Fish-Man Island Arc

This twenty-fifth story arc, the closing chapter of its namesake saga and an early stop in the series' second half, plunges the crew ten thousand meters beneath the sea to the Ryugu Kingdom. It pairs a tense political plot with a deep meditation on bigotry, exploring the legacies of Fisher Tiger, Queen Otohime and Arlong, and the cycle of hatred between two peoples.

Descending past the perils of the deep, the freshly reunited crew reaches the coral-and-bubble city of the merfolk and Fish-Men. They are caught up in a coup by Hody Jones and the New Fish-Man Pirates, militants who twist the suffering of their ancestors into a doctrine of supremacy and aim to overthrow the gentle King Neptune and his royal family. The crew learns the painful history behind the divide: Tiger's raid, the late queen Otohime's dream of coexistence, and the assassination that nearly extinguished it.

Hody, who has artificially amplified his strength with Energy Steroids, takes the Ryugu Palace and the royal family hostage and rallies a vast army to march on the city, intent on executing the human-friendly monarchy and reshaping the island by force. The Straw Hats, fresh from two years of growth, stand with Jinbe and the kingdom against the uprising. Luffy faces Hody directly, while the crew dismantles his forces and protects the citizens. The buried truth about the destruction left by Arlong and the burden it placed on Jinbe also surfaces during the conflict.

The crew shatters Hody's coup, exposing that hollow hatred, not the strength he borrowed, was always his weakness. The Ryugu royal family is saved, and the island moves a step closer to Otohime's vision of reconciliation. Luffy's promise to one day bring the merfolk and Fish-Men up to the surface gives the kingdom new hope. Connections to larger forces, including Big Mom's claim over the island and the looming entry into the New World, set the stage for the voyages to come as the crew sails onward to Punk Hazard.