Fearsome pirates with a penchant for unethical science, the Thriller Bark Pirates are the crew of Warlord Gecko Moria. Consisting of fighters who are another level of strange, they mostly stick around their Florian Triangle haunt on their massive ship. Thriller Bark, a whole island in and of itself, ferries them through the strange seas, taking any who wander into its fog to experiment on. These pirates take their Warlord status to do whatever they want, and what they want is often terrible.
This article contains spoilers for One Piece! Catch up on Viz or MangaPlus before reading further!
Who Are the Thriller Bark Pirates?
Led by the notorious Gecko Moria, the Thriller Bark Pirates roam the Florian Triangle, taking prey on all while using the area’s strange weather. They all have about the same sense of humanity as their captain, with no regard for human or animal life in their never-ending quest for creating abominations. From members like Absalom who are on a quest for the ultimate bride or Perona who just comes along for the laughs, they have no qualms about ending any who come near their territory.
Although the Thriller Bark Pirates each have some sort of power of their own (other than Hogback) they rely on more devious methods. Many of their massive numbers come from zombies and terrifying creatures made by Gecko Moria. His Shadow-Shadow Fruit is the basis for all of their expendable weapons, with their shadows stolen from sailors around the Grand Line.
7. Gecko Moria
A terrifying force of darkness, Gecko Moria is a madman with the status of a Warlord, almost like Doffy if he was more morbid. The man is a mad scientist through and through, always looking to create the next monster or living weapon. He and Hogback desperately want to become greater than Vegapunk, hoping to make weapons to surpass him as the foremost scientist of the Marines. His efforts only go so far though, as instead of finding ways to create, Moria requires lives to end for his weapons to come into existence.
Despite his defeat by the Straw Hats, even with his use of Oars, he still manages to show up for the Marineford War a couple of weeks later. It’s an unfortunate turn for him though as he’s quickly beaten again, then eventually thought to be killed off by Doflamingo. While Moria ends up still alive after the time skip, his separated crew is in shambles when he finally tries to take on Blackbeard at Fullalead. His current fate is unclear in the manga and anime.
6. Absalom
By far the worst of the Thriller Bark Pirates, Absalom is just a creep in every possible way. Using the abilities granted by his Clear-Clear Fruit, he sneaks up on his enemies for cheap shots. That’s not even the worst of it though, as he’ll readily use the Devil Fruit for some of the most gross things, like peeking in on Nami in the shower. It’s not his crowning achievement in villainy though, going so far as to kidnap Nami in an attempt to marry her against her will. Thankfully he’s defeated pretty quickly by the other Straw Hats with help from Lola.
Absalom is defeated by Sanji, but when Gecko Moria fights in Marineford, he’s nowhere to be found. When he appears next, it’s only as a ruse by Catarina Devon, disguising herself as the lion-man. Turns out, he’s already long dead, and his Clear-Clear Fruit abilities have been stolen by a devious Shiryu of the Rain. It was likely a terribly painful end for the invisible man, but not entirely undeserved.
5. Perona
The number one waifu for every One Piece reader. Perona is the goth girl of everyone’s dreams, though she has an attitude that she would rather be dead than do literally anything else. She’s incredibly stuck up, and refuses to acknowledge those that she deems below her most of the time. It’s kind of like if Boa Hancock was more ruthless and loathing of literally everyone around. Her loathing fits too, considering she carries the notorious Hollow-Hollow Fruit. This Paramecia Type lets her make ghosts at will, which instantly throws whoever they touch into the depths of self-loathing. Fortunately, Bartholomew Kuma is unaffected, and sends Perona flying to the Muggy Kingdom.
There she ends up becoming the roommate of Hawkeye Mihawk, who lets her have free reign for the most part. Although she acts like she’s doing him a service staying there, it seems she is somewhat thankful, at least enough to help Zoro train. After she drops him off at Sabaody to reunite with the Straw Hat Pirates though, she ends up back at Muggy Kingdom only briefly. In time, she learns Moria is still alive out there, and rushes off to find him. Unfortunately, it’s unknown what she’s done since or if she knows of his fate.
4. Dr. Hogback
Genuinely an awful person and a mad scientist to boot, Dr. Hogback was formerly a famous physician in the world of One Piece. Though Chopper notes that he mysteriously disappeared at some point in the near past, it’s found that he joined up with the Thriller Bark Pirates. Here Gecko Moria lets him pursue the most heinous science he chooses in exchange for helping with his own insane experiments. Dr. Hogback, though more proficient in stitching others together, is the one who initially begins playing with the idea of using the Shadow-Shadow Fruit for zombies.
From the zombies though he starts making new creations, taking parts of other animals and people. He grafts these together, even rebuilding some famous figures who were long dead like Ryuma or Cindry. With the help of Moria, he puts shadows in these now-modified bodies, giving new life to monstrosities like the body that Lola’s shadow inhabits. Some even become top fighters in the pirate crew, fighting on the front lines for Moria before their shadows are returned to their original bodies.
3. Cindry
Though she’s an unwilling member, Cindry is the assistant to Dr. Hogback. She has an unnatural hatred of plates, and won’t hesitate to smash them at the slightest notice. Turns out, that’s a trait left over from her shadow’s original owner, a young girl named Margarita. Although the shadow came from an unknown girl, the body of Cindry is from someone much more widely known. In her living time, Cindry was a famous actress world round, known for giving amazing performances with a beautiful smile. Turns out, she died from the disease at a young age, and from there, Hogback stole her for his own personal doll.
Cindry is miserable as Hogback’s unwilling assistant, and ends up helping the Straw Hats in subconscious ways throughout Thriller Bark. It’s through her help that her own shadow is eventually freed, and returned to the young Margarita after years away.
2. Ryuma
By the time the Straw Hat Pirates meet him, Ryuma is a preserved corpse slowly falling apart. Back during his life, Ryuma was known as a famous samurai, a hero of the land of Wano. There were legends even outside of Wano though, as he traveled through the entire world during his relatively long life before returning to his home country. During that time, he slays dragons, saving entire villages in the process. He also wields the legendary sword Shusui, which he hands over after going up against Zoro. Fitting, since it’s later found that Zoro is a far-descendant of the old samurai.
Ryuma’s story can be found in the one-shot written by Eiichiro Oda before One Piece was originally published. It covers Ryuma slaying a dragon to protect a town, also freeing it from it. devious swordsman.
1. Oars
The ‘Continent Puller’ Oars is one of the greatest beings to ever live in the world of One Piece, even bigger than a giant. His massive horns and huge muscles gave him the reputation of being strong enough to pull whole countries, and he was known as a fierce foe to any he opposed. Nobody quite knows what happened to him though, as Oars just disappeared one day out of nowhere. Never heard from again, he does have descendants in the Grand Line like Little Oars, but his body is eventually found by Gecko Moria.
The Warlord finds Oars’ body frozen in ice, keeping him in cold storage on Thriller Bark. When Luffy and the Straw Hats finally arrive, Moria realizes he has the perfect shadow for Oars to use, taking the young rubber boy’s and transplanting it to the creature. Thankfully the Straw Hats are able to take out Oars, though his body has been desecrated by Moria to include an entire freakin’ cockpit. In the end, the giant warrior is allowed to rest once more though, never to be disturbed again.
Are the Thriller Bark Pirates Still Active?
Ha, definitely not active at all in the world of One Piece anymore. The Thriller Bark Pirates have been scattered to the ends of the earth, with some even dead with confirmation. After their separation in the Thriller Bark arc, Moria is enlisted in the Marineford War and thought dead by Doflamingo’s hands for some time. He reappears later, though is summarily defeated by the Blackbeard Pirates without much of a fight. The same event reveals that Absalom is dead, murdered by Catarina Devon.
Meanwhile, Perona has gone to find Moria, but her fate is entirely unknown. She was last seen with Mihawk, so could feasibly join Cross Guild. Otherwise, it’s possible that Perona could find shelter in the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, being at least on friendly terms with Zoro. Otherwise, she could also fall in with the Kuja Pirates of Amazon Lily, who she would probably get along with surprisingly well. Nobody really knows where Hogback is either, but is that really that much of a loss?
The Thriller Bark Pirates are definitely over at this point in the story though, with Gecko Moria possibly coming back as a Blackbeard Pirates. If not, he’s going to have his Shadow-Shadow Fruit stolen for the Blackbeard Pirates’ benefit. Thriller Bark is still moored up outside of Fullalead, and there was no sign of him when Koby escaped, so there’s every possibility it’s already too late for the mad scientist Warlord and his crew.
