 The latest developments in One Piece lore may have just revealed so much more than you realize. Ichiro Oda's clues about devil fruits may actually mean much more than the origins about these mystical abilities, but also tell us the truth about the ancient kingdom, the will of Di, and the increasingly mysterious figure, Imu. All of this from just a few sentences that Vega Punk uttered about his personal theory about the development of devil fruits. As in classic Oda fashion, we do have a break now that this huge bomb has been revealed, but fear not, as I will be filling your One Piece void with more of these discussions so please do subscribe to this channel. After chapter after chapter where more and more information about the lore of One Piece have been revealed, this recent development may be the biggest clue yet. Vega Punk theorizes that devil fruits are the manifestation of one's visions about human evolution, that they bring to life different possibilities about human development. And this has some crazy implications about the weird ways in which people wish to see how the human form could develop, but more importantly, Vega Punk's theory potentially has some huge implications about the greater lore and mysteries of the One Piece world. Because although Vega Punk doesn't go as far as to explain who the devil fruits could have been developed by, and he also doesn't necessarily confirm that this means all devil fruits are indeed man-made and were artificially created for this purpose of road testing some different types of human evolution. However, when we consider all the information and lore reveals that we've been receiving as of late, all clues, of course, lead back to the ancient kingdom. We now know that the ancient kingdom was an incredibly technologically advanced society, a kingdom that possessed both knowledge and the technology well ahead of its time. So if there was a population toying around with the possibilities of human forms and developments, it's likely to have been this kingdom who had the technical capabilities to experiment and bring about such dreams and visions into fruition. And by that, I mean quite literal fruits. Vega Punk also suggests that because devil fruits are then perversions of nature, this is why mother nature has struck back in the form of the sea being the devil fruit user's kryptonite. And this is where things get really interesting. I've actually been working on another video for quite some time, and I think the information that I found whilst researching for that video is actually very relevant for this discussion, ever since Imu's crazy showing of power and abilities very early on in this arc. The truth behind Imu's character has been one of the most curious mysteries for me. And something I've found with Oda's storytelling and his mysteries is that the names of his characters often tell us a great deal about that individual. For example, Usopp. His name being a play on the words of Asopp's fables and the Japanese word Usopp, which means lie, Usopp's name is then a great nod to his personality. And one of the first character traits we were introduced to in Syrup Village. So naturally, there's reason to suspect that Imu's name may also mean something. And now with the latest developments, we may know exactly what it means. Imu is a name that seems to have quite a lot of different meanings, especially if you consider different languages and across cultures. For example, I even discovered that Imu may be slang for the word anus, according to Urban Dictionary at least. But one of the more prominent meanings we could look at is actually if we consider what Imu may mean when pronounced backwards. So not Imu, but Umi. Because Umi in Japanese can mean sea and in Arabic means mother. The sea and mother. Doesn't this ring some bells? The sea being a prominent representation of nature in the series and the form that vagabunct supposes nature takes to repel or punish devil fruit users. So when put together with Umi's Arabic meaning, that's exactly what Imu's name could represent, mother nature. But this isn't the only relevant interpretation of Imu's name. Because of course, it's important to note that Imu is actually only one pronunciation. And otherwise, it could also be pronounced as Im. And in this form, there are even more possible meanings. One of which is Im from Norse mythology. The fact that Oda has been heavily inspired by Nordic culture doesn't need any further explanation by now. And so it just so happens that Im was the name of a Yotun. The Yotun being supernatural beings who live in Yotunima. One of the nine worlds in Norse mythology. In modern times, the Yotun are commonly thought to be giants or trolls. But this wasn't necessarily the case in ancient mythology. The Yotun was simply one of the other supernatural beings that existed in the world. Being like gods in terms of their strength and abilities. But an important detail being that they were generally portrayed as evil or as the bad guys. Becoming increasingly demonized in literature over time. But even more interestingly is that again, the Yotun or Yotna have an intrinsic connection to the idea of nature. This is because Ymir, one of the two beings to whom all creation can be attributed to in Norse mythology, was also a Yotna. And this idea of nature or creation seems to be common to other cultures as well. Because Im when spelt in Japanese looks like this. And not only does this look like the Kanji character for Buddha. But also it's what you get when you take the first Kanji character for Eve. And then the last character for Adam. And then put them together as an Adam and Eve from the Bible. Now there are loads of biblical references in one piece. But it's worth noting that Adam and Eve are again very closely linked to the idea of creation. Adam and Eve being the first man and woman that God created. Who were ultimately cast out of paradise for committing the first sin. The sin being these humans eating from the tree of knowledge. Which was a metaphor of these first humans wanting to become like God. That sounds awfully familiar. Because something that all of these different meanings seem to have in common is the idea of nature. And another recurring theme is the idea of God. Or at least supernatural status and abilities. And all of these meanings fit in really well with the latest information about devil fruits. The idea that devil fruits challenge the natural course of Mother Nature. Define humanity's natural evolution by allowing its users supernatural abilities. And so putting all of this together. It gives rise to the question is Imu the representation of Mother Nature. Was the great war against the ancient kingdom an effort to curb them from carrying out further experimentation that defied the laws of nature? And this is a really interesting idea because it muddies the water in terms of the morality of the ancient kingdom. While we've been generally led to believe that ancient kingdom good and Imu and world government bad. It's not quite so black and white anymore when you consider the negative consequences that may indeed arise from people developing such great powers. Not everyone will have used their abilities for good. And it's easy to imagine that this sort of development created a lot of conflict. It's even possible that the ancient weapons were created for this very purpose. To neutralize the threat of devil fruit users. Suppose all of this got two out of hand. Then there were these great big weapons of mass destruction that the kingdom could use as a counter to their own creations and developments. And then in this way even Imu-sama doesn't seem like a holy evil character. If Imu really is the manifestation of mother nature. Imu may just be concerned about the developments that were negatively affecting the human world. And the efforts to stop the ancient kingdom may have been necessary or at the least could have seemed to have been necessary. Sort of similar to Hanami in Jujutsu Kaisen who arguably had a point when it came to humans treatment of the natural environment. Or even more recently when Jinbei questions the adverse effects that technological and scientific developments may bring about the world. And these sort of morally gray scenarios or questions may have been exactly what Reili was referring to all those years ago in his discussion with the straw hats. That the truth that the straw hats may find at Laugh Tale can result in different conclusions. Because on one hand defying the laws of nature blindly pursuing technological advancements can certainly result in perhaps unintended but nevertheless dangerous consequences. Disastrous results that do indeed need to be restrained. But on the other hand, does this reason justify blocking all scientific developments entirely and killing those who threaten to shake up the balance between the forces of nature to preserve the natural cause? And is it justified especially now? Now where it seems like Imu is just a megalomaniac concerned with oppressing any sort of challenge to the status quo rather than legitimate threats to the world balance or nature's safety. Because Imu's name isn't the only source of curiosity or mystery. Another name that may be of interest and certainly of importance is that of the D clan. One of the very first mysteries presented to us in the series which now continues to plague the theorists. While the meaning behind the illustrious will of D is still yet to be confirmed. You may remember that I've discussed this in another video because it seems like Oda may have been heavily inspired by a real life use of the initial or rather symbol D and has then incorporated it into his work. An ancient Mesopotamia, which is a culture which seems to have also inspired many other ideas for Oda such as the Polniglyphs and the Sun God. Again, watch the video if you want to understand these connections in greater context. But in ancient Mesopotamia, the initial D was used as a symbol to mark someone's divinity. This symbol, called Dingi, would indicate whether someone was a god or goddess. So building on from the idea that Imu may be the manifestation of mother nature, is it possible that the ancient kingdom were actually made up of supernatural beings? Supernatural beings that came from different planets or other worlds or dimensions. Similar to Norse mythology, how there are nine realms or worlds, this could exist in one piece as well. We already know that other species have existed outside of the planet in which one piece is set because of the Birken, Shandorians and Skypeans originating from the moon. Perhaps those of the ancient kingdom were also from outer space. And this is why they had the advanced technology. Similar to the advanced technology we've seen on the moon, this could also explain why the Shandorians were allies of the ancient kingdom, and this could add another layer to the great battle between the ancient kingdom and Imu and the world government. If Imu is the manifestation of mother nature, then Imu would represent the mother nature of just one world or one planet, the planet where one piece is currently set. Whereas the ancient kingdom with all of their knowledge and their technology were supernatural beings from outside of this world. In a sense, those of the ancient kingdom were like gods, divine, deities, the will of deities, the will of God. A very common phrase used in our real world, which Oda may have adopted and adapted fit for his story. And in this way, the question about morality and values isn't only about technology and defying the laws of nature, but also one about tolerance and acceptance and the idea of everyone just living together in harmony. Imu didn't like the presence of these otherworldly beings who threatened the status quo. Whereas the ancient kingdom and the decline just wanted to explore the future of humanity or life, a life that involved all sorts of beings living together in peace and in harmony and in freedom. An idea which I think you would agree seems to be a theme much more fitting to One Piece and its overall story. But these are just some of my thoughts, so let me know yours by leaving a comment below. Please do subscribe for more One Piece discussions. You can also join our George Fleet Discord server or even become a Patreon or channel member. And I do want to thank all our executive officers for help supporting the channel. And in case you missed it, I do encourage you to watch these videos because I do have to say these connections and inspirations for Oda's seems to link up very, very nicely. But anyways, this is Joygirl and I'll see you again soon.