Death of a Straw Hat, explained

One Pieces straw hats are not only the heart and soul of the story, but they may also be the most beloved group in manga and anime history. Eiichiro Oda's amazing masterpiece has been around for over two decades, and Luffy and his nakama have traveled all the way from East Blue to the New World and beyond. They have been to the sky and deep underwater. They have toppled giants, overthrown dictators, defied a corrupt government and participated in wars. They have laughed, cried, celebrated and mourned. While the group has expanded and a few members have temporarily left, the Straw Hats have ultimately stuck together as One Pieces foundation.

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Luffy may be a captain, but he's only gotten as far as he has because of his crew. Conversely, the rest of the Straw Hats wouldn't be where they are without Luffy and each other. They are as close as family, and they can take on all sorts of challenges as a unit. The crew has stared down the Grim Reapers several times, but they have yet to face the unthinkable: death by a (human) Straw Hat. Fans have long speculated death of a straw hatbut can it happen in Final Saga? Let's discuss it.

How rumors of a Straw Hat's death began to spread

• Some fans claim that a Straw Hat would die

• Oda has never made such a claim.

When talking about a straw hat dying forward, there are two distinct scenarios that need to be kept in mind. The first scenario is that fans simply argue that a Straw Hat should die in the final saga. This is perfectly fine simply because it is based on the personal opinion of the readers. One Piece is about putting forward your own ideas and theorizing together as a group. If someone thinks that a straw hat can die in the last fairy tale, and they can even give their reasoning, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with the idea.

But the vast majority of ideas about the death of a straw hat come from misinformation, and this all goes back to about two decades ago. Back when Oda was still tackling the Skypiea arc, he had already decided to kill major characters. Around this time, Oda is believed to have said that he planned a great death for the Straw Hat Pirates. The statement has been misinterpreted by many people over the years. Oda has never actually said that he wants to kill a Straw Hat or that a Straw Hat will die in the future. Oda was only talking about the death of Going Merrywho, as fans know, is part of the family as well.

Oda has actually previously stated that Merry's death was needed for the story to flow better. Initially, Oda did not want to kill Merry, but seeing the scale of things moving forward in the Grand Line, he deemed it necessary.

Initially, I had no intention of letting the Straw Hats abandon the Going Merry, but I decided to do so as the enemy ships grew stronger. – Oda, 2013

But there is absolutely no truth to the idea that Oda wants to kill a Straw Hat in the future One Piece. There is already one family member who has died, and fans know that she is the Merry, the beloved ship of the Straw Hat pirates.

Will a straw hat die in one piece?

A straw hat dying is highly unlikely

Now that it's been made clear that Oda has no intention of killing a Straw Hat, now fans can jump into the next topic, which is if a Straw Hat can die in One Piece or not. To put it simply, Oda will almost certainly not kill any member of the Straw Hat Pirates in the Final Saga of One Piece.

This is due to the fact that each member of the Straw Hat has their own hopes and dreams.

• Luffy wants to be the Pirate King, and his true dream lies beyond even becoming the Pirate King.

• Zoro wants to become the greatest swordsman in the world.

• Nami wants to draw a map of the whole world.

• Usopp wants to become a brave warrior of the sea.

• Sanji wants to find the all blue one.

• Chopper wants to be a doctor who can cure all diseases.

• Robin wants to find the true history of the world.

• Franky wants to sail across the world's oceans on his dream ship.

• Brook wants to reunite with Laboon.

• Finally, Jinbe is there to make Luffy the Pirate King, and his dream is to see the Fishman variety flourish, which he believes is only possible with Luffy.

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It is clear that all members of the Straw Hat Pirates have their own dreams, and they must be fulfilled as well. Of course, all of them can only be fulfilled at the end of One Piecemeaning that no character will die and leave their dreams unfulfilled.

Now, fans would argue that a character can die after fulfilling his dream. But, again, Oda has already disproved this as well, albeit not outright. Simply put, Ora said he hates killing off characters because it limits what he can do and wants to do with the story a lot. This was Oda referring to characters in general in the story, and for him to kill a Straw Hat would be even more difficult, as it would essentially destroy everything that Luffy has fought and trained for, and it's basically impossible.

Why Oda hates killing characters

Oda wants to throw big parties

Oda's reasoning behind not wanting to kill characters is pretty good. Simply put, he loves One Piece enough to have a mixture of dark themes, but at the same time a message for an optimistic future. Oda wants to end his arcs with big banquets and parties.

If everyone just stopped dying every now and then, Oda wouldn't be able to pull these massive parties, and One Piece would be a gloomy series with a very grim message. It's the exact opposite of what Oda wants to do with One Piece. In fact, Oda has even made it clear that he wants to end One Piece with a big party. This is clearly confirmation from Oda that no Straw Hat will die, because if they did, there is absolutely no way Luffy would continue to celebrate. Luffy is done with losing people close to him, as he clearly said himself, and the whole idea of ​​a Straw Hat dying, while interesting, just isn't going to happen.

One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by fans officially and for free in the Shonen Jump and Manga Plus apps. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1167, is set for December 1, 2025.