The God Valley Incident took place on an island in the West Blue known as God Valley, 38 years before present time. It consisted of a battle between the Rocks Pirates and a joint effort of the Roger Pirates and Marines led by Monkey D. Garp. The battle was considered a major event in the world of pirates, with other crews having wanted to take part as well.
Pirates rushing God Valley.
Because a Native Hunting Competition was happening at the island,[2] the World Nobles and some of their slaves were present at God Valley during this incident, with the event being broadcast live to Mary Geoise. Ginny, a slave, was able to leak the event's existence to the outside world, with the Rocks Pirates picking up her transmission and moving towards the island. They also had interest in retrieving a certain treasure that the Nobles had seemingly stolen from the island of Hachinosu.
Roger learned about Rocks' move and had his crew involve themselves as well to counter them. Vice Admiral Garp, who had been enjoying vacation at the time, was alerted by his superior Kong about Roger's imminent involvement at God Valley and also quickly moved to the same island in order to confront Roger specifically.[3] Eventually, he had to form a temporary alliance with his long-time foe to take down Rocks, who intended to target the World Nobles, even if Garp had no interest in protecting them.[1] The God's Knights, some of which were participants of the native hunt, also stepped up to protect the rest of their fellow Nobles.[3]
The Rocks Pirates facing Roger and Garp.
While the fight was ongoing, the slaves Emporio Ivankov and Bartholomew Kuma took advantage of the chaos to steal two Devil Fruits that were to serve as prizes for the Native Hunting Competition, the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi and the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu. Linlin stole the latter that Ivankov had and gave it to Kaidou, which resulted in Kaidou's life debt to her,[4] while Kuma ate the former, allowing him to save 500 slaves with his newly acquired power.
The Rocks Pirates were eventually defeated by the Pirate-Marine alliance, resulting in the crew's disbandment after the death of their captain.
Aftermath[]
Because of his role in the incident, Garp became greatly renowned, earning the title "Hero of the Marines". He was granted many opportunities to be promoted to admiral, but he turned them down each time due to not wanting to be the World Nobles' direct subordinate.[1] Roger's involvement, on the other hand, was covered up by the World Government. The same applied to many of Rocks' activities as the captain possessed the Will of D. and planned to oust the World Nobles to become King of the World himself, meaning only very few Marines, mostly veteran ones, know about the details of this incident.
The remaining members of the Rocks Pirates such as Whitebeard, Big Mom, Kaidou and Shiki began forming various crews of their own, with them becoming legendary pirate captains in their own right. Due to them not choosing to talk about their experiences in their original crew, coupled by the World Government covering up their activities, the existence of the Rocks Pirates faded into obscurity, becoming largely unknown for generations to come.[1]
As for the slaves and civilians who were on God Valley, around 500 people escaped including Ivankov, Ginny, and Kuma, thanks to the latter’s newly acquired Devil Fruit power.[3] In addition, the island itself ended up mysteriously vanishing, leaving no trace of its existence behind and no longer showing up on maps of the world.[1]
Figarland Garling received the title of "champion" of God Valley, but it is unknown if it had any bearing to his role in the incident itself or the competition that preceded it.[6]
The God Valley Incident may have been inspired by Wounded Knee Massacre, where then-First Lieutenant Ernest Albert Garlington (who possibly inspired the name for Garling) had participated in the 1890 against unarmed native people and received Medal of Honor for "distinguished gallantry".
Beasts Pirates(Legendary Hour, Fire Festival, New Onigashima Project)*
Blackbeard Pirates(Duel on Banaro Island, Summit War of Marineford, Payback War)*
Straw Hat Pirates(Operation Utopia, Davy Back Fight, Buster Call, Celestial Dragon Hit-and-Run Incident, Operation SOP, Dead End Race, Turtle Car Race, Pirates Festival)*
