10 Saddest One Piece Character Deaths, Ranked

One Piece can be quite deceiving. What, on the surface, may seem like a lighthearted adventure manga about pirates with goofy characters and funny gags, is actually a surprisingly dark story with themes of corruption & sacrifice that, over the years, has been the home to countless heartbreaking character deaths.

While series creator Eiichiro Oda has often been criticized for his overuse of fake-out “deaths”, whenever a character in One Piece actually dies, it’s surely to become one of the most emotional, tragic and saddest moments in the series. And since this story has been going on for decades, there’s a lot to choose from. These are some of the standouts.

10 Queen Otohime

Died Fighting For What She Believed

• Died In: Chapter 626 (Manga) Episode 546 (Anime)

Queen Otohimewas a key figure in Fish-Men culture, alongside Fisher Tiger. This benevolent monarch was a dedicated activist who fought for the rights of her people and their integration into human society. That’s why her death was so tragic, since it was a ruthless political assassination.

Otohime was shot by Hody Jones just when she was gathering her people’s signatures in Gyoncorde Plaza. But despite how emotional and frustrating her death was, she kept her kind personality to the very end, asking her sons to protect Princess Shirahoshi. The saddest part of this scene is definitely when Ryuboshi and Manboshi kept singing and dancing in order to prevent Shirahoshi from summoning the Sea Kings with her crying screams.

9 Mont Blanc Noland

Never Found Out What Happened To His Good Friend

• Died In: Chapter 293 (Manga) Episode 189 (Anime)

The tale of Mont Blanc Noland and Kalgara is one of the most heartbreaking moments in One Piece. This honest adventurer met a tribe of people with an entirely different culture, and yet he managed to save them from Tree Fever and befriended their chief. But despite promising that he was going to return to Jaya Island, he never got the opportunity to do so.

Unbeknownst to Noland and his crew, part of Jaya Island was shot into the air by a Knock Up Stream and became part of Skypeia. Because of this, the adventurer was executed by the king of his country for presumably lying about the golden city. And sadly, not only could he never reunite with his friend Kalgara once again, but he never even found out what had happened to him and his people. To add insult to injury, Noland would later be known as “Liar Noland” all across the North Blue.

8 Shimotsuki Yasuie

Sacrificed Himself For The Good Of His Country

• Died In: Chapter 942 (Manga) Episode 940 (Anime)

After the takeover by Orochi and Kaido, the Wano country became a ruthless place, especially for anyone who opposed these two tyrants. But Shimotsuki Yasuie never let this stop him from helping the poor residents of Ebisu Town. He would later pose as the criminal Ushimitsu Kozo in order to spread his message and help the rebels who were trying to defeat Orochi and Kaido.

Yasuie’s execution is really bittersweet because, even though he took it as an opportunity to inspire the inhabitants of Wano with his words, he was violently shot by Orochi himself in front of all his friends & family. And the most heartbreaking part was how most of them were forced to cry with a huge smile on their faces, because they had consumed SMILE fruits, especially Yasuie’s adoptive daughter, Toko.

7 Bell-mère

She Was A Great Mother, Until The Very End

• Died In: Chapter 78 (Manga) Episode 36 (Anime)

After retiring from the Marines, Bell-mère was always trying to do what was best for her adoptive daughters, Nami and Nojiko. Things weren’t easy, because they were very poor, but they got even worse when the Arlong Pirates arrived at Cocoyasi Village, since they immediately began forcing its inhabitants to pay them a costly tribute.

Despite her best efforts, Bell-mère couldn’t save her family from the ruthless pirates. She couldn’t even lie, and refused to say that Nami and Nojiko were not her children, which is what sadly led to her death. Bell-mère’s last words were “I Love You”, just before she was executed by Arlong in front of her two helpless daughters. This is definitely one of the series’ most emotional scenes.

6 Portgas D. Ace

The Moment That Changed Luffy Forever

• Died In: Chapter 574 (Manga) Episode 483 (Anime)

A big part of the story was centered on Luffy trying to rescue his brother, Portgas D. Ace from the Marines before his public execution. But most readers & viewers believed there was nothing to worry about. After all, Ace was a likable and strong character with the fiery power of the Mera Mera no Mi.

Because of these factors, Ace’s tragic murder at the hands of Admiral Akainu was one of the most shocking moments in all of One Piece. He fought for the honor of his adoptive father, Whitebeard, right until the very end. And just before he died, he told Luffy how thankful he was to him and to all of his friends for loving him. Seeing a character as hard-boiled as Ace opening up like this was incredibly sad, and his death had an enormous impact on his brother, Monkey D. Luffy.

5 Ginny

The Celestial Dragons’ Most Outrageous Victim

• Died In: Chapter 1098 (Manga)

The manga recently revealed that Bartholomew Kuma didn’t have an easy life, and one of the most tragic parts of his tale is the fate of his romantic partner, Ginny. After escaping from the Celestial Dragons during the God Valley Incident, both of them managed to experience a happy life in the Sorbet Kingdom and even joined the Revolutionary Army, before Ginny was kidnapped by the World Nobles.

She was forced to marry a Celestial Dragon and even had a child with him, not to mention that she was experimented on by Saturn and developed the deadly Sapphire Scales disease as a result. But Ginny never stopped loving Kuma, and she managed to escape just before her death with the objective of seeing him once again. He sadly couldn’t arrive at the Sorbet Kingdom in time to meet her, but she had left behind her newborn daughter, Bonney, so Kuma raised her as his own in Ginny’s honor.

4 Dr. Hiriluk

The Most Memorable Death In The Series

• Died In: Chapter 145 (Manga) Episode 86 (Anime)

The story of Tony Tony Chopper and his father figure, Dr. Hiriluk, is undoubtedly one of the saddest flashbacks in all of One Piece. The good doctor not only saw the small reindeer as his son, but also taught him everything he knew, which made his inevitable death even more tragic.

Hiriluk was going to die because he was fed a poisonous mushroom by Chopper, who was sadly trying to cure him of the disease that was already going to kill him. He saw this as an opportunity to try to cure the Isshi 20, only to find out this was a trap by Wapol, who immediately ordered his execution. But this was unnecessary, because Hiriluk was already going to die anyway and, in his final moments, he gave one of the best speeches in the series, proudly claiming how he was never going to truly die, because he was never going to be forgotten.

3 Brook & The Rumbar Pirates

Playing Music Until The Very End

• Died In: Chapter 487 (Manga) Episode 379 (Anime)

Way before joining the Straw Hat Pirates, Brook was part of the Rumbar Pirates, a crew of cheerful pirates who loved music, and they were all proficient at singing and playing different instruments. However, the entire crew met their fate when they were attacked by merciless enemies who poisoned their weapons.

The slow death of the Rumbar Pirates is one of the saddest scenes of the entire series, because they kept their fun, music-loving attitude until the very end. They all played their instruments and proudly sang “Bink’s Sake” as they slowly fell down, one by one. Brook would be the final one to pass away, as he inevitably cried for all of his friends who were dying in front of him. To make things worse, he would later be revived by the powers of his Yomi Yomi no Mi, meaning that he was the only survivor of this harrowing event.

2 Donquixote Rosinante (Corazon)

He Never Stopped Loving Law

• Died In: Chapter 767 (Manga) Episode 706 (Anime)

Trafalgar D. Water Law is yet another character who had a tough & tragic life. But everything got better when he met Donquixote Rosinante AKA Corazon, who not only managed to keep him away from the dangerous Donquixote Pirates they used to be a part of, but also swore to cure him of the Amber Lead Syndrome that had been the root of so much discrimination and suffering in the poor boy’s life.

Just when they managed to get a hold of the Ope Ope no Mi, Donquixote Doflamingo found Corazon and shot him to death. But Doflamingo had no idea that Rosinante hid Law inside a nearby chest and used the silent powers his Nagi Nagi no Mi in order to help him escape, meaning that he was there to witness his father figure die. This tragic yet heroic sacrifice showcased how much Rosinante loved Law, something that he was able to tell him right before his passing.

1 Going Merry

The Only Death Of A Straw Hat Pirate In The Series

• Died In: Chapter 767 (Manga) Episode 430 (Anime)

The Going Merry was the iconic ship of the Straw Hat Pirates first used to embark on their glorious journey, so it obviously had a lot of sentimental value for both the characters and the audience. So, when this durable ship was inevitably destroyed after helping the crew escape from the World Government in Enies Lobby, one of the saddest scenes in One Piece was born.

Going Merry’s funeral is incredibly emotional, since it can technically be considered the only real death of a member of the Straw Hat Pirates. Seeing the entire crew saying their goodbyes to their loyal companion, and even apologizing to it for all the damage it had to withhold, was really touching. Making the audience cry over a boat is something that may sound ridiculous on paper, but Eiichiro Oda managed to pull it off seamlessly, which is a testament to his impeccable writing skills.