Discussion Why in Impel Down exist something as a "life sentence"?

[keeper1h]

In OP World no one cares about what happens to prisoners, or worst, pirates.
They can be enslaved, tortured or killed and no one will ever shed a tear for them.

So, why there are prisoners serving a life sentence in Impel Down, even when their crimes are so terrible that they must be erased from history itself?
Why 'just killing them' won't be a better choice?
I have two ideas about this.

1: they will be turned into über powerful pacifistas, soon.
Cloning the body of Kuma was just the start: the real revolution is the possibility to simply "take over" the body of a strong fighter to turn him into a mindless soldier.
That would be the end of piracy.

2: if you kill'em, they may reincarnate.
Maybe reincarnation is the answer to the Will of D.
And maybe this is not just something that only the D.s are capable of.
So, if you kill Doflamingo, after some time there will be another little demon that wants to take down the Celestial Dragons.
So the government will kill only those that knows terrible secrets, or those that are close to reach Raftel, in other words: World Government will kill only the ones that are dangerous in 'this' life, resetting their progresses. The others are just "stored away", so that they will be blocked in a cell for at least a century, unable to do further damage.

What really makes me think about the second theory is Level six:
What is supposed to mean that you 'will be erased from history', since there's no one like Sugar in Impel Down to make that happen, so it's obvious that no one forgot level six prisoners?
And since no one forgets the prisoners, and no one cares about what happens to them, and World Government is not merciful or even decent when it comes to prisoners... why are they still alive?

 

[Grandmaster Woro]

plothole from one piece.

Some fans might argue about human rights so that even criminals should not be killed.

But then again, the government let celestial dragons lurking around degrading people

 

[hokageji]

IF some of the impel down prisoners have a dangerous DF, its better to have them locked up than released. Case in point: Catalina Devon...>

If the WG discovers the trick to stealing DF abilities like Blackbeard does, then this falls through the cracks of course.

 

[M3J]

They also likely want to punish the criminals and let them live in despair rather than give them an easy way out. Plus, it's probably too much work killing the criminals when they can just lock them in a fortress that can't be broken out of. If they were keeping them alive for devil fruit reasons, then why torture them in ways that could kill them?

 

[hokageji]

Are level 6 prisoners being tortured?? Do we know that as a fact?

 

[TitaniumOxide]

I reread that impel down arc recently and noticed that they seem to be in relative comfort compared to...Hotass Starvation Hell or...SCORCHING HELL...and of course the freezing hell. No one looked starved or frozen or really in displeasure in lvl 6. I know they got bruises and are bleeding like they get regular beatings or something but they aren't tortured.

Also you can still use Haki if seastoned right? It can explain a lot...

 

[Fox666]

The WG probably believes that the life of torture and humiliation is more effective than the fear of death.

I suppose prisoners from level 6 can be "useful" in some way. Note that Jinbe was being tortured in order to persuade him to fight against the Whitebeard Pirates.

 

[keeper1h]

"a life in prison is more fearful than death" is a great argument, but one could argue that "life sentence" could mean "death" to you, but no one in the outside world will ever know it, just like what happens regularly to some prisoners in ID:
You get the same effect, but without storing away all those dangerous powerhouses.

And I don't think this is a plothole, there's something shady behind all this...

 

[M3J]

The WG probably believes that the of a life of torture and humiliation is more effective than the fear of death.

I suppose prisoners from level 6 can "useful" in some way. Note that Jinbe was being tortured in order to persuade him to fight against the Whitebeard Pirates.

Jinbei was a shichibukai at the time though, and one of the elders said or implied that having Jinbei as a shichibukai could have done a lot for the human-fishman relationship. Other than him though, it is weird that the other level 6 prisoners aren't living in discomfort, but that's probably because they're dangerous and have proven to handle anything that comes at them.

 

[Grandmaster Woro]

I want to ask did king moe get a life sentence ?

well, banned is an internet life sentence , I guess.
Still laugh when i knew that guy was banned after his furious sanji posts.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 12, 2018, Original Post Date: Dec 12, 2018 ---

also, kinda funny how there are level 6 criminals who were "erased" from history but yet the marine soldier could identify each of them when the criminals appeared at marineford

 

[M3J]

Were they rookies or veteran Marines? If the latter then it's not surprising, especially since Marines can share stories, and some Marines would likely have to be in the know just in case.

 

[TitaniumOxide]

I bet the marines are privy of some secrets. I mean in real life, the USMC have to learn some stuff that they aren't supposed to tell people about once they come back. Some stuff is classified. Some stuff they learn in class is classified. So it make sense for One Piece Marines to have to learn some stuff about Impel Down, maybe not private or corporal rank but if you're a sgt or captain in the one pieceverse you better have done your homework. And then of course the CP guys know even deeper secrets and so on. But also, some of those guys from Impel Down, not just the ones that joined Blackbeard, rather the ones that were shown reaching out to Boa Hancock all don't seem to be that old. As old as Garp max besides Sanjuan Wolf since he's a Giant. Sengoku was informed that a bunch of lvl 6 prisoners escaped. People that are old enough will remember their crimes and faces even if the WG doesn't say shit. Some 50 or 60 year old dude would be like oh shit that's [insert lvl 6 prisoner's name here] and if he survive he will tell people.

It's pretty amazing how deep this universe is. I mean Oda tell us this story but it seems like stuff we infer and then theorize makes the world that much bigger. I wonder if Oda used a "life sentence" because...well that's just what we do in society, some people get life sentences. So he decided to add it using that as one of the reasons. Only issue is that they don't seem tortured as bad as Level 3 - 5 of Hell. I really like Keeper's #2 idea though. This manga has hella DBZ and subsequently Journey to the West themes. Reincarnation is a big one. They even did it so much in dbz that they broke the goddamn Dragon Balls and the dragon got all pissed off in GT. It would be nice but come to me as no surprise if it gets revealed that strong wills reincarnate but only one will carry Roger's will. Now who the hell's will did Roger carry? Seems like the strawhat symbol gets passed down. Remember that king sized Straw Hat that Imu-san was seen with? The original owner is probably dead. Or frozen in that same chamber. Even if Imu locked that hat away in a frozen catacomb, I can see it reincarnating so someone else worthy can find a new strawhat somewhere and wear it and inherit the will. Such as Roger passing it down to Shanks and then to Luffy. It seems like a a small trend that once you pass it on, you might die though. I wonder, did the wearer of the king sized strawhat died smiling? Is Shanks a D and wth is his full name? Do only Ds wear strawhats? Either way I feel like Shanks may die later on and the full will of Roger will then be reincarnated (they seem to use the word "inherit" in the manga though) into Luffy. He will be the man who will bear the weight of centuries on his shoulder...because he inherited centuries worth of people like Roger's will of freedom and anti oppression, up to if not past the void century. Like I said, who gave the strawhat to Roger? The timeline goes on but backwards to all the people in history that have passed on this will. So yeah I guess I support the idea that the world government are aware of the possibility of strong willed people. Damn, now I can't wait for the final showdown but damn I might cry to know it's the final showdown.

 

[Fox666]

"a life in prison is more fearful than death" is a great argument, but one could argue that "life sentence" could mean "death" to you, but no one in the outside world will ever know it, just like what happens regularly to some prisoners in ID:
You get the same effect, but without storing away all those dangerous powerhouses.

And I don't think this is a plothole, there's something shady behind all this...

Do everyone who is sent to Impel Down gets a life sentence? If not, then the other prisoners would serve as witnesses. Besides it's hard for everyone involved to keep a secret. Of course there's the simple sadistic desire of torturing those who oppose the WG.

 

[keeper1h]

Do everyone who is sent to Impel Down gets a life sentence? If not, then the other prisoners would serve as witnesses. Besides it's hard for everyone involved to keep a secret. Of course there's the simple sadistic desire of torturing those who oppose the WG.

That's right, but all they need to do is put all the "life sentences" in a secluded area that is nothing more than a death row, and they have plenty of space to do this.

After all, in real life usually they try to avoid to pair "some scared new inmate" and "that infamous serial killer that must never see the sunlight again".

I bet the marines are privy of some secrets. I mean in real life, the USMC have to learn some stuff that they aren't supposed to tell people about once they come back. Some stuff is classified. Some stuff they learn in class is classified. So it make sense for One Piece Marines to have to learn some stuff about Impel Down, maybe not private or corporal rank but if you're a sgt or captain in the one pieceverse you better have done your homework. And then of course the CP guys know even deeper secrets and so on. But also, some of those guys from Impel Down, not just the ones that joined Blackbeard, rather the ones that were shown reaching out to Boa Hancock all don't seem to be that old. As old as Garp max besides Sanjuan Wolf since he's a Giant. Sengoku was informed that a bunch of lvl 6 prisoners escaped. People that are old enough will remember their crimes and faces even if the WG doesn't say shit. Some 50 or 60 year old dude would be like oh shit that's [insert lvl 6 prisoner's name here] and if he survive he will tell people.

It's pretty amazing how deep this universe is. I mean Oda tell us this story but it seems like stuff we infer and then theorize makes the world that much bigger. I wonder if Oda used a "life sentence" because...well that's just what we do in society, some people get life sentences. So he decided to add it using that as one of the reasons. Only issue is that they don't seem tortured as bad as Level 3 - 5 of Hell. I really like Keeper's #2 idea though. This manga has hella DBZ and subsequently Journey to the West themes. Reincarnation is a big one. They even did it so much in dbz that they broke the goddamn Dragon Balls and the dragon got all pissed off in GT. It would be nice but come to me as no surprise if it gets revealed that strong wills reincarnate but only one will carry Roger's will. Now who the hell's will did Roger carry? Seems like the strawhat symbol gets passed down. Remember that king sized Straw Hat that Imu-san was seen with? The original owner is probably dead. Or frozen in that same chamber. Even if Imu locked that hat away in a frozen catacomb, I can see it reincarnating so someone else worthy can find a new strawhat somewhere and wear it and inherit the will. Such as Roger passing it down to Shanks and then to Luffy. It seems like a a small trend that once you pass it on, you might die though. I wonder, did the wearer of the king sized strawhat died smiling? Is Shanks a D and wth is his full name? Do only Ds wear strawhats? Either way I feel like Shanks may die later on and the full will of Roger will then be reincarnated (they seem to use the word "inherit" in the manga though) into Luffy. He will be the man who will bear the weight of centuries on his shoulder...because he inherited centuries worth of people like Roger's will of freedom and anti oppression, up to if not past the void century. Like I said, who gave the strawhat to Roger? The timeline goes on but backwards to all the people in history that have passed on this will. So yeah I guess I support the idea that the world government are aware of the possibility of strong willed people. Damn, now I can't wait for the final showdown but damn I might cry to know it's the final showdown.

I am sure that Impel Down serves the purpose to store away strong and dangerous opposers and troublemakers, and I am sure that this is a secret that recently was disclosed to everyone: I'm talking about Vegapunk and his amazing success.
But I am also sure that the Will of D. Is something about reincarnation without any memory of all the precedent lives... yes, OPverse is really complex!

 

[Grandmaster Woro]

i just found it weird why the government wanted to allocate their money for impel down prisoners basic needs anyway.
It's not like the marines have issue with human rights. They were fine with executing ace.