Short Summary
I'll become a doctor who can cure anything! I'll cure even a country! Because.. because... there's no disease in this world that can't be cured!
— Tony Tony Chopper
Nami falls ill after leaving the jungles of Little Garden, forcing the crew to detour to a snow covered kingdom called Drum Island. However there is only one doctor on the island, a supposed witch that lives in the castle on one of the mountains. Luffy along with Sanji volunteer to reach the castle to get Nami treated. But trouble comes when the island's tyrannical king returns to re-claim his throne.
Main Summary
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While sailing away to Alabasta, Nami suddenly collapses, wracked with fever. Since she is the only one with even a smidgen of medical knowledge (as the boys have never gotten sick), no one knows how to treat her. Even worse, a newspaper article reports that the rebels in Alabasta now outnumber the royal army; the civil war is nigh. But when the ill Nami still manages to direct the ship away from a massive storm, Vivi makes up her mind that the crew needs to heal their navigator before anything. As they keep an eye out for any island, the Going Merry is accosted by the Wapol Pirates, run by a stout man named Wapol, whose Munch-Munch Fruit (Baku Baku no Mi) power allows him to eat anything. Wapol demands an Eternal Pose to a place called Drum Island, and when the Straw Hats can't comply, he starts eating the ship itself. The attackers are quickly repelled when Luffy sends Wapol flying, but Vivi seems to recognize Wapol from somewhere.
The ship soon finds land—the very Drum Island that Wapol is looking for, a winter island with giant cylinder-shaped mountains. As they arrive, they run into trouble from the locals, who don't want pirates in their country and prepare to attack them; however, Vivi gives Luffy a lesson in humility by telling him that a leader must never be too proud to beg for the lives of his subordinates, and when Luffy and Vivi beg to be allowed onto the island to find medical treatment for their sick crewmate, the de-facto leader, Dalton, allows the Straw Hats to land. After taking them to a village (save for Zoro and Carue, who stay behind to guard the ship), he explains that Drum Island has only one doctor, an old woman named Kureha, who lives at the top of Drum Mountain and only comes down whenever she wants to. How she gets from the top of the mountain and back is a mystery, but there are rumors that she has a strange creature at her service. With Nami's condition critical, Luffy decides to take his navigator to the doctor herself, with Sanji along for protection.
As the trio leave, Dalton explains to Vivi and Usopp that Drum used to have plenty of doctors, but that all changed when the island was attacked by a crew called the Blackbeard Pirates. Though they were only five in number, the country's king, Wapol, was so scared of their immense power that, instead of fighting, he took his army, his cabinet, and all of the doctors, and fled the island. Vivi is outraged that a king would abandon his own people, but Dalton admits that his leaving was for the better. Dalton then notices that Vivi seems familiar herself, but then a villager tells them that Kureha was spotted in another village some distance away. Usopp and Vivi race off, hoping to catch the doctor, but Dalton learns something worse: Wapol has returned!
Up near the mountain's foot, Luffy and Sanji run into trouble with the Lapahns, bear-sized rabbit creatures that inhabit the mountains. With the sick Nami on his back, Luffy can't fight without worsening her condition, forcing them to retreat. Down below, Dalton confronts Wapol and rants on Wapol's cruel policies; Wapol chased off or killed every doctor that wasn't under his direct employ, so if someone got sick, they had to go to Wapol and beg for his aid. Dalton uses his Ox-Ox Fruit: Bison Model powers on Wapol's men, but Chess, one of Wapol's two top subordinates, turns his bow on the villagers, forcing Dalton to take the bullet. Just as things look bad, the Lapahns start a huge avalanche, burying almost everyone in the snow. Everyone manages to survive, but Sanji is severely injured and Luffy is forced to carry him as well, though not before pulling a buried Lapahn out of the snow first. Down below, Wapol learns that Luffy is heading towards his castle on Drum Mountain, and takes Chess and Kuromarimo (his other top subordinate) to ride after the pirate. Once they catch up with him, they attempt to directly attack Nami and Sanji, but the Straw Hats are saved when the Lapahns come to face Wapol. Luffy soon scales Drum Mountain, an all-vertical climb, and, frost-bitten with nearly broken fingers, manages to reach the top, where they are found by a giant creature.
When Nami comes to, she finds herself in a castle and eventually greeted by said creature, who is now much smaller, and who calls himself Chopper. His mentor—the elderly lady doctor named Kureha—shows up and explains that Nami contracted a virus from a mosquito on Little Garden, and is lucky that her crewmates got her to them in time before the illness progressed further. As they talk, Luffy and Sanji finally wake up and end up freaking out Chopper (Luffy for wanting him to be in his crew and Sanji trying to cook him), causing a chase around the castle. While that goes on, Kureha goes into Chopper's backstory to Nami. In the past, Wapol imposed a law that forced all doctors to work under him, with the people of the island having to beg him for any kind of treatment. Only two weren't under his control: Kureha and a man named Hiriluk. However, Hiriluk was a "quack doctor" whose treatments were unorthodox and did more harm than help. One day while returning home from the village, he ran into a creature who was bleeding profusely. He tried to help it, but the creature kept batting him away. It was only when Hiriluk stripped naked in front of it to show that he meant no harm that he gained the creature's trust.
Hiriluk took the creature in and discovered his shape-shifting powers and ability to speak. Dubbing him Tony Tony Chopper ("Tony Tony" as a nickname of "tonakai" ("reindeer"), and "Chopper" due to claiming his antlers could "chop down trees"), the two formed a friendship and bonded through their escapades to help the village. However, after a year, Hiriluk suddenly kicked Chopper out of his home without warning, much to the reindeer's confusion. It was soon revealed that Hiriluk had a terminal disease and was slowly dying, and kicked Chopper out to prevent him from seeing him slowly die. Upon learning this, Chopper scanned the medical books in the hopes for any cure he could find. He stumbled upon a mushroom with a skull and crossbones drawn next to it—which, based on what Hiriluk had told him, was the symbol of a pirate's pride. Hoping it could cure his friend, Chopper set out to find the mushroom, battling through tough weather along the way. He also encounters his old herd, who had shunned Chopper his whole life due to him having a blue nose and later kicked him out completely after he ate the Human-Human Fruit. Eventually, he found the mushroom at cost of being battered and having one of his horns broken. Hiriluk was very grateful for it, and took the medicine Chopper made from the plant.
Not long after, news reached Hiriluk that the doctors of the kingdom were sick, and he set out to aid them. After visiting Kureha and asking for some last requests, Hiriluk arrived at the castle, only to find out it was a trap set by Wapol to lure him in and kill him. Hiriluk and Kureha had both suspected this might be the case, but he nonetheless wanted to confirm that the doctors were all right, and was relieved to learn that this was indeed the case. Kureha, curious of Hiriluk's odd behavior, visited his hideout and found Chopper there. When he explained that he'd "cured" Hiriluk, Kureha revealed to Chopper that the medicine he'd given him was poison, since that's the real meaning of the skull and crossbones in a medical context. Even though Hiriluk knew this, he took it anyway to honor Chopper's efforts since he was already dying regardless. Horrified, Chopper dashed to the castle, where Hiriluk was already consigned to his fate. However, before dying, he gave a speech about how a person never truly dies unless they're completely forgotten and vowed that his legacy will live on. After giving a toast to his life and thanking Chopper, he committed suicide by drinking an explosive elixir. Chopper arrived not long after the explosion and, in grief and rage, nearly attacked Wapol when he laughed at Hiriluk's death. Dalton stopped him and calmed him down enough to get him to leave before turning on Wapol and trying to attack him, only to fail and be thrown in the dungeon for his actions. Meanwhile, Kureha honored Hiriluk's requests and took Chopper in to teach him how to be a true doctor.
Back down in the village, Vivi, Usopp, and the villagers are trying desperately to find Dalton, who was buried in the avalanche caused by the Laphans. When they do find him, the combination of his injuries and encroaching frostbite from being left in the snow for so long have left him at death's door, and there are no doctors present to help save him... until Wapol's 20 MDs arrive, begging the townspeople to let them help. Vivi is suspicious of the MDs since they are Wapol's men, but the MDs explain that they had a collective Heel–Face Turn after witnessing Hiriluk's death and were searching for a means to truly break free from Wapol and return to practicing medicine for all. The townsfolk agree to allow the MDs to treat Dalton, and thanks to their skill they stabilize and revive him. Despite being gravely injured and in no condition for anything strenuous, Dalton insists on going to Drum Castle to stop Wapol, as he doesn't want to risk Luffy and the others facing him alone (despite Vivi and Usopp insisting Luffy can handle himself). On the ride up the mountain, Dalton and Vivi have a chat and finally recall where they've seen each other before: when Vivi was 10, she accompanied her father to the Reverie, a meeting of various nobles to discuss the troubles facing their countries. Wapol, angry that Vivi's father had made a fool of him during the meeting, decided to pick on Vivi to vent his anger, but the young princess didn't rise to the bait and politely deflected Wapol's antagonism. Dalton, still in the role of Wapol's captain, was impressed by the princess' maturity, and now years later reassures Vivi that she'll be a great leader for her people.
Meanwhile, Wapol and his men have reached Drum Castle, with Kureha, Sanji, and Chopper stepping up to stop him. Wapol is furious at the state of disrepair his castle is in, and begins to show off just what the Munch-Munch Fruit can do: not only can he eat anything, the Devil Fruit allows him to morph his body to take on attributes of things he had eaten recently (morphing his hands into the cannons he ate for breakfast, for example), and he can combine two elements he's eaten together to form a third object, which he demonstrates by eating Chess and Kuromarimo before spitting them back out as a four-armed hybrid named Chessmarimo. Sanji steps up to fight the combination, but Kureha pulls him back before he can get stuck in; Sanji suffered a hairline fracture of his spine in the avalanche, and too much strain will break his back and permanently cripple him. Confident in his victory, Wapol decides to start his renewed reign by blowing Hiriluk's Jolly Roger off the top of the castle where Chopper had hung it as a sign of respect. Luffy, however, intercepts the shot and saves the flag, angrily calling out Wapol for disrespecting the message of the Jolly Roger.
Luffy comes down to fight Wapol, but that still leaves Chessmarimo unattended. Chopper states he'll take care of Chessmarimo, which the fusion laughs at. They are familiar with the fighting styles of Zoan Devil Fruit users like Chopper and Dalton, and so know they can outlast Chopper's three forms without much difficulty. Chopper says he'll take the two down in three minutes before eating a small ball, and in the ensuing fight he's shown to take on forms that are hybrids or enhanced versions of his normal forms. The shocked Chessmarimo asks why he seems to have more than three forms, and Chopper explains the ball he ate was a Rumble Ball, a drug he cooked up for himself that allows him access to seven different Zoan "points" for three minutes. Chessmarimo tries to attack again, but Chopper used that time to analyze the fusion's weaknesses and lands a knockout blow just as the Rumble Ball wears off.
Luffy is beyond impressed... so impressed that he completely ignored Wapol and allowed the tyrant to sneak back into his palace. Wapol goes in search of his arsenal, but on the way he sees Nami (having recovered enough of her strength to get out of bed). Wapol attacks Nami for trespassing, but Nami goes down a flight of stairs too narrow for Wapol to enter. No matter- Wapol eats himself and uses his Devil Fruit to rebuild himself in a Lean and Mean form. He chases Nami to the arsenal, declaring his intent to go and eat all the weapons inside and return with so many guns that even Luffy's Gum-Gum Fruit will be overwhelmed. Unfortunately for him, Nami stole his keys while he was monologing, and now Luffy has caught up with the intent to finish the beating he started. Panicking, Wapol runs deeper into the castle before coming across his ultimate weapon: a massive Gatling cannon that he trains square on Luffy's head. Wapol pulls the trigger... and nothing happens: too much exposure to the elements and roosting birds have left the cannon as nothing more than a hunk of useless metal, and once again Wapol is at Luffy's mercy. Luffy knocks Wapol into the ceiling, getting him stuck before hitting him with a Megaton Punch, launching Wapol far into the distance.
Dalton and the others finally arrive, and are surprised to see Luffy has taken care of Wapol and his goons. Some of the villagers freak out at seeing Chopper, but Luffy is quick to come to Chopper's defense and gets the townsfolk to apologize for treating Chopper so poorly. As Kureha treats everyone's wounds, she gives Nami her bill: continued bed-rest and her pick of the loot aboard the Going Merry. Nami is outraged and instead haggles with the old doctor for the key to the arsenal, ensuring Kureha won't get any of her treasure. Meanwhile, Luffy once again offers Chopper a chance to join his crew, but Chopper is still unsure because of his home on Drum Island. A bit more badgering finally convinces Chopper to go with them, but when he tells this to Kureha she (seemingly) drives him off in a rage. As Chopper takes the other Straw Hats down the mountain in his sleigh, Kureha has the villagers prep the cannons from the arsenal before revealing Hiriluk's final request: the chemical he had been working on for so long produced pink dust that will bond with and dye falling snow, turning the snow pink like the cherry blossoms that had given him new purpose in his youth. The cannons fire as the Straw Hats prepare to leave, Chopper tearing up at the "blossom" that are his mentor's legacy.
Kureha and Dalton chat back at the castle when Dalton remembers he forgot something: a week or so before the Straw Hats showed up, a mysterious man arrived in town and asked if Luffy was there. Dalton told him no, to which the man replied that when Luffy did show up he had a message- he'd be in Alabasta for ten days and hoped to catch up soon. As the man turns to leave, Dalton asks what his name is, to which the man introduces himself as "Ace" before disappearing.
(To be continued)
The ship soon finds land—the very Drum Island that Wapol is looking for, a winter island with giant cylinder-shaped mountains. As they arrive, they run into trouble from the locals, who don't want pirates in their country and prepare to attack them; however, Vivi gives Luffy a lesson in humility by telling him that a leader must never be too proud to beg for the lives of his subordinates, and when Luffy and Vivi beg to be allowed onto the island to find medical treatment for their sick crewmate, the de-facto leader, Dalton, allows the Straw Hats to land. After taking them to a village (save for Zoro and Carue, who stay behind to guard the ship), he explains that Drum Island has only one doctor, an old woman named Kureha, who lives at the top of Drum Mountain and only comes down whenever she wants to. How she gets from the top of the mountain and back is a mystery, but there are rumors that she has a strange creature at her service. With Nami's condition critical, Luffy decides to take his navigator to the doctor herself, with Sanji along for protection.
As the trio leave, Dalton explains to Vivi and Usopp that Drum used to have plenty of doctors, but that all changed when the island was attacked by a crew called the Blackbeard Pirates. Though they were only five in number, the country's king, Wapol, was so scared of their immense power that, instead of fighting, he took his army, his cabinet, and all of the doctors, and fled the island. Vivi is outraged that a king would abandon his own people, but Dalton admits that his leaving was for the better. Dalton then notices that Vivi seems familiar herself, but then a villager tells them that Kureha was spotted in another village some distance away. Usopp and Vivi race off, hoping to catch the doctor, but Dalton learns something worse: Wapol has returned!
Up near the mountain's foot, Luffy and Sanji run into trouble with the Lapahns, bear-sized rabbit creatures that inhabit the mountains. With the sick Nami on his back, Luffy can't fight without worsening her condition, forcing them to retreat. Down below, Dalton confronts Wapol and rants on Wapol's cruel policies; Wapol chased off or killed every doctor that wasn't under his direct employ, so if someone got sick, they had to go to Wapol and beg for his aid. Dalton uses his Ox-Ox Fruit: Bison Model powers on Wapol's men, but Chess, one of Wapol's two top subordinates, turns his bow on the villagers, forcing Dalton to take the bullet. Just as things look bad, the Lapahns start a huge avalanche, burying almost everyone in the snow. Everyone manages to survive, but Sanji is severely injured and Luffy is forced to carry him as well, though not before pulling a buried Lapahn out of the snow first. Down below, Wapol learns that Luffy is heading towards his castle on Drum Mountain, and takes Chess and Kuromarimo (his other top subordinate) to ride after the pirate. Once they catch up with him, they attempt to directly attack Nami and Sanji, but the Straw Hats are saved when the Lapahns come to face Wapol. Luffy soon scales Drum Mountain, an all-vertical climb, and, frost-bitten with nearly broken fingers, manages to reach the top, where they are found by a giant creature.
When Nami comes to, she finds herself in a castle and eventually greeted by said creature, who is now much smaller, and who calls himself Chopper. His mentor—the elderly lady doctor named Kureha—shows up and explains that Nami contracted a virus from a mosquito on Little Garden, and is lucky that her crewmates got her to them in time before the illness progressed further. As they talk, Luffy and Sanji finally wake up and end up freaking out Chopper (Luffy for wanting him to be in his crew and Sanji trying to cook him), causing a chase around the castle. While that goes on, Kureha goes into Chopper's backstory to Nami. In the past, Wapol imposed a law that forced all doctors to work under him, with the people of the island having to beg him for any kind of treatment. Only two weren't under his control: Kureha and a man named Hiriluk. However, Hiriluk was a "quack doctor" whose treatments were unorthodox and did more harm than help. One day while returning home from the village, he ran into a creature who was bleeding profusely. He tried to help it, but the creature kept batting him away. It was only when Hiriluk stripped naked in front of it to show that he meant no harm that he gained the creature's trust.
Hiriluk took the creature in and discovered his shape-shifting powers and ability to speak. Dubbing him Tony Tony Chopper ("Tony Tony" as a nickname of "tonakai" ("reindeer"), and "Chopper" due to claiming his antlers could "chop down trees"), the two formed a friendship and bonded through their escapades to help the village. However, after a year, Hiriluk suddenly kicked Chopper out of his home without warning, much to the reindeer's confusion. It was soon revealed that Hiriluk had a terminal disease and was slowly dying, and kicked Chopper out to prevent him from seeing him slowly die. Upon learning this, Chopper scanned the medical books in the hopes for any cure he could find. He stumbled upon a mushroom with a skull and crossbones drawn next to it—which, based on what Hiriluk had told him, was the symbol of a pirate's pride. Hoping it could cure his friend, Chopper set out to find the mushroom, battling through tough weather along the way. He also encounters his old herd, who had shunned Chopper his whole life due to him having a blue nose and later kicked him out completely after he ate the Human-Human Fruit. Eventually, he found the mushroom at cost of being battered and having one of his horns broken. Hiriluk was very grateful for it, and took the medicine Chopper made from the plant.
Not long after, news reached Hiriluk that the doctors of the kingdom were sick, and he set out to aid them. After visiting Kureha and asking for some last requests, Hiriluk arrived at the castle, only to find out it was a trap set by Wapol to lure him in and kill him. Hiriluk and Kureha had both suspected this might be the case, but he nonetheless wanted to confirm that the doctors were all right, and was relieved to learn that this was indeed the case. Kureha, curious of Hiriluk's odd behavior, visited his hideout and found Chopper there. When he explained that he'd "cured" Hiriluk, Kureha revealed to Chopper that the medicine he'd given him was poison, since that's the real meaning of the skull and crossbones in a medical context. Even though Hiriluk knew this, he took it anyway to honor Chopper's efforts since he was already dying regardless. Horrified, Chopper dashed to the castle, where Hiriluk was already consigned to his fate. However, before dying, he gave a speech about how a person never truly dies unless they're completely forgotten and vowed that his legacy will live on. After giving a toast to his life and thanking Chopper, he committed suicide by drinking an explosive elixir. Chopper arrived not long after the explosion and, in grief and rage, nearly attacked Wapol when he laughed at Hiriluk's death. Dalton stopped him and calmed him down enough to get him to leave before turning on Wapol and trying to attack him, only to fail and be thrown in the dungeon for his actions. Meanwhile, Kureha honored Hiriluk's requests and took Chopper in to teach him how to be a true doctor.
Back down in the village, Vivi, Usopp, and the villagers are trying desperately to find Dalton, who was buried in the avalanche caused by the Laphans. When they do find him, the combination of his injuries and encroaching frostbite from being left in the snow for so long have left him at death's door, and there are no doctors present to help save him... until Wapol's 20 MDs arrive, begging the townspeople to let them help. Vivi is suspicious of the MDs since they are Wapol's men, but the MDs explain that they had a collective Heel–Face Turn after witnessing Hiriluk's death and were searching for a means to truly break free from Wapol and return to practicing medicine for all. The townsfolk agree to allow the MDs to treat Dalton, and thanks to their skill they stabilize and revive him. Despite being gravely injured and in no condition for anything strenuous, Dalton insists on going to Drum Castle to stop Wapol, as he doesn't want to risk Luffy and the others facing him alone (despite Vivi and Usopp insisting Luffy can handle himself). On the ride up the mountain, Dalton and Vivi have a chat and finally recall where they've seen each other before: when Vivi was 10, she accompanied her father to the Reverie, a meeting of various nobles to discuss the troubles facing their countries. Wapol, angry that Vivi's father had made a fool of him during the meeting, decided to pick on Vivi to vent his anger, but the young princess didn't rise to the bait and politely deflected Wapol's antagonism. Dalton, still in the role of Wapol's captain, was impressed by the princess' maturity, and now years later reassures Vivi that she'll be a great leader for her people.
Meanwhile, Wapol and his men have reached Drum Castle, with Kureha, Sanji, and Chopper stepping up to stop him. Wapol is furious at the state of disrepair his castle is in, and begins to show off just what the Munch-Munch Fruit can do: not only can he eat anything, the Devil Fruit allows him to morph his body to take on attributes of things he had eaten recently (morphing his hands into the cannons he ate for breakfast, for example), and he can combine two elements he's eaten together to form a third object, which he demonstrates by eating Chess and Kuromarimo before spitting them back out as a four-armed hybrid named Chessmarimo. Sanji steps up to fight the combination, but Kureha pulls him back before he can get stuck in; Sanji suffered a hairline fracture of his spine in the avalanche, and too much strain will break his back and permanently cripple him. Confident in his victory, Wapol decides to start his renewed reign by blowing Hiriluk's Jolly Roger off the top of the castle where Chopper had hung it as a sign of respect. Luffy, however, intercepts the shot and saves the flag, angrily calling out Wapol for disrespecting the message of the Jolly Roger.
Luffy comes down to fight Wapol, but that still leaves Chessmarimo unattended. Chopper states he'll take care of Chessmarimo, which the fusion laughs at. They are familiar with the fighting styles of Zoan Devil Fruit users like Chopper and Dalton, and so know they can outlast Chopper's three forms without much difficulty. Chopper says he'll take the two down in three minutes before eating a small ball, and in the ensuing fight he's shown to take on forms that are hybrids or enhanced versions of his normal forms. The shocked Chessmarimo asks why he seems to have more than three forms, and Chopper explains the ball he ate was a Rumble Ball, a drug he cooked up for himself that allows him access to seven different Zoan "points" for three minutes. Chessmarimo tries to attack again, but Chopper used that time to analyze the fusion's weaknesses and lands a knockout blow just as the Rumble Ball wears off.
Luffy is beyond impressed... so impressed that he completely ignored Wapol and allowed the tyrant to sneak back into his palace. Wapol goes in search of his arsenal, but on the way he sees Nami (having recovered enough of her strength to get out of bed). Wapol attacks Nami for trespassing, but Nami goes down a flight of stairs too narrow for Wapol to enter. No matter- Wapol eats himself and uses his Devil Fruit to rebuild himself in a Lean and Mean form. He chases Nami to the arsenal, declaring his intent to go and eat all the weapons inside and return with so many guns that even Luffy's Gum-Gum Fruit will be overwhelmed. Unfortunately for him, Nami stole his keys while he was monologing, and now Luffy has caught up with the intent to finish the beating he started. Panicking, Wapol runs deeper into the castle before coming across his ultimate weapon: a massive Gatling cannon that he trains square on Luffy's head. Wapol pulls the trigger... and nothing happens: too much exposure to the elements and roosting birds have left the cannon as nothing more than a hunk of useless metal, and once again Wapol is at Luffy's mercy. Luffy knocks Wapol into the ceiling, getting him stuck before hitting him with a Megaton Punch, launching Wapol far into the distance.
Dalton and the others finally arrive, and are surprised to see Luffy has taken care of Wapol and his goons. Some of the villagers freak out at seeing Chopper, but Luffy is quick to come to Chopper's defense and gets the townsfolk to apologize for treating Chopper so poorly. As Kureha treats everyone's wounds, she gives Nami her bill: continued bed-rest and her pick of the loot aboard the Going Merry. Nami is outraged and instead haggles with the old doctor for the key to the arsenal, ensuring Kureha won't get any of her treasure. Meanwhile, Luffy once again offers Chopper a chance to join his crew, but Chopper is still unsure because of his home on Drum Island. A bit more badgering finally convinces Chopper to go with them, but when he tells this to Kureha she (seemingly) drives him off in a rage. As Chopper takes the other Straw Hats down the mountain in his sleigh, Kureha has the villagers prep the cannons from the arsenal before revealing Hiriluk's final request: the chemical he had been working on for so long produced pink dust that will bond with and dye falling snow, turning the snow pink like the cherry blossoms that had given him new purpose in his youth. The cannons fire as the Straw Hats prepare to leave, Chopper tearing up at the "blossom" that are his mentor's legacy.
Kureha and Dalton chat back at the castle when Dalton remembers he forgot something: a week or so before the Straw Hats showed up, a mysterious man arrived in town and asked if Luffy was there. Dalton told him no, to which the man replied that when Luffy did show up he had a message- he'd be in Alabasta for ten days and hoped to catch up soon. As the man turns to leave, Dalton asks what his name is, to which the man introduces himself as "Ace" before disappearing.
(To be continued)
Drum Island Arc has the following tropes:
- Accidental Hero: The Blackbeard Pirates. When they attacked Drum Island, Wapol was so scared of their power that he took his army and staff and fled the island. When recounting the events, Dalton admits that Wapol was such a despot that most people see the pirates' rampage as something of a blessing in disguise.
- Adipose Rex: Wapol, until he uses his ability on himself.
- Androcles' Lion: While carrying an unconscious Sanji and Nami up the mountain, Luffy sees a Lapahn trapped under the snow, with its baby crying over it, and pulls it out to safety. Later, when Wapol and his men attack Luffy, several Lapahn attack them—stopping Chess and Kuromarimo from killing Nami and Sanji—to return the favor to Luffy.
- Animal Motifs: The hippo for Wapol. He rides on a walking hippo, and he even mispronounces "idiot" in the original Japanese version for "hippo" instead (he says "kaba" and instead of "Baka"). Seeing as he's a jerk, he does this a lot.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Chopper, pre- and post-Devil Fruit. Points, of course, for being a real reindeer. Double points for being a Shout-Out to the Trope Namer, since the original, pre-Devil Fruit reason for this was due to having a odd-colored nose (but blue instead of red).
- Arc Villain: Wapol. Though he might be closer to a Big Bad Wannabe: against moderately tough forces (Dalton or the Laphan), he's an actual threat, but against someone who far exceeds his power (like Blackbeard or Luffy), he's an utter cakewalk.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Wapol. He's essentially the first case of an evil royalty in the series: selfish, arrogant, and just using his power to lord over his subjects. You know it's bad when the people of the island were actually grateful for Blackbeard's attack since it drove Wapol away from the island.
- Bait-and-Switch: Vivi gives a big speech about how the situation in Alabasta means they need to prioritize getting there as quickly as possible, making it sound like she's about to argue for prioritizing staying on course over finding Nami a doctor, only for her conclusion to instead be that they need to prioritize finding Nami a doctor as things will go slower without their navigator.
- Batman Gambit: Wapol, of all people, pulled this in the backstory to get one of the two doctor outlaws, Doctor Hiriluk, to his castle to save the 20 MDs by claiming that they were sick. Once Hiriluk arrived, Wapol revealed that this was a lie, and it was a ruse to draw him out and finally execute him. Worse, he was told by Doctor Kureha that it was a trap, and it's implied he might've understood her warnings in some sense, but he went anyway.
- Bears Are Bad News: Let's just say the Lapahn are definitely more bear than rabbit. Ironically averted with the one actual bear we see, a quasi-Civilized Animal that isn't interested in anything besides hikingnote .
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The Lapahn help out Luffy against Wapol and his henchmen after Luffy helps dig one out of the snow.
- Berserk Button: Oh, all over the place in this arc:
- Calling Kureha old. Luffy and Sanji find this out the hard way when she chases after them for it, chucking everything she can at them.
- Trying to shoot down a pirate flag, no matter where it's being flown, is a great way to earn an asskicking from Luffy.
- Ruining Nami's jacket, or really anything of hers, pisses her off to no end.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: In Chopper's flashback Hiriluk, having eaten Chopper's poisonous mushroom and then being surrounded by Wapol's men, decides to go out on his own terms so that Chopper wont be burdened with guilt for unintentionally killing him, content in the knowledge that the countries doctors were save after all.
- Beware the Silly Ones: All of Wapol's crew. Wapol's "Factory House" isn't something to sneeze at either — he easily defeats Dalton with it.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Luffy does this when Chopper meekly tries to explain why he can't come with him.
- Bowdlerize: In the manga, Dalton straight-up decapitates Wapol during their brief (present-day) fight. The anime changes this to a simpler slash across the chest. In both versions, the 20 MDs fix Wapol up immediately after, but the former makes Wapol look like more of an idiot than usual.
- Brutish Bulls: Dalton's Devil Fruit turns him into a bison.
- Character Development: When Luffy is about to respond to the citizens' act of violence in kind, Vivi stops him and instills in him that a leader must never be too proud to beg for the lives of his/her followers. She then begs the villagers to get them a doctor for Nami, and Luffy follows suit. This lesson in humility sticks with him, as he does something similar in future story arcs as well.
- Chekhov's Gun: This is when the Reverie is first referenced, an event that becomes incredibly important much later on.
- Chekhov's Gunman:
- Blackbeard and his crew are first name dropped in this arc as the pirates whose attack led to Wapol fleeing the island in the first place. Suffice it to say this wouldn't be the last time Blackbeard's presence would be felt, though its not until the Jaya arc when we'd meet the man in person.
- Dalton remembers that some guy named Ace passed by and wanted to let Luffy know to meet him in Alabasta (though the villagers forget to pass this message on to him, only remembering it after the Straw Hats have left). Once the Straw Hats are there, they do meet up, and Ace is revealed to be Luffy's big brother.
- Cranial Eruption: Exaggerated for laughs: after Usopp nearly dies from an avalanche, a worried Vivi slaps the ever-living crap out of him to wake him up, which causes his head to swell up to three times its size.
- Crazy-Prepared: Even though the Keschia (The bug that bit Nami and made her sick) supposedly went extinct a hundred years ago, Kuraha kept a supply of the vaccine on hand "just in case."
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Luffy vs Wapol. Wapol doesn't even score a hit on him.
- Zoro vs. all of Wapol's nameless Mook soldiers. He defeats them all in less than 30 seconds.
- Dead Hat Shot: After Hiriluk blows himself up in the flashback, the only thing left of him is his hat floating in the wind, which Chopper sees as he races up to Wapol's castle.
- Dirty Coward: Wapol only became a pirate when he and his men fled the country in fear of the Blackbeard Pirates passing through.
- Dr. Jerk / Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kureha, who comes off as crotchety and charges exorbitant prices for her services, but is a genuinely good doctor who truly helps people once they do pay her, and even honors Hiriluk's last requests.
- Dramatic Irony: Dalton plans to use a Suicide Attack on Wapol once he reaches him at the top of the mountain, unaware that Luffy is already pounding the stuffing out of him.
- Dub-Induced Plot Hole: Reverie (an event where the nobles of the world gather together) occurs every four years, but Funimation mistakenly changes it to every year in their dub.
- Early-Bird Cameo: After the Straw Hats have departed the Drum/Sakura Kingdom, Dalton has a brief flashback of Ace visiting the country recently, mentioning to Dr. Kureha that he appeared in one of their towns asking about a kid in a bounty poster (Luffy, whom, at the time, the villagers had never met).
- Emergency Food Supply Animal: Poor Chopper. Luffy and Sanji initially treat him as a potential meal. When they leave Drum Island, Sanji initially thinks of him as this still.
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite being the Straw Hats' primary Big Eater, even Luffy thinks Wapol has a freaky appetite. Prior to the final showdown, when Wapol mentions having eaten two cannons and a house that day, an incredulous Luffy essentially comments to Sanji, "And you call me a glutton!".
- Expy: Sing it with me: Chopper the Blue-Nosed Reindeer...
- Extreme Omnivore: Part of Wapol's powers, which allow him to eat anything.
- Fantastic Drug: The Rumble Ball for Chopper. It's a drug that he invented himself, which interferes with the frequency of his transformations (which he calls "Points") to provide him with four additional forms in battle for three minutes, giving him seven Points in total during that time instead of his usual three. After it wears off, it takes six hours before he can safely eat another one. Though there's a bit of information he's withholding that will come up later in the series.
- Fingore: In the anime, at least, there's a downright cringeworthy scene where Luffy's grip on the Drum Rockies slips, and he slides a good twenty or thirty feet down while his bared fingers and toes leave bloody red traces in the rock.
- Flashback: The big one this arc takes place six years before the main storyline and explores Dalton's and Chopper's backstories.
- Flower Motifs: Cherry blossoms ("sakura" in Japanese) for the arc. Since cherry blossoms are impossible to grow on a winter island like Drum Island, Hiriluk began his research on using them to "heal the country" and create a miracle, just as he was miraculously healed by them (in a metaphorical sense) on his home island, where they're abundant. When Kureha gives Chopper one last present after the latter joins the Straw Hats, she uses the fruits of Hiriluk's research to make cherry blossoms in a large part of the frozen forestnote , provoking tears from Chopper and symbolizing that a country whose heart was frozen and sick is now warm and healed. Chopper continues to have this motif, and Drum Kingdom even changes its name to Sakura Kingdom.
- Foreshadowing:
- Wapol fled from his country when his army was defeated by the Blackbeard Pirates, whom the Straw Hats will encounter (unknowingly) in the Jaya arc.
- Vivi mentions that the situation in her country is getting even worse, and reads that 700,000 people have joined the rebellion and 300,000 Royal Guards are expected to defend it. She fears that the civil war is unpreventable, and while Nami reassures her, Luffy only focuses on beating the one responsible. In a way, the next arc shows Vivi and Luffy are both right.
- Wapol mentions that Luffy's going to get the attention of the World Government if he tries anything like knocking him out of the country. In the next arc, he does, though it's thanks to defeating another sort of "government-sponsored pirate who wants to be king".
- When Ace's appearance is mentioned, Dalton says it didn't snow that day, which is an extremely odd occurrence. This is most likely because, as we later find out, Ace ate the Flame-Flame Fruit, and thus, his presence made the temperature in the area too warm for it to snow.
- Wapol's callous actions as king, and his belief that his royal title means he can do whatever he wants with no consequences, is pretty much a microcosm of the same attitudes that the world nobles have whom the Straw Hats will also eventually cross.
- Funny Afro: Kuromarimo. He even throws them at the people he fights.
- Fur and Loathing: Wapol is a rare male example; the "White Walky" cloak that he wears is actually made out of the skinned brother of his pet (and mount) Robson.
- Fusion Dance: Wapol invokes this to Chess and Kuromarimo by eating them via his "Wapol Factory", creating Chessmarimo. Later subverted when it turns out one's on top of the other and their clothes just fused.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Played for Laughs when Vivi, desperate to keep Usopp from succumbing to the cold, smacks his face to keep him awake until it ends up heavily swollen.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: The 4kids dub, not joking, manages to allude to Usopp nearly dying from hypothermia
. - Glasses Pull: The 20 MDs do this when they explain that they genuinely want to save Dalton from being frozen. It symbolizes them reasserting their goodness and virtue after being under Wapol's control for so long.
- Gonk: Wapol, Chess, and eventually Chessmarimo. Kureha is more of a Butter Face.
- Greater-Scope Villain: By the time the Straw Hats arrive on Drum, the country is still recovering from the Blackbeard Pirates' pillaging, which is incidentally also the reason Wapol deserted his own country to begin with.
- Hair-Raising Hare: Good lord, the Lapahn - the adults are roughly twice the size of a grown man, even the cubs have More Teeth than the Osmond Family, and they all have flat red eyes.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Hiriluk after consuming Chopper's "cure" for his sake, and again after blowing himself up for the sake of the kingdom.
- Less lethal, but no less heroic: Sanji hurls Luffy (and by extension, the invalid Nami on Luffy's back) out of the avalanche's way, taking the brunt of it himself. This dislocates his spine, rendering him useless in combat for the rest of the arc.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Wapol's power was practically made for this, and he tries it on several characters, but never succeeds (except for his two henchmen, who aren't digested but instead "fused" into Chessmarimo, and himself, which makes him skinnier).
- Ironic Echo:
- Chopper went most of his life hearing people call him a monster for his Devil Fruit power, and even Luffy and Sanji get in on it when they find out he can talk and transform (though, unlike everyone else, they're saying it in an entirely complimentary way). So when Luffy begins his fight with Wapol, we get to hear this exchange between Chopper and Sanji, which also highlights how Luffy and Chopper are similar:Chopper: Did his arm just stretch?Sanji: Yep. He's a rubber man.Chopper: A "rubber man"? What's that?Sanji: (smiles) A "monster".
- When Luffy sees what Chopper can do with his Devil Fruit and the Rumble Ball, he has one of his geek-out moments: "SEVEN-FORM TRANSFORMING INTERESTING REINDEER!" Later, while they're sailing away, Nami asks Luffy why he actually invited Chopper to the crew when he had no clue that Chopper's a doctor, and Luffy repeats that exact line, but utterly deadpan.
- Chopper went most of his life hearing people call him a monster for his Devil Fruit power, and even Luffy and Sanji get in on it when they find out he can talk and transform (though, unlike everyone else, they're saying it in an entirely complimentary way). So when Luffy begins his fight with Wapol, we get to hear this exchange between Chopper and Sanji, which also highlights how Luffy and Chopper are similar:
- Kick the Dog: Wapol's such an asshole that he spends all of Hiriluk's Obi-Wan Moment and after the Heroic Sacrifice laughing his ass off at him. He even laughs at Dalton for having a shred of empathy and caring about the country!
- Later, during the flashback to the Reverie, he's shown tripping and injuring a young Princess Vivi for no other reason than that he wanted to (and possibly petty revenge for her father making a fool of him during the meeting).
- Killer Rabbit: Not the Lapahn (except in the most literal sense), but Chopper somewhat counts.
- The Lancer: With Zoro and Usopp Out of Focus and Nami as the ill girl for this arc, Vivi and Sanji alternate as Luffy's more logical second-in-command at varying parts of the arc before they all convene for the final battle against Wapol at the the top of the mountains.
- Last Request: Once Hiruluk's disease returns he asks Kureha two final requests; to look after Chopper when he's gone and complete his life's work. While initially disdainful about filling Hiruluk's requests, after his death, Kureha ultimately does do what he asked by looking after Chopper and releasing the finalized version of the Sakura petals over the kingdom.
- Lean and Mean: Part of Wapol's powers, which allow him to eat himself and reconfigure his body to a much slimmer form.
- Lone Wolf Boss: Wapol is the only villain of the Baroque Works Saga to not be part of the eponymous group.
- Mama Bear: Kureha, though she'll hardly admit it. She chases Luffy and Sanji around the castle with knives when they're a little too enthusiastic about getting Chopper to join the crew. Though, later, she does the same thing to Chopper to force him to pursue his dream.
- Manchild: Wapol isn't insane, just an asshole. But he is definitely this. He thinks of nothing but his own pleasure, and shows little concern about possible threats to his kingdom. And when he was once called out for it, he took it out a small child (a then-10-year-old Vivi) who acted more mature than him. Dalton never let this go past his attention, and it sowed the seeds for his Heel–Face Turn.
- Martial Pacifist: Chopper, initially.
- Megaton Punch: What Luffy does to Wapol to end the fight.
- Mood Whiplash:
- When Luffy and Sanji realize that Chopper can talk, become huge, and walk on two legs, they call him a monster. Chopper, overhearing them, becomes saddened that someone else sees him as a horrible monster and walks off. The second he's out of earshot, however, Luffy gushes about how cool Chopper is and states that he wants him in the crew.
- In Chopper's backstory, Dr. Hiriluk's potions exploding is Played for Laughs at first, only leaving him and Chopper with ash faces...until he uses it to perform a Heroic Sacrifice and blow himself up from the inside so as to not to die from his illness, the poisoned mushroom, or Wapol's firing squad.
- Ms. Exposition: At the end of the arc (episode 91 in the anime), Vivi explains the power structure of Baroque Works. It's framed as the crew getting Chopper up to speed.
- Naked People Are Funny: In the flashback, Dr. Hiriluk invoked this to gain Chopper's trust, stripping naked (except for his hat) in spite of the cold to show he was not a threat.
- Negated Moment of Awesome: Every time Dalton tries to stand up against Wapol. While his Bison Model Fruit power allows him to trash Wapol's soldiers, Chess shoots the villagers, knowing Dalton will act as a Human Shield and get taken down. In the flashback, on the heels of Hiriluk's Obi-Wan Moment, Dalton declares that there's no cure for idiots and charges Wapol. The next we see of him is in Wapol's dungeon, wounded.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: A very tragic case in Chopper's flashback, when he set off to get a supposed mushroom that might cure Hiriluk, who, at best, had a few weeks to live. The mushroom turned out to be poisonous and only sped up Hiriluk's death. But he knew the medicine was poison, and took it anyway to honor Chopper's efforts. This is also partially Hiriluk's own fault; had he not told Chopper about the "awesome" symbol of the skull & crossbones, waxing on about how it signifies the freedom of a pirate, and instead taken the time to explain that it actually means certain death in a medical context, Chopper wouldn't have given him the mushroom in the first place.
- Obi-Wan Moment:Hiriluk: No, your bullets cannot kill me...How does a man die? When he gets shot? No. When he receives an incurable disease? No. When he eats a poisoned mushroom? No! A man dies when he is forgotten.
- Off with His Head!: In the manga, Dalton does this to Wapol. However, the 20 MDs' medical skills are so good that they attach it back on without it killing him.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Wapol's reaction to Dalton severely injuring him and cutting his head off (in the anime, he merely slashes him across the chest), at least until the doctors fix him up.
- Wapol is about to go all out on Luffy by eating his entire artillery...except he can't find the key to it. It turns out that Nami took it, and while he's chasing her around, Luffy suddenly finds him again, and picks up where they left off.
- Luffy when he realizes Nami's better and has noticed what he did to her winter jacket. She's not pleased.
- One-Winged Angel:
- Inverted. Wapol eats himself to make him leaner and faster.
- Chopper plays it straight with his Heavy Point, and with the rest of his Rumble Ball transformations (Guard Point, Jumping Point, Arm Point and Horn Point). He spends most of his time in Brain Point (his small hybrid form) and Walk Point (the closest to his natural reindeer form).
- Out-of-Context Eavesdropping: When Chopper overhears Luffy's and Sanji's conversation, he just hears them call him a "monster", and is understandably hurt by it. However, he walks away before finding out that Luffy means that in a positive way.
- Out of Focus: This time, it's Zoro's and Usopp's turn to sit the main story out. Even Vivi isn't particularly vital to the story after she's smoothed things over with Drum's locals.
- Parental Substitute: Dr. Hiruluk and Kureha became this to Chopper at different points in his life after taking him in despite not initially intending to. Notably they both get a moment at some point in the arc where one of them will refer to Chopper as their son (for Hiruluk it was right before he died and for Kureha its right after Chopper leaves Drum Kingdom).
- Plot Detour: Due to Nami falling deathly sick the Straw Hats have to take a brief reprieve from traveling to Alabasta and fighting Baroque Works in order to find her a doctor. Notably this the only time in the entirety of the Baroque Works Saga that the Straw Hats never once fight a member of the titular organisation.
- Public Domain Soundtrack: The anime sets Dr. Hiluluk's final moments to a rendition of Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria".
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: Dalton finds out the hard way that Wapol isn't someone to mess with. Kureha explicitly states that if Wapol's cabinet were easy to get rid of, the people of Drum would have revolted years ago.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Chopper.
- Running Gag: in the manga, Luffy doesn't realize that it's cold.Luffy: Oh, cool. *insert thing here*Other Person: What are you doing? It's cold out here.Luffy: IT'S COLD!Other Person: YOU JUST NOTICED?!?
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Wapol saw how powerful the Blackbeard Pirates were, he took his army and cabinet and fled Drum Island. The people didn't mind, because Wapol was such a horrible ruler that some saw Blackbeard's attack as a mixed blessing. This enables Dalton to de facto take charge, and after Luffy defeats Wapol, he takes the throne de jure.
- Seinfeldian Conversation: Luffy and Sanji's banter on the way to Dr. Kureha's—the first time they've had one-on-one interaction since Sanji's debut in the Baratie arc—pretty much amounts to this, with heavy doses of Insane Troll Logic to boot.Luffy: Did you know? People in snow countries don't sleep!Sanji: Then why was there a bed in Dalton's house?Luffy: Hmm... that must be his deathbed!
- Sherlock Scan: Chopper can do this in Brain Point by eating a Rumble Ball. However, it barely comes up again for the rest of the series. This is justified since it's Awesome, but Impractical; while useful, Chopper must stay still while performing this technique, and thus, as shown later, it's suicide against faster opponents.
- Shoo the Dog:
- Hiruluk to Chopper in the backstory, as he didn't want his adoptive son to have to see him die slowly from disease.
- Kureha to Chopper at the end of the arc; after he decides to join the Straw Hats, she pretends to be furious, insulting his skills and chasing him out of the castle with knives, but this is really to make sure he won't change his mind and make him feel more confident in his decision.
- Stuff Blowing Up: The medicines Hiriluk tries to develop for people and for the country itself tend up to blow up in his and Chopper's faces. Played for Laughs...until he uses one of them to commit suicide.
- Sudden Principled Stand: Dalton makes one after Hiriluk's death, declaring Wapol to be a terrible and foolish leader who's ruining the country. However, all that accomplishes is him getting his ass kicked by Wapol, who imprisons him for insubordination.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: With Nami out of commission for the arc, Vivi takes it upon herself to act as the crew's de facto navigator, helping to plot a course to Drum Island and acting as the rational Only Sane Woman to the rest of the crew.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: When Dr. Kureha takes the key to the armory from Nami, she outwardly acts like the latter still has to stay, but also tells her where to find warm clothing, and that Sanji is well enough to travel now.
- Tears of Joy:
- Hiriluk doesn't mind being an Unwitting Pawn for Wapol...because it means the 20 MDs were never in danger and the country may still have a chance.
- Chopper sheds these after seeing Kureha's going away present for him: the fruits of Hiriluk's cherry blossom research.
- Thanatos Gambit: Hiriluk basically flipped Wapol's Batman Gambit by knowingly walking into his trap and then committing suicide; when the 20 MDs do their Heel–Face Turn, they state that Hiriluk inspired them.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight:
- As Luffy and Sanji walk through the mountains, the Lapahn try to attack them, but they casually dodge and continue their Seinfeldian Conversation for over a minute before finally reacting to them.
- Nami responds rather nonchalantly when Luffy tells her there's a fight going outside, and goes back to sleep.
- Villainous Breakdown: Wapol begs for his life when it becomes obvious that Luffy's the better fighter, even offering to make Luffy a second king.
- Walk on Water: Subverted. Chess is introduced seemingly standing on water, but he's actually standing atop his crew's submerged ship.
- We Can Rule Together: Before being blasted away by Luffy's Gum-Gum Bazooka, Wapol tries to get him to stop by promising to make Luffy a "vice-king", but Luffy's having none of it.
- Wham Line: From Dr. Kureha to Dalton at arc's end:"Monkey D. Luffy? Just like Gol D. Roger. So it still lives...the Will of D. Chopper is traveling with a very dangerous man."
- What the Hell, Hero?: When Vivi is shot in the arm by one of the villagers as the crew prepares to enter Drum, Luffy gets mad and prepares to rip the citizens a new one. However, Vivi chastises Luffy for trying to recklessly start a fight when Nami is deathly ill, and enters a Pose of Supplication to beg the Drum citizens to let them see a doctor. Luffy promptly apologizes and follows suit.
- Who Would Be Stupid Enough?: While Kureha wonders how Nami caught her fever, she jokingly asks her if she ran around a prehistoric island with her belly exposed or something. Cut to a flashback to the Little Garden arc to show that Nami did do exactly that, to Kureha's surprise (Granted, through no fault of Nami's own).
Story Impact
- Dr. Kureha is the first character to speak of the Will of D., and to reveal Gold Roger's true name: Gol D. Roger. This links Gol D. Roger to Luffy, since they both share the D. in their names.
- The crew gains an important member with Tony Tony Chopper as the ship's doctor.
- Portgas D. Ace is briefly shown, and was looking for Luffy, foreshadowing their bond.
- This is the first arc to mention the Blackbeard Pirates and their brutality and enormous power. They later become significant antagonists to many major characters and to the world at large. In particular, this arc lays the foundation for the conflict between Blackbeard and Ace, which leads to the Marineford Arc.
- We get more insight into Vivi's positive leadership qualities through her lesson in humility to Luffy, the flashback showing how mature she was even at 10 years old, and how she is disgusted with Wapol's way of ruling his kingdom.
- The last of the three Devil Fruit types is introduced, the Zoan-type, through Dalton and Chopper.
- This arc also introduces the selfish nature of most nobles seen in the series, but clearly demonstrates that Vivi is an exception, foreshadowing the Nefertari family's contrast to the rest of the World Nobles.
- Though Dragon was introduced earlier in the series, this is the first time that revolutionary movements are mentioned, and Wapol's rants when Luffy is about to beat him reveal that the World Government disapproval of such acts.
- The Reverie is seen for the first time. Later, it will be revealed that it takes place every four years, which will play an important role in the Fishman Island arc.
- Wapol's banishment from the kingdom at the end of this arc leads to his cover story mini arc, in has multiple important results:
- He creates a new type of metal called Wapometal, which makes him rich and famous once more. His Wapometal will be beneficial to Franky in creating the Iron Pirate General Franky during the timeskip, which is introduced in the Fishman Island Arc.
- At the end of the mini-arc, he marries a woman named Kinderella (the current Miss Universe), and founds his own new kingdom, the Black Drum Kingdom. By the timeskip, the World Government officially recognizes Black Drum Kingdom, and as such, Wapol participates in the Reverie during its titular arc.
