Highlights
- The Poneglyphs are ancient inscriptions that hold secrets about the Void Century and the Ancient Kingdom, posing a threat to the World Government's authority.
- There are three types of Poneglyphs: Historical, Instructional, and Road. Road Poneglyphs are crucial for finding Laugh Tale and the One Piece.
- Only a few individuals can read the Poneglyphs, including Nico Robin and Kozuki Oden. The World Government and pirates are after their knowledge.
Created by the Kozuki family in Wano Country to preserve the true history of the world, the Poneglyphs are massive cubic steles inscribed with an ancient script in Eiichiro Oda's One Piece. Scattered across the world in the hands of various civilizations, the existence of these objects is viewed as a great threat to the authority of the World Government. As such, any research into their whereabouts, origin, or contents is strictly forbidden. In some cases, such as that of the scholars of Ohara, any infringement of this decree is punishable by death, which speaks volumes of the value of the information they hold.
To date, very little is known about the actual contents or purpose of the Poneglyphs. Only a few details have been revealed regarding the secrets they hold about the Void Century, and the Ancient Kingdom that was defeated by the original 20 kingdoms who formed the World Government 800 years prior to the start of the main story of One Piece. While the Straw Hats have encountered a few Poneglyphs along the way, their contents have varied considerably, as the steles themselves were created to fulfill a variety of purposes. Additionally, the Poneglyphs also hold the key to locating the One Piece — the mythical treasure of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger — where four special steles are required to learn the location of Laugh Tale.
What Are The Poneglyphs?
Chiseled from a stone that has not yet been identified, the Poneglyphs are quite uniform in shape, all created as perfect cubes in a grayish blue hue — except for Road Poneglyphs which are red — with text in an ancient script engraved on to one of their six faces. The stone used to make them is said to be nigh on indestructible, which was a key factor in its selection, as the Poneglyphs had to remain intact for centuries after their creation. However, it is possible to copy the contents of a Poneglyph with the aid of a special paper in a manner reminiscent of woodblock printing.
As per the words of Tamago of the Big Mom Pirates, there are 30 Poneglyphs spread out in various locations the world over, each with its own unique message. During the Five Elders' confrontation with Nefertari Cobra in front of the Empty Throne during the Levely, Imu, the secret ruler of the world relayed that the Poneglyphs were scattered due to an unknown event involving the former queen of Arabasta, Nefertari D. Lilli. Each Poneglyph was given to an ancient civilization, and many of them guard them to this day.
This is evidenced by the ones in Arabasta and Shandora, which were fiercely guarded by the citizens of both countries. The World Government has declared possession or study of the Poneglyphs as dangerous by citing their connection the Ancient Weapons, however, the actual threat lies in the information about the Void Century that they contain, as well as the ideals and technological prowess of the Ancient Kingdom, which could seriously undermine the World Government's authority if leaked.
Why Were They Created?
In One Piece, there are three types of Poneglyphs, namely: Historical Poneglyphs, Instructional Poneglyphs, and Road Poneglyphs. Where Historical Poneglyphs are records of past events, details of the Ancient Weapons, or accounts left behind by people from the past, Instructional Poneglyphs contain details and hints that aid in locating the Historical Poneglyphs. Finally, Road Poneglyphs are four unique steles, which are colored red and serve as guides to aid in reaching Laugh Tale, with each of them describing a specific location that will aid in navigation towards the island. It is impossible to find the final island of the Grand Line without collecting them, making this task an essential requirement to discover the One Piece as well.
Additionally, there has also been mention of another special kind of Poneglyph known as the Rio Poneglyph which contains the true history of the world. Essentially, it is the collective message carried by all the Poneglyphs on the Grand Line, and can be found by taking portions of the messages of certain specific Poneglyphs. Tamago has stated that the Rio Poneglyph consists of only nine such steles, and only Gol D. Roger has been successful in collecting their messages so far, by following the trail of the "voice of all things." Nico Robin's dream is to find the Rio Poneglyph and learn the true history, thereby fulfilling the aspirations of the scholars of Ohara, who were unjustly murdered for attempting to study the Poneglyphs.
So far, the recorded locations of Instructional and Historical Poneglyphs have been confirmed in Ohara, Arabasta, Fish Man Island, Shandora, Whole Cake Island, Wano, Onigashima, as well as an unknown island in the West Blue visited by Nico Robin. The Straw Hats have acquired three Poneglyphs so far: from the Whale Tree on Zou, the Treasure Room in the Whole Cake Island Chateau, and Mt. Fuji Cavern in Wano Country. The last elusive Poneglyph was said to have been located on Fishman Island prior to the start of the story, but is now rumored to be in the possession of the "Man Marked by Flames."
Who Can Read The Poneglpyhs?
The text on the Poneglyphs is inscribed in an ancient script that was unique to the Ancient Kingdom, and was also seen on certain ruins in the city of Shandora. Developed by master philologists who belonged to the Kozuki Family, the ability to read this script was confined to certain citizens of Wano. This knowledge was lost for ages until the efforts of the scholars of Ohara who finally managed to decipher it. Unfortunately, the World Government had deemed any attempt at deciphering the script a crime, which was one of the causes of the Buster Call on Ohara.
Kozuki Oden was able to read the script, and aid Roger in finding Laugh Tale. Following the conclusion of the Wano Arc, Nico Robin is the only person who can read the Poneglyphs in the eyes of the World Government and pirates from all over the world, making her a target for all those seeking the One Piece. Unknown to them, Kozuki Sukiyaki, the former shogun of Wano, and father of Oden, is still alive and can also read the Poneglyphs, but the majority of the world believes him to be dead. It is likely that he will pass on his knowledge of the Poneglyphs and the ancient script to his grandchildren, Momonosuke and Hiyori, ensuring that this Kozuki Family tradition is kept alive.
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