Summary
One Piececan 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 creatorEiichiro Odahas often been criticized for his overuse of fake-out “deaths”, whenever a character inOne Pieceactually dies, it’s surely becomeone 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.
Updated May 20, 2025 by Julián Fernández Loyarte: One Piece is an extremely expansive and ambitious story with tons of different characters who have met their tragic end in one way or another. As a result, there are still many other heartbreaking and emotional deaths in the story that were omitted from the original article.
Furthermore, this list has been updated to include the deaths of Pedro the Mink, who sacrificed himself during the Whole Cake Island Arc, and Edward Newgate AKA Whitebeard, who succumbed to his injuries in an epic scene set at the very end of the Marineford Arc.
12Pedro
A Tragic, But Important, Self-Sacrifice
MostOne Piecefans rememberPedro of the Treetopsfor his emotional death during the climax of the Whole Cake Island Arc. This powerful mink was one of the Straw Hat Pirates’ most important allies, and he proved to be helpful during the mission to rescue Sanji from the Big Mom Pirates and Germa 66 (and steal her Road Poneglyph in the process).
However, when Charlotte Perospero prevents them from escaping by trapping the Thousand Sunny in candy, Pedro makes the tough decision to blow himself up to take Perospero down with him and free the Straw Hat Pirates at the same time. This death is especially sad because of his final speech to Carrot and her immediate reaction to his death since she was his protégé who decided to carry on his dreams. Pedro’s death was so impactful that it played a key role in the Wano Country Arc when Carrot and Nekomamushi encountered Charlotte Perospero once again.
11Edward Newgate (Whitebeard)
The Most Epic Death In The Entire Series
Despite his late age and sick body,Edward NewgateAKAWhitebearddidn’t hesitate to go to war with the World Government to rescue one of his beloved children, Portgas D. Ace. He immediately proved why he had gained the title of Emperor of the Sea, because he completely obliterated the Marines’ forces while sustaining attacks from some of their powerful combatants, like Akainu.
At the end of the day, it was Blackbeard who tricked Whitebeard and got the final hit to steal his Devil Fruit powers. But this didn’t stop the old pirate from giving one final, bone-chilling speech about the One Piece right before dying, all while his adoptive children watched him with tears in their eyes. Whitebeard’s death strikes that perfect balance between being epic and also emotional, which is why it is still fondly remembered by fans as one of the best scenes in the series.
10Queen Otohime
Died Fighting For What She Believed
QueenOtohimewas 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 keep singing and dancing to prevent Shirahoshi from summoning the Sea Kings with her crying screams.
9Mont Blanc Noland
Never Found Out What Happened To His Good Friend
The tale ofMont Blanc NolandandKalgarais one of the most heartbreaking moments inOne 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. 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.
8Shimotsuki Yasuie
Sacrificed Himself For The Good Of His Country
Afterthe takeover by Orochi and Kaido, the Wano country became a ruthless place, especially for anyone who opposed these two tyrants. ButShimotsuki Yasuienever let this stop him from helping the poor residents of Ebisu Town. He would later pose as the criminal Ushimitsu Kozo to spread his message and help the rebels who were trying to defeat Orochi and Kaido.
Yasuie’s execution is 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.
7Bell-mère
She Was A Great Mother, Until The Very End
After retiring from the Marines,Bell-mèrewas 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.
6Portgas D. Ace
The Moment That Changed Luffy Forever
A big part of the story was centered on Luffy trying to rescue his brother,Portgas D. Acefrom 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 ofOne 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 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.
5Ginny
The Celestial Dragons' Most Outrageous Victim
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 to see 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.
4Dr. Hiriluk
The Most Memorable Death In The Series
The story of Tony Tony Chopper and his father figure,Dr. Hiriluk, is undoubtedly one of the saddest flashbacks in all ofOne 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.
3Brook & The Rumbar Pirates
Playing Music Until The Very End
Way before joining the Straw Hat Pirates,Brookwas part of theRumbar 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.
