When you think of anime, it’s hard to look past One Piece. One of the big three with its iconic charismatic hero Luffy at the helm, there is a lot to like about this anime.
With a show set on the high seas with pirates of all kinds, it should be no surprise that there are plenty of powerful characters.
Whether they’re from the Pirates, Navy, or just strong entities in their own right there is plenty of variety when it comes to characters in One Piece and what they are capable of. Here are our picks as the strongest characters in the franchise today.
15. Roronoa Zoro
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While he might not be the strongest pirate [yet], Zoro is by far the coolest, wielding his three unique swords at once. If you’ve seen even one episode of One Piece then you’ve likely been introduced to this popular member of the Straw Hat crew. When it comes to combat, Zoro has all you could ask for with incredible strength, durability, and of course, swordsmanship. The pirate’s strongest power, however, is the types of Haki at his disposal. Whether it is Haoshoku, Busoshoku, or Kenbunshoku, these Haki allow Zoro to cut through stone, deal massive damage, and strike fear into his foes.
14. St. Fingarland Garling
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Simply being a member of the Holy Knights isn’t enough to land on this list, but Garling is also a former champion of God Valley with incredible battle skills, who commands the Holy Knights and as such would seem to warrant a spot. While we might not have a lot of data to power scale Garling on right now, given the respect he has commanded from other members of this list, and the fact he is the leader of the Holy Knights, it would seem obvious he is one of the 15 strongest characters in One Piece right now.
13. Silvers Rayleigh
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We all know who Gol D. Roger is and just how powerful he became, but there’s one name that doesn’t share the same spotlight, and that is Silvers Rayleigh. The Dark King was the right-hand man for Roger and possessed the brains, strength, and swordsmanship to best most of the characters in the One Piece universe. That said, again like many other characters his strongest abilities come down to Haki, which like Zoro can use Haoshoku, Busoshoku, and Kenbunshoku.
12. Sakazuki
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Sakazuki is one of the Marines’ strongest characters, and someone who like Luffy has eaten a Gum-Gum Fruit. In this case, that fruit was the Magma-Magam Fruit. As you’d expect, this gives Sakazuki the power to create and control lava, even turning his body into it if necessary. That paired with his strength, smarts, and the legions of Marines under the command should give you a solid idea of why he ranks at number 12 on our list.
11. Monkey D. Dragon
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The father of the legendary Monkey D. Luffy is Monkey D. Dragon. While we don’t know the specifics of just how strong Dragon is, he commands a massive revolutionary army, so it’s unlikely he rose to this position without some truly spectacular powers. In fact, his reputation is so feared that it instantly made Luffy a target simply being his son. While number 11 might seem high, or low, depending on who you ask, Dragon’s place on this list will be reevaluated when more information becomes available.
10. Hawkeye Mihawk
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When it comes to master swordsmen, there is no one more skilled than Dracule “Hawkeye” Mihawk. One of the seven warlords of the sea and eventual mentor to focal character Roronoa Zoro, Mihawk has not only displayed unmeasurable skill with bladed weapons, but the stories of his past tell of even more power. Having dueled Shanks often in the past, Mihawk only stopped after losing an arm to the renowned pirate, but the pair still have a good rapport. He boasts mastery of the Busoshuku Haki, a skill that he taught Zoro that can be used to protect his swords from damage, but he also has the ability to use Kenbunshoku Haki.
9. Big Mom
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One of the four emperors, Charlotte Linlin – or Big Mom – is one of the strongest characters alive in One Piece today. Boasting immense physical strength, and a unique devil fruit Soru Soru no Mi power allows her to manifest people’s souls as an eternal substance she can grab ahold of. One of her other powerful tools is her Haki abilities which include creating a shield of energy around herself.
8. Monkey D. Garp
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Monkey D. Garp is an interesting character, as he would have placed much higher on this list had he not aged out of his prime. Garp boasts incredible strength that makes him capable of crushing mountains with his bare fists. Alongside Gold D. Roger, he took on and defeated four of the characters placed above him on this list. However, in more recent times we haven’t seen him display power capable of doing so now. Nonetheless, the grandfather of the show’s main character Luffy, Garp is still one of the strongest characters in the series right now.
7. Whitebeard
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Edward Newgate, or Whitebeard, was known for the longest time as the strongest man in the world of One Piece. With a title like that it, should be no real surprise why he takes a spot on this list. After eating the Gura Gura Devil Fruit, this pirate was gifted the ability to cause quakes and generate powerful shockwaves. Along with this, Whitebeard also wields one of the 12 Supreme Swords, Murakumogiri, which he is incredibly skilled in using.
6. Blackbeard
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Another of the four emperors, Marshall D. Teach – more commonly referred to as Blackbeard – is undeniably one of the strongest characters in One Piece. Blackbeard is the only person in the franchise who wields the power of two devil fruits; Yami Yami no Mi and Gura Gura no Mi. He acquired the power of the Gura Gura after defeating Whitebeard, and can now generate powerful shockwaves and quakes alongside his power of darkness that can “reduce anything to nothingness.” Another thing that makes Blackbeard so strong is his Haki abilities, which allow him to sense power and build spiritual armor around himself.
5. Kaido
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The members of the four emperors keep on coming, and this time it’s Kaido. While he isn’t the world’s strongest man, he is its strongest creature, and for good reason. Along with his physical abilities, Kaido has the power of the Uo Uo no Mi devil fruit that allows him to transform into a serpentine Azure dragon and a human-dragon hybrid at will. Along with this, he has mastery of multiple Haki abilities, including Haoshoku, Busoshoku, and even Kenbunshoku.
4. Luffy
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Luffy might seem like an odd pick to place on this list, but as the vocal character of the show, his power is always rising to the point he is exceptionally powerful. Not only does he possess immense physical strength and the stretchy benefits of the Gomu-Gomu no Mi Fruit, but Luffy has mastered three kinds of Haki, which provide him extremely useful benefits when paired with the Gear moves of his devil fruit. The reason that he has jumped up this list so far in recent times is after he defeated Kaido in battle unleashing his new extraordinarily powerful Sun God transformation. With this, he is easily one of the show’s most powerful characters and lands the number four spot on our list. Despite his strength, the Straw Hats captain has escaped death his fair share of times, and you can read more about these here.
3. Shanks
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Shanks’ place on this list may be up for debate, but as one of the four emperors that have been said to be on par or stronger than the others, he had to take a spot on our list. From what we’ve seen he possesses an extremely powerful mastery of Haki, excellent swordsmanship, and undeniable physical abilities. Given that he is so respected by all characters within the series, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine him as the strongest living character today. While Shanks continues to be shrouded in mystery, we are learning more about the character thanks to One Piece Film Red.
2. Gold D. Roger
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Gold D. Roger is the character on which the story of One Piece is based. Hell, he was the introduction in the very first episode. While this king of the pirates may be dead, there is no doubt he was one of the strongest characters in the franchise. It only took Gold and Garp to take out all of the Kaido, Big Mom, and Whitebeard, which means he must have had an incredible power of his own. While he was plagued will illness in his final years and we don’t know exactly how powerful he was, Gold D. Roger still deserves one of the top places on our list.
1. Rocks D. Xebec
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There is no real argument, Rocks D. Xebec is the strongest character in One Piece so far. It took both Gold D. Roger, the would-be king of the pirates with his crew pairing up with Monkey D. Garp and the Marines to ultimately take down Rocks. While we don’t know a lot about this character or his powers, to command such a powerful crew of his own, he was most definitely one of the most dangerous pirates of all-time.