Highlights
- Sanji's rough childhood and near-death experiences have shaped him into a resilient and compassionate character.
- Despite being one of the strongest fighters in the world, Sanji's vow to never harm women often puts him at a disadvantage in battles.
- Sanji has faced numerous near-death situations throughout the series, but his determination to protect his crew and his acts of kindness have ultimately saved him.
The chef of the Straw Hat Pirates in One Piece, Sanji is one of the main characters in the story and a part of the East Blue Five, which comprises of the five core characters of the story. On top of being an incredibly skilled cook, Sanji is also one of the strongest fighters on the crew.
Currently in One Piece, he has a bounty of 1.032 billion berries and he is certainly among the strongest in the world at the moment. However, Sanji certainly has had to earn that and go through several ordeals, some of which have put him in a near-death situation at times.
8 While Training With Germa
Sanji had quite a rough childhood full of abuse and mistreatment. After he was born as a part of the quadruplets to Sora and Judge, Sanji was put through grueling training because he was supposed to be a war weapon for the Germa Kingdom.
Sadly, Sanji did not possess the same powers as his brothers, and this often led to him being beaten severely. Sanji would have several near-death experiences, which would range from being beaten to half death to being forced to swim, which would then lead to him drowning.
7 After The Shipwreck
After escaping from the Germa Kingdom, Sanji served as a cook on a ship known as Orbit. He served as a cook on the ship for quite a while and, eventually, this vessel was raided by the Cook Pirates, led by Zeff. Unfortunately for everyone, the ship capsized and the vast majority of the people were dead. Sanji ended up being saved by Zeff and together, they washed ashore on a rock in the middle of nowhere.
They were stranded on the rock for 85 days and were starving close to death. This was one of the most difficult experiences that Sanji has had to have in his entire life. This is also when Zeff ended up eating his own leg because he gave all the food to Sanji. This act of kindness later went on to shape the entire character of Sanji and changed him for good.
6 Fighting Enel On Skypiea
Sanji also took part in several difficult fights across the series and one particular fight he was completely crushed was the one against Enel. This character was a complete monster who defeated the vast majority of the pirate fighters, including the likes of Robin and even Zoro. Sanji took quite a stand against him in order to save Usopp and Nami.
He succeeded in saving their lives but was hit by a powerful El Thor himself. This attack burnt his body to a complete crisp and completely knocked him out. However, he did not go down before mocking Enel and revealing to him that he messed up his ship, which subsequently ended up destroying his plans.
5 Fighting Kalifa
Sanji vowed to never harm women at a very young age and that is something that has been ingrained in his body. In Enies Lobby, he was up against Kalifa at first and it was quite clear that he could easily defeat her, however, it went against his code to strike a lady and he absolutely decided against it.
One Piece: 7 Pirates With The Most Road Poneglyphs
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In the end, Kalifa crushed him in battle and used her soap powers to incapacitate him greatly. Sanji ended up being saved by Nami and later on, he went to fight against Jabra.
4 Destroyed On Sabaody
On Sabaody, the entirety of the Straw Hat Pirates were completely crushed. This happened on the back of Luffy punching a Celestial Dragon, which led to Kizaru coming to the island.
Furthermore, the Pacifistas were also sent to the island and, caught in the middle of all that, the entire crew was decimated. While Zoro had the worst experience on the island, Sanji too struggled quite a lot and could very well have died if Rayleigh and Kuma had not shown up.
3 Blood Loss On Fishman Island
On Fishman Island, Sanji lost quite a lot of blood and although this was supposed to be a comedic scene, it ended up being turned into an actual plot point when his body was giving out.
Sanji ended up being saved by the Okama, who gave him their blood and helped him get back into shape to fight against the New Fishman Pirates.
2 Vinsmoke Family Massacre Plan
On Whole Cake Island, the entirety of the Vinsmoke Family was to be massacred. Sanji himself had quite a few near-death experiences on this island. He was beaten to a pulp by his siblings, but that was not the worst of it.
Sanji was going to sacrifice his own life and, while this is not a physical injury, the fact that he had given up on living for the sake of the crew just goes to show that he was very well going to die. Had Luffy not been the personality that he is, Sanji would have died on the island and the crew would have had to look for a new cook.
1 Fighting Black Maria
In Wano, Sanji was extremely impressive, being crowned as one of the Wings of the Pirate King. However, he still had a near-death experience. Surprisingly, this did not come against Queen, who was a monstrously powerful pirate. Instead, this came against Black Maria.
Once again, this was largely down to the fact that Sanji could not harm a woman, since this was ingrained in his body to a point where it was subconscious. Even if Sanji wanted to put up his Haki to defend himself, his body would not let him do so. As a result, he was beaten to a pulp by Black Maria. Eventually, it was Robin who ended up saving Sanji and this led to a very beautiful moment between these two members of the crew.