One Piece is the story of Monkey D. Luffy, a young boy who takes the Great Pirate Era by storm in hopes of becoming the King of the Pirates and finding the One Piece. On his journey, Luffy has found reliable crewmates, and together with them, he's crushed countless villains who have stood in his way.
While the villains almost always oppose Luffy and try to create problems for him, there have been times when they have actually done good things, regardless of whether or not they had ulterior motives.
10 Buggy Helped Luffy In Impel Down And Marineford
One of the biggest antagonists back in the day, Buggy was the first person other than Luffy who had a Devil Fruit power in Orange Town. After losing to him, Buggy worked quite a lot on the seas and even made it back to the Grand Line. Sadly for him, he was immediately captured. In the Impel Down and Marineford arcs, Buggy played quite an important role by paving way for escape and rallying men to their cause.
9 Gin Helped Save Luffy And Sanji During The Baratie Arc
Gin was the secondary antagonist of One Piece's Baratie arc and an incredibly powerful opponent for Sanji to take on in combat. After the two fought and Gin couldn't kill Sanji, Don Krieg attempted to execute him with MH5. Gin had his own gas mask to protect himself, but he used it on Sanji to keep him alive after tossing another one to Luffy. Thanks to him, both Luffy and Sanji were able to survive this ordeal or they would very well have died right there.
8 Hachi Helped The Crew On Sabaody Archipelago
Hachi was one of the villains of the Arlong Park arc, and he stood in Zoro's way when the climax of the arc began. As expected, he was quite powerful, but when compared to the other Fishmen in Arlong's crew, Hachi was much kinder, which even Nami acknowledged. In the Sabaody Archipelago arc, Hachi's character came into play again as he helped the crew reach Rayleigh and trigged the incident where Luffy punched a Celestial Dragon.
7 Crocodile Helped Luffy In Marineford And Impel Down
Crocodile was the main antagonist of the Alabasta arc of One Piece where he tried to take over the kingdom and become its leader. After being beaten by Luffy, Crocodile was sent to Impel Down.
When Luffy broke into the prison to save Ace, Crocodile was freed and he helped Luffy escape from the prison. Later, in Marineford, Crocodile helped the pirates fight against the Navy and the Shichibukai. In fact, he even rescued Ace from death on one occasion.
6 Gecko Moria Tried To Rescue Absalom From Blackbeard
The main antagonist of the Thriller Bark arc, Gecko Moria was stripped of the Shichibukai title after the Paramount War. Absalom, his crewmate, was captured by Blackbeard on Hachinosu Island and killed there. Moria attempted to rescue him, showing that despite being a pirate, he wasn't truly evil. Unfortunately for him, Absalom was already dead and his Devil Fruit was stolen by Catarina Devon, the Sixth Ship Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates.
5 Bartholomew Kuma Saved The Straw Hat Pirates On Sabaody Archipelago
Bartholomew Kuma appeared as an antagonist in the Thriller Bark arc where he attempted to kill Luffy and later, Roronoa Zoro. On Sabaody Archipelago, Kuma showed up once again, but this time, he saved the Straw Hat Pirates. Although fans initially assumed that he destroyed the crew by separating them, it wasn't until later that people realized that he was saving them. Kuma's intervention on Sabaody Archipelago is one of the reasons why every member of the crew is alive today.
4 Akainu Talked Back To The Five Elder Stars
Akainu was one of the main villains in the Marineford arc, where he was responsible for killing Portgas D. Ace and even played a part in Whitebeard's death. After the war, he was promoted to the position of the Fleet Admiral following his fight against Aokiji.
Akainu, now simply known as Sakazuki, has been much more aggressive as the Fleet Admiral. He often goes against what the Five Elder Stars say, which is definitely nice to see. Sakazuki may be evil but he's certainly not as evil as the Nobles of the World Government.
3 Blackbeard Caused Commotion In Impel Down
Blackbeard became one of the Shichibukai after defeating Portgas D. Ace and handing him over to the Navy. He used this opportunity to sneak into Impel Down and free the prisoners for Level 6 to create a powerful crew. Blackbeard breaking into Impel Down played a huge role in helping Luffy escape from the prison. Without him breaking into the prison, Magellan would've been focused on Luffy and his alliance from the get-go, making it almost impossible for them to escape.
2 Caesar Clown Detoxified Zou With His Devil Fruit Power
Caesar Clown was the main antagonist of the Punk Hazard arc, and his scientific prowess certainly caused trouble for the crew. After his defeat, however, he stayed with the crew for quite a while as their prisoner. When taken by Sanji to Zou, he was forced to purify the air of the country which Jack had poisoned with the Koro gas. Thanks to his powers, the Mink tribe was saved and a millennium-old country was stopped from perishing.
1 Kaido Beheaded Orochi During The New Onigashima Project Announcement
The Golden Kagura of the Wano Country arc was shortly followed by Kaido announcing that he was going to take over Wano Country and make it into a pirate paradise. When Orochi showed opposition to Kaido's plans, the latter beheaded him using King's sword. Although Orochi didn't die, he lost one of his eight heads, six of which were later chopped off by the Akazaya members. Kaido played a part in Orochi's fall, which was good to see.