The Straw Hat Pirates form the core of One Piece, led by the protagonist, Luffy. After starting out on his journey from the East Blue, Luffy eventually went on to recruit various people from different parts of the world, and they, together, form the greatest found family in the series, known as the Straw Hat Pirates.

This pirate crew is beloved far and wide, not just in the world of One Piece, but also among the fans. Unsurprisingly, the Straw Hats are the backbone of One Piece and every single member of the crew is just as important as the other.

Without the Straw Hats, Luffy would not be where he is today, and certainly they would not be where they are without Luffy. Together, they have suffered through countless hardships and conquered all the obstacles in their path, some that even pushed them to death’s door. However, there have been many ideas among the fans that argue about the death of a Straw Hat in the Final Saga. That is exactly what is being discussed here.

How Rumors Of A Straw Hats Death Started Spreading

When speaking of the death of a Straw Hat moving forward, there are two distinct scenarios that need to be kept in mind. The first scenario is fans simply arguing that a Straw Hat should die in the Final Saga. This is completely fine simply because it is based on the personal opinion of readers. One Piece is all about putting out your own ideas forward, and theorizing together as a group. If someone believes that a Straw Hat can die in the Final Saga and they have backing for it, that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the idea. However, the vast majority of the ideas pertaining to the death of a Straw Hat come from misinformation and all of this goes back to about two decades ago. Back when Oda was still tackling the Skypiea arc, he had already decided on killing off major characters. Around this time, Oda is believed to have said that he is planning for a major death from the Straw Hat Pirates. The statement has been misinterpreted by many people over the years. Oda has never actually stated that he wants to kill a Straw Hat Or that a Straw Hat will die moving forward. Oda was only talking about the death of the Going Merry, who, as fans know, is a part of the family as well.

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

Initially, I had no intention of having the Straw Hats abandon Going Merry, but I decided to do it because the enemy ships were getting stronger. – Oda, 2013

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

Will A Straw Hat Die In One Piece?

   

With it having been cleared that Oda does not intend to kill off a Straw Hat, now, fans can jump on to the next topic which is whether a Straw Hat can die in One Piece or not. To put it simply, Oda is definitely not going to kill off any member of the Straw Hat Pirates in the Final Saga of One Piece. This is simply down to the fact that every member of the Straw Hat has their own hopes and dreams. Luffy wants to become the Pirate King and his true dream lies beyond even becoming the Pirate King. Zoro wants to become the greatest swordsman in the world, and fans know that Nami wants to draw a map of the whole world. Usopp wants to become a brave Warrior of the sea, while Sanji wants to find the All Blue. Chopper wants to become a doctor who can cure all diseases, and Robin wants to find the true history of the world.

Similarly, Franky wants to sail across the oceans of the world on his ship of dreams, while Brook wants to reunite with Laboon. Meanwhile, Jinbe is there to make Luffy the Pirate King and his eventual dream is to see the Fishman kind flourish, which he believes is only possible with Luffy.

Clearly, all members of the Straw Hat Pirates have their own dreams, and they have to be fulfilled as well. Naturally, all of them can only be fulfilled come the end of One Piece, which means that no character is going to die and leave their dreams unfulfilled.

Now, fans would argue that a character can die after fulfilling their dream. But, once again, Oda has already refuted this as well, although not directly. Simply put, Ora stated that he hates to kill off characters because it restricts what he can do and wants to do with the story greatly. This was Oda referring to characters in general in the story, and for him to kill off a Straw Hat would be even more difficult, because it would essentially destroy everything that Luffy has fought and trained for, and it essentially is impossible.

Why Oda Hates Killing Off Characters

Oda’s reasoning behind not wanting to kill off characters is quite sound. Simply put, he loves One Piece enough to have a mix of dark themes, but at the same time, a message for an optimistic future. Oda wants to end his arcs with major banquets and parties.

“The reason I don’t want to draw scenes where people die is because I want to draw a party after the battle. If someone dies, you can’t have an enjoyable party. A party is my ideal form of friendship. I want to end with One Piece with a big party.” – Oda

If everyone simply ended up dying every now and then, then, Oda would not be able to draw these massive parties and One Piece would become a gloomy series with a very grim message. That is the exact opposite of what Oda wants to do with One Piece. In fact, Oda has even stated clearly that he wants to end One Piece with a big party. This is clearly a confirmation from Oda that no Straw Hat is going to die, because if they did, there is absolutely no way that Luffy would go on to celebrate. Luffy is done losing people close to him, as he clearly stated himself, and the whole idea of a Straw Hat dying, while interesting, simply never going to happen.