Vinsmoke Sanji is best known as the cook of the Straw Hat Pirates in One Piece. He is the fifth member of the crew and the fourth to join, at the end of the Baratie Arc. Today, Sanji is an indispensable part of Luffy's crew and, over the decades, has displayed incredible powers and abilities. But we won't be discussing that here. The topic of this article will be Sanji and everything that happened to him during the Zou Island Arc of the One Piece manga.

Initially, Sanji enjoyed his stay on Zou Island, flirting with the female minks he met there, but things changed after an encounter with Capone Bege. He was captured along with some of his friends and then told that he had been invited to Big Mom's Tea Party, where he would marry her daughter, Charlotte Pudding. Sanji initially refused, but after Vito told him something, he was shocked and forced to accept.

The rest of this article will focus on the character of Sanji and the Zou Island Arc of One Piece. We will tell you the story of the Zou Island Arc and what happened to Sanji, i.e., where he was during the events of this small but important story arc. This article may contain a smaller number of spoilers, so be careful while reading.

What happened to Sanji on Zou Island?

In Chapter 806, Luffy finds Nami. Happy to see them again, Luffy asks them if they are okay. Nami immediately replies in tears, "I'm sorry for what happened to Sanji." Namely, Sanji left a letter for his teammates, but the contents of this letter are unknown at the time, as the story goes back in time to explain what happened to Sanji and why Nami is so sad at the moment.

In a flashback, Sanji is seen fending off cannonballs from Big Mom's ship. Thanks to Nami, they were able to outrun the Emperor's queen, Mama Chanter. They arrive near Zou Island and realize that it is actually a gigantic elephant, Naitamie-Norida. They use Caesar Clown to climb onto the pachyderm's enormous leg. Upon arrival, they realize that the site is covered in toxic gas. They encounter Sheepshead and Gin Rummy, who are searching for Raizou.

Sanji manages to defeat Sheepshead, although this scene was only shown during the Dressrosa arc, thus confirming that Sanji and the others have actually reached Zou Island, which has been a topic of debate for some time. They witness in horror the spectacle Jack has left on the Mink people. At Pedro's request, they free the two Zou governors: Nekomamushi and Inuarashi. They are treated like heroes by the Minks, and the female Minks worship Sanji.

It was at this point that Big Mom's ship also picked up her tracks and headed towards Zou Island. Pekoms and Capone Bege landed on Zou Island. Caesar then offered Sanji the chance to assassinate Big Mom's two men. Sanji, however, preferred to negotiate with the two pirates. Pekoms thanked him for saving his people and was willing to spare the lives of the Straw Hat Pirates. Bege then shot the Lion Mink for letting his feelings get in the way of his mission.

His crew captures Nami, Chopper, Brook, and Caesar. In his body, Bege announces that Sanji is invited to Big Mom's Tea Party. He will be married to Charlotte Pudding, the 35th daughter of the Charlotte Family, who will thus become the wife of the 3rd son of the Vinsmoke Family. Sanji is stunned to learn this. He refuses to marry a woman he doesn't know, but Vito, the Firetank Crew's advisor, blackmails him with information that shocks Sanji so much that he finally agrees; initially, it was not revealed that this information was.

But we later found out that Vito had told Sanji that Big Mom would kill anyone Sanji came into contact with, namely Zeff and the rest of Baratie and Kedetrav's men. Knowing that Big Mom, as vile as she was, wasn't bluffing, Sanji was forced to agree to the deal, even though he was aware that something was going on in the background and that Big Mom had other plans with the wedding.

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However, before leaving, he manages to free Nami and the others from Bege's body, who then reunite with Luffy and the others shortly after. Sanji also wrote a letter saying he would return but didn't specify any details. He then takes Caesar Clown hostage and reminds Bege's men that his wanted poster reads "Only Alive," meaning they must keep him alive, as he would be useless to them if he were to die.

And that, in short, is Sanji's entire story since the Zou Island arc. The Zou Arc was very short in the story, but it played a significant role in the upcoming Whole Cake Island saga, which saw one part of the Straw Hats engage Big Mom in her territory to free Sanji, while the other part went to Wano Country, where they would later meet the freed Sanji and the others. Sanji's rescue mission was no walk in the park (pun intended), but Luffy and the others—of course—managed to free him while also discovering Big Mom's true intentions to kill the entire Vinsmoke family.

Sanji never married Charlotte Pudding, and after ensuring the safety of his friends, he returned to the crew, who went to meet the others in Wano Country. The crew would face Big Mom again in Wano Country, but the evil empress was ultimately defeated in Wano, with her fate still uncertain at that point, as was Kaido's; both apparently perished in Wano, but this has not been officially confirmed, so we will have to wait and see.