One Piece takes place in a chaotic world where really anything can happen. The main cast includes a talking skeleton and reindeer, a cola loving cyborg, and it could be argued that they're not even the weirdest members of the Straw Hat Pirates. It's this zany nature that makes the franchise one of the most beloved anime of all time.
It's a pirate's nature to resist control, so it's very appropriate for One Piece to be bending the laws of normalcy. While this is something the franchise tends to do on a fairly constant basis, there are some moments where the absurdity stands out above all others. Those moments tend to represent some of the best and worst the series has to offer.
10 An Elite Force Of Ducks Carry The Straw Hats To Battle
One Piece has many intersesting animals, but no island can quite match the wildlife of Alabasta. Between giant crabs that only listen to pretty girls, dugongs that train in kung fu, and cranes that play dead in order to rob travelers, the desert nation has an impressive display of fauna.
But the true standouts of the country's animal kingdom, are the members of the Super Sonic Duck Squadron. The moment of their arrival to aid Luffy and the gang perfectly captures the absurd nature of a military unit made up of ducks. Standing at full attention in a wide variety of outfits, they come as a metaphorical and literal calvary to save the pirates from the desert.
9 Eneru's Ridiculous Reaction Is One Of The Best In All Of Anime
Eneru has the power of a god and by the time he faces Luffy he appears to be untouchable. Of course, lightning has no effect on rubber, leading to one of the most memorable shots in the entire series. The anime's slow pan on Eneru's face is perfect, as different parts of his face are revealed, until the audience see the full image.
While it's only a few seconds, it's a relativity long build up just to set up a reaction shot, showing the care and attention needed to make this a laugh out loud moment. All of a sudden the serious stone face villain has been turned into the biggest gag in One Piece history, in a swift 180 degree tone shift.
8 Luffy Powers Up With An Afro
Luffy can be a bit of a ridiculous character. The Davey Back against the Foxy Pirates delivers him one of the few antagonists of the series who can match his ridiculousness round for round in Foxy himself.
Luffy and Foxy's pseudo-boxing match has it all in one of the most off the wall fights the captain of the Straw Hats ever has. Floating cannonballs, a boxing glove robot, and a mechanical dog are just some of the tools Foxy has at his disposal. Luffy at last delivers the knockout in a win he at least partially attributes to the afro wig he puts on before the match.
7 Sanji Takes On A Cook Who Makes Noodles From His Nose
Cipher Pol acts as the World Government's covert assassination and intelligence organization. This fact makes Wanze's inclusion a bit of a head scratcher, as the loud and obnoxious chef's power involves making ramen noodles from his nose.
This leads to Sanji's most bizarre fight in the midst of what is otherwise a fairly serious arc. Wanze's power may be the grossest in the entire series, and the origin of his noodles is constantly at the forefront in both the minds of the characters and the audience. The fact that this battle takes place on a water train feels oddly appropriate, as this battle certainly goes off the rails.
6 Franky Joins The Straw Hats In A Unique Way
Most of Luffy's crew is generally reluctant to join the Straw Hats at first. Usually, they're convinced through the shared bonds they create over an adventure, or at the urgings to seek adventure from their trusted friends. The Franky Family takes a different approach to get their boss to join the crew.
After stealing Franky's underwear, they lead a pants-less Franky in a bizarre game of keep away throughout the city, gradually making their way towards the Thousand Sunny. The game ends fairly painfully for Franky at the hands of Nico Robin, and he joins the crew wailing in agony. Thankfully the Straw Hats never tried this method of recruitment ever again.
5 Nami Has A Zombie Wedding
Never have a wedding at Thriller Bark. An unconscious Nami is nearly forced to marry Abaslom, Gecko Moria's top henchman with a Frankenstein styled leopard face, while an audience of zombies is in attendance. Then things start to get really weird.
This wedding truly has it all — action, suspense and two separate interruptions showing why these two should not be wed. The later interruption involved a zombie bride warthog named Lola seeking to kill Nami for marrying Absalom. There's no other anime wedding like it and the sequence has some of the most absurd elements of the whole Thriller Bark Arc.
4 Pirate Docking 6 Giant Robot Big Emperor Is The Ultimate Weapon
The battle against Oars, a giant zombie monster Moria infuses with Luffy's shadow, is one of the most chaotic battles the Straw Hats ever fight. The clear highlight of the battle is the debut of the Pirate Docking 6 Giant Robot Big Emperor as the Straw Hats combine in a homage to the rich anime tradition of giant robots.
Sadly, it doesn't work, as Nico Robin, the only serious/competent member of the crew at this point, refuses to take part on principle. This is a shame, as they surly would've defeated Oars with ease if she had. Even if the moment's short, it's the best example of the Straw Hats' ability to utilize absurd tactics when their backs are against the wall.
3 Senor Pink & Franky Explore One Piece's Ability To Combine Humor & Emotional Depth
On it's surface, a battle between Franky and the baby bonnet wearing Senor Pink would be expected to be fairly funny. Fortunately, it is. The two men compete in a masculinity based competition with cheering women in the background. But there's a surprising emotional weight, as Senor Pink's tragic backstory is revealed, and the battle becomes about what it really means to be a man.
One Piece is at its finest when the action is all over the place, but this is one of the best occasions where it applies the same principle to the emotional undertones beneath the action. Only One Piece is ridiculous enough to make viewers cry over a wrestling match between a robot and a grown man in baby clothes.
2 Lucy Is Dressrosa's Mightiest Gladiator
Adorned in a phony white beard, that doesn't fool anyone who's met him before and a barley changed fake name, Luffy enters the gladiatorial ring in Dressrosa. Among the fighters, over 20 new characters steeped in One Piece's existing lore are introduced, many of whom with their own unique motivations.
The colosseum represents the series' first foray into a Battle Royale format. There's non-stop action, a few major plot twists, and several relevant storylines to keep track of, all of which makes Luffy's time in the arena a totally wild affair.
1 If Luffy Can't Overpower An Enemy He Can Out Eat Them
Every once in a while, Luffy runs into an enemy who can hit even harder than him. Against Cracker, one of Big Mom's Three Sweet Commanders, even Gear Four proved unable to the defeat a renewable army of biscuit warriors. So, Luffy resorts to the one thing he better at than fighting: eating.
Even Luffy is nearly full by the end of the battle and the whole sequence can be pretty sickening for anybody who'd just finished their lunch. It's an unprecedented feat of gluttony, and not really something that fans expect in an epic battle — but this is One Piece, so of course he uses a similar tactic against Katakuri.