10 Coolest One Piece Character Designs And Their Real-World Inspirations

10 Coolest One Piece Character Designs And Their Real-World Inspirations,Eiichiro Oda is a master at integrating real-world inspiration in his dynamic character designs.

10 Coolest One Piece Character Designs And Their Real-World Inspirations

One Piece chronicles the adventures of a pirate crew functioning as a found family as they embark on their mission to acquire the legendary eponymous treasure. Throughout their journey, the Straw Hats encounter many friends and foes, featuring imaginative and often eccentric character designs.

Notably, One Piece's creator, Eiichiro Oda, has publicly disclosed that many of the characters are modeled after real-life public figures and celebrities from around the world. This revelation has prompted fervent speculation among the series' fans as they endeavor to discern the real-life inspirations behind each character. While some characters only bear vague resemblances to their real-life counterparts, others possess notably similar clothing and accessories.

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10 Killer, Inspired By Daft Punk's Guy Manuel

One of the more obvious comparisons is "Massacre Soldier" Killer and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo from the electronic duo Daft Punk. Killer dons a smooth, striped helmet over his face with two fixtures on the side that look like headphones. Killer prefers to shield his face so much that he favors foods that can fit through the holes.

Killer's mask is similar in shape and build to Guy-Manuel's helmet. Daft Punk was a French pair of musicians from Paris who gained popularity in the late '90s and early 2000s. Guy-Manuel and his partner, Thomas Bangalter, wore the helmets to blend the lines between fiction and reality, creating a legion of die-hard fans in their wake.

9 Basil Hawkins, Inspired By Slipknot's #1

Basil Hawkins' design includes face paint or tattoos that are similar to the original drummer of the heavy metal band Slipknot, #1. He also has similar, long parted hair, sunken eyes, and a long face. Hawkins has a general motif for the dark and creepy, with cult-like crew members, that could be a nod to Slipknot's passionate fans.

#1 was the alias for the late founding member of Slipknot, Joey Jordison, who sadly passed away in 2021. Slipknot is considered one of the most influential bands of the 1990s and the early 2000s, and it seems they were influential in more mediums than just music.

8 Rosinante Donquixote, Inspired By A Clockwork Orange's Alex DeLarge

Rosinante Donquixote, also known as Corazon, has similar makeup to the main character Alex DeLarge from the 1971 adaptation of A Clockwork Orange. While the similarities between the oft-compassionate Rosinante and the cruel Alex end there, the detail is distinct enough to be noticed by the keen eyes of One Piece fans.

While Rosinante Donquixote was a Marine and set on upholding ideals of justice, Alex causes his own brand of "ultraviolence" in a dystopian England. Despite his affinity for violence, his story ends on a rather peaceful note. He is considered one of the greatest villains of all time.

7 Spandam, Inspired By WWE's Mankind

Spandam, the clumsy leader of Cipher Pol, resembles Mankind, one of the WWE personas of wrestling legend Mick Foley. Both have disheveled hair, a mask, and an unkempt collared shirt. Both characters also are quirky and erratic in their behavior.

Unlike Spandam, Mick Foley himself is considered an authentically nice person. Spandam, on the other hand, fails to extract respect from even his direct reports. While the reason Spandam wears the mask is to hide heavy scarring, Mankind's story doesn't include a reason. In real life, the mask was meant for The Undertaker, whose actor, Mark Calaway, had a facial fracture at the time, but the mask ended up going to Foley for aesthetic purposes.

6 Sanji, Inspired By Reservoir Dogs' Mr. Pink

Sanji has captured fans' hearts worldwide as a sweet-talking womanizer, so it was a bit of a shock to find out that he was based on Steve Buscemi's character Mr. Pink from Quentin Tarantino's debut film Reservoir Dogs. While parts of Sanji's design are exaggerated, such as the curly eyebrow and the longer bangs, it's definitely a resemblance that's possible to see side-by-side.

Oda has said that Sanji wasn't meant to be an exact copy of Mr. Pink, but he wanted the general aesthetic and attitude to be emulated. However, Sanji's characterization has grown since viewers first met him. While he may have seemed standoffish or aggressive in the beginning, much like Mr. Pink, it's worth noting that Luffy wanted Sanji on his crew not because he was strong but because he was kind.

5 Whitebeard, Inspired By WWE's Hulk Hogan

Whitebeard, once the strongest character in One Piece, is based on another WWE legend, Hulk Hogan. They both wear a bandana around their heads, have shapely mustaches, and are rather muscular. In both of their youths, they had flowing blond hair. Just as Whitebeard was considered the top of the food chain in his world, Hulk Hogan is considered one of the greatest and most recognizable wrestlers of all time in the real world.

Both Whitebeard and Hulk Hogan are considered beloved characters in their respective series. While Whitebeard had a penchant for turning those around him into crew members or allies, Hulk Hogan had a similarly infectious effect on the audiences he performed in front of over his 35-year wrestling career.

4 Franky, Inspired By Jim Carrey's Ace Ventura

Both a little lewd and full of attitude, Franky and Ace Ventura have a few stylistic similarities that were picked up on prior to the One Piece time skip. The two characters feature sculpted hair, dark sunglasses, strong jaws, and colorful shirts. They are also both considered delinquents, despite being good at their crafts. While Franky is rather powerful in his world, Ace Ventura manages to pull off his own larger-than-life schemes in spectacular ways.

Franky's character inspiration, Ace Ventura, is played by famed actor Jim Carrey. Both films where he plays the character, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, received poor critical response due to their raunchy and often culturally insensitive humor but have since formed cult followings.

3 Donquixote Doflamingo, Inspired By French Musician Michel Polnareff

Donquixote Doflamingo is a character that One Piece fans love to hate, while his design source, Michel Polnareff, is a beloved French musician. Doflamingo is noted as having pink and flamboyant outfits, which was also a signature for Polnareff. Doflamingo also wears opaque sunglasses at all times, which Polnareff had to wear because of his deteriorating eyesight.

Donquixote Doflamingo's design is specifically based on the cover of Michel Polnareff's self-titled 1974 album, Michel Polnareff. Polnareff also serves as the inspiration for a character from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure — Jean Pierre Polnareff. In 2020, Polnareff acknowledged the two characters based on him with thanks and praise.

2 Trafalgar Law, Inspired By Motorcyclist Valentino Rossi

While not confirmed, there are multiple similarities between fictional pirate Trafalgar Law and real-world motorcyclist Valentino Rossi. Law's general face shape matches Rossi's, along with the dark hair and sideburns. Law's nickname is "Surgeon of Death," while Rossi is known as "The Doctor" or "Il Dottore" in his native Italian. Similarly, Law is captain of the Heart Pirates, while "Valentino" is close to "Valentine."

Trafalgar Law has quite the reputation in his world, while Valentino Rossi is considered one of the top motorcyclists of all time, if not the best ever. His motorcycle racing career has left him with multiple awards and broken records that still stand even after his retirement in 2021.

1 Crocodile, Inspired By Pulp Fiction's Vincent Vega

Crocodile is still a popular character over 20 years after his introduction, partly due to his design based on Vincent Vega from Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. Both men have shoulder-grazing, slicked-back dark hair, broad faces, and a single gold earring on their right ear. They both also have rather professional and classy costume designs.

Vincent Vega is played by John Travolta, but he wasn't even the original man for the role, which has interesting implications for Crocodile's design. Michael Madsen and Daniel Day-Lewis were also up for the role, but Travolta accepted the job at a reduced rate. It's hard to imagine the first major villain of One Piece with any other design.

NEXT: 10 Silliest Character Designs In One Piece