One Piece’s creator Oda Eiichiro often talks about his unwillingness to kill off characters in the series. However, to add more depth to the story, he killed one of the fan-favorite characters in the manga, only to regret it when it was animated.
One Piece is a popular Shonen classic built around the expansive world. Here, the fight between pirates and the Government is an everyday occurrence. Yet, despite so many battles, only a handful of characters have died in the series.
What’s worse is that most of them are included in the flashbacks. Oda prioritizes not killing off many characters. He brings them from death’s door even if they suffer fatal injuries.
The series is marketed towards a young audience, and Oda likely wants to avoid showing excessive violence and death that may be deemed inappropriate or disturbing for this age group. However, there is one particular character that Oda created for the sake of killing him, only to end up realizing how brutal it was.
Oda regretted the way Portgus D. Ace died in One Piece
Whether it is Corazon, Oden, or even Whitebeard, every death emotionally impacts viewers. And yet, Ace’s death remains the most tragic so far. Ever since he was introduced in the “Arabasta Saga,” fans fell in love with the easy-going big brother who resembles Luffy in many ways.
However, Ace’s character was created keeping in mind that he had to die at some point. Considering the Fire Fist’s popularity, the editors weren’t eager to have him create so much tragedy. Nonetheless, Oda killed Ace – but the method was far too brutal.
Ace died trying to protect Luffy from Akainu’s attack during the Summit War and ended up dying himself. Despite having similar fire attributes, the young pirate was no match for a seasoned veteran as the Marine Admiral.
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Therefore, he is impaled by Akainu’s fist and shortly dies after giving a heartwarming speech to Luffy – leaving fans in tears. After the anime adaptation, Oda admitted that Ace didn’t have to die so horribly.
Why was Ace’s death necessary for Luffy?
Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hats were only able to become stronger after Ace died. In fact, the very reason Oda created Ace was to give Luffy the much-needed push in his path of becoming the Pirate King.
Ace’s death was only put off for this long because of how popular he became. Even now, fans haven’t forgotten the brave, reckless pirate who did everything to protect his own. After his death, Luffy was traumatized enough to think about ending his own life.
It was only Jinbe who made snapped him out of it. Then, the time-skip happened where every Straw Hat trained vigorously not to repeat the tragedy of the war. The story of One Piece changed its course entirely after the two-year gap since the Straw Hats came back stronger than ever.
One Piece can currently be streamed on Crunchyroll. In the meantime, check out our other TV hubs below:
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