As the Elbaph Arc finally dawned on the <em>One Piece</em> anime, its truly most breathtaking and exciting moments are still ongoing in the original manga. With the latest chapter ending on a cliffhanger as the final villain, Imu, has revealed himself fully with Loki forcing the hidden King of the World not to underestimate him, there’s little mystery left regarding Imu’s identity.
But while Imu’s reveal was a grand moment for the One Piece fandom, there’s something to be said about the keen investigation the series’ most intrepid fans understood as Imu’s initial visual teases emerged. After all, this is a villain whose face and identity were shrouded in mystery for nearly eight years. While the next steps are being explored as fans will soon understand Imu’s past, it’s truly fascinating to see how much readers were able to learn with the clues Oda gave them to this point.
Oda’s New Sketches Teased Imu’s True Appearance Up to the Reveal
Besides the latest chapter of One Piece, Issue #4-5, 2026 of Shonen Jump also came equipped with a bonus item, the One Piece mini magazine, which may have just revealed Imu’s true appearance. The note collection section of the mini magazine includes various rough sketches by Eiichiro Oda.
Most notable among these is a sketch of Imu, revealing more of Imu’s facial features in surprising detail, including his sharp, arched brows and narrow nose. So far, all fans have seen of Imu are his distinct ringed eyes, making this quite a revelation. Imu’s features also appear to be quite masculine, supporting the popular theory that Imu is male, as Ivankov referred to Saint Imu Nerona from the Void Century as “Imu-sei,” in Japanese, using the male version of the Saint suffix.
Furthermore, it’s clear that this is indeed Imu in the sketch by the text framing it. The text on the left reads “On that fateful day, she betrayed us,” while the text in the speech bubble on the right reads, “The sin of releasing the Poneglyphs into the world.” This is taken straight from Chapter #1085 when Imu was talking about Nefertari D. Lily to King Cobra. There has been some speculation that the sketch right below, next to Wapol, could also be Imu; however, it’s more likely that this is Kinderella, Wapol’s wife.
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The text accompanying the sketch in question also supports this, reading: “Wapol, who has witnessed the tragedy of King Cobra and the darkness of the world, is dismayed. He joins Vivi on her escape and becomes embroiled in the current of the times.”
One Piece Took Exactly Enough Time to Reveal Imu in Full
Overall, despite being hyped as the final villain of the series, One Piece had yet to fully reveal Imu’s powers and appearance. These new sketches were the first time the series had given Imu any discernible features, and it clearly teased an imminent reveal. With the flashback ending soon after these sketches were released, Imu was revealed just as the story returned to the present day. The flashback recontextualized how One Piece’s characters and its readers saw Loki, but not before Loki and Luffy teaming up against Imu.
This battle was clearly the prime opportunity to reveal Imu, as depicted in the newly released sketches. As such, even though this version of Imu did not make it into Chapter #1085, the full debut was a glorious payoff for fans who had waited for years to reach this moment. Oda also promised to pick up the pace in his recent message at Jump Festa 2026, further supporting this idea. More importantly, with the next arc hinted to be Lodestar Island, the timing truly was ideal for One Piece to reveal its endgame villain.
Imu’s Reveal in April Absolutely Delivered a Breathtaking One Piece Villain
Despite protests from Five Elders against Imu personally arriving at Elbaph, they ultimately conceded with Figarland Garling reminding them it’s not their place to question The Great One. His arrival marked by a massive Abyss Pentagram and Conqueror’s Haki led to an abrupt transformation causing massive destruction to Aurust Castle before emerging as One Piece manga reveals Imu’s face and name:
Creator of World Government (One of First 20)
Power: The Devil’s Fruit
King of World Saint Nerona Imu
With speculation quickly opening up about Imu’s appearance and distinctive Lunarian features, it’s clear that this full reveal made big waves in fandom. Sporting a jagged-bladed polearm with a pommel bathed in his power with an ominously-named Devil Fruit specifically “The Devil’s Fruit,” enabling devil transformation alongside a host of other powerful abilities. It was truly a bombshell reveal in One Piece chapter #1179 creating an adversary worthy of facing Loki and compelling Luffy to gorge himself on enough food to fuel a truly legendary clash ahead.
