Though Eiichiro Oda is known among fans for not often killing off his characters, One Piece has followed so many arcs that the occasional deaths have started piling up. Whereas some authors kill off characters just for the sake of emotional impact or subverting fans’ expectations, Oda doesn’t do so unless the death impacts the plot in a major way, as seen with the Paramount War.
Quite a few characters in One Piece have died already, but a few of them could have avoided that fate under different circumstances.
10 Bellemere Chose To Protect her Daughters At The Cost Of Her Life
Bellemere was a Marine in East Blue who adopted Nojiko and Nami when the latter was just a baby. Raising the two as her children, she wouldn’t spare anyone who dared to harm them, and when Arlong and his crew arrived in Cocoyashi village, her instinct as a mother shone.
Bellemere could easily have avoided death had she pretended she didn’t know the kids like the villagers wanted. However, the mere thought of not calling them her children even when they weren’t blood-related was impossible for her. In the end, she paid for the life of her daughters and chose to die instead.
9 Hiriluk Knowingly Consumed Poison
Hiriluk was known to be a quack doctor in Drum Island, but due to King Wapol taking all the doctors under his command, he was one of the only two remaining. After meeting Tony Tony Chopper, the two formed a deep relationship like that of a father and child.
Hiriluk was essentially dying already and because he was the only person to ever accept Chopper, the reindeer attempted to find a cure for him. Instead, he returned with a poisonous mushroom. Hiriluk ate it despite knowing it was poisoned, and although he blew himself up shortly after, if he wanted to, he could’ve avoided death by not eating the mushroom.
8 The Alabasta Tsumegeri Guards Drank The Hero Water
The Alabasta saga of One Piece introduced the Shichibukai named Sir Crocodile who attempted to take over Alabasta then get his hands on Pluton, an Ancient Weapon. To take him down, the Tsumegeri Guards of Alabasta chose to drink the Hero Water to gain more strength at the cost of their lives. Crocodile simply chose not to fight them and watched as their lives ran out until they succumbed to a meaningless death.
7 The Ancient Giant Oars Died Of Frostbite
Also known as the Continent Puller, Oars was an Ancient Giant who existed around 400 years before the current timeline in the One Piece story. His zombie was one of the antagonists of the Thriller Bark arc. Originally, Oars died in a very cold place, and according to Chopper’s deduction, it was frostbite that killed him. Simply put, Oars chose to not wear many clothes and this ended up being his downfall. Had he worn something to protect himself from the cold, he would’ve survived quite easily.
6 Portgas D. Ace Chose To Fight Admiral Akainu
After their duel on Banaro Island which ended with his defeat, Ace was captured by the Blackbeard Pirates. He was handed over to the Government, his execution at Marineford was announced, and thus the Paramount War kickstarted.
Luffy and the Whitebeard Pirates ultimately rescued him, but Ace’s temper led him to confront Admiral Akainu shortly afterward. Although Ace survived the clash, he jumped in the way of Akainu’s attack on Luffy and died for his brother. Had Ace never looked back, he could very well have survived.
5 Fisher Tiger Refused The Blood Of Humans
Fisher Tiger was a legendary Fishman who was thought to be a hero by both humans and Fishmen. Tiger was once a slave, and after seeing the horrors that humans cause, he somehow managed to escape. Not being able to stand the plight of hundreds of slaves like him, he freed humans and Fishmen alike from their captors.
Although Tiger wanted peace between humans and Fishmen, having suffered terribly at the hands of the humans, he couldn’t bring himself to love them. On his death bed, he refused a blood transfusion from a human, but had he not done so, he would easily have been alive today.
4 Caesar Stabbed Monet’s Heart
Shortly after reaching the New World, the Straw Hat Pirates traveled to Punk Hazard where they formed an alliance with Trafalgar Law. The group fought Caesar and all his men, including Vergo of the G-5 and Monet of the Donquixote Pirates. Thanks to Law’s scalpel ability, Monet’s heart was removed and passed off to Caesar as Smoker’s heart. After being defeated, Caesar stabbed the heart thinking he would take Smoker down, but instead ended up killing Monet.
3 Russian Died Because Of Senor Pink’s Lie
For a long time, Senor Pink kept it a secret from Russian that he was a pirate. When he finally told her, Russian ran away from their home during a stormy night and was caught in a landslide. It put her in a vegetative state, and although Senor Pink deeply regretted what he did and tried his best to make sure she recovered, Russian eventually passed away at an unknown time. This tragedy that befell Russian was something Pink brought on with a single lie. Russian could still be alive if Pink had told her the truth from the start.
2 Pedro Blew Himself Up At Whole Cake Island
Pedro came to Whole Cake Island with the Straw Hat Pirates to help them retrieve Sanji and steal Big Mom’s Poneglyphs. Even though the group succeeded in doing both, their escape from the island wasn’t nearly as easy. To create an opening for the Straw Hats to escape, Pedro blew himself up in a massive explosion.
The Jaguar Mink died of his own accord but could very well have survived if he wished to. Surely the Straw Hat Pirates could’ve found another way to free the Sunny from the clutches of Perospero.
1 Kozuki Toki Chose To Not Escape To The Future
Toki was the wife of Kozuki Oden and the mother of Momonosuke and Hiyori. She possessed the powers of the Toki Toki no Mi, a Devil Fruit that let her jump forward in time at will.
Moments before her death, Toki chose to send Kin’emon, Kanjuro, Kiku, Raizo, and her son, Momonosuke, to the future. Meanwhile, Hiyori was entrusted to Kawamatsu to ensure the survival of the bloodline. Toki could easily have avoided death by escaping to the future herself, but after having met Oden and finding her place to be, she chose to stay behind and die instead.
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