The most important backstory in One Piece might belong to a Straw Hat

One of the most often controversial topics amongst the One Piece fandom is that of backstories for specific characters.

While some fans are fine with specific characters in the series not receiving any information on their origins, fans consider it an unforgivable mistake for other characters, like Roronoa Zoro.

One such One Piece character who falls into the former category is Nami, the navigator for the Straw Hat Pirates. Beyond her being found by Bellemere, fans know essentially nothing on Nami’s origins, with even her family name being a total mystery.

However, recent theories have pegged her as not having just a backstory period but one of the most important in the entire series.

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One Piece theory suggests that Nami is a lost princess of the Nerona family, making her a relative of Imu

The significance of Nami’s origins, explained

Imu may not be the only living member of House Nerona, according to @StrawhatUFO's latest One Piece theory (Image via Toei Animation)

The One Piece theory was tweeted by StrawhatUFO (UFO), who begins the theory by establishing that chapter 1086 revealed one of the first 20 Sovereigns to be Nerona Imu.

They begin to break down that, while Imu themselves is still quite enigmatic, the surname Nerona could tell fans a few key things.

UFO establishes that names in the series have meaning, especially relating to word play. By that logic, Nerona should mean something too, and UFO asserts that there are six wordplays relative to Nerona, which reveal the nature of Nerona Imu. They also assert that it will also reveal a character in the series who is a “sleeping Nerona,” later said to be Nami.

The first wordplay stems from the Japanese word “kami.” UFO points out that the katakana for Nerona can be combined to form the kanji character for “God.”

It suggests that House Nerona viewed themselves or behaved like gods, but UFO says that it isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as seen in One Piece’s Skypiea arc with Eneru and Gan Fall.

The second wordplay stems from the word black, which can be found in Nerona via the Latin word for black, “nero.”

That's especially interesting due to the plethora of villains in the series whom have “black” involved in their names. It obviously includes Blackbeard, as well as Demaro Black, who is the fake Luffy during the Return to Sabaody arc.

There’s also Captain Kuro, for the Japanese word for black “kuro,” Kurozumi Orochi, and even Sir Crocodile, via the Japanese Romanization of Kurokodairu. UFO asserts that, whoever One Piece’s House Nerona were, they saw themselves or behaved like gods, with some of them having been and continuing to be villainous in nature.

The third wordplay comes from Emperor Nero of Ancient Rome, who is remembered for a cruel reign. The three most notable aspects of his reign relevant to the theory are killing his own blood, prosecuting his enemies and being responsible for the Great Fire of Rome.

The last point is especially significant, as there have been two other great fires in the series, more specifically, those in the Goa Kingdom and the Sorbet Kingdom.

The Goa Kingdom's Grey Terminal, where the aformentioned great fire took place, as seen in the One Piece anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Emperor Nero is said to have gleefully played an instrument and sang a song during the fire.

UFO asserts that, on top of the above assumptions of One Piece’s House Nerona, the group also prosecuted their enemies cruelly, killed their own blood and caused a great fire.

UFO moves onto the next wordplay, which focuses on the second half of the word as will those that follow it. In Japanese, the word for woman is “onna,” which can be found in the second half of Nerona.

The word is also used in numerous chapter titles for the series, like in 340 referring to Nico Robin, in 683 and 686 to refer to Monet, and in 725 to refer to Rebecca. It’s also present in chapters 191 to refer to Nami, and in 9 when also referring to Nami.

UFO points out that the Japanese word for sleep is “neru,” and that combining it with “onna” gives Neru Onna or Nerona. UFO then points out that One Piece chapter 76 is entitled sleep, with Nami going to sleep in the chapter.

It suggests that the “Sleeping Woman” is Nami, or in other words suggests that she's Nerona Nami.

The next wordplay focuses on Nami’s interactions with the villain Eneru. Chapter 276 sees Nami ask to go with Eneru to the world of dreams, which if she had would’ve made her Eneru no Onna, or Eneru’s woman.

UFO asserts that it sounds eerily similar to E-Nerona, suggesting that Nami could be a lost Nerona who has been “sleeping” all this time. It also suggests that someone could be looking for her to make her their woman.

The sixth and final wordplay focuses on the phrase Nure Onna, which translates literally to “wet woman” and is a type of snake yokai. UFO asserts that the shadow of Imu seen in One Piece chapter 1085 could be a type of Nure Onna.

That also adds an interesting twist to King Cobra’s fate by nature of a snake killing a snake. It would also be similar to the Devil Fruits of Boa Marigold and Boa Sandersonia, creating snakes with arms.

UFO combines the six wordplays, first establishing that Nerona Imu is a villainous, cruel God Emperor capable of lighting cities ablaze, killing their own and cruelly prosecuting enemies while taking a snake’s form.

Nerona Nami, meanwhile, represents the positive side of the “kami” as the lost, sleeping child of Nerona, destined to awaken only when the time is right.

It’s also asserted that someone in One Piece is looking for her to make her their woman, which UFO establishes as having been foreshadowed via Absalom’s attempt to marry her.

UFO speculates that Imu is the one looking for Nami, asserting that they’re a fake (like a snake) and that finding Nerona Nami will help to solidify and legitimize their rule.

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