Key takeaways
- Pecoms' fate remains uncertain after his betrayal and disappearance.
- Eustace Kidd and his crew may have met their end at the hands of Shanks, leaving fans in suspense.
- Big Mom and Kaido's presumed death in a volcano are controversial, with fans speculating on their possible return and next move.
As far as shonen goes, a piece There is a tendency to let loose and not have fun. Often, many characters and their stories continue in the cover stories, giving the reader some sort of idea of their status, should they return. Even previously presumed dead characters like Mr. 9 and Miss Monday are confirmed alive and well through this medium. However, even with its existence, many characters, especially in later arcs, are thrown into scenarios that throw their continued existence into question.
It seems strange at first. Oda rarely kills characters unless he deems it necessary, making confirmed deaths uncommon. When one considers the possibility that their reasonable return can be built upon the sidelines or more important information being revealed, there is a method to this madness. Here are some characters who, at present, their exact fate after the possible tragedy is unknown. Some may be dead or exist offscreen, but others will likely return.
5 Paycoms
Big Mom Pirate Warriors
Pekoms is a member of the Mink tribe, who traveled with the Nox pirates. However, after the crew insults Big Mom, some of their members are absorbed into a diverse crew of Big Mom pirates. Pekoms was one such member, first seen trying to extort payment from Fish-Man Island as part of his security racket. From then on, Pecoms was often placed in compromising situations, where he was used by the Straw Hats and their allies to aid them in their quest against Big Mother, but maintained some sort of loyalty to the crew, possibly out of fear.
However, after Pecoms' former crewmate Pedro is killed while defending the Straw Hats, he puts aside all his fears and attacks fellow Big Mom Pirates, who attempt to gouge out his eyes in retaliation, disabling his imaginary Sulong form. However, his exact fate after this battle is unknown. He does not appear after Betrayal, even in chapters where Big Mother Pirates and the Mink Tribe have some level of relevance. All that can be said for certain is that her betrayal was probably not received well by the Big Mother Pirates. It's unclear what will happen if Pecoms returns, mostly because he was suddenly written off. It's likely he'll either try to rejoin the Mink Tribe in some capacity, or else cast his lot with a team he believes can take on Big Mom.
4 Eustass the child
And baby pirates
Eustass Kid was a former small-time gangster, who decided to travel the world by forming the Kid Pirates with other ex-gangsters from Kutsukku Island. He was especially less concerned about civilian life and damage to surrounding areas, which gave Kidd a much higher reward than other supernovas. It's possible that this is because his primary known crew, the Killer, had a high enough bounty to qualify for the Worst Generation. However, he has teamed up with the likes of the Straw Hat Pirates and the Heart Pirates many times. It was a combined attack between him and Law that defeated the Big Mother.
However, after this great success on Onigashima, the Kid Pirates were quickly defeated by Shanks, Dory, and Broggy on Elbaf. This was a result of Shanks seeing the destruction they had let him attack and wanting to stop it as soon as possible. Although the crew is “totally destroyed”, some fans see this as a parallel to the destruction of the Straw Hats in the Kumale Sabaodi Archipelago.
As we now know, the Kid Pirates could have met their end that day. Still, their importance (namely that of the child and the killer) and the lack of a clear explanation as to their deaths leaves some fans hoping for a possible return. If Kidd and his team return, they will grudge against Shanks and Elbaf's giants. If they don't, they still serve as a lesson not to cross red-haired pirates.
3 Big Mom and Kaido
Two former emperors
Big Mom and Kaido have a history as members of the ill-fated Rocks Pirates team. Shortly after Charlotte reached Linlin Wano, the two decided to form an alliance once again. However, they were both defeated by the Supernovas, as Luffy was strong enough to defeat Kaido, and the combination of Kid and Law was enough to defeat Big Mother. The result was that the two pirates fell into a volcano and were stripped of their “Emperor” titles after they were presumed dead.
However, there is a controversy among fans regarding the current status of both. The informed and demonstrated levels of power the two shared convinced fans that even Lava wasn't enough to eat away at their resilience. That said, speculation about their further goals if they resurface is unclear. They will likely not be humbled by their defeat, and may try to reconnect with their team to once again establish some form of dominance. Fans specifically speculate that Big Mom may return to Elbaf, due to her own history with the island, but nothing concrete has been established at the moment as to whether or not the two will return.
2 Other heart pirates
Defeated by Blackbeard
Trafalgar D. Water Law was prepared to be a part of Donquixote pirates from an early age. However, he ends up bonding with double agent Donquixote Rosinante, who genuinely cares about his struggle with Amber Lead Syndrome. After Rosinante's death, Law swears revenge on Donquixote Doflamingo. From there, Law formed his own team, the Heart Pirates. Law worked with the Worst Generation crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, to defeat Doflamingo, resulting in his eventual prison sentence.
Law reunited with his own team, they formed an alliance with the Straw Hats to take on Kaido, whom Doflamingo had worked with before his imprisonment. However, it wasn't long after Kaido's defeat that the Heart Pierces ran into their own conflict. After a confrontation with another emperor, Blackbeard, and some of his captains, the Heart Pirates' submarine Polar Tang is destroyed. The only survivors of this attack were Law and his effective second-in-command, Bepo.
Unlike other pirates, it is relatively undisputed that the Heart Pirates were killed, at least in part because of the relative importance of their members. If this is indeed what happened, it may have influenced the law to be more apparently brutal in his piracy, as his name, Edward Lowe, seems. That said, Law's actions in the infamous Rocky Port incident may further indicate his penchant for brutality. Although his manpower is lacking for now, the Blackbeard Pirates have found a more formidable foe in Law.
1 Bartolomeo
and Barto Club
Bartolomeo is another ex-gangster turned pirate, leading the Barto Club. In this context, he is a monkey d. was particularly impressed by Luffy. Despite being a ruthless pirate, he gains a childlike sense of wonder when it comes to the Straw Hat Pirates. Teaming up with the crew to defeat Donquixote Doflamingo, Bartolomeo and several others decide to submit to the Straw Hats. Although Luffy refuses to have subordinate teams, they pledge themselves to him no matter what, and go on various adventures as a separate team. Bartolomeo is specifically depicted in the cover story as burning a flag in Shanks' territory. This was done without Luffy's permission, as he is particularly respectful of Shanks. This fact probably caught Bartolomeo off guard, as their friendship predates Luffy becoming an actual pirate, and has had limited contact with him since then.
This came to a head when the Red Hair Pirates traveled to the area, and made quick work of the club offscreen. One of Shanks' subordinates demands that Bartolomeo find out how to get Luffy to drink a bottle marked with poison. However, Bartolomeo drank himself instead, Luffy did not sign the subordinates and refused to make his idol suffer for the mistakes he had made. After drinking the bottle and discovering that it is not actually poison, Bartolomeo is relieved and quickly escapes with his team.
Shanks was satisfied with the results, wanting to test the crew's loyalty to Luffy. However, Yasop, one of Shanks' main crewmates, seemed insulted by how soft he found his captain and proceeded to shoot down his ship going Luffy-senpai. Parallel to Bartolomeo's own act of sabotage, this was also done without his captain's permission, as Shanks was surprised when Yassop launched the attack. The ship was destroyed and the status of the crew was left for an “unknown” time. It is unclear whether Bartolomeo or Barto will return to the club, but either way, this action may have cemented the groundwork for a feud between the Straw Hat Pirates and the Red Hair Pirates.
