Not just One Piece's Holy Knights, but Imu too may pull from Harry Potter

Modified Jan 07, 2025 12:30 GMT

One Piece could be taking inspiration from Harry Potter for Imu's character (Image via Shueisha and Warner).

A fan theory suggests One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda may have drawn inspiration for the main villain, Imu, from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter.

This theory explains that Imu's origin and role in One Piece could be quite similar to Lord Voldemort, especially when it comes to their respective orders, the Holy Knights and the Death Eaters.

There are some grounds already established in the manga to suggest these two organizations have some strong similarities, with this theory further highlighting them when considering Imu and Voldemort's roles in their stories.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author.

Explaining how One Piece's Imu could be inspired by some elements from Harry Potter

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This theory by the X user named @realzoro_o starts by pointing out how the Holy Knights that have appeared on Elbaph are wearing dark robes, which strongly resemble the look of the Death Eaters in Harry Potter. Then is highlighted how Imu could be inspired by Voldemort, the leader of the Death Eaters, and be a dark magician, with actually being a part of author Eiichiro Oda's draft for the manga.

Voldemort founded the Death Eaters and his first men were Avery, Lestrange, Rosier, Mulciber, Nott, and Dolohov, which could be a parallel to the likes of the Elders of the Gorosei for Imu. It could be possible that the Holy Knights are branded or identified by some measure, thus giving them a special status among the Celestial Dragons.

Imu could also be immortal, much like Voldemort, who divided his life into seven objects (the Horcrux), and while the Gorosei were also considered as such, the leader of the World Government managed to destroy Jaygarcia Saturn, so there must be a logic behind that. The theory mentions that perhaps the five members of the Gorosei ate a part of Imu's soul and Figarland Garling ate Saturn's remaining skull to ascend, meaning they have to be defeated to get to her.

More details about this theory

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

The most recent chapters of the One Piece manga also show the female Holy Knight punishing a Giant with a spell that makes him scream in pain. In that regard, Harry Potter has three unforgivable curses known as the Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra), Imperios Curse (Imperio), and Cruciatus Curse (Crucio), with the Holy Knight's spell being perhaps similar to the latter.

The basis of this theory highlights how Imu, at some point centuries ago, found access to dark magic and used it to build the World Government. Therefore, this would suggest that Imu and the Elders of the Gorosei are not truly Devil Fruit users, but rather magic users, which could explain their longevity and the range of their abilities.

Final thoughts

One Piece taking inspiration from Harry Potter wouldn't be something far-fetch and could also explain some elements regarding Imu's abilities. The idea of the World Government leader having access to forbidden dark magic and founding the Holy Knights because of this makes a lot of sense, all things considered.

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Edited by Divya Singh