Over the decades, One Piece has introduced viewers to quite a few villains, but only a few of them have established themselves as major antagonists. Many of these evildoers popped in to dominate a short story arc before getting written back out, and most of those villains had a rather limited impact. Characters such as Arlong, Wapol, Foxy, and even Rob Lucci might come to mind.
This leaves a handful of villains as the major ones who make the story move in incredible ways. Granted, some of them only fought the Straw Hat crew in just one arc, but their impact on One Piece‘s narrative goes beyond that. Luffy won’t soon forget or forgive major antagonists like these, and neither will One Piece fans, and they also happen to be some of the anime’s toughest foes of all. They had a strong role in the story and even stronger Haki or Devil Fruits.
Gecko Moria Has Fallen Far From Grace
Gecko Has Been Vulnerable Since Losing His Warlord Status
Not unlike other members of the Warlords, Gecko Moria was once seen as a dire threat to the Straw Hat crew and other pirate crews on the Grand Line. Before One Piece‘s time skip, Gecko Moria was the kind of villain who would only fall after facing the entire Straw Hat crew, and even then, it wasn’t easy going for Luffy’s team. Gecko could even the odds and even take the lead with zombies like Oars and to fight like Luffy himself.
Since then, Moria has been humbled in a big way, making him feel like a shadow of his former self, pun or not. He was already falling behind by the time the Marineford Arc took place, and as of this moment, Gecko has much to fear from the likes of the Blackbeard Pirates. Thus, Gecko has the lowest spot among the strongest major villains, though the potential of his Shadow-Shadow Fruit remains fairly high, at least.
Sir Crocodile Nearly Tore Alabasta Apart
Now He Works in Cross Guild
Sir Crocodile may rank fairly low among the most powerful major villains in One Piece, yet that’s no reason to be dismissive of this character. Crocodile’s mind and Devil Fruit alike are formidable threats, with Crocodile engineering that civil war on Alabasta just so he could hunt down the blueprints to Pluton. He failed, but the very nature of his quest and near-victory still haunt Luffy.
Crocodile is a crafty boss who can get a lot of work done, both in Baroque Works and the Cross Guild organization. Another factor that earned him a spot in the Seven Warlords of the Sea was his deadly Sand-Sand Fruit, a Logia type that can kill almost anyone by leeching out their moisture. Only resourceful moves like Water Luffy can stand up to that vicious power.
Enel Was the Terror of Upper Yard
Enel’s Electric Devil Fruit Would Have Killed Any Other Pirate Captain in Battle
One Piece fans may all agree that Luffy got incredibly lucky when facing Enel in the Skypiea Arc. That’s because Luffy just happened to be a rubbery fighter, granting him precisely the right element to resist Enel’s electric attacks, hence Enel’s famous reaction face. Other pirate captains such as Trafalgar Law and Capone Bege would have struggled mightily against Enel in the Upper Yard.
Enel is the one who can move as fast as lightning while roasting the enemy, since lightning rivals the sun’s surface in terms of heat. That, combined with the Logia-style intangibility the Rumble-Rumble Fruit offers, makes it clear Enel has a spot among the strongest major villains in One Piece. What holds Enel back is the fact Logia fruits practically never awaken, while a few other major villains have awoken their own fruits, including Doflamingo and Saturn. He can also use Observation Haki, but the scariest antagonists in One Piece can do more than that.
Donquixote Doflamingo Terrorized Dressrosa With His Birdcage
Luffy Needed Gear 4 to Win That Fight
Another former Warlord, Donquixote Doflamingo was one of Luffy’s first major villains in the New World. Hody Jones and Caesar Clown each gave Luffy a good fight, but even together, they could not match the battlefield prowess of the wannabe king Doflamingo. He’s almost a junior Emperor with his massive fleet, extensive influence, and his astonishing feats with Haki and Devil Fruits.
One Piece: 6 Villains With The Strongest Conqueror’s Haki
These One Piece villains have mastered Conqueror’s Haki.
Doflamingo isn’t truly Emperor material, but he comes close with his mastery over he awakened String-String Fruit and his usage of Color of Arms Haki to push things even further. Doflamingo nearly killed the Warlord Trafalgar Law, and he nearly defeated Luffy and almost destroyed Dressrosa during his final fight. The power of Gear 4 secured Luffy’s victory, but even then, it was a close one.
Jaygarcia Saturn is a Demonic Spider With Poison Attacks
Saturn is an Elder Who Sometimes Fights His Own Battles
The Five Elders of the World Government would rather send minions to do their dirty work in most cases, and the same is true of their own boss Imu, but these characters can walk the walk if they must. One Piece fans saw that for themselves in the Egghead Island Arc, when Jaygarcia Saturn led the way as the user of a mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit.
Saturn did fail in his mission and couldn’t vanquish Gear 5 Luffy, but by the same token, Luffy and the Straw Hats struggled mightily to deal with Saturn. These were the pirate heroes who won the Onigashima raid, yet it was all they could do to keep Saturn at bay, rather than finish him off for good. Among other powers, Saturn can regenerate and has incomprehensible toughness, meaning he can be knocked down, but never stays down.
Fleet Admiral Akainu is One of the Navy’s Strongest Warriors
Akainu Hasn’t Been Seen Fighting in Some Time
The Navy is home to some truly spectacular fighters, mainly the Admirals who hold the whole organization together. Kizaru, Aokiji, and Fujitora are all fearsome fighters, yet none of them can top Fleet Admiral Akainu. He was the one who overwhelmed Ace’s heat with his Mag-Mag Fruit, and he also defeated Aokiji on Punk Hazard.
Find all 10 pairs
Find all 10 pairs
Akainu’s offensive and defensive powers alike are devastating with this Logia-type fruit, and he might still have more cards to play later in the story. As the boss of the Navy, Akainu is a foe neither Luffy nor Dragon will ignore for much longer, and he may end up as one of Imu’s most powerful supporters in the final battle.
Big Mom Only Lost When Two Supernovas Ganged Up on Her
Even That Might Not Have Killed Big Mom
The Four Emperors are a mixed bunch, with some of them being heroes, such as Shanks and Whitebeard, while others cling to their villainy. One of them is Big Mom, or Charlotte Linlin, who is certainly no friend of the Straw Hats. Big Mom may be goofier than Kaido, but she is still a nightmarish powerhouse who has terrorized the Straw Hats more than once. To begin with, Big Mom has an Emperor-worthy fleet made up of her children.
Big Mom delivers massive blows in battle with her combined Haki, her sword-hat Napoleon, and the power of the Homies she creates with that Soul-Soul Fruit of hers. It’s one of the most effective and flexible Paramecias in all of One Piece, and it only reinforces the huge number of combatants Big Mom can put on the battlefield. Only a Devil Fruit awakening helped Eustass Kid and Trafalgar Law defeat Big Mom, but even then, they probably failed to kill her.
Blackbeard Can Dominate Any Fight With Two Devil Fruits
Blackbeard Also Has Haki and a Terrifying Fleet
Ever since the Skypiea Arc, Marshall D. Teech has been on Luffy’s radar as a powerful and unforgivable rival. He was already scary with his Dark-Dark Fruit’s mastery over gravity, and what is more, that fruit can negate other Devil Fruit abilities with a touch. That alone makes Blackbeard a villain to watch out for.
Now Blackbeard somehow has two Devil Fruits at once, with him choosing well to swipe Whitebeard’s hard-hitting Tremor-Tremor Fruit. And of course, Blackbeard has enormous Haki to round out his fighting style, along with a ruthless attitude even by pirate standards. Blackbeard also boasts a mighty crew that recently added Aokiji/Kuzan to its ranks.
Kaido Remains the Most Powerful Creature in the New World
Only Gear 5 Could Humble Him
The strongest creature in the world, the one and only Kaido, remains one of the scariest villains out there. He may have suffered defeat at the hands of Luffy’s Gear 5, but that’s hardly a strike against Kaido. Gear 5 broke One Piece‘s combat system with cartoon logic, turning any fight into a game with Luffy’s playful imagination. In a fair fight, Kaido is nearly unequaled, and that’s how he ended up an Emperor.
One Piece: 9 Best Written Villains, Ranked
One Piece won’t be as fascinating as it is now without these best-written villains.
Kaido was already a top-tier warrior of the New World with his immense strength and durability, hence his place among the Rocks Pirates in a bygone era. Now he has the might of the Fish-Fish Fruit’s Azure Dragon model at his fingertips, making him almost feel like a wrathful, divine being beyond the world of pirates.
Imu Can Make Anyone’s Strength Their Own With Domi Reversi
Imu is Definitely Endgame Boss Material
Like the Five Elders, Imu seemed like an aloof mega-boss who was content to let their minions to all the fighting, such as the Admirals and the Navy’s mighty battleships. Now, Imu has turned One Piece‘s combat system on its head with their baffling and downright deadly abilities, cementing Imu’s place as the most formidable major villain at the moment.
There’s no telling if Imu’s strength, Haki, or durability can surpass what the likes of Kaido or Big Mom can muster, but there’s more to consider than that. Imu can fight safely when possessing the likes of Saturn or Gunko, meaning even when facing defeat, Imu is at no risk of death or capture. Imu also wields vast Color of the Supreme King Haki and can use Domi Reversi to convert anyone, even giants, into faithful devil minions. Switching enemies into allies is always a game-changer in anime, because it’s a devastating form of “divide and conquer” while only being limited to the strength of one’s enemies.
One Piece
- Release Date
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October 20, 1999
- Network
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Fuji TV
- Directors
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Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
- Writers
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Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
