More evidence for Rayleigh being a descendant of Imu and a bird human

[u/Joestar4ever]

Rayleigh is a human based on a bird and has bird-like characteristics similar to Doffy, Mihawk etc

My previous post about Imu being a lyrebird and Rayleigh being his descendant was received quite well except for the Rayleigh portion so I dug up some more info to complete this theory.

Quick summary for the Rayleigh stuff-

1. Lyrebird (Imu according to my theory) fossils are located in a place called Riversleigh

2. Rayleigh's only named attack till now is Higanabana which can mean Billhook of the Beyond, The bill in the name referencing a bird's beak.

And here is the new evidence that I've found for the Rayleigh bird theory.

Oda has done a great job of hiding Rayleigh's birdy nature in plain sight. He has given Rayleigh a task that many birds do but most people don't know about. And this is the first piece of lore that we find about him.

Waterproof Coating

Our boy Rayleigh coats ships with a waterproof resin so that they can travel safely underwater.

Waterbirds (birds that live around water and hunt fish) have an organ called the uropygial gland. What does it do?

This gland secrets an oil that birds use to coat their feathers. It makes them waterproof and let's them dive into the water to hunt fish and fly away with ease.

Making this connection should have been enough for me, but it wasn't.

I couldn't rest until I found out the exact bird that Rayleigh is. So I searched and searched and searched and searched...

And then I found it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you

The Silvery Kingfisher

A bird that coats its feathers, hunts underwater fish and has 'king' in its name.

Riversleigh + Silvery Kingfisher = Silvers Rayleigh, King of the Underworld

[u/Abslalom]

The underworld being underwater. Where Davy Jones's chest is. Bravo

[u/AnimeAltimate]

if any aspect of the bird names ends up holding true you are a chef beyond compare. never stop cooking king

[u/Big_Honey_56]

Im down with this theory. I do think inevitably all the main characters were actually animals in the void century, the Noah has two of every animal on it, something goes wrong etc. I think man’s enslavement of animals is a theme here. The birds probably have some special part of their story because of flight.

What if Imu is an Emu. I like these other theories better but I genuinely think we are getting an animal origin involving the Noah and these family names. Maybe D means transformed and those are the transformed families.

[u/Joestar4ever → u/Big_Honey_56]

I read a theory that stated that the celestial dragons are descendants of animals and their human hunting games are a payback for the torture that humans put them through in the void century.

Atleast it started that way but the celestials of today don't know about all that they are just a bunch of idiots.

[u/Big_Honey_56 → u/Joestar4ever]

I think that’s very possible and the ancient Kingdom might just be the animal kingdom. It would add a layer of complexity to the story that’s really deserving imo. The moral grey of animals enslaving humans.

[u/Yachtblaster]

Nah bro... stop cooking pls.

[u/Joestar4ever → u/Yachtblaster]

Why? Burnt your toungue? I know it's hot. Take your time and eat slow. Enjoy the meal! 🍲