Chapter 1179: “Nerona Im Descends” — Devil Fruit Powers! Theorizing About Im’s Abilities

The Holy Land Under Siege

Source: ONE PIECE Vol. 105, Eiichiro Oda

When York was at Egghead, her entire purpose was satisfying the three basic drives: eating (appetite), elimination (excretion), and sleeping (the sleep urge). She had an exceptional lifestyle.

She betrayed Stella and stabbed them in the back just to become a World Noble — and now she can’t even properly satisfy her appetite. The irony couldn’t be more fitting.

Source: ONE PIECE Chapter 1179, Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha

Is Im’s Form in the Mortal Realm Just Temporary?

Source: ONE PIECE Chapter 1179, Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha

Im has finally been revealed visually! But the form that descended on Elbaf looks nothing like the silhouette we’ve been seeing all this time.

Right after warping through the magic circle, Im was writhing in pain and mid-transformation — so the form we finally saw at the end may actually be a temporary state.

“Temporary form in the mortal realm” — that brings to mind the toys of Dressrosa, forced into servitude beneath the Corrida Colosseum after being stripped of their true forms.

I suppose last week’s cover page theory about Kid turned out to be right.

Source: ONE PIECE Vol. 73, Eiichiro Oda

Usopp’s Body, Completely Broken

Source: ONE PIECE Chapter 1179, Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha

Usopp got beaten to a pulp by Gunko and ended up with broken bones all over. When Franky asked “Want me to cyborg-ify you?” Usopp reacted — but it’s hard to read whether that’s a yes or a no.

Honestly, Usopp as a cyborg sounds fascinating. He ends up with broken bones every single arc, so it might actually be a necessary upgrade at this point.

Source: ONE PIECE Vol. 44, Eiichiro Oda

Theorizing About Im’s Powers

Source: ONE PIECE Chapter 1179, Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha

Im’s visual has finally been revealed — and it’s stunning! The description also includes “Power: Devil Fruit” — which is deeply mysterious.

Before getting into the appearance, let me first organize the elements we can work with for theorizing about the ability. Based on what we saw this chapter:

  • Lightning strikes everywhere, like Enel’s Mamaragan
  • A massive magic circle fills the sky, like Enel’s Raigo
  • Plants and even houses develop will and begin to sing, like Big Mom’s Soru Soru no Mi
  • Rhythm beats out like Nika’s Drums of Liberation

And as the Five Elders warned — outside Mary Geoise, Im seems to experience some kind of physical handicap.

Source: ONE PIECE Chapter 1179, Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha

For now, this is just a summary of what we can observe — deeper theorizing is something I want to sit with for a while.

Visual Features

Source: ONE PIECE Chapter 1179, Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha
  • Descends dramatically, like Enel
  • Dark skin and white hair, like King (Alber)
  • Predatory eyes, like Mihawk
  • Has horns, like Loki
  • Androgynous — gender difficult to identify at this point

…Honestly, all I can say right now is: it looks incredibly cool.

For this week, I just want to sit with the feeling of finally seeing Im’s true form. That’s all for today. See you next week.


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