User blog:Yatanogarasu/Dead or Alive? In General

Are they dead or still alive?
People these days have a difficult in deciding who is in the category. Here is a list (remind me if I miss any, and I am not including filler characters):

I mean, aside from waiting for Oda to tell us whether they are dead or not, we can use common sense in determining whether they can survive or not. Here are some examples:
 * Bellamy: possibly one of the most famous dead or not situations, he obviously died when Sarquiss chopped at his head.
 * Nero: most likely died, as Lucci always ruthlessly murders anyone who he considers useless or criminal; if not, there still no chance for a heavily injured Nero to survive the Aqua Laguna.
 * Bluejam: he most obviously died, even if Ace and Dadan didn't kill him, the flames would have burned him and his entire unconscious crew to death.
 * Sabo: most obviously died, as he was shot down by Saint Jalmack with a bazooka, his ship burned, he sank, and the Lord of the Coast surrounded the area. What chance would a ten-years old boy survive any of that, let alone a combination of them?

Another set of example of "dead characters" who are uncertain:
 * Higuma: So we saw him eaten by the Lord of the Coast: who said he died from it? What if he managed to slip out?
 * Pudding Pudding: what if he didn't die from the vortex created by the Arlong Pirates officers? I mean, Sabo's ship suffered a similar fate, and let's face it: Sabo is physically inferior to a Marine commodore; if a kid can survive from being categorized as "dead", why can't a fully trained adult?
 * Mr. 9 and Miss Monday: So what if Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine brutalize them? What's to say they truly died?
 * Puppuu: Even though Crocodile drained his fluids, what gave the absolute certainty that he died from it? Mr. 3 was drained, and fed to Bananawani, but survived long enough to drink water to save himself. Puppuu may have been turned in and be given some water to live.

How exactly should we categorize these people?