One Piece

One Piece is a long-running anime and manga with spin-offs in other media. So far, all I’ve actually consumed is the spin-off game One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3. It’s a good introduction to the series, presenting a very high-level overview of the major plot events thus far. Since the depth is necessarily lacking, the characters are presented in rather broad strokes. It’s very likely that my tiers will change when I watch more of the anime.

Waifu Tier

ⓘ

The best of the best. Only one character may be in this tier for a given work or medium. This character... is Mai Waifu.

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  Nami

  from One Piece

  Nami is a skilled cartographer and navigator as well as an accomplished thief who only steals from pirates. In her early appearances she steals from and betrays virtually every pirate she interacts with, including protagonist Luffy and his crew. But it’s soon revealed that this is because a powerful pirate named Arlong is holding her entire village hostage, and she’s been collecting money to buy it back for several years. Luffy and his crew defeat Arlong and free the village, after which Nami becomes a fiercely loyal member of Luffy’s crew.

  Nami’s a lot of fun to play as in One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3. While she’s not very strong against single targets, her weather control and ability to summon lightning give her some powerful room-clearing combos and make her a very effective support as well. She also has an energetic and enthusiastic personality, fitting well into the template of the Cute Spunky Redhead.

Harem Tier

ⓘ

The characters who, while not quite waifu material, rise above the rest.

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  Perona

  from One Piece

  In all honesty, I don’t know much about Perona. One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 doesn’t spend a lot of time with her. I know she’s first encountered as an antagonist, but later on she helps you out. This makes me think she’s not actively evil, but just one of the many One Piece characters who start as an enemy simply because she’s affiliated with folks whose goals conflict with Luffy’s. There can, after all, only be one Pirate King.

  Most of what appeals to me about Perona is her design, both visually and mechanically. She’s got a great look and a wonderfully lopey run animation. She’s also one of the most interesting characters to play as - her normal attacks aren’t worth a lot, but her ghost-based abilities are fun and can be devastating if set up correctly.

  Plus she loves cute things!

• 

  Monet

  from One Piece

  I know even less about Monet than I do about Perona, since she shows up in One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 even less and she’s not even playable (much to my disappointment). I’m a little worried she’ll turn out to be horrible in the anime, and if so she’ll be bumped off the list, but for now she’s included here on the strength of her design.

  She’s exotic - not many games or other works of fiction have sexy harpy characters. And I like her casual mode of dress, though I can certainly see where it would be necessary for someone who lacks opposable thumbs to wear simple clothing. And for some reason she has ice powers in the game? I like ice powers.