TheOne Pieceseries is known for many things, among which is its exceptional backstories for the characters. These backstories are always heartfelt and raw, and each time a new one pops up, we think it can’t get better than the last, yet it does.
From child slavery to lost loved ones and tragic conditions all around, the backstories in One Piece don’t pull any punches, and these are only a handful of the best ones Oda has given us.
9Trafalgar Law
Trafalgar D. Water Law, the Surgeon of Death, has his backstory revealed during the Dressrosa arc, which is quite a while after we were first introduced to him in Saobody. The wait was worth it, though, as we got a lot of lore about him, Doffy, and Doffy’s brother, Corazon.
During his backstory, we discover that Law had a metal disease and had to struggle to be the last survivor of his village. He was taken in by Doffy and his crew and ended up making friends with Corazon, Doffy’s brother. Corzaon tries his best to cure Law and ends up sacrificing himself to let Law live and give him the Op Op fruit.
8Brook
Brook is the loveable, reliable, and a bit pervy, skeletal musician of the Straw Hat crew, which is something Luffy always wanted. He is discovered alone on a derelict ship at the beginning of Thriller Bark, and as the arc progresses, we learn how that came to be.
Brook was the musician and captain of the Lumbar Pirates, a crew that were a very close-knit crew. Brook ate the Yomi Yomi no Mi, which he didn’t know would bring him back from death once. The Rumbar Pirates died in battle, and Brook’s soul eventually found its way back to his body, which was now a skeleton, as he drifted alone for decades on the Florian Triangle.
7Big Mom
Big Mom is one of theYonko, the four emperors of the sea, who are some of the strongest pirates in the world. Big Mom isn’t the only one we’ve gotten backstory on, but she certainly has a sad and, frankly, disturbing, backstory.
Charlotte was a huge child, towering over even grown adults at five years old. She wasn’t a member of the giant species, but she may as well have been, and due to her size and propensity to cause unintentional harm, she was orphaned on Elbaph to be taken in by Mother Carmel. During a festival, she was so excited and consumed with hunger after eating some delicious food that it’s heavily implied she ate all the other orphans and Mother Carmel in a blind hunger-induced frenzy. That idea has some of the darkest implications the story has had to date.
6Nami
The cat burglar navigator of the Straw Hat crew, Nami is one of the original members and the first long backstory we got, and boy, did it hit hard.
Nami lived in Cocoyasi village with her adoptive sister Nojiko and mother Belle-mere. They lived poor but happy until the island was attacked by Arlong and his crew; Belle-mere was killed trying to protect her daughters, and Nami was enslaved by Arlong and forced to draw maps. She even mentions for her tenth birthday, her present was to be unchained. This all culminates in Nami using a knife in the present-day to try to carve the Arlong pirates tattoo from her skin, and begging Luffy for help, to which he enthusiastically replies he will, along with Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji.
5Boa Hancock
Boa is a member of the Kuja clan and captain of the Kuja pirates. Though she is now a successful pirate, empress, andWarlord of the Sea, she was not always this fortunate.
As a child, Boa and her sisters were with the Kuja pirates when they were captured and sold to the World Government as slaves. Boa was forced to eat her devil fruit to entertain her masters, and she and her sisters endured unspeakable horrors for years until they were freed by Fisher Tiger and his revolutionaries.
4Oden
Kozuki Oden gets perhaps some of the longest stretches of backstory/flashback in the series. We spend multiple chapters seeing what he was up to with the Whitebeard pirates, and everything before and after leading up to the current timeline and what Momonosuke knows.
And Oden definitely wins the award for man of the century. He loved his family and people, constantly sacrificing his dignity and reputation to keep the people of Wano safe from Oroch. At his execution, in which he and his retainers were to be executed in a boiling pot, Oden saved them by keeping them all held up over his head until he died and the boiling water ceased.
3Sanji
Sanji is the chef of the Straw Hat crew and one of the “wings of the pirate king.” We had some backstory for him in the beginning, when he was trapped with Zeff on an island and Zeff gave him all the food, but the rest of his history is revealed during Whole Cake Island.
We learn that Sanji was the misfit son of the Vinsmoke family, as their father, Judge, wished them all to be genetically enhanced. Their mother, Sora, did not want this and took a drug while pregnant that stopped Sanji from gaining these enhancements like his brothers and sister. This also led to Sora being extremely sick and bedridden, and Sanji cooked her meals, which were the only things she would eat. Sanji was continuously bullied by his brothers and failed at their training so badly that Judge put him in a cell and an iron mask.
2Robin
Robin is a fan-favorite member of the Straw Hats, and for good reason. She is beautiful, kind, funny, powerful, and has an incredibly heartfelt and engaging backstory.
She grew up on the island of Ohara, the leading capital of knowledge in the world. She grew up being despised and abused by her mother’s sister’s husband, Roji, and due to this and her devil fruit abilities, she wasn’t allowed to hang out with any other kids her age or attend family events. Eventually, she made a friend in the Giant, Saul, who taught her how to laugh and be happy despite her circumstances. Due to her mother and the other historians of the island doing research into the Void Century, they were targeted by the world government, and the island was subjected to a Buster Call. The island was decimated to pieces, with Saul sacrificing himself to save Robin and Aokiji, letting her escape on a raft. She escaped making the signature laugh that Saul taught her while crying.
1Kuma
Kuma has long been one of the more intriguing and mysterious characters in the series, first appearing as an antagonist and then being revealed to be a solid ally to our Straw Hat crew. His backstory reveal during the Egghead arc was tragic and moving, and shined a whole new light on the character.
Kuma grew up as a slave to the World Government, as he is a member of the Buccaneer race, who Jaygarcia Saturn states were born to be slaves. Eventually, he escapes, making friends with future revolutionaries, and falling in love with Ginny, whom he has Jewelry Bonney with. Throughout his life, Kuma went through incredible hardships, enslavement, love, and loss, stripped of his humanity and used as a tool, all for the sake of his world and his daughter.
