Summary
- One Piece has surprisingly few plot holes despite its extensive world-building.
- Goofy moments and power discrepancies do not count as plot holes in One Piece.
- Major plot holes in One Piece involve Pell’s survival and Sanji’s knowledge of Devil Fruits.
One Piece is a very well-written story, featuring a very intricate world, full of extremely specific details. With so many characters, locations, and events all happening simultaneously, many fans regard One Piece as a modern-day masterpiece in terms of world-building. However, being such a massive world, a few smaller details are bound to slip through the cracks.
Over time, since One Piece has been running for such a long time, there are bound to be a few inconsistencies throughout the story. Although, when it comes to plot holes, One Piece is surprisingly consistent, especially when taking into consideration the extreme length of the story, there are a few big plot holes that some fans wish could have been erased. These are some of the biggest plot holes in One Piece that still bother fans to this day.
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One Piece Has Surprisingly Few Plot Holes
Goofy Moments And Power Discrepancies Don’t Count As Plot Holes
A plot hole, in a literary sense, is any inconsistency in a story. Being such a broad definition, there could be a huge number of plot holes in One Piece. With the story often prioritizing goofy fun over logical consistency, moments like Nami being able to hurt Luffy with her punches could be defined as a plot hole. However, for the purposes of this article, moments that are intentionally inconsistent to prioritize comedic value will not be considered plot holes.
Those who stand at the top determine what’s wrong and what’s right. – Doflamingo
At the same time, One Piece also features many small inconsistencies during battles between various opponents. Often, characters who seemed relatively weak before, like Crocodile, who was defeated by base-form Luffy, can fight on equal terms with a character like the former Warlord, Doflamingo, who fought equally with Gear 4. However, since these factors could have many explanations that make sense in terms of the story, including Crocodile’s mental state being different in each fight, power-based inconsistencies will also not be considered plot holes.
Pell’s Survival Is One Of One Piece’s Greatest Mysteries
Sanji’s Knowledge Of Devil Fruits Is Odd As Well
- How Did Pell Survive In Alabasta?
- Did Sanji Forget His Devil Fruit Knowledge?
The first, and most famous, big plot hole of One Piece involves the character Pell and his survival in the Alabasta Arc. Towards the end of the arc, to save the kingdom, Pell carries a massive bomb to the sky, sacrificing himself in the process. However, strangely enough, without an explanation, the character somehow survived. Although some may argue that the Guardian of Alabasta, Pell, was durable enough, or fast enough, to withstand or escape the explosion, the character was shown to be heavily damaged by far weaker attacks, and slow enough to be caught off guard. Due to this, Pell’s miraculous survival has always been one of One Piece’s greatest plot holes.
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Another big plot hole comes from the chef of the Straw Hat Crew, Sanji, and his mysterious knowledge of the Devil Fruits in One Piece. Initially, during his introduction during Baratie, he seemed to lack any sort of real knowledge of One Piece’s Devil Fruits, requiring Zeff to explain the main side effect of Devil Fruits. However, later in the story, it was revealed that Sanji had read greatly about Devil Fruits, and was especially interested in owning the Clear-Clear Fruit. It seems odd that a character who was heavily interested in owning a Devil Fruit wouldn’t know the details surrounding it, especially considering how obsessed Sanji was with the concept of the fruit.
How Did Don Krieg Navigate The Calm Belt?
He Should Have Been Destroyed Before Reaching Baratie
Finally, the last big plot hole of One Piece involves the pirate Don Krieg and his survival of the Grand Line. During the Baratie Arc, it was revealed that the incompetent villain, Don Krieg, had barely survived an encounter in the Grand Line, forcing him to retreat to the East Blue. However, to do this, the pirate would need to cross through One Piece’s Calm Belt, a death sentence for most pirates, especially those heavily injured like Don Kireg. The Calm Belt, as many know, requires a special ship to cross, something that Don Krieg seemingly lacked. However, regardless, he was still able to make his way to the East Blue, despite it being an impossible task.
This is war! All that matters is victory! – Don Krieg
Although these are a few of the major plot holes in the story of One Piece, most of them are a direct result of Oda slowly changing the scope and scale of One Piece as a whole. Many things that happened in the early stages of One Piece have been made obsolete or inconsistent with later changes. Although it may seem like it, this isn’t a bad thing overall and is just a sign of the growing pains of an evolving series.
One Piece
- Release Date
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October 20, 1999
- Network
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Fuji TV
- Directors
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Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
