Imu's true form could be One Piece's biggest Dune reference yet

One of the biggest mysteries of One Piece is the origin of Imu, the ruler of the World Government. Many fans have linked the character to some old mythologies. One of the most popular theories regarding this could be Imu's possible relationship with Sauron from The Lord of the Rings.

Moreover, this character from the series has also been linked to several figures from different mythologies, which could indicate that Imu does play a central role in the plotline of One Piece. But what if the ruler of the World Government could be related to a current ongoing matter of the World?

In this article, Imu would be linked to the Dune book series, theorizing how the ruler of the World could be similar to Artificial Intelligence that has taken the shape of a God.

Disclaimer: This article contains potential spoilers from the One Piece manga series and has the author's opinion.

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One Piece: Exploring the relationship between Imu and Artificial Intelligence, according to the Dune series

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

Imu is the true ruler of the World Government, introduced in episode 885. Imu's first appearance featured them sitting on top of the Empty Throne. They hold a big authority in the world of the series as the Five Elders bow before them. Moreover, these Five Elders could be considered the strongest warriors under the World Government, as witnessed on Egghead Island in their yokai forms.

Imu is also one of the few characters in the series about whom fans have close to no information. The only time Imu enjoyed the spotlight was when they destroyed the Lulusia Kingdom using the Mother Flame or the time the Five Elders and Imu went after Sabo in their transformed forms.

All in all, Imu is a mysterious being, but what if Imu could be the creation of the world of Grand Line that has taken the shape of an arrogant God? To learn more about this, let's dive into the popular book series, the Dune.

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

Dune is a science-fiction novel series written by Frank Herbert. In the book, the author describes the situation of a world where humans create technology that later develops a technology of its own. After Frank's death, his son continued the series and wrote prequels and sequels to the Dune series.

The Butlerian Jihad was a prequel to the Dune series, which took place 10,000 years before the current storyline. The book was written by Frank's son, Brian Herbert, and fiction author, Kevin J Anderson. The story started in ancient history when some people created technology and started to rely on it for everyday tasks.

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

Slowly but surely, this caused the majority of the masses to lose their ability to think and work, such that humans eventually forgot how to dream. But there was one individual who still had the power to dream, and that was TLALOC, based on Aztec mythology of the same name.

TLALOC gathered as many people who shared the same vision as him and created a group of 20 people, which could be linked to the 20 kingdoms that went against the Ancient Kingdom in One Piece. Unfortunately, TLALOC died an unfortunate death, which led his team into turmoil.

While looking for a leader, the group of twenty people thought of immortalizing TLALOC by transferring his brain to advanced technology. With time, each one of the members faced the same treatment and they were titled the cymeks. These cymeks ruled over the world for a century.

On a fateful day, Xerxes, one of the cymeks, gave the Artificial Intelligence too much control over the world, as he wanted more time to satisfy his urges. This was the day A.I. technology took over the world and eventually developed a God-complex and started to suppress humans. This A.I. named itself the Omnius.

It could be speculated that Imu could be an Omnius in One Piece who was created by the Ancient Kingdom. The people of this kingdom started to rely too much on technology and eventually, this technology could have taken over them as a God-like being named Imu.

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