One Piece is renowned for its vast, sprawling world and its in-depth storytelling. The show is filled with twists and turns, and since it’s a shonen series, it is jam-packed with action scenes. While fans of the franchise swear upon its epic match-ups, they are also captivated by the series’ humor. After all, One Piece knows how to throw a curve every now and then.
One Piece is one of the series that doesn’t take itself too seriously — at least, not all the time. It has numerous running gags, some of which have begun during the manga’s initial chapters. There are, of course, also a few who are just recently introduced. Here are some of the best among them.
10 Brook Always Cracks Skeleton and Death Jokes
Just like the other members of the Straw Hat Pirates, Brook’s backstory is a very heartbreaking one. He watched his entire crew lose their lives, yet they still chose to spend their remaining breaths to record a song for their long-lost nakama — Laboon. But with the power of the Revive-Revive Fruit, Brook was given a second chance at life.
While his fate was tragic, Brook seems to have already embraced his fate. The Straw Hats’ resident musician loves cracking jokes about being dead or only having bones left. And even though some of them fail to hit their mark, Brook’s jokes give the series a lighter tone.
9 Robin Has a Really Grim Imagination
Nico Robin is one of the few Straw Hats who can actually use their brains. She is even arguably the smartest among the group. While her intellect is without a doubt superior, her imagination is also rather whacky. Perhaps due to her childhood experiences, Robin is quite a pessimist. She always thinks of the worst-case scenarios without as much as batting an eye.
Whenever something mysterious or dangerous occurs, Robin is the first to voice out her thoughts. However, her thoughts are often of the worst kind. For instance, she immediately deducted that the Minks have eaten Nami and the others after seeing Wanda wearing Nami’s clothes.
8 Chopper’s Bounty Doesn’t Even Reach Four Digits
Tony Tony Chopper may be the cutest member of the Straw Hat Pirates, but he certainly isn’t the weakest, especially after the timeskip. Chopper has already gained mastery over his various transformations, making him a formidable opponent. He has even taken down a good number of villains. However, his exploits don’t seem to be enough to earn him infamy.
The running gag is that Chopper is considered the Straw Hats’ pet. No matter how great his contribution is, his bounty’s increase is always menial. The others gain millions of increments, while Chopper’s bounty remains to be at 100 Berry.
7 Sanji’s Bounty Poster Doesn’t Resemble Him
In a sense, a pirate’s bounty poster is the proof of their capabilities, and it can be considered as a source of their pride. Zoro and Sanji are very particular about this, especially as they constantly try to one-up the other. But during the early days of their adventure, Sanji’s wanted poster barely resembles him.
He is the only one with a hand-drawn poster. Other than the fact that it highlights his curly brows and blonde hair, the sketch doesn’t resemble him. One Piece even double downs on this gag by introducing Duval, who looks exactly like the one in Sanji’s poster.
6 Luffy’s Nickname-giving Skills Are on Point
Luffy is known for not caring about a lot of stuff. He likes minding his own business, though he is almost always prepared to help those in need. However, part of things he doesn’t care about is remembering other peoples’ names.
Luffy doesn’t bother remembering the names of people unimportant to him. Instead, he gives them random nicknames to refer to them. And these nicknames can be rather creative, like Pekomamushi and Pigeon Bastard.
5 Chopper’s Weakness Over Compliments
Chopper’s cuteness goes beyond just appearance. His personality is also quite adorable. Being the ship’s doctor, Chopper has saved not only his crew members but countless others as well. This is especially true of the enemies they face are getting more and more formidable.
However, Chopper simply doesn’t know how to receive compliments. Whenever others try to thank or praise his work, Chopper will attempt to show how much he doesn’t care by insulting others. However, his expressions always betray him. He often acts cute and even scratches his head as his delight is plastered on his face.
4 Every Man Going Gaga Over Cool Stuff
One Piece may be set in a world where technological advancements aren’t that common, but it is not lacking in any cool stuff. This is especially true with the existence of Devil Fruit powers, robots, and various races.
Every time the characters discover these interesting finds, every male character always goes gaga. Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp are especially prone to this, though even Law and Kid have shown similar interests.
3 Luffy’s Gung Ho Personality Over Any Detailed Plan
Luffy has a very free-spirited personality. He doesn’t allow anything to prevent him from doing what he wants, and that includes detailed plans. So when it comes to some intricate ploy, Luffy isn’t the one to go to.
This quirk of Luffy’s is now more apparent in recent arcs. After all, the Straw Hats are now finding themselves facing the most notorious of villains and wars of a grander scale. They can no longer simply brute force their way into victory. At least, that’s the idea. Luffy doesn’t even bother listening to the most of the plan. He can’t even follow the simplest of instructions, and that’s what makes the gag funnier.
2 Everybody Has a Unique Laugh
One aspect that separates One Piece from other anime series is the fact that it gives its characters a unique way of laughing. There are rarely two characters who share the same laughter, especially the ones with important roles.
Some notable laughs include Brook’s “Yohohohoho” and Whitebeard’s “Gurarara.” And there are also weird laughs like Hogback’s “Fosfosfos” and Pica’s “Pikkya-pikkya-pikkyarara.”
1 Zoro Can Always Get Lost
Perhaps the most notorious running gag in One Piece is Zoro’s lack of directional sense. The Straw Hats’ first mate can’t seem to find his way no matter how simple the direction is. Because of that, he has become part of some of the funniest scenes in the series.
His crewmates know of his deficit, which is why they don’t let him go around on his own. In addition to that, this running gag has become notorious enough that numerous memes of Zoro going to other franchises littered the internet.