The story of One Piece follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy on his way to becoming King of the Pirates. Everywhere he goes he seems to make friends and enemies alike, introducing fans to countless unique characters. So many of these characters have intricate backstories we often get to explore through flashbacks or have to piece together ourselves through their interactions with other characters.
A character's importance to the overall storyline can change very quickly, some characters we thought to never see again returned in completely unexpected ways and have even saved the day before. Other times, however, characters thought for sure to return, or at least be mentioned later, have dropped off completely. These are 10 characters fans have not seen in a while.
10 Axe-Hand Morgan
Axe-Hand Morgan was Captain of the 153rd Branch of the Marines, where he ruled with an iron fist over his fellow Marines and the surrounding Shells Town. Morgan's reign of tyranny came to an abrupt end when he was cut down by the recently freed Roronoa Zoro. After his defeat, Morgan was arrested by the very Marines he commanded.
While being transported, Morgan manages to escape from the renowned Vice-Admiral Garp, taking his son Helmeppo hostage in the process. Helmeppo was able to swim back to Garp's ship and Morgan sailed off in his new lifeboat. He last appears during Jango's "Dance Paradise," napping in the same stolen lifeboat. His current whereabouts are unknown.
9 Captain Kuro/The Black Cat Pirates
After spending years posing as a butler, Klahadore is revealed to be Captain Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates, and the main antagonist of the Syrup Village Arc. Kuro had planned to assassinate his employer and steal her fortune for himself. He unleashes the Black Cat Pirates upon the island, only to be defeated by Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Usopp.
Kuro returns to being Captain of the Black Cat Pirates after he himself is defeated by Luffy. Fans last saw Kuro in the Loguetown Arc, where he was notified of Luffy's newly placed bounty. As he did not show much interest and hated being chased by the Marines, that's probably the last fans will see of the Black Cat Pirates.
8 Don Krieg/ The Krieg Pirates
Although most fans are probably glad to have never heard from the Krieg Pirates again, it is a little sad Sanji and Gin may never have their heavily implied reunion. When introduced, Krieg is believed to be the strongest man in the East Blue. However, having recently met Dracule Mihawk on the Grand Line, Krieg was near death and starving as he barely arrived at the Baratie Restaurant.
After being fed by Sanji and Zeff, Krieg quickly regains his strength and decides to take the sailing restaurant as his newest ship. He is met with heavy resistance by the fighting cooks of the Baratie and the newly hired/enslaved Luffy. Having been defeated by Luffy, Krieg is carried off by his commander Gin, never to be heard from again. The Krieg Pirates have never even been featured a cover story.
7 Arlong/The Arlong Pirates
One of the best villains of the entire series, Arlong was Luffy's biggest test of the East Blue Saga. Even the Marines were powerless against the Arlong Pirates, showing them to truly be the strongest group in the East Blue at that time. Despite this, Arlong and his officers are defeated by the Straw-Hat Pirates, liberating the island's inhabitants in the process.
The Arlong Pirates are later arrested by the Marines, with the exception of Hatchan who manages to escape. Fans get a brief glimpse of Arlong through flashbacks later on in the series but his current whereabouts are unknown. His reappearance could be very interesting, especially given his history with Nami and Jinbe.
6 Nezumi
Nezumi is a very short-lived antagonist from the Arlong Park Arc. The corrupt Captain of the 16th Branch of the Marines was shown taking bribes to ignore the crimes of the Arlong Pirates. He even went as far as to steal Nami's money for Arlong, destroying Bellemere's orange grove in the process.
Shortly after the defeat of the Arlong Pirates, Nezumi arrived to take the credit from the Straw-Hats. He and his men were quickly beaten by Roronoa Zoro and Nami. Nezumi is last shown reporting to his superiors, personally requesting a bounty to be placed on Luffy.
5 Daz Bonez
Daz Bonez is a well-known bounty hunter from the West Blue and a former Officer Agent of Baroque Works. In a failed attempt to take over Alabasta, Daz was defeated by Roronoa Zoro and sent to Impel Down. He reappears during the Impel Down Arc, participating in the mass breakout and then the Summit War at MarineFord.
Following the war he is shown with Crocodile somewhere in the Grand Line, agreeing to enter the New World. Crocodile was shown during the Dressrosa Arc but Daz was left out of that scene, making his last known appearance before the time skip. Still, the return of Crocodile and Daz is very likely to occur and highly anticipated.
4 Hachi
Most fans have not forgotten about Hachi. Once the second best swordsman of Fishman Island, he was defeated by Roronoa Zoro. After the Arlong Pirate's arrest, he was able to escape the Marines and later became an ally to the Straw Hats.
Since the time skip, Hachi has retired, having been injured protecting the Sunny. He met with the Straw Hats again on Fishman Island and was last seen bidding them farewell. It is likely fans will get to see Hachi again as he is now a long-standing ally of Luffy's.
3 Duval
Duval is the leader of the Rosy Life Riders, formally a gang of slave traders called the Flying Fish Riders, and is initially an enemy of the Straw Hat Pirates. Having lured the Straw Hats into a trap during the Sabaody Archipelago Arc, his face was beaten and rearranged by Sanji, making him beautiful. Duval then stopped fighting and instead became an ally of everybody's favorite pirates.
Fans can thank Duval and his gang for protecting the Thousand Sunny during the time skip. Besides that, however, he did not do much and hasn't been featured since the Straw Hat's return to Saboady Archipelago. Duval becoming a player in the main storyline seems unlikely for now.
2 The Yeti Cool Brothers
Having only appeared in the Punk Hazard Arc, Scotch and Rocks, are two of the most mysterious characters to be featured in the series. Their faces have never even been shown. The giant, rifle-wielding assassins were dispatched by Cesar Clown to eliminate the Straw Hats, failing rather miserably.
Rocks was knocked out by Franky (in Chopper's body). Scotch is then betrayed and incapacitated by Trafalgar Law, having been cut in half at the waist by Law's powers. The Yeti Cool Brothers' status remains unknown. Their return could prove interesting although they are unlikely to come back into play.
1 Urouge
Introduced with the rest of the Worst Generation (minus Blackbeard) at Sabaody Archipelago, Urouge is the only known pirate to hail from a sky island. At that time had the lowest bounty of all the Supernova. After the time skip, however, he has proven to be rather strong, defeating one of Big Mom's Sweet Commanders.
Fan's last sighting of Urouge was just after the Dressrosa Arc. He was recovering from some serious wounds on a sky island and watched as Kaido jumped from the island. Only featured a handful of times, Urouge is the least explored character of the Worst Generation so far. As we currently know very little about him it should be interesting to see how he fits into the One Piece story later on.
