 Hello and welcome to the Grand Line Review, your source for everything One Piece. Today we are going to be incredibly subjective for this here Top 5 list as we are going to discuss my favorite characters in the series. And I thought I'd do this because some of the most interesting comments I get on the channel are when I talk about a particular character and then all of these people just spring up and say oh they're my favorite character and I'm usually just like what really them? But hey given how expansive the One Piece world is there is almost certainly a character out there for every individual. However that can also make it very difficult to choose one's favorite characters but I think I've managed to do it for now anyway. And so the criteria for this list is as follows. I need to like the character enough to put them here that's pretty much it. So this will more than likely be the most subjective list I've made on this channel and hopefully therefore be immune from complaining. And furthermore all characters on this list will be canon because well I don't really need a reason this time but I guarantee you that they definitely all will be. But with that out of the way let's begin. Welcome to my top five favorite characters in One Piece. Number five. Dolflamingo. From the moment the Heavenly Demon stepped into the series all the way back in the giant arc he captured and held my attention for the next uh how long have I been reading the series again 12, 13, 14 years? Somewhere in there. But a lot of Dolflamingo's initial appeal to me was his aesthetic. There is something very intriguing about someone who permanently smiles especially one with such clear ill intent. But the other main appeal of Dolflamingo was the sheer amount of mystery surrounding him. Now I get that in 2019 this character has been explored pretty much to completion and for new One Piece fans this feeling probably doesn't exist. But prior to the whole punk hazard dress-roser business Dolflamingo was a looming and threatening presence in the world. His motives and goals entirely unknown and yet this damn Charlie Roger just kept appearing and I needed to know more. So when he did finally get his chance to become the main antagonist in the New World era I was all for it. And personally while the dress-roser arc does have issues Dolflamingo did not disappoint me whatsoever. He proved to be an incredibly powerful opponent with an intriguing past and just a well-rounded character. He might not be for everyone but he made one hell of an impact on me. Number four. Crocodile. Here's another form of villain who made a big impression on me in the classic era of One Piece. In fact just for some context when I started reading weekly we just begun the anti-slobby arc. So at the time Crocodile was kind of seen as the definitive villain of One Piece. Far more powerful than his predecessors of East Blue, far more intelligent than Anel and we had yet to see what Rob Lucci would bring to the table. So Crocodile reigned supreme as the face of antagonists in One Piece. His design was amazing the sort of suave mafioso look with the massive golden hook and his devil fruit abilities were serious business. I mean sure his powers may feel a bit lacking these days but the way he wielded the Sooner Sooner No Mi was creative, fearsome and an aesthetic treat to watch in action. Plus I would also say that one of my favorite parts of Crocodile is his voice in the anime. It's just so gruff, unique and suits the character perfectly. And look the dude's just cool. And I could not be more thrilled whenever he re-enters the story which is nowhere near often enough, especially in the new world era. Number three, Charlotte Katakuri. Here we have a very recent addition to this ball in the grand scheme of things and I feel like it's a huge tribute to Oda that two decades after beginning a series he can still consistently come up with characters who are able to completely blow me away. I mean this guy really has no right to be as cool as he is. He rocked up halfway into Holcake Island and just completely stole the show through a combination of fantastic design and incredible abilities and as the arc went on an ever unfolding personality. The journey that Katakuri's character went on is incredible and I won't restate it here because I have a 15 minute or so video detailing it all, but by the end of the arc there was no way that I could really call Katakuri an antagonist, at least not in the same vein as previous characters on this list. I found myself rooting for him and Luffy equally, satisfied by the idea of either one of them emerging victorious in their fight. It does also greatly help that his fight with Luffy, which come to think of it makes up the large majority of his involvement in the series as far, was some of the most superbly choreographed action I have ever seen crafted on a manga page. And as much as I often felt like the climax of Holcake Island was going on a bit too long, there was never a dull moment when this character came into focus and as a result, in my subjective eyes, Katakuri has more than earned his place here today. 2. Monkey D. Luffy Pretty difficult to go past this one, as Luffy has carried the series to glory on his shoulder for over two decades now and for very good reason. Despite being a seemingly tropey shounen main character, Luffy always finds a way to surprise me, be it with his stupidity, directness, or on the odd occasion, brilliant left field thinking. And of course Luffy is also a visual feast to watch in combat. I don't think there's ever been a Luffy fight that's conjured a shred of disappointment to me and a lot of that credit is due to the way that Oda has thought about Luffy over the course of the series. I mean it's crazy to think that a man with such a simple ability can evolve himself so consistently and maintain long term interest. But the bulk of the charm in regards to Luffy comes from his sheer determination and lack of concern for what anybody else thinks of him. It's very difficult not to like a character who relentlessly pursues their dreams no matter what obstacles stand in their way, as we've seen time after time in the grand line. Luffy consistently conquers the impossible through sheer force of will and his character really does serve as a personal inspiration for me and as a result how could he possibly not be on this list. And yet with all of that said there's still one character left who far and away claims the title of number one, Charlotte Pudding. Just kidding it's uh it's obviously Zora. If you've been watching this channel for any stretch of time this will probably not come as any surprise to you whatsoever but for me I credit Zora as the entire reason why I began reading and watching the series to begin with. Basically the old story goes that one day I was flipping through channels and I caught sight of this dude bruh wielding three swords and as a result I began watching the four kids dub of one piece. That's right Zora was so awesome to me that for quite some time I put up with that truly horrendous dub because even that could not ruin him. But beyond amazingly cool design I'd have to say that the main factor in enjoying his character is his simplicity. Kind of like Luffy he's a man relentlessly driven towards one goal and he gives no shits whatsoever about what anyone has to say about it. But he does also have a couple of great character quirks like always getting lost or being a raging alcoholic that helps balance out the more often than not serious demeanor that Zora sports. And I don't really know what else I can say really. Any time Zora is involved in the story it piques my attention and he very constantly delivers on fantastic action, comedy, and general amazingness. And while that probably makes me sound like a Zora fanboy I can't really deny that either. It's that simple and it is for all of my subjective reasoning that Zora finds his way to the top of this list. But that pretty much does it for my top five favorite characters in One Piece. If you enjoyed this video and the content this channel produces in general then please do consider donating to the Grand Line Review Patreon because the support of all of your amazing people is what continues to make this channel possible. 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