If the Gorosei (or The Five Elder Stars) are fighters or not has been a long running debate in the community; a debate that Chapter 1085 seemingly just ended – they are. However, the latest Chapter didn’t just simply confirm they are fighters.
While initially there seems to be a bit of a bait-and-switch going on with the panel of Gorosei all grabbing the classic flint-lock pistols seemingly indicating that they indeed are just politicians, we are soon greeted with a panel that not only confirms their fighter status but also elevates it to another level.
God Hand
It’s hard to put into words the feeling I had while seeing this reveal happen; as someone who has recently started to read Berserk (at Volume 6, Don’t Spoil!), the best way I can describe it is to compare it to the reveal of/the first time we see God Hand.
I know it might be silly to compare the generally goofy Manga (with serious topics) like One Piece to such a graphic, heavy and brutal story that is Berserk, but the general feeling evoked in me by these two scenes was the same. Oda is known for his silhouettes, often obscuring what the person looks like, but the way he drew the Gorosei in their “silhouette forms” feels different than usual; you can go back and compare it to how he drew his older work to see the difference. It is way closer to how he drew Kanjuro in his “vengeful spirit” (Kazenbo) form.
They feel ethereal, amorphous and other-worldly. They feel as if The Void itself is shedding its human form; as if the silhouettes we see them in ARE their true forms. This feeling is only amplified when you add Immu into the mix. The translator’s note notes that “Mu”, the way Immu refers to themselves stands for “Void” and you see that in the many panels they appear in.
This shot of Immu from above gives us the best example of what I’m talking about; Immu doesn’t feel like a silhouette but rather as dark matter enveloping the chair it sits in. And let’s not forget the “arrows” it uses to attack Sabo and Cobra; it’s very reminiscent of Pride, a Homunculus from the Full-metal Alchemist series and another ethereal being.
I can only imagine the powerful Devil Fruits that they have… if they even have any…
A New Power
It’s hard to imagine these forms to be a result of any other power than Devil Fruits, it’s the primary power system of the series for the past 1000+ Chapters after all, but it wouldn’t be the first time the series threw a new power into the mix.
Haki started to make its first appearances after around 550 Chapters and for the most part after its introduction it has been a staple of Luffy’s (and others) power-up throughout the New World. Well, we are yet again approaching that 550 Chapters milestone and it’s very likely we get another new power introduced into the mix; or rather, a power of the past.
It hasn’t been something that’s been discussed a lot lately (or at all), but we already saw glimpses of new and unexplained abilities; Voice of All Things being one of them as well whatever Luffy used to communicate with everyone while he was drowning.
I personally have long been a proponent of the idea that everything in the story, ability or phenomenon, could be explained with science, even the Devil Fruits, but in the light of recent events I’ve started to become a believer…I’ve started to believe in a mythical side of One Piece. The Sun God Nika, The Voice of All Things, and now Immu and Gorosei, all of these things scream “magic” to me with the way they are portrayed and I’m kind of wishing that’s the case.
Now, to take Sabo’s words here literally would be silly. However, whatever he saw clearly was “hellish” and inhuman. Just look at the way Wapol reacted to it; if it was something as simple as few Zoan users then I don’t think Wapol would be so scared (we are talking about a man who ate his subordinates to create this monstrosity) or that Sabo would call it “Hell”.
Seriously, this man was so mortified he just ran without even caring where he was heading towards
I’m not suggesting the Gorosei and Immu are quite literally Demons from Hell but I’m not saying they are far from it either. This whole reveal feels like something out of classic horror movies where Vampires (or another thing) take on human form pretending to be regular humans just for the protagonist to discover their true identity; and I don’t think what we’ll get will be far from it.
We know all kind of different races exist, we know there are space pirates and we know Skypeans came from the Moon so why can’t the Gorosei and Immu be something other than human? Maybe the reason why Devil Fruits were made WAS to combat these creatures…
What Are They
Just to make it clear, I’m not saying that Immu and/or the Gorosei are actually amorphous blobs of darkness, that would be pretty uninspiring character design, nor am I saying the powers they have are strictly result of something other than Devil Fruits. The Devil Fruits are still a massive part of the Universe and it’s very likely that the powers they have comes from them. What I am saying is that Immu and the Gorosei are not human… probably…
The origin of Celestial Dragons has often been brought into question before. Many theories were made discussing the “Celestial” part of their name and bringing attention to the “space suits” and “space helmets” they are wearing. There seems to be even more “space imagery” with the name of one of the Gorosei being Saturn (you know, a Celestial body), which undoubtedly means the other ones will also have planet-themed names, as well as what seems to be a Constellation on the Empty Throne on which Immu sits.
Shonen, or any long running story in general, have to constantly up the stakes and make new reveals/twists that would keep the readers engaged. Again, I keep saying things sound silly but trust me, there is a reason why so many stories do this; it’s been proven to work. Look no further than One Piece itself:
- What happens when Paramecia Devil Fruits run their course; you introduce insanely powerful Logia Devil Fruits.
- What happens when Logia Devil Fruits become too powerful; you introduce Haki, an ability meant to counter them.
- What happens when Logia Devil Fruits become “obsolete” due to the aforementioned Haki power; you introduce Awakenings and Mythical Zoans.
But what happens when those things become obsolete as well? What comes next?
That’s right; ALIENS!
Just look at the most popular Shonen, Dragon Ball (and also Naruto). When Goku defeated the Demon Lord Piccolo and became the World Martial Arts Championship (Strongest Under The Heavens), Toriyama introduced Saiyans and with them the idea of Aliens. Suddenly, Piccolo wasn’t a Demon anymore but rather a member of alien race and suddenly, a whole new arena for Goku to fight in was opened. We know Oda is a big fan of Toriyama and his work he even went on the record to cite Goku as an inspiration for Luffy, and One Piece as it currently is lends itself to this idea quite a bit.
We have an unexplained advanced civilization of 900 years ago that had the technology more advanced than even the current time, we have the aforementioned Skypieans that came from the Moon, those who rule the World by the name of Celestial Dragons, Immu and Gorosei with their otherworldly appearance and the giant death weapon that can destroy Islands. All of this could be connected and answered with a single idea – visitors from space.
The advanced civilization (Ancient Kingdome) would be the result of alien settlers who Immu and the Gorosei would be a part of, explaining their appearance and advanced technology. You know how Zoan users when transformed into their animal take on the characteristic of their human form into the mix? The forms we see the Gorosei would be the result of that.
The Dragon Fruit is the best example of this as we have two users of the “same” Fruit. You can see Kaido’s Dragon form has his “Oni” horns while Momo doesn’t have any of that.
The Celestial Dragons, like Doflamingo and his family, would be just the regular humans, rulers of the 20 Kingdoms that Immu got on their side to wage War against the Ancient Kingdom, against which they rebelled, promising them the same status of the Celestial Dragons (that’s why they wear “space suits” while Gorsoei don’t); and the giant flying thing that we can see destroying Lulusia Kingdom might just be the spaceship they came on (like the ships that Skypieans used to come from space).
Are Aliens too off-brand for One Piece? Maybe, maybe not. After all, this is a story about Pirates, on a ship, exploring the vast World of One Piece and what is better to be explored than the vastness of Space – the Final Frontier…
Tl;dr
Judging by how the things in Chapter 1085 were portrayed, I highly doubt Gorosei and Imu are simple Devil Fruit users. The comments from Sabo about “Hell”, the amorphous appearance of the Gorosei as well as Wapol’s scared reaction seem to indicate there is more to it. I think that Oda is about to introduce a new aspect of the story with Imu and Gorosei not being of this world…
*Theory by The_Biggest_Wheel
