One Piece's The Elbaf Arc has finally entered its climax with the battle between Imu and the duo of Luffy and Loki on the horizon. One piece Chapter 1178 will see this clash finally begin and it will be a truly chaotic battle of high stakes. The vast majority of One piece fans expect Luffy to win this battle, and that's fair considering he's the main character. However, this battle could have brought a dark fate for Luffy, worse than any fan could have expected. For the very first time, Luffy could be on the receiving end of a massive loss, and worse, he could even become a weapon for Imu to wield in the Holy Land, making him the deadliest battle for the Straw Hat Pirates.
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Why Elbaf's final battle causes trouble for the straw hat captain
When it comes to the final battle of the Elbaf Arc, most fans expect Luffy and Loki to team up against Imo and defeat them in direct combat. However, it was clear that Imu was not fighting himself. Instead, Imu prefers to use the people around her to do the dirty work for them. As such, there is no reason for Imu to face off against Luffy and Loki alone.
The primary strategy here will likely be to turn one of them into a puppet to be used against the other. As was clearly seen in the story, Nika and Nidhogg have faced off against each other in the past, so it's possible that one of them will become Imu's puppet. The vast majority of fans expect it to be Loki, but another possibility that few have considered is that Luffy will be overpowered by Ima and completely pushed away, which would serve the plot in many ways.
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How can Luffy be overpowered by Imu
Loki could be Domi Reversed by Imu, just like Rocks. By impaling Imu with threadlike appendages, she is able to turn him into a puppet and force the arrival of Nika as the god of liberation to Elbaf. But the important thing to consider is that Elbaf has long dismissed Loki as a destroyer and instigator of chaos. If Imu turned Loki into one of their puppets, then obviously he wouldn't get a chance to save the earth. Instead, it would be Nika who saves the earth and defeats Loki in the process. Loki's own character wouldn't pay off because people wouldn't be saved by him at all.
For Loki's character arc to pay off properly, he needs to be the protector of the land, especially against forces like Imu. The likely result is that the Domi Reversi will be completely ostracized in Elbaf and Imu will simply overpower them in battle, as it would be shown that they are not yet ready to face this threat. So far in the story, Luffy has completely destroyed every threat he has come up against in the Final Saga. Imu defeating him and giving him reality control would certainly serve to raise the stakes even more.
Assessing Loki's true role in defending his country
Loki's true role in the Elbaf arc is to rise up as the protector of the land and change the perception the people of Elbaf had of him. Once upon a time, Loki was blamed for every disaster that befell Elbaf. Now, in their hour of greatest need, Loki will save them.
I am the Sun God who will destroy the whole world! — Loki
If Imu were to turn him into a pawn to destroy Elbaf, then every fear they had for Loki would be proven right, which is exactly why it can't go that way. Loki must rise as the protector and savior of Elbaf and earn the love and respect of all those around him.
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An Analysis of Sun God Nik's Role in Arc's Climax
As for Sun God Nika, it's inevitable that he'll crush Ima by the end of the story, but in the early Elbaf clash, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Nika lose. If Imu defeated Luffy here, then it would provide the perfect opportunity for not only Loki, but the Straw Hat Pirates to shine in battle and help Elbaf when even Luffy couldn't.
This would dramatically raise the stakes of the arc and completely flip the script, sidelining Luffy and making Loki, Giants, and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates more important than ever. This would also give Luffy a reality check and force him to become even stronger as he will then face Imu again when the Great War truly begins. Anyway, Luffy's fate in Elbaf looks dark, but it only makes him stronger and raises the overall quality of the story even more.
One Piece Chapter 1178 will be available to read on Manga Plus on March 29, 2026.
One 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 Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imayomura, Yashiôhiro Mayuū Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
- Writers
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Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, 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)
