How Does Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation Connect To One Piece? (2024)

The world of One Piece has been expanding lately, despite the anime sailing towards the inevitable conclusion of the show. One of those ways is the union of one of Eiichiro Oda’s older works, a one-shot manga called Monsters that was recently adapted to the anime, Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation.

This ONA (original net animation) is available on both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, and tells the story of a lone samurai by the name of Shimotsuki Ryuma and some of his adventures. The manga Monsters was released in 1994, just a few years before One Piece would officially debut in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999. If you’re wondering how the two seemingly separate series are connected, we’ll dive right in.

There are spoilers here for both Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation and One Piece, particularly the Thriller Bark arc, so beware going deeper!

What Happens In Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation?

25 Minutes Of Tight Animation

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Monsters: Ippyaku Sanjou Hiryuu Jigoku

Around 400 years before the events of One Piece, a lone samurai wanders the world while training to become the greatest swordsman the world has ever seen. Monsters follows Shimotsuki Ryuma, a swordsman from the land of Wano who finds himself wandering into a small town with a healthy fear of dragons.

Having been traveling for several days without food, Ryuma is rescued and fed by a young woman named Flare who is the only survivor of a dragon attack seven years prior. While in the town, Ryuma seems to be looking for a man known as ‘The King’, though not much information is known about him. Ryuma gets into a confrontation with another traveling swordsman, Cyrano, who is something of a local legend, rumored to be second only to the mysterious King after having faced down a dragon and survived.

Ten years before the events of Monsters, the Dragon Horn, an instrument that can summon dragons to attack when blown, was stolen and was used sometime later by an unknown individual to destroy Flare’s hometown. She was saved by Cyrano, who rescued her and was declared a hero by the people of the land for braving the burning town and rescuing Flare.

It turns out that Cyrano, along with his villainous counterpart DR, orchestrated the dragon attack years ago as a cover to pilfer all the valuables from the ruined city. When she learned this horrible truth, Flare broke down, learning that the man she looked up to as a hero and savior was the cause of her tragic past.

Even though they have just met, Ryuma cannot bare to see someone in so much pain and can't stand letting the two villains get away, so he kills both Cyrano and DR. With them out of the picture, and the dragon still rampaging, Ryuma kills the mythical beast in one mighty swing. As Ryuma leaves town, the bartender that Flare works with recalls something while watching the swordsman leave town. The greatest swordsman in the world is known as Ryuma De King, confirming that our Ryuma is the strongest man in the world.

What Happened To Ryuma?

Felled By Something So Small

While the story of Ryuma is neat, it doesn’t seem to tie into the One Piece manga at all, at least not until the Thriller Bark arc of the manga. When most One Piece fans were introduced to Ryuma, he was a zombie under the control of the former Warlord of the Sea, Gecko Moria.

In life, Ryuma hailed from the Shimotsuki Family of Wano, having lived during the island nation's “Country of Gold” era. So talented was Ryuma in life that he was called the Sword God. Despite being the strongest swordsman of his time, Ryuma would die at 47 from an unknown illness. His body was laid to rest in his home country of Wano, in a frozen region called Ringo. His corpse would be well preserved in death thanks to the frigid temperatures, preventing his body from decaying. Ryuma was buried with the legendary blade Shusui, one of the 21 Great Grade swords of One Piece, and a national treasure of Wano.

Hundreds of years later, Gecko Moria defiled the Sword God’s grave, taking his well-preserved body and legendary sword with him to reanimate the body with his Kage Kage no Mi, or Shadow-Shadow Fruit.

Several years before Luffy and the Straw Hat crew would encounter the Warlord, Ryuma would return to the world of the living after Gecko Moria used his powers to steal Brook’s shadow and imbue Ryuma’s body with it, bringing the corpse back to life with much of the strength and skill that he had in life. However, Brook’s techniques and some of his mannerisms influenced his attacks and personality.

When the Straw Hats encounter Ryuma, it is Zoro who primarily fights him, as Brook is unable to match Ryuma’s raw strength and skill. During their fight, Zoro proclaims that he will be taking Shusui after defeating Ryuma, leading to a fierce battle between the two.

Ryuma is defeated by Zoro, who utilizes the Hiryu: Kaen, an extremely powerful slashing attack that leaves behind blue flames to immolate his foes. This is the first time Zoro will use the attack, which draws a lot of inspiration from the events in Monsters. Kiryu: Kaen is a massive single swing of immense power, much like Ryuma’s attack in the events of Monsters. Also, a dragon forms in the background of Zoro’s attack, one that looks very reminiscent of the dragon that Ryuma defeats.

How Does Monsters Connect To One Piece?

Zoro, Wano, And Ryuma

There’s another neat connection that Eiichiro Oda worked into the two series. It turns out that Zoro and Ryuma are distantly related. In Volume 105 of One Piece, Oda answered a few fan questions in his SBS column, which often reveals details about the world of One Piece and many of the characters that Oda doesn’t necessarily have space for in the manga.

It is here that Oda revealed some of Zoro’s lineage, giving a loose idea as to Zoro’s parents, grandparents, and revealing that Ryuma is his distant ancestor. It seems however that Zoro is unaware of this connection, and may never uncover the truth on his own, as Oda states that “this is a strange and mysterious story of fate that even Zoro himself does not know about.”

Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation brings this connection full circle as the end of the ONA is a reimagining of Zoro’s and Ryuma’s fight, as Ryuma gives Zoro his legendary blade as he is engulfed in flames.