The article contains spoilers from One Piece's Final Saga.
One Piece's Straw Hats are not only the story's heart and soul, but they might also be the most beloved group in manga and anime history. Eiichiro Oda's shonen masterpiece has been around for well over two decades, and Luffy and his nakama have traveled all the way from East Blue to the New World and beyond. They have been to the sky and deep underwater. They have toppled giants, brought down dictators, defied a corrupt government, and taken part in wars. They have laughed, cried, celebrated, and mourned. While the group has expanded, and a few members have temporarily left, the Straw Hats have ultimately remained together as One Piece's foundation.
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The strongest level of haki has been revealed, and it has the power to counter even immortality in One Piece.
Luffy might be the captain, but he has only come as far as he has due to his crew. Conversely, the rest of the Straw Hats would not be where they are without Luffy and each other. They are as close as family, and they can take on all possible challenges as a unit. The crew has stared down the Grim Reapers multiple times, but they have yet to face the unthinkable: The death of a (human) Straw Hat. Fans have speculated for a long time on the death of a Straw Hat, but could that happen in the Final Saga? Let's discuss that.
How Rumors Of A Straw Hat's Death Started Spreading
- Some fans claim a Straw Hat would die
- Oda has never made such a claim.
When speaking of the death of a Straw Hat moving forward, there are two distinct scenarios that need to be kept in mind. The first scenario is fans simply arguing that a Straw Hat should die in the Final Saga. This is completely fine simply because it is based on the personal opinion of readers. One Piece is all about putting your own ideas forward and theorizing together as a group. If someone believes that a Straw Hat can die in the Final Saga, and they can even provide their reasoning, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with the idea.
However, the vast majority of the ideas about the death of a Straw Hat come from misinformation, and all of this goes back to about two decades ago. Back when Oda was still tackling the Skypiea arc, he had already decided to kill off major characters. Around this time, Oda is believed to have said that he was planning a major death for the Straw Hat Pirates. The statement has been misinterpreted by many people over the years. Oda has never actually stated that he wants to kill a Straw Hat or that a Straw Hat will die moving forward. Oda was only talking about the death of the Going Merry, who, as fans know, is a part of the family as well.
In fact, Oda has previously stated that the death of Merry was needed to make the story flow better. Initially, Oda did not want to kill off the Merry, but, seeing the scale of things moving forward in the Grand Line, he deemed it necessary.
Initially, I had no intention of having the Straw Hats abandon Going Merry, but I decided to do it because the enemy ships were getting stronger. – Oda, 2013
But, there is absolutely no truth to the idea that Oda wants to kill off a Straw Hat in the future of One Piece. There is already one member of the family who has died, and fans know her to be Merry, the beloved ship of the Straw Hat pirates.
Will A Straw Hat Die In One Piece?
The Death of a Straw Hat Is Highly Unlikely
With it having been cleared that Oda does not intend to kill off a Straw Hat, now, fans can jump onto the next topic, which is whether a Straw Hat can die in One Piece or not. To put it simply, Oda is almost certainly not going to kill off any member of the Straw Hat Pirates in the Final Saga of One Piece.
This is down to the fact that every member of the Straw Hat has their own hopes and dreams.
- Luffy wants to become the Pirate King, and his true dream lies beyond even becoming the Pirate King.
- Zoro wants to become the greatest swordsman in the world.
- Nami wants to draw a map of the whole world.
- Usopp wants to become a brave Warrior of the sea.
- Sanji wants to find the All Blue.
- Chopper wants to become a doctor who can cure all diseases.
- Robin wants to find the true history of the world.
- Franky wants to sail across the oceans of the world on his ship of dreams.
- Brook wants to reunite with Laboon.
- Finally, Jinbe is there to make Luffy the Pirate King, and his eventual dream is to see the Fishman kind flourish, which he believes is only possible with Luffy.
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Oda has already planned the ending of the series. One Piece's ending will be huge.
Clearly, all members of the Straw Hat Pirates have their own dreams, and they have to be fulfilled as well. Naturally, all of them can only be fulfilled come the end of One Piece, which means that no character is going to die and leave their dreams unfulfilled.
Now, fans would argue that a character can die after fulfilling their dream. But, once again, Oda has already refuted this as well, although not directly. Simply put, Ora stated that he hates to kill off characters because it restricts what he can do and wants to do with the story greatly. This was Oda referring to characters in general in the story, and for him to kill off a Straw Hat would be even more difficult, because it would essentially destroy everything that Luffy has fought and trained for, and it is essentially impossible.
Why Oda Hates Killing Off Characters
Oda Wants To Draw Big Parties
Oda's reasoning behind not wanting to kill off characters is quite sound. Simply put, he loves One Piece enough to have a mix of dark themes, but at the same time, a message for an optimistic future. Oda wants to end his arcs with major banquets and parties.
“The reason I don't want to draw scenes where people die is because I want to draw a party after the battle. If someone dies, you can't have an enjoyable party. A party is my ideal form of friendship. I want to end with One Piece with a big party.” – Oda
If everyone simply ended up dying now and then, Oda would not be able to draw these massive parties, and One Piece would become a gloomy series with a very grim message. That is the exact opposite of what Oda wants to do with One Piece. In fact, Oda has even stated clearly that he wants to end One Piece with a big party. This is clearly a confirmation from Oda that no Straw Hat is going to die, because if they did, there is absolutely no way that Luffy would go on to celebrate. Luffy is done losing people close to him, as he clearly stated himself, and the whole idea of a Straw Hat dying, while interesting, simply is not going to happen.
One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus apps. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1167, is set to be December 1, 2025.
One Piece
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
- Number of Episodes
- 1122
- Based On
- Manga
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
