Sanji is a complex character introduced early in the Baratie arc of One Piece. He eventually goes on to join Luffy and the Straw Hat pirates, though his specific quest is to find the All Blue, a region of the sea where fish from every ocean can be found in one place. His dream comes from early in childhood and even the trauma that he experiences can’t dissuade him. However, one thing that his trauma certainly would have affected is his smoking habit. It is highly unlikely that someone that went through what he did would ever have picked up as addictive of a habit as smoking.
One Piece follows the story of Monkey D Luffy as he gathers a crew and sets out to conquer the Grand Line in an effort to become King of the Pirates. The first few arcs focus on the acquisition of a solid crew, before heading out to the Grand Line. The Baratie arc comes after Luffy has acquired a swordsman, Zoro, a navigator, Nami, and a sharpshooter, Usopp, in this arc he finally finds a cook, Sanji.
What Happened to Sanji?
When Sanji was just a child working as an intern cook his ship was attacked by pirates and sunk in a storm. His life was saved by the captain of the pirate crew at the cost of the captain’s leg. The two of them were marooned on an elevated rocky island with only what little food Zeff was able to salvage from the water prior to their being washed up. Zeff gives Sanji five days' worth of food and recommends that he ration it to last longer. The two nearly starve to death and Sanji discovers that Zeff had given him all of the food and not just a portion.
Once the two of them are finally rescued they stay together and start an ocean-faring restaurant together with the commitment to never let another soul go hungry. They wanted to ensure that no other person had to go through what they did. This does cause some serious trouble for the restaurant when they feed Krieg and his crew which returns the pirates’ strength and emboldens them to attack the restaurant.
Sanji Today
When viewers are first introduced to Sanji his habit of smoking quickly becomes a primary character trait, as does his hot-headed personality. Throughout the series, he is unlikely to be seen without his trademark cigarette, and its condition is often representative of Sanji’s own. While this does serve to set him apart visually from the rest of the crew, and to give him a unique identifying characteristic, it is unlikely that someone who went through what Sanji did would ever commit themselves to something so addictive.
It has been established multiple times that his trauma still affects him greatly to this day. He refuses to ever waste food, and if something does happen to it he is extremely upset by it. He also refuses to ever let someone go hungry, despite what the fallout might be as evidenced with Krieg and his men. However, Sanji’s trauma doesn’t seem to cause him to worry about health or balanced eating, which implies that at least the negative aspects of cigarettes likely wouldn’t weigh heavy on his mind either.
Sanji and Cigarettes
His awareness of food scarcity and knowing what life could be like without something that you deeply need is ingrained in him so deeply that it has become his personality. However, nicotine is also a substance that creates an intense need in its users. Sanji knows what it is like to go without. Why would he voluntarily create something else that losing could make him feel worse than death.
It makes no logical sense why Sanji would ever have taken up smoking, much less why he would always have a cigarette in his mouth at all times. What will he do if he ever gets marooned again? Withdrawal, especially when one is weak, can kill a person.
The counterargument for this may lie in the time setting of the story. It isn’t quite clear exactly when One Piece is set, as characters wear modern clothing but there is no modern technology. Perhaps medicine hasn’t advanced to the point where people understand what nicotine can do to a person. It is entirely possible that Sanji had no idea that cigarettes were addictive when he took up the habit.
It is also possible that by the time he did realize it was too late and he was unable to go without them anymore. Regardless, the fact that Sanji smokes cigarettes is a highly uncharacteristic aspect of this deeply traumatized character that serves to undermine his words and actions if examined too closely. From a simple surface-level character design aspect it does help set his tone as that of a noir era romanticist cook fairly well. But look any deeper than simple aesthetics and it is extremely difficult to justify this particular habit.