The Going Merry was Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates' first ship. It was offered to them by its designer Merry. This ship took the crew from Syrup, Usopp's native village in the East Blue Sea region to Water Seven located in the first part of the Grand Line. Little by little, the Going Merry became a full member of the Mugiwara crew. Do you really know all the facets of Vogue Merry ? Discover with us one of One Piece's most popular boats.
Vogue Merry design and appearance
Merry was still a child 👶🏼 when he designed the plans for the Vogue Merry. It was several years before the adventures of One Piece began, approximately two years after the death of Gol D. Roger . We don't know exactly when the construction work began, but it was revealed that it was completed on January 22. Once the crew received the Going Merry, Usopp painted their Jolly Roger onto the front triangular sail. The particularity of the Vogue Merry is its sheep-shaped figurehead which is located at the front of the boat.
The Vogue Merry show
This room is located on the upper deck a little aft of the ship 🛶 and served as a living room, meeting room, kitchen, but also as a wheelhouse. Indeed, there is the boat's steering device which consists of just a steering post connected to the central directional rudder and not a steering wheel as on traditional ships. To steer the boat, all you had to do was tilt this bar to one side or the other.
It is also in this room that the crew members hold their meeting thanks to the comfortable atmosphere that emerges there. The kitchen area, the provisions and the refrigerator are there, it is also in this room that they take their meals carefully prepared by the crew's cook 👨🏼🍳, Sanji the Black Leg . There is also a bottle rack, a table and benches in this room.
The rooms
Accessible via a hatch below the mast, the boys' quarters are located under the deck of the boat. Rather large, but messy as one would expect, the room is often filled with people especially since it is shared by Luffy, Chopper, Usopp, Zoro as well as Sanji . The room includes, among other things, 5 hammocks, 🛌🏼 a wardrobe, a very cozy sofa and a coffee table. There are also barrels of water and rum, the dirty laundry basket as well as a laundry board and tub. Note that the members each had to wash their laundry. Finally, an emergency exit was installed on one side of the bedroom wall and opens directly onto the girls' bedroom in case of problems.
As for the girls' quarters, it is located under the hold which is itself located under the living room. This room is accessed through a hatch with a staircase leading down from the hold. It is shared by Nami and Nico Robin to whom Nefertari Vivi was added for a certain time. Originally designed for Kaya, this room is very luxurious. It contains a bookcase, an armchair 🛋️ and a coffee table. An office is also located there with all the useful instruments for navigation and hydrography. Nami placed her treasure chest there. She also had a bar installed there by the carpenter Teru-san from Kokoyashi village after the Arlong Park Arc.
The Hold
Under the living room a hold has been created serving as a storage room. It is in this room that the crew members store their cargo. There are barrels of water, barrels of beer, reserves of food, but also their treasures, including Nami's treasures which do not fit in her personal chest. We can see just above on the ceiling the tiller dock (located in the kitchen part of the living room) and its mechanism connected to the ship's rudder. The hatch leading to the women's quarters is blocked by a lock to avoid prying eyes. On one of the walls is a door 🚪 leading to the bathroom.
Note also that the hold contains three of the four guns of the Going Merry. These are the cannon at the back and the two cannons on each side of the boat.
The bathroom
Located between the hold and the rudder at the rear of the boat, the bathroom has curtains at the door leading to the hold for privacy. There are toilets, a sink, 🚰 a shower as well as a bathtub which was notably used to defrost Nico Robin after she was frozen by Aokiji. The water needed for the bathroom is drawn from the sea using a water pump before being desalinated by a special machine (the second having been broken by Luffy). Note that everyone had to make sure to leave the premises clean using a rubber scraper after washing to prevent the ship from being weakened due to humidity.
Cannon and Capstan of the Going Merry
In addition to the three guns specified, the Going Merry was also fitted with a fourth gun located forward under the ship's deck. It is in this room that the boat's anchor and the capstan are also located, allowing you to drop or raise the anchor. It also serves as a weapons room since the crew stored their weapons, powder and cannonballs there. There are also buoys, ropes, cleaning materials and giant oars needed to move the boat when there is no wind.
Note that Monkey D. Luffy chose the figurehead as a reserved seat allowing him to either think or contemplate the horizon. He does not allow any other member of his crew to sit there. For her part, Nami planted the three mandarin trees 🎄 that she received as a gift from her adopted sister Nojiko above the control room. She hates it when the other crew members eat the fruit since it is a gift.
Differences between Merry from the anime and the Manga
We can see on certain covers of the One Piece manga that most of the hull of the Vogue Merry as well as its figurehead are brown. On the other hand, in the anime, the boat is much more colorful.
In the manga, we see that the Going Merry suffered most of this damage during its journey on the Grand Line . The most significant damage occurred during three very distinct events. The first was during the Mugiwara's encounter with the giant whale Laboon. On this occasion, the figurehead of the Going Merry was broken and the mast was torn off by Luffy to hit the whale with it. Then there was the time Wapol, the former king of the Kingdom of Drum , devoured a large portion of Merry. Finally, there was also the time when the pirates had to flee the Navy forces and Rear Admiral Hina the Black Cage on the desert Kingdom of Alabasta. On the other hand, as far as the anime is concerned, these various damages are not always reported as they are. They're mostly caught up in non-canon arcs. This was particularly the case during the Rainbow Mist Arc or the Ruruka Island Arc during which the Going Merry was catapulted and torn apart due to the shock waves.
Obtaining the Vogue Merry
Monkey D. Luffy and his crew received the Going Merry from Merry who was the butler and faithful servant of the young orphan Kaya. This gift was given to them to thank them for saving the latter from the murder attempt perpetrated by Kuro, Kaya's ex-butler . Indeed, the latter received a substantial inheritance 💰 after the death of her parents. At the time, Klahadoll aka Kuro was her butler and had to take care of her when she fell ill. Forced to stay in bed, she made friends with Usopp who told her fictitious stories to amuse her. It was at this time that Usopp learned of Kuro's Machiavellian plan who wanted to have Kaya hypnotized by Jango so that she would write a will leaving him all his fortune upon his death. After refusing to believe Usopp for the first time, Kaya ends up discovering Kuro's true face 🥴 thanks to Merry who revealed it to him. After clashes, Kuro was finally neutralized. And it was as a thank you for saving Kaya's life that Merry gave the Going Merry to the Straw Hat Pirates .
The death of the Vogue Merry
After long journeys through the numerous Sagas (East Blue Saga, Alabasta Saga, Skypiea Saga, Water Saga 7), it was during the Enies Lobby Arc that the Vogue Merry gave up the ghost. You should know that the latter was already in very bad shape at the time of the Aqua Laguna . In fact, the Vogue Merry had begged I Cebarg, the director of the Galley-La Company (shipbuilding company), to repair it. And it is in this state that the Going Merry went to save Luffy and his crew during their confrontation against Lucci, the CP9 and the Navy. Once the rescue was carried out and everyone was safe, the Straw Hat Pirates ' beloved ship broke in two. It was after he learned the story from Icebarg that Luffy understood that this was the Going Merry's last voyage. The crew gave him a Viking funeral and while the ship burned, 🔥 each member remembered the most intense moments they had with their floating home. Everyone was in tears and that's when the Vogue Merry addressed everyone apologizing for not being strong enough and not being able to stay with them forever.
The Klabautermann of Vogue Merry
One might wonder how a ship could speak and address the crew or other people like Icebarg. In fact, it is the soul of the boat, more precisely a water spirit, 👻 which is incarnated in a small creature and which appears or speaks to its crew in the case where the latter liked it and darling. This creature is called the Klabautermann and it comes from Germanic mythology. He not only appears and speaks, but also has his own personality and comes to the aid of the crew to warn them of dangers or to repair the ship.
In the case of the Klabautermann of the Going Merry, Usopp notably saw him repairing the ship with his small hammer. ⚒️ After the death of Vogue Merry, her Klabautermann was seen on the Thousand Sunny, the Mugiwara's new ship. Following this, a theory emerged that this little being did not want to separate from his friends from Luffy's crew and, for this, would have migrated to the Thousand Sunny . His goal is to continue helping the Mugiwara in their quest for One Piece.
The incredible Japanese replica of the Vogue Merry
The One Piece franchise is a real success in the Land of the Rising Sun, and has been for several years. It arouses exceptional enthusiasm among the Japanese (and also abroad of course) to such an extent that there are several amusement parks in Japan 🎡 allocated to this license. Furthermore, a full-size replica of the Vogue Merry also saw the light of day in Japan in 2003 as a tribute to One Piece. It is a real museum dedicated to manga. Indeed, even if this boat is not really functional, it has been used in numerous exhibitions under the aegis of the publishing house Shueisha, the production studio Toei Animation and the private television channel Fuji TV .
Join the old Mugiwara Ship now!
Luffy, Zoro, Nami and all the other crew members had unforgettable moments with their beloved floating 🏚️ home throughout their journey. Even today, even though the ship is no more, it is still in everyone's hearts because it was of great help to the crew on several occasions.
You too can still join the Vogue Merry and relive the most beautiful adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates 👒 in their company. To do this, simply take advantage of the numerous articles dedicated to Vogue Merry and One Piece in our online store.
