Note: If you want to post this elsewhere, feel free to do so, but please credit this either to Ubiq, that's a Q people, or to Michael Stakely, whichever, and note that it comes from the Arlong Park message board. Also, if so, please include the various updates to insure that people are given their proper credit for their suggestions.
Please be sure to remember it.
I notice that we often have newcomers asking the same questions, so I thought I'd write a guide for them to be updated as time goes by. Keep in mind there are going to be a few details here and there that I'll forget or simply get wrong. Beyond that, One Piece is an on-going series that is continually evolving; sometimes, we only get half the story, sometimes we don't get any of it, and there are occasions when Oda changes something previously established. On top of that, I haven't read some of these chapters in months or even close to a year in some cases, so my recollection may be a bit fuzzy at times. Some things are place markers for things that I'll eventually go back and add after checking elsewhere, but feel free to point out what I don't have listed. Again, this is largely stuff that I can do off of the top of my head and I'll be working on this for a long time to come, so I'm not done yet.
This strictly deals with the manga, though some of it will also apply to the anime when the two coincide. My canon policy is as follows: If it happens in the manga, it's canon. Things that contradict the manga are disregarded in this guide, so Zeff ate his own foot among other things.
Also, some names vary depending upon translator, so I'm just going to use the ones that I personally prefer unless there's a definitive version provided in the manga. For the most part, Viz's version will be preferred because of its status as the Official Translation unless their translation obviously conflicts with Oda's intentions. As a final note on that topic, there are a few names here and there provided in English once in the manga; if there's a reasonable argument that Oda really intended for it to be something else than what he wrote, I'm going with the other interpretation. Typos exist after all.
Sections
I. Geography
II. Organizations
III. Dramatis Personae
IV. Oddities
V. Story Arcs
VI. References
VII. Viz's Changes
Current Version: 2.3
! First update: Went back and added Boodle's Town, Chopper to Drum, Hiruluk's cave, Kureha's old home, Raftel, Pirate Island, expanded discussion of the Grand Line and seasonal islands, and added section about navigating the Grand Line.
! Second Update: Added Fishman Island to Places Not Yet See per mumbo230's suggestion, corrected Rainbase description as pointed out by Rama.
! Third Update: Added Villa at KatanaJon's suggestion, included reference to graveyard prompted by Vilia, and an entire new section: Organizations.
! Fourth Update: Corrected typo pointed out by Anime Master [Boodle to Boodle's], adjusted Enies Lobby description at Ivota's suggestion, added Mihawk to Dramatis Personae and Davy Back Fight to Oddities per LoudMouse's request.
! Fifth Update: Added Erbaf as pointed out by Jubin, added a little more to the Groggy Ring Description to round it out a bit, put in descriptions of islands near Water 7 that have not been shown, added Aqua Laguna placeholder to oddities, and added another Dramatis Personae placeholder for future use.
! Sixth Update: Went back and changed Mr. 2 to official spelling in Baroque Works entry. Added backstory for Usopp vs Luffy to story section per Joekido's request, will add actual duel next time. Added story section placeholders. D3adpool's suggestion was one that I had already done, it's in the last article of the Grand Line section under the Geography section. As suggested by igalsfy, I added the word "probable" to the Raftel description. Added naming note to Dramatis Personae and disclaimer at top of the page.
! Seventh Update: Sgamer82 had a post that listed Viz's renditions of the various ranks of the Navy, so those sections have been adjusted accordingly. Corrected Drum in Geography after Malintex Terex's notice. I also added Mr. 6 and Ms. Mother's Day along with Mr. 11 to Baroque Works under Organization after zianchu pointed them out. Added Robin to Whiskey Peak, which I've been meaning to do for a while now, and Sanji to Baratie. Luffy and Usopp will have to wait until next time I'm afraid. Slightly altered note about definitive versions up above.
! Eighth Update: Just a quick addition at the bottom prompted by a discussion elsewhere.
! Ninth Update: LoudMouse asked about the Devil Fruit, so I added that section to the Oddities. Corrected typos corrected by StrangeOne; added reference to Usopp's age in the Usopp vs Luffy section, which I've added more to, specifically, the causes behind the duel. Went in and added Mr. 12 to the Baroque Works section and Ms. Saturday to the list of potential female agents. Added another note to the bottom of the Baroque Works section about the current status of the agents. Added a canonicity note up above the note about preferred translations.
! Tenth Update: Fleshed out the Buster Call entry in the Organizations section as there has been a lot of discussion concerning it lately. Corrected a few grammatical errors and fleshed out a few other things; mainly notes about the Judiciary and the Cipher Pols under the Organizations section. Next time, I intend to add Galley-La to the Organizations section as well as a few entries to Dramatis Personae.
! Eleventh Update: Keroro had an excellent question about the nature of Zoan types, so I tried to answer that in the Devil Fruit entries of the Oddities Section. Galley-La and what-not will come next time.
! Twelfth Update: Corrected a few spelling and grammatical errors, tweaked a few locations in the Geography section, added a bit more to the Buster Call, a bit more to Cipher Pol, and added to the Baroque Works section to bring it up to date.
! Thirteenth Update: Almost everything that I did last time, I did again, but I added a bit more to the Devil Fruit sections and added Galley-La to the Organizations section.
! Fourteenth Update: Changed a few things in the Devil Fruit section and added a couple more locations.
! Fifteenth Update: Added the Awa Awa Fruit, tweaked a few things here and there. Added quite a few locations.
! Sixteenth Update: Few more locations, especially in Alubarna; I added a few notes here and there.
! Seventeenth Update: Added the Yomi Yomi Fruit, the Yami Yami Fruit, and a note about how it doesn't work like other Logias. I also corrected a few things here and there that I missed earlier.
! Eighteenth Update: A whole bunch of additions to locations, Devil Fruit, Shichibukai, and a bunch of tweaks here and there. As suggested previously, I'm adding spoiler sections not to hide information, but to condense it so it's easier to look through this.
Ninteenth Update: Much like the last; locations, Devil Fruit, Shichibukai, and sundry other things.
Those wary of spoilers should turn back now.
Part I. Geography
1. So, tell me about the setting of One Piece.
One Piece is set in a world with four major geographic features, these are:
A. The Blues
B. The Red Line
C. The Grand Line
D. The Calm Belts
! A. What are the Blues?
! Well, there are two oceans in the world, which are divided into smaller seas; these are called Blues.There are four of them known to exist for certain with the likely possibility of a fifth. These are:
! 1. East Blue
2. North Blue
3. South Blue
4. West Blue
5. All Blue
! A1. How are they laid out?
! Well, if you cut the world into two halves (or hemispheres), North and South, then the Northern Hemisphere would be North Blue and East Blue while the Southern Hemisphere would be South Blue and West Blue. In other words, North and East Blue are next to each other while the same applies for South and West Blue.
! Now, if you divide into Eastern and Western Hemispheres, the Eastern Hemisphere would be East Blue and South Blue while the Western will be West and North Blue. So East Blue is above South Blue while North Blue is above West Blue.
! All Blue's location is currently unknown.
! A2a. What can you tell me about East Blue?
! This is the home territory of our main character Monkey D. Luffy as well as Usopp. Luffy first encounters Roronoa Zoro and Nami there, though it is never specifically stated as to whether or not they're from there. It can be assumed that Zoro is as he has never said otherwise. Luffy also meets Sanji there.
! The following towns can be found in East Blue (in order of first appearance).
1. Luffy's hometown of Fuusha Village, which means Windmill Village.
1a. Party's Bar, which is ran by Makino and is where Shanks is first introduced in the past.
1b. Gyoru's Ou Fishstand
2. Shell Town, where Luffy meets Zoro.
2a. Food Foo, an eatery
2b. Ririka's Bar
2c. Morgan's fortress (at least four floors)
2c1. Outer Wall
2c2. Courtyard
2c3. Morgan's office
2c4. Roof and Monument Platform
2c5. Helmeppo's room
3. Orange Town, where Luffy and Zoro meet Nami and Buggy.
3a. Port
3b. Abandoned home where Nami and Luffy talk.
3c. Hocker's Pet Store
3d. Main Street
3d1. The Drinker Pub, Buggy's base of operations while in town.
3d1a. Roof
3d2. Boodles's House
3d3. Fountain
4. Syrup Village, which is Usopp's hometown.
4a. Meshi Inn
4b. Kaya's Mansion
4b1. Outer wall
4b2. Kaya's room
4b3. Klahadore's room
4c. Usopp's House
4d. Outskirts of town
4d1. Fence where everyone meets Django
4d2. Southern cliffs and pass
4d3. Northern cliffs and pass
4e. Various village homes
4e1-4e2. Unknown
4e3. Mornin's House
4e4-4e5. Unknown
4e6. Piiman's House
4e7. Ninjin's House
4e8. Tamanegi's House
5. Baratie, The-Restaurant-At-Sea, where Luffy and company meet Sanji.
5a. Dining room, first floor
5b. Chef Zeff's bedroom, third floor
5c. Bathroom
5d. Kitchen
5e. Sabagashira #1
5f. Fin battle platform
6. Conomi Islands, which are located to the north of Baratie and west of Syrup Village.
6a. Goza Village, a neighbor to Cocoyashi, which was recently destroyed by the Arlong Pirate Crew for the act of rebellion.
6a1. Pier
6b. Cocoyashi Village, which is Nami's adopted hometown.
6b1. Bellemere's House
6b1a. Orange grove
6b2. Gen's Office
6b3. Town square
6b4. House that Usopp sniped from
6b5. Bellemere's Grave
6c. Arlong Park, base of the Arlong Pirate Gang.
6c1. East Entrance
6c2. Lagoon
6c3. Patio
gc4. Arlong's room
6c5. Nami's room
7. Logue Town, which is the first location seen in the series and is both the the birthplace of Gold Roger as well as the site where he was executed.
7a. Ippon-Matsu's Arm Shop, where Zoro buys Yubashiri and Kitetsu
7b. Hanger's clothing store - Robecca something… fashions?
7c. Sapi's fishstand - The Fisherman something something.
7b. Marketstand where Usopp buys some eggs
7f. Execution stage
7e. Naval building
7e1. Smoker's office
8. Tequila Wolf, The Bridgetop Country
a. Supervisor's Office
! A2b. Any other locations in East Blue?
! Alvida has a base of operations on an island located to the southwest of Fuusha Village. There is a small island that is filled with weird animal species that are watched over by Gaimon. The Naval Base commanded by Nezumi is located somewhere near Cocoyashi Village. The popular destination of Mirrorball Island, which is visited during Django's cover story, is also located in East Blue; when I get better quality versions of the cover story, I'll probably add it to the list. Koshiro's Dojo is presumably located somewhere in East Blue as Zoro was first encountered in East Blue, but with his sense of direction, who can say?
! All locations will be described in greater detail in the Story Arc section.
! A2c. Any final notes about East Blue?
! According to Mihawk, the pirates who inhabit East Blue are weaker than those coming from the other three. The average bounty for the region was said to be roughly three million berries by Lieutenant Commander Brandnew. Considering that we know of at least six pirates with bounties well in excess of that, that would imply that there are a lot of pirates in East Blue with very low bounties.
! A3. What about North Blue?
! North Blue is where Sanji is originally from as well as the various members of the Bellamy Pirate crew. It is also the origin point of the Legend of Norland.
! The Kingdom of Lyneel is or was located in North Blue. Villa is presumably also in North Blue as it was also referenced in the Legend of Norland. Villa was then described as a peaceful kingdom, but is undergoing a violent revolution in modern times.
! A4. Anything about South Blue?
! It is the location of Karate Island, which is where Jerry is from. The Briss Kingdom was located there a few hundred years ago. The Torino Kingdom or "Isle of Treasure" is also there and is dominated by a large tree similar to Ohara. Not much else has been said about it.
! A5. West Blue?
! Not much of anything had been said about West Blue. Lafitte, Nico Robin, Daz Bones, and Shanks are all from there. Ohara is there as well, but is now uninhabited. Still, we have a few locations in West Blue to discuss.
! 1. Ohara
1a. A clearing outside town where Robin goes to read.
1b. Aunt Roji's house
1c. The Tree of Knowledge
1c1. Ohara Library
1c2. Archaeology Laboratory
1c3. Poneglyph Room
1d. A beach where Robin finds Sauro
1e. A beach where Olvia comes ashore
1f. A beach where CP9 comes ashore
1g. The town square
1h. A beach where Sauro engages the Navy
2. Shank's home town, which is apparently very cold and has an excellent brewery.
! That's pretty much it.
! A6. So I guess there's not that much known about All Blue either?
! Well, it's not even certain that All Blue exists, though it's probable as finding it is Sanji's dream. All Blue is the legendary site where fish from all four Blues are gathered together in a single place. So it's essentially a spot where all four Blues are joined together.
B. What is the Red Line?
The Red Line is the largest continent in the world. It's basically ring-shaped and runs north to south completely around the world dividing the world into two halves, the Eastern and Western hemisphere. It's not very wide, but much it is very mountainous so it can be hard to cross.
! B1. What locations are on the Red Line?
! Well, the original manga stated early on that there were two towns located on the Red Line that the Grand Line runs through. Viz changed that to one town after it was shown that one of the intersecting points did not have a city located there. It's possible that Oda simply forgot or changed his mind about having one at the first spot. At a guess, Roguetown was originally supposed to be located where Reverse Mountain is now as that would make the city be the birthplace of both the Pirate King and the Grand Line.
! B2. So what is that city that's still there?
! It's Mariejoa, which is the capital of the World Government; though whether that's the name of the country as well as the city hasn't really been clarified yet.
! B4. What other locations have we been shown on the Red Line?
! Only one for certain, Reverse Mountain, which is one of the entry points to the Grand Line. Reverse Mountain is the current home of Laboon the Island Whale and Crocus as well as the site of the Cape of the Twin Lighthouses, which is actually the start of the Grand Line. There's a bit of an exception though, which I'll get to a minute.
! B5. Anything else I should know about Reverse Mountain?
! Well, one interesting aspect of it is that you have to sail up the mountainside to enter the Grand Line. See, the mountain is basically shaped like a five pointed star with one point entering each Blue and another pointing towards the Grand Line. Each Blue has a large current that runs right up the mountain and joins with the other four to form the main current of the Grand Line.
! B6. What was that exception you mentioned?
! That would be the long-awaited Fishman Island, which is actually ten thousand meters under the ocean surface and located directed beneath Mariejoa itself in a trench that connects the two halves of the Grand Line. So rather than there being two cities on the the intersections between the Grand Line and Red Line, there are two cities at it.
C. You keep mentioning the Grand Line, what is that?
The Grand Line is a relatively narrow waterway that runs around the center of the world and divides the world into Northern and Southern Hemispheres. It's something like the Equator in the real world. The treacherous nature of it's weather, wildlife, and inhabitants have earned it the nickname "The Pirates' Graveyard", though this seems to be exaggeration of the part of East Blue pirates as it has been shown that people can live on the Grand Line without too much trouble.
The Grand Line runs east from Reverse Mountain all the way around the world until it ends at the Red Line on the western coast of Reverse Mountain not far from where it began. The section between Mariejoa and Reverse Mountain (or, if you prefer, the section that that seperates North Blue and West Blue) is known as The New World.
! C1. What are some of the locations I should know about?
! The current islands, cities, and other locations are located on the Grand Line and have appeared in the story. These locations will be described in greater detail in their respective Story Arc sections, if I ever get around to them. Considering the sheer size of the list, I'll break the Grand Line and New World into two different sections whenever we finally reach that part of the story.
! a. Cactus Island, this island is known for looking like massive cacti as well as being the site of an entire town filled with bounty hunters. There is a rather sizable graveyard near the town as well. The Alabasta Arc gets into full swing here. Luffy meets Nico Robin here.
a1. The Town of Whiskey Peak
a2. Saboten Graveyard, which contains the gravestone that gives the island its name.
b. Little Garden, an island filled with prehistoric monsters as well as the site of the duel between Dorry and Broggy that has lasted for the last hundred years. Little Garden was revisited in the Miss Goldenweek: Meet Baroque cover story.
b1. Dorry's cave
b2. Broggy's cave
b3. Center Mountain, a volcano that erupts twice every day.
b4. The battlefield that Dorry and Broggy fight at.
b5. A nearby clearing where Mr. 3 sets up his Candelabra.
b6. Mr. 3's wax house
c. Vacation Island, which is the first place that we see Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek and was also visited in the Meet Baroque cover story.
c1. Ice cream stand
c2. Pool where Hina and her crew are relaxing, which is also where we meet Mr. 3 and Ms. Goldenweek.
c3. Seashore where Miss Valentine was to be executed
d. Drum Kingdom, which was traditionally ruled by the Wapol family, but is currently under the leadership of Dalton, the former head of the military. He was elected King, which presumably makes it a constitutional monarchy now called the Sakura Kingdom. Luffy meets Chopper here. It's also a Winter Island. Blackbeard is first mentioned here.
d1. Wapol's castle is located atop one of the Drum Rockies, which are drum shaped mountains that cover the island and presumably give the land it's name.
d2. Bighorn, which is Dalton's home town, which is where the Straw Hats arrive
d3. Cocoaweed, another local village that Kureha visits.
d4. Hiruluk's cave
d5. Kureha's home
e. An uninhabited island, made entirely of fish droppings, occasionally called Nanonamai Island
f. Alabasta, a large desert kingdom ruled by the Nefetari family. It's the setting of the Alabasta Arc.
f1. Nanohana, the seaside town where the Straw Hats arrive in Alabasta. First appearances of Portgas D. Ace and Sir Crocodile. Known for it's perfume.
f1a. Spice Bean Restaurant, owned by Yoshimitsu and where we first meet Ace.
f1b. Nanohana Harbor
f1c. Sandora River, which flows northwards from Nanohana
f2. Toto's village of Yuba. A new town that was created several years ago to house refugees.
f3. Elumala, a town devastated by a sandstorm that is no longer inhabited.
f4. Rainbase, a city in Alabasta and the site of Crocodile's casino, Rain Dinner.
f5. Alubarna, capital of Alabasta.
f5a. North Block
f5a1. Palace
f5a1a. Exterior
f5a1a1. Main Gate
f5a1a2. Battlement
f5a1a3. Courtyard
f5a1a4. Roof
f5a1a5. Balcony
f5a1b. Interior
f5a1b1. Throne Room
f5a1b2. Royal Baths
f5a1b3. The Straw Hats' room
f5a1b4. Igaram's room
f5a1b4. Vivi's room
f5a2. Medi Diet Building
f5a2a. Front Lane
f5a2b. Back Alley
f5b. East Block
f5b1. East gate
f5c. Palace Square
f5c1. Clocktower
f5c1a. Belfry
f5d. West Block
f5d1. West Gate
f5e. South Block
f5e1. South Gate
f5e2. Southwest Gate
f5e3. Southeast Gate
f5e5. Polka Way
f6. Katorea, the rebel base which is located near Nanohana.
f6a. Kohza's tent
f7. Spiders Cafe, which was run by Paula prior to the beginning of Operation Utopia.
g. Jaya, an island that figures heavily into the Legend of Norland.
1. Mocktown, a lawless town that is pretty much a relaxation spot for pirates. Site of the first actual appearances of the Blackbeard Pirate crew.
a. Tropical Hotel, where Luffy meets Big Knife Sarquiss
b. Catfish, a business in Mocktown, probably a bar
c. Wild Cherry, a bar where Bellamy and Roshio play a card game
d. Terry's Pub, where Luffy meets Bellamy the Hyena
e. Fire Drops, a business in Mocktown, probably a bar
f. Black Moon, a business in Mocktown, probably a bar
2. Cricket Montblanc's home. The home of a descendant of Norland.
g. An unnamed island where Captain John buried his legendary treasure.
h. Longringlongland, where everything is long. The site of the Davy Back Fight Arc as well as the site of Aokiji's first appearance.
1. Tonjit's house
2. Longcoralreef
3. Longcape
4. Longringwhirlpool
i. The Rail Station, where the Straw Hats meet Yokozuna, Kokoro, Chimney, and Gonbe as well as the first appearance of the Puffing Tom.
j. Water 7, a major shipbuilding center and home of the Galley-La Corporation. The island is slowly sinking under the weight of the city and older parts of town have been flooded.
1. Town Entrance
1b. Rental Bull Store
2. Market District
2a. Mizu Mizu Meat vendor
2b. Floodgate Elevator
2c. Canale, a background shop
2d. Alberqueque (I think that's what it says), a background shop
2e. San Faldo Mask vendor
2f. Felicita Ristorante, a background restaurant
2g. Pane, a background store
2h. Vocazione, a background store
2i. Razitor, a background store
2j. What appears to be Libro, the bookstore Chopper visits.
2. Happa-san's Hardware Store
3. Shipyard Island Town Center
3a. Cashing, the currency exchange house
3b. Galley-La Headquarters and Iceburg's Residence
3c. Temporary Office
3c1. Pirate's Room
3c1a. Bathroom
3c1b. Kitchen
3d. Blueno's Bar
3e. Blue Station, which is located between Dock 2 and Dock 3
3f. Dock 1, other docks were seen from outside Water 7, but not actually visited.
4. Backtown
4a. An abandoned warehouse
4b. Floodgate Elevator to Backstreet Market
4c. Northeast Coast Garbage Disposal Facility
4d. Warehouse under the Bridge, former site of Tom's Workers
4e. Three abandoned houses
4f. Bridge between Dock 5 and Dock 6
4f1. Tom's Workers
5. Outskirts of town
5a. Home of Tom's Workers (ten years ago)
5b. Scrap Island
5c. Rocky Cape
5c1. Franky House, which is located on the North Shore and near Dock 7
k. Enies Lobby, the World Government Judiciary Center, which is situated in the middle of a giant waterfall in the middle of the ocean and is surrounded by an iron fence.
1. Front Gate
2. Main Gate
3. The Town
4. Courthouse
4a. Courthouse gate
4b. Main Hall
4c. Drawbridge towers
4d. Roof
5. Judicial Tower
5a. Spandam's office - Sixth and Seventh Floor
5b. Lucci's room (judging by size, also located on Sixth and Seventh)
5c. Balcony - Sixth Floor
5c. Kaku's room - Fifth Floor
5d. Wolf's Den - Fourth Floor
5e. Kitchen - First Floor
5e1. Refrigerator
5f. Reception Hall - First and Second Floors
5g. Califa's room - Fifth Floor
5h. Dock
5i. Reinforced steel door
6. The Justice Gate
6a. Underwater Passage
6b. Bridge of Hesitation
6b1. Support Pillar
6c. Convoy ship port.
l. Marineford, the site of the Naval Headquarters, which was seen way back while the story was still set in East Blue, the Straw Hats haven't visited there yet, but it's fairly close to Enies Lobby, which is why it appears here.
1. Communications room.
2. Meeting room where Brandnew addresses fellow officers.
3. Balcony that Vice Admiral John Giant delivers his speech from.
4. Courtyard.
5. Staging area and anchorage for battleships.
6. Garp's office
m. The Florian Triangle, an area where ships mysteriously vanish.
n. Thriller Bark, known as a roving island from West Blue, but is actually Moria's ship.
1. Mouth Gate
2. Canal
3. Forest
3a. Hildon's tree
3b. Forest path
4. Graveyard
4a. Celtic Cross Headstone
4b. General Zombies Mausoleum
5. Hogback's Mansion (at least six floors)
5a. Courtyard
5b. Entrance Hall
5b1. Fireplace
5b1a. Secret Passageway
5c. Dining Room
5d. Cindry's Bathchamber
5e. Hogback's Lab (top floor)
5e1. Steel door with Mario Cos-something
5f. Shrine to Cindry
5g. Hallway
5h. Great Hall
5i. Roof
6. Spiderweb Walkway
7. Mast Mansion
7a. Perona's Room
7a1. Balcony
7b. Perona's Wonder Garden
7c. Gecko Moria's Dance Hall
7d. Passage to Special Freezing Chamber
7e. Special Freezing Chamber
7f. Chapel/Ceremony Room (1st floor)
7f1. Empty Passage Behind Ceremony Room
8. Courtyard between Mansions
9. Walkway connecting Mansions
10. Dock
10a. Tararan's Web
o. Flying Fish Rider Hideout, located west of the Sabaody Archipelago
1. Lagoon
1a. Cage
2. Boss' Room
p. Sabaody Archipelago
1. Tourist Zone
1a.Grove 41
1a1. Bon Chari rental/dealer
2. Amusement Park
2a. Grove 35
2a1. Antonio's Graman
2a2. Hotel
2a3. Shopping Mall
2a4. Street where the Straw Hats first encounter St. Rosward
2a5. Building where we first see Sentoumaru
2b. Sabaody Park (Grove 32, 33, 34)
2b1. Roller coaster
2b2. Drop tower
2b3. Teacup ride
2b4. Ferris wheel
2b5. Horror Show funhouse
2b6. Phonesnail booth 5
2c. Grove 30
2c1. Shopping Mall
2c1a. A store with a partially obscured name, Ca-an (Caravan?) Palace
3. Lawless Zone
3a. Grove 16
3a1. Clearing where the Straw Hats battle the bounty hunters.
3b. Grove 13
3b1. Shackey's Rip-Off Bar
3c. Grove 24
3c1. Restaurant where we meet Capone Bege, Jewelry Bonney, and Basil Hawkins
3c2. Street where we meet Eustass Kidd and Scratchman Apoo
3c3. Hospital near where Zoro runs into St. Charlos
3d. Grove 21
3d1. Street where Drake, Urouge, Killer, Trafalgar Law, and Beppo are first seen.
3e. Grove 22
3e1. Human Shop
3f. Grove 1
3f1. Human Auction House
3f2. Rear entrance
3f3. Main Entrance
3f4. Auctioneer's Waiting Room
3f5. Auction Hall
3f5a. Stage
3f5b. Seating
3f5c. VIP Seating
3g. Grove 2 (Zoro passes through it on his way to the Auction House)
3h. Grove 8
3h1. Hound Pet's Headquarters
3i. Grove 27
3i1. Site of Kizaru's arrival
3i2. Port
3j. Grove 12
3j1. Clearing where the Straw Hats encounter the Pacifistas, Sentoumaru, and Kizaru
4. Unknown Grove Number
4a. Coffee Monkey's Camp (somewhere in the 20s)
q. The Land of the Future, Island of Contraptions, Bulgemore.
t. The Land of Dreams, "second" Island of "Women", Momoiro Island
t1. A beautiful lagoon
t2. A beauteous beach
u. Boyn Archipelago, which is inhabited by giant insects
1. Highwayman's Forest Grinston
1a. A clearing
v. Namakura Island, a dark and dreary island with little to hope for.
1. The Harahettania Kingdom, a destitute place plagued by the Longhand Tribe.
1a. Cultists' house
w. Kuraigana Island
1. Shikkeahl Kingdom, abandoned and in ruins
1a. Castle
1a1. Patio
1a2. Bedroom
2. Forest clearing
! C2. Have any other locations been shown in the story so far?
! Yes, the Godland Skypiea, which is actually in the sky above the Grand Line. A few of the locations there are:
a. Heaven's Gate
b. Angel Island
1. Angel Beach
2. Pagaya's House
3. Lovely Street
3a. Tropical, which is a bar or restaurant by appearances
3b. Another business called Orange something
3c. Skymart, which we don't actually see, but that I'm putting here anyway
4. Gondola Port
c. Upper Yard
1. The Sacrificial Alter
2. The Wandering Forest
3. God's Shrine
e. The Shandian Hidden Cloud Village
f. Gon Forr's house
1. pumpkin patch
g. Cloud's End
! The cloudsea above the Grand Line is divided into two areas; the White Sea, which is about four and a quarter miles above the Grand Line and the White-White Sea, which is about six miles above the Grand Line.
! C3. Are there any other Sky Islands that we see in the main storyline?
! Yes, there's the small island of Weatheria, which is dedicated to the study of climatic research.
! We also see a few locations that have been shown in the cover stories, but not in the actual manga itself. If they pop up in the main storyline, then I'll add them to the main list.
a. The town that Ace visits during his miniarc and where he attacks the wrong Blackbeard.
1. Pasta Lake, a restaurant where Ace dines and ditches.
2. Mouda's House, which is downriver from the town.
b. Naval Base G2, which Ace visits.
1. Cafeteria where Mouda's parents work.
2. Meeting Room
3. Dock
c. Hot Spring Island
1. Ukkari Bath, ran by Goro
d. The Naval Detention Center, which is the site of the Miss Goldenweek miniarc.
1. Main entrance
2. Male detention rooms
3. Female detention rooms
c. Fairy Vearth.
1. A Trench or Foxhole
2. A Battlefield
3. Ancient Ruins - Excavation Site
3a. Ancient City
3a1. Spacey Chamber
3a2. Murals
d. St. Poplar
! C3. What about locations that have been mentioned, but not yet seen?
! a. Several islands near Water Seven
1. San Faldo, known for it's steelworks
2. San Pucci, a popular resort destination because of it's fine cuisine and whose Mayor is named Vimine
b. A few unseen locations in Water 7
1. Ligria Square, where Iceburg was supposed to have a meeting
2. Ciza Hotel
c. Pirate Island, which is a legendary pirate paradise and the origin point of the Davy Back Fight.
d. Raftel, the probable location of the legendary One Piece and the final island on the Grand Line.
e. Erbaf, home of the giants Dorry, Broggy, Oimi, and Karsie.
f. Bilca, another Sky Island that was destroyed six years ago.
g. High West, the entrance to the White Sea from the Blue Sea (might be in West Blue considering the name; possibly the Skypiean name for the Redline, which would be west of the White Sea)
h. Country of Villains created by the Nation-Puller, Odz
i. Wanokuni, located in the New World and home of the legendary samurai Ryuma
! Areas listed above will be moved to the previous section when they appear in the actual storyline.
! C4. What was that about a Winter Island?
! There are basically sixteen different seasons on the Grand Line due to the various currents. There are basically four types of islands:
! a. Winter
b. Fall
c. Summer
d. Spring
! The type of island reflects its basic climate; a winter island is cold, while a summer island is warm generally speaking. Each of those islands has it's own seasons. A winter on a Winter Island is going to be much colder than winter on a Summer Island.
! At a guess, this may result from the fact that the Grand Line is made up of currents that flow out of each Blue. If so, each Blue may have a climate that is similar to their respective island.
! C5. Anything else about the Grand Line?
! The nature of the Grand Line makes it difficult to navigate. There are approximately seven magnetic fields that run most or part of the way across the Grand Line. Some merge or split back off from each other and the only way to follow them is with a Log Pose, which is covered in the Technology Subheading of the Oddities Section. A normal compass is useless as the various fields just screw it up. These fields finally merge at a single point and lead to the final island on the Grand Line, Raftel.
! There is also only one place to exit the Grand Line safely and that's at or around Mariejoa, Reverse Mountain is an entrance only. The Grand Line could theoretically be exited at any point along it's width, but that would require crossing the Calm Belts, which is not really an option for most people.
D. What are Calm Belts?
These are regions where there are little or no winds or currents that border the Grand Line to the north and to the south. As such, a ship that blunders into one will be unable to move quickly if at all. The real world analogue would be the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, which have roughly the same weather year around and which run parallel to the Equator.
! D1. How many are there?
! There are two major ones at any rate, though it could be argued that there are four of them seeing as how the two are seperated into two distinct halves by the Red Line.
! D2. Anything else?
! Large aquatic animals use the Belts as their breeding ground, presumably because the weather is always the same. People that enter the Belt run the risk of getting eaten by these creatures.
! D3. So is there any way to cross them?
! Well, it would likely require a ship that is capable of propelling itself without wave or wind whether by some sort of engine or by old-fashioned oars. The Navy possesses ships clad with seastone; seastone emits a radiation that most animals percieve as the sea itself, so the ship will appear invisible to them from a distance. This isn't foolproof; a surfaced or breaching Seaking will actually see the ship. Considering that clothing seems to be able to prevent seastone from affecting Devil Fruit users, it's possible that the radiation is very weak. So it might not be very effective if the Seaking notices the ship from far enough away.
! Outside of that, it should be possible for very strong crews or even individuals to cross it, provided that they're willing and capable of defeating any Seakings that they might come across.
! D4. Are there any locations in the Calm Belts?
! Yes, surprisingly enough.
! 1. Amazon Lily, home of the Kuja Tribe
a. Jungle
a1. River
b. Crater
b1. Town Square
b1a. Fruit vendor
b1b. Seaking meat vendor
b1c. A store named Harugu
b2.Rice Field
b3.Blacksmith
b4.Coliseum
b4a. Stage
b4b. Grandstands
b4c. VIP section
b4d. Exit
b5.Gaol
b5a. Cell Four
b6. Kuja Palace
b6a. Imperial Hall
b6b. Bath
b6c. Boa Hancock's room
b6d. Terrace
b7. Granny Nyon's house
c. Harbor
c1. Main Gate
2. Impel Down, the Underwater Prison
a. Ace's cell
b. A crowded cell
c. A torture chamber
d. The Main Entrance
e. The Assistant Warden's Office
E1. Anything else about geography?
Well, the Hacchi miniarc showed him escaping a naval vessel and having adventures underwater. It is unknown at this time as to whether he was still in East Blue at the time, crossing a Calm Belt, or actually in the Grand Line itself.
The following locations appear in his miniarc:
1. Panda-shark's cave
2. Small island with a hungry castaway
3. Fish Empire, ruled by Goldfish apparently
4. Octopako's House, seen during a flashback
5. Lair of the Great Octopus Mash
6. Headband Catfish Village
7. Small island where Hacchi sets up a Takoyaki stand
8. Takoyaki stand, seen during a flashback
9. Hacchi's Takoyaki 8.
Part II. Organizations
1. What's this World Government that you mentioned a little while ago?
The World Government is a political organization that is affiliated with roughly 160 countries from around the world. Those member countries retain autonomy, that is to say, the countries run their own internal affairs (though the World Government does sometimes meddle), but cooperate with the World Government for massive international relations. It's kind of like the UN, but with a few differences that will become blatantly obvious in a minute.
The World Government is centered in Mariejoa. It's most important task is maintaining law and order on the seas, though it presumably also oversees trade issues as well.
! 1A. So what are some of the various aspects of the World Government?
! Well, surprisingly enough, we really haven't seen much of the World Government outside of three agencies. The heads of the Government are the Gorosei, which translates roughly as Five Elder Stars. Unsurprisingly, there are five of them and they're fairly venerable in age. At a guess, the youngest one of them is likely in his forties or fifties while the oldest may well be in his seventies or eighties. Individual names have not been provided for any of them as of yet.
! About the only other World Official I can think of that doesn't fall into one of those three agencies or isn't a member of the Gorosei was the Judge that appears in the Tom's Workers flashback during Water 7. At least, I'm assuming that he wasn't a military judge as Tom was a civilian and conducted the trial by himself, unlike another instance where we saw a trial.
! 1B. You keep mentioning three agencies, what are they?
! A. The Navy
B. Cipher Pol
C. The Shichibukai
! A1. What can you tell me about the Navy?
! The Navy is the military arm of the World Government and is tasked with enforcing the law, though they haven't been particularly successful at this over the past twenty years. That will be covered more in depth in the story section.
! The Navy projects its power from a number of bases scattered throughout the world, which range from in size from Morgan's base, which is probably about the size of a company of Marines, to very large installations such as Enies Lobby. It also maintains a sizable contingent at Mariejoa. Presumably the largest facility is the Naval Headquarters itself at Marineford, though they also maintain a massive presence at Impel Down. It has only a limited presence in the various Blues as the vast bulk of their resources are needed on the Grand Line itself.
! A2. But I see a lot of people refer to them as the Marines?
! That's understandable as they wear clothing with Marines and their ships bear that title on the sails, which is many people refer to them as the Marines. Oddly enough, the MARINE logo has not appeared on the Headquarters itself in any of its appearances. Instead, we see a simple wooden plank with KAIGUN written on it. Further, Captain Morgan's base had both KAIJUN and the MARINE logo on it.
! Viz refers to them as the Navy, which is what the text always calls them as well despite the accompanying image.
! Personally, I think it makes more sense for the organization to be called the Navy while the personnel are called Marines, but just go with whatever you prefer.
! On a related note, a quirk of the Japanese language is that titles for various military officers are the same for different branches. For example, General and Admiral are the same word: Taisho. Some translators refer to the various higher ranking officers by the titles that they would have as Marines, which uses the same hierarchy that the Army uses. I myself prefer to use Naval rankings simply because they have ships, plus the official English translation of the titles provided by Viz gives the Marines naval titles from top to bottom.
! A3. So who's in charge of the Navy?
! The highest ranking Naval officer is Fleet Admiral Sengoku dai-Buddha. Sengoku's title in the original manga is Gensui, which was a honorary term granted to military officials whose skills and loyalty are beyond dispute. It implies a lot more than just being the highest ranked officer, which is why I went with Fleet Admiral. Strictly speaking, he has the same rank as the other three Admirals, but possesses extra moral authority as Gensui is not a rank that can be acquired by advancing through the ranks. His command of the Navy stems from his title as Chief of Staff rather than from his status as a Gensui. Below him are three Admirals, who will be discussed in the characters section. These are reputedly the most powerful fighters that the Navy possesses, though this could be a representation of the power at their disposal rather than a direct measurement of their own physical power.
The next highest rank is Vice Admiral. There are at least nine of them as five entirely new characters were introduced during a Buster Call sequence on top of the four previously introduced. No more have been introduced since, but that's not to say that there aren't any more of them. Below Vice Admiral is Rear Admiral, there is an unknown number of them. In fact, the only known Rear Admiral to date is a former one, now a pirate. Similarly, the number of Commodores is also unknown.
! Now, here's where it gets a bit confusing where translations are concerned. The next rank, Captain, is one that appears in both the Army and the Navy. The rank of Captain in the Navy roughly conforms to the rank of Colonel in the Army. In Japanese, the higher rank is Taisa while the lower is Taii, but both occasionally get translated as Captain. If the higher rank is Captain, then the lower one should be Lieutenant instead. If the lower is Captain, then the higher one should be Colonel. The former way makes more sense if the institution is called the Navy. I used to differentiate between the two by calling the higher one a Fleet or HQ Captain, but Viz's official version uses a Marine hierarchy from top to bottom. So the lower one is a Lieutenant while the higher rank is a Captain. Problem solved.
! The lowest officer rank shown so far is Lieutenant Junior Grade, but there are probably a few ensigns running around.
! We also see a non-commissioned officer in Chief Petty Officer Tashigi, but she's since been promoted.
! A4. What's a Buster Call?
! A Buster Call is a specific military operation wherein a fleet of ten battleships seek out and destroy a target. These ten battleships contain at least 10,000 Marines, a mixture of at least 200 Captains and Commanders, and five Vice Admirals. It is unknown as how the commanding officer of this squadron is chosen; it might be by seniority, judged level of competence, or simply the whim of the Admiral ordering the operation.
! The task force is strong enough that it can annihilate an entire country, well, one that is entirely within range of its guns anyway. The Call is issued following authorization by one of the four Admirals that head up the Navy: Sengoku, Aokiji, Akainu, and Kizaru.
! Previously, the last known use of a Buster Call to date was the destruction of Ohara twenty years ago. From what we saw there, standard practice is to surround the target and then commence bombardment on a prearranged signal sent by a Golden Phone Snail that is recieved by a Silver Phone Snail. At Ohara, CP9 went in before the fleet to verify the necessity of the operation.
! The last use of a Buster Call was the destruction of the Enies Lobby facility in an attempt to destroy the Straw Hat Pirate crew and their various allies. The result was the escape of said crew and allies while Enies Lobby itself was totally destroyed. The operation was labeled a complete and total defeat by Admiral Aokiji himself.
! If necessary, the Vice Admirals may take a personal hand in destroying the target if there is unexpected resistance. Kuzan did this at Ohara, though the Vice Admirals at Enies Lobby refrained from personally attacking the Straw Hats.
! A Buster Call does not involve the use of a laser.
! A5. Anything else I should know about the Navy?
! It appears to judge the criminals as well as arrest them, which implies that it has a Judicial Branch. Django was tried by a three judge court, which suggests a military tribunal as does the MARINE logo in the background. Baskerville of Enies Lobby is also a three judge tribunal by himself; he is capable of issuing orders to Marines, so he is presumably part of the Navy.
! Django's trial may have taken place at the Headquarters itself as the facility in question is not Enies Lobby and following events heavily suggest that Django and Fullbody were going to go their seperate ways at the Headquarters.
! A6. Anything else about the Judiciary?
! It seems to be largely based at Enies Lobby; imagine that the FBI and Justice Department had moved out of Washington, DC and has started it own city elsewhere with a naval base thrown in for good measure. Of course, Enies Lobby is simply the largest government facility that we have seen so far, the facility may have a counterpart on the opposite side of the Naval Headquarters and Impel Down.
! It also seems to maintain various forces of its own to help it in its duties.
The Houbantai are an elite group of riders mounted on guard dogs that help protect the legal center of Enies Lobby. The Eleven Impartial Jurors are another group, which is made up of prisoners. Since these Jurors have no chance of freedom, they invariably convict the defendant and sometimes act directly as executioners. The fact that a military tribunal uses a jury is interesting as it goes against the nature of a tribunal to do so; most likely this is simply a way of breaking down a prisoner's spirit by giving the false hope that they will not be convicted.
B. What is Cipher Pol?
Cipher Pol is essentially the World Government Intelligence agency as it is tasked with gathering information about the enemies of the World Government as well as performing clandestine operations. The agency is divided into cells, which range in size from eight operatives to at least twenty or more. It is unknown if every single agent is in a cell or if there are agents that are unattached to a particular cell and work as needed. The sheer number of agents that we see at Enies Lobby may imply the latter, but it could just be that some cells are massive in comparison to others.
The organization is controlled by Spandam, who is also the Director of the Enies Lobby facility, which seems to be the home base of the Cipher Pol organization. So throw the CIA in that blender along with the FBI and Justice Department.
! B1. How many cells are there?
! Well, there are at least nine and no more than ten depending upon what the lowest numbered Cipher Pol cel is. If there is a Cipher Pol Zero (outside of Spandam, excuse the pun), then there's ten of them. If not, then there's nine. How do I know that there isn't a cell above Cipher Pol 9?
! Because CP9 was a secret unit, so having a higher numbered one would kind of give that away.
! B2. What can you tell me about the various cells?
! Not much about Cipher Pols below number 5 or anything about number 8, presumably at least some of those agencies are running around Enies Lobby.
! Cipher Pol Five has been tasked for some time now with acquiring the plans for the Ancient Weapon Pluton from the head of the Galley-La Construction Company and Mayor of Water 7, Iceburg. Spandam used to be head of this group, but the current leader of the group is Corgi. Two men were shown accompanying Corgi when he was first introduced and are probably part of CP5 as well. A past version of CP5 included at least four other members besides Spandam.
! Cipher Pol Seven was assigned to accompany Cipher Pol 9 back from it's mission at Water 7. The only named member was Wanze. He wasn't specifically named as leader of that unit, but seeing as how he was singled out when Corgi listed the various personnel on the train for the benefit of CP9, he most likely was. If nothing else, his Ramen-based combat skills resulted in Corgi considering him the most note-worthy of the unit.
! Cipher Pol Six had the same mission as Seven. Again, it only had one named member, Jerry, who is again presumably the leader of that unit for the same reason that Wanze is probably the leader of CP7. Jerry is a master of both Karate and Yoga.
! These three units are currently heading back towards Enies Lobby in the remains of the Puffing Tom train cars that they were previously riding. This will be covered in more depth in the Story Arc section.
! The current incarnation of Cipher Pol Nine is an eight-man (temporarily a nine-man unit) secret assassination squad trained in the martial art of Rokushiki. They are currently at Enies Lobby having completed both of their recent assignments. They have been operating in two man squads until the current section of the story. One team that went undercover in Water 7 consisted of Blueno, Kaku, Rob Lucci, and Califa. Rob Lucci's pet pigeon Hattori was also part of the team. The other squad consisting of Fukurou, Jyabura, and Kumadori have been assassinating enemies of the Government. Spandam is also considered part of CP9, though he does not accompany them on missions due to his job as Director of the Enies Lobby facility.
! There was one more member of CP9, Nero, but it was unknown if he accompanied the latter three on missions. Considering that Spandam was annoyed that he had screwed up again, he probably had. Nero had not yet mastered all aspects of Rokushiki, but was a practicer of Yonshiki instead as he was incapable of Shigan and Tekkai. He was dismissed from the organization for weakness by Lucci after failing to defeat Franky.
! Another CP9 unit was seen twenty years ago during the Buster Call, this was led by Spandine, who was accompanied by two unnamed Rokushiki users. It is unknown as to how many CP units were there at Ohara or if CP9 used to be much larger in size as we saw many Cipher Pol agents during this storyline. CP9 might have been all of those agents, only Spandine and the two Rokushiki users, or it might have been the same size as the current unit, but only part of it went to Ohara.
! There seem to be hundreds of Cipher Pol agents at Enies Lobby; it is unknown as to whether these constitute the sub-CP9 cells that were not on the Sea Train or if Cipher Pol maintains a large number of agents that are not assigned to any particular unit.
! Rokushiki will be further covered in Oddities and each member will eventually have a detailed entry in Dramatis Personae.
C. What are the Shichibukai?
These are seven former pirates that the Government has cut deals for two reasons.
1. So that the Marines won't have to fight them anymore.
2. That they'll use their various talents against pirates instead.
In exchange for their services, the World Government has provided amnesty for their past actions, cancelled their bounties, and provides them with a great deal of autonomy. The Shichibukai get the best of the deal when it comes down to it.
The Shichibukai, along with the Naval Headquarters and the Yonkou, complete the Three Great Powers of the world that maintain the balance of the Grand Line.
! C1. What does Shichibukai mean?
! There are quite a few different translations: Seven Armed Seas is the most common rendition and Seven Warlords of the Seas is Viz's translation. I've also seen them referred to as the Seven Samurai and the Seven Knights or something of the sort.
! C2. So who are they?
! Of the members listed below, seven are current members while one is a former Shichibukai.
a. Dracule Mihawk, the first to be seen.
b. Sir Crocodile, now stripped of his rank
c. Donquixote DoFlamingo, though there's a reasonable argument that it ought to be De Flamingo. Of course, DoFlamingo is also possible as Do means "of the" in Portugese.
d. Bartholomew Bear
e. Jinbei has not yet been seen, but was the second named Shichibukai. Now in Impel Down for non-compliance with the World Government's directions.
f. Gecko Moria
g. Marshall D. Teach
h. Boa Hancock, the Pirate Empress and only female member of the group.
! All of these will have individual bios in the Dramatis Personae section.
! C3. What else can you tell me about them?
! It used to be a common theory that Shichibukai had to give up their former crews in exchange for the title. This was largely a result of the fact that none of them had been shown in concert with a crew and also the notion that Jinbei reputedly cut his ties with Arlong to become a Shichibukai. However, Gecko Moria is shown to work with a crew and this theory is now dead.
! As far as the remaining Shichibukai go, Mihawk doesn't use a crew, but seems to be a loner anyway. DoFlamingo keeps tabs on people who used to be part of his crew, but who presumably went their own way to remain pirates. Crocodile didn't really need a crew as he seemed to be permanently based in Alabasta and had Baroque Works besides. Bear hasn't been shown to work with a crew, but we may find out more about him as time goes by.
! C4. Hey, why do you stick with the Japanese name for them while you prefer English for almost everything else?
! Same reason I use Aokiji instead of Blue Pheasant, Shichibukai is shorter than any of it's English counterparts.
! C5. Wait, Akainu isn't shorter than Red Dog.
! Well, it'd be somewhat stupid to use the Japanese name for two of the Admirals, but not for the third, wouldn't it?
! C6. Anything else about the Shichibukai?
! The Gorosei ordered a meeting to decide potential candidates to fill the currently vacated spot. The meeting was attended by Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Vice Admiral Crane, a few unnamed officers, and three Shichibukai. The meeting was interrupted by the arrival of Lafitte who recommended his captain Marshall D. Teach for the position.
! Since then, Teach was selected as a member of the group in exchange for his defeat of the Whitebeard Second Corps Commander, Portgas D. Ace while Jimbei has been tossed into Impel Down as the result of going on a rampage when ordered to report for duty in the coming war against Whitebeard.
2. Are there any other organizations that I should be aware of?
At this point, the only three that I know of is The Baroque Works, Galley-La, and the Yonko, but I wanted to go ahead and add this section on the off chance something else pops up.
! A1. Okay, I'll bite, what's the Baroque Works?
! Baroque Works was a Criminal Syndicate organized by Crocodile for the purpose of siezing control of the Alabasta Kingdom. The Alabasta Arc is centered around this plot. The Works was organized as a numerical hierarchy.
! A2. A what?
! See, it works like this. The lower the number of a member of the organization, the more power they wielded within the organization.
! The rank and file were known as Millions, if I recall correctly, there were roughly 1800 or so of them under the command of the Frontier Agents. Above them were the Billions, of which there were about two hundred, these were under the control of the Officer Agents. A sizable number of these two groups were bounty hunters who helped fund the organization's operations by collecting government bounties.
! One method of doing this was to establish a bounty hunter's base at Whiskey Peak that would pick off pirate crews upon entering the Grand Line to turn in for the bounty placed on their heads by the World Government. Whiskey Peak had about one hundred bounty hunters there; considering the sheer number of the Millions, there are probably such stations at the first inhabitable island after Reverse Mountain on each of the seven magnetic fields of the Grand Line.
! There were about twenty-five Agents, which, with one exception, were divided into male and female pairs, which is also why there is an odd number of Agents. The male half of a prai was identified by a number while the female was identified by a day of the week or a holiday.
! The Agents were divided into three groups, the Messengers and Punishers are:
The Unluckies- Mr. 13 and Ms. Friday
! The Frontier Agents, not all of whom were seen, are as follows:
! Mr. 12 and Ms. Saturday (not shown)
Mr. 11 (deceased) and Ms. Thursday (not shown)
Mr. 10 and Ms. Tuesday (not shown)
Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday
Mr. 8 and Ms. Monday
Mr. 7 and Ms. Father's Day
Mr. 6 and Ms. Mother's Day (not shown)
! Agents Mr. 5 and above, were called Officer Agents, these are all known.
! Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine
Mr. 4 and Ms. Merry Christmas
Mr. 3 and Ms. Goldenweek
Mr. 2 Bon Kurei (as an Okama, he counts for both male and female agents)
Mr. 1 and Ms. Doublefinger
! Crocodile also had a number to disguise his identity and also had a female counterpart. The Mr. 4 pair also included a gun that had eaten a Devil Fruit named Lassoo.
! Mr. 0 and Ms. All-Sunday.
! The agency was effectively dissolved after the Alabasta Arc, though many of the Officer Agents wound up working together after the Miss Goldenweek miniarc. In it, Mr. 2 escaped after being captured by Hina at the close of the Alabasta Arc, but was been recaptured by her during the current miniarc.
! Of the former agents, the following have acquired new occupations or resumed their old ones.
! Ms. Doublefinger has opened a new Spiders' Cafe in a building formerly known as Cactus Salon.
Ms. Goldenweek is a painter.
Ms. Merry Christmas is a princess, who is also a waitress.
Ms. Valentine's Day is a baker who specializes in Chocolate.
Mr. 4 is a pizza delivery man, delivery guaranteed within thirty hours.
Mr. 5 is a fire fighter.
! Lassoo is a tank.
! All of them, despite their new jobs, seem to work out of the Spiders' Cafe.
! Meanwhile, Crocodile (whose true ambition is to be Pirate King), Daz Bones (whose true ambition is to be a superhero), Bon Kurei, and Mr. 3 have been sent to Impel Down.
! B. So what's Galley-La?
! Galley-La is the world's foremost shipbuilding corporation and is based in the metropolis of Water 7. The city itself is known for the seven massive construction docks that were formerly seven different shipbuilding corporations. These different companies were united under a single banner five years ago by Iceburg, former employee of the Tom's Workers, which was itself a shipbuilding organizations.
!
! B1. So how is it laid out?
! Well, Iceburg is the owner of the corporation, its top craftsman, and Mayor of Water 7 to boot. The company is really run by his secretary Califa as Iceburg has a bad tendency to blow off meetings at a whim. There are seven docks, each of which has five foremen, so there is a grand total of thirty-seven foremen in the company.
! The foremen of Dock 1 are the five most skilled employees of the company, but everybody in Galley-La is exceptionally skilled. These individuals will be covered more in depth in the characters section.
! B2. What makes it important?
! Galley-La is the greatest shipbuilding company in the entire world; as a result, it supplies ships to the Navy as well as to the discerning individual. They even build ships for pirates as they're not too particular so long as they are paid for their work. Attempts to welsh on a deal are not looked upon well by the shipwrights.
! B3. What's the deal with Galley-La as a name anyway?
! Well, there's no real doubt that Galley-La is what Oda means for it to be in English as we have quite a few examples of it. One shipwright has it written incorrectly on his shirt, but all other instances of Galley-La conform to that spelling.
! As to the original of the word, Galley-La could be a corruption of Galera, the Spanish word for Galley or it could be a reference to the Galley La Reale, which was the traditional name for the flag ship of the French Navy. Either way, it's definitely a reference to a galley as that type of ship (which is driven by both oars and sails) is incorporated in the company logo. The logo is based on a galley that was sitting on top of the small house that Tom's Workers used to live in; whether this was TW's logo as well or simply a ship that wound up on top of their house is unknown.
! C. What are the Yonkou?
! The Yonkou, simply put, are the four strongest pirates in the world. The name means Four Emperors and may be based on a particular bit of Japanese folklore about the Four Heavenly Emperors. They are equivalent in strength to the Shichibukai and the Naval Headquarters; this power is amply displayed when a fleet sent to herd Shanks away from Whitebeard is brushed aside. Shank's ship seems completely undamaged despite the battle. Later a squadron of twenty-three ships was sent to gather intelligence about Whitebeard, but were annihilated so quickly that they were unable to send out an SOS or report.
! C1. Who are they?
! The two confirmed Yonkou are Shanks and "Whitebeard" Edward Newgate.
! Part III. Dramatis Personae
! Something to be aware of is that names in the world that Oda has created do not necessarily follow the naming conventions that are seen in Japan of the real world. Some characters, like Roronoa Zoro, do. Many people, like Sanji, Usopp, and Nami, by all appearances, have only one name, which is fairly common in Southeast Asia in the real world.
! Some characters have a family name, like Monkey D. Luffy/Dragon/Garp, while sharing a middle initial not only with their direct descendants, but with characters who share similar looks and personalities. Ace, on the other hand, takes Portgas D. from his mother as he does not consider Dragon to be his father.
! On a side note, when this section is finished, it will contain chapter and page numbers of each characters first appearances along with the location of things like name boxes and flashbacks. Some characters will have ministory arc appearances or other appearances. I'm not going to write down every page that the various Straw Hats appear on for instance, but I will for other characters who have made only a handful of appearances in the series.
! [spoiler/]
1. Who are the various pirates that we see running around the Grand Line?
2. So what can you tell me about the various Government officials?
! A. Who are some of the Marines out there?
B. What officials help run the World Government?
C. So just who are these Shichibukai guys anyway?
! Again, there are or rather were seven of them, there are currently six with one candidate for them.
! When the series began, the seven were:
1. Dracule Mihawk
2. Sir Crocodile
3. Donquixote Doflamingo
4. Bartholomew Bear
5. Jinbei
6. Gecko Moria
7. Boa Hancock
! C1a. So who is this Mihawk anyway?
! Dracule Mihawk is the Strongest Swordsman in the World. Fittingly, he also possesses the strongest sword in the world, which is a massive, black sword with a curved blade. He also carries a small blade in the cross he wears around his neck; it's blade is a few inches long at best, the handle is actually larger than the blade itself. He travels across the Grand Line in a small, coffin-shaped boat, which is a sign in and of itself as to how strong he is. The railing of the boat is lined with candles, which creates something of a supernatural aura. The mast is shaped like the handle of the sword Mihawk carries on his back.
! His first actual appearance was a grand entrance where his boat sailed through the shattered remnants of Don Krieg's galleon after he had cut it into three slices in a matter of seconds. Mihawk seemed to have it in for Krieg as he destroyed Krieg's entire fifty ship armada by himself, either sinking each ship personally or damaging so much that it sank later. Krieg himself only escaped at that point because a storm sprang up and seperated Mihawk from the galleon. If I recall correctly, this all resulted because Krieg woke him from a nap, which annoyed Mihawk to such an extent that he destroyed the entire fleet. He even pursued Krieg all of the way from the Grand Line across East Blue to the Baratie in order to sink his last ship. His reason for doing the last? That he didn't have anything better to do.
! Zoro challenges him to a duel at this point, which almost proves to a fatal mistake on his part. The bored Hawk-Eyes refuses to fight him with anything but the tiny dagger in his necklace and tosses in a verbal slam about not hunting a rabbit with a cannon in the process. Even that blade proved too much for the former bounty hunter as Mihawk fends off Zoro's three swords style effortlessly. Zoro refuses to give up despite his injuries, which earns him a measure of respect from the master swordsman. Mihawk decides to honor him by finishing him off with his black sword, but only marks him with a massive scar instead of killing him. He then departs in a much better mood than when he arrived.
! On top of the superhuman strength that he has displayed, Mihawk also possesses a superhuman reaction time as he is able to draw his sword and deflect a musketball after the gun has been fired from only a few dozen feet away.
! An early mention of him was by Johnny during the onset of the Baratie story arc. Johnny notes that "the hawk-eyed man" Zoro has been looking for has often been seen at the nearby floating restaurant of Baratie. This turned out to be incorrect, but Mihawk showed up anyway.
! Mihawk's longest appearance to date was during the Baratie Arc when he engaged in the aforementioned ludicrously one-sided duel with Roronoa Zoro. But he also appeared later to let Shanks know that Luffy had become a pirate and also appeared at the meeting to decide on a new Shichibukai as an observer to the surprise of everyone else there. His concern was not the debate, but the status of Roronoa Zoro, whose career he is now following with interest.
! Mihawk generally speaking seems to be a loner, but does seem to be on fairly good terms with Shanks. At any rate, they seemed to be sparring partners once upon a time and are still drinking buddies on occasion.
! After Crocodile, Mihawk has been the Shichibukai that we have seen the most of during the series.
! His former bounty has not yet been given.
! C1b. Okay, I'm confused. Some people call him Juraquille or something else while you call him Dracule.
! Juraquille stems from the way the name is pronounced and is a popular fan rendition of the name, but Viz uses Dracule. That makes a lot more sense than Juraquille because of the whole vampire motif of the candles, coffin, crosses, and Mihawk's general appearance. It pretty much seems to be a case where the fans got one wrong.
! C1c. So why is this guy important?
! Well, again, he is the Strongest Swordsman in the World, so Zoro's dream is centered around being able to surpass him. Their final duel will be one of the most important in the entire series.
! On another note, he is a Shichibukai, which makes him one of the Government's most important allies in their war against piracy. He will eventually come into conflict with the Straw Hats, but it is almost certainly going to be at his own discretion rather than at the order of the World Government.
! C2a. Crocodile's name seems to be popping up a lot, who is he anyway?
C2b. So how is he important?
! C3a. Donquixote Doflamingo? That's a pretty weird name.
C3b. What's the deal with him?
C3c. What makes him important to the story?
! C4a. So who is this Bartholomew Bear guy?
C4b. I see a lot of people call him Kuma, why is that?
C4c. Anything else about him?
! C5a. What can you tell me about Jinbei?
! C6a. Who the heck is Gecko Moria?
C6b. What's his deal?
! C7. Boa Hancock
3. Who are some of the people who don't fall into either the above categories?
Part IV. Oddities
1. What's the deal with these Devil Fruit?
! 1A. What are the three different types of Devil Fruit?
! Paramecia, Zoan, and Logia.
! 1A1. So what does a Paramecia Devil Fruit do?
! Just about anything really, it's the generic and most commonly seen type of Devil Fruit, but the powers that it grants can be almost anything, except Animal Transformation and Elemental Powers.
! The Paramecia Types that we have seen so far are:
!
! Gum Gum (Gomu Gomu)- turns the body of the user into rubber, which is invulnerable to physical attacks
Chop Chop (Bara Bara)- if the body of the user is sliced, that section be either be reconnected without damage or controlled from a short distance, and, as such, is invulnerable to being attacked with a sword
Slip Slip (Sube Sube)- the body of the user becomes very slippery, physical impacts just slide right off
Bomb Bomb (Bomu Bomu)- the body of the user turns into a bomb
Kilo Kilo - the user can adjust the weight of their body
Flower Flower (Hana Hana)- the user can generate body parts like flowers from any surface that they can see
Wax Wax (Doru Doru)- the user can generate wax from their body
Munch Munch (Baku Baku)- the user can eat just about anything and can then make whatever he ate into something else
Copy Copy (Mane Mane)- the user can change his body to look like somebody that he has touched
Slice Slice (Supa Supa) - the user can make his body hard as steel
Spike Spike (Toge Toge)- the user can generate spikes from their body
Cage Cage (Ori Ori)- this one is a bit harder to explain… by passing a bodypart (like an arm or a leg) around somebody, that person gets trapped in what is essentially a cage
Spring Spring (Bane Bane)- the user can turn their body into springs
Slow Slow (Noro Noro)- the user can generate Noro Noro particles, which essentially slow down time for the target for a brief period
Door Door (Doa Doa)- the user can turn anything into a door, even a man's head
Bubble Bubble (Awa Awa)- similar to the Wax Fruit; the user can generate soap from their body
Berry Berry (Beri Beri)- if hit by a physical impact, the User's body splits into a bunch of berries that bounce around.
Rust Rust (Sabi Sabi)- allows the User to rust things they come into contact with
Wheel Wheel (Shari Shari)- the user can turn their body parts into wheels
Undead Undead (Yomi Yomi)- when the User dies, their spirit can return from the Underworld and regain possession of their body
Shadow Shadow (Kage Kage)- allows the User to control shadows, his own or others, as well as to remove them from their original owner.
Clear Clear (Suke Suke)- allows the User to turn invisible. Considering the owner and the fact that Sanji wanted it, it's probably a reference to a sukebe (Peeping Tom/Pervert).
Hollow Hollow (Horo Horo)- the User can create ghosts that can drain the emotions out a person or explode and also allows a person to take a ghost form.
Love Love (Mero Mero) - the User can use a person's lust to turn them into stone; the name actually means "head over heels in love" so Love Love is just an approximation.
! To my knowledge, none of the Supernova Devil Fruit have been named yet.
! I might have missed some of them somewhere, but that's all I can think of. Paramecia types are mainly limited by how imaginative they are when it comes to their powers; some of them are less useful than others admittedly (until the User passes away, the Yomi Yomi Fruit would basically take away their ability to swim and do nothing else for instance), but it's up to the user to figure out how to use them advantageously.
! I may split Paramecia into two categories down the road. One for normal abilities and one for pseudo-Logias like the Doru Doru Fruit.
! 1A2. Zoan type?
! These can transform into a various type of animal dictated by the fruit that he, she, or it ate. Some Zoan types have sub-types, so they'll be a specific type of animal rather than just a generic example of that species. A Zoan type can stay in their normal form, become a half-beast form that blends the types (in various ratios in Chopper's case), or become their Devil Fruit animal.
! Depending upon the type, Zoan users can experience a dramatic increase in strength, speed, and durability. Their ability is limited to whatever their body can do so they're really at a disadvantage to the other types.
! So far in the series, we have seen the following Zoan types:
!
! Cow Cow (Ushi Ushi), Model Bison- This type becomes a bison.
Human Human (Ito Ito) - Whoever eats this can become a human or more humane if they're already human.
Dog Dog (Inu Inu), Model Jackal- This user can become a jackal
Bird Bird (Tori Tori), Model Falcon- The user can become a falcon.
Dog Dog (Inu Inu), Model Dachshund- This user can become a dachshund
Mole Mole (Mogu Mogu)- The person who eats this can turn into a mole.
Horse Horse (Uma Uma)- The eater of this fruit can turn into a horse.
Cat Cat (Neko Neko), Model Leopard- This fruit turns the user into a leopard.
Dog Dog (Inu Inu), Model Wolf- This user can become a wolf.
Elephant Elephant (Zou Zou)- This user can become an elephant.
Cow Cow (Ushi Ushi), Model Giraffe- This user can become a giraffe.
Snake Snake (Hebi Hebi), Model King Cobra - This user can become a king cobra.
Snake Snake (Hebi Hebi), Model Anaconda - This user can become an anaconda.
! Drake possesses an "Ancient-type" Zoan, but the specific name has not yet been revealed.
! 1A3. So what about the Logia types?
! The Logia Fruit allows it's user to tranform into an element as well as exert control over that element. Now, whether they can control more than they element that they personally created or that constitutes their own physical body is up to debate. Essentially, the Logia types are the strongest as they allow their users the widest range of options.
! Logia types are all but invulnerable to physical attacks as they can simply transform into their elemental type and allow the blow to sail safely through them; there are exceptions to this though, as Ener finds out when he is hit by Luffy whose Paramecia ability canceled out Ener's Logia. The Yami Yami Fruit is also an exception as it functions in a manner unlike any other Logia.
! The Logia types seen so far are as follows:
! Smoke Smoke (Moku Moku) - The user can turn his body into smoke.
Flame Flame (Mera Mera)- The user can shoot fire from his body.
Sand Sand (Suna Suna)- The user can dehydrate objects to create sand.
Thunder Thunder (Goro Goro)- The user can generate electricity.
Chill Chill (Hie Hie)- The user can freeze things that he touches.
Dark Dark (Yami Yami)- The user can draw things towards himself.
Light Light (Pika Pika) - The user can turn his body into light and can fire laser beams.
! 1B. So how do they stack up against each other?
! Well, in pure power, the Logia Fruits are far and away the most powerful under normal circumstances, but each has it's advantages.
! The Paramecia Fruit seem to offer the widest range of possibilities when it comes to how to exploit the ability granted to the User. Ultimately, the only limitation of how to use a power is the imagination of the person using it. This is probably the most difficult of all three types to master as a result. Some people may encounter inspiration for a new attack after using a particular moveset for years while others will never learn how to completely use their skill.
! A Logia Fruit grants creation of the element of the Fruit, control of that element to an unspecified amount, and shifting the body to that elemental state, with one exception. I'll get to that in the next section; for the purposes of this discussion, Logia refers to all types of that Fruit except for the Yami Yami Fruit. Of those, only the second really lends itself to the development of new techniques, which again falls to how imaginative the user is. However, each of those abilities puts a Logia type far above most potential opponents. Their offensive and defensive abilities are unparalled. The downside is that Logia users seem to be particularly vulnerable if their powers are somehow cancelled or will not work on an opponent as they tend to rely on the pure strength of their ability to do most of the work for them. A Logia whose powers are cancelled may be put in an unfavorable position against a particularly powerful opponent, especially if they are not aware that their powers will not work on their target.
! Beyond all that, all Logia Users to date are fairly powerful people in their own right. This probably has something to do with the sheer difficulty of acquiring a Logia in the first place. Even a Logia without their powers would still be a difficult opponent for most simply because of their own physical strength.
! A Zoan type, on the other hand, has only one ability: to shift form. It's possible to expand the range of transformation however beyond the three most common types of Base-Base, Base-Zoan, and Zoan-Zoan, but for the most part, it's still just transforming the body to their animal shape. However, the fact that they are essentially still relying on their own body means that Zoan users focus on training their own bodies rather than simply coming up with new ways to exploit their Fruit like the other two types. A Zoan type is likely going to possess physical strength beyond those of the other types as a result; if nothing else, they would not be at as great a disadvantage if their powers were somehow deactivated as the other types would be.
! So a Zoan type is going to hit the wall of how to exploit their abilities much more quickly than their two counterparts, but are far more likely to pay attention to training their own bodies. Logia and Paramecia types are more likely to ignore training physically in order to concentrate on their Devil Fruit powers, which can leave the two types at a great disadvantage if their powers are weakened or cancelled outright.
! Altogether, a Zoan type is probably the easiest of the three types to master for most people.
! On a final note, there are quite a few Devil Fruits that have been created by Toei for the anime, but I'm ignoring these. On a related and even more final note, there was a character in the second film that used Toge Toge Armor. For the record, this could not have been a Devil Fruit as the character was clearly seen swimming in the sea at one point with a great deal of his body immersed in the water.
! Of course, that might have just been Toei screwing up and forgetting the rules, which is one of the reasons that I don't bother with the anime, especially seeing as how it isn't canon anyway.
! 1C. So what's the deal with the Yami Yami Fruit and why does it deserve its own section?
! Well, the reason for the second part is because it's not like any other fruit in its own category and the preceding discussion regarding Logias does not apply to it.
! Now, it's different from most Logias in that the User cannot dodge attacks by shifting to elemental form. In fact, the User may not even have an elemental form in the traditional sense. See, the person possessing the Yami Yami Fruit can generate a form of tangible darkness that can spread around an area. When the User wishes it, that darkness can drag objects towards the User or repel them. As such, the person with the Yami Yami fruit cannot avoid attacks as transforming into the element would simply drag the attack into them.
! Anything can be drawn into the User, even Devil Fruit powers. As such, the person with the Yami Yami Fruit can nullify the abilities of another User simply by coming into contact with them. Essentially, it's a de facto Seastone/Black Hole Logia.
! The Yami Yami Fruit lacks the defensive capabilities of other Logias, but possesses the same offensive and generative abilities of its class. As a tradeoff for the loss of the defensive aspects of the Logia type, it totally cancels out any potential rival's Devil Fruit abilities.
2. So what can you tell me about the various types of technology that we see in One Piece?
3. So what's the deal with Skypiea?
4. What's a Knockup Stream?
5. So what is this Davy Back Fight you mentioned a while back?
The Davy Back Fight is a series of pirate games wherein the winning side can either choose a member of the other crew or their flag after each round. Usually the game is designed around stripping a crew of only its most useful members, but exceptions can sometimes by made. Foxy chose Chopper not for his skill, but because he was so cuddly.
The Davy is a reference to the Davy Jones of legend, who is a sailor that has been condemned to remain at the bottom of the sea for all eternity because of his crimes. The Back Fight seems to have become really popular in recent years, but is much older as Robin noted that it was developed long ago on Pirate Island. Sanji is also aware of it, which suggests that Zeff may have encountered it during his year on the Grand Line.
Theoretically, you could have as many different events as there are crewmen, but usually there are far fewer as some events use more than one on each side. People who take part in one event cannot take part in another. Of course, if a person competing in the next event is chosen, then they cannot compete and a substitution cannot be made. So if it's a one on one match, then the other crew automatically loses that event. It's generally regarded as cheating in that situation though.
If I recall correctly, there was a rule mentioned early on that a crewmember lost in an earlier round could not be taken back in the next round. If so, Oda must have forgotten about it as the Straw Hats choose to take Chopper back with their first pick. That or I may just be getting that rule wrong, perhaps I'm mixing it up with the previous rule about substitutes.
The Davy Back Fight we see consists of three events:
The Donut Race, which was a boat race around Longringlongland.
The Groggy Ring.
A fight between the two captains, which takes place aboard Foxy's ship.
5A. Groggy Ring? Huh?
The Groggy Ring is a sport that requires putting a ball within the ring on a playing surface however you can manage it; a single goal wins the game for either side. Your team can drag, kick, punch, or do just about anything to move the ball onto the ring. To make things more interesting, the balls are placed on top of one player's head on each team so that there are two balls on the field at any given time. A team loses if the player with the ball on their team is within the ring and, as a result, the game is as much about protecting your ball carrier as it is about scoring. In the version that we see, there are supposed to be two three man teams, but one of them winds up a man short.
It's kind of like hockey or soccer, but without a goalie. Rather than have one person dedicated to protecting the ring, everybody is either trying to score or keep their ball away from the ring.
Groggy action is pretty chaotic, but there are a few rules:
You cannot attack the referee, regardless of how bad a job he is doing.
Fans cannot interfere with the events on the field.
Weapons are illegal.
Like in soccer, illegal actions are noted with colored cards, but only if the referee notices them. A first infraction results in a yellow card (a warning), while a second is a red card and results in the ejection of the offending player. If the ball carrier is ejected, then the team automatically loses as they cannot make a substitution.
6. What is the Aqua Laguna?
Part V. Story Arcs
1. So what all happens in East Blue?
A. Higuma, Alvida, and Morgan
B. Buggy the Clown
C. Kuro of the Thousand Plans
D. Don Krieg
E. Arlong The Saw
F. Captain Smoker
2. Where do they go from there?
A. The Baroque Works, Nine to Five and Tea at Three
B. King Wapol
C. The Baroque Works
D. Bellamy The Hyena
3. Do they leave the Grand Line?
A. God Ener
4. What happens after Skypiea?
A. Foxy
B. Aokiji
C. Cipher Pol 9
C1. So what all happens during this story arc?
! After Aokiji leaves, the crew manages to get Luffy safely aboard and thaw him out. They set out from Longringlongland to continue their search for a shipwright to perform maintenance on the Going Merry. It is at this point that they first catch a glimpse of the giant sumo frog Yokozuna and the Sea Train known as the Puffing Tom.
! At a small switching station near the tracks, they make the acquaintance of an old souse named Kokoro, who informs them that the nearby city of Water 7 is a shipbuilding center where their ship can be repaired. She provides them with a note that should get the Merry repaired for them and the crew sets out on its merry way. The Straw Hats soon arrive at Water 7, which rises right up out of the ocean, and whose skyline is dominated by a massive fountain.
! Upon arriving in Water 7, Luffy, Nami, and Usopp set out to get the gold that they "stole" during Skypiea assayed to the tune of 300 million berries. Obviously delighted with their new found wealth, the three set out to find a shipwright or at the very least pay to have Merry repaired as the ship has been seriously damaged during the previous few arcs. They ride Sea Bulls during this, which are aquatic animals similar in some regards to sea horses that many locals use for transportation. Luffy is relieved of his suitcase carrying duties after he very nearly drops the money into one of the canals that make up the city streets.
! Meanwhile, Sanji, Robin, and Chopper set out to explore the city while Zoro takes a nap. His nap is cut short when several bounty hunters/ship dismantlers known as the Franky Family shows up. He effortlessly defeats them and goes back to sleep. While roaming around the city, Robin encounters a mysterious masked man who whispers the word CP9 to her. She disappears shortly after, though Sanji does see her with the masked man. There are many such masked people in town as one of the local islands is having a festival where people wear masks.
! Upon arriving at Dock 1, the Straw Hats encounter a Galley-La dock foreman who bears a striking resemblance to Usopp. Both of them share a similar long nose, though Kaku's is square shaped instead. Kaku agrees to go take a lot at the Merry and sets off for the shore, leaping gracefully from building to building. Sanji sees him during this and mistakes him for Usopp.
! Luffy and company meet the head of the Galley-La corporation and Mayor of Water 7, Iceburg, and his secretary Califa. They give Iceburg the note from Kokoro, but Kaku has already set out. The Franky Family attempts to walk off with some of the money that Nami and Usopp are lugging around, but are foiled by the arrival of another dock foreman known as Paulie. Paulie, who has gambling problems, also attempts to abscond with the loot, but is himself thwarted by yet another dock foreman named Rob Lucci, who talks through his pet pigeon Hattori. Usopp becomes interested in some cannons that are waiting to be installed on a ship and several members of the Franky family sneak up on him while he is distracted.
! The ultimate verdict on the Merry is bad; she cannot be fixed as her keel has been damaged. Iceburg suggests buying a brand new ship, but Luffy refuses. They start to leave, but a government official known as Corgi shows up to talk with Iceburg. The Straw Hats are hidden by the various dock foremen so that they won't be arrested. We are introduced to two more foremen during this, one a very large man named Tilestone and another, Peepley Lulu, who is afflicted with a permanent case of bed hair. Nami and Luffy then discover that Usopp is gone and the two briefcases he was carrying are now empty. Lulu notes that he saw Kaku with the Franky Family and they realize that Usopp has been kidnapped by the ship dismantlers. Nami sets out to get Zoro and Sanji so that they can deal with the Franky's and discovers Usopp enroute. He has been beaten pretty badly and says that he cannot go back to the others after having lost the money to fix Merry.
! Nami goes to get Chopper, but Usopp is gone by the time she returns. He has went to the Franky House in an attempt to get the money back, but is beaten once again. Franky, whose face is concealed by a mask, leaves by the Sea Train with the bulk of the money, leaving a sizable amount for his cohorts to party with. That party is cut short by the arrival of Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Chopper, who trash the Franky House and all of its inhabitants. After the fight, Luffy decides to get a new ship.
! He informs Usopp of this decision, which the latter rejects out of hand. The end result is that he challenges Luffy to a duel for the Merry.
! C2. A WHAT? WHY?
! Basically, the problem is this:
! Usopp is a young man who is pretty conflicted by his role in the Straw Hats crew. He is only 17 years old and had a very heavy burden on him, which was that he was a member of a crew that was attracting more and more powerful adversaries.
! Usopp hasn't won a solo battle against anybody since Chuu way back in the Arlong arc, which is getting close to 300 chapters ago. Since then, his only major battle that he's won was against the Mr. 4 pair and without Chopper, he would have been killed. On top of that, he was on the only Straw Hat team to lose their Davy Back Fight event and was beaten up by the Franky Family twice. So the guy obviously has confidence problems, which are made worse by the fact that he had quite a bit of pride. He may be a coward at times, but he doesn't want to be.
! When the Straw Hats ran into Aokiji, the Admiral easily squashed Robin, Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro in a matter of seconds. This event made Usopp begin to ponder whether or not he was going to be capable of staying with the crew.
! So when Luffy suggested replacing the Merry, Usopp took offense as he thought that the implication was that they lost so much money that they could no longer afford to fix Merry. When informed that was not the case, Usopp began much more angry as the ship was precious to him as a gift from Kaya.
! There's more to it than just that though, Usopp took it as a personal affront; that when something became too weak for the crew to continue along with, that they would abandon it without a second thought. Usopp, who views himself as being weak despite his boasts, likely felt that he would eventually fall behind and that he too would be left without a second thought if it became too difficult for the others to keep helping him.
! On the other side, Luffy, who had never been too particular about whether or not people listened to him (as he was usually used to be yelled at for suggesting something) and who usually allowed the crew to make decisions in a democratic fashion, reacted angrily when his decision as captain was questioned. Basically, he said something that he thought would take Usopp's mind off of the situation, he didn't get the reaction that he wanted, and reacted badly because of it. He then mouthed off to Usopp about being useless and got a kick in the head from Sanji in response; Luffy regretted what he had said, but it was too late by this point. Words had been exchanged that could not be forgotten.
D. Moria
VI. References
VII. Viz's changes
1. Zolo versus Zoro
A. Did Viz change Zoro because of a copyright issue with Zorro?
No, you cannot copyright a name, period. Want me to say it again? Because I will and the truth won't have changed in the time that it took me to write it. YOU CANNOT COPYRIGHT A WORD OR NAME, in particular one that previously existed in another language. You can however trademark a name that appears in a particular fashion for the purposes of marketing.
Original works can be copyrighted, but not names. I can't stress that enough.
B. Did Viz change Zoro to Zolo because Disney holds the Zorro trademark?
No, and I swear to God that the next person who says this will get stabbed in the face.
B1. Disney does not own the Zorro trademark. Zorro Productions does.
B2. The only live Zoro trademark belongs to an Italian company that produces luxury goods. All Shueisha would have to do is simply use Roronoa Zoro on any merchandise, which easily distinguishes between the two trademarks, though I seriously doubt that Viz would be cranking out faux leather Zoro suitcases. The Italian company would have to prove that Shueisha using Zoro was with the intent of creating brand confusion (which means that they use the name to make consumers think that product that they are purchasing is made by someone else) and that Shueisha's use of the Zoro trademark represents a clear financial loss to them. Seeing as how it's unlikely that the two would be in competition, that would be a very, very hard case for the Italian company to win. Same for Zorro Productions, which would have to build a case around how a character whose name is spelled differently, is not Spanish, is not a masked avenger, and who is not based in Spanish California infringes on their trademark. Oda may well have named Zoro for the Zorro, but that's not really enough to win a lawsuit.
B3. The final thing to consider is this:
Shueisha did not bother to trademark the name Roronoa Zoro, Monkey D. Luffy, or any of the other character names from One Piece until after the animated series was butchered upon release here in the US. Following the release, it was only about three months until the corporation chose to file trademark claims on the characters. It seems eminently reasonable that Shueisha's sudden decision to trademark the names had to do with the release of the anime. Furthermore, they chose to trademark Roronoa Zolo, which is almost certainly because 4Kids chose to use that translation. Had they wanted Roronoa Zoro, there was absolutely nothing stopping them from taking it. Especially seeing as how there are actually more live Zolo trademarks than there are Zoro.
C. So what do you think of the use of Zolo?
Eh, it doesn't really bother me that much.
Thanks to the nature of the Japanese language, either Zoro or Zolo are valid translations from a linguistics standpoint. So it's not like Viz or 4Kids or anybody else is making an entirely unreasonable move by translating it as Zolo. That's not to say that there isn't a problem with using Zolo, namely the fact that Zoro is definitely Oda's intention as it's appeared in English numerous times in the original manga over the course of the entire series, unlike Loguetown or a few other words that are debatably Engrish that only appeared once or a few times at most.
Because Oda uses it, I use Zoro, there's nothing stopping you from using Zoro, but the fact remains that the reason that it is Zolo in the English print edition is that Shueisha chose for it to be that way. That's exceedingly unlike to change, no matter how many people complain.