Void Century

The Void Century (空白世紀, Kūhaku Shinseiki) is a century-long gap in recorded and archaeological history, the study of which is forbidden by the World Government. These events occurred 900 to 800 years before the current storyline. It was hinted at during the Skypiea arc; the dates were seen in Robin's flashback.

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 * —About the Void Century.

About
This period became known as the Void Century because there is nothing left to acknowledge anything that happened in it, aside from the ponecliffs which are written in a language that few know how to read.

However, it causes a problem with the known histories of the world as nothing ties up because of that missing period. Though many seem to know there is a gap in the historical record, virtually everyone is unaware that filling in this gap is possible. For example, Nebra Nefeltari, after being told by Robin Nico about this missing period, was completely shocked that a way to "tie the threads of history together" existed. The fact that filling the gap is possible was proven when "Dark King" Rayleigh Silvers revealed that the Roger Pirates discovered the true history.

The Great War
The most important event during the Void Century has to be the Great War. It ended around 722 with the fall of Shandora.

Moon

 * Main article: Moon

In Eneru's cover story, there is an ancient city on the moon with another bunch of identical Automata. There is a painting on the wall that shows a Skypiean with Automata following him on the left while a Loftrian and Bilkan work on the right. After resources on the moon ran out, the three races departed for the "Blue Star".

One of the three races, the Loftrians, ended up on the isle of Jaya where they built the city of Shandora one thousand years ago. The great city of Shandora collapsed during this war, the Loftrians defended the city against "those who seek the stone". The city collapsed, but the Loftrians, who are the descendants of the original Loftrians, kept on defending the city for over eight hundred years afterwards.

All three races are noted to have wings on their backs (though each has a slightly different shape) and may have even once been the same race.

The connection between the sky island of Skypiea and the Void Century is the ponecliff left there for the Shandia and the Loftrians before them to protect.

Great Kingdom

 * Main article: Great Kingdom

The Great Kingdom was a great and powerful kingdom that was destroyed by the Twenty Kingdoms, who would later evolve into the World Government. The kingdom was so powerful that its existence posed a great threat to the world, and is the reason why studying the ponecliffs is outlawed.

Joy Boy

 * Main article: Joy Boy

Joy Boy arrived at Mermen Island and built Noah. He attempted to raise the Noah with Poseidon's aid, but he failed to keep his promise. He wrote his apology on the Ponecliff in the Sea Forest.

Tontatta Kingdom

 * Main article: Tontatta Kingdom

Before the Void Century, the Dwarves of the Tontatta Kingdom suffered oppression under the ruthless rulers of the island of Dressrosa, the Don Quixote Family. However the Dwarves had forgotten what happened during the Void Century.

Birth of the World Government
800 years ago, at the end of the Void Century, the World Government was born and took political control of the entire world, uniting all countries and forming the Council of Kings. For the World Government, the events of the Void Century were better left unknown as information linked to it is considered far too dangerous.

When the research of the Ponecliffs was outlawed, hundreds of scholars across the world were killed. Since then, a ban on any research related to the Void Century has been put in place.

At the end of the Void Century, the 20 kingdoms came together to defeat the Ancient Kingdom and then founded what is now known as the World Government. The exact process of how it was founded and how they covered up the 100 year gap remains unknown.

Ponecliffs

 * Main article: Ponecliffs

Ponecliffs are mysterious stone blocks with history inscribed onto them, and these blocks are scattered all over the Grand Line Region. The Government has forbidden anyone to research or study these blocks. They have been said to be unbreakable by Professor Clover.

Ancient Weapons

 * Main article: Ancient Weapons

The three Ancient Weapons are three weapons of mass destruction that are powerful enough to bring ruin to the entire world. They are known as Pluton, an ancient ship capable of massive destruction, Poseidon, a Mermaid with the ability to communicate with and control Neptunians, and Uranus, the properties of which remain unknown. The Ancient Weapons are the argument used by the World Government to forbid the research of the missing years.

The Word in different Languages

 * Siècle Manquant (French)


 * Segle Buit (Català)


 * Kūhaku no Rekishi (Deutsch)


 * Cento Anni del Grande Vuoto (Italian)

Notes & Trivia

 * Roger D. Gol's crew appears to have followed the ponecliffs all the way and figured out exactly what the missing history is. When queried by Robin Nico on the Void Century and the Spirit Will of the D., Rayleigh Silvers replied to her that he would tell her the history if she wanted to know. At the same time, he appeared reluctant to even speak about it. He warned her if she found out now about the history, in her current condition, she would not be able to do a thing about it. In his closing statement, he explained that he believed his crew and the scholars of Ohara had been too hasty. At the same time, he encouraged her to seek it out for herself on the grounds that she might come to a different conclusion than the one his crew had.
 * Whitebeard also knew about the truth behind the Void Century and the Spirit Will of D., as Roger told him before he died. He told Blackbeard that he is not the one his captain, Roger, was waiting for, and that just as Roger's will was inherited by others, so will Trace's be too. Even though their bloodline is dead, their flames will never die and there will be a man who will find the truth and carry the burden of the centuries upon his back to challenge the world. He further states that the people in the World Government are living in fear of the day when that happens and a great battle will be fought. It is unknown whether Whitebeard shared this information with any of his crew.