Highlights
- Defeat can have a transformative effect on even the strongest characters in One Piece, changing them inside out.
- Victories and losses shape the very essence of characters, leading to physical, emotional, and philosophical alterations.
- The Golden Age of Pirates in One Piece is not just about treasure and battles, but also about profound personal evolution.
Winning and losing is an everyday occurrence in the cruel and nasty world of pirates. One day they find a treasure hidden deep within a lush jungle, the next day they are on the run from a fleet of angry Marines. They feast when they win, and they take their defeats in stride.
That being said, not everybody can do that. Some characters experience such a major defeat in their lives that it changes them forever. The impact of the defeat is so great that they basically turn into a different person afterward. The following are some of the characters in One Piece whose life turned upside down after a defeat.
1 Hody Jones
The Defeat Destroys His Body
- First Appearance: Episode 527
Hody Jones is the first major enemy that the Straw Hats face after the time skip. Hody is a shark Fish-man who detests humans and wants to take over Fish-Man Island so that he can declare war on the people who live above the surface of the ocean. Unfortunately for him, Luffy happens to visit the island and beat Hody and his crew.
Interestingly enough, soon after they are put in jail, Hody and his thugs turn into a bunch of old men. Their bodies shriveled up, their voices cracked, and their bones and joints could no longer support them. Apparently, Hody and the boys consumed an ungodly amount of performance-enhancing drugs to fight the Straw Hats. These drugs destroyed their bodies. They literally become different people after a defeat.
2 Duval
The Defeat Grants Him A New Face
- First Appearance: Episode 386
Not all defeats end in despair. Some are blessings. That’s what happens to Duval, the leader of the Rosy Life Riders, a chaotic gang from the Sabaody Archipelago. Duval used to look like the pitiful picture in Sanji’s old Wanted Poster. Thanks to this happy coincidence, Duval ended up being hunted by the Marines and Bounty Hunters who thought he was Sanji.
This makes Duval hate Sanji with a passion. But then he meets the real Sanji, and although he tries his best to channel his anger through his fist, Sanji beats Duval without breaking a sweat. That being said, Sanji still feels bad about Duval’s unfortunate situation, so he decides to kick Duval’s face so hard multiple times that it changes its structure. As a result, Duval ends up with a different, much more handsome face. A face that turns him into a helpless narcissist.
3 Don Chinjao
The Defeat Calms Him Down Tremendously
- First Appearance: Episode 632
As the twelfth leader of the Happo Navy, Don Chinjao used to be known as “Chinjao the Drill” thanks to the absurd power of his pointy head. His head was so strong that a single headbutt was all it needed to break miles of thick ice layers where he hid his treasure.
Unfortunately, everything changed when Chinjao fought against the hero of the Marines, Monkey D. Garp. Garp punched Chinjao’s pointy head so hard that it ended up caving into his skull. With his seemingly normal head, Chinjao could no longer perform his signature attack, which severely reduced his combat ability. Because of that, he decided to retire. Thanks to Garp, the once prideful Chinjao has turned into a meek and gentle old man.
4 Caesar Clown
The Defeat Humbled Him
- First Appearance: Episode 581
As one of the brightest and most deranged scientists in the world, Caesar Clown used to be so arrogant. After all, not only does he possess one of the most dangerous devil fruit powers in the world, but his overconfidence also comes from the fact that he is backed by one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Donquixote Doflamingo.
Unfortunately for him, his life changed forever when the Straw Hats accidentally stumble upon Punk Hazard, the island where he conducts all of his inhuman experiments. It took some time, but Luffy and his crew eventually defeated Caesar and destroyed his labs, along with his experiments. And now that he also lost the support of Doflamingo, Caesar has become a lot easier to deal with. The defeat has certainly humbled him.
5 Hatchan
The Defeat Reveals His True Self
- First Appearance: Episode 31
Hatchan, also known as Hachi, used to be one of Arlong’s henchmen. As such, he was also part of the bad guys that had been terrorizing Nami’s hometown, the Conomi Islands. Luffy, Nami, and the rest of the crew at the time came and defeated Arlong and his cronies.
When the Arlong Pirates were disbanded, Hachi finally realized the error of his ways and decided to do better from then on. He opened up a small Takoyaki stand and made quite a name for himself. When Hachi eventually reunites with Nami in the Sabaody Archipelago years later, he apologizes to her profusely. She forgives him and Hachi becomes a friend to the Straw Hat Pirates.
6 Basil Hawkins
The Defeat Reveals His True Worth
- First Appearance: Episode 392
Basil Hawkins is one of the eleven pirates from the New Generation, along with Luffy and Law, who arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago at roughly the same time. Before the start of the Marineford War, these rookies went their separate ways. Three of them (Hawkins, Kidd, and Apoo) allied to defeat one of the Four Emperors. Their initial target was Shanks, but they met Kaidou instead. Needless to say, Kaidou beat them down with ease.
Hawkins has always been a confident and logical person. He used his tarot cards to get a glimpse of the future and make the best decision based on what the cards showed him. One thing’s for sure, even if the odds are stacked against him, he will never back down from a fight. After he was defeated and forced to join Kaido’s Beast Pirates, however, Hawkins became a quiet and subservient person. In the face of absolute power, he cowers in fear.
7 Helmeppo
The Defeat Changed Him For The Better
- First Appearance: Episode 2
Helmeppo is the son of a former Marine Captain who had been ruling the small city called Shells Town with an iron fist, or an iron axe might be a more apt description. As the son of a tyrant, Helmeppo was pretty much the most arrogant and spoiled kid in town. That is until Luffy came to the island to free Zoro.
One thing led to another, Luffy and Zoro ended up defeating the tyrant, freeing the town from his reign of terror, and punching Helmeppo in the face. Life after defeat was quite hard for young Helmeppo. Slowly but surely, however, he realized how evil his father actually was and tried his best to be a better man. Nowadays, he holds the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the Marines and is the right-hand man of the famous Captain Koby the Hero.
8 Bellamy
The Defeat Breaks His Confidence
- First Appearance: Episode 146
Luffy has met so many arrogant people over the years, but none is as brazen as Bellamy. He was the captain of the Bellamy Pirates who met the Straw Hats right before they departed for Skypiea. Luffy ended up defeating Bellamy with one punch. What Bellamy didn’t realize at the time was that defeat would change his life forever.
Although Bellamy has his own pirate crew, he was part of the Doflamingo Pirates. When the big man heard the news about Bellamy’s defeat, Doflamingo mocked, humiliated, beat down, and even demoted him to a mere foot soldier. When Luffy eventually met Bellamy again in Dressrosa, he was a shell of his former prideful self.
9 Denjiro
The Defeat Breaks His Heart
- First Appearance: Episode 909
Villains are not the only ones who are deeply affected by a loss. Good guys can also experience a massive change after a terrible defeat. This is precisely what happened to Denjiro, one of Kozuki Oden’s most loyal retainers. He witnessed with his own eyes the humiliation, torture, and betrayal that his master went through and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
After the House of Kozuki fell apart, most of the retainers either went missing or went their separate ways. As for Denjiro, his heart broke into a million pieces. He locked himself up in a secluded shed for months. He let out his grief, anger, and frustration. By the time he decided to come out, Denjiro was barely recognizable.
From that moment on, Denjiro changed his name to Kyoshiro and vows to avenge his master and his fallen comrades, no matter how long it takes. The humble samurai has turned into a cruel yakuza.
10 Aokiji
The Defeat Breaks His Faith In The Marines
- First Appearance: Episode 225
In their bid to become the new Fleet Admiral, Aokiji, backed by former Fleet Admiral Sengoku, fought against Akainu, who was backed by the Five Elders. Their death match in Punk Hazard Island was so destructive that it forever altered the climate of the island. One half of the island consists of scorching land and flaming mountains while the other half is filled with snowy forests and nonstop blizzards. Unfortunately for Aokiji, he lost that fight.
Aokiji couldn’t bear the thought of working for someone as devious as Akainu, so he resigned from the Marines. After that, Aokiji becomes a vagabond, sailing from one shady town to the next. He drinks with robbers and feasts with pirates. As if that’s not surprising enough, Aokiji ends up becoming a crew for the Blackbeard Pirates.
A man who used to be known and respected as one of the three Marine Admirals is now a member of the most barbaric pirates in the world. Aokiji is never the same after that monumental defeat.
Leave a Reply