One Piece/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


These things about One Piece are subjective - not everyone will agree with all of them.

Show Tropes

  • Alas, Poor Villain: it's hard not to feel sorry for Brownbeard, as he is gunned down (And possibly killed) by the Yeti Cool Brothers.
  • Alternate Character Interpretation: Some fans believe that Luffy is only acting like an Idiot Hero in order to test himself. This is actually hinted at several times throughout the series.
  • And the Fandom Rejoiced: 4Kids! Entertainment finally dropping the series and FUNimation picking it up.
    • And later in 2009, when Viz Media announced that they would be speeding up the release of the manga volumes throughout the first half of 2010.
    • And now it's been confirmed that professional manga translator Stephen Paul will be taking over the official English translation of the manga.
    • Funimation is going to be continuing the dub in the near future after a long hiatus.
  • Archive Panic: As of April 2012, the manga is at 660 chapters and the crew has barely landed on the first island on the second half of the Grand Line. Eiichiro Oda is not even close to being done with the series.
  • Ass Pull: Few and far between the most infamous of them is the classic "Pell surviving a city-destroying bomb with absolutely no justification." Also a bit Egregious considering Luffy's earlier speech to Vivi about how it's naive to think that the major conflict of the arc could be solved without anyone dying.
    • In the anime fillers, Luffy's defeat of Don Achino was easily this.
    • In the 4kids dub, Usopp happened to have the Log Pose Grand Compass they needed, and which they got in the removed Laboon arc, all along. Vivi had a second Eternal Compass, which they got in the removed Little Garden arc, for Alabasta, meaning the issue of deciding whether to trust Robin was pointless.
    • Though this may just be another case of God Never Said That for this series, Oda has reportedly stated that in his own opinion he has done only one of these: Crocodile being vulnerable to blood.
    • Blackbeard having the ability to absorb a second Devil Fruit was largely this. There was a bit of foreshadowing, but no real explanation was offered for how it's possible. Even supposing his Devil Fruit's abilities could be construed to give him Devil Fruit extraction (and it'd take some really wild thinking to get that), it's stated that the reason he can survive two abilities is because of him having a special body, not his Devil Fruit.
  • Base Breaker: Viz's translation. Some are annoyed at the translation choices and usual lack of swearing, while others tell them "stop whining, nobody cares, it's the same story so read it". It gets messy.
    • The Fishmen Island arc has made one section of the fanbase cry RUINEDFOREVER, and the other section say it's perfectly good.
  • Non Sequitur Scene: "EVERYBODY! ZOMBIE NIGHT!"
    • Also the royal guards from the Alabasta saga; they show up out of nowhere, having apparently drunken "death water" that gives you superstrength for a few minutes before killing you - a plot device, incidentally, that had never been mentioned before and hasn't been mentioned since. They take a few completely ineffective swings at Big Bad Crocodile, promptly keel over dead, and no one mentions them ever again.
    • Shiki's dance number in the 10th movie.
  • Breakout Character: Currently no character, Straw Hat or not, has nearly the popularity Tony Tony Chopper enjoys in Japan. From the sheer amount of merchandise featuring him - shirts, hats, figurines, watches, candy, underwear, his own spin-off Chopperman - and Luffy sometimes, you'd think both are the only pirates in the series.
  • Complete Monster: A lot of villains in the story are really nasty. While most of the Big Bad(s) vary, the most generally agreed on are Captain Kuro, Arlong, Spandam, all of the Celestial Dragons shown so far, Hody Jones, Caesar Clown, Admiral Akainu, Shiliew and Doflamingo. Crocodile and Enel are also borderline examples, and while it's too early to truly tell, Kaido is also worth a mention. Has its own page for specific info on all of them.
  • Continuity Lock Out: So very, very much. It is a true test of character to try to describe the series to a person who has never heard of it.
  • Crazy Awesome:
    • Luffy. Sailing up a geyser and once absorbing a hundred souls, (when most badasses can only hold two or three) are some of his saner plans.
    • Franky. Take a guy, dress him up in a Hawaiian shirt and speedo, then watch as Oda consistently (and successfully) challenges himself to make that the least bizarre thing about him.
    • Brook's first appearance convinced Luffy this guy needs to brought into his crew, due to this.
  • Creator Worship: Eichiro Oda has been mentioned at least three times on this site as being awesome, crazy prepared and an author who never forgets.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome: So very much...
  • Damsel Scrappy: Princess Shirahoshi, depending on who you ask.
    • Well, only the people haven't paid any attention to a single thing she's done.
      • And then are the people who think she's just a terrible, bland character.
  • Do We Have This One? / Truth in Television?: Oda has loaded the series with nods to real pirates. Crowner? Legend and Wikipedia has it that the notorious pirate Gol D. Roger Olivier Levasseur, nicknamed La Buse, threw a parchment with an encrypted message into the assembled crowd immediately before he was hanged in Saint-Denis on Réunion in 1730, allegedly accompanied by the words "My treasure? Why, it's right where I left it. It's yours if you can find it." "Find my treasure, ye who may understand it!".[1] It is furthermore rumored that, since then, many a father's inheritance has been blown on projects of decoding the message and finding the treasure. You can try your luck, since the cryptogram is obviously in the public domain.
    • However, considering that the cryptogram's history is only tracable back to 1923, there is no hard evidence that the message is original, or that such a message existed in the first place, or that Levasseur ever buried treasure. Spoiler indeed.
  • Dueling Shows: With Naruto, Bleach and Fairy Tail. Along with One Piece, the former two are often referred to as the "big three" of Shonen.
  • Ear Worm: Have you even HEARD the 4Kids' version of the opening!?
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: PORTGAS. D. ACE. He basically popped into the story, introduced himself, showed off his hot shirtless physique, blasted a Baroque Works fleet with his fire powers, then left without really doing anything. Since then, he has had precisely one fight scene in the manga before getting some serious James Bondage. These few exploits (not even enough to fill a volume) were enough to rocket him to the very top of the popularity polls, and he is often (if not always) the most popular non-Straw Hat character regardless of his minuscule screen/panel-time.
    • Just the fact that he was usually the most popular non-strawhat makes it that much more shocking when he becomes the first major character (besides the Merry) to die outside of a flashback. In a series when a minor character can be at the center of a explosion with a 5-km diameter AND NOT DIE, that means a lot.
    • Trafalgar Law zoomed up to the top ten in the latest popularity poll before he even did anything. He was a hot guy with a fuzzy hat and had a high bounty. That was it. He did turn out to be one of the more interesting of the 11 Supernovas, though.
      • And he just earned some serious points by showing up at Marineford in a submarine to save Luffy and Jimbei.
    • Urouge of the Eleven Supernovas ranked 24th in the 4th popularity poll, above Crocodile and Whitebeard, despite miniscule screen time and plot relevance.
    • The series' tendency toward Laughably Evil Quirky Miniboss Squads has let a few of the minor villains gain fanbases. Especially Kaku, who plays Laughably Evil to great effect in his fight with Zoro and placed high in the polls for his efforts.
    • After recent events in Impel Down, Mr. 2 Bon Clay certainly has skyrocketed in many fan polls.
    • Monet from the Punk Hazard arc has also gained quite a fan following.
  • Even Better Sequel: Considering the two year time skip between chapters 597-598, one could say that the manga ended at chapter 597 and that chapter 598 is the beginning of a sequel to the original series. With what's happened so far, the sequel is shaping up to be even better than before the time skip; which considering the popularity of the original series, is really saying something.
  • Fan Disservice: Some think that Kokoro's mermaid form qualifies as this. Sanji seems to think so anyway.
  • Fandom Rivalry: With Naruto (especially with the Dueling Shows dynamic), Bleach and Fairy Tail.
  • Fan Dumb: Ace's death has apparently started up a segment who believe that Ace's death has caused the series to be Ruined FOREVER.
    • Nakama. Just... nakama. Allegedly, a magical Japanese word that can mean such untranslatable concepts as companion, comrade, friend, crewmember, etc. God forbid fan translators actually use context to pick one of them depending on the situation.
  • Fan Nickname: MANSOPP (all caps, no exceptions) for the Time Skip Usopp.
    • Also, the crew that impersonates the Strawhats after the Time Skip are referred to collectively as the Flawhats.
  • Foe Yay: Surprising absolutely no one, we have Doflamingo, who jokes about how Crocodile siding with the pirates instead of the World Government is "making me jealous".
    • Nami and Kalifka were very Foe Yay-ish. At one point, Nami admires how smooth Kalifka's skin must be and how she would want her to be her own Sexy Secretary. Lampshaded when she reminds herself that she isn't a Dirty Old Man.
    • Eustass Kid and Trafalgar Law, despite being introduced relatively late to One Piece fandom, have quickly become one of the most popular pairings of the Supernovas due in part to their position as reluctant and snarky Strange Bedfellows.
    • A good argument could be made for Zoro/Tashigi.
  • Funny Aneurysm Moment: Ace's debut scene, sans a flashback a few episodes back, shows him apparently having up and died while eating; it turns out he just fell asleep and Hilarity Ensues... except now he is dead so... yeah.
    • When you rewatch Ace's Alabasta arc scenes and see him acting fairly cheerfully, he comes off as a Stepford Smiler if you consider his childhood.
  • Gannon Banned: Go into any forum and utter a Dub name. Go ahead. Nothing will happen.
  • Germans Love David Hasselhoff: One Piece has quite an impressive fanbase in Germany, although still nowhere NEAR as huge in Japan.
  • Genius Bonus: For people who know chemistry, the drug NHC-10, which is highly addictive but sometimes used as medicine by certified doctors. The chemical name for methamphetamine, another highly addictive drug, is C10-H15-N, nearly NHC's reverse.
  • Growing the Beard: Happens literally in the case of Blackbeard, whose namesake grows thicker and darker with every major appearance.
    • In the case of the series itself, many fans note that One Piece really started coming into its own during the Arlong Arc, and even after a few hundred chapters, simply hasn't stopped delivering in entertainment.
  • Harsher in Hindsight: News of Ace's death came shortly (as in within days) after Funimation released the first dub episodes of the Alabasta arc on their site. Said arc featured him as a Guest Star Party Member for a few episodes. It makes things unsettling..
    • Double whammy: Episode 437 also came out this week. Luffy's determination to reach Ace is to the point that he gets up even though poisoned, and beats his head against the bars of a cell to break out. Even considering the expression on Luffy's face, watching that scene was hard, when you consider that all his effort and sacrifices will ultimately be in vain.
    • Also, remember Bon Clay's Heroic Sacrifice and his facing down Magellan while Luffy and Co. got away? Yes? Remember Bon Clay's last words to Luffy? "YOU MAKE SURE YOU SAVE YOUR BROTHER!!!" ...Ouch.
    • Basically, to everyone who's read through the Marineford Arc, yeah... so how's watching any of the anime episodes holding up for you?
      • There's a villanous example with Arlong; his rants about fishman superiority over humans ("Heaven gave us the power to seperate us from you! So WE ARE DIFFERENT! Humans are lower than fishman from the day they're born!") takes on a horrifyingly twist when it's revealed that fishman have been savagely persecuted by the World Nobles and he in all likelihood was once a slave. And then think about how the World Nobles see themselves as gods; Arlong's ranting comes off as deeply embittered counterarguments against that kind of thinking instead of standard Fantastic Racism.
      • Arlong killing Bellemere has another Tear Jerker layer to it. Fisher Tiger gave his crew the command to not harm humans, no matter what. Not only did Arlong rob Nami of her mother, he also broke his promise to his captain.
    • The Marineford episodes where Blackbeard gains Whitebeard's quake powers and unleashes them on Marineford, causing Tsunami's to head towards Sadabody was aired shortly before the 9.0 Quake and Tsunami disaster in Japan. OUCH.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: One of the most epic and satisfying events in the franchise was when Luffy confronted St. Charloss during the Sabaody Archipelago Arc. Charloss, like most World Nobles, is an Royal Brat arrogant, uppity jerk and member of an untouchable privledges class due a dubious claim of being decended from the gods who created the world, but after he assaults Hatchan - not the first atrocity Luffy had witnessed - the Straw Hats captain just doesn't give a damn anymore, and gave Charloss the thrashing he deserved. This scene takes on a whole new meaning for any fan who continued to wwatch up to the Wano County Arc, where it is revealed that Luffy holds the title of Joyboy, and is thus the avatar of Nika - meaning that, while even Luffy did not know it at the time, St. Charloss was in the presence of an actual God in Human Form.
  • Holy Shit Quotient: Tends to rise the farther along the Grand Line the Straw Hats sail.
    • With a very sharp increase ever since Amazon Lily, and especially since the start of the Marineford arc.
    • Post-timeskip? Off the charts.
  • Hate Sink: Given his actions and revealed backstory as Arc Villain of the Egghead Arc, Saint Jaygarcia Saturn has quickly gained the reputation of one of the most vile and hated villains of the series.
  • Ho Yay: Nothing needs to be said about Zoro and Sanji, which is steps into Foe Yay territory. Also, Zoro's Heroic Sacrifice for Luffy heavily contributes to the fuel.
    • Chaka and Pell, seeing how they are usually seen side by side.

Chaka: I still... can't accept your death. I can't even shed tears. Why is this, Pell?

    • Brook and Yorki had an awful lot of smiling and touching going on, especially in the anime. Which just makes that flashback even more depressing when you get to all the inevitable tragedy.
    • Coby and Helmeppo skirt the edge between very good friends and boyfriends. The filler doesn't really help. Taking Coby's fanboyish adoration of Luffy into account, an argument could also be made for a Helmeppo-Coby-Luffy triangle.
    • Calgara and Norland from the Skypeia Arc flashbacks. The entire arc hinged around their tragic separation and the suffering both of their descendants endured as a result.
    • Has its own page now.
  • I Knew It!: It was always a belief among the fanbase that Luffy and Ace were not directly related. However, nobody thought that Ace is was the son of Gol D. Roger.
  • Ink Stain Adaptation: The 4Kids dub.
  • Large Ham: Foxy
    • FRANKY could also qualify for this trope. C'mon: SUUUUUUUUPER!!
    • And Kumadori.
    • Blackbeard certainly seems to be this way; his crewmate Jesus Burgess seems to enjoy joining in as well.
    • As filler would have us believe, Robin when she acts on stage.
    • Even lampshaded: Stop talking so loud, Tilestone!!!
  • Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Obvious joke aside, several major characters get this treatment, such as Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Robin, Ace,Nami and Law.
  • Like You Would Really Do It: After the Marineford Arc, I think it's save to say that Oda's absolutely subverted this one as much as it can be subverted.
  • Magnificent Bastard: A number of the series' Big Bads, particularly Crocodile and Doflamingo.
    • Pretty telling in Doflamingo's case, considering we still don't know all that much about him.
  • Memetic Molester: Caribou
  • Memetic Mutation: "Oda never forgets." Made increasingly more obvious the further into the manga one reads.
    • Of course, this is stupid, as never forgetting has just about nothing to do with it in comparison to the fact that Oda has obviously planned out everything years in advance.
      • Actually, according to what he has said in interviews he DIDN'T have the entire plot planned out from the start, just the ending and general storyline direction. There's a reason he originally only planned for the series to go for about five years..
    • Still counts, as he planned the outline, then remembered the finer details of the plot, and may have even came up with new ideas or even improved on original ideas. So it's not that stupid.
    • X is Sabo.[2]
  • Memetic Outfit: A person wearing blue shorts, a red vest and a hat coincidentally made of Straw? That could only be what Luffy wears all the time. Some of the other characters have them as well.
  • Memetic Sex Goddess: Surprisingly, the biggest example from this series is probably bit-part Ms. Exposition character Domino, who for whatever reason has found herself the star of a series of popular hentai doujinshi portraying her as a Hermaphrodite dominatrix.
  • Narm: The show is frequently brutal, sad, depressing, and dark... and has some of the most ridiculous character designs ever seen in manga. It's like watching a version of Game of Thrones acted out by circus clowns.
  • Narm Charm: You know how in Eragon everyone cries "a Single Tear"? Yeah, just try that with One Piece and see if it works.
  • Nightmare Fuel: Surprisingly, there is quite a bit.
  • No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: As hilarious as the 4Kids dub was, it still attracted people who eventually became fans of the original language anime, the Funimation dub or the manga.
  • Periphery Demographic: In Japan, the manga is apparently a very popular with middle-aged housewives . . .
    • According to this post http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2011/02/10/one-piece-readers-90-adults/ (might be NSFW), only 12% of the readers in Japan are below 18.
      • As one poster in the comments section pointed out, the reason why the younger generation reading may seem smaller in the figures is because entire families tend to buy One Piece and read it together.
      • Consider also the fact that this series has been running for over ten years now. If someone has been reading/watching since the very beginning, chances are they'll be adults now. Of course it says something that they'd still be fans as adults.
  • Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Usopp. He quit the Strawhats, came back as Sogeking, left and came back as himself and is now fairly happy about the Sunny. Especially since there's a little boat thing Franky made named the Mini-Merry that we saw at the beginning of Thriller Bark.
  • Rewatch Bonus: Lot of it! It's amazing how many little details Oda adds in each chapter.
  • The Scrappy: Absalom, to such a degree that Oda was shocked to receive fanart of him. Also, as mentioned above, Usopp after leaving the crew.
    • Spandam is reviled among the fanbase for being a sniveling, fugly, cowardly, reprehensible Smug Snakepar excellence. His treatment of fan favorite Straw Hats like Franky and Robin did NOT win him any love either.
    • Akainu has probably become the most hated character in the series for not only being a Complete Monster, but for also killing Ace, causing serious emotional pain for Luffy. Needless to say, the fans were not pleased with the outcome, especially the female fanbase. Fans eagerly await the day where Luffy will kill his ass for what he did.
      • As of recent chapters, he is now the head of the Marines, and possible Big Bad.
        • Princess Shirahoshi was simply disliked by many fans, due to her whiny personality, enranged by Luffy.
  • Signature Scene: Shanks passing down his straw hat to Luffy.
  • Ship Tease: Being in a world with No Hugging, No Kissing, this was bound to happen.
    • Sanji and Zoro get loads of Ho Yay / Foe Yay scenes and fillers has no problem having them sleeping with their faces an inch apart or having them Almost Kiss twice.
    • Even in canon. There's Franky/Robin, Usopp/Kaya, Luffy/Nami, Zoro/Nami, Sanji/Nami, Vivi/Kohza and Zoro/Robin...hell, it's apparently possible for everyone in the crew to be shipped with everyone else...except maybe Chopper...and even that is debatable.
    • In fact, Zoro and Nami have a lot of Belligerent Sexual Tension. Add in Nami the Tsundere and Zoro the Jerk with a Heart of Gold and you have a winner.
    • Nami isn't Tsundere towards Usopp, but instead she's been seen to be quite fond of Usopp from times to times. She wept after he left during the Enies Lobby arc and was the most adamant to defend him against Zoro when he came back. She also buried his face in her chest when they meet each other after the Time Skip. Keep in mind she would have never do that for any other male of the crew.
    • Luffy/Hancock made fun of this and Mary Sue fan characters in general, apparently. It's very easy to ship them together since Hancock is unambiguously madly in love with Luffy, but Luffy, being Luffy, never noticed, or is simply not interested. He even blatantly said "I'm not gonna marry you!" at one point...doesn't stop her trying to get him, though.
    • There's even Zoro/Perona?! How the hell did that happen?
    • And now there's Robin calling Jimbei "handsome".
  • So Bad It's Good: The Singaporean English dub by Odex.
    • Yo ho ho, he took a bite of Gum-Gum.
    • A lot of the 4Kids dub's dialogue, if you don't consider it straight up horrible. This gem from Arlong, for example: "If you can't pay the cash, then you're out with the trash! AND FEEL FREE TO QUOTE ME!"
  • So Cool Its Awesome: The Marineford Arc.
    • The whole series, pretty much.
  • Straw Man Has a Point: Minor case with Enies Lobby. Nico Robin was given the deal of giving up her freedom, in exchange for the rest of the crew's safety. When said crew come to save her, Spandam states that they will be thrown into Impel Down, regardless of the deal. However, he kept up his part of the deal, but that doesn't give the Strawhat Pirates the right to beat up around five hundred guards (by that point) and just get off with a slap on the wrists. Regardless, Robin and Frankey claim its just a minor technicality that he is abusing. Though, to be fair, he likely would've chased the crew later, given half the chance.
  • Squick: The thought of Ace's mother, Portgas D. Rouge, holding him in her womb for twenty months just to keep the Marine from finding out he Gol D. Roger's son It's a badass accomplishment without a doubt, but good god is it wince-worthy...
    • Dr. Hogback. Pretty much everything he does.
    • And then there's the fact that Vander Decken hasn't washed his hand in 10 years. Eww!
  • Too Cool to Live: Two good examples.
    • Whitebeard, a seventy-something giant of a man with earthquake powers, a big-ass Blade on a Stick and a sweet 'stache. Based on a hard-drinking war veteran Oda knew, this guy takes on The Government and the Seven Warlords to save his "son". Fans have been speculating for ages on whether or not he'll die like the Real Life person who inspired him. Oops, he did. But in the coolest way possible.
    • Ace. A perpetually shirtless, sexy as hell Ensemble Darkhorse with a Woobie factor of 11 and stoppable flame powers. Sadly ended up with a fist made of magma through his incredibly sexy chest.
      • Ace is a far more debatable example, as it could be easily argued that he was put under this trope mostly because he's a great example of an Ensemble Darkhorse. Thing is, he's simply never shown doing anything all that impressive, and in a World of Badass like the One Piece world, nothing even remotely close to qualifying him as being Too Cool to Live.
        • Well, he did fight a 7-warlords Fishman in a multiday battle that ended in a Draw. And when Whitebeard came by looking for the punk trying to take his head, Ace managed to get to his feet and challenge him. Presumably he's gotten stronger since then, being on whitebeard's ship and all.
    • Many of the flashback characters.
  • Tear Jerker: The page for events that cause this reaction.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Your Mileage May Vary of course, but there are instances of characters being introduced with hints of backstories, intriging designs, and character quirks only to be completely dropped soon after. The most egregious example are the General Zombies of Thriller Bark, who almost literally had a bridge dropped on them.
  • Viewer Gender Confusion: No one could tell what gender Koala was in her initial appearance.
    • Actually, it was quite easy to tell due to her having huge, black irises with lights like any other female character. It was just that she had messy hair (due to not being able to have a haircut and combing when she was a slave) and wore boys' clothing (probably the only clothes her temporary village could provide her instead of her slave rags), so readers may have thought the eyes existed only to make "him" look cute.
  • Wall Banger: Many of the changes in the 4K!ds version of the anime. This version of the work was an indirect Trope Namer to Frothy Mugs of Water.
  • What an Idiot!: "I SHALL BE THE PIRATE KING!!" Oh, Hodi, you really shouldn't have said that...
  • What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made on Drugs?: The Punk Hazard arc, full stop. Giant skulls? Dragons? Flying bird lady things? Gas mask men who are lamb people underneath? Centaurs? Giant kids in a nursery? Moving, talking blob who is the leader of said lamb people? Giant, frozen corpses? Poison gas on the island? Trafalgar Law making and inexplicable appearance? Franky's beetle-jaw hairstyle?. Didn't they teach Oda in school not to mix LSD with crack? Granted, it will probably make sense later on, but this whole arc is getting to be pretty "out there".
    • Although, to be fair, the same could be said for the entire series. We've seen Islands in the Sky, that habitat giant birds with key-shaped beaks along with bizarre fish such as "Skysharks". We've seen a hypnotist that moonwalks everywhere he goes and a man who tried to turn the main characters into a giant wax cake. That last one gained powers from a mystical fruit, which have been used by over half of the series' characters. Oh, and our heroes include a rubber man, a skeleton with an afro, a cyborg, and a reindeer doctor. One Piece is screwed up.
    • Also, Trafalgar Law actually makes the entire arc make sense, given his already-established Devil Fruit ability.
  • The Woobie: Chopper, Robin and Brook. Also Coby in the beginning.
    • Usopp in Water 7. First he gets the crap kicked out of him by a gang of characters Zoro defeated single-handedly, losing two-thirds of the Straw Hat crew's fortune. To make matters worse, the crew doesn't even get angry; they just feel sorry for him. Then he tries to get the money back, but he gets flattened again. His ship, a gift from his girlfriend's dead parents, is broken beyond repair and nobody else seems to care. He challenges Luffy to a duel for the ship and loses, and then Luffy gives him the ship anyway. While spending the last of his money on the repair effort, he gets kidnapped by a vengeful cyborg, told once again that his ship is going to die, kidnapped again and forced to watch as his beloved ship is callously thrown into the sea. Subsequent jerkassery aside, you can't help but feel for the guy.
    • And now Ace, who spent his life being told his father was a monster and wondered if he should've been born.
    • After recent events, Luffy qualifies as well.
    • Garp. Watching the two boys he raised as his own grandsons grow up to be notorious pirates, and then seeing one of them captured and sentenced to death, sparking the biggest war between pirates and marines in recent memory, you know the poor guy's got to be all kinds of torn up.
      • Especially considering that Garp is a high ranking Marine and is thus obligated to side against them, or at the very least stay out of the way as his coworkers try to kill his grandsons. That is a seriously unpleasant situation to be in.
    • Really, if a character isn't a bad guy, or if he/she is a bad guy for a solid excuse, about 95% of the time you'll want to just drop everything and give them a big bear hug. A series full of Determinators can do that to you.
  • World of Woobie: A lighter version than most, but increasingly obvious with later arcs.
  • X Meets Y: Pirates of the Caribbean meets...

Assorted character tropes

Roronoa Zoro

Usopp

Tony Tony Chopper

Franky

  • Hey, It's That Voice!: Italian fans instantly recognized his voice as Majin Bu. Though it doesn't fit him properly...
    • This is the whole reason Franky was created. So Kazuki Yao could voice him. Or, more accurately, the reason he is who he is.
  • Shipping Goggles: He has his share of shipping, but it’s mostly limited to Robin and sometimes Usopp.
    • Ship Tease: Franky/Robin shiptease has peaked up in recent anime episodes. The new Opening Narration shows Robin helping Franky with his inventions, when the helper’s role is usually given to the crew’s another inventor, Usopp. Additionally, when Franky and Robin meet after two years, their conversation is filled with ship tease starting with Franky openly and loudly complimenting Robin’s appearance. Then there’s Franky’s reaction (or lack of) to Boa Hancock when the crew sees her. It seems that the creators of the anime have really taken Franky and Robin’s roles as official Team Dad and Team Mom seriously.

Buggy

Vivi Nefeltari

Bon Clay

Emporio Ivankov

Captain Morgan

  • Moral Event Horizon: Ordering that a little girl be killed just for entering his base without permission and even killing the Marine who refused his orders. Even his smug asshole of a son thought he was going too far!

Captain Kuro

  • Complete Monster: Was actually the first true monster in the series, at least compared to all the other Jerkass villains before him. Usopp even call him "irredeemable bastard!", to which Luffy replies "Who would want to redeem him?"
  • Evil Is Cool: Come on, you have to admit that he is quite stylish. Just look at the picture up there!
  • Moral Event Horizon: His entire plan. When it involves arranging for the murder of the girl to whom you've posed as a father figure, and doing it not just to take her inheritance money but because you hated her for no good reason and want peace of mind, and then you tell that right to her face, there's no doubt you're far over this.

Arlong

  • Complete Monster: Even though he has some arguable Pet the Dog moments with his fellow Fishmen (like getting furious when Luffy uses one of them as a shield during their fight), there is no denying that he is this to all the other species. Just ask Nami.
  • Moral Event Horizon: When he kills Nami and Nojiko's Mom right in front of them. And if that wasn't bad enough, how about forcing Nami to make all of those maps for him for pretty much her whole childhood? Even worse, how about when he goes back on his word and has a corrupt Marine official confiscate her hard-earned money so he could keep her under his iron grip forever? Needless to say, it's easy to see why many view him as one of the series' biggest scumbags to date.

God Eneru

Rob Lucci

  • Magnificent Bastard: Deduced Iceburg's relationship with Franky and the ownership of the Pluton blueprints on heartbeat speed alone, and single-handedly jeopardized the Straw Hats' entire mission and almost killed them by breaching the walls of Tower of Justice with the air from his kick, allowing water to escape through and drown Luffy's nakama... just to piss him off.

Spandam

Kaku

Blackbeard

  • I Knew It!: Since the Whitebeard War began, there were numerous fan predictions and fake spoilers of him showing up with the Level Six prisoners. Sure enough, he did, but not when they thought, him stealing Whitebeard's power and with Avaro Pizaro either.
  • Magnificent Bastard: He's no Crocodile, but still pretty damn cunning and effective.

Shiki

  • What an Idiot!: Has two good opportunies to finish Luffy, but didn't rather just going into Hannibal Lecture mode and leaving him to die. During the final moments of his last battle, he could've stopped Luffy anytime he wanted. But figured the lightning storm would do him in. Apparently no one taught him that rubber doesn't conduct electricity. By the time he realized his mistake he got a Gigant Thor Axe smashed down on him.
    • To be fair, a few characters forget what the advantages of being a Rubber Man is to Luffy. Even Nami is reminded time to time.

Vander Decken

  • Magnificent Bastard: What he does in chapter 626 qualifies. He takes advantage of the confusion of the burning of the signatures and Queen Otohime being fatally shot so he can get close enough to Princess Shirahoshi to use his Target-Target ability on her. Just so he could later marry her and get a hold of her powers to summon the Sea Kings.
  • Squick: Decken hasn't washed his right hand in over ten years. That's just gross.
    • Pfft, that's nothing when you consider how old Shirahoshi was when he touched her and wanted to marry her. She was six.

Hody Jones

  • Breather Boss; He's possibly stronger than most of the early series villains, but he's nowhere near the foes Luffy faced at Marineford or will face in the New World.
  • Complete Monster: Basically, he's Arlong minus his sole decent quality (his care of his fellow Fishmen crew members), with his evilness and racism turned Up to Eleven with a nice dash of a Caligula complex. As of now, he's probably the single most vile character to show up in the series. Most other exceptionally disgusting individuals have at least one slightly vindicating thing to their names. He has none.
    • He has no tearjerking backstory or Freudian Excuse for any of his actions. He just really enjoys killing and subjugating whomever gets in his way, be they fishmen or humans.
  • Nightmare Fuel: His transformation (chapters 643-644) gave him costantly open eyes and huge, gaping mouths worthy of a Murloc. His whole attitude and plans for the future contributes to the scary aura.
  • Tyke Bomb: Orphan and his friends raised almost solely underneath the teachings of Fantastic Racism taken to its most extreme.
  • Warmup Boss : Of the post-timeskip

Sengoku

Akainu

  • Complete Monster: Perhaps the most vicious one in the whole series.
    • Even then, though, it's kind of telling when a). one of your own allies resigns rather than serve under you, and b). one of the most powerful men in the world wants nothing to do with you and calls off a hostage exchange the minute your name comes up.
  • Moral Event Horizon: Many fans would say Ace's brutal murder put him past it, but in truth, that's just the atrocity that stands out. Akainu pretty much crosses it in his introductory appearance, by destroying a ship with Ohara's civilian population on the mere chance a scientist was on board- and keeps on running with it.
  • Nightmare Fuel: The way his powers are depicted in the anime is downright terrifying. It doesn't help that the sound effects that come with said power are usually the ones you hear when something rather... unpleasant... happens to a human body in anime.

Smoker

Tashigi

  • Real Women Never Wear Dresses: Arguably subverted. She may be a tomboy in looks and personality, and care more about being respected as a fighter, yet as far as on screen wins go, so far she isn't as effective as certain other female characters who embrace their beauty and femininity more than she does, such as Robin, and and especially Boa Hancock.
    • This seems to have changed with the timeskip, however; having ascended to rank of Captain, one of her first post-timeskip actions is to deflect a goddamn cannonball. Also, given that the Marines run on Asskicking Equals Authority, it's highly likely that she's fallen out of that tendency.

Dracule Mihawk

  • Ensemble Darkhorse: The most recent character poll placed him at 12. To put this in perspective, Whitebeard came in at 69!
  • Epileptic Trees: There's a theory among certain circles of the fandom that Mihawk and Shanks conspired to stop the Whitebeard War.
    • Quite a few people believe he has Color of the Supreme King Haki, despite being unable to injure Buggy, which he should have been able to do if he was using a technique that explicitly cancels out Devil Fruit based defenses.
      • Understandable, as Buggy managed to hide the fact that he is a Devil Fruit user from the Marines when prisoned in Impel Down, so naturally a loner like Mihawk had not such information of him. Besides, we shoud forgive these minor details for the Rule of Cool.

Crocodile

  • Alternative Character Interpretation: Starting to attract these after recent events in the manga.
  • Complete Monster: Screws with Princess Vivi's head by giving her multiple impossible Sadistic Choices, after he just laughed in her face about how he's manipulated her entire country into killing each other. And just in case we didn't get that he's a bastard, he lets dying guards drop dead rather than fight him and die honorably in battle. THEN he goes and gloats to Luffy later about all the lives he's ruined, as well as poisoning him. If you don't think he's a Magnificent Bastard, you're going to call him this.
    • He actually veers away from this trope in his later appearances due to showcasing some flashes of humanity. But barely.
  • Epileptic Trees: What most guesses are about his third weakness.
  • Evil Is Cool: The best example this manga has to offer.
  • Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Going by Japanese popularity polls, he's not too popular in One Piece's home country. American fans, however, practically worship the guy for embodying Evil Is Cool.
  • Magnificent Bastard: If you don't think he's a Complete Monster, he's this and more.

Bartholomew Kuma

Boa Hancock

  • Base Breaker: While things have settled down a bit due to lack of screentime, she can be a rather controversial character. However, judging by the amount of merchandising for her, as well as frequent playability in the video games, she's certainly a popular character in Japan. Oda hasn't held a popularity poll since 2008 (prior to her introduction), though, so it's not entirely easy to gauge.
  • Crosses the Line Twice: Kicking a kitten? Cliche but amusing way to establish a villain as a Jerkass. Having said character pull a Heel Face Turn and subsequently kick a puppy and a baby seal at the same time? Hilarious.
  • Draco in Leather Pants: Was initially this prior to her Heel Face Turn, but since then, she's been more or less vindicated for her villainous actions, so her fandom (which is quite loud, vocal, and scary) isn't uncalled for.
  • Fan Dumb: There's a segment of readers who still believe Hancock doesn't love Luffy. They're quite vocal about this because they apparently want Luffy to be with someone else.
  • Jerkass Woobie: She's cold, bitter and only cares for a handful of people. She's also an escaped slave of the World Government who fears being cast out along with her sisters if anyone learns of this.
  • Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped: The message that Luffy does not return her feelings (or is even aware of them) is about as subtle as a brick to the head. But then, that's the point. Oda throws a lot of Ship Tease in, before shooting it down, then throws a lot of it back in, just to shoot it down again. Expect that cycle to keep repeating for however long Hancock plays any role in the story. And for it to be hilarious.

Jinbe

  • Epileptic Trees: Jinbe is one in a long line of characters who've been speculated to be the next new addition to the Straw Hat crew, and he's one of the most recent additions to that list following the Impel Down arc. The information that's been revealed so far about him (including his guilt at Arlong's actions in East Blue, his promise to Ace to protect Luffy in case anything happens to Ace, his discarding of his Warlord title despite said title being part of what protected Fishman Isle from outside attacks, his mutual grief with Luffy over Ace's death, and his promise to wait for Luffy at Fishman Isle shortly before the Time Skip begins) and the fact that Luffy willingly let him out of his cell in Impel Down after only a moment of consideration seems to support it thus far, but only the outcome of the current Fishman Island arc will tell whether he will in fact join them or not.
    • As of chapter 649, Luffy has officially asked Jimbei to join but Jimbei has declined at the moment, stating there is some business he needs to take care of first (we later find out it relates to his crew and Fishman Island's assocation with Big Mom) and then he will join.

Whitebeard

Portgas D. Ace

  • Ensemble Darkhorse: Very little screen time. VERY popular character.
  • Harsher in Hindsight: During his cover story, he hilariously blows his cover by punching the daylights out of a Marine who talked smack about Whitebeard. This happens again in Marineford, with heartbreaking results.
  • Jerkass Woobie: When he was a kid. Sure, he had a damn good reason for it, but that doesn't excuse the fact that he left a young Luffy to fend for himself in the forest. Even more so since Luffy just wanted to be his friend.

Big Mom

  • Epileptic Trees: Loads of it, mostly her identity, and whether she's Lola's mother.
    • Some people also assume that she has plant-related powers seeing that her jolly roger is decorated with plants and trees.
  • Nightmare Fuel: Easily one of the series' most terrifying characters. She hasn't done a whole lot so far but her disgustingly fat and bloated body, creepy looking face, and the fact that she eats one of her own crew-members alive is quite telling of how scary she is.

Fisher Tiger

Gaimon

  • The Woobie: When he eventually finds out that the treasure chests he was guarding were empty.

Montblanc Noland

Hannyabal

Shiliew

  • Complete Monster: Killed prisoners and later killed fellow Impel Down workers for simple fun. It says a lot that Magellan loathes him.

Sabo

  • The Woobie: Poor kid just can't catch a break, can't he? He's raised by a family who only sees him as a tool to advance their social status, fears being forced to become part of that corrupt society and ultimately is killed while trying to escape to freedom... or so everyone thought.
  • I Knew It!: Lot's of fans noticed that Dragon found someone lost at sea shortly after Sabo's disappearance, causing them to believe that the castaway was Sabo which meant that he could possibly be alive. As of the Dressrosa arc, Sabo has been shown in the flesh, and is now a member of the Revolutionaries.
  • Memetic Mutation: X is Sabo.

Shirahoshi

  • Moe: A rare breed in a series filled with Action Girls.
  • Most Annoying Sound: Shirahoshi's Crying/Wailing simply gets old very fast.
  • The Woobie: As if having a violent Stalker with a Crush who relegated her life to a lonely tower for 10 years wasn't enough, the poor girl had to endure with bearing the secret of the identity of her mother's assassin all that time. All the while struggling to not hate said assassin because of her promise to her mother.
  • The Scrappy: She was simply disliked by Many fans, due to her Whiny personality, enraged by Luffy.

Pandaman


Shuraiya Bascud

Baron Omatsuri

  • Alas, Poor Villain: The loss of his crew turned him to the most movie evil character so far, yet you consider how much he missed his crew and tried to revive them even as hollow shells and how his voice started cracking at the end as he regretted the loss of his comrades, it's very sad.
  • Moral Event Horizon: As tragic as he may be, there's no doubt that he's beyond this. Luring pirate crews to your island so you can feed them to the local eldritch plant monster and breaking the spirit of the final survivor while you're at it is nothing short of horrible, especially when it's done out of pure spite and pettiness towards other pirates for being happy.

Lily Carnation

  • Nightmare Fuel: Her true form (see above) is probably the most horrifying thing in the entire series...Thus Far
    • Then there's the parts that if you focus on Lily that you actually see her chewing which you realize she's digesting Luffy's crew slowly on her HUGE LOWER STALK.

Kuina

Mr. 3

  • Moral Event Horizon: Attempting to kill Brogy, Vivi, Zoro and Nami by encasing them with wax is this, purely due to the fact that they'd die slowly by suffocation.

Mr. 5

  • Moral Event Horizon: He blows up Dorry's ale, nearly killing him, and ruins a 100 year battle of honor. And HE JUST LAUGHS ABOUT IT. He's pure evil, no joke.

Caesar Clown

  • Complete Monster: VERY MUCH one. But of course, it comes with the territory when you're essentially Josef Mengele with poison gas powers and allied with the likes of Kaido and Doflamingo.
  • Moral Event Horizon: Gassing his own man in an experiment, causing hallucinations, headaches and nausea, then finally incinerating his test subject is bad enough. He then goes further, when it is revealed that he gets LITTLE KIDS hooked on a drug so they won't run away from the facility where he's experimenting on them. Chopper is NOT amused. For that matter, neither is Law.

Jack

  • Moral Event Horizon: What this psycho did to the Mokomo Dukedom is nothing short of sickening. He burnt the place to the ground, slaughtered and tortured its inhabitants, and even blew the place to hell with a chemical weapon all because he didn't feel like finding Raizo in a far more peaceful manner when the inhabitants presented one to him.

Imu

  • Moral Event Horizon: Just looking at this... being is enough to assure most fans they are up to no good, but its cruelty is confirmed when it obliterates the entire nation of Lulusia simply to prevent Sabo (who has sought refuge there) from reporting Imu's existence. While the Five Elder Stars at least showed some remorse for having to destroy Ohara - and at least did so as part of their overall goal of quashing information relating to the Void Century - Imu shows no emotion whatsoever for this act of genocide done simply to protect its pride.
    • This becomes even worse when Sabo is discovered to be alive many episodes later, meaning this atrocity had been committed for nothing.
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  1. ↑ Or rather their French equivalent.
  2. ↑ Sabo was apparently killed off by a cannon on a Celestial Dragon ship. While this happens in a flashback and after the point where "No one dies in One Piece" has been disproven, some suggest he survived, which was later confirmed.
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