The first One Piece global popularity poll has come to a close and the results are in. Celebrating the manga's 1,000th chapter with a popularity poll of this magnitude was a great way to bring together One Piece fans from across the globe, and it's wonderful to see how many long-standing characters -- and even more recent ones -- have touched the lives of fans of this titan of a manga. The results are both expected and unexpected, with some characters climbing surprisingly high while others have landed exactly where they should be.
The characters from the last popularity poll, conducted in 2017, are still occupying those same spots in the first global one -- from fifth to first place. This isn't a surprise: we have Portgas D. Ace in fifth place, Trafalgar Law in fourth place, Sanji in third, Roronoa Zoro in second and Monkey D. Luffy in first. Ask any One Piece fan and they'll tell you at least one of these five hot-blooded hunks is among their favorites. It's also great to see that the fan community has not grown tired yet of the future King of the Pirates, but the other half of the list is where things take a turn.
Taking sixth place -- a spot previously occupied by Jimbei -- is none other than the beloved archeologist of the Straw Hats, Nico Robin. Robin has always been a fan-favorite character but hasn't made it into the top 10 since the fourth poll in 2008. It's a welcomed return, especially after seeing her badassery against Black Maria in Onigashima.
Next is Nami, who has moved up one position from eighth place to seventh place. Given how invaluable she was during the Whole Cake Island Arc, this small promotion is very well earned. She did have to take this spot from Chopper, but our favorite reindeer will surely recover.
In eighth place is Sabo, who has also moved up one spot since last time. We haven't seen our Chief of Staff for the Revolutionary Army since the mini-Reverie Arc, but clearly, fans are eager to find out what has happened to Sabo since then. Ninth place is held down by the Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock. Hancock has been sitting at number 10 since the fifth poll in 2014, and, as one of the strongest female characters in the series, a promotion was long overdue for her. Finally, at number ten is "Red-Haired" Shanks. Like with Robin, Shanks hasn't been in the top ten since the fourth poll, and with Oda's message about Shanks' return, it seems the fanbase is already raising the sails for his big comeback.
Every One Piece character in the top 10 has a good reason for being where they are, and while no spots have particularly rocked the boat, the results still speak to how people engage with them, especially seeing that their ranks are more or less the same even on a global scale. Polls like this one show how universal some things are in fandoms. Let's hope that it doesn't take until Chapter #2,000 for another worldwide poll to crop up in the series' future.
