Backstory is an essential part of storytelling that gives characters more depth and explores the world-building. In One Piece, especially, these flashbacks serve as the backbone of the story, praised by fans regardless of which characters the story follows. Whether it’s the Straw Hat crew’s beloved chef Sanji or a tyrannical Warlord Doflamingo, each flashback is tragic and yet deep in its own way. However, oftentimes, the backstories feel too restricted because they are part of the main story. Major events about the characters’ lives are briefly mentioned or simply glossed over because the manga can’t deviate from the main plot for too long.
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Not to mention that if the series went on to focus on every little detail about the characters, the story would never end. It’s not that these backstories leave any loose ends, but rather they open the possibility for that particular character’s story to grow even further. There are cases such as spin-off novels centering on Portgas D. Ace and Trafalgar D. Law, as both characters are well-loved among fans. While these spin-offs aren’t written by Eiichiro Oda, they are supervised and published officially, which is one of the reasons why the novels are so popular. However, just like those two, a few more characters deserve spin-offs like that, including the five mentioned in the list.
5) Boa Hancock
Known far and wide as the most beautiful woman, the leader of the Kuja Pirates, and a former Warlord, Boa Hancock has gone through several trials to reach this point. Forced into slavery as a young girl along with her sisters, she escaped that hell thanks to Fisher Tiger. Later, she climbed through the ranks in order to protect everyone at Amazon Lily. Boa was forced to consume the Love-Love Fruit by a Celestial Dragon, and she turned it into one of the greatest powers in the world. The manga only scratches the surface of the life this powerful and amazing woman lived, which is why her journey deserves a full exploration of every major event that went down in her life.
4) Kozuki Oden
Oden is one of the greatest samurai Wano has ever seen, and his journey is nothing short of legendary. As the only son of the Kozuki Clan head, Oden had great responsibilities on his shoulders, but he wasn’t one to be tied down by anyone. He sailed across the sea with Whitebeard before briefly joining Roger’s crew. Oden is one of the few people in the world who reached Laugh Tale, and it was his ability to read the Poneglyphs that made it all possible. His backstory is one of the best in the series, but it does feel like there were a lot of things about his journey that fans would’ve loved had they been explored more.
3) Montblanc Noland
Despite being one of the greatest adventurers in history, Noland was turned into nothing but a liar who bragged about a city of gold. He lived around 400 years ago, exploring the world until he reached an island full of traces of an ancient era, where he met Calgara, a warrior from the island. After leaving the island, he told his king about Shandora, hoping to find a partnership between both sides. Unfortunately, Noland was executed by the greedy king for the crime of deceiving him, without ever knowing what happened to his friend’s island. The island he spoke about was shot up by the Knock-Up Stream and settled there, leading to many tragedies over the centuries.
2) Nico Robin
One Piece’s best girl, Nico Robin, has one of the most tragic backstories in the series. The Ohara Incident was only the beginning of her misery, as she spent 20 years of her life hiding and running from the World Government. She barely survived in the world as a child who was perceived as an enemy by everyone around her. While the series mentioned how she joined several organizations or criminals to survive, it didn’t reveal enough about the days she lived before meeting Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates.
1) Bartholomew Kuma
The manga pretty much covered Kuma’s entire life from his birth to the tragedy that led him to transition into a Pacifista. Even so, it leaves a lot of room for his story to be explored, including the years he lived with Ginny, the missions he went on as a Revolutionary, and the time he spent being the greatest father a child could ask for. Kuma’s story isn’t just heart-wrenching, but also crucial, as it shows a new and dark side of the world that fans never expected.
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