One Piece boasts of some incredibly powerful characters, who can challenge the strongest of anime characters. These characters are equipped with overpowered devil fruits, incredible weapons, and haki abilities that allow them to destroy entire islands or fleets of ships. With their amazing powers, they are feared throughout the world.

However, not every One Piece character is lucky to have strong devil fruits, or to have had the best of conditions while growing up. Some characters in the series are rather unlucky, as they had to go through a difficult life and had to fight every single day of their lives.

Updated May 24, 2022, by Suzail Ahmad: One Piece is a series about pirates, and while it does focus on the jolly side of being a pirate, it also shows the harsh realities of a pirate’s life. Throughout the course of the series, there have been many characters, whose struggles have been put in front of the fans. The trials that these characters faced make them interesting, while also giving fans a better understanding of their behavior.

12 Sabo

Sabo is the chief of staff of the Revolutionary Army. When he was a young kid, he used to play with Ace and Luffy. The three of them even took oaths to stay brothers forever. Sabo was born into an extremely wealthy family and his parents hated to see him playing with Ace and Luffy. In a bid to get away from his parents, Sabo decided to set sail on his own and travel the seas.

Unfortunately, his ship crossed the path of a Celestial Dragon, who decided to punish him by destroying Sabo’s boat. Sabo was rescued by Dragon, but he lost all of his memories until he read the news about Ace’s execution. He couldn’t live the life that he wanted to live, so instead joined the Revolutionary Army and spent a great deal of time not knowing anything about his brothers.

11 Kozuki Oden

Not many characters can boast a backstory as good as Kozuki Oden’s. He was mentioned several arcs ago, but the fans finally saw him during the Wano Country arc. Oden was an outstanding character. He was funny and powerful. However, Oden was also very unlucky and was made a fool of by Orochi and Kaido for several years.

During his confrontation with Kaido, Oden had the upper hand for the most part, and at one point it seemed certain that Oden would kill his opponent. As luck would have it though, Kurozumi Higurashi tricked Oden, which allowed Kaido to land a critical hit. This particular event led to Oden’s death and the Kozuki clan being driven to the edge of extinction.

10 Yamato

Yamato is the son of Kaido. He admires Oden, and he wants to become like him. Yamato’s childhood wasn’t easy as he was imprisoned by his father and put through a great deal of torture. Yamato grew up hating Kaido, and, like Oden, he desired to leave Wano and ail the entire world.

However, Kaido prevented him from ever leaving, and, to make things worse, Yamato ended up eating a devil fruit which took away his ability to swim, so he was stuck in Wano. He got some hope when he met Ace, who told him to set his heart free. Yamato was happy for a while, but Ace never returned to meet him, and, once again, Yamato was left on his own.

9 Nico Robin

Nico Robin is the archeologist of the Straw Hat Pirates. She joined the crew after Luffy defeated Crocodile in Alabasta. Robin is a strong fighter who utilizes her devil fruit exceptionally, and she is definitely among the stronger fighters in the crew.

However, Robin’s situation wasn’t as good as it is right now. She was chased by the World Government when she was just a kid. Even her relatives tried to plot against her and tried to turn her in for the rewards. She had to remain on the run for a long time until she finally met the Straw Hats and found a proper family with them.

8 Kyros

Kyros is one of the main characters of the Dressrosa arc. Once a famed warrior of the Corrida Coliseum, Kyros had everything that he could ask for. He had a beautiful wife and a child, but all that changed when the Donquixote Family attacked Dressrosa.

​​​​​​Kyros was turned into a toy, and her wife was killed before his eyes. Even his own daughter didn’t recognize him because of Sugar’s devil fruit ability.

7 Sanji

Sanji is a member of the Monster Trio, which easily makes puts him among the strongest characters in the Straw Hat Pirates. He is a user of two types of Haki, with his Kenbunshoku Haki being extremely strong.

Sanji’s childhood was plagued with abuse from his father and his siblings, and he was bullied by everyone because of his kindness. Sanji’s own father hated him so much that he put a mask on his face. After successfully escaping from the Germa, Sanji would run into them once again at Whole Cake Island, and he almost lost his life again because of Judge and co.

6 Chopper

Chopper joined the Straw Hats after the Drum Island arc. Originally just an ordinary reindeer, Chopper was ostracized by his own family because of his blue nose. After eating the Hito Hito no Mi, Chopper gained the ability to talk, and decided to try and talk to humans. This resulted in an utter disaster as he was mistaken for a Yeti by the locals. He was eventually rescued by Hiriluk.

After staying with Hiriluk for some time, Chopper decided to find the prized mushroom that could cure everything. When Chopper brought the mushroom back, Hiriluk was horrified by Chopper’s condition. So in order to keep Chopper happy, he ate the poisonous mushroom. Chopper only came to know about it later and was absolutely devastated.

5 Trafalgar Law

Trafalgar Law is the captain of the Heart Pirates and a member of the Worst Generation. He formed an alliance with the Straw Hats at Punk Hazard, and his end goal is to take down Kaido. As a child, Law lived happily in the city of Flevance with his parents and his sister.

Everything was going well until the Amber Lead Syndrome outbreak, which resulted in the death of Law’s entire family. He was rescued by Corazon, who stole the Ope Ope no Mi, but lost his life in the process, thus leaving Law all on his own.

4 Rebecca

Rebecca is the daughter of Kyros, who used to be the strongest fighter in the Corrida Coliseum. At an early age, Rebecca lost both of her parents: Scarlett was killed and Kyros was turned into a toy.

She had no recollection of Kyros’ existence, because of Sugar’s Hobi Hobi no Mi ability. She fought in the Coliseum for a long time, and it wasn’t until the Straw Hats defeated the Donquixote Family that Rebecca was reunited with her father.

3 ​​​​​​Kozuki Momonosuke

The heir to the position of Shogun of Wano, Momonosuke’s life has been filled with trauma. First of all, he was sent to the future along with the Scabbards, which separated him from his family. Secondly, he unknowingly ate the devil fruit that turned him into a dragon, which reminded him of Kaido, his father’s murderer.

2 Russian

Russian was the wife of Senor Pink. When she met her husband, he assured him that he was a banker. Russian had a lot of hatred towards pirates and she would have never married him had she known the truth, so in order to convince her, Senor Pink lied.

Russian had a child, Gimlet, but he died due to a high fever. She had to face all the agony on her own as Senor Pink was busy raiding with the Donquixote Pirates. Russian passed away years after entering a vegetative state.

1 Brook

Almost all the Straw Hats have gone through difficult periods in their lives, and Brook is not an exception. He was originally a member of the Rumbar Pirates. Brook had to see his captain, Yorki, give up his life to save the rest of the crew. As the crew continued to sail, they were attacked by another pirate crew who had coated their weapons in poison. Knowing that the crew would not live for long, Brook suggested that they should sing one last song together.

As the song continued, Brook watched the rest of the crew die before his own eyes. Once Brook was dead as well, the power Yomi Yomi no Mi activated and revived him. He continued to wander on the same ship on which his crewmates had died. His luck only changed when he met the Straw Hat Pirates.