Punk Hazard

Punk Hazard is an island located in the New World and was the first island the Straw Hat Pirates 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 icebergs on the other. In the center, there is a hole where with seawater flowing into it, which separates both halves of the island and sharks reside within. This hole has fierce wind and currents running across it. As touched upon by Robin, the extreme temperature differences between the ice and magma lead to an equally extreme difference in air pressure, forming massive gale-force winds. The lake was originally a crater formed at the epicenter of Akainu and Aokiji's fight and then later filled with seawater. 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 where Admiral Akainu and Aokiji fought for the title of fleet admiral. 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 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 why 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. Arriving at the island, most of the poisonous matter should have disappeared before the admirals' duel, but Smoker was surprised to see there is poisonous gas still leaking out of the island (Remnants of the sleeping gas used to subdue the Straw Hats).

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 called Biscuits Room.

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 in the building, and each building is surrounded by balconies. There are chemical chimneys on the roofs. There is also a gaping hole on the right side of the building. Due to being on the cold side of the island, most of the facility is covered in snow and ice. Trafalgar Law calls this place his vacation house.

Inhabitants
While there is no longer any civilization on the island, it is home to a variety of bizarre creatures based on Greek mythology, most of which, aside from a Dragon, are half-human hybrids, such as a Harpy called Mone, and centaurs with the former pirate Brownbeard as their leader. There is also a group comprised of Satyrs in hazmat suits, and their leader who has only been seen in the form of a gaseous mass.

It is unknown how or when the creatures came to be on the island.

History
Four years before the Straw Hats' arrival, Dr. Vegapunk performed an experiment with chemical weaponry on the island. The experiment failed disastrously, causing the island 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, when most of the poison gas had dispersed, the island became a large, abandoned wasteland making it the perfect battleground for Aokiji and Akainu's battle over the position of fleet admiral, after the end of the Battle of Marineford. The battle between the two admirals 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.

When Smoker arrived on the island two years later, while chasing the Straw Hat Pirates, he was surprised that there was still so much poisonous gas coming from the island, when all it was dispersed two years ago.

Site Navigation
Punk Hazard Punk Hazard