Characters Who Had Too Much Screentime In One Piece

A common topic that will often be discussed among the One Piece fanbase is which characters deserve to receive more screen time, but what hasn’t been spoken about quite as much is those individuals who may have had just a little too much. While it’s always a joy seeing all the weird and wonderful characters that Oda inserts into the story, there are still some that, for one reason or another, felt like they overstayed their welcome.

Whether it’s because they are not all that relevant to the wider story, or simply because they are too irritating for their own good, some characters simply shouldn’t have been granted as much attention as they were given, especially since there are so many other characters who could have taken the spotlight instead. In hindsight, these are the One Piece characters who fit this description the best, and who probably would have benefited from appearing in the story a little less than they have.

Wapol

The Always-Hungry Tyrant Just Seems To Keep Popping Up Out Of Nowhere

• First Appearance: Episode 79

Wapol was a perfectly serviceable villain for the Drum Island arc, but considering he’s a massive coward who can barely even fight for himself, it seemed as though he would be long gone after that story arc had wrapped up for good. Much to the surprise of pretty much everyone, Wapol has shown up numerous times since then throughout the story, and has even become a pretty significant player on the world stage after the events of the Reverie.

While most characters have grown up and matured a lot since the timeskip, Wapol seems just as egotistical and selfish as ever, and, of course, he’s always looking to chow down on literally anything he lays his eyes on. He’s just not all that much of a fun character to follow, and while a quick cameo here and there could have made for some pretty funny moments, it does seem as though Oda is giving Wapol a lot more screen time than anyone really asked for.

Foxy

Foxy And His Rag-Tag Crew Get An Entire Arc Based Around Them

• First Appearance: Episode 207

The Long Ring Long Land arc is a pretty bizarre section of the story. After reaching the island, the Straw Hats are quickly invited to a Davy Back Fight game by a weird pirate captain by the name of Foxy. While he may talk a big game about how powerful he is, he’s a far cry from many of the serious villains that Luffy and the gang had already taken on by that point in the story, such as Arlong and Crocodile, for example.

Because of this, he’s honestly not very threatening as an opponent, so basing an entire arc around him being the major antagonist forces fans to put up with him for quite a while. That’s not to say the arc as a whole is bad, as there are some very fun and memorable moments, especially when it comes to Zoro and Sanji’s arguments, but Foxy, the man at the center of it all, receives far too much attention, given how insignificant he is.

Bellamy

Bellamy Should Have Learned His Lesson After Being One-Shot The First Time

• First Appearance: Episode 146

It’s not long after Bellamy formally introduces himself on Jaya that he is promptly taken down with a single punch from Luffy. Admittedly, the snobby captain had this coming, considering how much he was running his mouth, and while it was satisfying to see him cut down to size, it didn’t seem like fans were all that eager to see Bellamy again in the future.

This is why it felt a little random when he surprisingly shows up in Dressrosa, but this time, as a subordinate to his role model, Doflamingo. He takes up quite a bit of the focus during Luffy’s battle with Doflamingo, where he is once again defeated with a single punch, and even betrayed by his new master. Considering Dressrosa was already incredibly long, many fans simply wanted to get to the epic duel that had been built up for hundreds of episodes and chapters, so it really wouldn’t have been all that bad if Bellamy was removed from this section of the story entirely.

Yamato

Yamato’s Inclusion In Wano Always Felt A Little Odd

• First Appearance: Episode 972

At roughly the halfway point of the Wano story arc, it’s revealed that the ferocious Yonko known as Kaido has a child by the name of Yamato. Before this reveal, there hadn’t really been any indications that Yamato even existed, and while the character has amassed a fairly large fan base, many still wonder why exactly they were included, considering they don’t exactly add a whole lot to the arc, despite being directly related to the main villain.

In a nutshell, Yamato was treated horribly by Kaido when they were still young, but due to being inspired by the bravery of Oden, they became dedicated to helping Luffy take down the ferocious tyrant of Wano once and for all. There are quite a few chapters and episodes that center largely around Yamato and their feelings toward Kaido, alongside their eventual battle with him, but considering they don’t end up joining the Straw Hats in the end, they ultimately still come across as a rather random addition who ends up prolonging an already slightly bloated story arc.

Momonosuke

Momo Isn’t Exactly The Most Exciting Character To Follow

• First Appearance: Episode 611

Considering he was set to be the next Shogun of Wano, it makes sense why Momonosuke would earn himself a decent amount of screen time. The truth is, because he is still only a child who often spends his time either crying or peeping on Nami and Robin, he’s not exactly all that interesting or fleshed out as a character, which is why his scenes probably should have been cut down a little more, especially when the gang gets to Wano.

There are a lot of times in the Wano arc where the story will suddenly shift to Momonosuke and his training, but because he is surrounded by other characters who are all absurdly powerful, including the Straw Hats, watching a young boy fling around a wooden sword can end up disrupting the pacing quite a lot. Admittedly, he does eventually become a lot more important once he turns into an adult, but for a good portion of the story, Momonosuke felt like more of an irritating brat who fans just couldn’t get away from.

Rebecca

Oda Went Above And Beyond To Try And Make Rebecca Relevant And Memorable

• First Appearance: Episode 633

It’s hard to find many One Piece fans who speak about Rebecca quite as highly as a lot of the other female characters in the series, such as Vivi or Nami. The main reason for this is simply because, despite being a fairly minor character in terms of importance to the story, she has a lot of screen time dedicated to her throughout the Dressrosa arc that feels rather unwarranted.

While she does have a fairly emotional relationship with their father, Kyros, Dressrosa is already packed full of new characters, and Rebecca isn’t anywhere near as compelling or interesting as many of the other new faces, such as Bartolomeo or the returning Sabo. While many fans were over the moon to see Vivi return for the Reverie, the same couldn’t exactly be said for Rebecca, who has quickly become more of an afterthought because of how overexposed she was in Dressrosa.

Caribou

Caribou Will Always Find A Way To Hog The Spotlight

• First Appearance: Episode 519

It’s honestly remarkable how Caribou, a minor antagonist who first showed up on Sabaody, has been reappearing every few story arcs to cause more chaos. It doesn’t matter whether the Straw Hats are taking on a Yonko in the land of Wano, or if the Blackbeard pirates are wreaking havoc across the land, Caribou will always be there to make himself known, to the point where it almost feels like Oda is using him as a convenient deus ex machina to help out the characters when they need it most.

Despite this, the man himself is a pretty horrible person, being more than happy to tear down anyone if it gives him more notoriety and power, as he has done numerous times. It does at least make some sense that he can move around so easily, considering he possesses an odd Devil Fruit which allows him to turn into sludge, but it’s gotten to the point where many fans are sick of seeing his creepy face, though in all honesty, it doesn’t seem like his appearances will be slowing down any time soon.

One Piece

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

Directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

Writers

Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda

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  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

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  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)