Who killed Orochi in One Piece? Explained

Modified Aug 18, 2024 00:30 GMT

Who killed Orochi in One Piece? Explained (Image via Toei Animation)

Throughout One Piece's Wano arc, one of the most pervasive and persistent antagonists is none other than the Shogun of Wano at the time, Kurozumi Orochi. After partnering with Kaido 20 years prior to the arc’s events, he successfully killed former Shogun, Kozuki Oden, and took over the country for himself.

Unsurprisingly, Orochi does get what’s coming to him by the end of the story’s Wano arc, getting successfully killed during the climactic events of the Onigashima Raid. However, Orochi has seemingly been “killed” several times before his life is actually concluded, resulting in many fans asking exactly who killed Orochi in One Piece.

Orochi's ultimate death in One Piece, explained

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One Piece’s Kurozumi Orochi was ultimately killed by none other than Denjiro, formerly known as Kyoshiro, just as Orochi himself was about to kill Kozuki Hiyori. This comes at the end of the Onigashima Raid, which serves as the climax of the Wano arc and the culmination of the various plotlines and narratives present in this section of the story.

While this is the point at which Orochi is undoubtedly confirmed dead, the character has many fake-out deaths in the buildup to this moment that foreshadow his demise. Although typical of series creator, author, and illustrator Eiichiro Oda’s modus operandi, it’s a frustrating choice for some, creating confusion about Orochi’s fate.

More specifically, it creates multiple answers to both - who killed Orochi in One Piece and exactly when he died when looked at on a surface level. To emphasize, his above death by Denjiro is his ultimate demise, logically planned out based on the nature of Orochi’s Devil Fruit powers.

Orochi’s Devil Fruit

Kurozumi Orochi’s Devil Fruit is known as the Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Yamata no Orochi, or in English, the Snake-Snake Fruit, Model: Yamata-no-Orochi. The model refers to the legendary eight-headed and eight-tailed Japanese dragon or serpent of the same name. Oftentimes, its name is shortened to just Orochi, but the two are one and the same.

While Orochi’s Devil Fruit only gives him one tail, it also gives him the eight heads that the mythological creature is known for. The Fruit very clearly distinguishes the “main head” by giving it a darker shade of green and the central position on Orochi’s body. Surrounding this main head are 7 others, which are smaller and of a lighter green color.

Although Orochi’s Devil Fruit has many strengths, the most relevant to this topic is that it requires the user to survive decapitation even in human form. More specifically, they need to get beheaded eight times. The relative time frame of these beheadings is irrelevant, however, as once a user is beheaded and one of their transformed heads is lost, it cannot be regenerated. This is how Orochi’s ultimate death came at the hands of Denjiro, and not at any prior point.

Orochi’s beheadings during Onigashima

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Orochi was ultimately killed by Denjiro solely, but the setup of his death was a group effort with contributions from several people. While Denjiro and the other Red Scabbards were largely responsible for Orochi’s eventual demise, Kaido actually helped them out by decapitating Orochi at the start of the Onigashima Raid.

Orochi then sported seven heads instead of eight as per his Devil Fruit’s functionality. However, the Red Scabbards ambushed him thereafter and successfully decapitated an additional six heads, making for seven heads lost in total. Finally, at the end of the Onigashima Raid, Denjiro snuck up on Orochi and decapitated him for the eighth and final time, successfully killing him as a result.