Summary
As far as Shonen go,One Piecehas a tendency to not enjoy leaving loose ends. Oftentimes, many characters and their tales continue in cover stories, giving the reader some kind of idea about their status, should they end up returning. Even previously presumed dead characters, such as Mr. 9 and Miss Monday are confirmed alive and well through this medium. However, even with its existence, many characters, especially in the later arcs, have been thrown into scenarios which throw their continued existence into question.
This seems odd at first.Oda rarely kills characters unless he deems it necessary, making confirmed deaths uncommon. When one considers the possibility that their proper return may be teased or built up to after more significant information is revealed, there is a method to this madness. Here are some characters who, at present, have their exact fate unknown following a potential tragedy. Some may have died or continue to exist offscreen, but others could possibly return.
5Pekoms
Combatant of the Big Mom Pirates
Pekoms is a member of the Mink Tribe, who used to sail with the Nox Pirates. However, after the crew ran afoul of Big Mom, some of their members were absorbed into thediverse crew of the Big Mom Pirates. Pekoms was one such member, first seen attempting to collect a payment from Fish-Man Island as part of their protection racket. Since then, Pekoms was frequently put in compromising situations, where he was used by the Straw Hats and their allies to help them in their pursuit against Big Mom, but maintained some form of loyalty to the crew, likely out of fear.
Nonetheless, once Pedro, a former crewmate of Pekoms, was killed protecting the Straw Hats, he put aside all his fear and attacked fellow Big Mom Pirates, who attempted to gouge out his eyes in retaliation, in order to disable his fabled sulong form. However, his exact fate following this fight is unknown. He has not been seen since the betrayal, even in chapters where the Big Mom Pirates and Mink Tribe have some level of relevance. All that can be said for certain is that his betrayal was likely not well-received by the Big Mom Pirates. It is unclear what will happen to Pekoms if he returns, mostly because he was written out so abruptly. It’s possible he will either attempt to rejoin the Mink Tribe in some capacity, or otherwise cast his lot with a crew he believes can take on Big Mom.
4Eustass Kid
And The Kid Pirates
Eustass Kid was a former small-time gangster, who decided to travel the world with other ex-gangsters from Kutsukku Island, forming the Kid Pirates. He was notably much less concerned with civilian life and damaging surrounding areas, which gave Kid a fairly higher bounty than other Supernovas. It is likely that this reason is also why his primary known crewmate, Killer, had a high enough bounty to qualify for the Worst Generation. Nonetheless, he has teamed up with the likes of the Straw Hat Pirates and the Heart Pirates multiple times. It was a joint attack between him and law that defeated Big Mom.
However, after this major success at Onigashima, the Kid Pirates were quickly defeated byShanks, Dorry, and Broggy at Elbaf. This was a result of Shanks viewing the destruction that would result from letting them attack, and wishing to prevent it as quickly as possible. Although the crew are “completely destroyed”, some fans view it as a parallel to Kuma’s destruction of the Straw Hats at Sabaody Archipelago.
For all we know now, the Kid Pirates could’ve met their end that day. Even so, their importance (namely Kid and Killer’s) and lack of explicit clarification as to their deaths leaves some fans anticipating a potential return. If Kid and his crew do return, they will have a grudge against Shanks and the giants of Elbaf. If they don’t, then they still serve as a lesson not to cross the Red Hair Pirates.
3Big Mom and Kaido
The Two Former Emperors
Big Mom and Kaido have a history together as members of theill-fated Rocks Pirates crew. Some time after Charlotte Linlin reached Wano, the two decide to form an alliance once more. However, they both ended up being defeated by Supernovas, as Luffy was strong enough to defeat Kaido, and a combination of Kid and Law was enough to defeat Big Mom. The result was these two pirates falling into a volcano and being stripped of their “Emperor” titles after they were presumed dead.
However, the current status of the two is disputed by fans. The informed and displayed levels of power the two shared made fans believe even lava wasn’t enough to eat through their resilience. That said, speculation as to their further goals if they do resurface is unclear. They likely won’t be humbled by their defeats, and may attempt to reconnect with their crews to once again establish some form of dominance. Fans notably speculateBig Mom may return in Elbaf, due to her own history with the Island, but nothing concrete at present establishes if the two will even return or not.
2The Other Heart Pirates
Defeated by Blackbeard
Trafalgar D. Water Law was groomed to be a part of the Donquixote Pirates from a young age. However, he ended up instead bonding with Donquixote Rosinante, a double agent who genuinely cared about his struggle with Amber Lead Syndrome. After Rosinante died, Law swore revenge on Donquixote Doflamingo. From there, Law formed his own crew, the Heart Pirates. Law worked with fellow Worst Generation crew, the Straw Hat Pirates to defeat Doflamingo, resulting in his eventual incarceration.
Law reunited with his own crew, with them forming an alliance with the Straw Hats to take on Kaido, who Doflamingo worked with prior to his imprisonment. However, it wasn’t long after the defeat of Kaido that the Heart Pirares ran into a conflict of their own. After a confrontation with another Emperor, Blackbeard, and a few of his captains, the Polar Tang,the Heart Pirates' submarine, is destroyed. The only confirmed survivors of this attack were Law and his effective second-in-command, Bepo.
Unlike the other pirates thus far, it is relatively uncontested that the Heart Pirates perished, at least in part due to the relative unimportance of their members. If this is in fact what happened, it could influence Law to be more overtly cruel in his piracy, resembling his namesake, Edward Low. That said, Law’s actions in this infamous Rocky Port Incident may further hint to his penchant for cruelty. Although his manpower is lacking for the moment, the Blackbeard Pirates have found a very fearsome enemy in Law.
1Bartolomeo
And the Barto Club
Bartolomeo is another ex-gangster who became a pirate, leading the Barto Club. He was notably influenced by Monkey D. Luffy in this regard. Despite being a ruthless pirate, he gains a sense of childlike wonder when it comes to the Straw Hat Pirates. After teaming up with the crew to defeat Donquixote Doflamingo, Bartolomeo and several others decide to be subordinate to the Straw Hats. Although Luffy refuses to have subordinate crews, they pledge themselves to him anyway, and have various adventures as separate crews. Bartolomeo is notably depicted in a cover story burning a flag on Shanks' territory. This was done without Luffy’s permission, as he is notably quite reverent of Shanks. This fact likely eluded Bartolomeo, as their friendship dated back to before Luffy was an actual pirate, and he has limited contact with him since.
This came to a head when the Red Hair Pirates traveled over to the area, and made quick work of the club offscreen. A subordinate of Shanks demands that Bartolomeo find a way to make Luffy drink a bottle marked with poison. However, Bartolomeo instead drank it himself, noting that Luffy did not sign off on subordinates and refusing to let his idol suffer for the mistakes he made. After drinking the bottle and discovering that it was not, in fact, poison, Bartolomeo was relieved and began to quickly escape with his team.
Shanks was satisfied with the result, seemingly wishing to test the crew’s loyalty to Luffy. However, Yasopp, one of Shanks' main crewmates, seemed insulted by how soft they found his captain, and took toshooting down their ship, the Going Luffy-Senpai. In a manner paralleling Bartolomeo’s own act of vandalism, this was also done without his captain’s permission, as Shanks was surprised when Yasopp began the attack. The ship was destroyed and the crew’s status was left “unknown” for the time being. It is unclear if Bartolomeo or the Barto Club will return, but either way, this action may have cemented the basis for a feud between the Straw Hat Pirates and the Red Hair Pirates.
