Not so much of an island as it is a ship, Thriller Bark is just a massive monster of a vessel. The damn ship has a whole castle on it, if that says anything, in addition to a forest. There’s really no reason there should ever be a ship this massive, but it manages to keep the Thriller Bark Pirates sailing in the Florian Triangle. The island boat of Thriller Bark holds plenty of secrets, least of all being the strange creatures that roam the grounds as trespassers step foot in.
This article contains spoilers about One Piece! catch up on Viz or MangaPlus before reading any further!
Where is Thriller Bark?
Since it’s a ship, Thriller Bark really has no limits on where it can be. That said, Moria usually plants it right in the middle of the Florian Triangle when not traveling for other business. The massive size of the ship keeps it from rolling over in the tumult of the strange sea. In addition, the fog that covers most of the Florian Triangle gives them good cover to abduct unwitting sailors for Gecko Moria’s experiments. Thriller Bark itself is almost designed to trap anyone that comes near, which is just what the Thriller Bark Pirates do.
The ship is built so that Moria can throw out a barrel in the sea nearby, moving in when it signals someone opens it. As the flare shoots into the air, the fog becomes more dense and the ship will suddenly find itself in a small lake. Thriller Bark then closes them off, preventing escape and forcing anyone caught onto the land. From here they can walk through the dense, constantly dark forest to the castle, or remain and wait for Moria to come steal their shadows. It’s a lose-lose situation, and it’s rare that anyone makes it out of Thriller Bark with their shadow, or alive in most cases.
Thriller Bark Pirates
Truly some of the most despicable pirates on the Grand Line, the Thriller Bark Pirates won’t hesitate to chew up and spit out others. They move in on hapless travelers in the Florian Triangle, using their massive ship Thriller Bark to trap any that come near. The captain, Gecko Moria, holds the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, and populates the huge island ship with terrifying creatures he creates with it. The monsters range anywhere from three-headed dogs to undead samurai, and all kinds of crazy abominations in between. He’s not necessarily even the worst of the crew though, and the others will easily outpace him in awfulness.
Doctor Hogback is a mad scientist who takes the body of an actress and reanimates it as his own wife. Seems pretty messed up, right? Then Absalom, Moria’s right-hand man, has the Clear-Clear Fruit that allows him to become invisible. What does he use it for though? Perving on women in the shower and trying to force Nami to be his bride while she’s knocked out. It’s definitely not a great look for either of them, and thankfully they’re pretty much gone after the Thriller Bark arc, with Absalom now confirmed dead.
The other member, Perona, is more of a fan favorite. The goth girl who will step on your feelings as soon as she looks at you holds the Hollow-Hollow Fruit. It depresses anyone her Hollow Ghosts pass through, rendering them into the depths of self-loathing. She’s the only Thriller Bark Pirate that really matters.
Ship or Island?
It’s a little of this, a little of that. Thriller Bark is built as a ship with sails, mast, and everything needed to traverse the sea. It’s also a fully functioning small island, able to hold hundreds of people, a forest, a castle, and even multiple graveyards. It’s kind of insane just how massive the ship is, with the castle serving as the main mast and helm for sailing. Although it’s incredibly large, Thriller Bark does seem to be relatively fast for its size. They’re able to travel pretty far quickly with little effort on the part of Gecko Moria. Though usually, they’re just content to float through the Florian Triangle.
Thriller Bark is large enough to at least hold enough layers of dirt for trees to take root and bodies to be buried. It’s kind of insane thinking about how this whole place just floats with little to no issues. Zombies emerge out of the ground like clowns pouring out of a tiny car, so it’s not a stretch that it could go even deeper. Luffy and his crew end up in some underground parts of the castle as well, meaning there’s even more to explore. The castle itself is even huge, with two massive towers connected by a giant staircase. It’s probably one of Oda’s first larger-than-life pirate ships in the series.
Strange Creations
The odd creatures created by Hogback and Gecko Moria roam the entire landscape of Thriller Bark. It’s almost like a more horror-oriented version of Totto Land, with nearly everything getting a soul or shadow shoved into them for life. The trees in the forests are even alive, with many of them shifting around to make any unaware sailors get lost in their twisting branches. Eventually, they’ll run into other creatures too, like the strange bat creature that helps Hogback. There are other, greater terrors that roam the lands though.
When the Straw Hats first step foot in Thriller Bark they meet a massive three-headed dog. Of course, it isn’t a match for Luffy and Zoro, who immediately tame it and make it carry them toward the castle. Other strange amalgamations lurk throughout though, like Lola, who was made into a strange warthog-woman with the shadow of Charlotte Lola. In a way having the daughter of Big Mom involved in this was kind of foreshadowing how wild Totto Land would get. The most terrifying of all though is the massive Oars, a huge creature that’s been dead for years.
Zombies
Of course, Moria would have zombies on his island, using the dead as some of the first in his strange resurrection experiments. Moria’s Shadow-Shadow Fruit snips the shadows from living victims, storing them until Moria is ready to put them into a vessel or use them as a weapon. Once he finds a suitable body, whether recently or long dead, he can just shove a shadow in it to bring it to life. Shadows will typically retain the personality of their original for a few hours, but before long just end up becoming mindless slaves to Moria. Others will break the programming though, retaining more of their personality.
The main zombies come up from the ground in front of the castle to attack the Straw Hats, but Moria reveals a secret. The stronger the shadow’s original body, and the stronger the new body was in life, the more powerful the resulting creation is. Knowing this, Moria saves his best creations for the most powerful shadows he can find, especially when it comes to finding a compatible shadow for Oars. Until then, the massive body sits in cold storage below Thriller Bark Castle.
Gecko Moria’s Castle
Thriller Bark Castle towers from the middle of Thriller Bark, hoisting its main sail. The tower also contains the ship’s helm, allowing Moria to steer from high up on the tower and peer out over the entire area. The castle towers are incredibly tall, even towering over the massive trees that surround it, keeping it in shadow. Each of Moria’s crew has their own part of the castle for themselves though, with Moria taking the depths of the castle for himself and snoozing off wherever he pleases. The main floors of the building are taken up by Hogback and his many experiments, with living patchwork creatures coming and going throughout all hours.
Perona occupies the higher tower in the castle, taking an entire floor as her own room. Kumacy stays in there with her, often just serving as a giant teddy bear for her to cuddle. Meanwhile, Absalom inhabits the chapel out back, using it as his main base for strange invisibility experiments. It also becomes his main wedding venue when he brings back whatever unwilling woman he finds this time. Or when Lola tries to trap him into marriage, as Lola does to every man she speaks to.
Florian Triangle
The main area where Thriller Bark usually sticks to, the Florian Triangle lies between Water 7 and the Sabaody Archipelago. Many will try to circumnavigate it on their way to the Archipelago in a desperate act to not go through the perilous waters. The Florian Triangle has a habit of making ships disappear as they go through, leaving no trace that they ever entered. On rare occasions ships will drift out with the crew missing, nobody to show that there was anyone on it in the first place. Brook’s Rumbar Pirates are one of the few unfortunate enough to end up drifting through the fog, with only the skeletons of the crew on board after starvation takes them out.
Another major aspect of the Florian Triangle that’s unclear is the massive shadows that are out in the fog. When the Straw Hats eventually leave Thriller Bark, counting their blessings for not encountering anything weirder, massive blobs of shadow look down on them. They resemble massive Yokai from Japanese lore, looking out over the ocean below as they stand heads above the water. They’re terrifying frights, and it seems like Imu’s strange Devil Fruit may mirror whatever the creatures are.
Where is Thriller Bark Now?
Last seen moored to the Pirate Island Fullalead, Thriller Bark may have met the end of its sailing days. Gecko Moria goes to Fullalead in a bid to find his crewmate Absalom, but finds that he’s already been killed. Instead, Catarina Devon appears disguised as him using her Dog-Dog Fruit, Mythical Model: Nine-Tailed Fox. It’s devious, and distracts Moria long enough for Shiryu of the Rain to reveal he stole Absalom’s Clear-Clear Fruit. As he appears from nowhere, he slashes Moria down with no mercy.
Now it’s unknown whether Moria is alive or dead, but he’s certainly not in a good position. if his Shadow-Shadow Fruit has been stolen, he’s certainly as good as dead. Otherwise, he may have conned his way into serving on the Blackbeard Pirates with his powers, weaseling his way out of a terrible fate. It wouldn’t be the first time Moria tried to get out of something where he would otherwise die. It’s still unknown how he survives fighting against Doflamingo during Marineford. Until anything is cleared up though, Thriller Bark is still anchored off the side of Fullalead Island, likely never to sail again.
Thriller Bark in itself is a fantastic ship, which could offer a huge boost in power to whichever side ends up using it. Although the abilities of it in sea combat are relatively untested, it would serve as a great transport vessel for any fighters in the Final Saga. Blackbeard would probably sooner destroy it if given the choice though, sparing no thought to all who are still probably on it with their shadows stolen. Moria probably gathered a lot more in the two-year skip, so Thriller Bark may be able to just sail itself off the shadow minions at this point. Either way, it would be a shame to see it done so soon in One Piece.
