Most Selfish Characters In One Piece

Key Takeaways

• Selfish villains like Buggy, Caesar, Doflamingo, and Blackbeard exploit others for personal gain.
• Celestial Dragons and Orochi demonstrate a callous disregard for others’ well-being and safety.
• Villains like Crocodile and Arlong are ruthless, willing to ruin lives for their own goals.

Everyone is aware of One Piece characters like Luffy or his Straw Hat companions, who are all more than willing to selflessly throw themselves into danger to help others, but not everyone in this universe is quite as considerate. In truth, the majority of characters Luffy comes up against are often portrayed as a lot more selfish, being more concerned with what they can gain, without having a care in the world for the protection or safety of others.

Of course, selfishness often tends to be associated with villainous characters, who will often manipulate, overpower, or abuse others just to get what they want. When push comes to shove though, these characters are among some of the most self-centered in the entire series.

9 Buggy

Buggy Is A Selfish Coward Who Enjoys Using Others To Get What He Wants

• First Appearance: Episode 4

Buggy is a coward in every sense of the word, and can always be seen acting in his own interest. Lucky for him though, the outlandish captain always finds himself surrounded by other people who he is more than happy to take advantage of to further his own goals. When he ended up getting thrown into Impel Down, for example, he accepted Luffy’s aid to escape but was fully ready to cut and run as soon as Luffy took out all of the guards that stood in their path.

Even becoming a Yonko was technically achieved by others since Buggy isn’t immensely powerful or a great combatant, it’s just his fruit makes him virtually unkillable. If Buggy ever does somehow reach the One Piece, most, if not all of the credit ought to go to his crew rather than him.

8 Caesar Clown

There’s No Line Caesar Won’t Cross For More Status And Power

• First Appearance: Episode 581

All Caesar Clown cares about is becoming a respected and rich scientist, and to achieve that goal, he is happy to experiment on anyone he can get his hands on. Previously a member of the MADS science group, Caesar is a pretty intelligent individual, but rather than helping others with his intellect, he instead prefers creating weapons of mass destruction, which he can then sell off for his own profit.

Caesar is so malicious that he was even found to be experimenting on children in an attempt to make artificial giants, highlighting that there’s truly no line this man won’t cross to make himself known. Later on in the story, when Caesar acts as a prisoner to the private crews, he still only shows concern for his safety and barely ever agrees to go along with Luffy and the others’ plans to help those in need.

7 Celestial Dragons

The Celestial Dragons See Everyone Of A Lower Social Status Then Them As Expendable

• First Appearance: Episode 391

Finding anything nice to say about the Celestial Dragons is a near-impossible task since this group of royal lords are among some of the cruelest and most insidious characters in the entire series. An immediate giveaway of how selfish these individuals can be is how they all prefer to wear large globes around their heads, which many fans speculate is to avoid breathing the same air as the “commoners.”

The Celestial Dragons look down on anyone who isn’t of their status, and can usually be seen being carried around by enslaved creatures and humans since walking normally is just too much effort for them to handle. After seeing how self-absorbed the Celestial Dragons are, it makes a lot more sense why Garp holds such a strong hatred for working under them.

6 Doflamingo

Doflamingo’s Tragic Childhood Encouraged Him To Try And Destroy The Entire World

• First Appearance: Episode 151

Doflamingo may have been born as a high and mighty Celestial Dragon, but this didn’t mean he had a cushy childhood. When his father suggested his family move to a local village to interact with the common people, the locals ended up stringing them up to a stake and almost burning the entire family alive. When Doffy tried to reach back out to the Celestial Dragons for assistance, there was no answer.

Feeling betrayed by the common folk, the Celestial Dragons, and even his own family, Doflamingo became a sadistic villain whose only motive was to conquer the world and everyone in it. He does still show some compassion for his newfound family, but outside of them, Doflamingo hasn’t the slightest concern for the safety or well-being of anyone who resides in his “new” world.

5 Arlong

Arlong’s Hatred For Humans Resulted In Him Killing And Enslaving Countless East Blue Inhabitants

• First Appearance: Episode 31

Arlong has never really had a fond opinion of humans, but he developed a true hatred after his master, Tiger Fisher, was ambushed and killed by a squad of marines. This tragedy turned Arlong into a ruthless, violent, and ultimately very selfish individual who proceeded to raid the East Blue, enslaving any humans he came across and killing those who failed to follow his orders, something Nami, unfortunately, witnessed with her own eyes at a very young age.

Arlong’s main goal was to eventually overtake the entirety of the East Blue, creating an empire that he would be able to rule with a tight fist while acting as a king. Though Luffy managed to stop Arlong before this could happen, it’s scary to think what this self-centered piece of work could have achieved if he had been able to continue his expansion.

4 Crocodile

This Malicious Shichibukai Ruined A Whole Kingdom Just To Acquire A Powerful Secret Weapon

• First Appearance: Episode 76

Crocodile is the first Shichibukai member the Straw Hats encounter along their journey, and he certainly gives a good idea of what the group is about if first impressions are anything to go by. Crocodile had succeeded in taking over the kingdom of Alabasta, forcing its people into poverty and dehydration so he could rule the roost without any opposition.

His main end goal was to uncover the Secret Weapon known as Pluton, which could have made him just as, if not more powerful than the entire World Government. Ruining an entire country and killing thousands of the population just to get one step further to acquiring more strength and power puts into perspective just how selfish this stylish sandman really is.

3 Kaido

Kaido Exploited Wano And Its Citizens For His Selfish Gain

• First Appearance: Episode 739

Not much was known about the mighty Yonko known as Kaido before the Wano arc, but once Luffy and the crew landed in the land of samurai, it became clear pretty quickly just how malicious and selfish this “unbeatable” menace is. Kaido had decided to overtake Wano so he could kickstart his illegal weapons operation, while also treating the citizens like dirt and creating his paradise of Onigashima.

Despite being one of the strongest individuals in the entire One Piece universe, Kaido just seemingly can’t help but seek out new ways to acquire more power, even if it comes at the cost of an entire country’s population. Kaido also had no quarrels with throwing aside his daughter, proving that this beast does not possess an inch of compassion in his heart for others.

2 Blackbeard

Blackbeard Is Willing To Stab Anyone In The Back If It Guarantees Him More Power

• First Appearance: Episode 146

Marshall D. Teach, commonly known as Blackbeard, shares a common goal with Luffy; finding the legendary One Piece treasure. However, while Luffy also makes it his mission to help others along the way and push back against the oppression caused by the Shichibukai and Marines, Blackbeard couldn’t care less about anything other than gaining more power and becoming strong enough to one day rule the world.

Nowhere has this been more clear than when Blackbeard decided to betray and even murder a member of his crew to acquire the Dark Dark Fruit. Blackbeard also seems to have little concern about actually forming bonds with his newfound crewmates, instead simply gathering the most malicious and powerful warriors he can find who he can then control to amass even more power.

1 Orochi

The Acting “Shogun” Of Wano Couldn’t Care Less About His People’s Suffering

• First Appearance: Episode 921

While his own country starves and burns to the ground, Orochi can often be seen eating and drinking away his worries while surrounded by courtesans, sparing not a single thought about the people he is supposed to be serving as Shogun. While Oda does try to bring some form of sympathy toward Orochi through his backstory, this does little to excuse just how selfishly he acts, especially how he willingly feeds his citizens the SMILE fruits which essentially kept them in a state of comedic purgatory, ensuring none of them would ever stand against him.

What makes Orochi such a spiteful character though is that all of this pain and suffering is something that brings him great joy as he feels he is giving the people what they deserve after “betraying” him. His own sick and twisted pleasures resulted in the deaths of thousands across the country of Wano.