Anime and manga aren’t necessarily the best producers of good parental figures. Despite being for young boys, shonen anime and manga are notorious for this. One Piece, in particular, has some of the worst parents. It ranges from the usual deadbeat father to the outright heinous crime against humanity.
You can argue that should be expected, as the series is literally about crimes and piracy. But surprisingly, being on the side of justice doesn’t equate to being a good parent. In fact, some of the best parents are pirates. Meanwhile, here are the ten worst parents in One Piece.
Monkey D. Dragon
The Revolutionary Army’s leader, Monkey D. Dragon, is good at liberating oppressed kingdoms, but he isn’t the best father around. He may be Luffy’s father, but Luffy didn’t even know of his existence until he became a pirate. Being the numb-headed idiot that he is, he thinks that he didn’t even have a father because Dragon left his family around Luffy’s birth and never looked back.
To be fair to the Revolutionary Army’s enigmatic leader, he did so knowing his stature. Being the so-called World’s Worst Criminal, being known as his son would only put his family in danger. Furthermore, he also saved Luffy from Smoker’s crutches in Loguetown. So, while he isn’t the ideal father, he is also not the worst of the bunch.
Yasopp
Yasopp is pretty much in the same league as Dragon, but worse. Yasopp has always wanted to sail the seas. When Shanks first invited him, he surprisingly refused. He then proceeded to get his partner pregnant, ultimately leading to Usopp. However, he did eventually wavered, went to get milk, and never looked back.
To be fair, he did join the Red-Hair Pirates, which is one of the strongest pirate crews in the series. But unlike Dragon, he doesn’t have a noble reason for leaving behind his child. He simply couldn’t resist the temptation of adventure. In fact, even Yasopp himself agrees he is an awful father.
Axe-Hand Morgan
Axe-Hand Morgan ruled his base in tyranny and saw any incompetent soldier as trash. Unsurprisingly, he holds the same sentiment even to his own blood. While he let Helmeppo do his own bidding — even abuse his authority as his son — Morgan only did so as he viewed hitting the boy as unworthy of his time. He further proved this when he ultimately smacked Helmeppo after the latter reported Luffy’s atrocities.
Even after all that, however, Helmeppo didn’t completely let go of his filial love. It was only when Morgan used Helmeppo’s affection toward him that the boy woke up to reality. When Morgan was being transported, he held his son hostage in the hopes of escaping. Unfortunately, his ploy didn’t succeed, proving only how trashy he is as a father and as a person.
Diez Barrels
Diez Barrels’ story is interesting. He used to be a noble Marine officer doing good deeds. In fact, his feats as a Marine officer spurred his son, X·Drake, to look up to him. Somewhere along the line, however, he strayed from the path of goodness. He turned to piracy and formed the Barrels Pirates. During that time, he also began to abuse his son. He not only physically hurt him but also treated him like a lackey.
Due to his abuse, X·Drake eventually lost all respect for his father. Fortunately, he was freed from his father’s crutches when his deal with Doflamingo on Minion Island went south.
Outlook III
Hearing the name Outlook III may not ring any bells, especially since his only role is to be one of the worst parents in One Piece. Outlook III is Sabo’s biological father and a noble of the Goa Kingdom. Much like most aristocrats, all he cared about was maintaining and elevating his social status. Unfortunately for him, Sabo was exactly the opposite. The young boy wanted freedom and adventure.
In Outlook III’s eyes, however, Sabo didn’t have any freedom of choice. He was just a tool for him to use. As such, he forced Sabo to study and do his bidding, with the ultimate goal of marrying a princess. Since he also looked down on commoners, he saw Luffy and Ace as nothing but trash. When Sabo disobeyed him, he threatened his son that he would kill the young boys.
Monkey D. Garp
Despite being mighty warriors, being a good parent doesn’t seem to be in the Monkey family’s blood. At the very least, their definition of goods is on the skewed side. Unlike the others on this list, the members of the Monkey family at least care for their brood.
Even though Garp’s parenting on Dragon hasn’t been shown in the series, we can hazard a guess from how he treated Luffy. Since Dragon went caput as a father, Garp has taken care of his grandchild. He wanted the boy to follow in his footsteps as a valiant Marine officer. Garp was aware of how dangerous the job could be, so building up strength was paramount. His means of doing that, however, was questionable at best.
Even before the age of six, he had already brought Luffy into dangerous situations. He threw him into a deep ravine, tied him to a balloon, and even left him alone in the wild. After Luffy acquired his Devil Fruit and was left behind by the Red-Hair Pirates, Garp made a group of mountain bandits take care of him. Unsurprisingly, it was the same thing he did to the young Ace.
Bingo
From this point onwards, bad parenting skills have taken up a notch. Arguably, the lightest offender among them is Bingo from Wano. He is another character you may not recognize at a glance. To be fair, he isn’t really someone noteworthy. However, that doesn’t make him less despicable as both a father and a human being.
Bingo worked as a monk and mortician. But alongside his accomplices Bungo and Bongo, he spiraled into darkness and started scamming others. They set fire to citizens’ homes and then charged the poor victims exorbitant prices. But how exactly does he belong in this list? Well, that’s because karma hit him in the form of Komurasaki. The renowned courtesan scammed Bingo, asking him for a cosmic amount in exchange for her supposed freedom. Afterward, she promised to elope with him.
To reach that amount, Bingo sold everyone in his possession, including his family.
Kaido
Kaido only had one child, Yamato. For all we know, he might have been a decent father to her during her younger days. However, things definitely changed when Yamato started following Oden’s footsteps.
As Oden’s greatest nemesis, Kaido couldn’t take that his child wanted to inherit his enemy’s will. He first tried to beat sense into the young child, and when that didn’t work, he threw her into the cave. However, it wasn’t any ordinary cave. It was where the most fearsome samurai — all of whom despised Kaido’s guts — were kept. To make matters worse, they were armed and famished, while Yamato was bound in chains. Fortunately, the imprisoned samurai were loyal to Oden and didn’t harm the child, claiming to be Oden himself.
Big Mom
Big Mom may have a big family, but she isn’t particularly a good mother. Despite growing in age, her demeanor never seemed to have outgrown being a young girl. Her big family was nothing more than the manifestation of her wanting to have a family consisting of all races. Furthermore, she was treated as mere underlings and henchmen.
She had no qualms about attacking them or even killing them on certain occasions should they fail to meet her expectations. In fact, she constantly hits Chiffon because she resembles her twin sister, Lola.
Vinsmoke Judge
Looking through this list, there is certainly no shortage of the worst kind of parents in One Piece. However, the one to take the crown as the worst of the worst is undeniably Vinsmoke Judge. He is the supreme commander of the Germa 66 and the patriarch of the Vinsmoke family. However, he isn’t just a strong warrior; he is also a bright mind.
He was a former member of the organization of geniuses MADS, and his work focused on Genetic Factors. The despicable thing about him is that he uses his own children as test subjects. Not only did he alter their genetics, but he also made it so that they were incapable of feeling emotions. For him, emotions would only hinder their combat ability. He even told his wife, Vinsmoke Sora, that he had no qualms about turning his children into monsters as long as they could win him wars.
Published: Nov 30, 2024 09:20 am