The world of One Piece features a dazzling variety of antagonists, from minor villains in the East Blue Saga to the Admirals of the Navy, Warlords of the Sea, and even the Emperors of the new World. Since One Piece is a shonen anime, all of these villains are destined to fall at one point or another, and Luffy’s crew has vanquished one antagonist after another by now. However, Luffy’s body count is incredibly low.

Author Eiichiro Oda has stated that he doesn’t like making Luffy kill his enemies, since death would rob the villains of their chances to pursue their own dreams, something Luffy can sympathize with. This means that many One Piece villains benefit from incredibly tough plot armor, easily surviving mortal blows and horrific injuries simply because that’s one of One Piece‘s narrative rules. Plenty of times, the Straw Hat Pirates could have and perhaps should have finished off their fallen enemies to wrap up loose ends, but that’s simply not how it works. Instead, capture or redemption are the usual fates for these vanquished villains.

10Mr. 1/Daz Bonez Could Have Died by Zoro’s Blades

Villain Name
Debut Episode
Powers/Abilities/Weapons

Mr. 1
“At Spiders Cafe – The Enemy Ringleaders Meet at 8 o’Clock”
Dice-Dice Fruit

The Alabasta saga introduced the mightiest members of the Baroque Works pirate crew, including the ferocious Mr. 1, or Daz Bonez. He didn’t say or do a whole lot, but he did give Roronoa Zoro the swordsman a serious challenge in Alubarna’s city streets when they faced off during the saga’s climax.

At first, Mr. 1 had a serious advantage with his metal body, but Zoro learneed to cut steel and defeated Mr. 1 with a final sword strike. Mr. 1 was left injured and bleeding, but Zoro conveniently showed mercy and let him live. Evidently, someone recovered Mr. 1 to give him medical attention elsewhere. Das Bonez survived to end up in Impel Down before he joined the Cross Guild along with Sir Crocodile.

9Mr. 3/Galdino Was Shown Mercy When the Straw Hats Defeated Him

Villain Name
Debut Episode
Powers/Abilities/Weapons

Mr. 3
“An Ancient Island! The Shadow Lurking in Little Garden!”
Wax-Wax Fruit

The wax-using Mr. 3 became a total loose end after Luffy’s crew defeated him on Little Garden, the island where Brogy and Dorry feuded endlessly. Mr. 3 put up a good fight alongside his partner, but he wasn’t strong enough to vanquish the Straw Hats. Luffy should have captured Mr. 3 or killed him off to tie up that loose end, but of course, Luffy did no such thing.

This handy plot armor kept Mr. 3 alive so he could end up in Impel Down, along with a few other former Baroque Works agents. There, Mr. 3 played a role in Luffy’s escape, including giving Luffy wax armor plating so Luffy could fight Magellan without getting poisoned again. Since then, though, One Piece fans haven’t seen much of what Mr. 3 is doing with his second lease on life.

8Arlong Was Lucky to Survive His Battle With the Straw Hats

Villain Name
Debut Episode
Powers/Abilities/Weapons

Arlong
“The Most Wicked Man of the East Blue, Fish-Man Pirate Arlong”
Superhuman strength, fangs

The cruel fish-man Arlong was one of Luffy’s greatest opponents in the entire East Blue saga. Years ago, he had taken over Coco Village by force, causing great misery to Nami and the other inhabitants. In the present day, Luffy arrived to help his friend Nami, which meant fighting Arlong to the finish. Even without Gears and Haki, Luffy won against formidable odds.

By all rights, the Straw Hats should have finished off Arlong to make sure he wouldn’t bring suffering to any more islands in the East Blue, but Luffy spared him, and perhaps Nami wouldn’t feel better about Arlong paying for Bell-Mere’s life with his own. That was a fairly straightforward example of One Piece showing mercy to its villains simply because it contradicts Luffy’s ideals of keeping everyone alive to pursue their own dreams.

7Perona Could Have Been Captured or Killed at Thriller Bark

Villain Name
Debut Episode
Powers/Abilities/Weapons

Perona
“The Delight of Having Met People! The Gentleman Skeleton’s True Colors”
Hollow-Hollow Fruit

The Thriller Bark saga brought the Straw Hats to the massive ship named Thriller Bark. In that arc, they met plenty of new friends and foes, from the musical skeleton Brook to a Warlord, Gecko Moria, and his minions. Gecko’s various henchmen largely survived thanks to plot armor, such as Dr. Hogback and the crafty Perona.

Perona used her Devil Fruit to fight the Straw Hats with her bloodless but highly effective attacks, robbing them of their will to fight as supposedly worthless creatures. That was when Usopp retaliated with his tricks, terrifying Perona into fainting, believing she was surrounded by bugs. Once again, the Straw Hats allowed a loose end to be made, though fans might say that Perona never did anything terrible enough for anyone to even consider killing her.

6Kaido is Impossible to Kill

Villain Name
Debut Episode
Powers/Abilities/Weapons

Kaido
“Sending a Shock Wave – The Worst Generation Goes Into Action!”
Fish-Fish Fruit, Azure Dragon Model

Kaido’s plot armor was bluntly stated a few times in the post-time skip One Piece narrative, with characters claiming that Kaido isn’t just powerful — he’s downright immortal. In fact, Kaido had the grim hobby of finding new ways to try and end his own life, failing each time. Aside from that, Kaido is known for being one of Wano’s rulers and the captain of the Beasts Pirates.

Kaido could not be killed, and Luffy wasn’t in the mood to capture him, either, so he was content to defy impossible odds and merely knock him out after their fight. While Kaido’s status is not 100% certain at the moment, there is no reason to believe he is dead. By storytelling logic, if a major character like Kaido isn’t confirmed dead, he is almost certainly still alive. Given everything, One Piece fans can safely assume Kaido will return.

5Gecko Moria Was Spared After His Giant Zombie Lost to the Straw Hats

Villain Name
Debut Episode
Powers/Abilities/Weapons

Gecko Moria
“His Name is Moria! Trap of the Great Shadow-Stealing Pirate”
Shadow-Shadow Fruit

Luffy faced off against a variety of Warlords of the Sea, and he spared their lives every time. One example was when Luffy and his crew confronted Gecko Moria on Thriller Bark, mainly by fighting the giant Oars zombie that Moria controlled from the inside. After Gecko’s defeat, he was free to visit Marineford along with the other Warlords.

Gecko Moria seriously threatened the Straw Hats by stealing various shadows, most of all Luffy’s own, and Luffy almost died as a result. Despite this, Luffy showed no sign that he wanted to kill or capture Gecko in retaliation — he was content to defeat that Warlord and leave Thriller Bark with his new friend, Brook, by his side.

4Caesar Clown Was Captured Alive Because of His Connections

Villain Name
Debut Episode
Powers/Abilities/Weapons

Caesar Clown
“The Crew is Confused! The Shocking Beheaded Samurai Appears!”
Gas-Gas Fruit

It didn’t take long for One Piece to show why the Straw Hats spared the villainous Caeser Clown on Punk Hazard. The Straw Hats were outraged when they learned of Caesar’s twisted experiments on children, but they didn’t dare kill him, partly because of the anime’s rules and partly because he was their ticket to taking down Donquixote Doflamingo.

Trafalgar D. Water Law wanted Doflamingo vanquished at any cost, so he made sure to put the captive Caesar Clown to good use when he and Luffy arrived at Dressrosa. Caesar Clown was protected as a vital part of the story. Even after Luffy waged war with Doflamingo, Caesar Clown still survived to fight again another day.

3Wapol Wasn’t Strong Enough to Survive Fighting the Straw Hats

Villain Name
Debut Episode
Powers/Abilities/Weapons

Wapol
“Ambush! Bliking and Wapol the Blik”
Munch-Munch Fruit

The Drum Island arc of the overall Alabasta saga introduced fans to the minor villain Wapol, who once ruled Drum Island as a selfish and abusive king until Captain Blackbeard drove him away. Wapol returned while the Straw Hats embarked on an adventure at the snowy Drum Island, serving as the main antagonist.

Wapol wasn’t very strong, even with a Devil Fruit of his own, and it wasn’t much trouble for Luffy to defeat him once and for all. Luffy and his friends had more than enough firepower to simply kill Wapol and make sure he would never hurt anyone again. But as usual, One Piece‘s heroes showed mercy, and Wapol went on to get involved in the toy industry later.

2Donquixote Doflamingo Was Spared Regicide When He Was Defeated

Villain Name
Debut Episode
Powers/Abilities/Weapons

Donquixote Doflamingo
“The 100,000,000 Man! The World’s Highest Authority and the Pirate Blackbeard”
String-String Fruit

Donquixote Doflamingo rose to power as Dressrosa’s cruel tyrant, overthrowing the Riku royal family in the process. When the Straw Hats and Trafalgar Law arrived, Doflamingo was forced to fight to defend his throne. At first, he felt confident about his odds. Then he faced the full brunt of Gear 4’s powers and was finally crushed.

Given Doflamingo’s many horrible crimes and utter lack of regret or shame, it’s easy to imagine the Straw Hats and Trafalgar Law wanting to take his head. He was a classic example of “He’s too dangerous to be kept alive,” but he was spared and ended up in Impel Down’s 6th floor. One Piece fans can only hope he stays there, or else Luffy might come to regret not finishing him off when he had the chance.

1Rob Lucci Lived to Fight Another Day After the Enies Lobby Showdown

Villain Name
Debut Episode
Powers/Abilities/Weapons

Rob Lucci
“The Adventure in the City of Water! Aim For the Giant Shipyard”
Cat-Cat Fruit, Leopard Model

Rob Lucci was once a member of CP9. As of the Egghead Island story arc, he now belongs to CP0, complete with an awakened Devil Fruit. He is a total dog of the World Government and is determined to take Luffy down, and given what’s happening at Egghead Island, Luffy might regret having spared Rob Lucci back at Enies Lobby.

First, Rob Lucci and his allies thrashed the Straw Hats at Water 7. Then, they had a rematch at Enies Lobby, where Luffy scored a serious triumph thanks to using his Gears. Luffy had every chance to finish off Rob Lucci, perhaps to symbolically protect Nico Robin from the World Government. However, Luffy is simply not that kind of pirate, so he let Rob Lucci live.