The Hierarchy of Power of the Previous Generation

Key Takeaways

• Gol D. Roger sparked the One Piece journey, inspiring pirates to seek the fabled treasure.
• Kaido, Linlin, Rayleigh, and Shiki were powerful characters from Roger’s generation.
• Garp and Sengoku were revered for their strength, while Rocks Xebec remains a mysterious yet formidable figure.

The journey that the Straw Hats and all other crews of the current One Piece generation are going on was spurred on by the legendary Gol D. Roger as he was being executed. By confirming the existence of the fabled One Piece, he opened the floodgates for every aspiring pirate to take to the seas in search of this treasure, which had previously gone undiscovered for over 800 years.

However, many pirates of Roger’s own generation set out to make their mark upon the world and find the legendary treasure for themselves. The most prominent characters of this age were also some of the most powerful in the entire One Piece world, so in this article, let’s take a look at the strongest characters from this generation and see who the greatest of them all was.

Kaido – Of Beast Pirates

Soon To Become World’s Strongest Creature

Even when he was young, Kaido was still a force to be reckoned with and was so strong that he was deemed worthy of joining the ranks of the legendary Rocks Pirates. Although Rocks’ crew was filled to the brim with heavy hitters, most of their feats just haven’t been shown enough to have a conclusive measure of how strong they were. Kaido, however, more than lived up to his legend.

Death is what completes a person!

However, he was seen as one of the weaker members of the crew due to his relative inexperience at the time and also because he only got his Mythical Zoan powers at the God Valley Incident, where the crew disbanded. Despite this, Kaido was still an incredibly powerful pirate who would later become one of the 4 Emperors of the Sea in the New World.

Charlotte Linlin – Of Big Mom Pirates

A Future Emperor of the Sea

Although she was arguably the weakest of the 4 Emperors in the current age, Charlotte Linlin was still an incredibly powerful pirate and a seemingly higher-ranking member of the Rocks Pirates in her youth. Before Kaido ate his Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit and was still inexperienced, Linlin was probably even stronger than him due to her Devil Fruit and her power otherwise.

Big Mom, the Soul Empress, bestows life upon the inanimate and commands the loyalty of the living!

From here, Linlin would form her own fleet after the Rocks Pirates disbanded, having the largest fleet of the modern Emperors of the Sea. Although not much is known about her strength during her time as a pirate of the previous generation, it can be inferred that she was one of the most powerful.

Silvers Rayleigh – Of Roger Pirates

The Legendary Dark King

Silvers Rayleigh is one of the most infamous and legendary pirates of all time, serving under Roger, the Pirate King. Though his true strength has never been shown in his prime, Rayleigh was a master of Haki and proved this mastery many times over, especially in the battle between the Roger Pirates and Whitebeard Pirates, where he mowed down several enemies with ease and even stopped Marco’s onslaught with just a finger.

Maybe nothing in this life happens by accident.

He was also present during the God Valley Incident, where he presumably helped Roger in his battle against the forces of the Rocks Pirates and the Gods’ Knights. This legendary power followed him even to his old age, where his masterful use of Conqueror’s Haki was enough to keep the forces of the Blackbeard Pirates at bay and his mere presence was enough to send chills down Teach’s spine as well.

Shiki – Of Golden Lion Pirates

The Legendary Golden Lion

Yet another member of the infamous Rocks Pirates, Shiki is remembered in the current day as one of the most influential and powerful pirates of the last generation. Through his incredible Devil Fruit powers, Shiki was able to fly and even bestow the abilities of flight on anything he wanted, which was best demonstrated with his flagship essentially being an entire island that he could use to traverse the seas.

The Pirate King!? So what! If he’d joined forces with me, we could have taken over the world!

There is perhaps no better showing of Shiki’s strength than when he reached Marineford after hearing the news of Roger being captured. Here, he took on both prime Garp and prime Sengoku in a battle that destroyed most of the island, and although he lost and got captured, he managed to do a ton of damage. He even took on Roger in the Battle of Edd War, where his superior forces were defeated due to the raging storms in the ocean.

Sengoku – Of The Marines

The Former Navy Fleet Admiral

Although very little has been seen of Sengoku throughout the story, especially of him in his prime, he has always been regarded as one of the strongest characters in the world and the only Marine besides Garp who could pose a threat to the pirates of their generation. An example of this can be seen before Roger and Whitebeard’s crews fought on the unnamed island, where Roger states to one of the Marine Officers that if they wanted to capture him, they should have sent either Garp or Sengoku.

Don’t try to find a reason for somebody’s love!

Sengoku, along with Garp, managed to defeat the powerful Golden Shiki when he attacked Marineford many years ago. His power is legendary since he is the user of the Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Daibutsu, which transforms him into a giant golden Buddha who can produce extremely powerful shockwaves. This is the only power, so far, that can contain the tremors created by Whitebeard’s Devil Fruit.

Monkey D. Garp – Of The Marines

The Legendary Marine Hero

Although the exact events of the God Valley Incident are still a mystery, what is known is that this event earned Garp the moniker of ‘Hero of the Marines’ due to his hand at taking down the forces of the Rocks Pirates. Since then, Garp has always been held to the highest regard everywhere he goes, and he only remains at the Vice Admiral post to keep his freedoms despite being offered promotions to Admiral and even Fleet Admiral many times.

Following orders doesn’t make you a good Marine. It’s following your code. All men have their own brand of justice.

Although fans just have to wait until the God Valley Incident is fully revealed, they still got a glimpse of Garp’s monumental strength during the Egghead arc, where he reached Hachinosu and reduced much of it to rubble with a single punch. Not only was Garp’s Galaxy Impact one of the most powerful moves that have ever been shown in One Piece, but it was that destructive despite Garp being far out of his prime. From here on, every character until the top one can be seen as being on the same level of strength.

St. Figarland Garling – Of Gods’ Knights

The Supreme Leader of the Gods’ Knights

As of now, this placement is entirely speculative since there has been no shown feat that would suggest Garling is actually this strong. However, he is the Supreme Leader of a group that is tasked with the punishment of the Celestial Dragons, operating directly below the Five Elders themselves, so it would make sense for Garling to be one of the most powerful characters in the entire One Piece story. Though still a mystery, Garling could be on the same tier as Garp, Whitebeard, and Roger.

Anyone who protects scum is lower than the scum they protect!

Moreover, the prevailing (and most likely) theory is that Figarland Garling is Shanks’ father. This is because Garling looked identical to Shanks in his youth and Shanks was also said to be a part of the Figarland family in One Piece : Red, although the film itself is not canon. During the first shown meeting between Shanks and Whitebeard, the latter said that his wound aches each time he sees Shanks because of ‘him’, who everyone always believed to be Roger. However, it could instead be Garling that this wound reminds Whitebeard of. This would go to show just how strong Garling is that he managed to greatly wound the legendary pirate.

Edward Newgate – Of Whitebeard Pirates

The Legendary Whitebeard

Whitebeard was known across the seas as the strongest man in the world, rumored to be so powerful that he supposedly held the power to destroy the entire world if he chose to do so. Most impressively, he was always considered to be Roger’s greatest rival in terms of strength, which meant that Whitebeard was just as strong as the future Pirate King. This was confirmed because all of their battles usually ended in a stalemate.

The One Piece… is real!

Not only was Whitebeard adept with all forms of Haki, he ate the Gura Gura no Mi; the most powerful Paramecia Type Devil Fruit that allowed him to create tremors powerful enough to destroy the entire world. Moreover, despite being arguably the highest-ranking member of the Rocks Pirates after the captain himself, Whitebeard treated Rocks more like an associate who he had a common goal with and never really took orders from him.

Gol D. Roger – Of Roger Pirates

The Future Pirate King

Arguably the most important character in the world of One Piece, Roger was also one of the strongest in the entire world despite not even having a Devil Fruit power, relying solely on Haki. Although he and Whitebeard were considered to be equals in terms of power, Roger relied only on Haki and fought on equal ground with someone who could destroy the entire world without having a Devil Fruit of his own. Even here, they fought to a stalemate.

The tide of the times. People’s dreams. These things cannot be stopped.

Roger hasn’t been shown in battle all that much throughout the story, but his feats are widely regarded by his contemporaries as being second to none. According to himself, the only people in the Navy who could even pose him a threat were Sengoku and Garp, the strongest Marines in the world, which goes to show just how strong the Pirate King truly was!

Rocks D. Xebec – Of Rocks Pirates

The Aspiring King of the World

Rocks D. Xebec remains one of the greatest mysteries in the entire One Piece story. Much like Garling, he hasn’t yet been seen in battle and speculation is really the only thing fans have to go off of in terms of how strong he was, although Xebec was far more clearly built up as one of the most dangerous men to have ever existed, since Sengoku even stated that before Roger, Xebec was the biggest threat to the World Government.

Their captain, Rocks, aimed to become Pirate King. And he bared the fangs of his crew at the World Government, almost like a terrorist organization.

His abilities and feats are still a mystery, though it is known that he was called Roger’s first and greatest rival, surpassing even Whitebeard. Moreover, Rocks was so strong that it took the combined efforts of Roger and Garp, characters who are arguably equally as powerful, as well as presumably a Buster Call to defeat him, considering that God Valley no longer exists. It’s only a matter of time until Oda reveals more about this man, and when he does, everything will likely change!

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