Laugh Tale

Laugh Tale
Statistics
Japanese Name:	ラフテル
Romanized Name:	Rafuteru
English Name:	Laugh Tale (VIZ Media (Unknown status: Starting with Chapter 967.)? and Funimation dub (Unknown status: Starting with One Piece: Stampede.)?); Raftel (Funimation sub; formerly VIZ Media and Funimation dub); Laughtale (Odex)
First appearance:	Chapter 105; Episode 63 (mentioned)
Region:	New World

The subject of this article is also called Raftel.

Laugh Tale is the island at the end of the New World which supposedly holds the treasure One Piece. It was named by Gol D. Roger after he and his crew arrived on the island and discovered the treasure left there by Joy Boy.

There are four Poneglyphs known as Road Poneglyphs that, when read together, lead to four islands which, if aligned, will lead to Laugh Tale's location.

Layout and Locations

Little has been seen of the island, but its shore appears to be composed of steep cliffs with large amounts of wilderness, though there are some objects that appear to be shaped like buildings or fortifications.

Poneglyphs

By reading the Road Poneglyphs, the destined island of Laugh Tale can be revealed.

It is said that upon reaching Laugh Tale, if one has taken with them along their journey the passages of the poneglyphs, then the Rio Poneglyph will finally be revealed. Furthermore, the Road Poneglyphs, a set of four special red poneglyphs, each reveal a point on a map of the world once read. When all four points are deciphered, it becomes possible to discern the place at the center of these points where they all intersect, and the true path to Laugh Tale will be made known. Roger speculated that the World Government prohibits the research of the poneglyphs because they purposely do not want anyone to reach Laugh Tale so that no one will find what is hidden there.

History

Past

Sometime during the Void Century, Joy Boy left behind some sort of great treasure on an island located at the very end of the Grand Line. Gol D. Roger and his crew are the only known people to have reached this island.

Roger started suspecting about the existence of a final island after reaching a dead end at Lodestar Island, thirty-nine years ago. There, Roger's Log Pose would start behaving strangely, with the needle going haywire and never recording a destination. This, as well as countless stories and denials provided by the World Government, would fuel Roger's beliefs that this supposed place existed and held something of immense value. Having temporarily recruited Kozuki Oden from the Whitebeard Pirates due to his ability to read the Poneglyphs, Roger initiated his final voyage through the Grand Line with the intent of getting to its true end.

The Roger Pirates were eventually able to uncover the enigma behind the Road Poneglyphs, having located them all in this new quest, and reach the illusive final island. As they stumbled upon Joy Boy's treasure, Roger and his crew bursted into laughter. They learned the truth about what happened during the Void Century, the true nature of the Ancient Weapons, and the meaning of the initial D. The nature of the treasure, coupled with what they had managed to learn about Joy Boy and the past, were considered a "funny story" by Roger, inspiring him to dub the final island "Laugh Tale".

Roger offered Whitebeard the information on how to get to Laugh Tale, but Whitebeard declined because of his own dreams of achieving a family instead of reaching One Piece.

Translation and Dub Issues

Before the release of One Piece: Stampede, the name of the island was commonly known as "Raftel" in both official and unofficial translations. In the movie, however, the name is spelled as "Laugh Tale" on an Eternal Pose. The Funimation dub opted to start using Laugh Tale, though the subbed version did not.

The manga later confirmed the spelling of Laugh Tale as well as the origin of its name in Chapter 967. According Takuma Naito, an editor of One Piece, the editors in charge of the series had been told of this spelling and its meaning a long time ago.

Trivia

• From what has been shown regarding the Road Poneglyphs points, the four marks form an "X" when they intersect, indicating where Laugh Tale and the treasure One Piece await. On a traditional treasure map, the location of the treasure is generally marked with an "X". The image given make it appears like "An X made by Xs", hinting at just how important of a location it is.