12/16

Complete exposition of IMU's true potential identity

1. Inspirations

a)

It's not new for ODA to be inspired by real life figures/non-fictional characters in real life. If we find out who ODA based the Gorosei characters on, naturally we would be able to figure out the identity of the final villain as well, as a result. The fact that only few who were able to spot such similarities is a testament to ODA's writing ability to make things highly subtle. In Japan's history, there were already the Council of Five Elders who existed back then hundreds of years ago. These are the ones who are most likely the source of inspiration for ODA to create his characters, the Gorosei. But before we move on to the inspiration(s) for the final villain, let's spot the subtle similarities between the Council of Five Elders and the Gorosei as below:

b)

So how do we get to the final villain's inspiration? By looking at a certain character that is related to the Council of Five Elders that is of a superior authority:

Does ALL of the council of five elders have a known relationship with this man? Historically no. But we can see that he is somewhat of a superior/leader to some of them, which would be how Imsama/Imu is to the Gorosei. But the question remains, who in One Piece resembles Oda Nobunaga the most? It's none other than the main man himself, Mihawk:

Throughout history, we can see how similar Oda Nobunaga is depicted within multiple interpretations; his mustache, beard, his status of being a warlord, and also his ability to fight. But is that all there is to it? No. We still need to look at the other possible inspirations for which Mihawk can be written as Imsama/Imu that is displayed hidden from the world with the exceptions of the Gorosei and other personals. Who could that person/character be?

God Amun-Ra is a representation/combination of two Gods - Amun and Ra. Amun being hidden, and Ra being the visible side. Ra is most commonly known as Hawk (and Falcon) who is the symbol of Scarab that relates to Baboons. This would be liken to Mihawk being that Hawk (from Mi-HAWK), who has baboons living alongside him at Kuraigana Island. In a way, ODA would be able to write the final villain being similar to Amun-Ra, with Imsama and Mihawk being the same person, where Im is the hidden identity, and Mihawk as its visible counterpart.

The word 'IM' when translated through Goroawase equates to the number 16, which parallels the 16 petal chrysanthemum seal of Japan. When we look at the two thrones above, we can see the lion & sun disk parallels but the chrysanthemum seal or the phoenix is nowhere to be seen on Im's throne.

For ODA to be inspired by the real throne of Japan, naturally, he wouldn't copy every single detail as that would make things too obvious. So in having Mihawk and Im be the same person through the inspiration of the combined two gods, Amun-Ra, how would ODA subtly show Mihawk's relation with the empty throne? By simply taking out the chrysanthemum seal and phoenix from the empty throne and applied it ON Mihawk instead. What are the indications?

indication 1)

PHOTO ABOVE: The full 16 petal chrysanthemum seal can be found on his clothing, on one of the DVD covers of the first season. (Toei basically divided the series into several seasons with each being a faction of episodes compiled into one DVD. So DVD 1 covers ep 1-4, DVD 2 with ep 5-8, and so forth on). Mihawk is located on the 6th DVD cover.)

PHOTO ABOVE: While in the manga, the same chrysanthemum symbol (that is just based on the shape of the chrysanthemum flower rather than the numbers) can be found in several places which varies. A good reason why the number of the petals differs from one panel to the other is due to the amount of space it can be drawn. If Mihawk is seen from afar, then ODA doesn't need to draw it in full detail thus the decrease. But apart from that, no matter how many petals it is drawn, the fact still remains that it greatly resembles the chrysanthemum flower.

indication 2)

The phoenix on the other hand can be recognized through the color of his clothing being the mixture of purple and red:

In addition, with the Phoenix symbolizing immortality, it would make sense for ODA to also implement it in One Piece through IM/Gorosei with the WG looking for the ope2 fruit (which is ALSO purple-red colored) to obtain the eternal youth/ageless surgery (by sacrificing the user) to live forever, which would then explain the constant capture of Bonnie (or whoever that previously ate her fruit) for her aging powers as the temporary alternative.

final indication)

PHOTOS ABOVE: All of these further proves the significance and relevance of the Empty throne's appearance that relates to Mihawk being the representation of Phoenix & Sun God Ra (Amun-RA / Im-Mihawk).

extra point)

Crocodile - Crocodile

Jinbei - Whale Shark

Boa Hancock - Snake

Moria - Bat

Kuma - Bear

Trafalgar Law - Snow Leapord

Mihawk - Hawk

Doflamingo - Flamingo

/They're the only two warlords that are representatives of the bird kingdom.

c)

Before we move on to the finale of the inspiration point, we have to deal with how or why Mihawk is named as Dracule that is inspired by Dracula. Oda Nobunaga is said to have drink from a skull cup of his enemies blood. With this, ODA would be able to write the relation between Nobunaga and another popular figure, Vlad the Impaler who is the inspiration behind the popular character, Count Dracula. Thus, the name 'DRACULE' Mihawk.

To summarize;

Oda Nobunaga + Vlad the Impaler + Amun-Ra = Mihawk/Imsama

Council of Five Elders = Gorosei

But what about the Celestial Dragons? Which of the inspirations (Oda Nobunaga, Vlad, Amun-Ra, Council of Five Elders) mentioned could link to the creation of Celestial Dragons?

Video Credits: Dan Davis History (Youtube)

d)

"Amun is often referred as King of the Gods and was among the most powerful Gods in ancient Egypt." ~ (ask-aladdin.com/egypt-gods/amun)

/The Celestial Dragons often at times, refer the D clans as natural enemies of the Gods, which when we look at the Hierarchy of the WG in general, Im is portrayed as the True Supreme Ruler of the world even above the Celestial Dragons whom are considered as Gods.

"THE CELESTIAL DRAGONS ARE THE GODS WHO CREATED THIS WORLD. To put it simply, the ones living here are the kings of the lower world. So it's only natural for a God like him to get everything he wants.” — Rob Lucci justifying the World Nobles' actions.

Celestial Dragons = Gods

Imu = KING of the Gods (Celestial Dragons)

e)

Now that we've found the inspirations with Amun-Ra to Im-Mihawk, who could it be for Joyboy and Vivi that is mostly likely linked to Im?

"This part of Egyptian history, known as the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 BC),[11] was a period in which Montu assumed the role of supreme god — before then gradually being surpassed by the other Theban god Amun, destined to become the most important deity of the Egyptian pantheon." ~ (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montu)

"With the 11th Dynasty (c. 21st century BC), Amun rose to the position of patron deity of Thebes by replacing Montu." ~ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amun)

"In the texts found in the pyramids, Amun was described as a primeval deity and a figure symbolizing creative force. However, he came to power during the eleventh dynasty after succeeding the Theban war god, Montu." ~ (ask-aladdin.com/egypt-gods/amun/)

/Im is hinted as someone who rebelled against Ancient Kingdom (defeating Joyboy) and became the new ruler of Mariejois (being the defeated Ancient Kingdom) which would most likely been inspired by the story of Amun taking over Middle kingdom from Montu the former ruler of Thebes.

"The Temple of Amun is the largest religious building in the world (though some claim Angkor Wat in Cambodia is larger)" , "The pharaohs of the New Kingdom lavished attention on the Temple of Amun. Seti I (r. 1290-1279 BCE) and, especially, his successor Ramesses II (The Great, r. 1279-1213 BCE), added decorations and columns to the Hypostyle Hall which had been constructed to huge proportions previously in the New Kingdom." & "It has been estimated that one could fit three structures the size of Notre Dame Cathedral in the main temple alone." ~ (worldhistory.org/Karnak/)

"It is the largest religious building ever made, covering about 200 acres (1.5 km by 0.8 km), and was a place of pilgrimage for nearly 2,000 years. The area of the sacred enclosure of Amun alone is sixty-one acres and could hold ten average European cathedrals. The great temple at the heart of Karnak is so big that St Peter’s, Milan, and Notre Dame Cathedrals would fit within its walls." ~ (discoveringegypt.com/karnak-temple/)

"In antiquity, Karnak was the largest religious sanctuary in Egypt's imperial capital of Thebes (modern Luxor) and was home to the god Amun-Re, king of the Egyptian pantheon. For over 2000 years, successive pharaohs rebuilt and expanded the temples of Karnak, making it the largest complex of religious monuments from the ancient world." ~ (memphis.edu/hypostyle/welcome/index.php)

/Not only would Imsama (Mihawk) be based on Amun-Ra, but the gigantic castle building in which he resides in, the Pangea Castle, would also be based on the Temple of Karnak, the modern-day name for the ancient site of the Temple of Amun at Thebes, Egypt to which is considered the largest religious building in the world. Due to the nature of this temple being religious, it would make sense for ODA to also name the capital of the World Government as the Holy Land of Mariejois.

Now how about Vivi Nefertari?

"Amun-Ra was the father and protector of the pharaoh, and was the subject of a cult. Royal women had a complex relationship with the cult of Amun; Queen Nefertari received the title of “God’s Wife of Amun” and the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut claimed she had the right to rule because her mother was impregnated by Amun, thus being his daughter empowered her ascendancy." ~ (egyptianmuseum.org/deities-amun)

Since Amun is related to Nefertari, it would only be natural for ODA to have Vivi be related to IM in the story. But if Mihawk is IM, shoudn't there be at least some clues or hints as to indicate as such as well?

Vivi's the 20th kingdom to not stay at Mariejois. 20 chapters later, Vivi appears in 579.

Umi = imu

This would be the perfect foreshadow to have Zoro (Mihawk) be the one to say it as it would foretell the coming of Im/Mihawk kidnapping Vivi.

2. Florian Triangle Shadows

IM is the Name of the Hurrian God of Sky, Thunder and Storms.

Mihawk being described in 49: "To think all 50 ships of the Krieg Pirate Fleet were destroyed by a single man"

If we look at the map, one of the islands closest to Mariejois is Kuraigana Island. How convenient.

3. Chapters

If ODA had put Mihawk in chapter 126, it wouldn't have been that subtle. The whole point is to make it harder to figure out. So despite Mihawk not being present in 126, there are still many parallels to his debut chapters to which we can discover as the following above.

4. Goroawase/Wordplays

The animators most definitely refer to ODA's color schemes to animate the episodes, and if any major changes were to be made, they would have certainly discussed it with him beforehand. So in having Mihawk be IM, ODA would be able to have their canon colored eyes be the same (Red), and for him to foreshadow of IM, he can also use Mihawk's anime eye color through the chapter title 906 (Goroawase). Even if the animators were the ones to change Mihawk's eye color from red to yellow-orange, ODA would still be able to use this as a foreshadow.

5. Other Foreshadows/Indications

a)

b)

c)

d)

Tigers and Lions are part of the same family.

e)

I don't speak for most people but if I were the writer and I intend to show certain indications, I would logically do it subtly. And to be able to do so, I would have it be overshadowed by another focus point. In this case, we can see Zoro running around in the castle to find a way out, and naturally. our MAIN focus as viewers is to only focus our attention towards him running clumsily around instead of the background objects behind him. So what would happen is we would only see Zoro running around without considering to look at the Red Throne and Curtains behind him here.

The red throne and curtains would be liken to that of the Empty Throne at Pangea Castle.

f)

g)

Vivi will most likely be the last of the 10 "men" (members) Luffy is looking for.

h)

i)

The goat is always seen with Sengoku who represents the Buddha devil fruit. During the meeting regarding Crocodile's Replacement, Doflamingo doubted Sengoku's name as "Buddha" for some reason. And just right after this, Mihawk walks in. This in a way, would be ODA's way of saying "The REAL Buddha (that represents the devil (goat)) is HERE..".

This goes back to point 1 (inspirations) regarding Amun-Ra and Im-mihawk.

j)

MAXIM / MAKUSHIMU

MAX(IM) / MAKUSH(IMU)

IM / IMU

Maxim's face is drawn like Buddha's.

The only part of Mihawk's face that is gold/emblem colored is his eyes.

The entire face of Maxim is gold/emblem colored but the eyes are left drawn out.

(If you want to see more flower types, visit here: https://lizzieharper.co.uk/2019/02/flower-shapes-terminology/

Yes, the eyebrows are different. If Oda made every part of the Maxim's face equal to Mihawk's, it would ultimately defeat the purpose of making things subtle. You want to hint at something without being obvious.

Skypiea is basically a tease of what's to come in the future episodes (most commonly, the final arc) in the story. Maxim would then be a good example of the final villain's future revelation. When Mihawk debuted, he was ascribed with "storms" (both chapter title and description) and someone who sail the seas in his coffin boat alone, in parallel to Enel having an electric devil fruit, who is the only one on the ship travelling. And Enel who referred to himself as "God" would be the final likeness to IM (Mihawk) being treated as the supreme God of the world.

And as you have read in the earlier points above (Inspirations), Mihawk/IM can be connected with Amun and Ra (Amun-Ra being the same/Mihawk=IM), and in chapter 49, Mihawk was introduced relating to storms (both the chapter title and in the manga). But there is actually someone else who would be an embodiment of the parallel between Mihawk and Enel.

Zeus is the King of the Olympian Gods of the sky and the thunder, with Mount Olympus being depicted in the clouds = Enel being the Skypiean god and thunder devil fruit user & Skypiea being depictred in the clouds.

Amun-Ra is the Egyptian Supreme King of the Gods, with the Temple of Karnak being the largest religious building in the world = IM being the King of the Gods (Celestial Dragons) and the Pangea Castle being ridiculously huge in the Holy Land of Mariejois. /Mihawk being its visible counterpart.

Zeus (enel) Ammon (IM/mihawk)

k)

Dr. Kureha‘s Alias is "Doctorine".

Buddhism in Japanese Kanji is "仏教."

The Kanji “仏” means "Buddha" and “教” means "Doctrine".

=> Buddha => 仏 => イム => Imu

Ch. 908 Wordplay: 9 (Ku) 0 (re) 8 (ha) => Kureha

In this chapter, Imu sits on the empty throne which paralells Kureha who also sat on drum's empty throne.

In Japanese there is also the word Imu-Shitsu which means medical office which would hint towards Imu as someone who possesses supernatural healing abilities to be able to live for hundreds of years ever since the Void century.

l)

Usopp is well known for telling lies that became true. Apart from the WG lying about the actual person who defeated Crocodile, we know from the above picture panel, that they lied about the Empty Throne being empty when in reality, there truly lies the King of the World who sits on it.

If we're just gonna compare the two manga cover pages of Mihawk and Usopp sitting next to the octopus respectively, we wouldn't be able to get anything except for the similarity, and parallel of the "Big liar story" either mirroring Jinbei or Mihawk. But Jinbei isn't a liar so this leaves us with Mihawk alone. For the big liar story to be that empty throne lie, it would make sense for ODA to have Mihawk be placed in that manga cover page, as this would point to another indication of him being Imsama for the viewers/readers to spot.

Octopus + Jinbei & Mihawk (as Imsama being the representation of the Big Lie that no one sits on the Empty Throne when in reality he's the one sitting on it)

=

Octopus + Usopp with the Big Liar Story (Empty Throne lie)

6. Subtle Implications

What's the point in having a Batman identity if you're gonna carelessly giveaway the obvious? That would utterly defeat the whole purpose of being Batman. What one would expect, is for Bruce to not only hide his face when executing the role of Batman but to also disguise himself under a whole new

personality/aura completely indistinguishable to his public identity as the Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist owner of the Wayne Enterprise, Wayne International. This is ultimately so people (those living in Gotham and the rest of the world in general) wouldn't even grasp the possibility of him being Batman, so they don't get in the way of his work of line.

So similar to the terminology above, (except with this being a villain instead of a hero), it would only be logical to expect the One Piece audiences to not be able to easily see through Mihawk as Imsama. (As Oda had mentioned before, he doesn't write his stories particularly for people like myself but to people in general who are just simply casual readers). This way, when the curtains have been lifted, people would essentially be surprised/shocked about it, naturally. However, if, on the other hand, ODA just introduces a completely new face whom we've never seen before thousand chapters later, the audiences wouldn't give such reactions (or as much) they should.

7. Melody

8. Final

9. Q & A

a) "If Mihawk is Imsama, wouldn't that mean Zoro will have to be the one to defeat the final villain instead of Luffy, the main protagonist?"

A: However the fight will be, it wouldn't change Luffy being the MC. During the final battle(s), Zoro can surpass him, and Luffy (or with Zoro together) would be able to take the final decisive blow(s). Or it could be in the other situation with Zoro taking the first win, and then ODA unexpectingly bringing Mihawk back with some new powers relating to the devil fruits/some ancient powers which at this point Luffy will finally step in & be the one to conclude the final battle.g) "If Mihawk is Imsama, wouldn't that mean Zoro will have to be the one to defeat the final villain instead of Luffy, the main protagonist?"

A: However the fight will be, it wouldn't change Luffy being the MC. During the final battle(s), Zoro can surpass him, and Luffy (or with Zoro together) would be able to take the final decisive blow(s). Or it could be in the other situation with Zoro taking the first win, and then ODA unexpectingly bringing Mihawk back with some new powers relating to the devil fruits/some ancient powers which at this point Luffy will finally step in & be the one to conclude the final battle.

Afterall, we have seen Imsama with the bounties being ripped apart with a saber, which wouldn't be unreasonable to think of IM as a swordsman. So for those who don't think Zoro should fight the final villain, should reconsider through this viewpoint.

b) "If Mihawk is IM, how can he be at two places (Mariejois & Kuraigana Island) at the same time during the Reverie?"

A: When the Gorosei were meeting with IM, one of them did mention that the reverie had JUST BEGUN so it wouldn't be a reach or illogical to imply that Mihawk/IM would have gone back to Kuraigana Island after this specific hidden meeting. So when he's in his castle quoting the SEVEN DAYS reverie meeting (which was still ongoing), it could have been on any of the days within this time period. So it's a common misunderstanding that people mistook Mihawk's speaking of the reverie as the exact same time of the meeting between Gorosei and Im.

c) "It doesn't make sense for Imsama to train Zoro, one of the strawhats who is his enemies"

A: Well it doesn't make sense for Mihawk to train Zoro, either. If you're gonna reject the possibility of Imsama training Zoro because it makes zero sense, then you would have to reject the canon scene of Mihawk training Zoro as well because that too makes absolutely zero sense if we based on Mihawk's character that he finds the idea of his opponent asking him for a training to be hysterically absurd. So a possible reason for him to allow this to happen would be that he sees it as an exception because it fuels interest in his life, to see where his opponent would progress under his guidance. And even despite Zoro being a crewmate to Luffy, a D, training him to be stronger wouldn't threaten his rule of 800 years if he's super confident in his abilities to destroy anyone who wishes to attack his empire, in the same way the Roger Pirates and Rocks Pirates poses such immense threat to his ideals (if he's IM), and yet the WG still stands strong & IM still remains the supreme authority of the world.

d) "Parallels, wordplays, inversions, patterns, inspirations, cover pages, doesn't prove anything or hold any weight to a/the theory"

A: If we look at the past 1000 chapters of One Piece, ODA have used all the styles above to foreshadow or hint at a character/event which would happen in the future. One of the most popular Japanese youtubers, Yuderon, have even created predictions through the same styles which further supports this. And this isn't something new. So its not outside of the realm of possibility for ODA to do any of the styles to relate a future event with the past/current while also making it subtle. The fact that I even managed to dig numerous amount of solid & undeniable parallels, inversions, patterns, inspirations, cover pages, to be able to connect Mihawk and IM together heavily points to ODA doing it intentionally rather than by random chance unconsciously. If it was through some dumb random sheer luck, then the probability of finding all of these instances across a thousand chapters would not even reach the surface.

e) "He joined the World Government as a warlord so that they don't bother him anymore with his battles against swordsmen throughout the world, and he can ultimately lived a peaceful life in his castle. And the WG is chasing after him so if he's IM, he wouldn't allow them to go after him."

A: We know that the WG created the Warlord System in response to the growing power of the Four Emperors after the Great Pirate Era (era after Roger's death), so Mihawk wasn't a warlord prior to Roger's death. And in the Vivre card it was stated that he became famous before the Great Pirate Era even started and that he challenged more and more powerful foes until he had no more worthy challengers. The fact that it wasn't specified exactly how many years before the Great Pirate Era where he rose to fame, would leave room for interpretation. So it would be possible for IM to have fought against countless of swordsmen (or pirates) ever since the void century within the past 800 years, in his public identity, as Mihawk, which eventually earned him the title of WSS. This would ensure that his enemies not only wouldn't be able to beat him politically but physically strength as well, which is a greater feat. And to do this for 800 years, he has to not only continuously seek out battles (of his style) each generation, to maintain his strength which will allow him to grow stronger and/or stay as the strongest, but he has to make sure the world's power is put in balance, and that includes not allowing one faction to become too overpowered. So in creating the Warlord System, he would be able to counter the rising power of Four Emperors, and observe the WG and Pirates actions closer without them knowing him as IM. But why would the WG still chase after him if he is IM after the abolishment of the Warlord System? Mihawk's not dumb so he wouldn't risk the marines figuring out his true identity. Ordering the Gorosei to not have the marines chase after him, would create suspicion. The marines would questioned as to why Mihawk isn't being sent an arrest warrant, and this piece of information could even reach his enemies, the D's/Revolutionary Army. After all, doing this would appear as weak to the enemies. The fact that he seems excited and confident in looking forward to the chase wouldn't be a sign of weakness but rather him playing along with the enemy. So in a nutshell, Mihawk becoming a warlord or being chased by his own force, wouldn't falsify him as IM.

f) "If he was IM, why did he age when he could have used Bonnie's powers to stay the same like the Gorosei?"

A: There's two angles we can look at this from. Either he did not use Bonnie's powers at all or he did. Let's deal with the former, if he didn't used her powers at all, he would aged till he's old and die without having to live for the next 800 years. But the reality is he's still alive today. So we're left with the latter where he would have no choice but to continuously use her powers to de-age however amount of years back. Some people may oppose this and say "well if he wish to stay the strongest, wouldn't he NOT want to de-age himself that would make him less stronger?" That would be the price he has to pay if he wishes to stay alive forever. But is there a way not to?Which brings us next to these two possibilities. Either he chose to let himself aged for the next 20 years because of the hunt for Ope Ope fruit to maintain his youth forever, and thus de-aging himself which decreases his strength especially in the period of time where the world's balance is at risk would be unwise, OR the second possibility being that he was able to found a way through Bonnie's powers by being able to de-age without losing any amount of his strength, thanks to Vegapunk, while also still be searching for the Ope Ope fruit for the real deal, thus he doesn't mind not de-aging. as his powers are still fully intact.

g) "Mihawk allowed Luffy to live therefore he isn't IM. If he was IM, he would have killed them."

A: When we saw Mihawk meeting Luffy at Baratie in the earlier chapters, it wasn't the first time he have heard of him, as he had heard stories about Luffy as a boy in the past from Shanks. So ever since then, he's only heard of Luffy as a kid from Shanks perspective. Thus, when Mihawk actually met Luffy at Baratie, he only has the image of Luffy being a kid at East Village and not someone who is threatening the WG. So as the ruler of the WG, it wouldn't even be necessary/important for Mihawk (IM) to kill or take him out of the equation there at Baratie. And secondly, at Marineford, Mihawk actually has a legitimate reason to attack Luffy because he took on the role of having to ensure the execution of Ace goes well which means attacking those who wish to save him. He knows how close Luffy is to Shanks that is why he apologized beforehand to Shanks before going after Luffy. This particular apology tells us that because of his ties with Shanks, he doesn't intend to ruin it by attacking Luffy despite him already being a threat to the WG. So this attack was an exception due to his role at Marineford. And even still, his attack were constantly blocked by others who wish to protect him which led to the release of Ace, and Ace's death which means his role has been fulfilled thus there being no need to attack or "kill" Luffy. And even more so, as soon as Shanks came, he left, further proving the closely related ties. With him being Imsama, it would be logical for him to allow Shanks to secretly speak with the Gorosei due to this affliation. So these are reasons why he didn't attack Luffy at Baratie or kill him at Marineford. After all, Roger was considered the Pirate King, a D, and someone who knows of One Piece (along with his other crew members), and has more bounty than Luffy at the present time, and yet they didn't kill him right away after he surrendered himself. Rather they allowed him to live, so that they can publicly execute him in front of the world to be witnesses of such event. So the same thing could happen to Luffy (again). And two, if you look at the likes of Shikki, Jinbei, Crocodile, Doflamingo, and even Kaido, they are all being captured ALIVE rather than dead. Even if Luffy is a threat to the WG as do Roger and Rocks Pirates, the marines (or anyone) would have still done the same to Strawhats by capturing them alive since that is the whole point of the bounty posters. So Luffy having a bounty poster basically means, they want him captured ALIVE and not "dead" despite the marines obligational duty to attack him if need.When you uphold ties with the enemy, you're basically wanting something that they can offer at the moment, without doing things that would possibly risk it. So killing Luffy now just risks the ties that he still has with Shanks (through Gorosei). This also means that only when the right circumstances have been met, he doesn't have to hold back anymore to eliminate Luffy without having to observe his ties with Shanks, which would most likely occur during/near the Final War.

h) This theory is "stupid/annoying/weird/lame"

A: There can only be two perspectives towards this. Either they're coming from an emotional/subjective perspective meaning they just personally hate it no matter the arguments of said theory that could be made logical, or the second being from a rational/objective perspective in the sense that regardless whether they like/hate it, they would still find it logically possible to a certain extent small or large.

Either they admit it is WITHIN the realms of possibility of Mihawk being IM or that there's completely none at all whatsoever. If anything, it's always better to be rational/objective rather than emotional/subjective no matter what our biases may be.

Villains will still be villains regardless of whether the audiences like them or not.