Impel Down Homage
With Saint Sommers using the move name “Crimson Hell,” this is almost certainly an Impel Down homage.
Could the thorns spreading across the ground be an Awakening?
Gaban vs. Saint Sommers overlaps with Blugorilla vs. Buggy. The common traits:
- Battle scenes where the body is sliced cleanly apart
- The weapon is an axe
- A long-haired, topknot-wearing former member of the Roger Pirates
Skypiea Homage
In Chapter 1144, I explained how the situation with the children and Saul mirrored the four trials of Swamp, Iron, String, and Orb — making it a Skypiea homage.
And Im in the final panel of this chapter looks remarkably like Enel when he revived himself by massaging his own heart.
The next chapter should once again unfold following the Skypiea homage pattern.
We’ll also soon learn whether my theory — “Loki is a Snake Devil Fruit user who fills the role of the Giant Serpent from Skypiea” — proves correct.
Speaking of Skypiea — there was a Giant Golden Bell located even higher than the tip of Giant Jack.
Embedded in its base was a Poneglyph bearing Roger’s inscription — an extraordinarily important artifact.
In the panels introducing Elbaf’s layout, the uppermost tier called “Heaven” was mentioned — but nothing was said about what it looks like or who lives there.
Doesn’t that make you curious? Since Elbaf is primarily a Skypiea homage, I suspect Heaven contains a treasure on the scale of the Giant Golden Bell.
Perhaps an Ancient Weapon, a Road Poneglyph, or even the tree that bears Devil Fruits.
Im Is Moria’s Superior Counterpart
Gunco becoming Im in this chapter reminded me of Moria’s ability to swap locations with Doppelman.
There were several other scenes that struck me as resembling Moria.
The scene where Saint Saturn withered at the end of the Egghead arc looks just like when Moria absorbed 1,000 shadows at the climax of the Thriller Bark arc.
In other words, Im — like Moria — was lending abilities to others and could reclaim them at any time.
That ability was “immortality.”
Saint Saturn maintained his immortality by borrowing Im’s ability. When Saturn failed his mission, Im abandoned him and forcibly reclaimed it — and the aging that had been held in check rushed forward all at once, destroying him. That is my interpretation.
By that logic, the other Five Elders are also in a “borrowed ability” state — meaning Im could annihilate them all on a whim, which is precisely why they serve in absolute obedience.
Moria uses others’ shadows to animate the dead; Im uses others’ bodies to control life. The contrast is elegant.
The relationship between Gunco and Im is still unclear, but if Im was the one who stabbed Cobra in “The Truth of That Day,” the attack looks remarkably like Gunco’s Aro-Aro move.
Could Gunco be Im? It calls to mind Diavolo and the timid boy Doppio from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 5.
Or perhaps Im can swap personalities with any follower who has been brought into the fold?
That scene also shares a commonality with Moria: in both cases, a Flame-Flame Fruit user was present, and an arrow-shaped attack pierced the enemy’s abdomen.
And Moria’s full name — Gecko Moria — contains “ko-mori” (bat).
If Im is Moria’s superior counterpart, then “Vampire” fits as the concept. The traits align:
- Vampires are imagined as the overlord of bats
- Immortality legends include: can only be defeated by a stake through the heart
- Biting humans to turn them into vampires — lending them power
- Vampires are fundamentally long-lived
- The polar opposite of Nika, the Sun God