Crazy Theories and Predictions

[Deleted member 169696]

King is from fairy race.

 

[McNuss]

So okay here is my theory about Imu's identity. I think it's pretty good but it's still super tinfoily. We don't really have facts about Imu. so any theory at this current stage can only speculate about what could be possible.

So because we have no real facts about Imu, I tried to create some, by trying to reverse-engineer the references behind Imu. As you might know everything in One Piece has multiple sources in real life, drawn from history, popculture, religion, other fiction, science and so on. It should be noted that Oda does not never 1:1 adapt a single reference, there are multiple references behind everyone and often they are very feint. The japanese Ronin Roronoa Zoro doesn't have much in common with Francois l'Olonnais and Zorro the Masked Avenger, but well he is bloodthirsty like Francois and he is an avenger like Zorro, one has a mask, the other a bandana and so on. Zoro's rivalry with Sanji is based on the rivalry between Tjure and Snorre from Vicky, the Viking, but the designs of those two are used for Oimo and Kashee. References often are only hinted at, they can be split between multiple characters and sometimes they are turned around as a whole.

So what are the references behind Imu:

First, let's look at the name.

The Kanji apparently means Buddha, which is fitting. Buddha is the centerpiece of a religion and associated with peace. Of course we know the peace that Imu brought is false, but as I said thing can get turned around. Most notably Buddha is a human that achieved some sort of "divine ascension".

Second, when taken indiviually Imu's name can also mean Eve and Adam(u). The Sunlight Tree Eve and the Teasure Tree Adam are two mysterious superpower trees. One is in Marie Geois, so in Imu's hands, while the other is the source of both the Oro Jackson and the Thousand Sunny, it is used by Imu's enemies.
Adam and Eve are also the first humans in Abrahamism. Notably, they get kicked out of Paradise after Eve gets tempted by the Devil, consuming the Fruit of Knowledge. Devil's Fruits, forbidden knowledge....sounds familiar right?

Next IM can be read as I am. I am that I am is a name for the Abrahamic God (YHWH). Imu's land is the holy land, where Levely (=pseudo-hebrew for heart of God or something. Someone from Israel explained it in one of the Levely arc chapter threads, if I'm not mistaken.) takes place.

Next we also have Ymir, a giant from Norse mythology. Ymir, the first being, had both genders and his death caused a giant flood, which only one of his descendants escaped together with his wife. From Ymirs flesh, the Norse gods created the world. Notably, Ymir has the same linguistic roots as Yama, which eventually became Enma in Japanese, a buddhist death god.

So now that we milked the name for information, let's link that to other charactes that have the same set of references.

Let's start with that whole Adam and Eve thing. Adam and Eve are the first humans created, a primordial pair. And guess what, we just happen to have a primordial pair in One Piece which are Luffy and Nami. Both are the first characters created.

Luffy's personality archetype is based on Son Goku from Dragon Ball, who in turn is based on Sun Wukong, the Monkey King. This is why Luffy can stretch, and is named Monkey D. Luffy.

Nami is based on Vicky the Viking, even though Vicky is male. Nami would be from Sweden in real life and she takes Vicky's place in the crew setup, she is the smart one surrounded by idiots. In her early designs Nami was wielding an axe instead of a staff, and the context of axe-wielding redheads suggest Vikings. Then it was changed to a staff, that later got the ability to create mirages ans stretch and she also got a Nimbus Cloud - like Sun Wukong the Monkey King.

So both Luffy and Nami can be linked as a pair via Sun Wukong, even without going into any shipping terrain, and they are also primordial in every sense of the word. Not only are they the first characters created, they also take after the biggest inspirations for One Piece in general.

Let's look at Luffy again. Luffy, over the course of his adventure, develops the qualities of both a Messiah and the Devil. Luffy is genuinely good natured and brings freedom wherever he goes, causing people to believe in him. He is said to leave "miracles" in his wake. The universally good messiah that brings miracles is Jesus.
But he also brings forth chaos and destruction wherever he goes, he is very rude and can be incredibly selfish, . He has the Devil's fruit and is a D, the natural enemy of god.
I think the chapter where Luffy frees the prisoners and brutalizes Babanuki is a perfect example of his two sides - Messiah and Devil.

Let's put that in comparison to Imu, who is God. If Luffy is Jesus and the Devil, Imu would be God and the Antichrist. And indeed that concept fits as Imu established a bad and flawed world order that needs to be taken down by the Messiah (come again - notably, Luffy's predecessor Roger sacrificed himself to create a cult).

Digging further into the portrayal of "God" in One Piece, one hardly can ignore the Skypea arc. It seems a part of the reason this arc exists is specifically to make the reader used to a self proclaimed God ruling the people. Like with Imu, there are multiple references behind Enel. First of all the name comes from the anycient Sumerian/Akkadian main God Enlil, whereas the design comes from the japanese Thunder God Raijin. Obviously the overall theme with Heaven and Angels and Indians getting taken over by Westerners is based on Christianity.

One thing that differs from Enel and Imu though is that Enel very clearly incorporates japanese Shinto motifs, while Imu as of yet doesn't. Or does he? One Piece is a japanese Manga, japanese people are not neccesarily familiar with western religion, so I think there should have been a tie in to japanese mythology other than Buddhism, and I think I've found one.

For that, we have to move away from Imu and on to his lands. The Red Line consists of multiple islands fused together and most people think it's artificially created. Notably the Castle in Marie Geois is named Pangaea Castle which is the name of a prehistoric supercontintent, which consisted of almost all the other landmasses fused together. And here is the thing: The Japanese-based Wano Country seems to be the same, multiple islands fused together. And Japan has a creation myth, a creation myth that deals with primordial pairs: Izanagi and Izanami, who created the land of Japan.

Now the obvious naming similiarities between Izanami and Nami only work in the Latin Alphabet, but I actually didn't link this story with Luffy and Nami, but with another related pair: Roger and Rogue. In the myth, Izanami dies while giving birth to the Kami of Fire, Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi. Rogue died while giving birth to Ace. Now the rest of that story doesn't match up aside from one thing: It is said that death came into the world with Kagutsuchi, and Ace's theme is death (Ace of Spades).

I think I could go on and on and onand on , like I could dig deeper into flood myths for example, but by now I think you get a gist of what I am trying to say. There are overarching themes behind Imu, that can also be attached to other characters. I specifically picked on the "Primordial Pair" part and I think I've found out a possible identity for Imu via this:

We have Ymir the bigendered primordial Giant from Norse, we have Adam and Eve, a primordial pair, the Adam and Eve of One Piece are Luffy and Nami, we can also possibly link Roger and Rogue if the land creation theory is correct...

We also know that Imu's identity must be a mindblowing shock. By the time that Luffy will face Imu, he will already have beaten all the Yonko and Akainu and others. Imu can't be just an evil douchebag, we already had multiple of those before, that's not defining for the final antagonist. Also note that his sillhouette is different from any other sillhouette, normaly you already get hints before a character is introduced. For example, I bet Japanese readers already have an idea who Ryukugyu is because all the Admirals are Japanese actors. But Imu is a triangualr blob, like he wears some kind of clothing that deliberately omits any hint that we could get for his appearence.

Now let's move back to Enel one last time. Enel's most famous quote is a pun: Ara wa kami nari (or something like that), which is a pun as it can both mean "I am God" and "I am Thunder and Lightning". We already know Imu's name also has multiple meanings, but there are two that form actual sentences:

If you read it as "I am", it relates to "I am that I am" and means God. But if you read it with the u, you get "I am you".

Therefore I think that Imu is Luffy, not the actual Luffy but Proto-Luffy and he also is Proto-Nami in the same person....Proto-Lunamy if you want!!!!! And the Giant Straw Hat is none other than his own!

Now the last and final part: If we fuse Luffy and Nami, wouldn't we get... a Red-Haired Luffy? Doesn't someone like this exists already? Yes! Shanks. I believe Shanks special standing is due to a direct relation to Imu. Shanks also fulfills the "God" theme, via Tyr, the Norse version of the Proto-Indogerman Main God Diespiter (think Zeus/Jupiter) who sacrificed his hand.

This got way too long. I have more thoughts regarding this theory but can't sort them currently, so feel free to enjoy this or tear it apart

 

[Sachsenhesse]

So okay here is my theory about Imu's identity. I think it's pretty good but it's still super tinfoily. We don't really have facts about Imu. so any theory at this current stage can only speculate about what could be possible.

So because we have no real facts about Imu, I tried to create some, by trying to reverse-engineer the references behind Imu. As you might know everything in One Piece has multiple sources in real life, drawn from history, popculture, religion, other fiction, science and so on. It should be noted that Oda does not never 1:1 adapt a single reference, there are multiple references behind everyone and often they are very feint. The japanese Ronin Roronoa Zoro doesn't have much in common with Francois l'Olonnais and Zorro the Masked Avenger, but well he is bloodthirsty like Francois and he is an avenger like Zorro, one has a mask, the other a bandana and so on. Zoro's rivalry with Sanji is based on the rivalry between Tjure and Snorre from Vicky, the Viking, but the designs of those two are used for Oimo and Kashee. References often are only hinted at, they can be split between multiple characters and sometimes they are turned around as a whole.

So what are the references behind Imu:

First, let's look at the name.

The Kanji apparently means Buddha, which is fitting. Buddha is the centerpiece of a religion and associated with peace. Of course we know the peace that Imu brought is false, but as I said thing can get turned around. Most notably Buddha is a human that achieved some sort of "divine ascension".

Second, when taken indiviually Imu's name can also mean Eve and Adam(u). The Sunlight Tree Eve and the Teasure Tree Adam are two mysterious superpower trees. One is in Marie Geois, so in Imu's hands, while the other is the source of both the Oro Jackson and the Thousand Sunny, it is used by Imu's enemies.
Adam and Eve are also the first humans in Abrahamism. Notably, they get kicked out of Paradise after Eve gets tempted by the Devil, consuming the Fruit of Knowledge. Devil's Fruits, forbidden knowledge....sounds familiar right?

Next IM can be read as I am. I am that I am is a name for the Abrahamic God (YHWH). Imu's land is the holy land, where Levely (=pseudo-hebrew for heart of God or something. Someone from Israel explained it in one of the Levely arc chapter threads, if I'm not mistaken.) takes place.

Next we also have Ymir, a giant from Norse mythology. Ymir, the first being, had both genders and his death caused a giant flood, which only one of his descendants escaped together with his wife. From Ymirs flesh, the Norse gods created the world. Notably, Ymir has the same linguistic roots as Yama, which eventually became Enma in Japanese, a buddhist death god.

So now that we milked the name for information, let's link that to other charactes that have the same set of references.

Let's start with that whole Adam and Eve thing. Adam and Eve are the first humans created, a primordial pair. And guess what, we just happen to have a primordial pair in One Piece which are Luffy and Nami. Both are the first characters created.

Luffy's personality archetype is based on Son Goku from Dragon Ball, who in turn is based on Sun Wukong, the Monkey King. This is why Luffy can stretch, and is named Monkey D. Luffy.

Nami is based on Vicky the Viking, even though Vicky is male. Nami would be from Sweden in real life and she takes Vicky's place in the crew setup, she is the smart one surrounded by idiots. In her early designs Nami was wielding an axe instead of a staff, and the context of axe-wielding redheads suggest Vikings. Then it was changed to a staff, that later got the ability to create mirages ans stretch and she also got a Nimbus Cloud - like Sun Wukong the Monkey King.

So both Luffy and Nami can be linked as a pair via Sun Wukong, even without going into any shipping terrain, and they are also primordial in every sense of the word. Not only are they the first characters created, they also take after the biggest inspirations for One Piece in general.

Let's look at Luffy again. Luffy, over the course of his adventure, develops the qualities of both a Messiah and the Devil. Luffy is genuinely good natured and brings freedom wherever he goes, causing people to believe in him. He is said to leave "miracles" in his wake. The universally good messiah that brings miracles is Jesus.
But he also brings forth chaos and destruction wherever he goes, he is very rude and can be incredibly selfish, . He has the Devil's fruit and is a D, the natural enemy of god.
I think the chapter where Luffy frees the prisoners and brutalizes Babanuki is a perfect example of his two sides - Messiah and Devil.

Let's put that in comparison to Imu, who is God. If Luffy is Jesus and the Devil, Imu would be God and the Antichrist. And indeed that concept fits as Imu established a bad and flawed world order that needs to be taken down by the Messiah (come again - notably, Luffy's predecessor Roger sacrificed himself to create a cult).

Digging further into the portrayal of "God" in One Piece, one hardly can ignore the Skypea arc. It seems a part of the reason this arc exists is specifically to make the reader used to a self proclaimed God ruling the people. Like with Imu, there are multiple references behind Enel. First of all the name comes from the anycient Sumerian/Akkadian main God Enlil, whereas the design comes from the japanese Thunder God Raijin. Obviously the overall theme with Heaven and Angels and Indians getting taken over by Westerners is based on Christianity.

One thing that differs from Enel and Imu though is that Enel very clearly incorporates japanese Shinto motifs, while Imu as of yet doesn't. Or does he? One Piece is a japanese Manga, japanese people are not neccesarily familiar with western religion, so I think there should have been a tie in to japanese mythology other than Buddhism, and I think I've found one.

For that, we have to move away from Imu and on to his lands. The Red Line consists of multiple islands fused together and most people think it's artificially created. Notably the Castle in Marie Geois is named Pangaea Castle which is the name of a prehistoric supercontintent, which consisted of almost all the other landmasses fused together. And here is the thing: The Japanese-based Wano Country seems to be the same, multiple islands fused together. And Japan has a creation myth, a creation myth that deals with primordial pairs: Izanagi and Izanami, who created the land of Japan.

Now the obvious naming similiarities between Izanami and Nami only work in the Latin Alphabet, but I actually didn't link this story with Luffy and Nami, but with another related pair: Roger and Rogue. In the myth, Izanami dies while giving birth to the Kami of Fire, Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi. Rogue died while giving birth to Ace. Now the rest of that story doesn't match up aside from one thing: It is said that death came into the world with Kagutsuchi, and Ace's theme is death (Ace of Spades).

I think I could go on and on and onand on , like I could dig deeper into flood myths for example, but by now I think you get a gist of what I am trying to say. There are overarching themes behind Imu, that can also be attached to other characters. I specifically picked on the "Primordial Pair" part and I think I've found out a possible identity for Imu via this:

We have Ymir the bigendered primordial Giant from Norse, we have Adam and Eve, a primordial pair, the Adam and Eve of One Piece are Luffy and Nami, we can also possibly link Roger and Rogue if the land creation theory is correct...

We also know that Imu's identity must be a mindblowing shock. By the time that Luffy will face Imu, he will already have beaten all the Yonko and Akainu and others. Imu can't be just an evil douchebag, we already had multiple of those before, that's not defining for the final antagonist. Also note that his sillhouette is different from any other sillhouette, normaly you already get hints before a character is introduced. For example, I bet Japanese readers already have an idea who Ryukugyu is because all the Admirals are Japanese actors. But Imu is a triangualr blob, like he wears some kind of clothing that deliberately omits any hint that we could get for his appearence.

Now let's move back to Enel one last time. Enel's most famous quote is a pun: Ara wa kami nari (or something like that), which is a pun as it can both mean "I am God" and "I am Thunder and Lightning". We already know Imu's name also has multiple meanings, but there are two that form actual sentences:

If you read it as "I am", it relates to "I am that I am" and means God. But if you read it with the u, you get "I am you".

Therefore I think that Imu is Luffy, not the actual Luffy but Proto-Luffy and he also is Proto-Nami in the same person....Proto-Lunamy if you want!!!!! And the Giant Straw Hat is none other than his own!

Now the last and final part: If we fuse Luffy and Nami, wouldn't we get... a Red-Haired Luffy? Doesn't someone like this exists already? Yes! Shanks. I believe Shanks special standing is due to a direct relation to Imu. Shanks also fulfills the "God" theme, via Tyr, the Norse version of the Proto-Indogerman Main God Diespiter (think Zeus/Jupiter) who sacrificed his hand.

This got way too long. I have more thoughts regarding this theory but can't sort them currently, so feel free to enjoy this or tear it apart

So much thought went into this.

I still call bullshit. Would be too much like Naruto in the end.

 

[McNuss]

So much thought went into this.

I still call bullshit. Would be too much like Naruto in the end.

Speaking of Naruto, Hiruzen Sarutobi's summon is Enma the Monkey King (Enkou ou Enma), who is based on Sun Wukong.

Enma -> Yama -> Ymir.

Now I only need to find out why Kishimoto chose that name, what is the connection between a Monkey and a Death God.

Brilliant, you found another piece in my puzzle.

Edit: And I've already found it. In the myth about Sun Wukong, he challenges the Jade Emperor Yu Di, the main god of chinese Daoism and the ruler of the heavens. Sun Wukong wants that throne, and Immortality. In the end he wins and forces Yu Di to make him a God. This Sun Wukong had a very demonic and incredibly selfish personality, and is only pacified by Buddha, who turns him into a nice guy.

Now what is the relation to Enma? Well some believe you have to to give your dead money that they can use in the afterlife to release them from their sins. This "hell money" would depict the signatures of Yu Di, the ruler of heaven, and Enma, the ruler of Hell. So Enma and Yu Di are kind of counterparts to each other.

You don't want to believe what you started, but I've already found more motifs that I can echo through One Piece. With what you gave me, I can now accredit a Sun Wukong theme to Imu, as well as probably a Yu Di theme. For example it was Yu Di that chose the animals for the Chinese Zodiac - and the chinese Zodiac is incorporated into the Marines of One Piece.

Need to read more.

--- Double Post Merged, Aug 13, 2019, Original Post Date: Aug 6, 2019 ---

Ans I found more. This is shaping up so nicely:

This is the story of Yam (ים ym ), the ancient Canaanite god of the sea. Yam is the son of El, the chief god, and becomes ruler of the world. He is cruel and gets challenged by Baal Hadad, son of Dagon. Baal Hadad defeats Yam, who resided on the holy mountain.

Yam is often associated with a great serpent (or dragon) and the Chaoskampf mythos in general. Notice that the Dorry and Broggy said "Only the great serpent soaked in blood can withstand our attacks", it is believed they were reffering to the Red Line.

The symbol of Baal Hadad, wo is the mesopotamian counterpart of Zeus, are the thunderbolt and the bull. Thunderbolts, a Bull.....Luffy in the Corrida Colliseum! Notice how Chinjao's trademark attack is the Dragon-drill nail...

Chaoskampf in general reffers to various stories in various religions, of a Storm God fighting a (sea) serpent. Now, the D is associated with storms...
Even though the roots of these myths are presumably Indo-European (wikipedia has no source here though), they exists in various religions, and I am gonna read them all.

 

[MOYcano 0.23]

Laugh Tale is the place from where every member of the original D. clan originates. They were mighty warriors, worthy of tails, with particular laughs and whom always smile even when facing dead. Also, the D is the smile: =D ... ;D ... 8D ... 8====D ...

 

[McNuss]

I have something more related to my theory but also to current plot:

If we can link Luffy with a Storm God, then his japanese counterpart would be Susanoo, god of storms and the sea. Now Susanoo is also slaying Yamata-no-Orochi in the myth, and well we have an Yamata-no-Orochi in the story but not just one but actually two as Kaido is also a dragon, and the Orochi myth is just another chaoskampf variation in comparative mythology.

Now Susanoo has two siblings that you probably know already: Tsukuyomi (Moon) and Amaterasu (Sun).

Now the Kozuki clan has the moon symbol, but there is also a group that has the sun symbol: The Sun Pirates! So maybe Jinbe actually shows up this arc!

 

[nik87]

I have something more related to my theory but also to current plot:

If we can link Luffy with a Storm God, then his japanese counterpart would be Susanoo, god of storms and the sea. Now Susanoo is also slaying Yamata-no-Orochi in the myth, and well we have an Yamata-no-Orochi in the story but not just one but actually two as Kaido is also a dragon, and the Orochi myth is just another chaoskampf variation in comparative mythology.

Now Susanoo has two siblings that you probably know already: Tsukuyomi (Moon) and Amaterasu (Sun).

Now the Kozuki clan has the moon symbol, but there is also a group that has the sun symbol: The Sun Pirates! So maybe Jinbe actually shows up this arc!

Many of those could be connected to Zoro.
Susanoo-Asura
Tsukiyomi the moon - Shimotshuki(frost moon)
Amaterasu - sun symbols on Zoro's Wano coat...

 

[keeper1h]

Basil Hawkins will disregard the grim result of his predictions to help Luffy, because his chances of survival are always awfully low, but he still manages to "reach the goal and survive" every single time.

 

[Fox666]

Nekomamushi will get Queen's prosthetic arm.

 

[keeper1h]

Inuarashi will use God Usopp as a screaming spear.

 

[Sachsenhesse]

Zoro will die in wano and kinemon will take his position as a strawhat.

 

[McNuss]

Okay, I found someone on Oro Jackson with similar ideas than mine and will look further into what he found out in the next couple of days. I don't think his conclusions are always right, but I think his findings are amazing nonetheless. I knew most of the things myself actually, but couldn't get them in line with One Piece or they didn't catch my attention. Like I knew that people of ancient times believed that there is divine power in the penis, but I definitely didn't know that sperm, DNA, chakra and Haki are essentially the same thing (and still don't quite know yet if that has anything to do with One Piece)

I am actually jealous that I didn't catch Strawhat=Saturn.

Theory - The One Piece that connects everything, the biggest theory!

One Piece that connects everything, from Golden Age to dawn, the Red Line of the Story.

orojackson.com

I think when Whitebeard said "One Piece exists" it was actually Oda breaking the fourth wall. One Piece exists in reality, or rather we can find out what it is if we look into the stories (, religions, myths, history, etc) of reality!!!!
That's why the Germa comic exists. "Sora, Warrior of the Sea" is One Piece within One Piece. It is not a silly background detail of Sanji, it is Oda telling us that Fiction and Reality are linked. Fiction is always based on reality, but reality is shaped by fiction.

 

[hokageji]

Enma -> Yama -> Ymir.

Being a Hindu myself albeit non-practicing, i wanted to just put it there taht Shutenmaru actually looks very similar to the image of Yama. The god of death but also considered as god of justice who's depicted riding a bull... In ficiton and reimagination, he looks like an overweight man.
Thats the first thing that came to me when Shutenmaru was revealed....

Also the same about Enma, who's clearly an inspiration from Sun Wokung, which a lot of scholars believe to be linked to the monkey god Hanuman in hinduism.
But i dont see the connection between Enma, Yama and Ymir...

 

[McNuss]

Being a Hindu myself albeit non-practicing, i wanted to just put it there taht Shutenmaru actually looks very similar to the image of Yama. The god of death but also considered as god of justice who's depicted riding a bull... In ficiton and reimagination, he looks like an overweight man.
Thats the first thing that came to me when Shutenmaru was revealed....

Also the same about Enma, who's clearly an inspiration from Sun Wokung, which a lot of scholars believe to be linked to the monkey god Hanuman in hinduism.
But i dont see the connection between Enma, Yama and Ymir...

Yeah Shutenmaru seems to be Yama as well. Maybe you can share more about Hindu mythology because as a european atheist I don't know much about it, but I bet Oda does, as Buddhism imported Indian mythology all the way to Japan and there is so many other mythologies already included that it would be odd if one of the largest ones is missing.

Yama and Yimir both have a linguistic ancestor among the ancient Indo-Europeans. This root word became Ymir in Germanic languages, Yima (Jamshid) in persian languages, and Yama in Indian languages, then it was imported as a loan word to China, and from there it became Enma in Japanese.

In comparative mythology all these figures can also be linked, but not in a linear A=B fashion, because several attributes were shifted around, things were split up, etc. Notably Ymir is also linked with Tuisto, which is probably a latinized form of Tiwaz or somehow related to Tiwaz, Tiwaz in turn is the german version of Diespiter, the sky father god. In ancient Vedic Mytholgy, Tiwaz/Tuisto being is believed to be Tvastr, who is the grandfather of Yama.

So one piece is really the comic book in your hands ?

Well..kind of. But that was not what I meant.

I brought up the Germa comic because it is like Oda explaining how his story works. But it is not just his story that works that way, actually all stories work that way, there is no original story, everything is inspired by something. One Piece however is inspired by everything, it is "all stories in One Piece", so you are kind of right. But that was not why I brought it up, and obviously there will be an in-universe One Piece, the solution of the story won't be a fourth wall breakdown.

And also I brought it up because introducing the Germa comic strip seemed kind of...unnecessary at first glance. It does not really add much to Sanji's backstory aside from some comic relief, and we already knew before how One Piece works, because it had been running for decades already. It is also pretty obvious that the Germa are inspired by Super Sentai (Power Rangers) and Germans (Nazis/Prussians). So there was really no need for this scene....unless it is important in a more general sense.

And then I realized it is not just Oda explaining how his story is made, it is also explaining the effect his story has: Vito said "Sora, Warrior of the Sea" strip is propaganda to manipulate the youth. Now "Propaganda" and "Manipulate" are harsh terms, but if you tone it down a bit, One Piece is the same. Given the nature of its contents and the nature of it's main character One Piece is certainly a story meant to influence the reader. This is why I said, "Fiction is always based on reality, but reality is always shaped by fiction". And the fictions that have shaped reality the most are without a doubt the various religions and mythologies, as well as the accounts of our own history. Stories like the Bible, the Illiad, Journy to the West or Romance of the three Kingdoms. And these stories work exactly like One Piece, they are all also inspired by previous stories, but bend, alter and shuffle around some things to become original.

One can view One Piece as a mainstream Shonen Manga, but One Piece, with its messiahnic main character and it's core themes (Pirates, Devil Fruits, Wukong, etc..) all being historical and religious ones, it compares also to stories like the Bible, Journey to the West, etc. in both it's design and function.
So if you want to find hints to what the One Piece is, who Imu is, what's the Lost History, etc., best advice is to read (about) the pricipal stories of humanity.

 

[hokageji]

Maybe you can share more about Hindu mythology because as a european atheist I don't know much about it, but I bet Oda does, as Buddhism imported Indian mythology all the way to Japan and there is so many other mythologies already included that it would be odd if one of the largest ones is missing.

As a non practicing hindu and relgious only for convenience, i know very little. But its rich in mythology and philosophy and hence can act as great source material or inspiration to fiction. I think Japanese have atleast 20 deities which seem to be directly inspired / similar to hindu gods. But One Piece i see asura, Zunesha iirc...
THank you for sharing details on Ymir, i see the connection better now, and it definitely makes sense.

I liked the thread you shared, but I doubt Oda goes through mythological inspiration to that great detail. He uses it in design and naming at best. the only thing i can think of is the importance of 3 things in OP and see if it connects to the trinity in some manner.

the trinity in hinduism is Bhramha, VIshnu and Maheshwara/Shiva, who are considered Creators, Protectors (sustainance) and Destroyers. I had previously theorized the connector to haki's but its more important to understand the trinity's consorts/wives.

To create something, you need knowledge. Bramha's wife is Saraswati, the god of knowledge
To sustain something, you need wealth. Vishnu's wife is Lakhsmi, goddess of wealth
TO destroy something, you need power. Durga, Shiva's wife is the goddess of power.

I tried to connect these to haki, but my best bet is the 3 weapons for now. But knowing Oda, he'll probably just use the names.

 

[McNuss]

I don't think it is just naming, as names never go without reason and the connections go way too deep. The thread I shared is even more tin foily than what I have researched, and I think many of its conclusions are wrong or lack evidence, but It doesn't have to be everything right to get the gist of it, which is the same as in my Imu theory, and that is that Oda is referencing the mythologies of humanity. Which all already rhyme, mirror and echo with each other, so you don't even have to think about all of them to inevitably reference all of them.

Thanks for your share about Hinduism, I will read into that now. German Wikipedia tells me Vishnu's tenth incarnation, Kalki is like the Messiah, so I wonder if I can link Vishnu and Lakshmi to Luffy and Nami again....

 

[hokageji]

Thanks for your share about Hinduism, I will read into that now. German Wikipedia tells me Vishnu's tenth incarnation, Kalki is like the Messiah, so I wonder if I can link Vishnu and Lakshmi to Luffy and Nami again....

Yea, in vaishavaism.... It will be interesting if Oda touches this topic like Avatar/incarnations.... Nami as Lakshmi / goddess of wealth is definitely her ambition, so it fits...

I don't think it is just naming, as names never go without reason and the connections go way too deep

Well, what i dont mean this necessarily specific to Imu or other things we dont know about. But when you consider how characters in One Piece have name inspirations from real life pirates and carry no other connection to them, its not that unlikely. What i mean is, he may select to call someone Vishnu and still give him characteristics of say, Napoleon Bonaparte or other histortical figures. Oda draws inspiration from history more than mythology as far as i know...

 

[McNuss]

I found out the connection between Enma and Wukong, basically Enma has an alternate spelling in which it means Monkey Devil instead of the death god

 

[KimCorrea]

I wish someone fed a poneglyph some DF Hito Hito no mi (any kind model). So it can be destroyed forever or at least if the rock retains the *memory* it can speak up, instead of a long ass waiting to be read.

 

[hokageji]

I dont think you can feed inanimate objects with DF abilities. Vegapunk can achieve this but i am not so sure about the others.