This article contains spoilers for the Final Saga of One Piece.
Summary
- Death is rare in One Piece, but fans predict major characters will die in the Final War Arc.
- Fans believe Shanks and Blackbeard are likely candidates for significant deaths in the series.
- Speculation also surrounds the idea that a member of the Straw Hat crew, like Zoro or Usopp, may die in the final battle.
Death is a rare concept in One Piece. Often being reserved for the most severe and emotional of circumstances, throughout most of the series, characters just don’t seem to die, even when they probably should. For this reason, the series has earned a reputation for never being able to kill off important characters, a fact that many fans of the series resent.
However, much like the Marineford Arc before it, with the Final War Arc fast approaching, some fans believe that now may be the time for another serious character death in One Piece. With predictions ranging from old mentors, long-time villains, and even members of the Straw Hat Crew, fans are almost certain that not every character is making it out of the war alive. Although it’s a bit morbid to theorize about, here are some of the characters that fans are almost certain will die before the end of One Piece.
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Death And One Piece Didn't Mix Well In The Past
Ace And Whitebeard's Deaths Changed This For The Series
At least in the beginning of One Piece, death has always been a difficult topic to deal with, at least outside of backstories. Generally, with the story being fairly light-hearted, good and moral characters are usually given a happy ending. Many characters that should have died are shown surviving the most ridiculous of circumstances, with the primary example being Pell, who survived a nearly point-blank explosion from a bomb large enough to level a city.
Thank you... For loving me! - Ace's final words
Much later in the series, during the Marineford Arc of One Piece, the series dealt with its first major character deaths, killing off both Ace and Whitebeard. Since the series hardly went this far before, seeing something like this was incredibly shocking for the audience, making the war a truly desperate circumstance. After the arc finished, Ace and Whitebeard’s deaths became one of the most memorable and important parts of the battle.
Fans Believe Some Important Characters Will Die In The Final Saga
Shanks Is One Of The Primary Candidates
- Shanks May Die Soon After Meeting Luffy Again
- He May Keep The Straw Hat Permanently After
Although, since this time, deaths have been far more common in One Piece, as of now, there hasn’t been a death that reaches the same level as Ace’s death during Marineford. However, following this trend of having a major character death during the large war arcs, fans believe that the approaching Final War Arc is where this next emotional death will occur. In fact, some fans are convinced that multiple characters will die in the final battle, making it one of the darkest arcs in One Piece history.
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One major character that fans believe will die in the Final War Arc of One Piece is Luffy’s idol, Shanks. As of now, Shanks has been built up to be a fairly important character in Luffy’s life, despite not seeing him since he was a child. However, since Luffy is supposed to return the Straw Hat to Shanks and many believe Oda has no intention of removing Luffy’s most iconic feature, fans have predicted that Shanks will die soon after seeing Luffy again, leaving the Straw Hat with Luffy permanently.
Blackbeard May Die After His Battle Against Luffy
He May Be The First Devil Fruit User To Drown In The Sea
Another character fans think isn’t going to make it through the war is the Emperor of the Sea, Blackbeard. Although it seems fairly certain that Blackbeard will be defeated, some fans think that Blackbeard is going to meet his ultimate fate after his eventual loss. Mainly, there are theories that explore the idea of Blackbeard being the first Devil Fruit user to die from drowning, which would be an ironic fate since he relies on his Devil Fruits so much.
Now don't go trampling on a man's dream! - Blackbeard
Finally, there are some fans who think a Straw Hat will die before the series ends, with Zoro or Usopp being one of the most popular choices. However, as of now, there is no way of knowing which characters will live and which will die, meaning that any predictions so far are purely up to speculation. In the end, fans will have to wait for when the Final War arc of One Piece does come to pass to see if the series will provide fans with another pivotal character death.
- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga's popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
