Luffy is about to pull off the greatest prison break the world has ever seen in One Piece’s Impel Down arc! This arc serves as somewhat of a prelude to the Marineford battle that follows, and sets up a ton of allies and enemies for Luffy. So, who’s being held in the watery depths of the World Government’s most secure prison? Tons of new characters and more than just Luffy’s jailbreak to come as the Impel Down arc is broken down.
Luffy was last seen on the island of Kuja, overseen by Warlord of the Sea Boa Hancock. He befriends the ruler of Amazon Lily and her sisters, but finds out his brother Ace is set for execution by the World Government in just a week. Now, he has to set out with the Empress to Impel Down, desperate to break Ace out.
Luffy and Hancock
The ride to Impel Down is a little awkward since Boa Hancock is hopelessly in love with Luffy. Even more, since she has to ride with a Navy ship, Luffy has to stay hidden. She still manages to get plenty of food for him to eat and store up strength, but it’s a tough act to keep up. Without her help though, Luffy undeniably would have never made it to Impel Down. Once they get there, it gets a lot more awkward too.
Impel Down has very, very strict security protocols, which is understandable since it houses some of the worst criminals. Luffy manages to hide in Boa Hancock’s clothes, which makes her even more in love with him since he has no feelings about it. Luffy doesn’t know anything about women, and very likely never will. They manage to get him into the top level of the prison though, and Luffy goes it alone from there.
What is Impel Down ?
This place is hell on earth, and truly the worst place for anyone to find themselves in. Massive gates and flights of stairs separate the floors, and each has its own theme of torture. Giant, ferocious creatures roam the halls as jailers, and will beat the hell out of anyone they see. When Luffy gets through the first floor it’s nothing but screams all around from prisoners, and it gets worse the lower it goes. The Navy has no qualms about torturing prisoners and will use the worst punishments imaginable to do so.
Each floor of Impel Down is its own version of hell, starting just past the entrance. The first level, Crimson Hell, is full of trees with leaves sharp as razor blades. Think that’s easy to avoid? The grass through the entire prisoner quarters is made of needles. The only means of escape is a small hole at the end of the floor which prisoners can jump through. This only leads to the Wild Beast Hell below, run by massive monsters with a thirst for blood.
The Break-In
Luffy and Hancock make it through the main security gate without much problem, and Luffy takes it on his own from there. He makes it easily through Crimson Hell and even picks up an old friend along the way. Buggy was left up top despite his infamy, with the guards unaware of his abilities. He was inevitably taken down with Luffy to Wild Beast Hell, where they barely outran the Beast Jailers. Despite all, Buggy stays by Luffy’s side long enough for them to save Galdino, otherwise known as Mister Three. Luffy manages to knock out the beasts and start a riot on this floor before they slip away.
The third floor is Starvation hell, and features some of the worse pirates to sail the Grand Line. This floor is hot, baked by the rising hot air of the fires below them. Prisoners starve with little food and water and often don’t make it long here. Luffy and his gang of misfits pick up another member here with none other than Bentham, or as Luffy calls him, Bon. Bentham joins their cause, and they jump down further to the next level called Blazing Hell. Take a wild guess at what this floor contains.
Magellan the Warden
Around this time Magellan finally leaves the bathroom. He’s the Warden of Impel Down, and runs a tight ship. He’s strict, and his only concern is making sure that pirates face justice for their crimes. Magellan’s greatest weakness is his Devil Fruit, the Poison-Poison Fruit. This makes everything he touches turn to poison, which he can live through, but also makes food upset his stomach. Any time he eats it usually ends up in a long trip to the bathroom, which is where he spends most of his day.
Magellan has already had a lot of trouble in Impel Down recently. His Vice-Warden, Shiryu, was put away for being too cruel to the prisoners and sent to the deepest level of the prison. Then there’s the matter of prisoners going missing every so often thanks to “demons” in the walls. None of these are going to be near the headache of what’s about to go down in Impel Down though.
Luffy Finds Old Friends
When Luffy finds Buggy, Galdino, and Bon things start to look up for his attack on the prison. It probably helps that he’s already made enough chaos to keep the guards busy with an uprising. It still doesn’t help him once they make it to the fourth level, Blazing Hell. Everything is on fire, and the prisoners are held over these flames and made to work. It’s a miserable existence, but it’s here that Luffy meets his end in Impel Down.
Magellan intercepts the intruder in Blazing Hell. Luffy is at a disadvantage too, because anything that touches Magellan is subject to his various poisons. Magellan proves he’s not worried about his own guards either, and poisons them along with anyone he tries to hit. Eventually, he pours so much poison into Luffy that everyone has to run away before they die. Magellan covers Luffy with enough poison to kill him in twenty-four hours, and for good measure sends him to level five until then.
Bon Clay to the Rescue
Buggy, Galdino, and Bon all take off as soon as the battle between Luffy and Magellan heats up, but manage to keep themselves from capture. It’s mostly thanks to Bon’s quick thinking, as he runs up just as Vice Warden Hannyabal finishes Buggy and Galdino off. Bon takes him out quickly, along with the rest of the guards, then poses as Hannyabal when Magellan returns. It’s brilliant thinking and keeps the three free for another few minutes while Magellan returns to his porcelain throne.
Bon is on a search for the former queen of the Kamabakka Kingdom, Emporio “Iva” Ivankov. He was last seen taken to Impel Down, but supposedly hasn’t been seen in years. Bon is determined to save his friend though, and traverses the Frozen Hell of level five. Luffy meanwhile is slowly dying from the poison but still trying to crawl his way to Ace, wherever he may be. Everything comes down to the wire when wolves surround Bon as he carries Luffy, who uses the last of his Haki to stop them. Things look bleak for the two as the cold and poison sets in, Luffy slowly fading away.
Emporio Ivankov
Iva is the right hand of the Revolutionary Army, and close friends with Luffy’s father, Dragon. He was also taken to Impel Down years ago as a prisoner but now lives in the walls! There’s a lot to unpack about Ivankov, but he’s an essential component from here through Marineford. His Horm-Horm Fruit lets him change the hormone levels of anyone, in turn changing gender with it. Now, Iva rules over the Newkama Kingdom within the walls and forgotten corners of Impel Down.
His ability adjusts Luffy’s hormones so that he can better fight off the poison, but Iva warns it’s going to be rough. They have to lock Luffy away for the next day as he purges the poison from his system violently. He still manages to emerge from it early though, and Iva starts to see hints of his father in Luffy. They load up and Luffy gets some food before the next spurt of their jailbreak begins.
Eternal Freezing Hell
The Newkama Kingdom is located in a forgotten area of Frozen Hell on level five, but level six is where Ace is held. Unfortunately as Luffy and the gang begin their rampage there, it leads to a mostly empty cell. The trip there is quick but Ace is already gone, bound for his execution at Marineford. It’s not all a waste though, because Luffy gains some critical allies for Marineford here. Sir Crocodile and Jimbei, two former Warlords of the Sea, are locked up down there and decide to join Luffy. Now, they have to make the ascent to the surface.
It’s not easy for them, even with all their combined might. The various hells that make up the prison are meant to be exhausting punishment, and they feel it. Thankfully there are more of them this time and Luffy has a plan for taking on Magellan. Now, they make their way up and through Frozen Hell without much issue, but Blazing Hell brings problems.
Jimbei
While this isn’t the first introduction to Jimbei, it’s the first time seeing him onscreen. Previously he was a Warlord of the Sea, though he’s in Impel Down for his refusal to fight against Whitebeard. Jimbei is a Warlord for his own reasons, but he’s a trustworthy and noble friend to Luffy from here on. Everything he’s done is in the interest of peace and safety, and he refuses to betray Whitebeard. There’s also the fact that Whitebeard protects Fishman Island as an Emperor of the Sea, which is Jimbei’s home.
Jimbei is the one to tell Luffy that Ace was just taken, and the last to speak to him before that. He decides to help Luffy, not just because he cares about Ace but because he’s drawn to the Straw Hat Captain. This is just the beginning of their long relationship, but Jimbei will eventually join the Straw Hat crew and become a vital member. Now, he follows the others through Impel Down and tries to defend Luffy from the fearsome jailers.
The Great Hero Buggy
Impel Down brings about the start of One Piece’s best-running character gag. The entire time Luffy has been fighting off the poison and breaking through Eternal Hell, Buggy and Galdino have been hiding. They’re not in the walls like the Newkama Kingdom but in the ceiling panels of Beast Hell. It’s a mystery how they’re still alive, but this is just the beginning of Buggy’s legend. As Luffy causes chaos throughout Impel Down, Buggy is forced out of hiding and into the spotlight.
Where he becomes the hero of all the prisoners. Everything that Luffy wreaks havoc on, Buggy manages to get credit for. He’s the suspect for the breakout, and even some of Luffy’s Conqueror Haki get mistaken for him. Buggy absolutely hates being the one everyone is after but he still loves the attention too much to stop it. He’s going to have a big adventure in the upcoming Marineford battle that will make him a known name throughout the Grand Line.
Blackbeard Breaks In
One break-in under his watch was bad enough, but Magellan finds out it can get worse. Blackbeard, the newest Warlord of the Sea after his capture of Ace, shows up to attack Impel Down! He tears through the prison, already in disarray thanks to Luffy’s rampage, and makes his way down to the lowest level. It’s here where all the worst pirates are kept, those that did unimaginable damage the Navy has tried to erase from history. These people are bad news, and Magellan’s former Vice-Warden, Shiryu, is down there too.
After a free for all to determine who can join Blackbeard’s crew, Shiryu of the Rain stands tall and joins the crew. This guy was in prison for being too cruel to some of the worst prisoners on earth, so safe to say Blackbeard isn’t looking for morally upstanding people. Even the chaos of these new intruders isn’t enough to distract from Luffy’s push to the top though, as the two parties pass by each other.
Luffy vs. Magellan Round Two
One of Luffy’s best habits is that he learns from the battles he loses. After his first fight with Magellan, he knows he can’t land a direct hit on the Warden without damaging himself. Luffy adapts to it, with the help of Galdino and his Wax-Wax Fruit powers. He coats his fist and feet in layers of wax while the others do their best to find a ship to escape. It’s a rough go, but Luffy manages to pull out a somewhat win after putting in a few hits.
Everyone has to work together to get the hell away from Impel Down still, and Blackbeard is making his way back up. With a combination of Iva’s Wink blast and Jimbei’s Fishman agility in the water, they manage to escape. Even better, they make it far enough out to catch up with a Navy ship, and take the whole thing for themselves.
In his second act of being the greatest bro to ever exist, Bon Clay sacrifices his own life to make sure everyone could escape. He disguises himself as Magellan and sneaks back in to call off and delay Magellan’s progress. Bon waves the escapees off and wishes them luck as Magellan’s guards pull him back into the Frozen Hell prison. They don’t know it, but they’re doing exactly what Bon wants.
Early Execution
Luffy finds out a little late that Ace’s execution is happening earlier than originally planned. Now, the makeshift crew, led mostly by Luffy, Jimbei, and Croc while Buggy takes on the face of the hero. Every single prisoner that makes it out of Impel Down other than the main characters has one collective, and it believes that Buggy is the one running the show. Luffy and the others manage to make Buggy use his status so they can run the ship faster, and sail off.
Luffy Rushes to Marineford
Most of the journey to Marineford is a slight breather as the ship barrels toward the execution site. This is where Luffy first floats the idea of Jimbei joining the Straw Hat Crew, but he refuses for the time being. Jimbei runs the Sun Pirates, an offshoot of the Fishman Pirates he was a part of with Fisher Tiger and Arlong. Yeah, the same Arlong that kept Nami and her entire town as prisoners. Luckily, Jimbei is the polar opposite of his former crewmate and will do anything he can to help Luffy.
Crocodile is along for the ride with them because he has an old score to settle with Whitebeard. Turns out that before Crocodile was a Warlord, he was a rookie pirate who thought he could take on Whitebeard on his own. Whitebeard took his ass to school, and made Croc all but give up on his dream of seizing the One Piece.
Important Events that takes place during Impel Down arc
- Ivankov debuts.
- Bon Clay, Galdino, Sir Crocodile, and Buggy reappear.
- Luffy survives Magellan’s poison, which gives him mass immunity that helps later.
- Jimbei debuts
- Navy reschedules Ace’s execution.
- Blackbeard recruits vile prisoners from Impel Down.
Now Luffy and company race to Marineford as he eats whatever he can find on the ship. There’s a lot of rest and energy he’ll need for the upcoming battle, and the results will change him forever. Luffy is about to enter the worst fight of his life, and may lose everything he loves in the process. That’s next up in the Marineford arc!
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