The Race for Laugh Tale – Everything You Need to Know about Poneglyphs in One Piece

Poneglyphs are undoubtedly crucial in finding the One Piece and were introduced to us relatively earlier in the series, chapter 202, to be precise.

There are three types of Poneglyphs in the One-Piece world: Historical Poneglyphs, Instructional Poneglyphs, and Road Poneglyphs.

Historical poneglyphs reveal pieces of ancient history. Instructional Poneglyphs contain clues about the locations of Historical Poneglyphs.

Road poneglyphs, however, are crucial for any pirate as they contain a combination of all road poneglyphs, revealing the location of Laugh Tale, the island that houses the One Piece.

But how many poneglyphs are there, what does deciphering each one achieves, and who has which poneglyph? I will answer all these questions in this article and more, so let’s go!

1. Which crew is Closest to Laugh Tale?

The Straw Hat Pirates currently contain 3 of the 4 Road poneglyphs required to uncover Laugh Tale’s whereabouts and are closest to reaching there.

Red Haired Pirates, Blackbeard, and the Kid Pirates also own copies of 2 Road Poneglyphs, lagging right behind Luffy and his Crew.

Lastly, Big Mom & Kaido, both former Emperors of the sea, own a single Road Poneglyph.

The Last Missing Road Poneglyph, or the Poneglyph of Fishman Island, is rumored to be in possession of Hinokizu, the mysterious Pirate with a burn scar who travels in a ship with all-black sails.

2. Poneglyphs Explained – Everything You Need to Know

I. What are Poneglyphs?

The Poneglyphs are large, mysterious cubes with historical knowledge inscribed in an ancient language. They are reportedly dispersed among the world’s islands.

Nico Robin is the only person still alive who can read this ancient language. In addition to her, Kozuki Sukiyaki can read the Poneglyphs, although he is presumed dead.

II. How many Poneglyphs are there, and Who has them?

There are 30 Poneglyphs in the One Piece world, Out of which we have only seen 14. 4 out of the 30 constitute Road Poneglyphs, and 9 others, when combined, tell the true history of the world and are known as the Rio Poneglyphs.

In this article, I will talk about the Road Poneglphs and, in turn, find out who is closest to uncovering the location of the Laugh Tale island.

3. The Road Poneglyphs

I. Poneglyph Of Zou

Hidden within the Whale Tree, this Road Poneglyph contains information that, combined with the information on the other three Road Poneglyphs, will reveal the location of Laugh Tale.

Thanks to help from Nekomamushi and his comrades, the Straw Hat Pirates currently possess the information written on this Poneglyph. The Blackbeard Pirates own a copy, which they obtained by defeating the Heart Pirates.

II. Poneglyph Of Whole Cake Island

This Road Poneglyph is currently within the possession of Big Mom and her crew. During the Sanji Retrieval Team’s invasion of Totto Land, Brook found the object within the Room of Treasure and copied it along with 2 other unknown poneglyphs of unknown purpose in the treasure room.

Another copy was in Kid’s possession after being plundered from one of Big Mom’s Sweet Commanders, but he lost it to Shanks.

III. Poneglyph of Wano

This Road Poneglyph is currently hidden in a secret cavern at the foot of the submerged Mt. Fuji in old Wano. Its location is known to the Kozuki Family, the Beasts Pirates, Nico Robin, and Trafalgar Law.

Robin and Law were allowed to see and copy the contents of the poneglyph after saving the Island’s residents.

The Kid Pirates lost their copy to the Red Hair Pirates. Blackbeard Pirates also came in possession of a copy after defeating Law and the Heart Pirates.

IV. Poneglyph of Sea Forrest

The final Road Poneglyph needed to find the Laugh Tale Island. This Poneglyph was located at the Sea Forest next to Joy Boy’s apology message 25 years ago.

At a certain point later, the Road Poneglyph’s whereabouts became unknown, and it is currently considered lost.

When the Straw Hat Pirates arrived at the Sea Forest, Robin read the lone Poneglyph there and discovered that it was engraved with an apology letter from a man known as Joy Boy to Poseidon.

4. How many poneglyphs does Blackbeard have?

Currently, the Blackbeard Pirates own copies of 2 poneglyphs, namely the Zou & Wano Poneglyphs. The Blackbeard crew came in possession of these poneglyphs by stealing them from Law & his crew of the Heart Pirates after besting them in combat.

5. How many poneglyphs does Shanks have?

Shanks has 2 poneglyphs in his possession, namely the Poneglyph of Wano and Whole Cake Chateau. They came in possession of these 2 poneglyphs after defeating Eustass Kid.

6. How many poneglyphs does the World Government Have?

The world government does not own any road poneglyphs; they just want to capture the only person who can read the poneglyphs, Nico Robin, making possessing even all 4 poneglyphs completely useless.

Other problems while obtaining Poneglyphs would be storage and transport, as the poneglyphs weigh a shit ton, so transporting them to a safe place would take immense time and workforce.

The world government would just do any pirate favor by collecting the poneglyphs in the sense that before, they would have to go out and find poneglyphs one by one, whereas now they would just need to steal all of them from one place.

Another problem would be security, as the Poneglyphs are crucial for any pirate looking for the One Piece. The place where they store the poneglyph would need immense security measures.

So, instead of transporting and securing 4 massive cubes, you capture a single human being that can process the information on them, rendering all effort in even collecting the poneglyphs useless.

7. About One Piece

One Piece is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine since July 22, 1997.

The man who had acquired everything in this world, the Pirate King, is Gol D. Roger. The final words he said at the execution tower were “My treasures? If you want it, I’ll let you have it. Look for it; I left all of it at that place.” These words sent many to the seas, chasing their dreams, headed toward the Grand Line, in search of One Piece. Thus began a new age!

Seeking to be the greatest pirate in the world, young Monkey D. Luffy also heads toward the Grand Line in search of One Piece. His diverse crew is joining him along the way, consisting of a swordsman, marksman, navigator, cook, doctor, archaeologist, and cyborg-shipwright, this will be one memorable adventure.