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 feature was passed down to his descendants. He was a well built man who often wore a high-collared black coat, closed by a belt, and an orange scarf. His legs were covered by striped black and white pants, and his feet by standard shoes. Hidden under his coat, he had a orange sash adorned with medals-like pendants. He carried around his sword, a katana with a chestnut-shaped handguard and a orange and white hilt-bandaging, on his left hip, in an orange scabbard with a green band on it. On his chest there was a large cross-shaped scar.

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 admiral doesn't hate gods or the dead people but he has always known what is more important.

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, had a strong determination and was 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. He didn't hesitate for a moment in risking his life to save Musse and also took it as his duty as an explorer and researcher to eradicate the curse (tree fever) which plagued the inhabitants of old Jaya island. He was also in deep remorse after learning that trees which he cut down to save the people of Jaya island were considered to be sacred and asked his crew to leave all the gold behind as a sign of grievance for the crime committed by them.

The Norland who is depicted in the stories is a grinning fool who often went away on long expeditions only to return with stories that seemed unbelievable. In the end as far as the story was concerned, Norland pushed his luck with the bragging of a whole city of gold and it was a lie that cost him dearly, his life.

Crew
Some of his crew might have actually believed Norland attempted to jump ship when problems occurred. However, they described him as an honest, great and beloved man, who was the best of his kind. They depended upon him and fought to the end to save him after he was put to death. As such, they are the only people who truly believed him at the time of his execution, and pleaded the king to release him.

Friends
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 victim of circumstances beyond his control and this was something he would never live to see. He nevertheless bravely went to his death swearing the truth was as he said it and hoping his friend was okay.

During his short stay at Jaya, Norla also became fond of him and Calgara.

Family
According to his reason for why he couldn't marry Calgara's daughter, he had a wife and child himself. However, after his death, his family was shunned by society leading them and all his descendants to forever be locked into battle with his legacy.

Powers and abilities
Montblanc Norland was an exceptional seaman and captain who held the absolute respect of his crew. Together they made multiple expeditions into the Grand Line. While lesser sailors would not return or be completely traumatized by even a single trip, Norland and his crew were able to return safely each time.

Norland was shown to be extremely strong in combat, fighting with either his sword or bare hands. He was on even terms with his friend Calgara, who in turn was believed to be the strongest warrior in the history of the Shandian village. Norland defeated the huge God Serpent Kashigami in a single stroke, saving Calgara's daughter who was about to be sacrificed. It is necessary to emphasize that even Zoro and Wiper fighting together were not capable of even hurting Norla (who was at the time a similar size to Kashigami).

Norland was also a very skilled diver, diving to such depths and for such long durations that his own crew couldn't tell if he was still alive or not. Norland had exceptional combat power in the water as the did on the ground, and would frequently dive into the sea to hunt giant fish for provisions. This diving 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 the tree plague.

The Journey on the Grand Line
Norland was a famous explorer, who often spoke of tales of his journeys. He visited Vira where he met a merchant who sold him a waver. He also apparently traveled to a land full of midgets. However, Norland's tales would forever be labeled lies after one unlucky event around a friend he made.

The true story of Norland
400 years ago, he was an explorer who was caught out in a storm, his crew found their way to safety following the ringing of a golden bell. On the 12th May, 1122, Norland set foot on Jaya island for the first time.

When Norland arrived, he found a child suffering from an illness. Investigating further he found the people were suffering from Tree-Rush, brought on by diseased trees that killed the villagers crops and made them ill. After 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 given until sunset to find the cure for the tribes sickness and Norland began to look for the tree with the treatment inside.

"Sacrifices this...Lives that!? IT'S INSANE! How does that make your Gods happy!? These ceremonies are flat-out denials of the triumphs of all great men before us! I WON'T STAND FOR IT! You insult every adventurer and researcher who's ever set out to sea in the hopes of bringing prosperity for mankind! HOW SHAMEFUL! If your "Gods" value your lives, wouldn't they have contempt for these very ceremonies!?"

On the way back with the cure a sudden shudder of the earth below him left him trapped.The next day, an earthquake hits the island, thinking this is God's wrath, Calgara rushes out to find and kill Norland. Calgara mocked Norland after finding him trapped in a crack in the ground. As the "child of God" appeared to devour him and mocked Norland further as this was his punishment for killing God. Norland pleaded for mercy with Calgara stating 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 entrapment.

After stopping the sacrifices, the crew and the tribe celebrated being rid of the disease. Their help discovered a city of gold on the island. Calgara also pointed out a snake that would be named "Norla" in Norland's honor and in a change of light of the giant snakes referred to it as "the giant snakes grandson" instead of "God's grandchild". However, 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 and knew they had to be cut down in order to protect the Shandians from future outbreaks. At the time he did not realize 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 a member of Norland's crew, falsely testifying against Norland. As one of the king's men claimed Norland wil be killed via beheading, the crowd shouted "LIAR, LIAR" during the execution. 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. It is revealed that Norland was not sad due to the fact he was going to be killed. Instead, he wept due to the fact he was worried for the Shandians safety. As a final insult the North Blue fairy tale depicts him as a grinning fool and the king as a brave warrior.

Translation and Dub Issues
Norland and Cricket's family name is "Monbran" in the edited FUNimation dub and "Mombran" in the video game One Piece: Pirates Carnival (dubbed by 4Kids). 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. It is written as "Mont Blanc" in the Viz Manga and "Montblanc" in the uncut FUNimation dub.

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.
 * A running gag upon Norland's introduction was how Norland was portrayed as much of a liar as Usopp is.
 * The scene where Norland is about to be killed, resembles the execution of Gol D. Roger; indicating that this style of execution is common place in the One Piece world.
 * Norland saving the Shandians from disease is a reverse of what happened to the Red-Indians of North Amercia. When Europeons came to the Americas, amongst the things that happened was the introduction of disease such as Measles and Mumps to the natives on the contient. These diseases were harmless to the Europeons since they had immune systems that could handle these illnesses, but killed millions of Native Indians who lacked such immunitity.