One Piece has always had some of the strangest body proportions in all of fiction. While many other series try to keep characters within a relatively similar size range, One Piece characters can reach ridiculously large sizes. Even when comparing the two characters Doffy and Luffy side by side, the difference in actual height is almost laughably absurd.
In fact, many characters appear incredibly large for no apparent reason, other than the fact that they were born that way. However, while it may seem a bit silly at first, the sheer height difference between the characters serves an interesting purpose in the One Piece story. Mainly the absurd size difference between the characters helps highlight the struggle for power between these opposing forces.
The bad guys in One Piece are absurdly large
Looking at many of One Piece's characters, some are made to be ridiculously large. For example, former Yonko Big Mom, despite being a normal human with no particularly clear lineage, was nearly 30 feet tall. Other characters, like the villain Doffy, appear at first glance to be the size of a normal person, but are actually about 10 feet tall. Compared to people like Luffy or Zoro, who are 5 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 10 inches respectively, the fact that there are such towering normal people can sometimes be a bit hard to believe.
Even some other One Piece characters can grow to be even bigger than these standard people. For example, giants are absurdly tall, easily towering over huge characters like Big Mom.
Gerd – a giant pirate who was a friend of Big Mom before she destroyed their village, is about 55 feet tall, almost twice the height of the former Yonko. However, none of these can compare to the tallest humanoid character in One Piece, Sanjuan Wolf, a member of the Blackbeard Pirates, who is over 590 feet tall.
Some characters in One Piece are a bit too big
When comparing the story's 5-foot-8-inch tall hero to a Sanjuan Wolf, it's easy to see the absurd size difference that One Piece offers. Sanjuan Wolf is roughly the height of two football fields and most likely wider. If Luffy stood next to this guy, it would be almost impossible to see him. Overall, it would take a hundred Luffy clones stacked on top of each other to reach Sanjuan Wolf's height.
Although this height difference could imply that Sanjuan Wolf could be a formidable opponent for Luffy in the One Piece story, currently, Luffy is probably much stronger than him – who was defeated by Garp. However, due to the large size difference between the characters, by comparison, having a smaller body makes even a stronger character feel like the underdog in the fight. Plus, taking down a much larger opponent often makes for an even more epic moment.
Although height isn't everything in the world of One Piece, it does help shape your opponent's strength. Additionally, the absurd size comparison between Luffy and the other characters keeps Luffy always the underdog, no matter how much stronger he is. Ultimately, having characters ranging in height from normal humans to characters hundreds of feet tall is one of the quirks of One Piece that makes it the unique show it is today.
