One Piece Legendary Moments (Before the Timeskip)

Eiichiro Oda's legendary manga One Piece has been shaking the world for more than 20 years now. Monkey D. Luffy's journey to becoming the Pirate King has captured the hearts of many souls all over the world. One Piece has more than 1000 episodes after the anime and it looks like the roads are still unfinished. Therefore, a trip to memory lanes can recapture the most dramatic, daring, and epic moments that touched the hearts of One Piece fans.

Zoro's Duel Against Mihawk

At the beginning of the series, the characters that introduce has relatively convenient in terms of overall strength. Neither villains like Don Krieg, who has the east blue's greatest armada, nor even Arlong, who has the highest bounty in the region, can push the Strawhats Pirates to their limits. Except for Dracule "Hawkeye" Mihawk. Mihawk has the title of "World's Greatest Swordsman," which Zoro wants to achieve. Mihawk was also known for his infamous duels with Red-Haired Shanks, one of the Four Emperors of the Seas. He is also one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. As one might guess, he is pretty powerful. Mihawk was the first Yonkou (Emperor of the Sea) level character introduced in the anime. The power levels between himself and the other characters introduced at the time were simply incomparable. When Mihawk first encounters the Strawhats in the Baratie Arc, he wastes no time showing the difference in power between himself and the others. Zoro challenged him to a duel, which created one of the most humiliating fights to be animated in One Piece. When Zoro asked why Mihawk used a small knife against him, Mihawk replied, "I'm not a beast that goes all out when hunting a rabbit." Mihawk not only beat Zoro, but he also humiliated and even traumatized him. The duel ended within minutes as the Swordsmen of the Strawhats Pirates persona changed forever.

Strawhats Declaration of War on World Government

Ennies Lobby Arc is arguably one of the greatest arcs in One Piece anime. The fan favor arc has lots of ups and downs; losing Going Merry, Usopp leaving the crew, Robin's sacrifice, the showdown between Luffy and Rob Lucci, and so on... Hence, between all these memorable scenes, there is one that takes the spotlight into itself. After finding out the real reason behind Nico Robin's betrayal, which is saved them from the World Government's wrath, the Strawhats Pirates relentless pursuit her deep into the Ennies Lobby, one of the three strongholds of the World Government and home of the government's secret services unit CPO9. Despite Robin's efforts, they make them turn back, the whole crew just burns the world instead of turning their back on another crewmate. Robin warned them about the consequences of going up against the World Government if the crew continues to pursue her, the Government's top target for nearly 25 years. Luffy's answer to that statement creates one of the most iconic and powerful One Piece scenes and shocks the world.

Shanks Stops the War

Marineford War Arc is arguably the greatest arc in One Piece Anime before the time skip. Even the substitute arcs like Impel Down Arc were legendary. Marineford War breaks down after Marshall D. Teach aka the Blackbeard captured Portagaz D. Ace, Luffy's blood brother and Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. Even with all his titles and having very strong friends, Ace's true heritage creates a mortal danger to the World Government. Ace is the son of Gol D. Roger, the deceased King of the Pirates, which means he has a potential that no other pirates possessed, and brings unity to the pirate crews. His execution plan brings down two of the most powerful groups against each other, the Navy with its all might versus the Whitebeard Pirates with their follower pirate crews. Marineford War arc introduces us with the so many important and brand new characters such as Admiral Akainu, Kizaru, the legendary pirate Edward Newgate aka Whitebeard, Marco the Phoenix, and feature with characters already introduced during the series like Sir Crocodile and Mihawk, all in action. Tension, drama, action, betrayal, and heroic saves, all in one arc, are given to the One Piece fans. All these dramatic ups and downs, sadness and shock with so many scenes yet none of them were anywhere near Shanks's entrance to war, the Red-Haired Pirates' captain has his own level of badassness between him and the other characters. During the most critical hour, the main protagonist's life is on the line, Shanks and his Red-Haired Pirates single-handedly stop the war and challenge everyone still willing to fight.

Last Stand of the Whitebeard

As mentioned above, Marineford War Arc spawns tons of epic, dramatic, and chivalrous moments. The last stand of the Whitebeard has proven to have all these qualities and has put fans on an emotional roller coaster. Edward ''Whitebeard'' Newgate, also known as the ''Strongest Men in the World'', was the strongest character in the One Piece Anime during the Marineford War Arc. Whitebeard has all types of advanced haki and eaten the gura gura no mi ( Earthquake Devil Fruit), and has the probably most experienced and crowest crew in the world. He has the highest seen bounty which is 5,046,000,000 berries and is widely known as the rival of Gol D. Roger the king of the Pirates. Without a doubt, Whitebeard is a living legend feared by all marines and pirates. During the war, Whitebeard has taken 267 sword wounds, was shoot by 152 bullets, and was hit by 46 cannonballs. Yet what he does before his death is even more epic, befitting last words for a legend like him.

Nothing Happened

The infamous ''Nothing Happened'' scene may not be created by the most powerful characters nor the main protagonist, but still it was the most badass scene maybe ever animated in One Piece. After the Thriller Park Arc, the Strawhats Pirates were chased by one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Barthamelow Kuma. Kuma's singular target was none other than the captain of the Stawhats Pirates Monkey. D. Luffy. Yet Kuma seems to have relatively fair judgment compared to other navy officers, even though he was quite stronger than the Strawhats. Strawhats gives an adequate challenge to Kuma, yet with Luffy passed out, the fight became more and more one-sided. In the end, Kuma beat out nearly all of his opponents, except Zoro and Sanji. Kuma's main aim was killing Luffy, yet when he sees the determination of Zoro and Sanji's will to protect their captain, he offered another bargain for the future wings of the pirate king. He offers that if Zoro or Sanji will take Luffy's whole pain, he will spare them. After a little argument about who will do it, Zoro kindly eliminates Sanji. After a little time skip, the rest of the crew gets up not knowing Zoro's sacrifice to protect them. All except Sanji. The cook of the Strawhats Pirates immediately look after Marimo and found him covered by the blood. When Sanji asks what happened, Zoro's answer makes scene one to be remembered.