 Sacrifice is one of those necessary human experiences and sometimes they can even bring great benefit. For example, if you were to sacrifice, say five seconds of your time today to subscribe to the Grand Line Review, then it will result in a lifetime of regular One Piece content uploaded straight into your YouTube feed. Hello and welcome to the Grand Line Review, your source for everything One Piece and today we are going to be diving deep into some of the old feels because I would like to discuss the most profound sacrifices in the series. That's because for all of the great action and comedy on offer in One Piece, something that has come to characterize the emotional core of the series, are heartfelt actions committed for the sake of others. And just to get some more detailed semantics out of the way, when I say the word sacrifice, I am referring to an action engaged in by a character for the benefit of another, with the knowledge that it will come a great personal cost. Now that personal cost, yes, might be the character's life but sacrifice doesn't necessarily need to be quite that extreme. It could be the loss of literally anything of value, be it physical or even conceptual, like say a sacrifice of freedom. An example of which would be Niko Robin turning herself over to the world government in order to save the lives of the straw hats. That is a sacrifice right there. It won't be on this list, but that is indeed sacrifice. And the other key thing that I'm looking for here today is the making of an extremely difficult decision. The likes of which none of us would ever encounter in daily life, or at the very least, I hope we don't encounter them. So we're talking about impossibly tragic situations here but with a gigantic glint of hope. And there is, for better or worse, no shortage of those in One Piece. And as a result, this list won't even come close to covering the sheer quantity of sacrifice that has been made in this world. So if you don't see an example that stands out in your mind here, then please do leave your instance of profound sacrifice in the comments below. But with that out of the way, let's begin. Welcome to the top five sacrifices in One Piece. Number five, Zorro. To commence proceedings here today, we are going to delve into the Florian Triangle to discover a particularly desperate situation that occurred during the events of Thriller Bark whereby after a brutal battle to dispatch Warlord of the Sea Gecko Moria, the Straw Hats were immediately assailed by another Warlord being Bartholomew Kuma. And without the benefit of knowing how things play out, this was a potentially journey-ending moment for everyone involved. There was absolutely nobody who held the strength to take on a second Warlord in quick succession and in fact, by this point, Luffy wasn't even conscious. So things fell to our second in command, Mr. Zorro. And after a mostly fruitless segment of combat, Kuma struck a deal with the swordsmen which was that he would let them go free if Zorro agreed to take in all of Luffy's pain and fatigue. And given what even a brief taste of this did, this was a proposition of certain death. But what I love about this moment so much is that Zorro was immediately willing to abandon his own dreams and ambitions in order to protect those of his captain. It shows a true level of respect and friendship that sure, we all knew it'd been there for quite some time, but this was the true test of that bond. And we'll say though, it wasn't just Zorro willing to do this, Sanji also stood up and volunteered to sacrifice himself for Luffy and the others, but Zorro in true second in command fashion knocked Sanji out and protected his fellow crewmate, which in some ways isn't even grand a statement than his loyalty to Luffy, because in any other situation, these two tend to comically despise each other. And then it happened. Zorro absorbed all of Luffy's pain and it ripped him to shreds, causing wounds that no opponent could ever hope to inflict on this man. And it even came within an inch of costing Zorro his life. And the only real explanation I can give for Zorro remaining in this world is his sheer tenacity and mental fortitude, because not only did he remain alive, but he stayed standing until the rest of the crew regained consciousness, like an immortal guard ensuring their safety. This is one of the many moments that really solidified Zorro as my favorite character in the series, and it is one of the great examples of sacrifice in one piece. Number four, Shanks. Next up, we have the OG sacrifice, one of the crowning moments of the very first chapter, as well as one forever cemented in history going forward. And honestly, looking back on this action in chapter one, only becomes more powerful the more we learn about Shanks. But even without any of that knowledge, this event doesn't lose any of its potency, and more than two decades on, it retains every bit of emotional resonance than it had when we first experienced it. There's just something so powerful about Shanks willingly leaping into harm's way and casually giving up an arm to save the life of a young Luffy. And not only that, but Shanks also commits this action with a smile on his face, as if it was the obvious choice to make. And he is just so glad that this situation was resolved without an even greater cost to either Luffy or himself. In fact, he even goes on to say that an arm is a small price to pay, which with the benefit of what we know now, can only lead to the conclusion that that was indeed true. This one arm was not only a sacrifice, but an investment in the future of the world. But it's simply incredible to read or watch this and have Shanks continue to mentor Luffy as what was his left arm was rapidly bleeding out. It speaks volumes about Shanks, a man who we still really know almost nothing about. However, what we do know is that he is a man of great honor and honesty. Because even if the Luffy parallels to Roger weren't so clear in his mind, I still think that he would have done this. If Luffy was literally just some random village boy with no world-changing future ahead, Shanks still seems like the kind of guy who would go all out and save his life. And in doing so, he lost a huge part of himself, although he did still manage to become an emperor of the sea after this event. But who knows what kind of even greater power how Shanks could have become with this arm intact. However, that is the nature of sacrifice. Shanks was willing and able to part with one of his limbs if only to ensure the safety of one rubber boy. Which is why the name Shanks in my mind will always be synonymous with the word sacrifice. Number three, Zeph. All right, time for some flashback territory now. And the tale of Zeph and Sanji is a staple of one piece, even if it does differ pretty radically between the anime and manga versions. Here's the deal though. No matter which incarnation of this you are familiar with, it still hits pretty damn hard. Especially when you consider the kind of grizzled pirate that Zeph was. He was a rough captain with quite the volatile temperament and seemingly no sense of mercy for the world around him. That is until he met one young lad who just so happened to share the same dream that Zeph himself had held. Which was of course to find the legendary all blue. And after hearing that, Zeph just completely broke his pirate facade choosing to risk his own life to save that of a boy that he had only just met. And as for the cost, well, it would be his leg. Which was pretty important for a man whose epithet was red a leg Zeph. It really should not be underestimated just how essential this one limb was to Zeph. It was everything to him as a pirate. And in the anime version, he made the decision to part with it fairly instantaneously as it was caught. And in order to save both Sanji and himself he needed to sever it. However, in the manga, this would be a more calculated endeavor. As Zeph did manage to save Sanji with his leg intact. However, after nobly giving all of the food to Sanji and faced with the prospect of starvation Zeph made an incredibly emotionally charged decision to sacrifice his own leg and eat it. Which he achieved by violently severing it with a rock. And that is the event that I subscribed to and not just because it's manga canon but because it shows Zeph making the active calculated choice to sacrifice his leg rather than in the anime where the loss of his leg was more or less of an incidental occurrence. In the anime, Zeph had to get rid of it in order to save his own life. In the manga, Zeph was faced with a choice but the manga lands with me a lot more powerfully especially with Zeph's final words as he engages in the act which were so this is the end of Zeph's red leg. But in either case, Zeph was willing to lose everything to save Sanji whether it be protecting him from the storm or making sure that he lived through their experience being stranded on the outcrop. Manga, anime, whatever. It was a truly stunning display of classic one piece sacrifice. Number two, Pedro. Finally stepping into some more recent post timeskippy events now but unfortunately I am here to present the tragedy of one of the most lovable members of the Ming tribe. And it's really interesting to look back on because Pedro begins his time in the series as quite the tough guy presence much like Zeph. But as you get to know him, Pedro becomes very easy to empathize with and in fact, Pedro is a man of multiple sacrifices in the series with the one that originally came to characterize him being when he ripped out his own eye to assist in paying back some debt to Big Mom which allowed him to escape total land the first time around. His second visit to this territory would not end in the same way. Although Pedro always held the philosophy that he would choose his own resting place. And when the thousand sonny was trapped by the abilities of Charlotte Parrispero Pedro made that decision deciding that his own life was inconsequential compared to that of the straw hats and leaving carrot with his inherited will to see through the dawn of the world. And I will say that the fact that this takes place outside of a flashback context only adds weight to this sacrifice because it was that much more unexpected and powerful because flashbacks are tragically beautiful stories but we all know how they're going to end and tragedy is guaranteed to occur. However, we did not know that Pedro situation was guaranteed. As with almost everyone on this list including our number one contender Pedro did not even struggle with this decision and he had come to total land knowing in advance that this was going to be his final journey. Now that isn't to say that he was actively seeking out death but he was more than willing to do what was needed to ensure the safety of the straw hats which resulted in one of the most memorable acts of whole cake Island as well as the entirety of the post timescape era. But even with all of that in mind we still need to examine number one, Belmere. Stepping back into classic one piece we have what I would posit to be the ultimate example of sacrifice in the series contained within one of the most tragic and effective flashbacks ever put to page by order. And the thing that always gets me regarding Belmere is that this was not a simple matter of trading her life for the safety of Nami and Nojiko at the webbed hands of a fisherman tyrant. This decision runs so much deeper because remember that Nami and Nojiko are Belmere's adopted children. They were found on a battlefield and rescued by the former Marine and as such a big part of Nami's flashback story was her being discontent with the thought of being brought into this family rather than a rich one. But ultimately coming to realize that all she wanted was to live peacefully with Belmere. It says a lot about the lack of a need for a blood bond because Nami and Nojiko were Belmere's children. And when faced with the idea of keeping them secret and denying the fact that she was a mother Belmere's love and pride for her children simply could not stomach that thought. Now if you look at this situation from a purely logical perspective then this is arguably quite a foolish decision but the world of sacrifice is rarely about logic. Look at any of the examples on this list and you will find very little logic in the actions of those featured. It's primarily about emotion and expression culminating in a grand act of sacrifice. And it's also not quite as simple as thinking logically either because Nami and Nojiko provided Belmere with a reason to not just die right then and there on the battlefield. She made the decision to live for them and so she would naturally make the decision to die for them as well. Allowing them to live in what Belmere thought would be safety. And yes, it is easy to judge her actions knowing what Arlong would go on to do to Nami but Belmere thought that she was securing their futures and keeping their lives from danger should they ever be discovered as well as protecting them by not forcing them to flee the village and live on their own in the outside world. It's heartbreaking, it really is but hey, that is sacrifice. And in this instance, Belmere will likely always represent the pinnacle of that concept in one piece. But what do you guys think? Please do leave your thoughts in the comments below or even join my discord server. And if you'd like to see more videos like this then please do go and check out some of my other content or even subscribe to the channel for more glorious one piece business uploaded straight into YouTube feeds. But for now, this has been the ground line review and I'll see you next time.