Biodata
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Impel Down |
| Alias(es) | 深海大监狱 |
| Affiliation | World Government 5 37 |
| Occupation/Role | Prison for serious offenders, including captured Devil Fruit users 5 197 |
| First Appearance | Mentioned in Chapter 5 5 |
Purpose and Prisoners
- The World Government orders captured enemy Devil Fruit users sent to Impel Down. Keeping them alive delays the rebirth of their Devil Fruits elsewhere in the world 5.
- The prison also holds powerful criminals who have not eaten Devil Fruits. The World Government can waive their punishment and recruit them into CP if they agree to serve it; prisoners without useful strength may instead be used as laborers or handed over to Celestial Dragons 197.
- Level Six holds criminals considered so dangerous that the World Government has erased them from history. Its prisoners are also valued as potential recruits 368 369.
Layout and Security
| Area | Documented features |
|---|---|
| Entrance | Impel Down has a single exit. Its interrogation and intake area leads to the first underground level 476. |
| Level One | The smallest level by area but the most crowded; its cells held 28,000 prisoners during Lin Qi’s later attack. Sword Trees and Thorn Grass grow here 477. |
| Level Three — Hunger Hell | Prisoners are deprived of food and water while heat from Burning Hell below makes the level unbearably hot 478. |
| Level Four — Burning Hell | Located below Hunger Hell 478. |
| Level Five — Extreme Cold Hell | The prison’s largest level, swept by blizzards and inhabited by War Wolves 478 481. |
| Level 5.5 | A hidden, unofficial area reached through a passage discovered on Level Five. Ivankov used it while infiltrating the prison for the Revolutionary Army 478. |
| Level Six | A concealed level for prisoners erased from history. Its inmates include Bullet and Patrick Redfield 368 369 478. |
- A restricted World Government passage links Impel Down, Marine Headquarters, and Enies Lobby through the Gate of Justice 37.
- Guards monitor Level Six with surveillance Den Den Mushi. During an escape, specially made gates seal routes toward the entrance, while guards and Prisoner Beasts respond to disturbances 368.
- Seastone restraints hold prisoners, and Level Six has reinforced cells. Bullet nevertheless broke his Seastone chains and smashed through a reinforced wall 368.
- Magellan’s poison is especially effective in the prison’s confined spaces, though his Devil Fruit’s side effects severely limit his time for training 371.
- Underwater ruins lie beneath Impel Down 609.
History
Lin Qi first brings prisoners to Impel Down after more than a year at sea. His ship carries over a hundred captured Ability Users; Magellan, then Deputy Warden, receives the escort while Lin Qi’s subordinates transfer the prisoners inside 37.
A later breakthrough by Bullet triggers what is described as the worst riot in Impel Down’s history. He escapes his Level Six cell and kills nearly half the prisoners there. Patrick Redfield breaks out of solitary confinement and releases selected inmates to intensify the riot. Bullet defeats Magellan and forces his way out through the prison’s gates; Redfield follows, and Kizaru subsequently suppresses the riot 368 369 370 371.
During a subsequent crisis, Rayleigh and Luffy enter to search for Ace, with Blackbeard following them. Rayleigh discovers the route to Level 5.5, where Ivankov tells the group about Level Six and guides them there 477 478. At the same time, Lin Qi bypasses the Gate of Justice, posts Gion and Ilulu at the only exit, and begins killing prisoners level by level. He kills all 28,000 inmates on Level One, later kills Magellan, and hunts down prisoners released on Level Five 476 477 479 481. Lin Qi leaves with Gion and Ilulu after reaching Level Six; troops entering afterward report the prison’s condition to the Five Elders 483.