Liberation with this power and whatever ability Imu has will likely be the opposite of it. As such, Imu could very well have a model of the Hito Hito no Mi, only his version of the Devil Fruit could be a Devil that enslaves everyone.
Another interesting power that Imu could have would be the power to control Void itself. Imu could have a Devil Fruit that grants them the power of nothingness. This could tie directly into the Void Century as well, especially when taking into account the pronouns that they use for themselves, which loosely translates into Void or Nothingness.v
Imu's Ancient Weapon
Other than their fruit, Imu also has the power of an Ancient Weapon up their sleeve. While not 100% confirmed, Imu did use a strange power to erase Lulusia from the face of the earth. This erasure was made possible using a giant ship that was floating above the island of Lulusia. It shot 16 rays down on the island and completely erased it from existence. Thankfully, Sabo managed to rescue some people from the island, however, the fact remains that Imu has the power to erase an island off the face of the earth with ease.
Looking at the destructive capability of the weapon, it can only be the Ancient Weapon Uranus as it is the only weapon in the world capable of such mass destruction, along with Pluton and Poseidon. Fans already know that both Pluton and Poseidon are not in the possession of the World Government. This leaves Uranus, which could very well be in Imu's hands. Regardless of whether this was Uranus or not, Imu certainly has an incredible ability up their sleeve that they can use to erase islands in the blink of an eye.