We first saw Imu’s interest in Vivi all the way back in the chapter 902, where we see Imu having cut up the bounty posters of both Luffy and Blackbeard, and Shirahoshi’s picture stabbed, while holding Vivi’s picture in their hand.

Back then we had no idea what this meant, and to be completely honest we’re still not a 100% sure of what that meant. But with the newer chapters of One Piece shedding some light and giving us some much needed information of what happened behind the scenes in Reverie, we can slowly start piecing together some pieces of the puzzle to form a fuzzy image of what might be.

In this article, I will explore the reasons for Imu to capture and maybe kill Nefertari “D.” Vivi.

Nefertari’s Claim to the Throne

As explained in detail in a similar article about Cobra and Imu, Imu’s reason for going after Vivi might have to do with how the oath for the Empty Throne took place. With all the rulers except Queen Lily taking the oath, it leaves the Nefertari’s as the only founders with a “legal” claim to the throne.

And just like Cobra she too is the last of the Nefertaris and her death means the throne is fully belong to him (sorta like the throne is the elder wand and Imu is Voldy, and until Harry is alive, the elder wand will always belong to him kinda thing ig).

Maybe Imu is worried that one day, the Nefertari’s will somehow try to usurp the throne from them by assembling the other kingdoms against the World Government, the same way Imu and the other 19 rulers did against the Ancient Kingdom 800 years ago.

Hatred for the D Clan

Now from what we know so far including his interactions with Cobra, we can say that Imu has a deep hatred for the “D’s”, with both Luffy and Blackbeard having their pictures torn by Imu (maybe signifying that Imu is planning to eliminate them).

While Shirahoshi’s case is unsure (maybe Imu knows that she’s Neptune), Vivi’s case might’ve been under consideration on whether on not she was a “D”.

After the events of Chapter 1085, in which King Cobra reveals that Queen Lily’s full name was Nefertari D. Lily, Imu seemingly gets angry and kills him. This means that Vivi is also in fact a member of the D. clan, and for Imu, they are the biggest threat to their rule.

It is only obvious to try to capture and eliminate a D. who is a ruler of one of the Founding Kingdoms and has considerable geopolitical influence. Imu is just being diligent and taking care of all the points of trouble that may explode in their face later on. (But as things go them trying to do this is probably what will come to bite them back later.)

Resemblance to Queen Lily

Another thing to consider is that Vivi might resemble Lily in her looks. This is a very common trope in anime for one, and might be possible in this case too. Their names are already very similar, and now that Cobra is dead, Vivi becomes the new head of Alabasta.

800 years ago the Queen of Alabasta put a stopper on Imu’s plans for complete domination and the same thing seems to be repeating itself now again, with this new Queen also being associated with powerful members of the D. Family and that person in fact being Joy Boy himself.

Now we don’t know if Queen Lily also knew Joy Boy but now we can say for sure all of Imu’s worst nightmares have all lined up and are out to take down the World Government.

While finishing up this section I just realized another huge thing. Instead of just looking like Queen Lily, it might very well be possible that Vivi inherited the will of Lily. This would be perfect with the recurring theme of inherited wills that we find throughout One Piece.

Tinfoil Area

Now I’m not sure how exactly this would go but maybe this whole thing has something to do with the common trope, where the blood of all the Founders is required to activate some powerful sealed object or for someone to take control of the throne or something like that.

Assuming that the Ancient Kingdom left behind something (like the Iron Giant), and the 20 Founders had it sealed away somewhere deep inside Mariejois to be a safeguard for when such dark times arise, it would make sense for it to require the blood of all the 20 Founders to unlock the seal. (I’m thinking something like the Shroud from Assassin’s Creed Syndicate).

Maybe Imu’s plan ends with them getting access to whatever is inside that vault and gaining some sort of grand power maybe temporarily so that they can take care of whatever crisis has befallen the Celestial Dragons.

Another point to note here is that a the two Sovereigns referred to by the Neptunians in Chapter 968. Could be Vivi and Shirahoshi. While there is a different interpretation which says that the other sovereign could be Momonosuke or Luffy, we can’t fully rule out Vivi from the list.

In the end all of these could be massive red herrings thrown around by Oda just to sucker punch us with another Kuma like backstory, but hey its just a theory!! A One Piece Theory!!