Punk Hazard

Punk Hazard is an island located in the New World, and is the first island the Straw Hat Pirates have disembarked on, after receiving a distress call from someone on the island. According to Nami, none of her compass needles pointed to it, which she considered odd, even for a New World island. It is where Akainu and Aokiji battled for the position of fleet admiral.

Layout
The island is surrounded by a sea of fire on one side, and a icebergs on the other, in the center there is a lake that separates both halves. The entrance is bolted with a danger sign, hazard stripes, and the logos of the Marines and World Government. The external border is heavily fenced in and inside lies a military base, which consists of buildings that appear to have partially melted due to the intense heat. Also, there is a partially melting skull of a certain creature, which is larger than a giant, lying amongst the ruins.

According to Nami, the clouds above the island made it appear as though the other half of the island had a climate with a temperature below freezing and surprisingly she was right, which fitted with the call the crew received when a victim from a samurai attack talked about being freezing cold.

Robin states that the island appears to have not always been on fire, leading her to wonder if it was a natural disaster or an accident that caused the island to burn on one of its sides. Later Smoker mentions that this was the battlefield of then Admiral Akainu and Aokiji. He also mentioned that the battle was so fierce that it changed the weather on the island, half of the island being ice and half on fire is most likely a byproduct of their two Devil Fruit powers. Thus answering Robin's question on the origin of the fire.

It is also mentioned by the marines on Smoker's ship that before the duel, and indeed the reason it was picked, was because the island was abandoned. This was due to an accident which resulted from one of Dr. Vegapunk's chemical experiments failure four years before the present time. Though most of the poisonous matter had disappeared before the admirals' duel, Smoker is surprised to see there is poisonous gas still leaking out on the island.

On the frozen side of the island, there appears to be a prison where Nami, Sanji, Chopper and Franky were being held captive along with a samurai's head (still alive), and a room full of giant-sized children.

The lake in the center has powerful air and water currents around it, due to the extreme differences in temperature on either side.

PH-006 (Vegapunk's Former Research Institute)
In a different area on the frozen side of the island, Brook found a building marked PH-006. PH-006 is built into the base of a mountain and has a natural harbor in front connecting to the river. The building was originally the lab in which Vegapunk carried out his chemical weaponry experiments. There are many different levels to the building, and it is surrounded on the outside by balconies and on the roofs are chemical chimneys. There is also a gaping hole on the right side of the building. Due to it being on the cold side of the island, most of the facility is covered snow and ice. Law calls this place his vacation house.

Inhabitants
While there is no civilization on the island, it is home to a variety of bizarre creatures, most of which, aside from a Dragon, are half-human hybrids, such as a bird woman, or centaurs (one with giraffe legs and the other with leopard legs). There is also a mysterious group comprised of sheep-like men in hazmat suits, the leader of which has only been seen in the form of a liquid mass.

History
Four years before the Straw Hats' arrival, Dr. Vegapunk performed an experiment with chemical weaponry on the island. The experiment failed, however, causing it to become a chemical wasteland where nobody could set foot. It was at this time that it was closed off by the Marines and the World Government.

After two years, most of the poison had dispersed; as Smoker mentioned that he was surprised that there was so much poison gas coming from the island, when he arrived on the island while chasing the Straw Hat Pirates. The fact that it was a large, abandoned wasteland made it the perfect battleground for Aokiji and Akainu's battle over the position of fleet admiral, two years ago, after the end of the Battle of Marineford. Smoker mentioned that their battle permanently changed the weather on the island. The impact and scale of their battle caused one side of the island to permanently be embroiled in flames, including the water around it, while the other half became permanently frozen over.

Site Navigation
Punk Hazard Punk Hazard