Disclaimer: This article tackles the idea of history as an integral part of the the series. For theories concerning the Void Century, please read The One Piece Connection.

Known for its world building, the series One Piece by Eiichiro Oda is set in an oceanic planet where pirates roam free, featuring the adventures of a young man as he sets sail to become the King of the Pirates. Underlying the epic journey is an eventful yet enigmatic centuries-spanning history, slowly unveiling over the course of the series. History is an integral part of Oda’s storytelling which serves to create an expansive world which both the characters and the readers can explore. However, even after almost two decades of serialization, the series remains reserved on the details and has yet to resolve some of its biggest mysteries.

「考古学界」ἀρχαιολογία: Archaeological World

Since the advent of humanity, man has continuously left evidence of their own existence. The cave dwellers left their paintings, as well as their remains. Oral traditions in the form of legends and myths provide insight on how people lived in the past. Monks and scholars in monasteries and academies wrote on scrolls and manuscripts. Many civilizations left their marks upon the world. The Mayans built large and intricately designed step pyramids dedicated to their deities or rulers and domesticated maize for consumption. The people of the Indus Valley developed sophisticated urban sanitation, in addition to practicing an early form of dentistry. The Chinese invented the compass and spread their culture to neighboring countries for centuries while engaging in ceramic and silk trade with various kingdoms over land and sea. In One Piece, large slabs containing text written in an unknown language are scattered throughout the world, left behind by a mysterious ancient civilization.

In the study of history, information is derived from primary sources: original materials such as documents and artifacts from the time of study. Through the careful recovery and analysis of such evidence, the information on the materials gathered is placed in a detailed document known as a secondary source. With the large extent of human history, archaeology can be categorized into various sub-disciplines which focus on a certain civilization, historicity, era, or human activity. For example, classical archaeology studies the civilizations of Ancient Greek and Ancient Rome, while maritime archaeology orients itself toward human interactions with the sea. Archaeology can also work with other disciplines such as forensics in order to solve various mysteries. The role of history in One Piece is inherent to the main story; one of the main characters in the series is an archaeologist, and the Straw Hats are the only pirate crew to have one. As the resident archaeologist of the crew, Nico Robin has the skills to infer a plausible cause or explanation from the scene through her analysis of the evidence left behind.

「聖刻文字」ἱερογλυφη: Sacred Writings

The series features “poneglyphs” (also spelled ponegliff), the aforementioned large indestructible slabs of stones scattered across the One Piece world. Alternatively written with the characters for “historical text” (歴史の本文, rekishi no honbun) in Japanese, these slabs contain records of a lost civilization in an ancient language, though the meaning behind the text has remained lost in time. Given their similar names, Oda likely took his inspiration for poneglyphs from hieroglyphs, the formal writing system used by the Ancient Egyptians. The hieroglyph system comprises of symbols that represent concepts and basic sounds which the Egyptians would write on papyrus or carve into stone. Since knowledge of the writing system was lost, hieroglyphics remained an undecipherable mystery until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. A French expedition team commissioned by Napoleon uncovered the slab by a fort near Rosetta in 1799. Containing essentially the same text in three languages (Hieroglyph, Demotic, and Classical Greek), the Rosetta Stone was the key to the translation of ancient Egyptian text. In the series, Nico Robin’s ability to decipher the ancient languages on the poneglyphs provides crucial information to the characters and the readers.

The term “poneglyph” is likely derived from the Greek words ponērós (πονηρός; evil) and glúphē (γλύφη; carving). The word ponērós (πονηρός) should be differentiated from the other Greek words for evil: kakós (κακός) and saprós (σαπρός). In a Biblical sense, kakós refers to the essential nature of evil, while saprós refers to degeneracy or corruption. On the other hand, the term ponērós is an adjective that closely translates to pain-ridden, referring to the agonies that result from evil. It is related to pónos (πόνος; labor, distress, pain), and both are ultimately derived from pénomai (πένομαι; to toil). The Greek word for carving gave rise to the word glyph, a character used in writing to convey information. The word itself can be found in various English words, such as hieroglyph (“holy carvings”), petroglyph (“rock carvings”), and geoglyph (“earth carvings”). Aside from the fact that the poneglyphs are a source of pain for the World Government, the term may also have been a reference to the tribulations of the people that had carved the ancient text.

「暗黒時代」μυστήριον: Lost Civilization

The Void Century (空白の百年, kuuhaku no hyakunen) is a period that occurred several hundred years prior to the current storyline. True to its name, the only known details of this the era include the destruction of an ancient kingdom and the formation of the World Government. For reasons yet to be revealed, the World Government deems the study of the Void Century illegal, and has set out to destroy all evidence concerning the period, silencing anyone who seeks the truth behind it. The World Government annihilates the entirety of Ohara to keep their secrets safe from the world, as well as deeming a young child a major threat by assigning a high bounty to her for the crime of knowledge of the ancient language.

Similar to the Void Century, there are certain eras in the real world where evidence and written records concerning them are scarce; these eras are colloquially referred to as the Dark Ages. The term was originally applied to the Middle Ages (5th to 15th century), a period in Western Europe following the decline of the Roman Empire. While records concerning the Middle Ages are relatively less comprehensive compared to sources from the periods before and after it, in the past two centuries new research has uncovered more information and insight. In the series, there are archaeologists who would dare to risk their lives for the pursuit of knowledge, yet remain unsuccessful in sharing their findings with the world.

The term “Dark Ages” has also been applied to historical eras in other countries, such as the Middle Period of Cambodia (15th to mid-19th century) and the Greek Dark Ages (ca. 1100–800 BC) that followed the Bronze Age. Unlike the Middle Ages, the Greek Dark Ages lack archaeological evidence concerning the era to give a clear understanding on the events that occurred. The era preceded the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization, ushering in the decline of the Late Bronze Age. Considered to be the first advanced civilization in Greece, mainland Greece during the Mycenaean civilization was organized into palatial states, among which Mycenae is the most prominent. Its people spoke Mycenaean Greek, the most ancient known form of written Greek. Like the hieroglyphs, clay tablets containing text in this language remained undecipherable until the 1950s.

Theories surrounding the collapse of the civilization ranges from the Dorian Invasion to the Sea Peoples, conjectured groups of seafaring raiders who originated in the Aegean Sea and invaded various lands surrounding the Mediterranean. After the Dark Ages, Archaic Greece brought the rise of many city-states such as Athens and Sparta, as well as the looming threat of invasion from the Persian empire. Eventually, Greece was annexed into the Persian Empire during the classical period. In an interesting parallel, the World Government establishes itself as a main power in the One Piece world after the Void Century, taking many small kingdoms under its control, or forming alliances with them through threats. This seizing of power happens after the collapse of the ancient kingdom, the cause of which still remains shrouded in mystery. Readers can infer various clues dropped throughout the story to form the big picture. In addition, readers are also encouraged to draw comparisons with real-life history for inspiration in the formation of their own theories.

「政治宣伝」απάτη: Historical Re-Examination

When Robin questions Rayleigh concerning the Void Century, he simply replies that they should interpret it themselves once that they have come upon it. It may have been an allusion to the fact that history is filled with interpretations of its recorders, as well as its readers. As an example, Francis Drake was considered to be a hero in England, but reviled in the history of Spain. In another example, the French Revolution featured a wide array of interpretations with no clear consensus on its paradigm.

Due to the many possible ways to reinterpret history and the inability to return to the past, knowledge of historical events can easily be manipulated to fit one’s view or their existence denied entirely. Since ancient times, various rulers and regimes have conducted book burning or destruction of evidence, as well as rewriting history to portray the former era in a negative light. During the Qin Dynasty in Ancient China, the First Emperor had supposedly ordered the burning of various texts and the burial of hundreds of scholars, resulting in the loss of many philosophical treaties from the former era. In a karmic comeback, said emperor was vilified as a cruel despot during the subsequent dynasties and up to the modern times. In the case of One Piece, the World Government outright bans any research into the Void Century and denies the existence of the ancient kingdom, preventing much information concerning the era from being known to the general public.

The motives for revisionism are generally ideological and political in nature, as history has been commonly used as a vehicle to promote nationalism and patriotism. As an integral part in most school curriculum, history is taught to students at a young age, particularly with emphasis on their own country. Unfortunately, the contents of historical textbooks in various countries have been found to contain many political biases and misinformation, and subjected to numerous debates among scholars. In America, many proposed textbooks were found to ignore many important aspects of history, as well as containing inaccurate or distorted information. As examples, the topic of slavery is generally glossed over, while Islam and Muslims are given a disproportionately negative portrayal. In addition, the actions of European colonizers are portrayed in a positive light, while information concerning the indigenous people is either inaccurate or missing.

Oda’s home country, Japan, has a particularly infamous history of controversy concerning efforts to whitewash the depiction of Imperial Japan in history textbooks. Topics that face removal or reduction to footnotes include issues related to atrocities committed during the second world war: the massacre and rape committed by the Japanese troops in the then Chinese capital of Nanking, the lethal experimentation performed by Unit 731 on war prisoners, and the establishment of the comfort women system where women and girls were forced into sexual slavery. Politicians in the current administration (including the Prime Minister) have even outright denied such atrocities had occurred, while actively seeking history to be rewritten. Such action can be compared to the denial of the Holocaust that occurred during the Nazi regime.

Since the World Government in One Piece actively prevents information that could destroy their image from being released, it may imply that they too are hiding atrocities committed by their ancestors in the formation of the current system. Oda takes a more exaggerated stance in the portrayal of such horrors in the series, which include genocide and the mass destruction of islands.

Given that history can be rewritten in the past, it does bring to question the records and evidence we use to interpret history. In the series, Donquixote Doflamingo declares that justice is decided by the victors. With his former status in mind, it seems that he may have some knowledge of certain events in history. His words can also imply that only the victors decide how history will be written and how their enemies will be portrayed, in the same way that the World Government bans any research concerning the Void Century and decides which criminals should be forgotten by the public. The main reason could simply be to withhold any information that can be used against them, such as knowledge of the three ancient weapons. Due to their influences, the people remain ignorant of certain historical events out of fear and hold a strong stigma against pirates. Similarly, teaching history modified to accommodate a certain view amounts to deception and keeps the future citizens ignorant of the world at large.

By taking various inspirations from real life history, One Piece author Eiichiro Oda manages to create a series with a rich background to which the audience can relate. The series also inspires its readers to take an interest in history by encouraging them to form their own theories and search for references in relation to real life. In addition, the series reminds its fans that history can be viewed from different perspectives and that they should not base their judgments solely on what they have been taught. While it is fortunate that most governments in real life do not forbid its citizens from delving deep into history, limited knowledge of history can only provide a narrow view of the world. While the readers can be critical in their analysis of the series, we are also called upon to be more open-minded to the views of others in real life, as well as giving our own findings a healthy dose of skepticism.

“Chao Time” is a monthly editorial feature that is posted every fourth Wednesday of the month only at The One Piece Podcast website.