Mont Blanc Noland

Montblanc "Liar" Norland (モンブラン・ノーランド, Monburan Nōrando) is regarded in a North Blue fairy tale as a trickster and a liar who made up the story of a gold city on Jaya. He stood by his story even up till his execution.

Appearance
Norland was a brown haired man whose most distinct feature is a large chestnut on his head. This feauture was passed down to his descendants.

He was a well built man who often wore a black coat and orange scarf.

After his execution, Norland's image was distorted over the years due to the shame that was brought to his name. Since then, whenever someone refers to Norland, the image of an ever smiling idiot is the one that commonly comes into mind.

This defacing image is the one often drawn by artists in children's books. His nose is shaped like a spork.

Personality
The real Norland was a honest and good man who was brave and cared about people, despite what history remembers him as. He was happy-go-lucky and had a strong determination as well as being friendly. His only flaw seemed to have been acting without consulting people on things (such as cutting down the Shandians sacred trees), however he only did what he thought was (and usually is) best for people.

After making good friends with Calgara he hoped to see him again and dreamed for a long time of revisiting his island. But Norland was sadly a victum of circumstances beyond his control and this was something he would never live to see. He neverless bravely went to his death swearing the truth was as he said it and hoping his friend was okay.

Powers and abilities
Montblanc Norland was shown to be extremely strong, as he was on even terms with his friend Calgara and decapitated a giant snake thought to be a god in a single swipe of his sword. Considering this snake was the same size as Nora or bigger, who both Zoro and Wiper couldn't kill together, it shows this was no small feat indeed. He also is a very skilled diver, going down such depths underwater that his own crew couldn't tell if he was still alive down there, usually to fetch giant fish for a meal. This skill was apparently inherited by his descendant, Montblanc Cricket. He was also a skilled botanist and doctor, almost single-handedly curing the Shandian village of a plague.

The Tale of a Liar
"A story over 400 years ago... In a certain country in the northern seas, there was a man named Montblanc Norland. Norland the Explorer's stories were always grand adventures that sounded like lies. ''But the people of the village could never tell if they were true or not.

''One time, Norland went on an expedition, ''and came back to report to the king. ''"I saw a mountain of gold on an island across the great seas." To see for himself, the brave king took 2,000 warriors ''and crossed the great seas in his ship. ''He fought powerful storms and huge sea monsters.

''Finally, the king, Norland, and 100 soldiers landed on the island. ''But what they found there was nothing but jungle. ''Norland was sentenced to death for his lies. ''These were his last words. ''"That's it! The mountain of gold sunk into the ocean!!!" The king and the others were shocked. Nobody believed Norland anymore, but he never stopped lying until he was dead.

-Northern folk tale, "Norland the Liar"

The True Story
400 years ago, he was an explorer who found the island of Jaya by hearing the ringing of a golden bell located there. This bell was regarded as a holy object by the native Shandian Tribe of Jaya. Norland and his crew, in which Domota was also part of his crew, became friends with the tribe, especially the Shandoran warrior Calgara.

When Norland arried, the people were suffering from Tree Fever, brought on by dieased trees. Ater killing their "God" (a giant snake) and saving Calgara's daughter, he was captured by the tribe in order to take his daughter's place for angering God. While Norland was giving until sunset to find the cure for the tribes sickness and Norland began to look for the tree with the treatment inside.

On the way back with the cure a sudden shudder of the earth below him left him trapped. Calgara appeared as the "child of God" appeared to devoure him and mocked Norland as this was his punishment for killing God. Norland pleaded for mercy with Calgara sating that he had the cure, but was trapped and unable to escape. Norland explained the illness was not a curse from God as his people had believed, that for centuries people suffered in the absence of a cure for the same disease the tribe were suffering from elsewhere in the world. He explained that they should not reject a cure that today prevents people dying when hundreds had died waiting when there was no cure. After finally reaching out to Calgara, Calgara killed the child of "God" and helped Norland go free from his entrappment.

After stopping the sacrifices, the crew and the tribe celebrated being rid of the diease. their help discovered a city of gold on the island. Calgara also pointed out a snake that would be named "Norla" in Norland's honour and in a change of light of the giant snakes refered to it as "the giant snakes grandson" instead of "God's grandchild". However, in order to protect the tribe, Norland and his men had discovered a set of trees that were the ones that caused the tribe to fall ill in the first place. At the time he did not realise the trees were sacred to the tribe and when Calgara found out Norland was told to leave, Norland ordered his men to leave the treasure behind. After Calgara's daughter told the tribe the truth, Calgara ran to the shore and shouted out to Norland to one day return, the sacred bell was rung to welcome him (Norland had told Calgara that it had led him to the island in the first place). Norland promised he would return to the island someday.

After he returned to his home island Lyneel, he told the king about his expedition. The king then ordered Norland to take him to the city of gold. Once they arrived on the island, however, the city and its people had disappeared. The king, furious, thought Norland was playing a trick on him and thus sentenced him to death. Furthermore, the king even framed Norland by having one of his subjects act as member of Norland's crew, falsely testifying against Norland. In the end, with his crew watching helplessly, Norland is left tearfully wondering what happened to his native friends and the golden city as he is killed. As a final insult the North Blue fairy tale depicts him as a grinning fool and the king as a brave warrior.

Legacy of Norland
Because of his reputation, the Montblanc family was forever shunned by society, falling under a curse. Many members over the centuries returned to look for the city, but all that did so ended up spending the rest of their lives searching to no avail.

The true reason for the city's disappearance, though unknown to Norland, was due to an underwater geyser called the Knock Up Stream. This powerful geyser shot a portion of the island up into the sky, where it remained suspended. Norland's claims are finally proven to be the truth when Luffy rings the golden bell in Skypiea, which can be heard below on Jaya Island. The fairly tale may remain, but to his descendant Montblanc Cricket and his friends, he is vindicated after 400 years of shame.

Translation and Dub Issues
In the Funimation dub and the One Piece: Pirates Carnival game dubbed by 4kids, Norland and Cricket's family name is Monbran. While this romanization of the family name is taken directly from how it is pronounced, this is not necessarily the correct rominazation of it as the Japanese characters used for the family name (モンブラン) are the same characters used for the word Mont Blanc in japanese.

Merchandise
He featured in was the One Piece Full Color R Gashapon series.

Trivia

 * Norland was also responsible for introducing pumpkins to the Shandians who regarded them as sacred vegetables.
 * Norland was apparently very strong since he was able to defeat the huge God Serpent Kashigami saving Calgara's daughter from the sacrifice. It is necessary to emphasize that even Zoro and Wiper fighting together were not capable even to hurt the serpent (same size as Kashigami).
 * A running gag upon Norland's introduction was how Norland was portrayed as much of a liar as Usopp is.