After eight years of hinting at a major villain, One Piece has finally revealed its most powerful character yet: Saint Nerona Imu, the person who secretly controls the world and created the World Government. Leading up to chapter 1180, Imu began demonstrating incredible power directed at Elbaph. Based on what creator Eiichiro Oda has shown, Imu is a formidable opponent. With a powerful Devil Fruit ability and Haki that exceeds even the hero’s, Imu is currently the strongest person in the world, and seems unbeatable.
Breaking Down Every Ability Of The World King Nerona Imu
Saint Nerona Imu, the hidden ruler behind the World Government, has lived for 800 years thanks to a special ability granted by the Ope Ope no Mi devil fruit. This fruit allows for a surgery that stops the aging process, effectively granting eternal youth, but it’s not the same as true immortality. While the surgery prevents Imu from aging, they can still be harmed or killed. The surgery was performed long ago, during the mysterious Void Century, by a doctor whose identity remains unknown—and who died shortly after. Since then, Imu has remained alive, secretly ruling the world and establishing the World Government we know today.
Imu isn’t just incredibly long-lived; his real power comes from a unique Devil Fruit. Unlike all other Devil Fruits in One Piece – like Luffy’s, which have names with a repeating pattern – Imu’s fruit is simply called ‘The Devil’s Fruit.’ As revealed in chapter 1179, this suggests his power is directly connected to the Devil itself, making him potentially the most dangerous character in the series. We saw in that same chapter that Imu can actually transform into the Devil. This unique fruit grants him at least two distinct transformations.
- A full Devil transformation that was first teased in the Reverie when he faced off against Sabo.
- The Devil hybrid transformation, which was shown in the previous chapter of the story.
Imu possesses incredibly powerful abilities. He can awaken a power that corrupts his surroundings with evil, and he also has a magical book allowing him to cast spells. These spells can either greatly empower his followers through special agreements, or transform others into his eternal demonic servants.
TopMob Quiz
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Results
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Why Nerona Imu’s ‘Akuma no Mi’ Makes Him The #1 Undisputed Strongest
The Akuma no Mi is the most powerful and dangerous Devil Fruit in the world of One Piece. Created specifically to cause destruction and control, it’s considered the ultimate Devil Fruit, surpassing all others. When Imu arrived at Warland, even a brief display of his power showed he’s stronger than the Yonko – a level of strength almost impossible to understand.
Imu’s arrival in Elbaph has created a lot of trouble. Even though he’s currently weakened, he still came to the island knowing Nika and Nidhoggr were already there. This demonstrates that he believes himself to be the most powerful being in Elbaph.
Explaining The Power Boost Imu’s Presence Grants To His Underlings
Okay, so I’m completely fascinated by Imu’s abilities! It’s become clear that he can seriously amp up the power of his subordinates. What’s really cool is that he does this through something called Covenants – basically, he grants them special abilities. So far, we’ve seen three different Covenants in action, and they’re all pretty unique!
- The Shallow Sea Covenant
- The Depths Covenant
- The Abyssal Covenant
The Shallow Sea Covenant only allows travel through the Abyss, but the Depths and Abyssal Covenants are far more powerful. The Depths Covenant gives its user incredible healing and strength, effectively granting immortality. The Abyssal Covenant includes all the benefits of the Depths Covenant, plus the ability to transform into a Yokai and an end to aging. All of these abilities originate from Imu’s Devil Fruit.
I offer you increased strength, but in return for a piece of your life, you will all come to despise each other. — Nerona Imu, One Piece 1178
Imu has the power to create and utilize Contracts in many different ways. He might, for example, force someone into lifelong servitude by taking years from their life. Alternatively, he can use a person’s lifespan to create endless conflict between two others. Furthermore, when Imu’s followers are near him, they become significantly more powerful – even beyond the benefits of their existing Covenants – making them a serious threat even to the strongest characters in the One Piece world.
How The World Sovereign Will Crush The Straw Hats and Giants
The upcoming chapters of One Piece, starting with 1180, promise an amazing show of power from Imu. Now that the King of the World and the founder of the World Government is finally using his full abilities, fans can expect a major showdown where many of the strongest fighters will likely be defeated.
Fans likely won’t be shocked to see powerful characters like Dorry, Brogy, Jarul, Zoro, and Sanji defeated by Imu. Only Luffy and Loki seem capable of challenging him, but even they aren’t strong enough to win. Imu intentionally went to Elbaph prepared to fight them at a weakened level, as his power is more than enough to destroy the entire Straw Hat crew. This current storyline strongly resembles the events at Sabaody Archipelago before the timeskip, and it appears Oda is leading towards another devastating defeat for the crew.
One Piece chapter 1180 will be available to read on Manga Plus on April 19, 2026, at 11 a.m. EST.
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2026-04-16 00:35