One Piece Characters Who Lost Limbs

Summary

• Shanks lost his left arm to save Luffy, inspiring the latter to become a great pirate.
• Zeff ate his own leg to survive on a barren island and taught Sanji all about his signature Black Leg Style.
• Characters like Kid and Kuzan creatively adapted after losing limbs, showcasing resilience and their practical Devil Fruit powers.

The world of One Piece is as whimsical as it is dangerous. Countless pirates, marines, and civilians have lost their lives after encountering a powerful foe, and those few who lived to tell their tale have most likely lost a limb or two in the process.

This is a brilliant narrative device that effectively illustrates both how resilient a character is and how dangerous the world around them can be. As expected from a fictional story about pirates and marines, One Piece features multiple key figures that have lost limbs – whether it happened within the plot, off-screen or before their introduction – and these are some of the most memorable examples in the entire series.

1

Shanks

Sacrificed His Left Arm To Save Luffy

• First Appearance: Chapter 1 (Manga), Episode 4 (Anime)

The most well-known instance of a character in One Piece who lost a limb took place in the very first chapter of the series. Luffy’s role model, the pirate known as “Red-Haired” Shanks, rescued the young boy from a bunch of bandits who had kidnapped him and later sacrificed his left arm when the Lord of the Coast attacked them both at sea.

Shanks would later confess that he did this to “bet on the next generation of pirates,” which worked, seeing as this sole action inspired Luffy to become a great pirate on his own. Curiously enough, losing his left arm didn’t prevent Shanks from becoming one of the Four Emperors, and he has proven many times that he is still an incredibly strong and skilled swordsman even though he has to wield his sword with just one hand. Of course, his powerful Haki is also quite useful in that regard.

2

Zeff

Ate His Own Right Leg To Survive

• First Appearance: Chapter 43 (Manga), Episode 20 (Anime)

“Red-Leg” Zeff was a notorious pirate in the Grand Line, who earned his terrifying epithet because his legs would repeatedly get soaked in the blood of his enemies after he kicked them to death. But one day, Zeff ended up stranded on a small, barren island with a young boy named Sanji and gave him half of the food they had.

At least, that’s what Sanji thought because Zeff had actually given him all the food they had, and the seasoned pirate was forced to eat his leg to survive. This was a gruesome but honorable sacrifice that made Sanji learn the true importance of nutrition and feeding others. While Zeff had to retire from piracy after this event, he took the young boy under his wing, taught him everything about the Black Leg Style, and eventually opened a restaurant called Baratie together.

3

Sir Crocodile

Lost His Left Hand In The Past And Now Wears A Hook

• First Appearance: Chapter 126 (Manga), Episode 76 (Anime)

It would have been egregious for Eiichiro Oda to never introduce a pirate character with a hook for a hand and fortunately, this happened very early on in the story. In the Arabasta Arc, readers and viewers got to meet Sir Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the leader of Baroque Works, who is infamous for wearing a big golden hook on his left arm.

Curiously enough, it was never exactly confirmed when and how he lost his hand, but most fans believe it happened in a confrontation with Whitebeard, many years in the past. Despite the loss of this limb, Crocodile became an efficient fighter with his shiny new hook, since he not only uses it to stab his opponents, but he can also expel a deadly poisonous gas from it. When considering his unique fighting style, it almost seems like losing his left hand ended up becoming an unexpected advantage for him.

4

Eustass Kid

Lost His Left Arm To Benn Beckman During The Time Skip

• First Appearance: Chapter 498 (Manga), Episode 392 (Anime)

Eustass “Captain” Kid, one of the most infamous members of the New Generation, tried to challenge the Red Hair Pirates during the two-year time skip, and he lost both the battle and his left arm, courtesy of their first mate, Benn Beckman. This was a crushing defeat that proved to this arrogant young pirate that he was still not prepared for the New World.

But Kid has a major advantage when compared to other One Piece characters that lost a limb, seeing as he wields the powers of the Jiki Jiki no Mi. He could be seen using his magnetic abilities to construct giant prosthetic arms from metal scraps even before he lost his left arm, so doing this permanently after that fateful encounter was only natural to him. On top of that, he can also modify his prosthetic left arm in battle, making it grow in size and even turning it into a powerful rail gun.

5

Kuzan

Lost His Left Leg To Sakazuki During The Time Skip

• First Appearance: Chapter 303 (Manga), Episode 225 (Anime)

Another prominent character who lost a limb during the two-year time skip is Kuzan (formerly known as Admiral Aokiji). Since both he and Sakazuki were candidates for Fleet Admiral and they had completely contrasting personal philosophies, they decided to fight on Punk Hazard for this prestigious position.

But it didn’t matter how strong and skilled he was, Kuzan inevitably lost because his ice powers were no match for Akainu’s magma powers, and he came out of this intense battle with a lot of scars on his entire body and a huge chunk out of his left leg. Curiously enough, he also used his Devil Fruit powers to replace this missing limb, since now he can always be seen standing on a prosthetic leg made out of solid ice.

6

Kyros

Cut His Leg Off When He Tried To Save King Riku

• First Appearance: Chapter 702 (Manga), Episode 631 (Anime)

When the evil Donquixote Doflamingo took over the country of Dressrosa and kidnapped their king, a heroic gladiator named Kyros tried to intervene. He went as far as cutting off his chained leg to stop the evil pirate and save King Riku, but he was abruptly stopped when Sugar used her Devil Fruit powers to turn him into a toy soldier.

Kyros spent many years of his life as the famous One-Legged Soldier and even managed to take care of his daughter, Rebecca, despite his less-than-favorable circumstances. But when Usopp defeated Sugar, and her powers were finally deactivated, Kyros regained his original human body, still with an entire leg missing from it. What makes him stand out from other One Piece characters that lost their limbs is that he immediately proved that he was still a skilled fighter even without his left leg, Devil Fruit powers or Haki. He put up a great fight against Doflamingo himself, and he even defeated Diamante, one of his top officers.

7

Inuarasahi & Nekomamushi

Respectively Lost A Leg And A Hand While Being Tortured By Jack

• First Appearance: Chapter 808 (Manga), Episode 756 (Anime)

Duke Inuarashi and Master Nekomamushi were the dual rulers of Zou, so they didn’t hesitate to protect their dukedom the moment it was invaded by Jack the Drought of the Beasts Pirates. Unfortunately, they were captured, crucified, and tortured as the evil pirate kept asking them about Raizo’s whereabouts. While Jack left a few days later, and they were rescued by the Straw Hat Pirates, the two rulers didn’t come out of the encounter unharmed, since Inuarashi lost his left leg and Nekomamushi lost his left hand.

But, of course, these two brave and honorable Mink leaders didn’t let this tragic event break their spirits, and they carried on in their fight against Kaido and the Beasts Pirates. Inuarashi eventually replaced his missing leg with a sword and Nekomamushi replaced his missing hand with a double-barreled gun, two new weapons that were especially useful in battle when they participated in the Raid on Onigashima. Duke Inuarashi even got his revenge on Jack when he defeated him by landing the final hit with a blade that he wielded on the very same leg that the villain had taken, and it was an incredibly satisfying moment.

8

Charlotte Perospero

Lost His Right Arm In Pedro’s Sacrificial Explosion

• First Appearance: Chapter 834 (Manga), Episode 795 (Anime)

Charlotte Perospero is Big Mom’s eldest child and her right-hand man, a prestigious title that he proved he had earned when he used the sticky powers of his Pero Pero no Mi to trap the Thousand Sunny with candy and prevent the Straw Hat Pirates from escaping. However, Pedro saved the day when he lit some bombs in his jacket right in front of Perospero, and both of them were engulfed in a massive fiery explosion as a result.

While the Mink pirate lost his life in this incident, Perospero came out of it alive, but he was not completely unharmed, as he revealed that he lost his right arm in the explosion. Similarly to Kid and Kuzan, he used his Devil Fruit powers to replace his limb with a brand-new prosthetic arm made out of his own candy, even though he complained that this replacement would melt any time he wanted to drink hot tea. Despite generating a new prosthetic limb in a pinch, Perospero was quite resentful because of this loss, and his new candy arm was eventually destroyed by Nekomamushi in the Wano Country Arc.