One Piece Characters Who Should Have Died

Summary

• Many One Piece characters survive fatal attacks, undermining the impact of their sacrifices.
• Some examples include Pell, Spandam, and Kiku, who should have died from their lethal wounds.
• Oda’s reluctance to kill off characters leads to frustrating moments that diminish the story’s emotional weight.

There are a lot of great elements about One Piece that people around the world have been praising for almost three decades, like its characters, its world-building, its themes, its writing, its action, its power system, etc. However, if there’s one single thing that fans have heavily criticized series creator Eiichiro Oda for, it’s his fear of killing off characters.

Throughout the story, many prominent figures have received devastating attacks that seemingly killed them (not to mention that many of them even got an emotional death scene) only for them to appear safe and sound a few chapters later. This always undermines the importance of their supposed sacrifices and makes it feel like nobody can actually die in this story. Unfortunately, there are many One Piece characters who should have died, but the following are the best examples of Oda’s most frustrating practice.

8

Pell

Survived A City-Destroying Bomb That Blew Up In His Face

• First Appearance: Chapter 155 (Manga), Episode 91 (Anime)

Pell is, without a doubt, the most infamous person in One Piece who inexplicably survived an attack that should have killed him. This is because his original “death” scene was quite touching, as he used the flying abilities of his Devil Fruit, the Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Falcon, to take a bomb that was going to destroy the entire city of Alubarna and carry it to a high altitude until it exploded.

This was an incredible moment that cemented Pell as one of the most heroic characters in the series. However, he reappeared a few chapters later, alive and with a few superficial wounds caused by the gigantic explosion. Pell is still working as one of two head guards in the Arabasta Kingdom, but many fans believe that he should have remained dead after his huge sacrifice.

7

Pagaya

Survived A Powerful Electric Attack From Enel

• First Appearance: Chapter 239 (Manga), Episode 154 (Anime)

Characters in One Piece sacrificing themselves for someone they cherish in a powerful scene, only to appear alive later, slowly became one of the series’ most irritating trends. Just a few story arcs after Pell’s faux death, the exact same thing happened with Pagaya in the Skypiea arc.

At one point in the story, he was suddenly attacked by one of Enel’s lightning bolts, so Pagaya quickly pushed his daughter, Conis, off the cliff they were standing on in order to save her life. This was yet another surprisingly emotional sacrifice scene that successfully elevated a minor character’s reputation, but it was sadly ruined when Pagaya reappeared alive and well at the end of the arc, with there being no real explanation as to how he survived such a powerful attack.

6

Spandam

Survived Getting His Spine Broken By Robin

• First Appearance: Chapter 355 (Manga), Episode 249 (Anime)

The former chief of CP9, Spandam, is one of the most unredeemable antagonists in One Piece, since he’s basically a spoiled brat who kept insulting and torturing Nico Robin throughout most of the Enies Lobby arc. Fortunately for both her and the audience, Robin was freed by the Straw Hat Pirates and got her revenge on Spandam at the very end of the arc, when she used the powers of her Hana Hana no Mi to grab him and break his back in an instant.

This is undoubtedly one of the most satisfying scenes in the entire series, especially since Spandam was such a despicable villain that most fans wanted to see him die a painful death. However, not many of them were aware that one of the manga’s Cover Stories revealed that Spandam had survived this devastating attack. To make things even worse, he eventually recovered from his injuries and joined CP0. The fact that such an unlikable character got pretty much rewarded for his actions is incredibly frustrating.

5

G-5 Marines

Survived Caesar Clown’s Deadly Gas

• First Appearance: Chapter 681 (Manga), Episode 607 (Anime)

The Punk Hazard arc featured the first appearance of Smoker and Tashigi after the time skip, and it was revealed that they had become the new heads of the G-5 Marine Base. This arc also introduced the soldiers of G-5, who could be constantly seen flirting with Tashigi, much to her annoyance.

Even though they were quite annoying throughout most of the story, the G-5 marines stood out in a surprisingly moving scene, in which many of them made an effort to save Tashigi by throwing her to the other side of a door before it closed, only to immediately get petrified by Caesar Clown’s Smiley experiment. While the final shot of the G-5 soldiers giving their thumbs-up to a shocked Tashigi is one of the best of the entire arc, it was sadly ruined when it was later revealed that they had actually survived the ordeal, and they just needed to be broken out of their petrified shells. Needless to say, this was yet another of One Piece’s worthless sacrifice scenes.

4

Charlotte Moscato

Survived Getting Years Of His Life Stolen By Big Mom

• First Appearance: Chapter 829 (Manga), Episode 788 (Anime)

At the beginning of the Whole Cake Island arc, Big Mom could be seen going on a destructive hunger-induced rampage on her own territory, and nobody could stop her. One of her own children, Charlotte Moscato, tried to talk her into calming down, but this was completely pointless, as she used her Devil Fruit powers to steal her son’s lifespan, killing him in the process, or at least, that’s what the audience is led to believe at first.

In reality, Big Mom used her Soul Pocus technique to steal forty years of Moscato’s life, which should have definitely been enough to kill him, but it seems like he had a few years to spare, seeing as he briefly reappeared alive and well at the end of the same arc. This is a real shame, because the original scene of Big Mom “killing” Moscato perfectly established how cruel and ruthless she was, a sentiment that was greatly diminished when it was revealed that he had actually survived.

3

Pound

Survived An Attack With A Flaming Weapon

• First Appearance: Chapter 831 (Manga), Episode 792 (Anime)

Pound is one of Big Mom’s many ex-husbands and the biological father of Chiffon and Lola. He spent pretty much his life (and most of the Whole Cake Island arc) trying to reunite with one of his daughters, and while he initially failed to accomplish this, he did manage to save Chiffon’s life and allowed her and her new family to escape, while Charlotte Oven seemingly murdered Pound with one of his burning weapons.

This is another emotional sacrifice scene whose impact was completely altered when it was later revealed in a Cover Story that Pound had survived Oven’s deadly attack. However, this may be one of the few times in which Oda letting a character live may have actually been a great idea, because it would have been incredibly cruel and unsatisfying if he was never allowed to reunite with his two daughters. Fortunately for him and the audience, Pound got to do exactly that in “Gang” Bege’s Oh My Family.

2

Kin’emon

Survived A Direct Double Attack From Kaido

• First Appearance: Chapter 656 (Manga), Episode 580 (Anime)

Some of the deaths in the Wano Country arc (which was supposed to be one of the most important and chaotic story arcs in One Piece) were not handled quite well. As the protagonists of this epic story, it made sense that the Nine Red Scabbards were at the forefront of the battle and that some of them perished in it, but many fans believe that Oda made some odd choices with regard to which of them died and which ones survived.

For example, there’s Kin’emon, a character who fans had previously met many chapters before, during the Punk Hazard arc. In one of the series’ most shocking moments, Kaido suddenly appeared to murder Momonosuke, but Kin’emon distracted him, so his adoptive son could escape, which resulted in him getting hit by Kaido’s kanabo and being mortally stabbed with a katana, seemingly killing him in the process. However, a few chapters/episodes later, it was revealed that Kin’emon had actually survived because Law hadn’t properly reattached his limbs in Punk Hazard. Truth be told, this was a hilarious explanation, but it also made his epic sacrifice feel soomewhat pointless.

1

Kiku

Survived Getting Stabbed In The Abdomen

• First Appearance: Chapter 913 (Manga), Episode 899 (Anime)

Kikunojo (better known as Kiku) is another member of the Red Nine Scabbards who survived a lot of lethal injuries that should have definitely killed her, while her brother Izou was unceremoniously killed off by a few smaller attacks. During the climactic Raid on Onigashima, Kiku received two powerful and deadly attacks: First, one of her arms was sliced off by Kaido, and later, she was stabbed in the abdomen by Kanjuro, who had disguised himself as Oden with his Devil Fruit powers.

These two moments were quite clearly supposed to be both shocking and emotional, not to mention that she lost a lot of blood in both encounters. While Kiku’s survival can be explained by the fact that her wounds were healed by Hiyori in the treasure room, it is still quite hard to believe that she managed to come out of the conflict alive. Nevertheless, she’s such an interesting and likable character, that many fans are glad that she survived and got to see Wano become a better place.