10 most useless One Piece characters, listed

One Piece is known for its incredibly large and diverse cast, featuring hundreds upon hundreds of different characters. From the Straw Hats to their allies, friends, and enemies, Eiichiro Oda’s pirate-themed story paints a dynamic picture in which nearly every character contributes to the depth of the narrative in some capacity.

Even though the fictional world of One Piece stands out as a multifaceted, ever-evolving tapestry, some of the franchise’s side characters are widely seen as underwhelming. Rather than being disliked for their design or personality, these characters are looked down upon for being unable to accomplish anything noteworthy despite having the potential to do so.

Note: the opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Ten One Piece characters who failed to leave a mark on the story, ranked from least to most disappointing

10) Mohji

Mohji in One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

Mohji is one of Buggy’s long-time subordinates. He first appeared at the beginning of the story, in the Orange Town Arc, but his contribution to the narrative was quite negligible, and his character has had little to no development since then.

While Mohji’s ability to tame and command animals at his service could be interesting, he and his giant pet lion Richie aren't good enough. A relatively inexperienced Monkey D. Luffy easily defeated Richie, which prompted Mohji to run away, only for Luffy to knock him down with a single blow.

Despite this humiliating defeat, Mohji continued to act pompous, which only made him look silly. Later in the series, when Buggy became the figurehead leader of Cross Guild on behalf of Dracule Mihawk and Crocodile, Mohji couldn’t help but passively follow his captain, unable to influence the events in any way.

9) Hotei

Hotei in One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

Due to his status as the captain of the Mimawarigumi, the force at the direct service of the shogun Kurozumi Orochi, Hotei was supposed to be a powerful samurai. However, he played a very trivial role in the Wano Arc, functioning as nothing more than a minor antagonist.

Hotei didn’t show any impressive combat feat, which was a huge shortcoming for someone whose main job was to fight. To make things worse, his spirit was equally feeble and unimpressive. An opportunistic man, Hotei was willing to shift loyalties whenever it served his interests.

When Orochi was the shogun, Hotei served him happily, showing no disapproval of his wicked actions. However, when Kaido killed Orochi and gave the latter’s former subordinates the option to join his ranks or die, Hotei pledged his services to Kaido without a second thought. Needless to say, no one can appreciate such a disloyal samurai.

8) Vice Admiral Guillotine and Vice Admiral Hound

Guillotine and Hound in One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

Vice Admiral Guillotine and Vice Admirals Hound were sent to Egghead as part of the World Government fleet tasked to besiege the island and eliminate Dr Vegapunk. While none of the nine Vice Admirals sent to Egghead performed impressively, most of them at least tried to do their part. Instead, Guillotine and Hound just watched the events unfold and did nothing.

Guillotine can use the bladed ornament on his head as a boomerang, while Hound has the powers of a Zoan Devil Fruit. Both should be able to use at least basic forms of Haki to enhance these abilities, as all Vice Admirals can use Armament Haki and Observation Haki.

However, Hound and Guillotine never took an active part in the Egghead Incident, to the point where their abilities were never shown in the manga but only revealed in the special SBS corner. Vice Admirals are often used as hypetools, but this at least gives them a chance to fight and showcase their powers. These two Navy officers remained completely on the sidelines.

7) Domino

Domino in One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

During the Impel Down Arc, Domino served as the Vice Head Jailer under Head Jailer Shiryu. Given Domino’s authoritative behavior and relatively high rank, fans expected her to play a significant role in the events, but her actual impact was minimal. Domino was in the lurch from start to finish.

First, Boa Hancock used her Devil Fruit powers to petrify her when she tried to conduct a body search on the former. After being turned back to normal, Domino was so confused that she couldn’t remember what happened before. Following this, her only actions were relaying messages to Magellan.

As a high-ranking officer in Impel Down, Domino was supposed to be a significant obstacle for any fugitive, but those expectations were not met. Domino was a complete letdown, and the fact that she has recently been promoted to the rank of Head Jailer in place of the defective Shiryu feels undeserved, if not ridiculous, given the enormous gap between their skills.

6) Joseph

Joseph in One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

Joseph is a CP0 masked agent, and within CP0, only the agents who possess combat skills far beyond those of the others are allowed to wear masks on their faces. Thus, it is implied that Joseph is one of the strongest fighters within the World Government’s best secret agency.

However, Joseph’s contribution to the story has been very limited. As a masked agent of CP0, he should be a master assassin with remarkable proficiency in Haki and Rokushiki, but the full extent of his abilities remains a matter of speculation.

In the Dressrosa Arc, Joseph went to Dressrosa with his fellow CP0 colleagues Guernika and Gismonda to dismiss the news that Donquixote Doflamingo had abandoned the Seven Warlords. He then traveled to Wano with Guernika and Maha. Again, however, Joseph did little except remain completely unharmed after Orochi shot him in the head.

After monitoring the battle in Onigashima and mourning Guernika for his suicide mission to interfere in the battle between Kaido and Monkey D. Luffy, Joseph left the island, He ended up confronting a large group of Big Mom Pirates, but the outcome of the scuffle was never revealed.

5) Jack

Jack in One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

Following the card-based hierarchy and naming scheme of the Beasts Pirates, Jack was Kaido’s third strongest subordinate, and the fourth strongest member of the crew overall. Jack was introduced as a fearsome combatant, powerful enough to represent a Yonko, upholding Kaido’s name and enforcing his will.

However, Jack’s intimidating image and reputation for strength were undermined, if not shattered, as the story saw him facing one crushing defeat after another. Granted, Jack’s repeated and humiliating defeats are just one factor in his perception as a disappointing character.

Not only did Jack fail to impress with his fighting skills, but One Piece author Eiichiro Oda also seemed uninterested in depicting them. Oda’s apparent lack of interest in Jack was made manifest as the mangaka never once bothered to draw him using Haki or performing a single-named technique, which seemed absurd for a fighter of his standing.

With his boring, one-dimensional personality as a mindless brute who enjoys fighting and destroying, the only way for Jack to shine was to at least excel at overwhelming power. Unfortunately for him, his displays on the battlefield were quite lackluster.

4) Jean Ango

Jean Ango in One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

Jean Ango was introduced during the Dressrosa Arc as a bounty hunter who participated in the Corrida Colosseum’s contest to win the Flame-Flame Fruit. A weapon expert who managed to capture countless outlaws, including some of Impel Down’s fugitives, Ango boasted that sooner or later he would hunt down the likes of Jinbe, Emporio Ivankov, Crocodile, and Shiryu.

While that claim seemingly set up Ango as a powerful individual, it’s soon revealed that his bragging was empty threats. He was bewildered at Luffy predicting and easily dodging all of his attacks, which means that he likely never fought a decent Haki user, and thus built his reputation by capturing lesser opponents.

Ango wondered how could Luffy do that, implying that he had no grasp of Haki and its mechanics. Moments after, the bounty hunter’s relatively low fighting skills were further exposed as he was brutally knocked out of the ring by Chinjao.

So, Ango’s delusions of grandeur originated from overconfidence that bordered in sheer foolishness. His contribution to the narrative was also almost non-existent, as emphasized by the fact that, after his brief and unremarkable appearance in Dressrosa, he vanished from the story.

3) Kong

Kong in One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

Within the World Government’s hierarchy, Kong’s authority is higher than anyone other than Imu-sama and the Five Elders. Kong is the World Government Commander-in-Chief, which means he has greater authority than the Admirals and even the Fleet Admiral, commanding Marines and Cipher Pols alike. Before the group’s disbandment, he could even strip the Warlords of their titles.

Several years before the present One Piece narration, Kong was the Navy’s Fleet Admiral, holding the position that Sengoku first and then Sakazuki “Akainu” would occupy in the years to come. Kong’s capabilities have never been shown on the panel, but his rank alone suggests that he is an insanely powerful fighter.

He must have been through some savage battlefield in his career as a Marine, as implied by the numerous scars that mark his muscular body. However, those fights were neither shown nor mentioned anywhere in One Piece. Even during the God Valley Incident, Kong didn’t take action personally, but instead asked Monkey D. Garp to step in.

In the One Piece world, the upper echelons often work behind the scenes, far from the forefront, but Kong’s screen time in the series is just too scarce, and limited to administrative tasks. This creates a paradox, as Kong is likely meant to be a powerhouse, but he appears to be a pointless character due to his near-absence from the events.

2) Charlotte Smoothie

Smoothie in One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

Despite her prestigious position as one of the Big Mom Pirates’ Sweet Commanders, Charlotte Smoothie's contribution during the Whole Cake Island Arc was almost non-existent, for a narrative impact inferior to that of even Oven or Daifuku.

Smoothie’s presence in the story is negligible as if her character’s sole purpose was to complete the roster of the Sweet Commanders. Instead of showcasing her full might in combat, as Katakuri or even Cracker and Perospero did extensively, Smoothie was relegated to the sidelines. The rare instances where she stepped into action only evidenced her incompetence, undermining her status.

Consistently unable to take control of the situation, Smooothie's repeated failures become material for fan mockery. She tried to hunt down the Thousand Sunny but failed to stop the Straw Hats, and couldn’t even prevent Brook from entering the treasure room when she was guarding it. She is a Yonko Commander, and yet a simple door was enough to render her ineffective.

Smoothie’s portrayal is just underwhelming, and the fact that One Piece author Eiichiro Oda didn’t bother to explore personal backstory, motives, and ambitions hints at the mangaka’s lack of interest in this character further, at least compared to her fellow Sweet Commanders.

The Wano Arc presented Smoothie with another opportunity to prove her worth, but she ended up looking bad once again. Both times the Big Mom Pirates attempted to climb the waterfall to enter Wano, their ship was knocked down by a single attacker, King in the first attempt and Marco in the second. Granted, the other Big Mom Pirates were just as ineffective as Smoothie, but the crew’s collective failure doesn’t mitigate her umpteenth shortcoming.

1) Bobbin

Bobbin in One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

One Piece chapter 651 shows Bobbin casually reporting his ruthless actions to Big Mom. He is pleased to tell her that he has just burned down an entire country in her name and even suggests she punish Fish-Man Island's inhabitants for not delivering the candy she requested.

Bobbin seemed completely unafraid of Big Mom, having a friendly chat with her, something that most of her sons and daughters wouldn’t dare to do. This interaction made it seem that Bobbin was a major player in Big Mom’s crew, perhaps even her second-in-command, but the reality couldn’t be further away.

In the Whole Cake Island Arc, Bobbin is revealed for what he truly is, just an average officer of the Big Mom Pirates. His confidence turns out to be mere bravado, as demonstrated when he tries to humiliate Sanji by stealing his food, only to receive a beating.

Seeking revenge on Sanji, Bobbin tried to pursue him but was killed unceremoniously by Vito. Bobbin wasn’t even the protagonist of his death, which happened off-panel and was only used as a narrative device to emphasize how cold-blooded were Capone Bege and his men. Introduced in grand style, Bobbin ends up as an extremely underwhelming character, with minimal impact on the narrative, and an even more forgettable demise.