One Piece Finally Debuts The One True Heir To Dragon Ball's Cell, And They're Even More Terrifying

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR ONE PIECE MANGA CHAPTER #1180Dragon Ball introduced the world to several iconic villains, but One Piece's secret big bad takes surprising inspiration from one DBZ antagonist that even Akira Toriyama hated. A lot of the world's most popular anime have armies of passionate fans, and some of those people view one another more as fierce rivals than as comrades who all share a love for the medium, which is often a friendly bond that the authors of such series share with one another.

It's no secret that One Piece author Eiichiro Oda was a huge fan of Dragon Ball. He and Masashi Kishimoto (creator of Naruto) have often spoken about how Toriyama's work inspired their own. However, it seems that Oda has chosen not to follow his hero's advice with the design of one of his ultimate villains, the secret ruler of One Piece's World Government, Nerona Imu.

With Dragon Ball being one of the world's most famous stories, anytime creator Akira Toriyama provided insight into its creation, it often revealed fascinating behind-the-scenes revelations that changed how people viewed the iconic series. One such fact is how Toriyama regarded Dragon Ball's design of Cell as a failure, largely because the character was extremely difficult for both manga and anime illustrators to bring to life.

One Piece's Imu Takes After Cell's Complex Design

The ultimate villain of Dragon Ball's Android Saga, the biomechanical organism known as Cell, contributed several challenges for both the story's heroes and creators. While his techniques and personality were a brutal combination of Dragon Ball Z's strongest fighters, his strange, humanoid bug-like character design brought its own set of difficulties. Mainly due to the pattern of black spots that covered Cell's body, spots that Toriyama deeply regretted adding.

Years after its publication was complete, Akira Toriyama gave an interview where he referred to Cell's design as a failure. He didn't dislike the character's part in the story as much as he regretted having to draw Cell's black spots. Having to keep track of the spot's continuity while drawing, and the tediousness of adding the spots, likely caused several hand cramps, headaches, and a lot more time to complete. Now, Eiichiro Oda has decided to include a similar feature with the design of one of One Piece's final villains.

It wasn't until One Piece chapter #1179 that Nerona Imu's full demonic design was completely revealed. The secret ruler of the World Government wasn't actually teased until late into One Piece's epic narrative. But between his debut in chapter #906 and their recent unveiling, Imu was drawn as a silhouette with very little detail. And now, fans have finally gotten a good look at the mysterious villain's true body, including the meticulous spots covering his body. King of the World Nerona Imu looks like the type of villain Eiichiro Oda has been saving for his tale's final arcs.

Imu's Design Feels More Like A Final Boss Than Cell Did

Unlike most Dragon Ball antagonists, One Piece's foes have often been teased and built up over the course of several arcs, so that when Luffy and his crew do finally confront them, there is loads of established narrative stress. The years of mounting tension, world-building, and mysteries have finally paid off with the unveiling of Imu's otherworldly figure, a design that feels Eiichiro Oda is no longer holding back.

One Piece is filled with odd creatures, human-animal hybrids, and humanoids of all types of statures. Still, Eiichiro Oda managed to create a villain that looks completely different than any character from the franchise's colossal cast. The huge black wings, the pronounced horns, piercing eyes, and supernatural aura ooze intimidation, but it's Imu's strange circles covering his body that will likely become the most annoying to draw for Oda, his staff, and the anime's animators in the years to come. Once One Piece ends, Oda will likely share the same regret that Toriyama shared about his iconic Dragon Ball villain's design.