Top 30 One Piece Moments of All Time! Ranked from Worst to Best!

One Piece has over 2 decades of content, and it still has so many moments that I can recount as if I had just read/watched them.

It’s the moments, the little scenes, that create the largest impact, that last in our memories the longest.

Moments sometimes act as catalysts in plot development and character growth, sometimes foreshadowing important events, or simply proving why we’re fans in the first place.

There are so many legendary scenes to choose from, but I have compiled a list of the top 30. Here is the first part of my top moments in One Piece.

30. Chopper seeing the cherry blossoms bloom before leaving Drum Kingdom

Chopper, you’ll make a fine doctor. I guarantee it!

–Dr. Hiluluk/Chopper’s dad

The Drum Island arc is pretty underrated seeing how it was the first time Gol D. Roger and the Will of D. were revealed to us.

But the most impactful scene in the arc is the revelation of Chopper’s backstory and the “pink snowfall” that looks like Sakura flowers.

The story unfolds like that of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, where Chopper the reindeer is ostracized for having a blue nose.

He tells Luffy that he cannot join his crew because he is a monster, but Luffy literally tells him to shut up. Kureha, Chopper’s mom, wants to give him a proper send-off, and inadvertently making Hiluluk’s dream come true.

When Kureha fires canons to bid Chopper farewell, the cannon-balls make Drum Mountain look like a Sakura tree, and the ash like its petals.

Watching Chopper with tears streaming down his face, his father’s dream coming to fruition, is enough to make any One Piece fan a crying mess.

29. Straw Hats combine their powers to defeat Oars on Thriller Bark

Hey giant! What do you think you’re crushing?

Luffy

The Thriller Bark arc is an amazing blend of spooky Shonen, where the Straw Hats battle zombies on a ship-eating ghost ship.

Gecko Moria resurrects Oars “the Continent-Puller”, who becomes the most powerful zombie amongst his 900-zombie army.

Oars is so powerful that he cannot be defeated on the sole might of one crew member. In an amazing scene of Straw Hat-teamwork, we see Usopp, Zoro, Franky, Chopper, Sanji, Nami, Robin, Brook, and Luffy come together to defeat the giant.

Every crew member gets a chance to shine – for example, Franky and Usopp beautifully use the Thriller Bark’s pipes to unleash a blast of cold wind and freeze Oars’ legs. We see just how compatible all the Straw Hats are with each other.

28. Luffy ringing the Shandorian Golden Bell

Let them hear it! Ossan… The City of Gold is here!

Luffy

“For 400 years, the City of Gold has been in the sky!” Oh, man, what a moment. Luffy defeats Enel, the tyrannical “God” of Skypiea and literally punches him so hard that he slams into the Shandorian Golden Belfry Bell.

Mont Blanc Noland heard the song from the Bell centuries ago and that was how he found Shandora. But when the island was knocked up into the sky, nobody could find the City of Gold and Noland was executed by King Lvneel.

Luffy ringing the bell erases the reputation of Noland being a liar, and his descendants are given proof that the golden city does in fact exist and that Noland had always been telling the truth.

The scene is symbolic because the sound of the bell acts as a medium of hope to people all across the world, and that the truth will always triumph. 

27. Crocodile saving Luffy and Jinbei from Akainu

You gotta protect the one you wanna protect!

Crocodile

A lot of people, including Sengoku, were confused by the pairing of Crocodile and Luffy because Crocodile had previously been one of the antagonists that the Straw Hats had faced.

He sides with Whitebeard too, whom he had wanted to defeat, and also declines Doflamingo’s offer.

When Akainu attacks Luffy with his Magma Fist, and Jinbei tries to protect him. Just as Akainu is about to finish both of them off, the last person we expect to stop him – Crocodile – dares to intercept.

Crocodile is an awesome character – he’s not all bad, not all good. He would rather help an enemy pirate than team up with the Marines.

This moment is important because we see that there are some villains that are bigger and badder than others.

26. Sabo and Luffy’s meeting

You think I can’t tell me brother’s face just because he’s in disguise?

Sabo

This scene is genuinely emotional because Luffy has just lost Ace. When Sabo reveals himself to Luffy, he knows that he is not alone, that he still has family.

In the Colosseum Battle, Luffy has to fight the Shichibukai to save Law, so Sabo confronts him and tells him that he would take Ace’s Devil Fruit instead.

Although Luffy is in his disguise, Sabo instantly recognizes Luffy and calls him brother.

“The only people who call me “brother” are the late Ace and … the guy who died…” Luffy begins bawling and at first can’t believe who he is seeing in front of him.

The moment is bittersweet since we are reminded of how Luffy lost one brother but are hopeful and glad that he still has another.

25. Chopper using Monster Point for the first time

Everyone Stay Away! I’m about to lose control!

Chopper

Chopper activating his Monster Point for the first time is technically the first time we see a Zoan Devil Fruit Awakening.

Although it might not be a true or natural awakening, it definitely is an artificial one, where Chopper, being a doctor, manages to instigate an evolved form of his Devil Fruit by ingesting 3 Rumble Balls.

He totally loses his senses, and doesn’t care about anyone or anything – a true monster. He becomes so big that he even dwarfs the inhumanly tall Kuma and Kumadori.

The moment is awesome because Chopper is really being beaten bad by Kumadori and looks like he is about to die. Chopper experiments by consuming more Rumble Balls than he ever has in such a short period of time.

It’s ironic because Chopper had been ostracized for being a “monster” in his childhood, but this is the first time that he truly becomes one.

24. Blackbeard’s Speech in Mock Town

A man’s dream… will never die!

Marshall D. Teach

This scene is classic Oda – introducing one of the series’ worst villains with a speech that makes us low-key love him.

It gives us everything that we need to know about him, although it’s only later that we realize how his words can take on a darker meaning.

He basically tells Luffy that people’s dreams never end, that if he sought to go to the Pirate Summit, he would have to fight his way to it.

He comes across as a rambling drunkard with a surprisingly inspiring thought to offer to our protagonist – to never give up your dream.

This moment shows us how Blackbeard and Luffy are two sides of the same coin – they both have a dream that they will never relinquish, but while Blackbeard would kill anyone who comes in his way – including his own crew – Luffy will always put his friends and the innocent above himself.

23. Luffy carrying Nami and Sanji up the Mountain

Hang on, we’re almost there… Don’t die on me!

Luffy

This is one of those moments when the audience and readers are given a glimpse of why Luffy is really the protagonist.

He scales an almost-vertical mountain barefooted, with two of his friends tied to his body, in a raging snow blizzard.

Nami and Sanji are gravely injured and of course Luffy would do anything to save him. His aim is to carry both of them up the impossibly high mountain to Drum Castle, to the doctor that resides there.

Luffy is bloody and bruised and it takes all he’s got to give his friends the best chance they have to survive.

22. Clash of the Roger Pirates vs. Whitebeard Pirates

Whitebeard, huh? It’s been a while!

Gol D. Roger

The standoff between the two most powerful pirate crews of the time – the Roger Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates! Watching legends battle is a different pleasure altogether. It was epic, funny, and definitely badass.

The battle lasted for 3 days and 3 nights, where we witness Marco go up against Rayleigh and Oden trying to pillage the Rogers but failing miserably. Rogers uses something called Divine Departure which literally slams Oden through several trees.

Roger and Whitebeard also go toe-to-toe and we can see just how powerful these beasts are – battling each other without their swords even touching. It’s evident that they are rivals but respect each other.

It’s also thrilling as a viewer to watch how similar Roger is to Luffy – or the other way around – and gets us thinking of Luffy as Pirate King.

21. Luffy defeating Bellamy – twice!

I know now, that I admired the wrong man. And how pathetic I am!

Bellamy

Luffy defeating Bellamy with a single punch has got to be one of the most satisfying moments in One Piece. I mean right after him punching the Celestial Dragon (that one is higher on my list – check out my next post!)

When Luffy straight-up punches someone, it’s more about fury than revenge or saving someone.

The first time he punches him, he is legitimately pissed off by Bellamy and finds him and his men deplorable, how they attacked Cricket and his crew and stole all the gold.

The second time Luffy also defeats Bellamy with a single punch, but the emotions are different. Luffy is still furious, but this time with Doflamingo.

We can see Luffy hardening his fist through advanced Armament Haki and he lands a Gear Two punch on Bellamy, defeating him once again.

It’s touching how after Bellamy is defeated, he is grateful that Luffy called him his friend. He realizes that he has been hero-worshipping the wrong guy – it’s Luffy he should have been looking up to.  

20. Sanji defeating Queen

Get out of my sight!

Sanji

The Sanji vs. Queen fight began in chapter 1015, and 20 chapters later, we finally get what we’ve all been waiting for.

We see not just how awesome Sanji’s Germa 66 tech really is, but how his body evolves and develops because of the modifications with every one of Queen’s attacks.

Eventually, Sanji gets rid of the Raid Suit entirely and decides to use the power of his changing body.

The power that had so long been latent within Sanji, comes out in a fury against Queen. Sanji doesn’t just hate Queen, he hates everything that he is and everything that he stands for.

Sanji combines his genetic modifications with Haki to create Ifrit Jambe – an advanced form of his Diable Jambe technique. With Boeuf Burst, he sends Queen flying off Onigashima island. 

19. Luffy’s Execution

I’m… dead!

Luffy

So iconic. Even more so, because this scene first came out in 1999. But there are more reasons why this scene is so amazing apart from the fact that Luffy escapes unscathed.

First of all, the platform that Luffy is about to be executed on, is the same one where Gol D. Roger was executed 22 years ago.

Buggy has Luffy right where he wants him, but Luffy has a huge grin on his face. Lightning strikes the platform and it collapses, with Buggy electrocuted and Luffy unharmed. He laughs and picks up his Straw Hat like the true hero he is.

The lightning wasn’t just luck. It was actually Luffy dad, Monkey D. Dragon, the “storm of fate”, that saves him. Another cool fact about this scene is that Bartolomeo, the current captain of the second ship of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, is right there in the crowd.

Just to see the protagonist almost die 50 episodes into the series was crazy to watch as a kid. The fact that his dad saves him, just tops it off for me.

18. Zoro defeating King

I will become… the King of Hell!

Zoro

Just a chapter after we get the defeat of Queen the Plague, Oda gives us another present: the triumph of our boy Zoro over Kaido’s right-hand-man, King the Conflagration.

It’s not just via strength that Zoro conquers King, but by his will. Zoro uses Conqueror’s Haki in conjunction with his swords, to take King down.

It is his endurance, his determination, and his willpower that gets King in the end. Of course, his sword technique is no joke – Zoro uses a new move called King of Hell Three Sword Dragon technique to land his final blow on King.

Zoro proves, like he has multiple times before, that he is worthy of being Luffy’s first mate. This is one fight I sure won’t be getting over soon.

17. The Rumbar Pirates’ Last Concert

Ah! If it’s this song, then we all can join in!

Charlotte Lola

All One Piece fans know of “that song” – Binks’ Sake! It’s revealed to us as part of Brook’s flashback – it’s the song he hums, and plays on the piano and violin.

The Rumbar Pirates know full well that it is their last journey, and they end it in song. The mood is what makes the moment so memorable.

It had most of us in tears, especially after knowing Brook’s backstory. The last verse has a line that says “Waving our goodbyes, we’ll never meet again,” which is heartbreaking because in the scene, that is when most of the Rumbar crew starts collapsing.

Brook is the only one alive by the end of it, and he resolves to keep his promise and return to Laboon.

The original mission of the Rumbar Pirates was to bring music and joy to children, and in that episode they truly do.

16. Luffy defeating Katakuri

I’ll become the King of the Pirates!

Luffy

I really like this moment not just because this is the first time Luffy defeats a Yonko but because the audience finds in Katakuri a villain deserving respect. Katakuri lives by his own set of principles.

When Flambe interferes in their 1v1, Katakuri gets annoyed and stabs himself so he is as injured as Luffy.

Seeing tiny little Luffy up against the giant-ass Katakuri is thrilling in itself. Luffy really amps up his power for this fight.

This is the first time we are introduced to advanced Observation Haki – the ability of looking a few seconds into the future.

The clash of Haki shows us the power of Conqueror’s, Armament, as well as Observation Haki – we even see Luffy go into a new form of Gear Fourth called Snakebite.

Luffy fights for himself, his own ideologies and ambitions instead of for someone else.

Right at the end, Katakuri walks up to him and asks him if he will return to fight Big Mom head-on, to which Luffy replies that he definitely will, because defeating the Yonkos is the only way to become the Pirate King.

About One Piece

One Piece is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine since July 22, 1997.

The man who had acquired everything in this world, the Pirate King, is Gol D. Roger. The final words he said at the execution tower were “My treasures? If you want it, I’ll let you have it. Look for it; I left all of it at that place.” These words sent many to the seas, chasing their dreams, headed toward the Grand Line, in search of One Piece. Thus began a new age!

Seeking to be the greatest pirate in the world, young Monkey D. Luffy also heads toward the Grand Line in search of One Piece. His diverse crew is joining him along the way, consisting of a swordsman, marksman, navigator, cook, doctor, archaeologist, and cyborg-shipwright, this will be one memorable adventure.