The Thriller Bark arc followed Monkey D. Luffy's battle against Gecko Moria in the One Piece universe. With a strong gothic background and an abundance of horror tropes (like zombies, Frankenstein monsters, and vampire-like curses), one might expect it to be the series' scariest arc.
However, there are dozens of elements that made it just as silly as it was terrifying. Through identifying Thriller Bark's most harrowing (and hilarious) moments, fans can better identify the tone of the arc and whether or not Gecko Moria can be perceived as a genuinely credible threat.
10 Silly: Nami's Battle Against Absalom Provided A Great Amount Of Levity
Absalom took a keen interest in Nami and repeatedly attempted to make her his wife. This resulted in the arc's greatest moments of comic relief, as he was foiled by Sanji, Lola, and later even the navigator herself.
Nami's interaction with Lola was particularly silly because she convinced her that she was actually a man in order to ease her anxiety about losing Absalom. Even after Lola's shadow returned to its original body, she continued to refer to Nami by her masculine alias.
9 Scary: Gecko Moria Successfully Stole Luffy's Shadow
Up until Thriller Bark, Luffy had seldom been defeated by his opponents. The only losses he experienced were against Crocodile in Alabasta and Lucci at Water Seven during the failed assassination attempt on Iceberg's life.
Instead of confronting him directly, Gecko Moria used his spider underlings to abduct the Straw Hat captain and forcibly extract his shadow from his body. Not only would this make Luffy vulnerable to sunlight, his shadow would animate the warlord's greatest weapon to be used against his own closest friends.
8 Silly: Brook's Introduction Was As Amiable As It Was Ridiculous
As the Straw Hats braved the Florian Triangle, they soon discovered a massive, presumably abandoned ship. Its sole passenger was Brook, a skeleton who greeted them to the sound of his music.
Although this provided the setup for a nerve-wracking fight, Brook quickly disarmed the Straw Hats through his charisma and charm. He made dozens of puns pertaining to his undead condition and even hit on Nami, much to Sanji's surprise and frustration. Luffy took such an immediately strong liking to him that he offered him a place on the Thousand Sunny.
7 Scary: The Backstory Of Hogback & Cindry Was Incredibly Morbid
Cindry was the undead personal assistant of Doctor Hogback on Thriller Bark. When Nami, Chopper, and Usopp stumbled upon his room, it was revealed that he had an obsession with her in life and stole her corpse after a tragic stage "accident."
Worse yet, Hogback had Gecko Moria procure Cindry's shadow from an innocent housemaid to make her the perfect servant. The doctor's twisted motives rendered him one of the series' most sinister and irredeemable characters, even if he failed to obstruct the Straw Hats significantly throughout the arc. In the end, Hogback was accidentally defeated by one of his own creations.
6 Silly: Perona's Interactions With Kumacy Were Hilarious
Kumacy was Perona's personal assistant and most loyal vassal. While Nami, Usopp, and Chopper were looking for a place to hide, they opened his back and slipped inside.
Although it wasn't long before Kumacy noticed their presence, Perona refused to listen to him in spite of his best efforts. Since she repeatedly quieted Kumacy before he could warn her, the Straw Hats were bought enough time to gauge Gecko Moria's ultimate goal for Luffy's shadow.
5 Scary: Kuma Almost Killed Zoro
Kuma was dispatched to Thriller Bark in order to guarantee that the Seven Warlords weren't disgraced again. Unfortunately for the World Government, Gecko Moria's refusal of his help rendered his foresight almost useless.
After Moria was defeated, Kuma made his move on the Straw Hats and attempted to kill Luffy. Realizing that the captain was too exhausted to defend himself, Zoro took his place and stood down the towering cyborg. By entering a sphere that embodied Luffy's extracted pain, Zoro satisfied Kuma's test and convinced him to leave without further conflict. However, he nearly died in the process.
4 Silly: Oars Acted Like Luffy When He Was First Reborn
When Oars was first reborn, he was not the horrific juggernaut that Gecko Moria had hoped. Since Luffy's shadow was used to animate the giant's body, he initially began to act like an (even more) immature version of him.
Oars mimicked ridiculous behaviors like making pirate hats out of boulders, bouncing around a castle too brittle to hold him, and even climbing to the top of Thriller Bark so that he could marvel at the sea beyond. Many of Gecko Moria's own henchmen wondered if he would calm down before the boat was destroyed.
3 Scary: When Oars Settled Down, He Was A Monstrous Opponent
With the body of a giant, the experience of Luffy, and the pliable abilities Gecko Moria's shadow manipulation, Oars was nearly unstoppable. Despite their best efforts, the Straw Hats couldn't defeat him by themselves even with prior knowledge about his weakness.
In the end, it took Luffy and over a hundred shadows in order to put a permanent end to Oars' reign of tyranny. Even still, the heroes had yet to finish off Gecko Moria.
2 Silly: Sanji & Zoro's Zombies Couldn't Stop Arguing
As previously mentioned, the behavior of zombies reflects the shadows of their owners aside from artificially instilled obedience. When Sanji and Zoro's shadows were placed into the bodies of Inuppe and Jigoro respectively, they began to fight seconds after meeting one another.
This was much to Doctor Hogback's confusion, who had figured he'd have complete control of his creations after their rebirth. Since he wasn't specific in his instruction, Inuppe and Jigoro's undead forms destroyed one another and returned to the vessels that they belonged to.
1 Scary: Gecko Moria Almost Killed Luffy In His Ultimate Form
With Oars destroyed and most of his minions routed, Gecko Moria hatched his final contingency. By empowering himself with every last shadow in Thriller Bark, he transformed into a monster beyond compare.
Although Moria still wasn't strong enough to defeat the Straw Hats in this state, his plan was to stall them long enough to incinerate them with the sun. Fortunately, Luffy managed to recover his shadow before he or his comrades could be completely immolated, with each kick he landed against the Warlord's corpulent body restoring dozens of shadows to their rightful owners.