Only a handful of anime have managed to cross the 1,000 episode mark, and One Piece is one of them. It is considered to be one of the greatest Shonen anime of all time, and after more than two decades, its popularity is still growing. Eiichiro Oda created a series with a vast world and an incredibly detailed story, but what makes One Piece really stand out is its characters, who for the most part, are all very well written.
Fans have met hundreds of characters throughout the Straw Hats’ journey, and many of them have interesting backstories. One Piece is known for its emotional moments, and most of the time, the best moments come when a character’s backstory is explored. Not every character has a sad backstory, but those that do really stand out.
14 Franky
Franky does not need Haki to be strong because his body has been augmented to the point that he is now a cyborg. He augmented himself because his body was heavily damaged when he was 12 years old, and this happened because he tried to stop a train that was carrying Tom.
Tom was a legendary shipwright who took Franky under his wing, and the Marines tried to arrest him in Water 7 because he built Gol D. Roger’s famous ship. Tom agreed to build the train in return for his freedom, but the Marines did not keep their promise. An incident caused by Franky allowed Tom to be blamed for the ensuing attack. Tom was taken and executed, and Franky blamed himself for years.
13 Usopp
Usopp has become one of the better designed Straw Hats since the timeskip, and he has come a long way since first joining the crew at the end of the Syrup Village Arc. His father is part of the Red Hair Pirates, but his mother was an ordinary woman who awaited her husband’s return.
Usopp is known for lying, but he only developed this habit because his mother became ill. She wanted to see Usopp’s father again, and to strengthen her spirit, he lied to her everyday. He would say that pirates were coming, but his actions could not stop his mother from dying. He continues to lie as a way of coping with the fact that both his parents left him behind.
12 Momonosuke
The entire Wano Arc revolves around overthrowing Kaido so Momonosuke can take his rightful place as Shogun. Momo was born 20 years before One Piece’s official story began, but his mother used her Devil Fruit power to send him into the future. She did this to save his life.
When Kaido took control of Wano, he needed to take care of Momo’s father, and after Oden was forced to make a fool of himself, he was publicly executed. Kaido then attempted to kill Momo to end Oden’s line. His mother died in the resulting attack, and for a long time, Momo believed his little sister was dead as well.
11 Rebecca
Rebecca is the former crown-princess of Dressrosa, but she forfeited that title to live with her father. She may have gotten a happy ending, but her backstory still makes her one of One Piece’s unluckiest characters. When Doflamingo took Dressrosa for himself, he decimated the royal family.
Rebecca and her mother saw the castle burning, and they were soon attacked by one of Doflamingo’s officers. Her father went to go help Rebecca’s grandfather, but he was transformed into a toy soldier, and Rebecca lost all memories of him. Her mother was later killed while searching for food. Doflamingo eventually found Rebecca, and forced her to fight as a gladiator.
10 Koala
Koala is now part of the Revolutionary Army, which is understandable given her backstory. When she was a child, Koala was kidnapped and sold to the World Nobles as a slave. She was branded and beaten constantly until she could do nothing else but smile. She had been told that she’d be killed if she cried.
Luckily, Fisher Tiger, the legendary Fishman Pirate, rescued her from Mary Geoise along with dozens of other slaves. The World Nobles traumatized her so much that she did not shed a single tear for three years.
9 Sanji
The Germa Kingdom is one of the strongest organizations in One Piece, and Sanji is a former Prince of said Kingdom. Unlike his brothers, Sanji still possessed compassion - a trait that his father saw as a sign of weakness. He also did not possess superhuman abilities, and his brothers bullied him every day because of these traits.
His mother was ill, and she would only eat the food he made for her, which inspired his love of cooking. When she died, his father concluded that Sanji would never manifest superhuman abilities, so he decided to erase his existence instead. He did this by locking him in an iron mask and sending him away to a tower. Luckily Sanji escaped and was able to meet Zeff and the Straw Hats.
8 Boa Hancock
The Devil Fruit may be her greatest weapon, but she only obtained this power when she was a slave of the Celestial Dragons. Some of these World Nobles forced her to eat the Devil Fruit as a form of sick entertainment. They tortured Hancock and her sisters despite the fact they were children, and they branded her back with a slave mark.
7 Nami
Nami may not be the bravest Straw Hat, but that does not mean she is weak, in fact, she has proven her strength several times. Nami was an orphan, but she was taken in by Bell-mère, a former Marine who found Nami and her older adopted sister in a recently destroyed village.
The three relocated to Cocoyasi Village, and they had a pretty good life until Arlong and his crew arrived. When Arlong invaded, his crew was able to subdue Bell-mère, and he offered to spare either her life or the lives of her daughters in exchange for the money she had. She picked her daughters, and he shot her right in front of them. He then forced Nami to become his mapmaker.
6 Chopper
Chopper is a reindeer who ate the Human-Human Fruit, and although it gave him unique abilities, it also made him an outcast. His own herd wanted nothing to do with him, and many of the humans on the island considered him to be a monster.
Dr. Hiriluk was not one of those humans, though. In fact, he took Chopper in and grew to love him like a son. Their time together was cut short, however, as Hiriluk was gravely ill. Chopper tried to save him with a mushroom that turned out to be poisonous, but Hiriluk ended his life before the poison could take effect, thus sparing Chopper from extra grief.
5 Doflamingo
The Kingdom of Dressrosa is one of the strongest countries in One Piece, and Doflamingo ruled over it for nearly a decade. He is a member of the Donquixote Family - one of the noble families who founded the World Government, which means that he was born a Celestial Dragon.
His father decided to renounce his family’s noble status and moved them to another country. The people of the country hated nobles and burned their homes. His mother died from an illness caused by their subsequent living conditions. The people later beat them and strung Doflamingo, his father, and younger brother to a burning building. He went on to kill his father in an attempt to regain his noble status, but the Celestial Dragons rejected him.
4 Brook
Before joining the Straw Hats, Brook was part of the Rumble Pirates, and they had ventured into the Grand Line like many other crews. During their travels, the Captain and half the crew contracted an incurable disease, and at that point, the crew split in two.
Brook became the new Captain, and things went well until they were attacked by enemy pirates. Those who survived the attack slowly died because the enemy used poisoned weapons. Brook knew he would survive thanks to the Revive-Revive Fruit, so he suggested that the crew play one last song. He was literally forced to watch all of his crewmates die, and when he did revive, he spent decades alone with just his memories.
3 Senior Pink
Senior Pink was an officer of the Donquixote Pirates, but he was forced to live two different lives. His wife hated pirates, so he pretended to be a banker for her sake. They had a son, but he died from a fever when he was still a baby.
She learns that he is not really a banker shortly after their baby’s death, and when she leaves their home, she gets caught in a landslide, which places her in a vegetative state. He visited her every day, hoping to see her smile one last time. She smiled when he dressed like their newborn son, and that is the reason why he continues to dress like a baby.
2 Trafalgar D. Water Law
Thanks to the Op-Op Fruit, Trafalgar D. Water Law was one of the stronger members of the Shichibukai, but he only obtained his Devil Fruit because Doflamingo’s brother fed it to him. He did this to keep Doflamingo from gaining eternal life, but he also did it to keep Law from dying from Amber Lead poisoning.
Amber Lead was mined on Law’s childhood home, and he was not expected to make it to adulthood. His parents were doctors, and his sister was in the late stages of the disease. His country was at war, and an enemy extermination squad killed his parents in front of him. He tried to get back to his sister, but all he could do was watch as the hospital she was in burned to the ground.
1 Robin
One Piece is filled with incredibly brave characters, and Nico Robin deserves to be on that list because of her childhood. She was born and raised on Ohara, an island filled with archeologists, and her mother went on an expedition to study the Void Century.
This part of history is forbidden, and when the World Government learned about it, they ordered the island and all of its inhabitants to be destroyed. The Buster Call was successful, but Robin was able to escape thanks to a compassionate future Admiral. She watched her home burn, and the World Government then labeled her a dangerous criminal even though she was an innocent child.
More: One Piece: Characters Who Can Rival Kaido, Ranked
