The 5 Saddest Moments in One Piece

One Piece is a manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series was first introduced in 1997 and is still ongoing. One Piece has received critical acclaim and set the Guinness World Record for “The most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author.” Currently, the series has sold over 300 million printed copies worldwide. This success has made it the highest selling manga series of all time. One Piece focuses on the exploits of Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy gained the physical properties of rubber after accidently eating a Devil Fruit. Luffy along with his, Straw Hat Crew, aim to travel the sea in search for the most sought after treasure, the One Piece.

One Piece is known for its cartoonish art style, epic battles and playful humor. However, the manga series has undertaken some more serious topics during its publication. The characters in have faced genocide at the hands of a corrupt government, slavery, assassination, war and death. Suffering these hardships has had a profound effect on the story and the characters. It is important for manga plots to have a variety of emotional moments. The characters become more 3 dimensional as they deal with new experiences. If they only had happy or sad events in their lives you wouldn’t be able to relate to them. Greater emotional depth allows the reader to understand the characters more.

1. Tragedy of Ohara

During the Enies Lobby arc (Episode 277), we learn of Nico Robin’s hidden past. Nico Robin is the archaeologists of the Straw Hat pirates. She was original an enemy of the Straw Hats, during the Alabasta Saga and was named Miss All Sunday. She ate the Devil Fruit, Hana Hana no Mi. This gave her the ability to “replicate and sprout pieces of their body from the surface of any object or living thing.” She became involved with the Revolutionaries. Her dream is to find the Poneglyph that tells the true history of the world. Her bounty currently sits at 130,000,000 Beli.

Nico Robin was born on the island of Ohara, to a family of archaeologist’s. Her mother abandoned her when she was two, leaving her in the care of her abusive aunt. Her devil fruit ability scared the townspeople leaving her isolated. She sought solace with the scholars at the “Tree of Knowledge”, and particularly with Professor Clover. She became a scholar herself at the age of eight. Robin was open about her wish to learn the truth of the “history of the world”. Dr. Clover informed her that she could get banned if she pursued that knowledge. Upset, Robin ran to a nearby beach where she met a giant, Jaguar D. Saul. They developed a friendship. Saul informed Robin of the danger the government presented, due to the scholars studying the Poneglyph. The government wanted the knowledge found within the Poneglyph to stay hidden. Robin’s mother returned to warn her colleagues at Ohara that the Marines were coming. They refused to flee and remained to protect the knowledge they valued. When CP9 (a secret government assassination squad) arrived, they entered the “Tree of Knowledge” and arrested the archaeologists. Spandine, the head of CP9 and the Marines located the Poneglyph in the basement.

As punishment, Spandine sentenced the archaeologists to death by Buster Call. Saul rushed to find Robin after seeing the marine battleships arrive. The Marines learned that Robin could read Poneglyphs, so she became their target. Saul was a former Vice Admiral in the Marines. Marine ships caught Saul helping Robin escape and opened fire on him. He attacked, destroying several of the Marine’s ships. In the chaos, Robin attempted to get into a lifeboat using her Devil Fruit ability. The civilians prevented her from entering, due to Spandine warning them not to help her.

That lifeboat was destroyed by Vice Admiral Sakazuki, as he feared that she might escape. Saul encourages Robin to escape as he is frozen to death by Vice Admiral, Kuzan. The scholars in the “Tree of Knowledge”, throw the books in the tree into the sea. Their hope was that future generations would be able to find them. They resigned themselves to their fate and remained in the tree as it burned. Robin managed to escape on the raft that Saul created, only to meet Kuzan. He let Robin go, leaving her with a warning “if she tried anything he will be the first to come after her”.

Robin was the only survivor of the events that occurred in Ohara. The World Government put a bounty on her head. They began spreading lies about what happened at Ohara, claiming that Robin destroyed six ships to cover the truth. She was given the moniker of “Demon of Ohara”. They told the public that the Oharans were trying to destroy the world. The World government used paranoia and deception to ruin Robin’s life.

As a result, she met several people that she trusted, only for them to betray her to the government. Her ability to trust became compromised as a result. When she joined the Straw Hats she still had fears that they would abandon her. Luffy and the rest of the crew proved to her that she could finally trust someone, during the events of Enies Lobby Arc.

2. Death of Fisher Tiger

Fisher Tiger was a fishman and founder of the Sun pirates. He was considered to be a very brutal fishman. However, he detested unnecessary violence and was capable of compassion. Tiger was considered a legend among his fellow fishmen. He believed that humans and fishmen should stay segregated. He left Fishman Island to explore the larger seas. During his voyage, he was captured and enslaved by World Nobles. He was tortured by his new masters. Eventually, he escaped and attacked Mariejois (the holy land) to free his fellow slaves. Tiger did not discriminate between slaves, freeing all races.

After being freed, Tiger altered the slave branding into a symbol of the Sun Pirates. The sun pirates faced off against Marines, who were searching for the missing slaves. He wanted to free the oppressed. While visiting an island, Tiger met a young slave named Koala. He agreed to return her to her homeland. When returning Koala to Foolshout Island, Tiger was betrayed by its citizens. During the confrontation between Marines and Sun Pirates, Tiger was shot many times.

They managed to escape, but Tiger was mortally wounded. He was offered a blood transfusion from human blood. He refused the transfusion due to “humanity’s hatred for fishmen”. Before his death, he revealed that he developed a “deep seeded hatred”, for humans after their treatment of him and other slaves. Due to this hatred, Tiger preferred death over aid. However, he begged his crew not to tell the information he disclosed. He also asked them to refrain from revenge and “end the cycle of hate”.

The crew respected Tiger’s wishes and never revealed the truth. This lead the citizens to assume that Tiger died as a result of being denied a transfusion due to human bigotry. However, many fishmen became enraged at humanity and became violent towards them. Several fishmen looked at Tiger as a liberator of his race.
Fisher Tiger also had a profound effect on the human slaves he freed. During his escape from Mariejois he rescued Boa Hancock, and her sisters, Marigold and Sandersonia. She and her sisters would grow to distrust everyone, except each other. Hancock would become the princess of the Kuja and became a target of the World Government. To protect her fellow Kuja, she became a Shichibukai, forming a treaty with the government.

Koala from Foolshout Island was grateful for meeting Tiger. She became a practitioner of fishman karate and joined the Revolutionary Army to stop the tyrannical government that allowed slavery.

3. The Separation of the Strawhat Crew

The Strawhat crew have developed significant and close relationships with each other. This closeness has been an important part of the One Piece series. Within the series pirate crews often become surrogate families. The Strawhats have exemplified their love of one another many times. However, it was during the Archipelago arc that they displayed their friendship in what was a very emotional moment.

The crew was heading to the Red Line, they were exhausted after a confrontation with the Marines. They are attacked by Sentomaru, the head of the Marine’s Science unit and a clone of the Shichibukai, Bartholomew Kuma. In the frenzy, Luffy calls for his crew to separate and leave. They split into three groups of three and run in separate directions. Each group is attacked by the Kuma clone, Sentomaru, and Admiral Kizaru respectively.

The Strawhat crew fight admirably but fail to land any significant damage. Rayleigh, a famous pirate intervenes, giving Luffy and the others a brief opportunity to escape. However, when the real Kuma arrives the situation turns dire. He asks Zoro, “if he were to go on a trip, where would he like to go”. He makes Zoro disappear, stunning his crew. Luffy demands answers, Sentomaru tells him that Kuma can send people flying for three days.Luffy becomes concerned, telling to his comrades to run. Kuma systematically sends each Strawhat flying. Luffy begins to lose his will to fight as each of his friends disappear. He prepares to fight, attacking Kuma, but fails to stop his advance. He becomes desperate and begs Kuma to stop. Luffy begins to berate himself for being useless in stopping Kuma. Resigning himself to his fate, Kuma makes him vanish like his crew.

The Strawhat pirates are separated for two years. They are sent to various places around the world. Robin lands in Tequila Wolf, where she was enslaved. She and the other slaves are freed by the Revolutionaries. They tell her that they have been “searching for her for a decade”. Robin accepts their invitation to meet with Dragon, the leader of the revolutionaries. Zoro lands on Kuraigana island, where he is accosted by sword wielding baboons, called Humandrills. Kuraigana is home to Mihawk, the world’s greatest swordsman. Zoro begs Mihawk to train him. Mihawk becomes disgusted at his begging and feels that he has overestimated Zoro. Zoro surprises him by defeating the Humandrills. He agrees to train him after this.

Nami arrives at a small island called, Weatheria. She is taken in by Haredas, a weather scientist. He shows her, “Weather Science”. She is later held prisoner by weather scientists because she tried to rob them. Haredas teaches her about the strange weather found in the New World.Usopp arrives on the island called Greenstone. He meets a local named Hercules. Hercules saves him from a giant stag beetle and then a man-eating plant. He teaches Usopp his fighting techniques so that Usopp can become the true Sniper King. Sanji get’s trapped on the island of transvestite called Momoiro Island. They chase him and dress him in woman’s clothing. Sanji aims to learn the “Attack Cuisine”, as it can give him strength. Ivankov gives him a challenge, defeat all 99 masters of the Newkama Kenpo. Each win would give him one of the 99 attack cuisine recipes.

Chopper lands in the Torino Kingdom. The natives wanted to cook him, forcing him to flee to avoid being eaten. He asks the natives to help him learn about the indigenous plants. Franky is sent to the island of Karakuri island. The island inhabitants are cyborgs. Franky stumbles into the abandoned laboratory of the genius, Vegapunk. A local informs him of the history of Vegapunk and his lab. Franky searches this lab, he finds several blueprints depicting futuristic designs of machines. Franky accidental pushes the self-destruct button in Vegapunk’s lab. This explosion was known as the “Nightmare of Barujimoa”. His skin is blown off as a result. He locates another lab and takes refuge there. He learns that with the use of Vegapunk’s experiments, he can make himself stronger. Meanwhile, Brook literally lands in the middle of a demon summoning ritual. The summoner’s were hoping to appease Satan to get revenge on the Longarm tribe.

Brook is kidnapped by the Longarm tribe and is sold to a freak show. Luffy lands on a jungle island. Here he encounters Boa Hancock and her sisters. He asks Hancock for aid since she had the island’s only ship. Luffy accidentally stumbles upon Hancock’s secret and is sentenced to death as a result. Hancock’s mistreatment of her subjects angers Luffy as he battles against her sisters. During this battle, Luffy displays his Haoshoku Haki ability. Luffy impresses Boa Hancock with his character and she falls in love with him. Each of the members of the Strawhat crew becomes inspired by news that Luffy has lost his brother and infiltrated Marine headquarters. They all remember why they feel at home within the Strawhat crew. Drawing the same conclusion, they become decide to get stronger for Luffy. They all plan to help Luffy in his dream of becoming the pirate king.

4. Death of Ace

Portgas D. Ace, also known as “Fire Fist Ace”, was the adopted brother of Luffy and Sabo. He was also the son of late Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. Ace was adopted by Monkey D. Garp, the Vice Admiral of the Marines. He became the commander of the 2nd division of the Whitebeard Pirates. Ace consumed the Mera Mera no Mi, Devil Fruit that gave him the ability to produce and change himself into flames. Blackbeard (a former crewmate of Ace’s), captures Ace and then hands him over to the World Government. Ace is sentenced to a public execution. This resulted in Whitebeard becoming enraged, vowing to rescue his “son”. Luffy attempts to free Ace, by infiltrating the prison named Impel Down. Unfortunately, he fails and Ace is moved to another place. Ace awaits for death atop the execution platform. Whitebeard and his pirate fleet arrive to free him. A massive battle ensues as Whitebeard, his pirates, Luffy and escaped prisoners face the Marines over Ace. Witnessing the sacrifice his friends and family are willing to make, he stops resisting.

Luffy faces off against the Marines. He manages to barely get past the three Admirals, then his grandfather Garp. Suddenly, Mr. 3 a former prisoner of Impel Down, disguised as an executioner, appears. He uses his Doru Doru no Mi, Devil Fruit’s wax abilities to create a duplicate key to free Ace. Luffy and Ace fight together against the Marines. Together they prepare to escape until Admiral Akainu insults Whitebread. Ace attacks Akainu, however, his magma abilities outmatched Ace’s flame abilities. Akainu then targeted Luffy, prompting Ace to intervene. The attack causes Ace severe damages to his internal organs. Ace realizes that he will not survive. Luffy reminds Ace of his childhood promise, “never to die”. Ace responds that “if it wasn’t for having Luffy as a younger brother to look out for, he would have given up living”. Fading, Ace leaves his crew with these last words:

“Old man, everyone!! And you Luffy. Even though I’ve been good for nothing my whole life, even though I have the blood of a demon within me… You guys still loved me! Thank you so much!!”

It was revealed during the battle between the Marines and Whitebeard pirates that Ace was the son of the Pirate King. In death, Ace gained a level of notoriety that made him a legend. Many suffered tremendous grief after his death. Luffy however, was devastated the most. He remained comatose for a while. When he awoke he became determined to gain strength.
After two years, Luffy still remained affected by Ace’s death. During his fight with Hody, Luffy states that he will “never let anybody die again”. Luffy’s relationship to Ace has gained him more fame. He is often noticed purely for this reason. Sabo upon reading of Ace’s death regained his memories. Sabo vowed to protect Luffy, at all cost. Ultimately, it was Sabo the ate the Mera Mera no Mi, devil fruit. The same devil fruit that Ace had once consumed.

5. Whitebeard’s Death

Edward Newgate, more commonly known as Whitebeard, was the Captain of the Whitebeard Pirates. He was considered by many to be “the strongest man on earth”. He was one of the Yonko, the four strongest pirates on the seas. He ate the Gura Gura no Mi Devil Fruit. This gave him the ability to “create powerful shock waves by shattering the air like glass”. During the battle at Marineford, Whitebeard was killed by the Blackbeard pirate crew. After Ace was freed, Whitebeard told his men to “leave him behind”. He continued to attack the Marines attempting to give his crew enough time to escape. When Ace was fatally wounded by Akainu, Whitebeard began to cry. Heartbroken and determined not to see any more of his “children” die, he went on a rampage. Attacking Akainu with a devastating shockwave, he managed to damage Marine headquarters. His attack also resulted in the plaza being cut in half. However, Whitebeard was interrupted by the arrival of the Blackbeard pirates.

Blackbeard, having betrayed Whitebeard in the past, was quickly attacked. Blackbeard’s powers countered Whitebeard’s, but he was still overwhelmed by Whitebeard’s strength. Blackbeard cowardly called for his crew to collectively assault Whitebeard. They shot and stabbed him several times. Overall, he sustained “267 sword wounds, 152 gunshot wounds, and 46 wounds from cannonballs, and got half of his head blasted off”. Before dying, he proclaimed that “One Piece” did exist.

After his death, Whitebeard’s powers were taken by Blackbeard. It’s unclear how he managed to do this. However, he would rise to replace Whitebeard as one of the four Yonko. The death of Whitebeard caused the balance of power in the world to shift. He protected many islands and prevented invasion from more violent pirates. Blackbeard took over most of these territories. However, Whitebeard’s final declaration inspired many young pirates to voyage to the New World in search for the “One Piece.”

Despite One Piece‘s general tone and characterizations, the series has delved into more heavy topics. Through the sad moments, the characters have been greatly changed. However, the characters always have the love of each other to see them through the pain. Overall, the series has been able to set up well-rounded characters. They love, laugh, cry, fight, and experience hardships. This makes the story more effective, the characters more realistic and the reader a little sad.

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