I shit you not, this theory has more depth to it than it seems. Parrot is something I never thought of... it's goofy and fun, so I kinda like it!
But think about it from the perspective of Imu not being the final boss type of character, and just a means to an end, and him being the former animal/creature companion of Joyboy who ate a devil fruit is not that random: it has precedents in Ragnir, Funkfreed and Onimaru.
I swear people sleep on metaphorical comparisons using lesser characters, but I'll keep advocating for Oda using them all the time, and Onimaru is a cool example of a potential "Imu". I know this sounds crazy and I'll emphasize the word potential, but think about it:
A flaming fox sort of creature that ate a Hito Hito no Mi with a Yokai Monk/Buddah model, who collects weapons for the final battle against Kaido and guards over graves in a frozen land.
- Hito Hito no Mis are special: Luffy, Chopper, Sengoku ate them, and the odd one here is the lesser character Onimaru.
- Buddah was a word frequently associated with Imu, Yokais are also related to Imu with the Gorosei being Yokais and his ability to spawn demons.
- Weapon collector seems to be the key feature shown by Imu in his battle against Luffy so far: used a spear like Onimaru, but fights with many weapons.
- Speculative: Imu is guarding something in a frozen chamber, and he's preparing for a war.
I think we should at the very least consider Imu not to be that important in the grand scheme of things: we've seen more of him in Elbaf than characters like Dragon, Blackbeard and Shanks.
The parrot theory sounds crazy, but it's fun and not completely random. Cool stuff!
