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One Piece's biggest mysteries are some of the most interesting elements in the series because they can still shape the story considerably and determine how things are going to end in this manga. There are several questions, such as what happened during the Void Century, the nature of Imu and the Five Elders of the Gorosei, and what is going to be found on the island of Laugh Tale, that are yet to be answered.
Author Eiichiro Oda has taken a fair amount of inspiration from different sources throughout the years, and many of them are probably going to influence One Piece's biggest mysteries. Currently, a fan theory circulating on social media proposes how some of these mysteries could have been influenced by elements such as Russian folktales and even prominent American comic books by DC.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the One Piece series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda.
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Explaining how Russian folktales could have influenced One Piece's biggest mysteries
This theory suggests that Imu's identity, which is one of One Piece's biggest mysteries, could be influenced by the Russian tale “The Frog Tsarevna", particularly the immortal wizard Koschei, who is often depicted as riding on the back of a black horse, wielding a single sword as a weapon.
Koschei desires women throughout his existence, even mentioning a "Snake Princess", much like Boa Hancock's relationship with the Celestial Dragons. Notably, Imu appears to have similar desires to those mentioned in the Russian myth as well.
It explains that Koschei the Deathless and his Egg Puzzle may have inspired Imu, especially because Gol D. Roger's ship had a special egg, and his connection with the World Government is not fully explained. The theory elaborates on the mystical Buyan Island, with several myths noting that it only appears when approached, sharing, to an extent, similarities with Laugh Tale Island, which is another of One Piece's biggest mysteries.
Serbian folklore is also mentioned in the theory, stating how the Sun God Dazhbog could have led to the concept of Nika, the Sun God of the manga. The theory also highlights how The Sandman story in DC Comics, written by Neil Gaiman, has three major characters whose names start with the letter D, which is very important in Oda's manga. These names are Dream, Destiny, and Desire, three very significant elements in One Piece. This has been hinted at by the fact that Gaimon, the character who was trapped in a chest, is named after Gaiman.
More details of this theory
Another Neil Gaiman influence that could have impacted some of One Piece's biggest mysteries is his 2010 comic book story Sandman - Dream Country, which focuses on a world ruled by cats. The main character is a cat who goes through endless hardship because of humans, constantly losing the ones he loves, with the theory in question pointing out that it depicts a journey very similar to the one Bartholomew Kuma went through.
A major aspect of One Piece's biggest mysteries is the nature of Imu as an entity as a lot of people don't know if he or she is a human being, a demon, a deity, or anything else. Koschei the Deathless could serve as an inspiration since his soul, according to the tale, is at the point of a needle, which is in an egg, inside a duck, which is in a hare, contained in a chest buried underneath a large oak tree on the Island of Buyan, thus potentially serving as a reference to Imu.
Final thoughts
A new fan theory suggests that some of One Piece's biggest mysteries could be inspired by Russian tales, Serbian myths, and some of the stories author Neil Gaiman wrote in The Sandman series. While none of this has been confirmed, it adds to the different paths the manga could go take in the future.
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