a piece The Elbaf arc has proven to be quite unpredictable, with some of the most exciting developments occurring in the last few chapters. With Saint Emu Nerona deciding to venture into Warland himself, it was only a matter of time before some of the biggest mysteries surrounding this man were finally revealed to fans. Now, for the first time, Oda has confirmed the emu's true gender, and it turns out to be a male.
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Why was the World Sovereign's gender hidden by Oda
Founding 20's Saint Emu Nerona debuted in One Piece 8 years ago during the Reverie arc. When the empty throne was first revealed, it was immediately followed by a man sitting on top of it, proclaiming himself king of the world. At this point, it became clear that Emu would become the ultimate villain of the story a piece.
To the surprise of readers, Oda hid Emu's true form and covered the entire character in silhouette, and this was done on purpose. Oda's main reason for taking this approach was to hide the emu for the time being. At that time, One Piece hadn't even started the Wano Country Arc, and needed to deal with bigger threats like Kaido and Big Mom. Not to overshadow those threats and to set the stage for the final saga, Oda decides to hide Emu's presence. Now that a war against the World Government is on the horizon, it's the perfect time for Oda to unveil Saint Emu Nerona's true form, and so he does just that in the Elbaf Arc. As is clear in the chapter, Emu has now made landfall in Warland and exposed his true form for all to see.
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How the Elbaf Arc Confirmed the Emu as Human
The Elbaf Arc of One Piece has been focusing heavily on the character of Saint Emu Nerona, one of the 20 rulers and founders of the World Government, and the most recent chapter took the character to another level by bringing the character to Elbaf to fight against Nika and the Nidhog. After the introduction of the emu, it became clear that this person was a person. Imu sports white hair and tanned skin. On top of that, the emu also has black wings and a pointed tail, as well as the ability to awaken.
Five Elders, Mu will leave the Holy Land for a short time. – Saint Emu Nerona, a fragment chapter 1178
Looking at the character design, it is clear that Emu is male. However, the design looks very feminine, which has caused a lot of confusion. Now, it's clear that Emu is not just a ladies' man, but actually a male character. This is further supported by the way the five elders refer to emu in Japanese. Celestial dragons have their own honorifics: celestial dragon males are known as “-sei”, while females are known as “-gu”. The Five Elders and the Holy Knights clearly refer to Emu as “Emu-sei”, putting the character's gender beyond any doubt. Emu is maleAnd this is now officially confirmed in the story.
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Analyzing the emu's connections to the world's major races
Imu being male is a huge revelation in itself, but there's more to the character design than that. The emu is probably connected with the major races a piece world in one or the other. For one, emu has skin and white hair. This is one of the main defining traits of the Lunar race and suggests that the Emu may be in some way or other connected to them.
At the same time, the emu also sports horns, a sign of an ancient giant bloodline. It is not clear if the emu's horns originate from devil fruit transformation or if they are natural. If they are all natural, then the emu may also be connected to the ancient giant race and bear some past connection to the land of Elbaf, which they are currently trying to occupy. This makes it very poetic for the emu to return to this country, in this case, it will be their home. Emu's presence in Elbaf definitely elevates the story and makes it more exciting than ever. The next few weeks will shed more light on this character, and fans can't wait for it.
One Piece Chapter 1179 is available to read on Manga Plus since April 5, 2026.
a piece
- Release date
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October 20, 1999
- network
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Fuji TV
- directors
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Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Ito, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Noimauji, Tokahiro, Enoji Maudo Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
- The authors
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Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Usaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey d. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
