 From Senor Pink's tragic past that hides behind his hard-boiled exterior, Robin's sole survival due to a genocide enacted by the world government, Dr. Hero look who first showed chopper humanity and friendship, or Kuma who taught us all what it means to be a good father. One Piece has no shortage of brilliantly written backstories. In fact, many of them are so well written that it's impossible to choose just one best, one favorite backstory. But that's exactly what I asked your favorite One Piece content creators to do so that we can decide once and for all. Okay, maybe not once and for all. The series isn't over yet and I'm sure we still have banger backstories to come, but you know what I mean. So that we can decide at this point in time, what is the best backstory in all of One Piece. Hello Manaka Mataji, this is your girl and when I first endeavored to make this video, I asked your favorite One Piece YouTubers to tell me their favorite One Piece backstory and why. And I also promised everyone I asked that I would play a game with their video entries because my plan was to play a game of bingo and the person whose entry completed my bingo was going to be the winner of a very special prize. Which is why I also asked the Joyfleet to submit your answers as to your favorite backstory because I was going to use your answers to fill out my bingo card except I didn't account for two things. Firstly, we wouldn't be able to complete a bingo card because there were multiple people who voted for the same backstory because apparently asking for 25 backstories is just way too much. And secondly, there were double ups between your content creators as well, meaning that we can't play bingo. But I promised the game and damn it if I don't deliver, so here's what we're going to do. We're going to play a Joygirl version of Herd Mentality, basically the person or persons who submitted an answer that is the most popular answer will be the winner. And also to say thank you to those of you in the Joyfleet who did comment, all your names will be placed in a draw so that you too can win a special prize. So make sure to keep watching this video to see if you won. And now, without much further ado, let's get into the video. Starting with Joyboy Theories. What is my favorite backstory? That my friends is bait, cleverly disguised by Joygirl. I ask you, how are you supposed to pick a favorite? It is a flawed question. I'm throwing my challenge flag. So let's reverse Uno this in classic JB style and take the flashback you guys like the least and make you love it. I bet everybody tree-fitted that Usopp's flashback does not come up on anybody else's list. Why is that? It's plenty tragic. Our guy Yasopp said Sayonara on his way to the corner store, leaving Usopp's mother to struggle as a single parent until she got sick and died. And to make matters worse, the now orphaned Usopp is hardly tolerated by his village. His only friends are like half his age. Poor guy. So yeah, not sad enough for you? Didn't cry? Didn't really feel much of anything at all? Really? Kind of mid? Maybe some recontextualization will help. In a crew full of monsters, Usopp is the human. His abilities, his strengths, also human. So it's therefore fitting for Usopp to deal with his problems and deal with his trauma in a very human way. He imagines the world to be a better place. He sees things that aren't really there. He believes in what he needs to in order to keep the smile on his face. Everyone lies. You, me, even probably Joy Girl. Allegedly. Whether it's two other people or two ourselves. Usopp has embraced the reputation as a liar because he knows the truth. Lies just might have saved his soul. And so he has no issues healing others. It just so happens that along the way the strat crew and the story of one piece itself has made these fantasies into reality. I think that the entire story reflects Usopp's flashback. The power of imagination or dreams. This is what drives our heroes to save the world. No matter what happens, you know that Luffy can't lose his laugh, even in the face of death or whatever else might occur. So yeah, maybe Usopp's flashback didn't make you cry as hard as all of the others. But that was precisely the point. Usopp, even as a child, was just strong like that. In all of his human glory. And this is how you give a non-answer to a very beating question. You're welcome. I have to admit that Usopp was an answer that I was not expecting anyone to submit. And if we were playing a game of Scategories, I'm sure joyboy theories would have won. But we're actually playing the opposite game where we don't want to be cool and unique. And so I do have to take this opportunity to say, ha, JB, reverse you know, right back at ya. But irrespective of the game, I do really appreciate his very hot take. And the chance to appreciate Usopp from another angle. Okay, next up, BDA lore. Okay, so we have a lot of time. Actually, sir, we don't. So you need to hurry it up. JG has us on a strict schedule. Okay, so we don't have a lot of time. But I have some time to explain what my favorite backstory is. But first, what's the point of a backstory? I think it's to get us, the audience, to care about and understand a character. And this is before or after a character makes certain decisions. A backstory is necessary, in my opinion. It completes a character almost. Now that's not to say it's needed for every character to be good or great. But it certainly helps. Most of the best characters in one piece, we got a backstory. Now quickly, to show the importance context is for a character, just look at Brulee. Super annoying, most of the arc. Then we got a flashback with category for context, and I immediately understood her and their relationship. I don't even want to start with senior pink. But using that as a springboard, this leaves us with two backstories I think that are comparable based on my definition of what it means to be the best. ASL and Law's backstory. Or is it Doflamingos or Corazon? So Robin backstory makes me sad every single time. And Sanji's backstory just makes me want to give him a hug. Nami's backstory makes me wonder about the rights of Fishpin. And Zora's makes me question ever climbing stairs again. Unequivocally though, the best backstory is indeed Law's backstory. The simple reason is it completed three characters for the audience. We were wondering about the motivation behind Law's actions, but then his connection to Doflamingo, with the backstory also introducing a fan favorite like Corazon. It encapsulates what a backstory in my opinion is meant to do. And that is to have you in complete shambles once it's over. But to also understand these characters and their actions. Doflamingo being tormented, Corazon's connection with Law and Sengoku is all wrapped up with a nice bow, even with clever cameos from X Drake and his dad. Who he never avenged by the way. Either way, Robin's backstory makes me the most sad for whatever reason. I just hate it. Every time I see her and Olivia run right past each other. Sanji's, it truly breaks my heart. He was just trying to cook. While ASL, it was the most perfectly timed because after ASL's death, I wasn't sure what was happening. Law's flashback, though, is indeed the best in one piece. And guys, I don't, I don't have enough time or the strength to get into kumas right now. I lost count as to how many backstories were mentioned there. But I am in completely the same boat. There's no way to choose just one backstory. But good choice brago, Law is definitely a worthy pick. And as you say, it's utility in being able to develop three characters. Now that's a bargain. Let's see if Mr. Morge agrees. My favorite backstory is Kuma's backstory, largely because it feels like the final evolution of one piece backstories. So in general, one piece backstories tend to focus in on one phase of a character's life. Generally a traumatic experience from their childhood. But Kuma's backstory really was his full life story. Starting from birth, to childhood, to adulthood, to parenthood, and finally the end of his consciousness. It was the sweeping, comprehensive character journey that went through so many cycles of hardship, perseverance, and self-sacrifice. And because it was a more complete, fully realized journey that we got to stick with this character through, through all of these phases of his life, I found that the conclusion of Kuma's backstory was the most emotionally moved that I'd ever been reading the one piece manga. So yeah, I've got kumas as number one. Is it recency bias? Or is it just stellar writing? Because I also have to agree that Kuma's flashback makes a very good claim to being the best one piece backstory. He also makes a good case of being the best father in one piece. But that's another topic all together, which we're not gonna get into in this video. So let's hear from JD Legend instead. If I had to choose what my favorite backstory would be, it's at this point, it would, I would say it's the ASL flashback for sure. But at the same time, that Kuma flashback that I got is just so personal to me. It's hard to pick between the two. But let's just go with our recency bias and say this Kuma flashback that we've gotten is probably my favorite one. You know, for a plethora of reasons for the fact that a character that has been prevalent in the story for such a long time and been a part of a lot of major events for his story to be tied all together for us to see these events like Sabaody and Marine Ford and Amazon Lily for us to see these events in a different vein. The fact that his flashback impacts the story so aggressively makes me feel like not only is this the most impactful backstory that we have, but it's also the most relevant and emotionally taxing backstory I think we've received. Because the pain and suffering that Kuma went through, the character development of Kuma through this flashback, his relationship with Bonnie, the understanding of the revolutionaries, the understanding of the world, and dealing with the celestial dragons, and dealing with the girls. There was just so much to unpack and let's not even forget the man himself, like the man himself and what he went through and what he represents, you know, to me as a man of faith, what he exhibited is exactly what any person that has faith should operate at, you know, and that's why it's personal to me. It just came out and I'm just like, bro, like everything that I'm seeing from this backstory has personally impacted me and impacted the story in such a massive way, which is why it's got to be Kuma, bro. It's got to be Saint Kuma, man. The Church of Kuma is alive and we're here and I hope everyone else feels the same. Well, well, well, it seems that JD has officially started the game and Kuma's backstory is for now the most popular answer. But let's see if the others are willing to join the Church of Kuma. Next up, Marshall D. Preach. So I have two backstories I want to talk about. The first one I believe is the best backstory from a writing standpoint and the second one is the one that means the most to me personally. The best backstory in one piece has to be the Odin backstory. Odin was the centerpiece of the entire Wano story up to this point and his backstory exceeded our expectations in every possible way. Where some backstories like Laws or Asanji's focus mainly on the tragedy aspect, what I prefer about Odin's backstory is that his backstory was a true roller coaster of emotions and a fully fleshed out story of Odin's entire life. Every chapter felt so cinematic and overly dramatic like I was watching a compilation of the best parts of my favorite movie. We saw Odin's rise and fall and we even got cameos from Whitebeard and Roger. And to see the Roger Pirates travel the world searching for Ponyglyphs and even visit Laugh Tale was like a dream come true for all One Piece fans. The Odin still gave us what he does best in backstories, which just make us cry with an emotional story. In my eyes, Odin is the single best written character in One Piece and the moment that made me realize this was Odin is born to Boyle. I mean the wordplay that Odin set up with the phrase Odin Boyles is the greatest setup and payoff to one of the hardest hitting lines and emotional moments in One Piece. With Odin's death being him literally boiling to death, just like his favorite Odin's soup. I got legit goosebumps seeing this for the first time, seeing him sing into the boiling pot while smiling. Another example of Grey's storytelling was while the Scabbard's role was to hold up Odin's reputation even in the end, Odin was the one who continued where his story began saving them and literally holding up the Scabbard's over the boiling pot instead of the other way around. Odin was truly selfless for his friends and family to a point where it would bring questionable decisions like him twerking in the streets of Bono where he could have just simply fought Kaido and Orochi with the Scabbards, but since the beginning we saw that Odin didn't really care about honor or shame, so this was perfectly in character for him. Instead he valued his family and while Orochi blackmailed him with his own father and his own country, Odin would do whatever it took to save everyone. What could normally be seen here as an amazing trait, Odin makes it where it seems as it could be a genuine human flaw in emotional ties overriding his decision making in the sense that all of Bono's downfall to Kaido and Orochi could have been prevented. That is an interesting story and the best part is that whether you agree or disagree with Odin's mistakes from a character writing standpoint all the way up to his final words, Odin was truly Odin. Another thing I loved about Odin's backstory was that he loved freedom and fulfilling your destiny and it may seem like a contradiction here but Odin believed in both. He believed in going out to sea and becoming a pirate to be free, but the ironic part is that Odin being free was always Odin listening to his heart and fulfilling his destiny to help Roger find life too. And now with Luffy being a symbol of freedom but also a prophesized joyboy figure who Odin and Toki knew would arrive in 20 years, the perfect precursor for the bigger story that Odin would eventually flesh out with Bono's entire narrative. Now the second backstory I want to talk about is one that hit me at a personal level and that is Sondra's original backstory with Zef. I know most people prefer the second backstory with Jerma but I really loved the first one. There was something so graphic and shocking about Zef sacrificing his own leg to survive on that stranded island and the reveal that he actually gave Sanji the food was a great setup by Oda. I really love how Sanji truly absorbed the lesson of gratitude from this traumatizing moment to the point where it shapes his character completely and becoming someone who hates when people waste food. And this lesson of gratitude is the lesson that Oda was trying to get across to his entire audience and for me at least it definitely worked. It might sound silly but when I first saw Sanji's backstory I myself stopped wasting food and it's these real world lessons that we carry into our own lives that makes one piece hold a special place in my heart. Thank you for including me Joygirl, I can't wait to see what other backstories everyone else chooses. Now this is definitely two answers, not one, but I can't blame Preach. Like I said I also can't choose just one absolute favorite but both Oda and Sanji are great picks for sure. On top of what Preach has said, something that I love about Sanji's backstory is its level of depth. The first flashback we saw back in Boratie was a strong contender for best backstory in its own right. But then to find out a source of deeper struggle and pain, something as deep rooted as his formative years with his family, two flashbacks? That's almost not fair. And I'm sure Randy would agree, but let's see what his actual answer is. Hey everybody, Randy Troy here, big shout out to Joy Girl for inviting me to play today's game, Favorite Flashbacks. Now Oda is a master of flashbacks. This is a literary technique that is very difficult to master. Even in film it is hard to get flashbacks across because it breaks the narrative. But anybody who's a fan of one piece knows that flashbacks are the bread and butter, sometimes the best parts of one piece. And for me, there are always two flashbacks that I'm constantly going back and forth between. And the main one, which I'm going to settle for this video, is Choppers. Choppers' flashback is my favorite flashback in all of One Piece. Dr. Hiraluk is one of the greatest characters that Oda has ever invented. And the themes and everything that surrounds what is so good about that flashback still resonate today. And I dare say that if you pull that flashback out and you just made that a series, that a movie, it has a Disney quality to it, a standalone quality to it. You don't need to know anything about the world, the Pirate King, Roger, Luffy, to understand what is actually happening in that flashback. Unlike take a great flashback like Robbins, which is filled with just everything else that's going on in the world, Robbins' flashback is great because it rewards you for everything that you've read up until that point. Choppers' flashback is so good because I could show it to anybody, and they're probably going to cry by the end of it, and they're going to get attached to these characters. It is a perfect standalone story, but the theme of conviction is so strong in there, and it is actually one of my favorite themes in all of One Piece, and why, at the start of my videos, a flag waves that has conviction underneath it. When Hiraluk is talking about what it means to be a pirate, what the pirate flag means, and he is speaking of that symbol of conviction. And then later on we get the payoff when we come out of the flashback with Luffy holding the flag and echoing Hiraluk's words. All of it is just pitch perfect, but Chopper becomes such a sympathetic character. Every beat of that story just works, and I still love Hiraluk to this day. So that's my answer, and the honorable mention that I'm not going to get into today, but the other flashback that I'm always in a go-between, is it Chopper's flashback or is it this flashback is Nami's? It's gut wrenching. I love it, but for today's purposes and for the video that Joy Girl is putting together, if I have to pick one, it is Chopper's. I hope the rest of the video goes well. Thanks for inviting me, Joy Girl, and everybody take care and have a great 2024. Not only is this one of the best flashbacks in One Piece, but it's also arguably the source of one of the best quotes in One Piece. Not the same quote that Randy mentioned. So maybe arguably two of the best quotes in One Piece? Either way, Chopper's flashback is goaded for fuel. Okay, next we're going to Ohara. Favorite backstory in One Piece? That is a real tough one, because arguably that is some of the best parts of One Piece overall, and we had so many good ones just recently. If I had to pick one, I personally really, really, really love last flashback with Corazon and Doflamingo, because not only did it in a fairly short span of time develop Doflamingo, it also gave us a lot of character development for Law, kind of understanding his entire character, and then obviously the fantastic twist there with Rosinante and Corazon. That was just all mind-blowing. There were more characters in there. We had Drake and his father, we had Sengoku who got some development in there, and I don't know. Whenever I see that, it just makes me tear up. So absolutely go one there. Very curious what everyone else thinks. There were a few other hotshot ones, but yeah. Okay, so with Ohara's answer, it seems that those who voted Law are now also in the running to play the game, with Kuma and Law with two votes each. And I understand why Laws is so popular. It's one of those flashbacks that make me tear up no matter how many times I go back to reread or rewatch it. The traumatic loss of his family, his complicated relationship with the Don Quixote brothers, that final moment with Corazon. Look, the others have already explained it better than me, but there's definitely a reason why Law is on this list. But let's hear from another Ohara, shall we? The Library of Ohara. And I am expecting Arta's answer to be Robin, just to keep things on-brand, but I guess we'll have to see. Residency bias is described as the cognitive tendency to favor recent events of our previous ones, giving greater importance to memories that happened recently, simply due to their relevance in your memory, rather than their actual innate value. Well, I don't care, Kuma's flashback is still one of the best flashbacks in all of One Piece, and particularly I feel that a big reason as to why it succeeds in that is because it perfectly embodies one of the best thematic threads in the series. An often overlooked theme of One Piece is the concept of not furthering the cycle of hatred. It's not just the idea of fighting back against it, but also ensuring that you don't propagate it yourself. In simpler terms, it means ensuring that your own pain, even if inflicted by others, doesn't result in you causing suffering towards other people. I feel like the scene that best exemplifies this from Kuma's flashback is while working at the Sorbet Kingdom as a kid, where Kuma was literally stoned by other children, simply due to being of a different race. But instead of fighting back against them like Jeanne did, he instead decided to heal them, take their own pain for himself, just to show them that he is a good person, and helping them understand that Jeanne was too, she was just trying to protect him. Not letting the cycle of violence continue doesn't mean that you should never fight back. As we see with Kuma, having become a revolutionary and a liberator, finding back is sometimes necessary for the sake of freeing ourselves from those who try to oppress us and others. But it should never come from a point of hatred or revenge, but rather simply as an unavoidable means to help bring liberation and happiness to other people. This is something we see presence in Chapter 1 with Shang and Higuma, where Shang never fights back against Higuma out of pride, personal penance or hatred, but only to protect Luffy and ensure that he remains safe. And even then, he still gives Higuma several chances, teaching Luffy that violence isn't a vindication, it's simply a way to help others when there's no other way. But the focus should never be on those who have wronged you or hurt you, but on those you can help with those actions, and ensure that your pain and suffering isn't passed on to those who don't deserve it, such as, for example, Bonnie in the case of Kuma. And this is no better encapsulated than in the final moments of Kuma's life, as ask yourself this, what is the final thing that Kuma calls in his life? Is it the people who hurt him, those who ruin his life? No, it's the faces of all the people he loved and helped, and the simple wish for his own daughter to have a very happy 10th birthday. I would love to go into even more detail about Kuma's life and what makes it so special, but I've already done a whole video about that on my channel, so you can check that out if you're interested in the themes of Kuma's story. Well, that's another one for Kuma, officially putting Kuma backstory fans in the lead. And again, I totally get why. I was fully expecting Kuma's backstory to be well written, but Oda really blew me away. The number of times he had me in tears, howling, inconsolable. Arthur almost made me cry just listening to him talk about Kuma again, but I don't want to cry, so we're gonna move on to the Volume 1 podcast. It was so hard deciding on our favorite backstory from all of One Piece, but we have decided, we have one that we share, and as much as I thought and wanted it to be Kuma, it is not. It is Kozuki Odin. It's not just about the final moments of Odin's life, but his entire life, even from and since his youth. He was always somebody that was rambunctious and challenged the laws of Wano, wanting to open up its borders, questioning why things were the way they were, becoming a pirate, seeing the world from a very young age. He always did whatever he wanted to do because he felt like things the way they were, you know, just didn't make a lot of sense, and I can relate to that. Even with Orochi and his family and his past, his grandfather, Odin really didn't care about that, and he still let him into his own, not family, but his inner circle. He still had hope in this person, you're not your relatives, you're not your family, you're your own person, and he believed that, and he let him in anyway, and I thought that was really, really impactful. Yeah, even though he let him in and it led to all of the bad things that it led to, but I would rather, I mean, you know, I'd rather sort of like meet that fate because I believed in humanity, you know, rather than treat someone harshly because of something they didn't even do. Yeah, yeah, assume that I know who someone is because of where they come from, you know, and not just that, but of course, at the very end of his life, not telling people why he was doing what he was doing, running around like a maniac in the streets to protect his family, sure, but the people of Wano to protect them, all not even telling his wife why he was doing what he was doing. I mean, you think you'd tell one person, but he was like, I can't, I really can't, and I won't because I'm not going to let harm come to them. Yeah. And I don't care if I look like a fool. I am. He's so humble. Yes. Selfless casting out that, that ego, like no ego. Yeah, no, if it's going to save people, I don't, I don't care, you know, and that of course leading up to his final, final moments. Yeah. Being boiled alive. It's so like metaphoric and symbolic at the same time. Like it's very literal, right? Like he's literally in a pot of boiling oil, literally with his, you know, people, the people he cares about, like holding them up above him, but you know, that's kind of what he, you know, had been doing, right? Like suffering, enduring for those people. Yeah. Not to mention, yeah, how those, all those acts inspired. Exactly. Everyone. Exactly. For years to come, I mean, Yamato, his son, his daughter, the samurai, everyone who kept their faith, kept their faith that someone or them themselves were going to save Wano from the destruction and the, the tyranny of Erochi and Kaido. Exactly. Exactly. He is and was a legend, a real legend. It was really, really hard again. Joy Girl, why would you do this to us? Why would you ask us this? There's like countless, countless characters, so many back stories, Oda's the goat. Yeah, man. And, and, you know, I was talking to Megan about it before, you know, like Odin's not my favorite character necessarily, but like in thinking about all of these different back stories, like his speaks to me and spoke to me again and both of us again. So I think that's why we had to choose Kozuki Oden for our favorite one piece backstory. Most side characters in one piece could be the main characters of their own series if Oda so wanted, but that has never been more true than in the case of Kozuki Oden. He is truly the epitome of Chad and with this answer, which I think counts for two votes for both Josh and Megan, that means Odin is also in the race with three votes for being the most popular backstory. But let's see what Mr. Grand Line review has to say. My favorite flashback in all of the one piece is Senor Pink. It might not be the most memorable and it might not be the one that hits you most right in the emotional nutsack, but I love it because it's an absolute masterclass of how to breathe life into a character. Back when Dressrosa was being published weekly, fans really did not want Senor Pink. He was a difficult character to get on board with because he was a wacko dressed like a baby and no one knew or cared why because honestly it was almost like he had some sort of, you know, some sort of fetish that none of us wanted to be part of, but all it took was one chapter to change everything. Not even that actually, because if you go back and count everything, Senor Pink's flashback is only like five and a half pages. In that time, Odin managed to make me empathize with a man who's dressed like a baby and not only that, but he turned Senor Pink's wacky design into one of the hardest-hitting emotional beats of the entire Dressrosa rock. The fact that he dresses like this because it's the only thing capable of making his vegetative wife smile and all of it is capped off with Senor Pink's magnificent line, this outfit is worth more than the finest suit to me. And here's the craziest thing, this flashback was not meant to be in the series. It was a backstory that Odin created on his own to inform the character, which was never intended to be shown. However, Odin's editor at the time was so moved by it that he insisted on putting it into the manga, which I'm so glad he did because it also ended up giving Frankie a moment to bond with Senor Pink and not only make a new friend, but make a new brother. There are very few fights in One Piece that end with that sort of unique emotional resonance. Luffy vs. Kartakuri might be another one, but this, the baby man, is such a condensed, raw flashback masterclass. All it took was a five-page investment to give Senor Pink more depth than the vast majority of One Piece villains, and you know what, even protagonists. Which is why, to this day, Senor Pink is still remembered and beloved by the fanbase. There is no other flashback that has done so much with so little, and without it we wouldn't have amazing moments like this. So hard, Boyle! I'm so glad this backstory came up, because it's definitely up there on my list of favourite backstories, and for very similar reasons that Liam pointed out. In fact, I appreciate this flashback so much that, as you saw in Liam's video, I also submitted a Senor Pink appreciation video to Grand Line Review years ago. So it seems like great Aussie minds think alike. Speaking of which, what does the other Australian have to say? Hi Sophie, thank you for inviting me to share with you what my favourite One Piece backstory is. Now, we've seen incredible stuff from Cooma's backstory, but that is not my answer for today. The answer that I'm going to give is that my favourite backstory in One Piece is Senor Pink, and there is a very special reason as to why this is the case. Senor Pink is a man that's dressed like a baby, and this on the surface can seem quite questionable, but in classic odor fashion, when we peel back the layers of this man, of this character, and we find out that this man had a relationship with his beautiful wife, who had a beautiful child, and this child died of a fever, and then his wife goes in a tragic accident, which leaves her in a vegetative state. This man goes and visits his wife in the hospital, trying to muster up her to have some sort of sign of hope in his dire situation of her in his vegetative state. He goes and dresses up in the clothing of their dearly departed child, and this causes her to smile. But this man, because that happened, continued to do so, even after his wife had passed away in dedication for the love that he shared for his wife and child. How can you not root for this man? How can you not say that this man is up there as top tier backstories, top tier characters, and the reason being that's really special to me is that I am about to go and become a married man myself. So the thought of this kind of dedication, I can only hope to achieve, and I will strive to do so. Maybe not to the level of dressing up like a baby, but look the sentiment is there. Thanks again, I really appreciate it. I hope you all have an amazing day. I'm really curious to see who else chooses Senor Pink. I'm not surprised if it's all flooded with kuma. Regardless, I'm happy with my answer, so enjoy yourselves, have fun, and I'll see you around. Well then, what do you know? Maybe Aussies just share a single brain cell? Or maybe we just have great taste. Either way, that is now two for Senor Pink, and both Liam and Luke are also in the game. Next up, teching. So this was a difficult question to decide on which one piece character's backstory is my favorite, and I don't have a lot of time to explain, so I'm just going to get right to it, and it might surprise most people on who I picked. I decided to go with Brooke's backstory. That's right, the rock and roll musician of the straw hat crew, and I will say this. Brooke's backstory is the hands down most tragic out of all the straw hats. Robbins is really bad too, but Brooks is even worse, and let me tell you why. I will die on this hill. Not only did Brooke die in a horrible way, the first time he died, getting poisoned was pretty bad way to go. Also the fact he's playing the song with his crew, their last acts of life, their last amount of energy is doing a dance and a song for their whale companion, Laboon. When Brooke is playing the piano and it goes from quartet, trio, duet, solo, and then he dies, and then comes back, but stuck in a skeleton body that doesn't need to eat, drink or sleep, and is stranded on this ghost ship with the rotting corpses of his friends for 50 years. I want everybody to stop for a moment and really appreciate how long Brooke suffered. 50 years. It would be bad enough if it's like, oh yeah, I was stranded on my ship as a skeleton man for a whole year. That would be bad enough. That'd be like, whoa, a whole year on a ship? Buy yourself with the rotting corpses of your friend? You yourself are a skeleton? I'd go insane from that. 50 years and he was somehow, you know what the darkest thing is? I feel like Brooke did snap a few times while he was, you know, on the boat. Like he gave into madness and then after 10 years of being insane he went back to sane and then another 10 years and like just back and forth. I cannot imagine the stripe he went to, but the reason I decided on it as my perfect or my favorite backstory was that there's a hope. There's a perseverance like angle to it, you know, where even despite all the suffering, all the crushing mountain of loneliness and and him just, you know, having hallucinations on a daily basis of all of his friends being alive again, despite all of that, he was able to make it through and found hope again, found the straw hat crew for him to journey with and for him to have fun with and eventually be reunited with Laboon and his life's mission. Like out of all the dreams of the straw hats, like his, I'm actually the most interested in seeing fulfilled. I mean, I want to see the dreams of all the straw hats being fulfilled, but like every time I think of the end of One Piece, I always imagine Brooke arriving at the twin capes, Laboon just, you know, seeing the Afro and just bawling his eyes out and then Brooke sitting down next to Crocus and Laboon, taking out the tone dial and playing it. I think the resolution to that backstory will be the most heartbreaking out of all of them. I want Nami to finish the map. That's cool for her dream, but this, this is the first thing I think of when I think of tragic backstories in One Piece. That might change with Kuma's backstory, but for right now, this is the gold standard, okay? So Brooke, you are my favorite backstory. I can't believe it's taken us this long for Brooke's name to get some respect, because boy that flashback deserves it. Trio, duo, solo. I'm sorry, I just can't. Moving swiftly along to par vision before I start crying. It may seem like recency bias and maybe it is a little bit, but my favorite backstory in One Piece is definitely Kuma's. It's no secret that this man's backstory is something I had been anticipating for years, but also was caught by extreme surprise when it arrived. For context, if I was asked this question a year prior, I would have easily said Sanji and I still would. And I know it's a cop-out by picking two, but the reason why those two backstories are my favorite is because I relate so much to the context of each one, but how each story resulted in a character that was severely crippled in their ability to express themselves, even to the point of understanding themselves. And there was one thing that really saved the both of them. There's many places I could start and end with these two, and I look at both stories having so many paralleled components, but for the sake of this snippet I'll focus on the Kuma story. I think the most powerful part of Kuma's story were his facial expressions. As ironic as it is, I feel that Kuma was more robotic before Vega Punct completed his pacification than he was after. When we first see the pacifistas, we see clones of a man with a stone-cold expression. It really fit the image of a man robbed of his humanity and his life, relegated to being a weapon. In this form we saw him fall, we saw him defeated, we saw him break, and all of that is almost more human than the kind of man he was before he lost his memories. Somehow throughout his entire life he never fell, no one really defeated him, and in every moment I think when most of us would have broken down by the sheer weight of the traumas, he just kept on finding a way to move forward, a way to take the next step. And it was almost robotic how Kuma carried on. In a lot of ways I see the time he had after God Valley where he defaulted the simple calm gentle smile as his pre-programmed way to cope with the situation. He always showed that smile and in the flashback the only extreme emotions we saw from him were negative. There was never a smile that ever reflected positive emotions that counter balanced the negative emotions. The way I see it is the world robbed him of his smile or tried to, and I think the reason why they failed is honestly more sad than most of the backstory itself. They failed because Kuma lacked self-worth. He didn't know how to value himself to a fault. If I may add to a degree that might be the most fictional part of this story. I have met people who have been kind and selfless to a degree, but the level that Kuma demonstrated this it's almost hard to distinguish one over the other, that it's just easier to say he was both. I mean his entire life was essentially lived in service of various groups of people, and in every aspect most of the groups are so helpless that they could almost never reciprocate, not that Kuma ever needed that. And the moments that Oda chose to break down Kuma were by taking away the only people in Kuma's life who were actively trying to give Kuma some self-worth. When we see the running page that encapsulates most of Kuma's life in Chapter 1102, we see his mom who was first to be taken away from him, followed up by his father who probably instilled in him the strength of smiling through pain, who was also taken away from him. A young Kuma then runs to young Ivankov and Jimmy who both became hardened by the reality of the world. This young adult Kuma who now has a purpose of protecting Sorbet Kingdom is constantly giving up his life to take on the pain so everyone around him can smile, much like that of the man he is running towards, Dragon, the only character besides Kuma to not be smiling on this panel, who also seems to be in the industry of allowing others to be free at the cost of one's own self. But that path leads down a world where the only person in Kuma's life who actively defended Kuma from pain and suffering was taken away from him. This was probably the closest the world got to taking Kuma's smile. We can actually see that Vigilante Kuma lost his default smile. He was always a self-sacrificing man, but this Kuma felt like the closest version of himself that could have become a Doflamingo who wanted to burn the world down, or a King Neptune who gave up. But that's when the person that he lost managed to demonstrate how her and Kuma were birds of a feather and sacrificed herself to bring Kuma his last attachment to humanity, which was Bonnie. Now I could go on and on about this pivotal moment right here, but I want to focus on something specific again, that being the smile. If you noticed after Ginny passed and even when Bonnie was in his life, Kuma stopped smiling as a default. The only time he really smiles is for Bonnie, whether it's to cheer her up or protect her from reality or just thinking about her. And the last big smile that I couldn't possibly fathom a real life Kuma resolving himself in this moment when he said, thank you, I will gladly accept any fate if it means curing Bonnie's disease. I think this might be the biggest smile Kuma had in his entire life. Strained by the sacrifice in reality, he smiled in such a powerful way. And I think Oda drove that notion home in the running page because we never see Kuma smile in the anthology of his life. But in that last panel after Kuma said she'll survive, we know that was probably when Kuma felt the most success, the most fulfilled. It was because he secured Bonnie's life. He secured more than just that, he secured her smile. The smile that faded from Kuma's face at the end of his life didn't disappear. He instilled it into Bonnie. He tried his hardest to make sure the smile lived, the one that his mother and father passed on to him, the one the world tried to strip him of, ended up surviving. And we see by the end of his life, he stopped smiling completely. And there was only two times he really smiled. One was every time he thought of Bonnie and the other was when he started to believe in Luffy. And we know he succeeded because despite Kuma's trauma filled life, where when Bonnie was alive, he still devoted himself to the rest of the world and being a great father. Bonnie lived a life with enough happiness that just off the rumors alone, she demonstrated the ability to manifest a Nika-ish future. Which means that even to this day, Bonnie was raised in a way where she has the potential to be the sun god, to be the embodiment of the warrior of liberation who had non-stop laughter and smiles, and is able to gift other smiles. And as far as legacies go, Kuma also protected Luffy, the actual sun god Nika. And I think the part that really killed me inside was that in the end of what is tentatively Kuma's conscious lifespan, is the reality that while he smiled in his last breath, it was the fact that Kuma was so self-sacrificial, it led him to a state of not being aware of what he was to every person in his life. But to tie this all up, the reason why Kuma's flashback is my favorite is because from beginning to end, it really encapsulated two things. The meaning of parenthood as well as the power of a smile. The reason why I brought up Sanji's backstory is because in a lot of ways, he's similar to Kuma. Sanji lacked self-worth and was willing to sacrifice his dreams in a life for the sake of the people who selflessly gave to him, just like Kuma. But the pivotal moment that I think shaped most of Sanji's life was in his childhood, when he was in Jerma. Not the trauma that he endured, but instead the single smile he received from his mother. Sora demonstrated the selflessness that Ginny had, but was the parent who showed Sanji that despite his world calling him and treating him like a useless failure, he was still able to do something to make someone happy. And that smile was created from him being a chef, which I think shaped his life immensely. And we could see how in Sanji's lack of proper childhood and female interaction, it manifested in him wanting to chase the smiles of women. And I love how in both backstories, it demonstrates how in these small instances, how powerful a parent's love can be, how powerful a single smile can be, and the importance of protecting a child's smile. Sanji and Ginny both found a father that gave up their life and their body to protect that smile. And Kuma's backstory specifically showed me how much power a single smile can carry. And if there's one thing I can do in my life, it will be to protect the smiles of the people around me. Damn Paar, I said two minutes! I think this longer than requested response from Paar proves just how strongly he feels about Kuma's flashback. And could you blame him? But with Paar's vote, we're gonna add another tally to Kuma. But the game's not over yet, because I did say that the Joy Fleet were also playing. But before we go on to add up all the numbers to see who's won once and for all, I have to say. Really, no one chose Robin as their absolute favorite? That's insane! I know that it was a hard question, my fault. So let's just add up all the answers of the Joy Fleet. And according to my calculations, the best one piece backstory is Bartholomew Kuma. I have to say, I'm not not surprised, but I'm also not surprised. I think to chalk this result down to recency buyers would be a disservice to how well Oda has written Kuma's backstory, because it really was so damn well written. So to Marge, Jay, Ata and Paar, congratulations, you will all soon be receiving your special prize. And also a congratulations to Lemination 1923, as you'll also get your special prize. There you have it, Kuma is the best backstory, at least of 2024. And I want to say a huge thank you to all of our esteemed guests who participated in today's video. Make sure you go subscribe to all of their channels if you haven't already. And make sure to subscribe to mine too, because earning your follow and your friendship will be a really wholesome moment in my backstory. A memory that I will cherish and think about warmly forever. Thank you also to our patrons and our channel members for your continued support. This is Joygirl and I'll see you again soon.