Saddest Days In One Piece’s Timeline

The full timeline of One Piece’s history is as long as the total length of the series, since it’s filled with multiple important events that have changed this fascinating world forever. Naturally, some of them had a positive impact, while others had a negative impact, but many of them were overall just incredibly sad for the people who inhabit this world.

From the deaths of important figures to entire countries being wiped out in minutes, this story has a lot of surprisingly dark and somber moments hiding underneath the series’ signature colorful and goofy facade. The One Piece timeline is brimming with sad world-changing historical events, and the following days are the most notorious ones in that regard.

Warning! Spoilers Ahead!

8

The Egghead Incident

The World Lost Its Most Important Scientist (And Discovered A Horrible Truth)

• First Appearance: Chapter 1089 (Manga) Episode 1123 (Anime)

In the recent Egghead Arc, The Straw Hat Pirates got involved firsthand in the Egghead Incident, a shocking event that completely changed the world. When the World Government found out that Doctor Vegapunk, the most intelligent and most important scientific mind in the entire world, had been researching the Void Century, the Five Elders ordered a Buster Call on Egghead just to silence him (and they even ended up visiting the island at one point).

After a long and chaotic battle against the Straw Hat Pirates and their allies, in which the Five Elders transformed into giant monsters, they managed to kill Vegapunk. However, the brilliant doctor had an ace up his sleeve: knowing he was going to die in the near future, he pre-recorded a message programmed to be broadcast to the entire world the moment he stopped breathing. This message not only revealed that he had been killed and silenced, but that the entire world was slowly sinking underwater, and the World Government is doing nothing to stop it. On one tragic and eventful day, everybody found out the most influential scientific figure had been murdered, and also discovered that the world is coming to an end sooner than they thought.

7

Gol D. Roger’s Execution

The Beginning Of A New Age Of Piracy

• First Appearance: Chapter 1 (Manga) Episode 1 (Anime)

The public execution of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, is the inciting incident of this series, seeing as it was the moment the entire world found out about a fabled treasure called the One Piece, which kick-started a new golden age of piracy. But, as exciting as this was, the fact that the World Government executed a beloved public figure like Roger in cold blood just to send a message was both incredibly frustrating and unfair.

After all, everybody who had met Roger in life could be seen hopelessly crying during his execution, like Buggy, Shanks, or Rayleigh. If the Pirate King hadn’t taken advantage of his unfortunate situation to turn the entire world on its head, the day of his death would be remembered with a lot more sadness.

6

The Most Recent Levely

A King Was Murdered, A Princess Disappeared, And A Revolutionary Warrior Was Blamed For Everything

• First Appearance: Chapter 903 (Manga) Episode 878 (Anime)

Every four years, all the monarchs from countries affiliated with the World Government gather at Mary Geoise to discuss the current state of their world, so naturally, every single edition of this event (simply known as the Levely) is going to be chaotic and world-changing. However, the most recent iteration of the Levely that transpired right before the Straw Hats arrived to Wano was full of shocking and sad moments that had an enormous impact on the whole world.

Bartholomew Kuma was enslaved, which prompted his allies from the Revolutionary Army to try and save him. Saint Charlos tried to enslave Princess Shirahoshi on two different occasions, and Saint Mjosgard was unfairly executed because he tried to stop him. But the most important part of this decisive day was the death of King Cobra, who was murdered by Imu for asking too many questions. To make things even worse, they framed Sabo for Cobra’s murder, which accidentally turned him into a beloved figure that fueled a new revolution against the World Government. But the people of Arabasta were not only disheartened by the death of their king, but also by the sudden disappearance of their princess, Nefertari Vivi, since they were misled into believing that she had been kidnapped by Sabo, when she’s actually hiding with Morgans and Wapol.

5

Kouzuki Oden’s Execution

The Sudden And Tragic Downfall Of A Peaceful Country

• First Appearance: Chapter 972 (Manga) Episode 974 (Anime)

While Kouzuki Oden sailed with the Whitebeard Pirates and the Roger Pirates, Kurozumi Orochi took over their home country of Wano and began ruling it with an iron fist, with the assistance of Kaido and the Beasts Pirates. Naturally, Oden tried to fight them back when he returned, but he was tricked and manipulated by these evil villains, who captured him and immediately ordered his public execution.

Oden successfully negotiated a deal during his execution: if he managed to keep his retainers alive, they would be allowed to walk away unharmed. He stood there for hours, slowly suffering while he was being boiled alive, but he kept resisting until Orochi couldn’t stand it anymore and decided to shoot him anyway. This day was incredibly depressing for the inhabitants of Wano, because they not only witnessed their beloved former shogun dying a long and painful death, but also because it was the moment Orochi’s reign of terror truly began, and he turned what was once a peaceful country into a contaminated wasteland, complete with polluting weapons factories, enslaved workers, torture, death and hunger everywhere.

4

The Summit War Of Marineford

A Violent Military Conflict That Had A Huge Impact On The World

• First Appearance: Chapter 552 (Manga) Episode 461 (Anime)

The Summit War of Marineford is arguably the most well-known historical event that took place within the plot of One Piece, and not before Luffy’s journey began. Through the eyes of the main character, audiences got to witness firsthand this chaotic and violent war between the Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates, who were trying to rescue Portgas D. Ace before he was publicly executed like his father, Gol D. Roger.

Unfortunately, there were no winners in this conflict, because things went terribly wrong for both sides: Ace was abruptly murdered by Admiral Akainu, Whitebeard got his Devil Fruit stolen by Blackbeard and eventually died after succumbing to his injuries, not to mention that the rest of the world got confirmation that the One Piece is real while they also witnessed how ruthless and violent the World Government could be. The depressing outcome of the Summit War of Marineford is perfect proof of the blatant anti-war themes present in One Piece’s story.

3

The Sudden Erasure Of Lulusia Kingdom

The Most Shockingly Depressing World-Changing Event In The Series

• First Appearance: Chapter 1060 (Manga) Episode 1089 (Anime)

The series has repeatedly stated how corrupt, controlling, and evil the World Government truly is, but the sudden destruction of the Lulusia Kingdom put them in a whole new light. After the Revolutionary Army inspired its inhabitants to start a revolution and overthrow its king, Imu found a perfect solution to this “problem”: to use Lulusia as a test subject for the government’s new and powerful Mother Flame-fueled Ancient Weapon.

In the span of a few seconds, Imu not only destroyed Lulusia and killed most of its inhabitants, but also completely erased it from history, as if it never existed. This one event was not only incredibly sad for every single one of its victims, but it was also completely horrifying for the audience, since it perfectly established how much control Imu and the World Government have, and that they won’t hesitate to silence, destroy and erase anybody who tries to stand up against them.

2

Flevance’s Downfall

The World Government Sentenced A Country To Death Just To Make More Money

• First Appearance: Chapter 762 (Manga) Episode 701 (Anime)

Trafalgar D. Water Law’s home country, Flevance, has a dark and morbid past that most people in the world have never heard of. Hundreds of years ago, a valuable material called Amber Lead was found there, which immediately catapulted the country’s economy. However, the World Government later found out that Amber Lead was poisonous and that it was slowly shortening the lifespan of the country’s inhabitants, but they chose not to say anything just to keep making a profit.

When more and more people became sick from the Amber Lead disease, the royal family escaped Flevance, and everybody else was left to die there, especially since all the neighboring countries were afraid of being infected and decided to kill anybody who tried to escape. This was basically an all-out genocide that resulted in the gruesome deaths of thousands of people (including small children), and it was all approved and covered by the World Government just because they wanted to make more money.

1

The Ohara Incident

An Entire Country Was Destroyed Just Because Some People Were Asking Questions About The World

• First Appearance: Chapter 393 (Manga) Episode 276 (Anime)

Before the disappearances of Flevance and Lulusia, One Piece featured the tragic story of another kingdom that was erased from history by the World Government. Twenty years in the past, the brilliant scholars of Ohara were making huge progress with their research of the Poneglyphs and the Void Century. This is deeply forbidden by the World Government, which is why they decided to send a bunch of admirals and vice-admirals to perform a Buster Call that would destroy the entire country and silence its scholars forever.

As a result of the government’s actions, the infamous Ohara Incident took place that day (which is also known as the Annihilation of Ohara). In just a few hours, a huge fleet of military battleships shot their projectiles and set the entire island ablaze, killing anybody who got caught in the crossfire. While they succeeded in eliminating all the scholars, Sakazuki also destroyed a ship full of civilians just in case one of them had been trying to escape in it, which made this event even more tragic and depressing. The only survivors of this gruesome genocide were a young Nico Robin and Jaguar D. Saul, who was seemingly saved by Kuzan’s ice powers. To this day, the Ohara Incident remains the saddest day in the entire One Piece timeline, and it serves as a stark reminder of how violent and corrupt the World Government is.