If there’s one thing that the World Government hates more than Luffy, it’s the Clan of D members. The Will of D is inherited by people in the form of the initial ‘D’ in their names. Luffy, Roger, Ace, Garp, Saul, and Blackbeard are some of the people who have the initial D in One Piece.
All of them are central figures to the story, and powerful ones at that. Just by knowing the members of the clan, you can already imagine why the World Government hates them. But there’s more to them than what meets the eye.
One Trait of the Will of D Clan that the World Government Hates
Those who inherit the Will of D are capable of great things and hold a few similarities among themselves. Fearlessness and an inclination towards action and rebellion are a few of them. Their tendency to be involved in world conflicts has been annoying the World Government for decades. But none of these even come close to the one trait that seems almost miraculous.
Those who bear ‘D’ in their names seem to be able to choose when they can die, and the proof is present in the various D clan members in One Piece. They can withstand inhumane torture and punishment as well as battle wounds, but they don’t die till they have accepted death by themselves. They die once they believe that death is inescapable, and even so, some of them escape it.
In fact, a defining trait is that the D clan members are seen laughing or smiling before they die. Since they have accepted their deaths, they no longer fear it and instead bid their loved ones farewell before surrendering. Those who have seen this phenomenon have always been shell-shocked because how can someone who is so doomed accept their death so easily?
Clan of D Members Who Accepted Their Deaths in One Piece
The trait of smiling and accepting their deaths among the Clan of D holds true in several cases. The one that should be mentioned before anyone else is Gol D. Roger. After capturing him, the Marines brought him to his birthplace to execute him in front of a crowd. But instead of begging for mercy, Roger exhibited a proud smile and showed no regrets whatsoever.
When Portgas D. Ace, Luffy’s beloved brother, died, he too was seen putting on a brave face. Akainu had burnt the internal organs of Ace and there was no hope of survival. In his last moments, Ace hugged Luffy and thanked him for everything before finally accepting that his end had arrived. Before accepting his death with a smile, he spoke these words with his last breath:
Thank you… for caring about someone like me… This good for nothing… This world never wanted…
Luffy on the other hand has never thought about accepting death despite the perilous conditions that he has gone through. He survived Impel Down after being poisoned, the battle against Kaido, and even Ace’s death in the Marineford Arc. Despite losing all hope, and becoming a husk of a man after Ace passes away, Luffy still gained his spirit back in some time.
Portgas D. Rouge, Ace’s mother, is also another example of the strong hearts that the Clan of D members carry. She was pregnant with Ace during Roger’s execution. In order to deceive the world of Ace’s connection to Roger, she held her pregnancy through 20 painful months. Once Ace was born, she smiled and thanked everyone for loving him, before the exhaustion of the long pregnancy finally took her life.
You can read One Piece on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll.
