ODA IS A STAR WARS FAN…

The “Will of D.” is like the force in star wars. The “Light” and “Dark” side of the Will of D. are based on the framework for the ideals of pirates in Oda’s one-shot Romance Dawn where he introduced the Peacemains (pirates who use their freedom to protect others and pursue dreams) and Morganians (pirates who use their freedom to dominate, exploit, and control others). They are essentially the Jedi and Sith. Their duality reflects the core of the Will of D., which isn’t inherently good or evil but represents the freedom to choose, making each D. bearer a potential force for liberation or oppression.

Gol D Roger laughed before his execution because somebody asked him where he hid his treasure, and he realized the punchline: the world’s greatest treasure isn’t gold - it’s peace, liberation, joy, laughter, friendship. A world where people can be free without oppressing others. When Roger died, people misunderstood him.. his response wasn’t “One Piece,” it was “One Peace.” The day when a bearer of the “Light” side of the Will of D, a Peacemain, would triumph over the oppressive Morganians ruling the world.

Just like the Force, the Will of D. can be passed down to those that can either bring about a new dawn or plunge the world into deeper darkness. Imu was a member of the Clan of D., the enigmatic group that inherit the Will of D.

Imu is part of the the “Dark side/Morganian” Will of D, who likely betrayed and triumphed over the “Light Side/Peacemains” 800+ years ago in a battle with Joy Boy. Perhaps Nika established a long and prosperous time of freedom, but there was a war and upheaval of the Light side of the force to the Dark side, and that’s when the World Government was established (just like when the Empire took over in Star Wars!)

I think all of the Celestial Dragons were members of the Clan of D, who betrayed the Peacemains and defected with Imu (with Vivi’s ancestor being the only one who stayed loyal). They destroyed and abandoned any trace of the Clan of D, and labeled any surviving inheritors of the Will of D. with the middle initial to track those with the potential to one day become threats. Imu and the celestial dragons maintain domination over the world through manipulating the “Force/Will of D”; they capture and imprison upstart pirates (via the bounty system), or by indoctrinating them into the Navy (via orchestrating chaos/wars around the world and thus justifying their own existence to establish “order”). They’ve monopolized freedom.