Thriller Bark
Thriller Bark (スリラーバーク, Surirābāku) is the world's largest ship from the anime and manga One Piece and is owned by Gecko Moria of the Shichibukai. At first glance, because of its size, Thriller Bark seems like an island. It is home to many victims of Moria, as well as revived dead created by Hogback. It is first seen in chapter 443 of the One Piece Manga. The general theme behind the place is one of a complete nightmare full of things from horror stories.
Part in the story
The Straw Hat Pirates became a target of Thriller Bark when they opened a floating barrel they found in the sea that caused a signal flare to be released. After meeting Brook, a revived skeleton-man on a nearby ship, the crew finds themselves trapped within the gates of Thriller Bark just after watching the mysterious skeleton run towards that direction. Nami, Usopp and Chopper end up being stranded on shore when they crash the Mini-Merry. They end up coming across a Cerberus and after running away, meet up with Hildon who leads them to the Mansion.
Thriller Bark is apparently home to the famous Doktor Hogback, who vanished many years ago. The zombies and zombie animals on Thriller Bark are examples of his work, aided by the help of Gecko Moria. Gecko Moria creates these zombies by stealing the shadow of unlucky visitors, which is also the soul of the body, and then injecting the shadow into powerful bodies stitched together by Hogback. The result is a much more powerful warrior that has the physical strength of the zombie with the personality and fighting skill of the shadow. Every zombie has a number insigned upon a band around their arm or on their body. So far, numbers 1-200 have consisted of Zombie Animals, 200-400 have been Surprise Zombies, 400-800 have been the Soldier Zombies and 800 onwards have been General Zombies. With the capture of Luffy's shadow, Moria attempt to revive a gigantic monster (zombie #900) with it. However, as the Zombies are a product of the Devil Fruit, they are suspectible to the same weakness of a devil fruit User— in this case, the salt from the sea will "purify" them. Thriller Bark is also linked to Brook's past.
Currently, having wound up back at the ship and waking up Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji the crew is preparing to launch a counter attack to get back their shadows and Brook's and rescue Nami. Brook meanwhile has begun his battle with Ryuma. During the battle with Ryuma, it is revealed that Brook and his crew were the ones who left Laboon on reverse mountain 50 years ago. With Brook defeated at Ryuma's hands, Zoro has taken over in his battle. Meanwhile, Usopp has taken up battle against Perona, Chopper and Robin face off against Hogback and Cindry, Sanji has interrupted Absolom's wedding to Nami and Luffy finally approaches his Shichibukai opponent. Yet looming over the whole battle is the unpredictable actions of Oz, who has recently made Thriller Bark begin moving again by moving the sail. If his actions make them move the ship out of the fogbank in the Florian Triangle, then there is a possibility that all those without shadows, including Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Brook, may dissapear if Moria isn't stopped.
Pirate flag
The pirate flag of Moria's ship is a grinning face with bat-like wings. [1]
Ship
Thriller Bark's shape is a round hull. The island in the center is connected with the outer hull by four colossal chains. The Island is ringed by a broken battlement. It is covered with forest that is full of Zombie animals, and a large graveyard where the majority of the zombie soldiers sleep. At the center is tower/mast of the ship and several other buildings including Hogback's massive mansion. Inside the mansion is Hogback's laboratory where he creates the Zombies, as well as a room where inactive zombie generals sleep. Connecting the Mansion to the mast is two large bridges. The top one and the largest contains Perona's wonder garden which is over looked by her room. The lower, smaller bridge was a normal stone bridge until Franky destroyed it. Currently it has been replaced by a web made by Talleran. The tower doubles as the main mast of the ship. Inside is Moria's quarters and Perona's room. The tower also has a massive freezer where Oz is stored. On the port side of the tower there is a sloping structure that leads from the tower to the ground near the battlements, which was revealed to be a large stairway. After stealing a beings shadow they're taken down the stairs to there ship which is caught in a giant spider web, after which the ship is released from Thriller Bark. From Brook's earlier statements about Thriller Bark it would appear it was once an Island that Gecko Moria took over and converted into a ship.
Attacks
The method Thriller Bark uses to attack people is after locating them with a flare the ship comes up and swallows the smaller ships. The captured vessels are maneuvered to the port side where there is a giant spider web and an entrance to the island. Once lured inside a crew is attacked by Zombies and captured. They are transported to the mast where Moria removes a persons shadow after which there taken down a stair that leads from the mast directly back to the trapped ships after which they are released into the Florian Triangle.
Inhabitants on Thriller Bark
Gecko Moria
Main article: Gecko Moria
Dr. Hogback
Master of the Mansion
- Seiyuu:
Doktor Hogback (ドクトル・ホグバック, Dokutoru Hogubakku) is a world famous doctor, who according to Chopper saved as many people as there are stars in the sky. One day he disappeared from the public eye, causing turmoil in the medical community. Nami, Usopp and Chopper meet him on Thriller Bark, and he explains to them that he is researching the nature of life and death using the zombies on the island. This is later exposed as a lie when the crew discovers that Hogback himself created the zombies, and is a crewmate of Gecko Moria, who breathes life into Hogback's zombies with the shadows he steals, transferring the fighting ability and personality of the shadow's former owner into the body. He is later seen meeting with Gecko Moria, Perona and Absalom concerning the creation of Zombie #900 and the removal of Luffy's shadow. Hogback is currently facing off against Chopper, who, as a doctor, resents his experiments in zombification for being intended for personal gain rather than the progress of medical science. However, much to Chopper and Robin's dismay, Hogback has prepared Jigoro and Sanji's zombie for the battle to come.
Trivia
- Like many other characters in One Piece, Hogback has a unique laugh (fosfosfosfos).
- As revealed in chapter 456, Dr. Hogback's dream was to create the world's strongest zombie. This dream is pretty much fulfilled with the introduction of Oz.
- In chapter 456, Dr. Hogback reveals that he met Gecko Moria ten years ago.
Absalom
Zombie Soldier and General Zombie Commander
- Seiyuu:
Nicknamed Absalom of the Graveyard (墓場のアブサロム, Hakaba no Abusaromu), he is one of Gecko Moria's henchmen. He commands the soldier sect of zombies on Thriller Bark, and his subordinates have a tendency of making fun of his perverted nature, referring to him as "Erosalom" (Perv-salom). He intends on taking Nami as his bride, stating he prefers weaker women, as when he unsuccessfully tried to take Robin before Nami. Part of his perversion and female lust lies in his dislike of Lola, a boar woman who loves him in return. His personality borders on animalistic, as shown by his behavior thus far, as well as his tendency to growl. His main ability is to turn invisible as shown by his initial attacks on Nami and Robin, but it is later revealed that his true appearance is that of a man with a stitched lion's face.
In a recent chapter of One Piece, he attempts to kidnap Nami to force her to marry him, only to get electrocuted by her Perfect Clima Tact. Unfortunately, he has mistaken the jolt from the electricity for the feeling of love, which can only serve to worsen his pursuits of her. He has also demonstrated a considerable amount of power, blasting a multitude of zombies who questioned his authority with an invisible burst of energy, throwing them back and destroying several trees in the process. He hid from Lola in Perona's room in the same chapter. In chapter 457, Absalom demonstrated yet another different power, by setting fiery explosions upon Usopp and Chopper as they attempt to flee with Nami. When Absalom finally abducts Nami from the burned duo, he turns both himself and Nami invisible to escape. Now with Nami by his side, he plans to hold his wedding ceremony to make Nami his bride forever. Yet Oz's manipulation of the ship, combined with Sanji's arrival at the ceremony, may end up preventing his dreams from reaching reality. Absalom is recently fighting against Sanji.
It has been revealed in Chapter 464 that Absalom has eaten the Suke Suke no mi[[1]] (Inivisible Invisible fruit), which allows him to turn invisible on demand and to turn obejcts or persons invisible, if he touches them. His explosive attacks are shot by hidden, invisible bazookas attached to his arms. Also in chapter 464, Absalom revealed his true abilities. He was given body parts from different animals by Hogback. These are his lion jaw, a thick elephant skin and 300 kg condensed muscles from different gorillas and bears. despite these improvements, Sanji still gained an upper hand over him.
Trivia
- Like many other characters in One Piece, Absalom has a unique laugh, his sounding somewhat like a growl (garurururu).
- As revealed in chapter 456, Absalom's dream is to rule all the graveyards in the world.
- Absalom has a habit of commenting on how a superior strictly treats to his/her henchmen or vice versa, e.g. Perona to Kumasy or Cindry to Hogback.
Perona
Zombie Animal and Surprise Zombie Commander
- Seiyuu:
Nicknamed the "Ghost Princess", Perona (ぺローナ) is a girl dressed in Gothic Lolita style and a commander in the army of Gecko Moria on his island-ship of Thriller Bark. She controls several ghostly apparitions that she uses as scouts for both Moria and Dr. Hogback. Her ghosts originally appeared on the Thousand Sunny, apparently to scout. She is also the commander of Perona Wonder Garden, where an army of animal zombies live and protect for her. She is aware of the bounties of the Straw Hat crew as seen when her ghosts spoke to Hogback. The ghosts can pass through someone to cause them to drop to the ground in a type of induced depression. Her ghosts have a strange tendency to say the word "negative" repetitively, and she can't stand anything that is not cute. She looted the Thousand Sunny with some zombies in chapter 454. She took on guard duty since Absalom is away attempting to marry Nami. She has revealed to have eaten the Horo Horo no Mi (Ghost Ghost Fruit) which can weaken anyone, except pessimistic people like Usopp. Using other ghostly abilities including flight, size manipulation, tangibility, and ghost bombs, Perona appeared to have Ussop on the run until he finally figured out the key to her power: she must leave her physical body in order to use her ghost powers, making her physical body (hidden away in her room) vulnerable for attack.
Trivia
- Like many other characters in One Piece, Perona has a unique laugh (horohorohoro, which contains the word horo, meaning ghost).
- As revealed in chapter 456, Perona's dream is to have her own country made up of cute zombie animals with her as their leader.
- The recent chapters revealed that Perona had no knowledge of Brook nor about the incident that occurred five years ago when he first appeared because she slept through the entire incident, telling Bearsy to shut up when he tried to alert her.
Victoria Cindry
Servant of Hogback
- Seiyuu:
Victoria Cindry (ビクトリア・シンドリー, Bikutoria Shindorii) is Dr. Hogback's servant. She hates plates, to the extent of serving food directly onto the table, and constantly expresses her wish for all of the world's plates to vanish. According to Hogback, she has had a tragic past - her master proposed to her, that she could test his love for her. But then she crushed his ten valuable plates, and he rejected her, and thus she has a habit of throwing plates.
However, Nami, Usopp and Chopper has found a room with a lot of photographs of her when she was apparently happy, healthy, and alive. According to a newspaper article in her room, she was once a famous stage actress called Victoria Cindry. Ten years ago she fell from stage and died in an accident. Cindry was apparently later revived from the dead. Nami suspected her true background was that she was a noblewoman, not a servant in her past life. [2]
Although she assists Dr. Hogback with his creation of zombies, she has admitted to not like her master's experiments, even if she herself is a revived creation. [3] She reappears in chapter 456, attending the meeting with Dr. Hogback. She comments to Absalom that he will never get his bride (Nami), and that Dr. Hogback will never get her either after Perona reveals that Nami, Usopp and Chopper were never delivered to her. Recently she has begun to battle Robin.
Trivia
- Her zombie number is 400.
Hildon
- Seiyuu:
Hildon (ヒルドン, Hirudon) is one of Dr. Hogback's servants. He was introduced in chapter 444. He takes Nami, Usopp and Chopper to the mysterious Dr. Hogback's mansion. He looks like a vampire (he quite possibly is), and in chapter 445 it was revealed, that he can fly with bat wings. His actions so far have been somewhat untrustworthy - he left Nami, Chopper and Usopp in a cemetery with dangerous zombies. In chapter 447, Hildon reappeared and offered to take Nami, Chopper and Usopp to their bedrooms. They refused his offer due to his previous actions. He seemed sincere and was annoyed with the Dining Room Surprise Zombies pressuring him. He has latter reappeared to tell Perona that Luffy was captured and inform Perona and Absalom to attend a meeting with Dr. Hogback and Gecko Moria. When the Straw Hats began their counter attack he alerted Moria, Hogback, and Perona.
Trivia
- His zombie number is 21.
- Due to his apperences it seems that his main job is that of a messenger and scout for Thriller Bark.
Zombie animals
One of the four types of zombies on board the ship, the zombie animals are under the contol of Perona. A large number of them live in Perona's domain. Nami, Usopp and Tony Tony Chopper have recently run into a large number of them.
Individual zombie animals:
- Kumasy (クマシー, Kumashī): A patchwork bear zombie with a zipper in its back and a hollow body. Perona hates it when Kumasy talks and scolds him for doing so. Nami, Usopp, and Chopper were able to elude their zombie pursuers by unzipping Kumasy's back and hiding inside. His name is commonly translated into english as Bearsy.
- Cerberus: A sewn-together dog with three heads (one of which is a fox). The Straw Hats tame him and ride him to Hogback's mansion. His zombie number is 82.
- Risky Brothers: A duo of zombie squirrels who deliver captives to Moria in coffins. They were knocked out by Chopper.
- Penguin Zombie Trio: Three penguin zombies who live in the Wonder Garden, they were among the group that ambushed Nami, Usopp and Chopper. One of them has Sanji's shadow.
Lola
- Seiyuu:
Lola (ローラ, Rōra) is a zombie-warthog many times the size of a normal human, found on Thriller Bark. She is fanatically in love with Absalom. In her first appearance in chapter 451, she begs him to marry her, but is frantically rejected because he wanted a "living female human" as bride and not a "dead and rotting female warthog". She took his rejection with tears and anger, and tried to forcibly make him sign a marriage contract. After learning that Nami was the "beautiful and weak" woman Absalom wanted as his wife, she flew into an even bigger rage, vowing to find and destroy her. However, Nami was able to get her off her back by claiming she is "Namizou", a gay transvestite male and talking things over with the warthog. She appears to fight with style called "Bridal Martial Arts" and a wedding veil.
Surprise zombies
The surprise zombies are zombies disguised as pictures and furniture. The dining room ones are under the control of Buhichuck. They are defeated by the Straw Hats, but manage to get a message to Hogback that the crew is inside the mansion.
Individual surprise zombies:
- Rug-Bear: A zombified bearskin rug who is one of the largest Surprise Zombies.
- Jack-In-The-Box: A zombie treasure chest that guard's Cindry's room. Nami's greed tempts her to open the chest, and he pops out and scares the Straw Hats out of the room. His zombie number is 256.
- Wall Zombie: A zombie wall that drops from the ceiling to seal off a corridor.
Buhichuck
Boss of the Dining Room Surprise Zombies
- Seiyuu:
Buhichuck (ブヒチャック, Buhichiaku) is the boss of the "surprise zombies", in the dining room. At first glance he looks like an ordinary taxidermied pig's head mounted on the wall, but he can come to life and wield a pair of swords mounted below him as throwing weapons using concealed hands. According to him, there are more surprise zombies hidden in every room of Doktor Hogback's mansion. Luffy, Franky, Robin and Zoro forced him to show them around the castle, but Zoro went missing. Then, the zombie generals appeared, and Buhichuck ran off.
Trivia
- His zombie number is 298.
- His name is often translated as Oinkchuck.
- Buhichuck's dialogue in the manga is written in handwriting rather than typed text.
- Like many other characters in One Piece, Buhichuck has a unique laugh (buhihihihi), which would probably be rendered in English as oioioioink.
Soldier zombies
The grunt forces of the island, the soldier zombies are under the control of Absalom. Though formidable, the zombies are nonetheless comedic and generally unhappy with their lot in life. They have recently been seen disco dancing to celebrate "Zombienight", the beginning of their attack on the Straw Hat Crew.
Individual soldier zombies:
- Mario: A large Frankenstein's monster-like creature who has yet to be activated, but who is apparently Hogback's strongest creation. His zombie number is 741.
- Nin: An archer zombie who signals Moria of the Straw Hats' presence on the island.
- Gyoro: Another of the three Zombies who work as Moria's personal servants.
- Bao: One of Moria's personal Zombies.
Zombie generals
Referred to as Legendary warriors of ancient times, these zombies are way above the rest as far as combat ability is concerned. They are a pretty diverse group mostly consisting of heavily armed and armored knights and various felons. While they remain vulnerable to fire like all zombies, they carry buckets of water in order to overcome this weakness.All the general zombies were defeated by Oz when they tried to stop him from moving the rudder of Thriller Bark.
Individual zombie generals:
- Captain John (キャプテン・ジョン, Kyaputen Jiyon): Introduced drinking from a bottle of alcohol, he was criticized by Absalom for lagging behind compared to his compatriot generals, and not living up to his notorious reputation.
- Jigoro of the Wind (風のジゴロウ, Kaze no Jigorou): Once killed 7000 pirates to protect his own family; died at age 59. He possess the shadow of Zoro. Jigoro, along with Sanji's Zombie, has entered the battle between Chopper, Robin, Hogback and Cindry. His zombie number is 850.
- Talaran (タララン, Tararan): a bizarre, gigantic combination of a spider and a monkey. He has web glands in his hands and commands an army of "spider mice," who quietly kidnap victims in the mansion with their special, unbreakable webbing. He was ultimately cut in half by Brook and consequently lost his shadow. It can be presumed that the shadow returned to it's owner.
Trivia:
- In chapter 233, Buggy the Clown is seen looking for the treasure of the legendary Captain John. While it isn't confirmed yet if it's the same Captain John as the zombie general, it seems likely given Oda's nature when it comes to foreshadowing.
Samurai Ryuma
Zombie General and Guardian
- Seiyuu:
Samurai Ryuma (サムライ・リューマ, Samurai Riyūma) is a deceased elite swordsman from the New World island "Wano Country" (a reference to "Wa no Kuni", i.e. Japan), who Hogback said to be centuries old. He is largely known for slaying a dragon. He has considerable ability with his katana, as he struck down Usopp, Nami, and Chopper in one motion, walked ten feet and conversed with Cindry before they noticed they were attacked.
Five years prior, the skeleton Brook had his shadow stolen by Gecko Moria and used by him and the mad Doktor Hogback for the revival of Ryuma. Although Brook had tried to fight back, the zombie easily defeated him and the skeleton was removed from Thriller Bark. Recently with the return of the massive ship into the Florian Triangle, Brook has stormed the ship and approached Ryuma once again in an another attempt to defeat him and reclaim his shadow for his own body. However, Ryuuma shows his easy domination over the skeleton man, defeating him with his own style. Currently, he is preparing for a battle with another swordsman: the Strawhats' Roronoa Zoro. His current weapon is "Shōsui", one of the twenty-one legendary blades that potentially could be a replacement for Yubashiri in Zoro's Santōryū style.
Trivia:
- It bares note that Ryuma is similar in nature to another "Ryuma" who appeared in Monsters, an early Oda story created prior to the start of One Piece. In that tale, a samurai named Ryuma from a world similar to Japan killed a dragon.
Oz
Special Zombie
- Seiyuu:
Not much is known about Oz (オーズ, Ōzu), but he has been revealed as a massive horned creature with a devilish appearance. He is the 900th zombie, something the whole crew on Thriller Bark is excited about. Gecko Moria plans on placing Luffy's shadow into it, making the strongest zombie in the entire world. He is said to be the demon of the Frozen Land, having conquered and mercilessly ruled many countries and islands prior to his death five-hundred years ago. However, when Gecko Moria placed Luffy's shadow in Oz, his plan backfired when Oz screamed out for meat, Sanji, and food seconds after Oz woke up (due to Luffy's combination of stupidity and hunger). He then ate up an enormous quantity of food before smashing his way out of the freezer, claiming his dream was to be the next pirate king. He was then seen walking outside, surprised that his hands didn't stretch during his "gomu gomu no pistol" attack earlier. In comparison to other zombie, he is disobedient, but possibly due to the fact that he's newly revived. He also appears to have inherited Luffy's every aspect except for his stretchy body. After climbing all over one of the masts and breaking part of the ship, Oz landed right in front of several Straw Hats and blocking their way into Moria's castle, before he grabbed a building and put it on his head as a tricone. Oz is later seen moving the rudder of Thriller Bark. When the general zombies try to stop him he defeats them with a "Gatling" attack.
Members' strength
Being made up of mostly zombies, Thriller Bark can be labeled only as a nightmare come to life. Most of the inhabitants are apparently afraid of fire, just like many monsters in classic horror movies. Furthermore, like most Japanese ghosts, they can be purified with sea-salt, which is what Brook had intended to do. The whole island is apparently created to lure in and trap pirates and other criminals. Once the said crew is trapped, the residents of Thriller Bark then attack them. The greatest threat is Gecko Moria, who has stolen many shadows on Thriller Bark. He is an Shichibukai with a former bounty of 320 million berri, 20 million higher than Monkey D. Luffy. If the pirates are strong, the zombies will attempt to capture them, which allows Moria to resurrect dead bodies by stealing the shadow of the captured and transfer them to the dead bodies.
So far they have easily taken Luffy, Sanji and Zoro (the Straw Hats best fighters) without any problems. Sanji and Zoro were taken without the others even realizing they were gone. Franky and Robin have also come close to defeat but have managed to slip through and avoid capture with the help of Brook while Usopp, Nami and Chopper were captured successfully but escaped thanks to a lucky break.
To aid them, they have the bodies of hundreds of dead legendary warriors from all over the world frozen ready for use with the shadow (soul) of strong fighters they come across. Also, they have the dreaded body of the late monster Oz (zombie 900), who Hogback turned into a zombie to help Moria create the Zombie King with Luffy's shadow. It is stated zombie 900 has the strength to make Moria into the Pirate King. However, despite all this potential power so far every member of Thriller Bark has failed for one reason or another against the Straw Hats counter strike.
