One Piece’s Thriller Bark saga was an eerie Gothic adventure where the heroes made a brave stand against the darkness.
One Piece‘s Thriller Bark saga may be short compared to the memorable Water 7 saga before it or the highly impactful Summit War saga after it, but Thriller Bark still plays a key role in the first half of One Piece‘s overall story. This arc, for example, added the ninth crewmate to the Thousand Sunny, the musical skeleton Brook.
The Thriller Bark saga had a fairly small cast of heroes and villains alike, so all the characters got many chances to shine. The Straw Hat pirates were the main heroes in this spooky Gothic story arc, though they also had the Rolling Pirates crew to aid them in their desperate battle against the shadow-manipulating Gecko Moria. These mighty heroes faced terrifying odds and scraped a hard-won victory before continuing their journey ever closer to the New World.
10. Charlotte Lola Helped The Straw Hats However She Could
The Rolling Pirates weren’t nearly as powerful as the tiny Straw Hat crew, but captain Charlotte Lola and her men did all they could do help the Straw Hats take down Gecko Moria and reclaim their stolen shadows at any cost. Lola’s shadow, for example, was placed in a warthog zombie also named Lola.
Charlotte Lola was the strongest non-Straw Hat hero who fought in the Thriller Bark saga. Based on her zombie’s actions, she has pretty solid sword skills, and best of all, Lola gave the Straw Hats some vital intel on how to fight back against Gecko Moria’s zombies and shadow-based Devil Fruit powers.
9. Usopp Was Immune To Perona’s Ghostly Attacks
Usopp quit, then rejoined the Straw Hat crew in the Water 7 saga as the Sniper King, just in time to join his friends on the eerie adventure to the Florian Triangle. By then, Usopp had become somewhat stronger and braver, but he was still unprepared for the horrors of Thriller Bark.
Usopp often panicked and ran in that adventure, but he still did his part. He used all his usual tricks to slow down Gecko Moria’s zombies and mysterious generals, and he even faced Perona herself in a duel. His negative attitude made him immune to her ghostly attacks, then he scared her into submission with fake bugs.
8. Nami Resisted Absalom However She Could
Amusingly, Nami found herself an almost-bride in the Thriller Bark saga, with the invisible man Absalom urgently trying to tie the knot with her. Fortunately, Nami and her sort-of ally Lola the zombie fought back, and Nami made sure that her suitor would never touch her again.
Sanji dealt serious damage to Absalom in that chapel fight, and then Nami finished the job with one swing of her Thunder Charge attack. Sanji may get most of the credit for fighting Absalom, but Nami did a fine job putting him down for good.
7. Brook’s Sword-Cane Was A Lethal Weapon
Brook the undead musician made his debut in the Thriller Bark saga, with Luffy finding him alone aboard a drifting ghost ship in the Florian Triangle. Luffy cared most that Brook was a skilled musician, but as Brook soon proved, he can do far more than play the fiddle.
In combat, Brook reveals the sword blade in his cane, and uses it with remarkable skill. His shadow, meanwhile, was placed into Shimotsuki Ryuma’s body, a Wano samurai who was famed for his incredible skill. It wasn’t easy fighting Brook’s shadow-zombie and getting that shadow back, a testament to Brook’s own abilities.
6. Tony Tony Chopper Can Morph Into A Great Beast In Battle
Tony Tony Chopper was delighted to meet Dr. Hogback in the Thriller Bark saga, only to learn that his medical hero was actually a twisted villain whose zombies were a mockery of life. Chopper soon got into battle mode and used everything he had to oppose Moria’s crew.
As of that saga, Chopper could reliably make use of the rumble ball to greatly boost his physical abilities. He could even use Monster Point, but at the time, using that power was risky and made him a danger to his friends as well as his allies, just like in the Water 7 saga.
5. Nico Robin’s Flower-Flower Fruit Came In Handy
Luffy’s kuudere crewmate Nico Robin felt very little fear during the nightmarish Thriller Bark adventure, though she did take things seriously and pushed her Devil Fruit to the limit. An example was when Robin formed angel wings out of hands to help Franky and their friends recover while falling.
Nico Robin continued to use her Devil Fruit power to restrain and slow down the zombie generals, and she also used her Devil Fruit to disrupt Gecko Moria while he sat in zombie Oars’ cockpit. It took more than that to defeat Moria for good, but the battle would have been much tougher without Robin’s valuable input.
4. Franky Went All Out During Thriller Bark
The huge cyborg shipbuilder Franky had only recently joined the Straw Hat crew, so Luffy, Sanji, and the others were still getting used to Franky’s unique abilities and skills as of the Thriller Bark saga. An example was when he simply built a staircase out of wood so the heroes could reach their destination.
Franky was one tough customer in Thriller Bark, such as when he improvised a massive nunchaku weapon to badly damage the tararan monster until Brook could finish it off. He also went all out during the battle against zombie Oars, no matter how low his internal supply of Cola got.
3. Sanji Vinsmoke Gave Absalom A Serious Beating
Sanji Vinsmoke is roughly tied with Roronoa Zoro for being Luffy’s strongest friend, though as of Thriller Bark, he seems to be slightly weaker than his “mosshead” crewmate. Still, Sanji is a ferocious fighter who flew into a rage when Abasalom tried to claim his beloved Nami as his bride.
Sanji also made good use of his Diable Jambe move in the Thriller Bark saga, such as when he used it to deflect zombie Oars’ use of hard-hitting Gum-Gum attacks. Sanji also did most of the work to defeat Absalom, despite his opponent’s tricky invisibility powers.
2. Roronoa Zoro Did The Unspeakable For Luffy After Kuma Arrived
Roronoa Zoro the master swordsman did well in the Thriller Bark saga, and few of Moria’s zombies, even the strongest ones, could stand up to him. Zoro dispatched Brook’s zombie, and he also pushed himself to the limit to help defeat the zombie Oars during the climax.
Then, when Bartholomew Kuma arrived, the Straw Hats were in serious peril. Zoro and Sanji both volunteered to accept a severe punishment on Luffy’s behalf, and in the end, Zoro accepted that punishment. It should have been lethal, but the ultra-tough Zoro survived.
1. Monkey D. Luffy Vanquished His Gigantic Zombie
The protagonist himself, Monkey D. Luffy, was definitely the strongest hero in the Thriller Bark saga, and for that matter, he is most sagas’ strongest hero. Luffy lost his shadow to Gecko Moria, and that mighty shadow was used to control the enormous Oars zombie.
Remarkably, zombie Oars learned to use Luffy’s Gum-Gum moves, but on a bigger scale, but the real Luffy wasn’t scared. He had hundreds of shadows put into him to rival Oars, then used a combo strike with his fellow Straw Hats to topple his gigantic counterpart once and for all, Moria with it.
Src: cbr.com
