This is gonna be a long winded theory based mostly on naming conventions and similarities, but bear with me.
Over the course of One Piece, Mihawk's origins have been completely enigmatic. For most characters we've seen guesses based on how Oda depicted them as kids or how they've been shown, such as how Shanks was a member of the Figarland family, Blackbeard joined Whitebeard's crew at a young age, or how Akainu's image of himself as a child shows he had one of the worst childhoods in the series. With Mihawk however, no one's really got that close of a guess despite how important he is to the story as one of the main goals for Zoro to surpass.
The most we know of his past is that he was already trained in swordsmanship even at a very young age (see the image below) and used to be called the Marine Hunter before he became the World's Strongest Swordsman by process of elimination after Roger died.
For where he grew up, what his birth family was, who trained him, etc, that's all a complete mystery. However, part of me is keen to believe that Mihawk was previously related in some way to Imu, perhaps even starting off being trained as a Holy Knight, before going solo.
For a more direct and obvious comparison between the two, there's
• Most obviously there's the multi-layered irises both of them have, which are both Imu's most defining physical feature that isn't left in shadow and Mihawk's epithet. The only other characters to share this design point are Zunesha (whom is important to the story of the Void Century) and Caribou, whom admittedly has them multicolored rather than being one singular color like the rest.
• They also are notably associated with darkness or the color black, what with Imu constantly being in shadow or Mihawk being dressed almost entirely in black and having his Black Blade Yoru.
• Within the manga, there's also the secondary association with the color red. Mihawk's most prominent color on his clothing besides the color black is of course red, and his eyes are of course a reddish color in the manga. Imu meanwhile has the same reddish eye color, while the Empty Throne room itself in a reddish color.
This is probably just coincidental matching in seeing similarities between two characters so far, as you would probably assume. On the same level as saying that Dragon and Kaido are actually brothers because they both have long hair, are associated with dragons, and can control the wind. However, there's more than meets the eye going on here.
As Chapter 1085 and 1086 imply, Imu is a demonic and almost Satanic figure to the world of One Piece. During Sabo's attempted escape from Mary Geoise him and Cobra are skewered by a shadowy arrow almost akin to the Devil's tail. When Sabo struck Imu and saw both him and the Gorosei transform he said it was a scene almost out of Hell itself. However, it goes further than that. If this were to be the Devil, it'd also likely be the Sea Devil mentioned early on in the story as the reason Devil Fruit users can't swim.
If you've been following One Piece recently, you'll know of the planetary names being used for characters that are extremely important to the story. Luffy has the Mythical Zoan of the Sun God Nika, the Gorosei are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and the Ancient Weapons are Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto. That just leaves Earth itself (and also the moon, but that's probably Garling given how his hair is styled like Mac Tonight). Of anyone to represent the Earth, the most likely candidate would be Imu. They sit atop the Red Line, a titanic continent that's almost a gigantic wall of stone and ground, after all. There's also of course the family name in 1086 which Imu is revealed to be a member of, Nerona. This name, Nerona, is likely to come from the Roman emperor who was used as a basis for the Devil in the Book of Revelations.
Now, on what this has to do with Imu's Satanic imagery. While within Biblical mythos God is seen as the ruler of the heavens, Satan meanwhile is seen as a ruler of the Earth and is interwoven with it. For his failure to defeat God in the War in Heaven, the Devil is cast down and sent to the Earth. When Christ is tempted by the Devil, he is offered all of the kingdoms of the Earth. Within the Book of Revelations, the Mother of Harlots sitting upon the scarlet Beast is said to hold dominions over all Earthly kingdoms, and the False Prophet itself is said to come from the Earth. You could probably connect the fallen angel stuff with Imu possibly being a space pirate, but that's a theory for another day.
So, what does all this Satanic imagery have to do with Mihawk? Well, let me explain. Mihawk of course has Dracule as his surname. Dracule itself is taken from Dracula, which means "Son of the Dragon." While the more obvious interpretation is that it is the Son of the Dragon (as in, a Celestial Dragon, which Imu is the highest of), another interpretation sees the Dracul part as meaning "Devil." Furthermore, Dracula has a consistent source of his powers said to exist, that being the Devil himself.
There's also the fact of how Mihawk is associated with Christian imagery. Yoru itself is essentially a gigantic blade shaped like a cross. The man wears a crucifix on his neck that also functions as a dagger. Given Mihawk seemingly being trained in swordsmanship from a young age, it could be possible that he was meant to be a Holy Knight before going solo and having the Marines be sent after him.
Lastly, this is just me spitballing, there's something that I'm reminded of with Mihawk with his epithet, the "Pirate Hunter", that being Vampire Hunter D. Mihawk and said character share the same vampire-related connection, and both wear primarily black, and have big hats. D in said stories meanwhile is the son of the Sacred Ancestor, also the progenitor of the entire vampire race and Count Dracula, so there's that.
TL;DR, Imu is likely related in some way to Mihawk and he could've been a former Holy Knight before going solo. Unless this is just me being schizophrenic and overestimating things that aren't there like people who thought Luffy would have a Resin Logia instead of a Mythical Zoan.
Over the course of One Piece, Mihawk's origins have been completely enigmatic. For most characters we've seen guesses based on how Oda depicted them as kids or how they've been shown, such as how Shanks was a member of the Figarland family, Blackbeard joined Whitebeard's crew at a young age, or how Akainu's image of himself as a child shows he had one of the worst childhoods in the series. With Mihawk however, no one's really got that close of a guess despite how important he is to the story as one of the main goals for Zoro to surpass.
The most we know of his past is that he was already trained in swordsmanship even at a very young age (see the image below) and used to be called the Marine Hunter before he became the World's Strongest Swordsman by process of elimination after Roger died.
For where he grew up, what his birth family was, who trained him, etc, that's all a complete mystery. However, part of me is keen to believe that Mihawk was previously related in some way to Imu, perhaps even starting off being trained as a Holy Knight, before going solo.
For a more direct and obvious comparison between the two, there's
• Most obviously there's the multi-layered irises both of them have, which are both Imu's most defining physical feature that isn't left in shadow and Mihawk's epithet. The only other characters to share this design point are Zunesha (whom is important to the story of the Void Century) and Caribou, whom admittedly has them multicolored rather than being one singular color like the rest.
• They also are notably associated with darkness or the color black, what with Imu constantly being in shadow or Mihawk being dressed almost entirely in black and having his Black Blade Yoru.
• Within the manga, there's also the secondary association with the color red. Mihawk's most prominent color on his clothing besides the color black is of course red, and his eyes are of course a reddish color in the manga. Imu meanwhile has the same reddish eye color, while the Empty Throne room itself in a reddish color.
This is probably just coincidental matching in seeing similarities between two characters so far, as you would probably assume. On the same level as saying that Dragon and Kaido are actually brothers because they both have long hair, are associated with dragons, and can control the wind. However, there's more than meets the eye going on here.
As Chapter 1085 and 1086 imply, Imu is a demonic and almost Satanic figure to the world of One Piece. During Sabo's attempted escape from Mary Geoise him and Cobra are skewered by a shadowy arrow almost akin to the Devil's tail. When Sabo struck Imu and saw both him and the Gorosei transform he said it was a scene almost out of Hell itself. However, it goes further than that. If this were to be the Devil, it'd also likely be the Sea Devil mentioned early on in the story as the reason Devil Fruit users can't swim.
If you've been following One Piece recently, you'll know of the planetary names being used for characters that are extremely important to the story. Luffy has the Mythical Zoan of the Sun God Nika, the Gorosei are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and the Ancient Weapons are Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto. That just leaves Earth itself (and also the moon, but that's probably Garling given how his hair is styled like Mac Tonight). Of anyone to represent the Earth, the most likely candidate would be Imu. They sit atop the Red Line, a titanic continent that's almost a gigantic wall of stone and ground, after all. There's also of course the family name in 1086 which Imu is revealed to be a member of, Nerona. This name, Nerona, is likely to come from the Roman emperor who was used as a basis for the Devil in the Book of Revelations.
Now, on what this has to do with Imu's Satanic imagery. While within Biblical mythos God is seen as the ruler of the heavens, Satan meanwhile is seen as a ruler of the Earth and is interwoven with it. For his failure to defeat God in the War in Heaven, the Devil is cast down and sent to the Earth. When Christ is tempted by the Devil, he is offered all of the kingdoms of the Earth. Within the Book of Revelations, the Mother of Harlots sitting upon the scarlet Beast is said to hold dominions over all Earthly kingdoms, and the False Prophet itself is said to come from the Earth. You could probably connect the fallen angel stuff with Imu possibly being a space pirate, but that's a theory for another day.
So, what does all this Satanic imagery have to do with Mihawk? Well, let me explain. Mihawk of course has Dracule as his surname. Dracule itself is taken from Dracula, which means "Son of the Dragon." While the more obvious interpretation is that it is the Son of the Dragon (as in, a Celestial Dragon, which Imu is the highest of), another interpretation sees the Dracul part as meaning "Devil." Furthermore, Dracula has a consistent source of his powers said to exist, that being the Devil himself.
There's also the fact of how Mihawk is associated with Christian imagery. Yoru itself is essentially a gigantic blade shaped like a cross. The man wears a crucifix on his neck that also functions as a dagger. Given Mihawk seemingly being trained in swordsmanship from a young age, it could be possible that he was meant to be a Holy Knight before going solo and having the Marines be sent after him.
Lastly, this is just me spitballing, there's something that I'm reminded of with Mihawk with his epithet, the "Pirate Hunter", that being Vampire Hunter D. Mihawk and said character share the same vampire-related connection, and both wear primarily black, and have big hats. D in said stories meanwhile is the son of the Sacred Ancestor, also the progenitor of the entire vampire race and Count Dracula, so there's that.
TL;DR, Imu is likely related in some way to Mihawk and he could've been a former Holy Knight before going solo. Unless this is just me being schizophrenic and overestimating things that aren't there like people who thought Luffy would have a Resin Logia instead of a Mythical Zoan.
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