One Piece

Law has the cruelest backstory. Brook had the most teriifying backstory. Robin had the saddest backstory.

Doffy has the most sociopathic backstory.

edited 3rd Mar '15 1:35:41 PM by CorrTerek

Moreso than Rob Lucci or Enel?

We didn't go in depth with either of them, just told the facts. We actually saw what happened with Doflamingo and why he is the way he is.

Were either of them asking to borrow daddy's handgun so they could go shoot some commoners?

I think Brook's is both physically and mentally the most painful of the Straw Hat's pasts. I mean the guy literally died. You can't get much worse injuries than that. And then coming back to life with a skeleton body, add on top of that the fact that all of your friends, the ones you were captain over, are dead. And don't forget that somewhere out there is a baby whale that you promised you'd return to, and he won't even recognize you without your hair.

And then add 50 years of isolation to all of that, because your shadow was stolen and stepping out into sunlight will kill you instantly.

Brook and Chopper were the flashbacks that made me tear up. And Brook definitely suffered more, what with the whole '40 years of crushing loneliness and despair driving you insane' thing.

The two page spread of Robin in the little boat with the island on fire is the only thing in One Piece that has made me tear up. Bellemere's death was pretty close.

Brook's backstory is just one of those that gets worse the more I think about it. He looks so well-adjusted, as well-adjusted as a Straw Hat can be, but then you realize he had to act the way he did to endure the isolation.

In a more general sense, Ocean's Guide from Film Z is the only One Piece music that's gotten an emotional reaction from me. I could listen to that all day.

I really want to know why Franky's parents threw him overboard, because that can alter just where he ranks on the scale of sad backstories.

• If it was to save his life, then he lives on knowing his parents died and he nearly died. Then Tom saved his life and later died for him. So he was cared for, but everyone who cared for him ended up dead, which is why he's the patriarch of his own "Family".
• If it's because they're assholes throwing their son overboard, which I initially read it as, then he lives on knowing his parents very nearly sent him to his death out of apathy, and if it weren't for Tom, who saved his life and then died for him, he'd have had a short life thinking not a soul in the world cared for him enough to be concerned with whether he lived or died.

edited 3rd Mar '15 5:53:57 PM by wanderlustwarrior

I don't think it was ever implied to be the former. The way Franky and Tom made it out, they just got tired off him and abandoned him.

Gotcha. Didn't read those chapters, thanks. When I said "read it", I meant on the wiki.

edited 3rd Mar '15 6:51:08 PM by wanderlustwarrior

Robin vs Brook. that's really a tough one.

Brook died and returned to a ship of corpses, and lived for 50 years with no goal other than a hair-thin chance of wandering back onto Thriller Bark, getting his shadow, and reuniting with Laboon. And his sense of personal honor was too strong to allow him to give up, so he waited for 50 years on that silent ship. And would've likely kept on waiting for another 50, and on and on, if Luffy hadn't found him.

Robin lost everything she ever knew in a horrific attack, which wiped away her homeland and tore her from her only friends and the mother she finally saw again. She then spent 20-odd years eternally on the run, unable to trust anyone, and having the message of "you shouldn't be allowed to live" drilled into her from all sides. For all that time, she lived from betrayal to betrayal, and had no home.

The difference really depends on which type of a horrific life with no hope you think is worse.

edited 3rd Mar '15 7:06:44 PM by Enlong

I love how we're arguing who has the shittiest life of the main cast.

The Straw Hats have all had it pretty damn bad but generally I categorize the pain levels of Straw Hats by those who managed to still had people dear to them through it all, or those who had and lost them.

So like I think the top three worst would be Chopper (treated like a monster all his life only worsened by DF, never had friends, unwittingly partial cause of father figure's death when he didn't know better), Robin (was always alone, sole survivor and always being hunted down, regret in being born), and Brook (literally died with the corpses of his friends for company + alone for half a century).

Yep, it basically comes down to if you think it's worse to have very little happiness throughout their entire life up until then, or to have had really great memories and happiness violently stripped away.

On an additional note despite their similarities I actually find Robin's worse than Law's for the reason that while Law directed his anger at the world around him Robin's manifested into self-hatred.

I've always been more sympathetic to Namis backstory over Choppers because 1) while Nami still had her sister, she had to work for eight years with the man who killed her mother and basically enslaved her home island 2) nothing Chopper did/could have done would have saved Hiliruk, and afterword he got to start training as a doctor for real and 3) I like Nami better than Chopper

Them competing over who had it worst might make for some Black Comedy.

"Oh, Sanji? You starved for over 40 days and almost died? I actually died, and couldn't eat for over 40 years, even if I wanted to."

"Your adoptive mother was shot in front of you? That's cool, I guess. My home island was bombed to rubble in front of me, but whatever."

"You think that's bad? My friend died in a household accident based on her own carelessness, and... Actually, my life hasn't been that rough, all things considered."
I might be hard on Kuina, but it's for the sake of a joke. I wonder whatever happened to Zolo's parents. He and Sanji are the only two we don't know anything about, I think. Well, Brook too, but he was a fully functioning adult before he actually died, and they're possibly long dead themselves. Well, Chopper's parents might have been amongst All of the Other Reindeer.

edited 3rd Mar '15 9:15:13 PM by wanderlustwarrior

Yeah, Nami was fourth-worst in mine. I just didn't bring it up because it seemed a bit silly to go "top saddest" for still almost half the cast.

Just proves to show why we never trust Oda when flashbacks happen, huh.

Do we know anything about Luffy's mother?

I was picturing a game of Misery Poker done in full overdramatic style a la Yu-Gi-Oh! or Saki or something.

Chopper at least had Kureha.

"Oh yeah? Well my whole island was destroyed, my mother, father and sister died, i had to hide through corpses, and then the only person who cared about my wellbeing was shot by Doflamingo because of me. And i was almost beaten to death by his subordonates."

"Uhh, okay?"

No, and apparently Oda hasn't decided if she's worth bringing up at all.
Seems like he takes after Toriyama with that.

edited 3rd Mar '15 11:06:44 PM by wanderlustwarrior

Oh wow that's just wonderful hey at least Naruto had a reason not to know about his parents has Luffy even brought up his family besides his nakama >_>

He could always make her a New World pirate. As to why she never stayed to raise him...well, no one ever said she was a good mother...

The Dragon Ball & One Piece route: "So here's this kid. Raised by a grandparent (add quotation marks as necessary.) His dad? He'll actually be really important to a myth arc much later, but until then, here's some wacky stuff. His mom? Psh, whatever. Friendship? Magnetic Hero is where it's at!"

The Naruto & Bleach route: "So here's this kid. Helps raise himself, but is kinda a delinquent. His dad? Not a main character at the time, but you can actually figure out his historic importance if you're paying any attention to not-so-subtle hints. His mom? Turns out there's actually a much more interesting story there, pivotal to his family's role in the main myth arc, but we're not going to get there until we're almost done with the series. Friendship? Well, he has some childhood friends and an orphan pseudo-brother looking out for him, but who gives a shit about them when you've gotta get involved in the world of that dark-haired, kimono-wearing, aloof shipping bait?"

edited 3rd Mar '15 11:32:23 PM by wanderlustwarrior