How Did Everyone Turn to Stone in Dr. Stone?

Every single person was petrified in the world of Dr. Stone, and 180 chapters in, we finally know how.

Dr. Stone has an ingenious premise and beautiful execution that has thrilled fans all over the world. With science integrated into fantasy, it is exciting to see where the story goes. From the first episode, humanity was turned to stone, and it was only after nearly 4000 years that Senku woke up.

Along with others, Senku has been continuously working towards the goal of restoring humanity and civilization. However, the main question that haunts the audience as well as the characters in the series is what caused the world-wide petrification? Was there any specific reason for it?

While we have been getting answers chapter by chapter, the recent reveal was shocking enough to warrant this article.

1. How Did Everyone Turn to Stone?

Everyone turned to stone in Dr. Stone because of the petrification device known as Medusa. At one point in time, these devices started raining down on Earth and heaped up in the form of a pyramid at the petrification event’s original site.

In the first episode, all of humanity mysteriously turned into stone statues after coming into contact with a greenish light. It is assumed that the source of the light originated somewhere in South America and made its way across the planet.

From the moment Senku and other humans were depetrified, questions such as what caused the humans to turn to stone and for what reason have always haunted the characters as well as the audience.

From the beginning, Senku believed that the petrification was caused by a man and that there was a possibility of it happening again. The first clue we received in this direction was when they came across the petrification device, dubbed Medusa, on Treasure Island.

I. What Is the Petrification Device?

The Petrification Device, dubbed Medusa, is a small metallic device that can turn people into stone. It looks simple yet futuristic due to the intricate markings around its body. These devices started falling from the sky above Treasure Island a few centuries back.

In order to activate the device, the user must state a distance followed by a time. The distance used is assumed to be the radius of the petrification light and the time required before activation. Once activated, Medusa emits a light known as Petri-beam that turns everything it touches to stone.

The largest attempted radius is 12,800,00 meters, the diameter of Earth; however, as it turns out, the Medusa runs on a limited energy source revealed to be diamonds, making it difficult to activate again.

While Matsukaze and his master destroyed all Medusas except one, the recent chapter shocked us to the core.

Chapter 180 saw Senku, Xeno, and their team moving towards Amazon; the petrification light’s supposed origin. While they expected to toil for endless hours due to the device’s small size, what they saw not only exceeded but completely surpassed their imagination.

After reaching Manaus, Senku and his team saw thousands, if not millions, of petrification devices, heaped up in the shape of a pyramid. It was as if they had walked in on every single nuke on Earth, and a single moment would decide the future of humanity.

II. Where Did the Petrification Devices Come From?

The petrification devices, known as Medusa, are stated to have come from the Moon. They have been dropping one by one on Earth and piling up into a giant heap in Manaus, Amazon, through the years.

While we know where these devices came from, there are still a lot of uncertainties and doubts surrounding them.

For one, if thousands and millions of these devices were dropping like flies on Earth, surely someone would have seen it? Furthermore, if this pile existed before the petrification event, it would have definitely been noticed.

The only speculation is that they are probably set to drop on a cycle after the petrification event, like an automated process. While this would explain why they were unnoticed, the question of how the humans were petrified before they dropped would pop up.

One popular theory that has been accepted by the fandom is that only a few of these petrification devices existed before the petrification occurred on Earth.

Taking the nanite theory into account, the Medusa is assumed to be self-replicating, leading to the current situation, i.e., millions of petrification devices piled up like a pyramid.

Now that we know how everyone turned to stone let’s look at who was behind it and their motivations for petrifying humanity.

2. Who Turned Everyone to Stone & Why?

The petrification event is believed to have been caused by “Whyman,” the name given to the source of radio wave messages received by the Kingdom of Science after creating an antenna.

With the creation of an antenna, Senku and the rest received a morse code that meant “WHY” spoken by a mysterious person or object. They named the source of this message “Whyman” and speculated his identity as the perpetrator of the petrification event.

This speculation was confirmed after the events at Treasure Island when a signal took over the radio in an attempt to activate the petrification device and turn the world into stone once again. While this attempt failed, Whyman was confirmed to be a villain, and quite possibly, the one behind everything.

What is even more suspicious is the fact that Whyman’s voice was eerily similar to Senku’s, with the source of his radio transmissions coming from the Moon.

These two identifiers were substantial in the popular theory stating Whyman to be an AI designed to create the petrification devices by harvesting the planet’s natural resources.

As for the motivation behind Whyman turning humanity to stone, nothing has been confirmed yet. Some believe that they did this for the betterment of Earth, giving it time to recuperate from the centuries of damage, while others believe the reason to be something even more far-fetched.

While there are a lot of plot holes, including how Whyman went unnoticed on the Moon, with the Kingdom of Science planning to make their way to space, we won’t have to wait long for the answers.

3. About Dr. Stone

Dr. Stone is a Japanese manga series written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Boichi. It serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since 6th March 2017, with the individual chapters collected and published by Shueisha into thirteen tankōbon volumes as of November 2019.

Every human on the planet was turned into Stone after a mysterious flash of light hit Earth. Four thousand years after Senku, a student is confronted with a brand new world, an Earth without Humanity.

Now animals rule the world, and nature has reclaimed the planet. Senku and his friend Taiju begin trying to find a way to restore humanity.