Is Ashura Alive in One Piece? (& What Happened to Him?)
Ashura Doji was one of the Nine Red Scabbards once led by Kozuki Oden. After Oden’s death, he went back to being a criminal under the name Shutenmaru, taking leadership of the Mt. Atama Thieves. He initially severed all ties with the Kozuki Family, but rejoined them after witnessing Yasuie’s death. Doji is a very interesting supporting character from the One Piece franchise and since everyone’s wondering what happened to him, we at Fiction Horizon have decided to give you all the information you need about whether Ashura is dead or alive in the series.
Working again with his fellow Scabbards during the raid on Onagishima, Ashura eventually met his end during the raid itself, sacrificing himself to protect his fellow Scabbards from one of Kanjuro’s schemes. Kanjuro had been exposed as the traitor and as he wanted to attack the Scabbards with a drawing of Oden full of explosives, Ashura sacrificed himself to save them but perished in the explosion himself.
The rest of this article is going to focus on whether Ashura Doji is alive or dead in Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece manga and anime. We are going to give you all the details you need to know about the set of events related to Ashura’s death and everything you’ll need to understand what actually happened to him in the series.
Is Ashura alive in One Piece?
Anime characters tend to die and come back after a while, but sometimes the situation is quite clear. In the case of Ashura Doji, the situation is absolutely clear, as the Scabbard died in a large explosion, after having been fatally wounded, to save his allies from a clone drawing of their late leader, Kozuki Ode. It was a noble move on his side that earned him a place in the history of the franchise.
What happened to Ashura?
During the Wano Country Arc, Shutenmaru, Ashura’s thief pseudonym, and his thieves came to Okobore Town, where they stole some fresh food that Luffy had given to the residents. He was confronted by an old woman who believed the samurai would return to protect them, but before he could attack her, he was confronted by Jack of the Beasts Pirates.
Jack asked about the Straw Hats, explaining that Shutenmaru had only been left alive because Kaido wanted him as his subordinate. Shutenmaru refused this offer and landed a punch on Jack, and the two men began to fight. Jack manages to injure Shutenmaru. However, their duel was interrupted when Kaido flew in to ask Jack to bring him the Straw Hats.
Kaido renewed Jack’s proposal, asking Shutenmaru to become his subordinate. However, Shutenmaru was still unwilling to join them. He ordered his men to flee into the forest and wondered if he should attack Kaido. Basil Hawkins eventually diverts attention to himself and Luffy and his whereabouts. He witnesses the total destruction of the ruins of Oden Castle, and is annoyed.
After Luffy attacked Kaido, Shutenmaru told his men to retreat to the mountain before watching Luffy’s vain attempt to defeat Kaido. After Kaido defeated Luffy, Shutenmaru saw the unconscious Luffy knock out some of the Yonko’s subordinates with Kings Haki and realized that he had the same power as Oden. He then left the town of Okobore. Shutenmaru and Inuarashi are later seen clashing. Kin’emon asks them to stop their duel.
Shutenmaru leaves, believing that he only has ties with Oden and not his descendants in the person of Momonosuke. A few days after the Okobore village incident, he is seen running away from his lair as his forest burned due to Holdem. He heads to Bakura to deal with Holdem although his men warn him. Moments after Yasuie’s death, Ashura will defeat Kin’emon in a duel.
Following this, the latter apologizes for the 20 years of absence and informs him of the raid on Onigashima; Ashura asks them to follow him as he is going to show them something. Ashura will be seen again later with Kin’emon and Inuarashi. He shows them the graves of the samurai who died 10 years ago during the invasion at Onigashima, he explains that he decided to join the alliance to kill Kaido and Orochi.
Later Ashura shows Kin’emon and Nekomamushi an abandoned port containing all the ships of all ports in Wano that can hold over a thousand men. Ashura gives the plan of Kaido’s abode in Onigashima to Kin’emon, Inuarashi and surprised and tells him that he was not very active before, which annoys Ashura. Ashura gathers around the other Red Scabbards, part of the Straw Hat Crew, Shinobu, and Hitetsu ready to discuss a plan to attack Kaido.
Ashura learns along with the Red Scabbards and Momonosuke that Hiyori is alive. He wonders if she’s safe, which Kawamatsu confirms to them. He was seen with Robin and Kin’emon to know the strength of their enemies and their armed forces, which is 4,200 men and 20,000 men for the Beasts Pirates.
He then walks alongside his fellow Red Scabbards, Shinobu, and Momonosuke to their rallying point towards Tokage Port in Udon. Ashura arrives at the port of Tokage accompanied by the other 7 red scabbards as well as Momonosuke and Shinobu, to their surprise, they find no boat or men; Kin’emon tries to call Luffy and the others but Ashura asks him to stop as the Gods let them down.
Ashura Doji, along with the other Red Scabbards, refuses to wait another year. They decided to go to Onigashima on a boat. The Scabbards set sail and left Momonosuke in port. As Kin’emon wondered about the possibility of a traitor among them, Kanjuro then revealed that he was the mole, leaving the other scabbards stunned by this revelation.
After Kanjuro explained what he had done, Kin’emon angrily beheaded him, only to learn that it was a copy and that the real Kanjuro was staying on the coast and had captured Momonosuke to bring him back to Onigashima. While this was happening, the Scabbards ship was confronted by three ships of the Beasts Pirates, but the ships were suddenly attacked by the Straw Hats, Heart Pirates, and Kid Pirates. The scabbard boat was then lifted by Law’s submarine Polar Tang.
When Kyoshiro arrived, the scabbards were confused to see him attack one of the Beasts Pirates’ ships. They were later shocked when Kyoshiro revealed himself to be Denjiro and freed the Flower Capital prisoners and the rebels gathered at Port Habu. Much to their relief, the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai allies arrived at Port Tokage on a massive fleet to begin the raid on Onigashima.
Kanjuro then fled the scene with Momonosuke being towed on a pulled crane and briefly attacked the alliance with an inky cloud that rained down ink arrows. Momonosuke ordered the alliance to advance to Onigashima regardless of him. As the alliance was attacked by a Beasts Pirates ship with long-range cannons, Jinbe came to help the rebels.
After Shishilian and Hyogoro boarded the Polar Tang, the scabbards discussed with Law the plan to enter Onigashima. After the Straw Hats defeated the guards at the entrance gates, the Heart Pirates and Scabbards (except Kin’emon and Denjiro) broke through Onigashima’s rear inside the Polar Tang. Along the way, they were contacted by Nekomamushi, who had just arrived and planned to meet them at Onigashima.
When the sub got close enough, Law teleported himself and the scabbards with him to Onigashima’s rear entrance, where they were joined by Marco, Nekomamushi, and Izou. After Marco left to check on a shadow he saw at sea, the group was confronted by Kanjuro and an army of Beasts Pirates. While Kikunojo faced Kanjuro, the others fought the other enemies.
Kanjuro and the Pirates with him were defeated, and Ashura’s group was soon joined by Kin’emon and Denjiro. They then entered Kaido’s castle, made their way to the performance stage, and launched an all-out attack on Kaido. While falling to the lower floor, the scabbards managed to inflict injuries on Kaido. As the alliance revealed themselves and attacked the Beasts Pirates, Kaido transformed into his dragon form and flew towards the roof of the Dome, with the scabbards grabbing him.
On the roof, the Scabbards prepared to fight Kaido with the help of the Mink Tribe. Jack and a Number Nagi arrived on the roof to help Kaido, and the scabbards watched as the Minks Sulong attacked the enemy. After Jack and his forces were rendered incapacitated by the minks’ efforts, the Scabbards resumed their confrontation with Kaido.
Kaido hurled lightning bolts at them while roaring, but they dodged and each hit him in turn. Kaido was confused about how their attacks could hurt him. After Raizo threw Kaido’s Boro Breath back at him, four of the scabbards – Ashura, Kin’emon, Denjiro, and Inuarashi – countered Oden’s Nitoryu stance and targeted Kaido’s scar with the same attack Oden did, and also hurt him.
After the Red Scabbards’ crushing defeat, Big Mom, Kid, Killer, Zoro, Luffy, and Law later arrived at the rooftop. At Luffy’s request, Law teleported the scabbards to a safe place. They were placed in the treasure room on the second floor, where a mysterious person was taking care of them. The scabbards later recovered and regained consciousness, but the mysterious figure was already gone.
Before leaving the treasure room, they were shockingly greeted by what appeared to be Oden. However, Ashura immediately suspected that it was an impostor and told his comrades who thought it was legit. When Kin’emon tried to argue against this, Ashura knocked him out of the way while drawing his sword and cut “Oden” in the face.
Oden didn’t bleed after the cut, causing the scabbards to realize it was one of Kanjuro’s designs, and the design stabbed Ashura through the chest with one of his swords. Ashura briefly lay on the ground as Oden’s design clashed with Denjiro and spoke on Kanjuro’s behalf, but then the design ignited explosives under his clothing.
Ashura immediately acted and attacked Oden’s drawing, sending them both crashing out of the room, and told his comrades to stop Kanjuro from going after Momonosuke. Ashura maintained his grip on the design even as he stabbed it and then blew himself up, engulfing them both in a massive explosion; Ashura was then shown lying motionless on the ground. He is declared dead by Kin’emon, which will be proven at the end of the Battle of Onigashima.