Character Discussion Why aren’t One Piece villains as iconic and memorable as Naruto/DBZ villains?

[Shiroyru]

No One Piece villain, except maybe Doflamingo, has the aura of villains like Frieza, Cell, Super Buu, Pain, Itachi, Obito (pre-reveal), or Madara. I’d even argue that more minor villains like Sasori have more aura than many arc villains in OP tbh.

I think a large part of it is that OP villains usually don’t have as much of a backstory, so they end up feeling like generic baddies who are just there to be an obstacle for Luffy. I mean ffs, even Sasori, who only fought Sakura and Chiyo for a few chapters before being written out of the story, had a longer and better backstory than Kaido…

 

[JoNdule]

Because the writer can't write great villains

Even Doffy isn't memorable or iconic

Every other major anime/manga has at least one iconic villain bar One Piece (which tells you how overrated the story is)

I'm commenting since this thread is discussing Naruto and other mangas

 

[MonsterKaido]

Doffy is a memorable and good villain. But in general oda doesn't respects his villains that much. He often downplays him.

 

[Rej]

Seems it is a you-problem.

 

[ZenZu]

Oda downplays his villains all the time, it makes them more believable and honestly better written in many ways, but because of this their reach outside of One Piece becomes limited.

Most iconic villains had this unbeatable aura at some point, no One Piece villain has ever had that and was able to sustain that past an introduction.

 

[Monkey D. Luffy]

I think a large part of it is that OP villains usually don’t have as much of a backstory, so they end up feeling like generic baddies who are just there to be an obstacle for Luffy.

That applies to Majin Buu and Cell.

Simple answer is One Piece isn't as big as Dragon Ball or Naruto (at least not outside Japan).

 

[Sir Tuna Sandwich II]

Implying the Admirals aren't iconic and memorable

 

[Shiroyru]

That applies to Majin Buu and Cell.

Simple answer is One Piece isn't as big as Dragon Ball or Naruto (at least not outside Japan).

True, but DBZ villains just have that dawg in them. They’re far more menacing than any OP villain

 

[Shiroyru]

Implying the Admirals aren't iconic and memorable

 

[grey matter]

Crocodile, Enel, Rob Lucci, Doflamingo (peak)

These four are iconic villains in one piece.

Most iconic villains had this unbeatable aura at some point, no One Piece villain has ever had that and was able to sustain that past an introduction.

Crocodile, Enel and Kaido had that aura till the late part of their fights

 

[Erkan12]

No DBZ or OP villain has this;

No One Piece villain, except maybe Doflamingo, has the aura of villains like Frieza, Cell, Super Buu, Pain, Itachi, Obito (pre-reveal), or Madara. I’d even argue that more minor villains like Sasori have more aura than many arc villains in OP tbh.

I think a large part of it is that OP villains usually don’t have as much of a backstory, so they end up feeling like generic baddies who are just there to be an obstacle for Luffy. I mean ffs, even Sasori, who only fought Sakura and Chiyo for a few chapters before being written out of the story, had a longer and better backstory than Kaido…

There is nothing special about classic stoic shallow villain characters like Madara, Itachi lmao. Those clowns can only scare low IQ little morons like ZKKclowns.

Doflamingo is a small version of BB, Dof learns from what Teach does.

 

[BoaHancocksHusband]

No One Piece villain, except maybe Doflamingo, has the aura of villains like Frieza, Cell, Super Buu, Pain, Itachi, Obito (pre-reveal), or Madara. I’d even argue that more minor villains like Sasori have more aura than many arc villains in OP tbh.

I think a large part of it is that OP villains usually don’t have as much of a backstory, so they end up feeling like generic baddies who are just there to be an obstacle for Luffy. I mean ffs, even Sasori, who only fought Sakura and Chiyo for a few chapters before being written out of the story, had a longer and better backstory than Kaido…

Crocodile

 

[Shiroyru]

No DBZ or OP villain has this;

There is nothing special about classic stoic shallow villain characters like Madara, Itachi lmao. Those clowns can only scare low IQ little morons like ZKKclowns.

Doflamingo is a small version of BB, Dof learns from what Teach does.

BB doesn’t get to be placed on the same tier as Frieza/Pain because he had one cool speech.

 

[Shiroyru]

Crocodile

Honestly kinda mid. Only reason why Croc’s so beloved is because he was the first OP arc villain that was actually stronger than Luffy

 

[Logiko]

Oda downplays his villains all the time, it makes them more believable and honestly better written in many ways, but because of this their reach outside of One Piece becomes limited.

This is a very good point.

Evil is memorable.

Oda almost rarely writes monsters, but humans, Villain with desire and flaws. So those villains will - by defaut - have less impact than those who are fighting them (Strawhats).

But this raises a great question : To what do we recognize a good villain ?

 

[Erkan12]

BB doesn’t get to be placed on the same tier as Frieza/Pain because he had one cool speech.

Frieza not bad but still Teach is more iconic.

All NT villains are dog shit LMAO, Pain is a weakling who gave up and changed his goal after seeing Naruto's potential. Tobi gave up as well, another weakling, Madara is a shallow stoic character.

 

[dirtyLarry]

Because none of them is actually threatening or has something unique about them. Doflamingo is the only one you can make arguments for.

As far as the ones you listed: I wouldn't actually call many of them "iconic".

Memorable, yes, but that's simply due to DBZs and Naruto's massive audience in the west. Only because many people that aren't even anime watchers know those characters doesn't make them "iconic" imho, just "memorable".

The only truly "iconic" ones from your list (at least in my opinion) are Frieza and Madara Uchiha.

If I think of truly "iconic" manga antagonists I think of Griffith, Johan Liebert, Meruem etc.

 

[Shiroyru]

Frieza not bad but still Teach is more iconic.

All NT villains are dog shits LMAO, Pain is a weakling who gave up after seeing Naruto's potential.

Lmao, even many people who don’t watch anime know who Frieza is.

 

[Shiroyru]

If I think of truly "iconic" manga antagonists I think of Griffith, Johan Liebert, Meruem etc.

I’d add Sukuna to that list. JJK is even bigger in the West than OP is at this point, and Sukuna is like the #2 reason for that (#1 being Gojo ofc)

 

[Erkan12]

Lmao, even many people who don’t watch anime know who Frieza is.

How do they know Frieza? LMAO, them knowing Blackbeard makes more sense as its based on real Edward Teach.

You are a clown who is being butthurt due to Teach scarring Shanks lmao.

Don't compare stoic shallow and weakass NT villains to the Goat.