One Piece: Imu's powers are based on an unexpected J.R.R. Tolkien inspiration and it makes perfect sense

One Piece's author is never shy to take inspiration from other works. As we have seen throughout the more than two-decade-long airing of the manga series, there are different series that are reflected from the masterpiece that Eiichiro Oda created. The biggest inspiration that can be seen in One Piece is from the works of the late author Akira Toriyama.

The world-building, the transformations of the characters, and so many other things in Eiichiro Oda's One Piece could have been inspired by Toriyama's most influential work, the Dragon Ball series. But there might exist a TV series that One Piece took inspiration from, not only story-wise but also related to the powers of one of the most mysterious beings in the series.

That is John Ronald Reuel Tolkien's Lord of the Rings novel series that has also received three movies and a series adaptation. This series could be the inspiration for not only the origin story of One Piece, but one of its characters could also be the inspiration behind the ruler of the world, Imu.

Disclaimer: This article contains potential spoilers from the One Piece manga series.

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One Piece: Discovering the link between Imu's powers and the Lord of the Rings TV series

During the ancient times in the Lord of the Rings, 19 rings were forged by the elves for the 19 rulers of Earth (known as Arda in the series). These rings had heavenly powers and were given out as gifts to the rulers. Annatar, the lord of gifts, also played a main role in forging these rings.

But the elves also forged a 20th ring and this was constructed by Annatar who deducted the elves into making this ring. Unfortunately, there was no lord of gifts in the series and the truth of Annatar was the Dark Lord, Sauron. Moreover, the 20th ring that was forged by fraud was the most powerful one and was named Black Speech (Tengwar).

This ring was a piece of Sauron's strength and could control every other ring holder. Tangwar was also the only ring that had a will of its own, thus not only making it the strongest ring amongst the 20 rings but also the most dangerous one.

Coming back to One Piece, the origin story in the series is pretty similar, with 20 kings who ruled over the world and Nefartari Lili who left the group and left behind 19 kings. Fans speculate that Lili later became Imu, and took control over the whole World Government.

The Five Elders (Gorosei) in their elder forms (Image via Shueisha)

Out of the 19 rings that were forged by elves, nine were given to Human Kings who were corrupted due to Sauron's interference during the forging of the rings. This made them loyal to Sauron and five of them were appointed as Sauron's 'devils' in the movie Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring.

These five Gorosei of One Piece could be inspired by these five 'devils' as they possess devil fruits that were inspired by devils as revealed in chapter 1110. These Gorosei are also loyal soldiers of Imu, just like the five devils are of Sauron. Other than these, the are several other details that could link Sauron to the ruler of the Grand Line.

The eye of Imu as seen in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

The name Sauron is forbidden to speak in the Lord of the Rings series, just like Imu who doesn't like when people look at him. The King of Arabasta, Cobra, was killed because he tried talking back to Imu.

The eye of Sauron is compared to something that sees everything much like Imu as nothing passes unseen from their eyes.

So, with all these links between Sauron and Imu, could the latter's power be the same as that of the former? Aside from the powers that reside in Sauron's ring, the character can shape-shift. He can shapeshift into three creatures: a vampire, a serpent, and a werewolf.

Just like Five Elders have transformation abilities, Imu could also have the ability to transform into a creature, just like Sauron, but which one of the three creatures could they transform into?

Fans already speculate that Imu could be inspired by the Japanese yokai Nure-Onna or the Haitian mythical spirit Damballa, both of which are closely related to snakes. So, Imu's powers could be centered around their transformation as a snake or snake-like creature.

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