One Piece Has Never Had a More Noble Hero Than Oden

With the Wano Country Arc continuing at a fevered pace, we are given a bittersweet chapter of One Piece this time around that shows off just how noble the wandering samurai of Oden truly is. With this flashback story documenting the trials and tribulations of Oden as he left the country of his birth to explore the world of the Grand Line aboard the pirate ships of both Gol D. Roger and Whitebeard. Now, with the wandering ronin having returned to Wano, the revelation of his conversation with Orochi, the pint sized tyrant who has taken over Oden's land, the latest chapter shows just how strong of a character Oden truly is.

Warning! If you don't want to be spoiled on the latest chapter of One Piece, 971, turn back now as we'll be venturing into some serious spoiler territory in this article!

In the previous installment of One Piece, we left Oden as he had been captured by Kaido and the Beast Pirates while attempting to overtake the castle of Orochi and take back the land that was rightfully his. With him being placed into a prison cell alongside his vassals, Oden was given the punishment of being "boiled alive"! With the day of his execution having arrived, Oden stands for his punishment like a man and offers a deal to his captors: "If both himself and his vassals can survive in the boiling hot water for one hour, they will be set free."

Kaido, who believes that they will be killed almost instantly, agrees with laughing. The Captain of the Beast Pirates however underestimated the strength of Oden in both body and soul, as the Daimyo of Kuri not only withstands the boiling hot temperature after first entering, but holds up his vassals above the boiling pot on his shoulders.

With his vassal Shinobu revealing the conversation between Oden and Orochi, the crowd gathered learns that the tiny tyrant has been kidnapping hundreds of Wano citizens, forcing Oden to do what he wants to save their lives. Spending years as the "town idiot", Oden sacrificed his dignity to save the lives of his countryman, giving his all to save the land he calls home.

Do you agree that Oden is the most noble character to appear in One Piece? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the Straw Hat Pirates!

Eiichiro Oda's One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has since been collected into over 90 volumes, and has been a critical and commercial success worldwide with many of the volumes breaking printing records in Japan. The manga has even set a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author, and is the best-selling manga series worldwide with over 430 million copies sold.