If there’s one thing One Piece has always been infamous for, it’s the lack of deaths within the story. Despite how often heroes and villains alike are put in situations where there’s little reason why they shouldn’t die, One Piece will almost always have them survive for often contrived reasons, which often creates a lack of stakes in otherwise tense situations.

It’s one thing for One Piece to rarely ever kill anyone off, but even worse is its penchant for fake-out deaths. What’s even worse than not killing a character is making it seem like they died, only for the character to later be revealed to be fine, and sure enough, One Piece is infamous for its overabundance of fakeout deaths that often serve little purpose beyond drumming up dramatic tension. A few examples are particularly egregious, as while One Piece has gotten better about it in recent years, these examples perfectly show why it will always be a problem.

10 Bellamy

Death Teased In Chapter 303, Reversed In Chapter 704

Bellamy was first introduced as the antagonist of the Jaya arc, a cocky and sadistic pirate who looked down on Luffy for having dreams in an era when people had long since given up on that. After stealing Mont Blanc Cricket’s treasure, Luffy got revenge by taking Bellamy out in one punch, and at the end of the Skypiea arc, Doflamingo, whom Bellamy was a subordinate of, seemingly killed him for bringing shame to his flag.

Bellamy’s death seemed very cut and dry, but a decade later, the Dressrosa arc revealed that Bellamy survived and regained his standing within the Doflamingo Pirates, although Doflamingo still saw him as little more than a tool. It’s a very egregious example of One Piece’s tendency for fake-out deaths, but at the same time, the character development Bellamy received made him one of One Piece’s best-written characters, so his return worked plenty.

9 Pagaya

Death Teased In Chapter 272, Reversed In Chapter 300

Pagaya is Conis’ father and a ing character for the Skypiea arc. While the Straw Hats were looking for Shandora, Conis and Pagaya encountered one of Enel’s escaped prisoners who warned them that Enel would destroy Skypiea. Enel detected this with his Observation Haki and sent out a bolt of lightning to kill them, and at the last second, Pagaya pushed Conis away so that only he would get hit.

While Pagaya seemed unambiguously dead, after Enel’s defeat, it was revealed that Enel’s attack, rather than killing Pagaya, just knocked him into the White Sea where he was eventually rescued by the Angel Island escapees. Pagaya’s return was incredibly nonchalant to the point that it was played off as a joke, and it’s a classic example of how One Piece’s fake-out deaths often ruin the story’s dramatic tension.

8 Sabo

Death Teased In Chapters 588 & 1060, Reversed In Chapters 731 & 1082

Sabo is Luffy’s second brother, first revealed in a flashback to how Luffy and Ace became family following Ace’s death. Sabo was the son of a noble family in the Goa Kingdom, but he ran away because he hated how selfish everyone was, and he eventually bonded with Ace and Luffy to the point that the three of them saw each other as brothers.

Sabo is the victim of two different fake-out deaths: first, he seemingly died in the flashback arc, but he actually survived and was taken in by the Revolutionary Army, and most recently, Sabo was seemingly killed when Imu destroyed Lulusia, only for it to be revealed that he was nowhere near Lulusia when it was destroyed. In both cases, there was plenty of reason to think that Sabo was alive, but the fact that it happened twice for the same character still made it a problem.

7 Igaram

Death Teased In Chapter 113, Reversed In Chapter 180

Igaram is the captain of Alabasta’s royal guard and one of Vivi’s most loyal servants. Igaram ed Vivi in her infiltration of Baroque Works as Baroque Works agent Mr. 8, and when their identities were exposed, Igaram disguised himself as Vivi to create a diversion while she returned to Alabasta with the Straw Hats, only for his ship to be blown up by Miss All-Sunday i.e. Robin.

Igaram’s death was a dramatic moment in One Piece and worked to set the tone for the Baroque Works saga, but surprisingly, Igaram was suddenly revealed to be alive in the middle of the Alabasta arc. As nice as it was to see him alive, Igaram’s survival unquestionably ruined a lot of the dramatic tension of the arc, and it’s hard to not see it as a detriment to the story.

6 Pound

Death Teased In Chapter 887, Reversed In Chapter 979

Pound is one of Big Mom’s ex-husbands and the father to Lola and Chiffon. Pound became an ally to Luffy and Nami after learning of their connection to Lola, and near the end of the Whole Cake Island arc, Pound was seemingly killed by Oven after helping Bege and Chiffon escape his clutches, with Chiffon never realizing who he was all the while.

Pound’s death was framed as one of the most tragic moments in One Piece in years, but surprisingly, a One Piece cover story revealed that Pound miraculously survived and eventually reunited with Lola and Chiffon. As good a moment as that was, it still ruined an otherwise great death for the series, and it’s especially egregious when Pedro died in the same arc, yet his death appears to still be permanent after so many years.

5 Kanjuro

Death Teased In Chapters 986, 1014, & 1030, Reversed In Chapters 1008, 1030, & 1057

Kanjuro is a former member of the Akazaya Nine, Oden’s former retainers and the group believed to free Wano from Kaido and Orochi’s tyranny. Secretly, though, Kanjuro had been working with Orochi since before he met Oden to avenge the Kurozumi family, and his constant betrayals led to things like the near-destruction of the Mokomo Dukedom and, most notably, Oden’s death.

While the Wano arc does end with Kanjuro dead, it took far too long for that to happen, as One Piece repeatedly made it seem like Kanjuro was killed by someone, only for him to miraculously survive just to be beaten down again. Orochi’s constant survival was justified by the nature of his Devil Fruit, but Kanjuro had no excuse, and the way he overstayed his welcome made it hard to care when he finally died for real.

4 Kin’emon

Death Teased In Chapter 1015, Reversed In Chapter 1030

Kin’emon is the leader of the Akazaya Nine and Oden’s former second-in-command. Kin’emon was the one who made the Straw Hat Pirates aware of the threat of Kaido and Orochi, and after a few detours in Dressrosa, Zou, and Whole Cake Island, he eventually took control of the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance and led the final battle against Kaido and Orochi at Onigashima.

The Wano arc repeatedly teased the idea of Kin’emon dying, and that seemed to have come to fruition when he was killed by Kaido, but not long after, Kin’emon was revealed to have survived because his body wasn’t properly reattached after being broken up by Law, thus allowing his torso to slide around and avoid an otherwise fatal blow. Law’s Op-Op Fruit had never been shown to work like that before, so it’s hard to see it as anything other than a cheap means of keeping Kin’emon alive.

3 Vander Decken

Death Teased In Chapter 640, Reversed In Chapter 648

Vander Decken is one of the main antagonists of the Fishman Island arc, teaming up with Hody and the New Fishman Pirates to kidnap Shirahoshi and force her to marry him. After being rejected by Shirahoshi, Decken, in a fit of rage, used his Mark-Mark Fruit to send the giant ship Noah after Shirahoshi and destroy Fishman Island, and Hody decided to kill Decken so Noah’s descent could never be interrupted.

One Piece very unambiguously framed the situation with Noah as being a consequence of Vander Decken’s death, but after the defeat of the New Fishman Pirates, Vander Decken was revealed to have just lost consciousness as opposed to being killed, despite the severity of his injuries. Nothing about the story would have changed from Decken simply dying, so it’s hard to understand why One Piece didn’t just commit to that.

2 Jaguar D. Saul

Death Teased In Chapter 397, Reversed In Chapter 1066

Jaguar D. Saul is a giant and former Marine Vice-iral introduced in the flashback to Robin’s childhood. Saul left the Marines after disagreeing with their stance on the Poneglyphs and the archaeologists of Ohara who study them, and when Ohara was caught up in a Buster Call, he sacrificed himself to save Robin and push her to go out into the world and find friends.

Saul’s death was one of the saddest moments in all of One Piece, and to everyone’s surprise, One Piece’s Egghead arc revealed that Saul had survived the Buster Call all those years ago, with Saul making his proper return in the Elbaph arc. There was a decent enough explanation, and Robin and Saul’s reunion was very emotionally cathartic, but it doesn’t change how blatant a fake-out it turned Saul’s death into.

1 Pell

Death Teased In Chapter 208, Reversed In Chapter 217

Pell is one of Alabasta’s head guards and was a major ally in the fight against Baroque Works. When it was discovered that Crocodile planned to destroy the city of Alubarna with a powerful bomb, Pell, possessing a Devil Fruit that let him turn into a falcon, carried the bomb away from Alubarna moments before it went off, saving everyone at the cost of his life.

As unambiguous as Pell’s death appeared to be, by the end of the Alabasta arc, Pell was revealed to be alive with no explanation for his survival, despite being caught in an explosion that would have destroyed an entire city. Pell’s survival is by and large the worst and most egregious fake-out death in One Piece, and 20 years later, it’s still almost impossible to defend the pointlessness of it all.