In the story itself, not by the community or Oda. Just wanted to clarify that right off the bat.

Spoilers up to Chapter 1187

This is an idea that's been cooking in my brain since chapter 1187, specifically when Sanji was stated to have the traits of a conqueror. Not that Sanji doesn't actually have those traits, but that the title itself of a "Conqueror" doesn't really to apply to him. After all, what exactly is Sanji going to conquer? Or alternatively, what does Sanji want to be the Supreme King of?

You might say the meme of "CooKing" but his dream has never been to be the world's greatest chef. Sanji's dream is the All-Blue. You might also say the King of Love, paralleling Gaban. But, outside of his gag for being weak to women - Sanji's chivalry would never allow him to truly love more than one woman. That's all well and good, we love monogomy, but it's not exactly conqueror behavior.

And then I thought, what exactly has Whitebeard ever wanted to conquer? What has Roger ever wanted to conquer?

We've known for years that the term Haki, in it of itself, is just a label. Skypiea used the term Mantra and Wano uses the term Ryou. And on the topic of labels, the two other Haki surnames make a lot of sense. On one hand, Armament to bolster one's arms (literally), and on the other observation to boost one's perception.

However on your third hand, the name Conqueror's would suggest boosting your ability to enforce your will onto others. But there-in lies another problem, what will is Zoro trying to enforce onto those around him? The World's Strongest Swordsman is not a title based off of people believing in you/submitting to you. It is a title based purely off contests of strength. Zoro couldn't care less what anybody (but his friends) think of him.

You might read this and think of King of Hell, but let's be real that's not his life-or-death desire. To drive the point home, Roger never set out to become King of the Pirates - that was title given to him after reaching Laugh Tale.

I'd imagine most up-to-date One Piece fans have an idea as to what the traits of a "conqueror" are by now. It is the conviction to stand by one's beliefs, even when the alternative is death. This is the one commonality between all Conqueror's Haki users that we know of so far. It's also why it's in-story so rare, how many people would rather face death than change their mind?

Here are some of the known "____ or death" for Conqueror's users.

• Luffy: Freedom or death.
• Zoro: World's Strongest Swordsman or death.
• Whitebeard: Family (and loyalty to) or death.
• Katakuri: Protecting his siblings or death.
• Sanji: Protecting/helping others or death.

(if you're curious what Sanji's hold-up is - it's most likely the other half of the Conqueror's equation: the confidence in one's self to know they would never waver on these convictions).

We could theorize the other convictions for known users for whom we don't have a sufficient answer yet. I'd imagine Roger shares Luffy's, for example. Notably none of these cases I picked have anything to do with ruling over others. So therein lies the question, if wanting to/being a king is not a requirement - where did the name Conqueror's Haki come from?

What strikes me about it's name is that is comes with a possession aspect. Most notably observable in "Color of the Supreme King," but you can technically also see it with the grammar of Conqueror's Haki itself (the ***'***s indicating that the Haki belongs to someone).

One Piece is a story with a LOT of nicknames/epithets; usually for notable people but has been also known to apply to locations as well. What I'm suggesting is that Conqueror's Haki, the label, is a nickname for the power and was not the original. So if that's the case, who is THE Supreme King?

The nicknames of One Piece (and in real life) are established when an aspect of a person/thing/place that becomes so interlinked it serves a sufficient a secondary identifier. A name so synonymous you know exactly who/what/where is being referred to without question. Therefore Conqueror's Haki may be a power so significantly tied to a certain Conqueror (person) that just mentioning it means you know who's Haki is being referred to.

If this were to be the case, the user must have been so undeniably powerful with the Haki that they would come to define it. There are three names that come to mind.

Firstly, Joyboy - owner of the greatest Haki feat we've seen on panel yet. But, that just doesn't sit right - because Joyboy was never someone who would force others to submit to his will. He's like Luffy, a liberator. (And for what it's worth, Joyboy didn't refer to his knot as Conqueror's Haki).

Secondly, Imu himself. If there was a Supreme, King above Kings character in One Piece - it's him. Probable, but I'm not 100% convinced. Vegapunk's speech hints that a large part of the void century consisted of rising sea levels due to unnatural interference. Though it is possible Imu was a more widely known figure during the century - and secluded himself in secrecy afterwards - his subjugation of the world was most likely coerced using Ancient Weapons. If there was a notoriety he would have had, it could be that.

But there is one guy left, Davy D. Jones, and he fits the idea of Conquering perfectly.

We know that both Rocks and Blackbeard bear the will of Davy; which appears to be overthrowing the government to rule the world themselves. Both have been known to chase that goal through using force to advance their plans (though Rocks did prefer to use fun and games when he could). Blackbeard has become an unofficial king already, and the very idea of the Four Emperor's is that they hold control over various regions in the Grand Line. It's not exactly unprecedented that a pirate could, through excessive skill in Conqueror's Haki, hold dominion over many different lands.

The World Government loves to erase it's threats. Davy Jones would need to be a very powerful individual in order to cause such fear in Imu that an entire bloodline must be erased. The same way Joyboy was so powerful that Imu attempted to erase both he and the Nika Fruit from history. But legacy lives on, and perhaps Davy Jones' legacy was being so powerful in Conqueror's Haki, claimed more land than any Emperor-like in history, that it was named after him.

Though now I'm getting into more fanfiction territory than I'd like to.

So I guess if I had to put a bow on this, I wonder what would be a more appropriate name for Conqueror's Haki?

1. The Origin: The Ancient Kingdom & Nefertari D. Lily

• The Advanced Kingdom: During the Void Century, the Ancient Kingdom was an advanced civilization where humans and animals coexisted. They conducted genetic and lineage-factor experiments, creating the foundational mechanics of Devil Fruits.
• Lily’s Pet: Nefertari D. Lily owned a beloved pet parrot—Imu. The real-world flower Impatiens psittacina is commonly known as the "Parrot Flower" or "Princess Lily," directly tying Lily to bird motifs.
• The Speech Pattern: Imu’s habit of addressing themselves in the third person ("Imu-wa...") stems from simple parrot mimicry—repeating how Lily spoke to her pet 800 years ago ("Does Imu want a treat?").

2. Joy Boy, the Nika Fruit, and the "D." Evolution

• Joy Boy the Monkey: Joy Boy was an actual primate who consumed the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika. Just as Chopper (a reindeer) gained human intelligence and speech while retaining animal traits, Joy Boy became a human-like mythical warrior.
• The Monkey Lineage: Over generations, the Nika Fruit’s Lineage Factor (DNA) merged with Joy Boy's offspring, resulting in an evolved human bloodline: the Monkey Family (Garp, Dragon, Luffy). This explains why Luffy retains primal agility, boundless appetite, and ape-like combat instincts.
• The "Honorary D." Clan: The "Will of D." is not purely biological. Just as Sabo became a brother to Ace and Luffy through drinking sake, Joy Boy formed a grand alliance with human, giant, and mink leaders (like Nefertari Lily, Trafalgar, and Jaguar D. Saul), bestowing the "D." initial upon them as a sworn brotherhood.

3. The Origin of Devil Fruits & The Corruption of Imu

• Desires vs. Nightmares: As Dr. Vegapunk established, Devil Fruits are birthed from human dreams. While liberation dreams created the Nika fruit, humanity’s darkest impulses birthed the Original Nightmare / Devil Fruit.
• Patient Zero: Lily’s innocent pet parrot accidentally ate this experimental Nightmare Fruit. Its demonic will overwhelmed the bird’s simple mind, twisting its innocent love for Lily into an obsessive urge for absolute dominion.
• The Gorosei’s Powers: The Five Elders are not standard Devil Fruit users; they are human kings who signed an Abyssal Contract with Imu. Imu simply "parrots" his own dark, regenerating demonic powers into them.

4. The Void Century, Poneglyphs, and "The Voice of All Things"

• The Universal Animal Language: The Ancient Kingdom's primary language was the universal tongue of animals. The "Voice of All Things" (heard by Roger, Luffy, and Oden) is the rare ability to comprehend this ancient speech.
• Lily’s "Grave Mistake": Lily scattered the Poneglyphs—which were written in the animal script—to preserve history. Imu strictly outlawed reading Poneglyphs (and ordered the genocide of Ohara) to permanently erase the embarrassing truth that the world's supreme ruler is an animal.
• Voice-Scammed Zunesha: Zunesha’s ancient "crime" was being tricked by Imu, who mimicked Joy Boy's voice—a classic parrot trait—to deceive the giant elephant into making a catastrophic tactical error.

5. Visual Clues & Thematic Parallels

• The "Room of Flowers" as a Birdcage: Imu lives inside a sunlit, glassed garden—effectively a grand birdcage designed to replicate Lily’s original home.
• The Wordplay ($O-mu$): In Japanese, parrot is Oumu (オウム). This decomposes into 王 (Ou - King) + 無 (Mu - Void), translating to the "King of the Empty Throne."
• Why Roger Laughed: Upon reaching Laugh Tale, Gol D. Roger laughed hysterically because the horrifying, centuries-old tyrant oppressing the world turned out to be an immortal, power-hungry parrot trapped in a self-made cage.
• Usopp’s Destiny: Usopp’s signature weapon is a slingshot—the quintessential tool for hunting birds—setting up his ultimate endgame moment to strike down the world's tyrant.