Does Trafalgar Law Die in One Piece? How & When?

Oda’s One Piece series has introduced us to a variety of amazing and powerful characters. Some of them had a short run in the series; some had a longer one. Some were more interesting; some were less. This article is going to be dedicated to a major supporting character whose role in the story is actually pivotal. The character in question is Trafalgar D. Water Law, the captain, and doctor of the Heart Pirates. In this article, you’re going to find out how Trafalgar Law “died” on the pages of the One Piece manga and what actually happened to him.

Trafalgar D. Water Law is alive and well in the world of One Piece. Although the fans have seen him dead on several occasions, he never truly died and is still alive and well in the story. The situation which most fans talk about is his apparent death during his battle against Doflamingo in the Dressrosa Arc, but that was just a trick by Law himself, as he definitely survived the battle.

The remainder of this article will give you a detailed overview of Law’s fate during the controversial moments of the Dressrosa Arc. You already know what happened and how it happened, so we are just going to bring you the details, so you know the whole context. Be careful, though, as the article is going to contain a lot of spoilers about the events in question from the One Piece manga and anime.

Does Trafalgar Law die in One Piece?

Allow us to take you back to the Dressrosa Arc in order to determine the fate of One Piece’s most famous pirates in history. Why? Well, this is when Trafalgar Law apparently died, so we are going to tell you what happened so that you know definitively whether he is dead or not. In Chapter 768, Law confronts still determined to stop Doflamingo for Corazon. He asks Doflamingo what he thinks of Luffy and the “D.”

Doflamingo says it doesn’t concern him, and it’s ironic that Luffy is in Dressrosa. He thinks Law says he’s there to chop off the head of him, a descendant of the gods (Celestial Dragons) and thinks it’s grotesque. Law suffers “Goshikito” from Doflamingo but protects himself with his Armament Haki and thinks back to Corazon’s words, and replies to Doflamingo that it’s also a “D.” which surprises Doflamingo.

The World Noble tells him he is surprised that he’s a “D” and would like to believe that Law’s coming is predestined and asks him what Corazon told him, and he doesn’t care that it’s a “D” and asks him again if he can stop it and if he believes in this story of natural enemies. Meanwhile, Trebol warns Doflamingo that he is within Law’s power range, but it’s too late because Law uses an “Injection Shot” against Doflamingo.

Doflamingo is hit, and Law continues to attack him, sending a piece of one of the rampart towers and stones, but Doflamingo dodges. He tries to finish him off by taking his heart, but he is countered and is immobilized in the air by Doflamingo, who, by creating a wire at the level of his heel, cuts off his right arm.

Law falls to the ground, which is followed by a speech from Doflamingo, who taunts him by telling him that he has no chance that Luffy will come to help him; he tells him that he grew up in the white city without the slightest hope for the future but that his meeting Rocinante has allowed him to continue living and that he makes him think of his ghost who has returned to haunt him just out of a pure spirit of revenge and that he has only wasted 13 years of his life.

Doflamingo tells him that he will die for nothing but that he could use his immortality surgery technique by making himself useful and that, in return, he would grant Law’s wish. Law accepts, and his wish is to revive Corazon and that Doflamingo licks the pumps of all the inhabitants of Dressrosa; he adds that he does not understand anything.

Law then gives Doflamingo the finger of honor while telling him that the Mugiwaras are capable of performing miracles and that he will not be able to defeat them, and that, in addition, he will not be able to recover Caesar. He ends by saying his dream is ruined. An annoyed Doflamingo shoots Law repeatedly; while firing, he tells him where he was going with the “Corazon” inscription on his back and the name of his crew which he impersonated.

He asks again why all of this when he refuses the place of “Corazon” that was reserved for him; he shoots more and more, asking why he cares so much for Corazon and ends up saying that he will break forever the fate that binds him to Corazon. That’s when Luffy, having finished with Bellamy, goes back to the second level and attacks, starting a fight with Doflamingo until he comes across a tide of blood, bringing him toward Law’s lifeless body. He asks him what happened to his arm, and Doflamingo replies that he’s dead and that it is obvious.

He tells Luffy that Law told him his crew is capable of performing miracles, and he wants to see the result. He tells her that it’s just him and Trebol left and that it’s high time to end it. Luffy calls him bloated, and a discreet voice addressing Luffy is heard near him. Doflamingo tells Luffy about the new rules of the game he has imposed on the citizens; the Birdcage is shrinking little by little and will destroy everything in its path after an hour. Luffy attacks Doflamingo wanting to attack, but then Law uses “Shambles” to switch places with Luffy, and he then appears in front of Doflamingo.

Law uses “Gamma Knife” to destroy Doflamingo from within. Trebol exclaims that Law is still alive and that he manages to use his power without creating a “Room” Law replies that they are already inside a Room, that he will consume his life, but that he kept the Room out of their sight for a long time.

Law has success with his technique on Doflamingo, as the latter is about to fall, but Trebol challenges him, telling him that a king must never kneel. He then grabs Law’s face to finish him off, but Luffy arrives and knocks Doflamingo down with Gommu Gommu no Jet Stamp a few meters away. Luffy runs to finish him off, but Law stops him telling him to leave it to him. He approaches Doflamingo and creates a “Room” he tells him that nothing can save him because the “Gamma Knife” destroys the organs without leaving marks on the body.

Trebol jumps up to save his master, but Luffy kicks him crashing him to the ground. Law goes on to tell him that he calls people who are helpful his “family” and that he killed his own brother when he was trying to stop him in his coup. Doflamingo replies that it’s a pity his brother betrayed him, but he justifies his assassination because it is Rocinante who pointed his gun at him. Law tells Doflamingo that he knew Corazon would never pull the trigger but that he would have, and it was he (Doflamingo) who should have died that day.

Doflamingo says the words Law has been waiting for the whole time regarding Rocinante, but it is then that he starts the better part of his story as Law uses “Counter Shock” to finish him off. But during his technique, Law falls to the ground, totally exhausted. Doflamingo gets up and tells him that he can restore all his destroyed organs with his sons. He thanks him for having played the suicide bomber and, with a kick, is about to break his skull. Luffy intervenes by pinning Doflamingo’s foot with his own.

Doflamingo attempts to smash the skull again with Law’s Haki, but Luffy still intervenes with the same action, this time with the Haki-imbued foot. Luffy engages Doflamingo taking advantage several times until Doflamingo dodges one of his attacks and slashes him in the back, knocking Luffy into a wall. Trebol tells Doflamingo to finish off Law while he holds Luffy back. Law interrupts him by saying that since working for Doflamingo, the only thing he has become is his puppet.

Trebol gets angry and decides to self-destruct by creating an explosion with his slime. Law is seen again in Chapter 785, still with Cavendish. He observes that Luffy has changed his form, but according to him, he uses his Haki too much. Law reappears in Chapter 788; he teleports to find himself in the way of Gatz and Luffy. He asks for the time left for Luffy to recover his Haki (3 minutes and 20 seconds) and tells Gatz that he will take care of it.

Presumably, he sped up Luffy’s Haki recovery time since, at the end of the chapter, there is only one minute left. In the next chapter, he is seen sitting against a wall near the city center with Luffy lying down. When Doflamingo-controlled Rebecca is about to kill Viola, he swaps Viola’s place with Luffy. In Chapter 790, Doflamingo turns the city into a son to violently attack Luffy.

The sons also move towards Rebecca, who is about to be hit; Law intervenes by exchanging Rebecca’s place with a large rock to bring her back to him and Viola. Doflamingo notices Law’s presence and asks him to observe. At the end of the chapter, when Luffy has definitively defeated Doflamingo, Law remembers a sentence from Corazon which says: “Somewhere, far from here, lives this family which one knows under the name of ‘D,’ the greatest enemies of God.” In chapter 794, Law is seen lying on the ground recuperating from his injuries at Kyros’s house.

As you can see, Trafalgar Law never died. Despite what the fans were saying online, Trafalgar Law is alive and well in One Piece. According to some places online, he died in Dressrosa, he died in Wano, and probably somewhere else, but the fact is that Law is truly important – although he is a secondary character – and that Oda wouldn’t really kill him off just like that. The Dressrosa scenario was a situation when he seemingly died, but as you can see – he is alive and well in One Piece.