When it comes to One Piece's supporting characters, Izou is one of the most interesting. This unique character has a rich history and is closely related to many major characters, including Monkey D. Luffy and the late Whitebeard. But, aside from Izou's interesting story, his fate is also what has intrigued fans and sparked much debate online. In this article, we'll tell you what happened to Izou in One Piece Chapter 1052, i.e., whether he died or not.

Unfortunately, we can confirm that Izou is indeed dead in One Piece. An ally of Luffy and Whitebeard's former commander, Izou was a noble and powerful fighter and essentially sacrificed his life for the cause. Namely, when Guernica and Maha, two CP0 agents, wanted to continue tracking down Robin, he stopped them; although they were willing to let him go as they had no interest in him, he hired them. Unfortunately, he was killed by Maha using a Rokushiki technique, although it was implied that he also managed to kill Maha in that same attack.

In this article, we'll tell you about the events leading up to Izou's disappearance, as well as the theories surrounding his fate. It's strange that Oda gives us a few clues about Izou's fate and doesn't reveal what really happened to him, but we have no doubt we'll find out sooner rather than later. Until then, read our article for more information.

What happened to Izou in One Piece?

In this section, we'll tell you Izou's story up until Chapter 1052, where it seems to be confirmed that Izou is dead. We'll give you all the relevant details leading up to this moment so we can give you the necessary information you need to understand our opinion on the matter. So, let's begin.

During the Marineford Arc, Izou can be seen fighting hand-to-hand alongside his lower-ranking comrades and commanders. After Luffy rescued Ace, all the pirates, including him, were filled with satisfaction and joy.

Whitebeard gives his final order, leaving him alone in front of all the Marines and saving the rest of his crew with this heroic act, which Izou, like the rest of the commanders, does not fully assimilate during the battle, but performs it as a heroic order from his father, Whitebeard. And when they retreat, Akainu takes it upon himself to force Ace to fight him despite the other commanders, including Izou, who told him not to. It is then that Ace is killed.

He shows great surprise but firmness as Whitebeard asks all the commanders to protect Luffy by any means necessary and save him so he can see the coming New Age. He is also surprised by Shanks' arrival at Marineford but does nothing as he is shocked by the deaths of Ace and Whitebeard.

He stops fighting once Sengoku calls for a ceasefire, thanks to Shanks. Along with the rest of the commanders and crew, he is seen attending Whitebeard and Ace's funeral somewhere in the New World. A year after the Battle of Marineford, Izou participated in the Battle of Vengeance against the Blackbeard Pirates alongside his companions. After his defeat, the group finally disbanded, and Izou parted ways with his companions.

During the raid on Onigashima, Izou returned to Wano Country with Nekomamushi and Marco. After arriving at Onigashima, she and the others appeared before several of the Nine Red Scabbards and congratulated her sister on becoming such a worthy samurai. After Marco went to see a shadow he saw in the sea, the group confronted Kanjuro and an army of Beast Pirates.

As Kikunojo engaged Kanjuro, the others fought the remaining enemies. After Kanjuro and the Beast Pirates with him were defeated, Izou reunited with Kin'emon and Denjiro. Izou and the Pods then entered Kaido's castle, headed to the main stage, and launched a collective attack against Kaido and the headliners.

When the alliance mobilized and attacked the Beast Pirates, Kaido transformed into his dragon form and flew to the roof of the skull, with the Pods grabbing him. On the roof, the Pods prepared to fight Kaido with the help of the Mink Tribe. After Jack's defeat, Kaido attempted to attack them with a bolo blast, but Kin'emon managed to interrupt him, even managing to injure him.

The latter began the fight without mercy, teaming up with Kikunojo to wound him together. As Kaido responded with a roar that created wind scythes, Izou was alarmed when Kikunojo's left arm was severed. Izou placed a tourniquet around Kikunojo's arm, and Kin'emon cauterized the wound. Continuing the battle, Kaido began to overpower Izou and the Pods, then incapacitated them.

Big Mom, Kid, Killer, Zoro, Luffy, and Law later arrived on the rooftop. At Luffy's request, Law teleported Izou and the Pods to safety. They were eventually taken to the treasure room on the second floor, where someone was seen tending to their serious injuries. Izou was victorious against several core members of the Beast Pirates, suffering only minor injuries.

As he descended to the basement, he was greeted by the members of CP0 who, while noting that they normally wouldn't let the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates roam freely, returned to their original task of capturing Nico Robin and dealing with the Whitebeard Pirates.

Already saying goodbye to Izou, the two agents prepared to let him go, but the samurai told them to stop. This led the two agents to confront the former emperor's commander, but the fight was unsuccessful. Namely, Maha used one of her Rokushiki techniques on Izou, while Izou shot him with a gun. Maha's attack hit the spot, as did Izou's. As he lay dying on the ground, Izou asked his sister not to die. Initially, when the original manga previews were released, we didn't know if Izou was dead or not, but since then, the situation has become clearer, and we actually know what happened to him in One Piece.

So, what happened to Izou? Well, we'll reveal the answer to that question in the last section of this article, so be prepared.

Is Izou really dead in One Piece?

Initially, when the manga previews were released, the chances of Izou being alive were unknown, so fans of the character couldn't really relax at that point, even a little. We knew that Oda rarely killed off his characters before they reached the end of their respective stories, but Izou's story was so fragmented that we couldn't really determine if Oda had anything else in store for this popular character or not.

Also, at the time, it was known that it would also be atypical for Oda to kill off a relatively important character off-screen, and this was yet another argument people used to express their opinion that Izou is alive in the series, despite Maha's attack. Namely, as many fans know, there is an unwritten rule in manga and anime that states that if you don't explicitly see a character die, they are not dead. This rule isn't 100% true, but it is true 99.9% of the time.

But while speculation was rife at the time, the situation cleared up fairly quickly. Namely, we can—sadly—confirm that Izou died in One Piece. He sacrificed himself in that battle, giving his life for the cause and for a peaceful and quiet life for his sister. Guernica and Maha were on a mission, and they would have let Izou go if he hadn't insisted; this shows what a noble warrior Izou was.

And although individually he was undoubtedly more powerful than Guernica and Maha, both fought him at the same time, so it wasn't a fair fight, as they weren't both actually weak.

Maha used one of the Rokushiki techniques and pierced Izou, but Izou managed to shoot him with his weapon. It has since been confirmed that Izou actually died from the attack, while Maha's fate remains unknown; it was implied that he also died, but this has not been confirmed at the time of writing.

And there you have it. Izou ultimately met a sad end, but he died a noble death, proving just how brave and genuine a character he was.