One Piece Is Expanding The Power System With Imu’s New Demonic Abilities

One Piece features one of the most diverse power systems in all of anime and manga, and it primarily relies on two powers, those being Haki and Devil Fruits. While Devil Fruits have been present in One Piece since the beginning, Haki has constantly been evolving. In the ongoing Elbaph arc of One Piece, specifically in chapter 1180 of the manga, One Piece has done brilliantly to expand upon its power systems even further by introducing new demonic abilities of Saint Nerona Imu, the final antagonist of the series and the strongest character in the entire world at the moment.

Breaking Down Eiichiro Oda’s Two Main Power Systems Of Haki and Devil Fruits

Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece relies primarily on Devil Fruits. This power system was introduced at the very beginning of the series, with Monkey D. Luffy eating the Gomu Gomu no Mi in the very first chapter. As the story continued, more Devil Fruits were introduced and unique classifications of Pramecia, Zoan, and Logia, were revealed as well. In the Grand Line and the New World, the vast majority of the characters were revealed to have Devil Fruit powers, and this system has gotten incredibly diverse since.

Around the timeskip, the power of Haki was properly explained in the story and it has since become an integral part of One Piece. Haki is a spiritual form of power that can be utilized by those who awaken it, and it significantly boosts strength among the top tiers. Both Haki and Devil Fruit are incredible in their own ways, but Imu’s demonic abilities certainly go on to rank in a completely separate zone, making it unique in its own way.

Why Nerona Imu’s Maki Expands The Current Power System Greatly

In chapter 1180 of One Piece, Imu unleashed a unique power known as Maki. In the English translation of One Piece, Maki was simply translated as ‘Omen,’ and looking at that, it simply looks like another form of power that Imu gets from his Devil Fruit, the Akuma no Mi. However, the kanji for this technique literally translates to ‘demonic power,’ similar to how Haki translates to spiritual power. The word ‘Ki’ is present in both terms, and while ‘Ma Ki’ is demonic power, ‘Ha Ki’ is spiritual willpower.

In that sense, Eiichiro Oda has expanded upon his power system even more significantly in the final saga of One Piece with the power of Maki. Even strong individuals like Zoro and Sanji were easily overwhelmed by Imu’s demonic power, and black flames of an unprecedented level were manifested. Other powers, like giving boosts to subordinates, were also made possible with this new ability.

How The Akuma no Mi Unlocks Powers Beyond Standard Devil Fruits

Apart from Maki, Eiichiro Oda has already taken the power system to a whole new level with the introduction of the Akuma no Mi. On the surface, it looks like just another Devil Fruit, but it doesn’t truly fit into any classification based on what it can and cannot do. Imu’s Akuma no Mi can essentially make him a sort of mage. It grants him a standard Zoan transformation, but allows him to affect his surroundings like Paramecia and even access abilities similar to those of Logia, such as intangibility in his shadow form.

More than that, the Akuma no Mi allows him to grant powers such as immortality, regeneration, agelessness, and superhuman strength, among many others, to his followers. All these powers make it unique from a regular devil fruit ability and, as such, it is an extension of the already diverse power system of the One Piece world.

Scaling The New Demonic Power To Willpower

In chapters 1179 and 1180 of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda has made it clear that Imu’s new demonic power is incredibly deadly. It can overwhelm Haki users easily, and on top of that, it allows Imu to do things that are seemingly impossible and, in the grand scheme of things, maintain a firm grip on the entire world. When comparing it directly to Haki, which is something that the likes of Joy Boy and others who fought Imu long ago utilized, the power of this demonic energy is far greater.

Imu is more versatile and can buff up his allies and, on top of that, even grant devil transformations to others, such as the Yokai powers of the Five Elders and Domi Reversi. Imu is absolutely impossible to stop with such demonic powers, and this system that he has created for himself and his underlings is practically unbeatable.

One Piece is available to read on Manga Plus.