Here’s everything you need to know about what happened between the 20 kings and the Ancient Kingdom
The mystery of the Ancient Kingdom is one that every One Piece fan wants an answer to. It was teased by Eiichiro Oda years ago in the story and its significance keeps on growing with each passing chapter of the story. As mentioned in the story, this Ancient Kingdom is deeply connected to a blank period of 100 years that exists in the calendar of the One Piece world. This period is known as the Void Century. As evident from the name, information is hidden about the Void Century and even today, fans only know bits about it.
Yet, slowly, over the years, Oda has revealed some important details about the events of the Void Century. Fans now know that at the center of the Void Century was a conflict between two superpowers and a massive war was fought between the Ancient Kingdom and an alliance of 20 Kings. To understand that, however, one needs to go over each of them individually.
What Was The Ancient Kingdom?
The very first mention of the Ancient Kingdom came during the Enies Lobby arc of One Piece. In Nico Robin’s flashback, Clover was the one who gave insight into the Kingdom and its existence. According to the scholar, there once existed, a very prosperous kingdom in the world of One Piece. This kingdom is known to have been very powerful, very proud, and it flourished as the greatest kingdom in the world. Yet, it somehow vanished in thin air. Thanks to the scholars of Ohara, a lot of information was dug up about this Kingdom and even its name was finally figured out. Unfortunately, Clover was shot by the members of the World Government on command of the Gorosei.
Fans didn’t find out much about the Ancient Kingdom until much later in the story. In the recent Egghead Island arc, Dr. Vegapunk provided quite a lot of context on the information surrounding the Ancient Kingdom. According to him, the Ancient Kingdom was a civilization of technologically advanced beings. In fact, their technology is known to have been far superior to the one that the people in the One Piece world possess today. At some point, they created the Ancient Weapons and they also crafted an Iron Giant nearly 900 years ago. The proof of that technological prowess lies on Egghead Island, where Vegapunk works right now. According to Dr. Vegapunk, the sudden vanishing of the Ancient Kingdom hides deeper secrets that are connected to the 20 Kings.
The War Against The 20 Kings
Around 900 years in the world of One Piece, a war must have broken out, which is commonly known as the Great War. At the center of this conflict was the Ancient Kingdom, proud and powerful. To stop them, 20 Kings banded together, likely because they felt inferior to the Ancient Kingdom and were envious or scared of their technological prowess. A large-scale war is believed to have been fought between these two Kingdoms. To counter the powers of the 20 Kings, the Ancient Kingdom built the Ancient Weapons, namely Pluton, Poseidon, and Uranus. With the power of these weapons, the Ancient Kingdom should have been unstoppable. However, somehow, the Ancient Kingdom lost the battle.
This is evident from the fact that nearly 800 years ago, Shandora, a prosperous city that was then located in Jaya, was completely destroyed. The outcome of the war was clear, and as the 20 Kings prevailed, the Ancient Kingdom was completely wiped out from the face of the earth. No traces of this kingdom can be found today. However, histories have not forgotten them. Before completely dying out, the people of the Ancient Kingdom, managed to create Poneglyphs, and using them they were able to record the entire history of the war that ensued. The people of the Kozuki were the ones who created these Poneglyphs and they currently live in Wano Country. It is precisely because of this reason not the study of the Poneglyphs has been banned by the World Government.
The Creation Of The World Government
Immediately after winning the battle against the Ancient Kingdom and destroying it completely, the 20 Kings then created what is known as the World Government today. This World Government has, since then, been ruling the entire world with an Iron Fist. Every bit of information that is against them is completely manipulated and kingdoms that go against them are eradicated. The World Government created by the 20 Kings is still running strong today. The descendants of these 20 Kings are known as the Celestial Dragons, apart from the Nefeltari Family, who decided to live in Alabasta with the rest of the people instead of Mariejois. In the heart of Mariejois is the Pangea Castle, where the Celestial Dragons live.
Among them are the Gorosei, known to be five of the most powerful people in the One Piece world. On the surface, the world of One Piece believes them to be the highest power of authority. However, recently, it was revealed that there exists a person who ranks even above them in the hierarchy. This person is none other than Imu, the ruler of the World. Imo sits atop the Empty Throne and was most likely alive during the Void Century as well. It goes without saying that they will be deeply involved in the upcoming Great War that is to come. Undoubtedly, One Piece will only go on to explore the depths of the Void Century even more and fans can’t wait for Oda to reveal the answers to even bigger mysteries.
Src: gamerant.com
