One Piece's most mysterious incident involving Law and Blackbeard, explained

One Piece first mentioned the Rocky Port Incident in the manga’s chapter 700, revealing that Trafalgar D. Water Law was the mastermind of the event. No further details about the incident were disclosed, but it was strongly implied that it was a major happening that contributed to shaping the series' world’s current scene.

As the story progressed, it was revealed that Marshall D. Teach “Blackbeard” and Koby played a major role in the Rocky Port Incident as well. Their involvement was never made completely clear, but it was stated that Koby somehow helped Blackbeard defeat Wang Zhi, a former Rocks Pirates member.

This enabled Blackbeard to become the new ruler of Hachinosu, replacing Wang Zhi as the boss of the island. That said, the exact circumstances of the Rocky Port Incident remained a mystery. Yet, much to fans' delight, One Piece has finally made up for this omission, as franchise creator Eiichiro Oda addressed the topic in one of his ten Q&As on Weekly Shonen Jump issue #49.

The Rocky Port Incident is no longer a mystery after One Piece author Eiichiro Oda’s latest Q&A

An event that has captured the interest of fans

The Rocky Port Incident mentioned in One Piece chapter 700 (Image via Shueisha)

Since the Rocky Port Incident was first mentioned, One Piece fans have been understandably eager to know more about its dynamics. The report that Trafalgar Law was the mastermind behind the incident was especially interesting, given his narrative links to some prominent elements of the One Piece lore. These include the Will of D. and the Ancient Weapons, as well as the secrets of his own Devil Fruit, the Ope-Ope.

A clever tactician who handles every situation with a level-headed approach, Law is a calculating and patient man. He plans his actions carefully, considering their long-term consequences and waiting for the right moment to make his move. Thus, many fans suspected that Law was called the mastermind of the Rocky Port Incident because he had baited Blackbeard and Wang Zhi into fighting each other.

The Rocky Port Incident mentioned in One Piece chapter 903 (Image via Shueisha)

Another popular theory postulated that Law was called the mastermind of the Rocky Port Incident as the World Government asked him to trigger the event as a precondition for him to become a Warlord. In fact, Law became one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea during the two-year time skip, roughly around the same time frame in which the Rocky Port Incident took place.

As for Blackbeard’s involvement, given his opportunistic nature, the former would only be happy to exploit a favorable circumstance to increase his possessions. This could be similar to what he did during the Paramount War when he waited for Whitebeard’s health to decline before attacking him to steal the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.

One Piece author Eiichiro Oda revealed the truth

The Rocky Port Incident mentioned in One Piece chapter 1059 (Image via Shueisha)

Eiichiro Oda has finally revealed the details of this event in his latest Q&A corner. Unfortunately, the author only summarized the incident, not releasing any picture – not even a rough sketch – of it. Granted, given the lack of information about this event and yet the remarkable narrative hype surrounding it, a summary was certainly better than nothing.

Oda explained that Trafalgar Law is considered to be the mastermind behind the Rocky Port Incident because he started it by hijacking a ship to infiltrate Hachinosu with the aim to steal the Poneglyph reportedly hidden on the island. The ship that Law hijacked was a smuggling vessel called “Rocky Port”, which concealed its activities by passing itself off as a mere passenger ship.

The Rocky Port Incident mentioned in One Piece chapter 1081 (Image via Shueisha)

At the time, the vessel was transporting the king and several nobles of a certain country doing shady business with Hachinosu. Law rode the ship to the island until he got into conflict with some pirates. Blackbeard and Koby arrived on the scene, each for his own personal reasons (which Oda didn’t specify), and intervened into the fight, setting aside their different goals and allegiances to form a temporary alliance of convenience.

Koby protected the civilians and allegedly helped Blackbeard in the battle against Wang Zhi. Also known as Ochoku, Wang Zhi was a former member of the Rocks Pirates who had become the ruler of Hachinosu. Blackbeard eventually defeated Ochoku and took over Hachinosu as his new personal domain.

Blackbeard as seen in One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

Ochoku’s fate and whereabouts after his downfall remain unknown. As for Trafalgar Law, he earned himself a place among the Seven Warlords by sending to the World Government a nice gift, i.e., the hearts of a hundred pirates, which he extracted with his Ope-Ope Fruit.

The Rocky Port Incident deserved more focus

Blackbeard made Koby his prisoner (Image via Toei Animation)

Given its importance in Blackbeard’s rise to power, the Rocky Port Incident deserved a dedicated flashback in the manga, rather than a simple recap. While Oda’s Q&A provided some much-needed insight about this major incident, it also confirmed that the One Piece manga will never show it directly.

This was a huge letdown for One Piece fans, who saw another important event being completely off-screened, much like the ten-day fight between Sakazuki “Akainu” and Kuzan “Aokiji” or the clash that opposed Kaido and his right-hand man King to the Red Hair Pirates. To add insult to injury, Oda's evasive answer left open a series of questions regarding the Rocky Port Incident.

It would be interesting if the Poneglyph rumored to be in Hachinosu was one of the four Road Poneglyphs needed for locating Laugh Tale, or even one of the nine Real Poneglyphs, that tell the true history of the One Piece world.

Blackbeard inflicted a crushing defeat on Law (Image via Toei Animation)

The report of a Poneglyph being on the island was the reason that brought Law to try and infiltrate it, and it’s a known fact that the “Surgeon of Death” is interested in learning the true history to discover the meaning of the Will of D. carriers’ checkered fate.

Fans were also left wondering how did Koby actually help Blackbeard, and what was Wang Zhi's fate after his defeat. Considering that another former member of the Rocks Pirates – Kaido – was smuggling weapons, it’s entirely possible that the Rocky Port was doing the same business with Hachinosu.

Perhaps, Kaido and Wang Zhi were doing business together. Wang Zhi’s character is based on a real-life Chinese pirate of the same name who brought Portuguese flint-lock muskets to Japan, so this would certainly be an option. Also, the fact that Krieg, Gin, and Pearl were recently shown to be in Hachinosu may suggest that they were among the pirates whose hearts Law stole and sent to the World Government.

Sanji, as seen in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

This may lead to some more insight on the incident with Gin’s flashback, as it was implied that he and Sanji were meant to meet again in the New World sooner or later. In any case, the unusual alliance between Koby, Law, and Blackbeard goes down in history as a cool moment in the series. For a sort of twist of fate, these three characters ended up interacting with each other again during the recent arc.

Blackbeard stormed Amazon Lily to steal Boa Hancock’s Devil Fruit and met Koby on the same island. Forced to give up his objective by the unexpected arrival of “Dark King” Silvers Rayleigh, Blackbeard abducted Koby, who offered himself as a hostage in exchange for the lives of some Marines. Blackbeard kept Koby imprisoned in Hachinosu, aiming to use him as a bargaining chip with the World Government.

Koby only escaped when Monkey D. Garp and Koby’s colleagues of the SWORD unit came to his rescue. Meanwhile, Blackbeard attacked Trafalgar Law. In the ensuing fight, Law and his crewmates suffered a crushing defeat. The Heart Pirates were annihilated, with Law barely escaping with his life thanks to Bepo’s crucial help. One thing is certain, Blackbeard is not very grateful to his former allies from the Rocky Port Incident.

One Piece's most mysterious incident involving Law and Blackbeard, explained

The Rocky Port Incident is no longer a mystery after One Piece author Eiichiro Oda’s latest Q&A

An event that has captured the interest of fans

One Piece author Eiichiro Oda revealed the truth

The Rocky Port Incident deserved more focus

Related Links