Monkey D. Luffy has come a long way since the days of popping out of a barrel in the East Blue. After officially taking down Kaido in Wano and claiming his well-earned spot as one of One Piece‘s Four Emperors, it finally felt like he had reached the top of the pirate world. But if the Final Saga has made one thing clear, it is that becoming an Emperor was never the finish line.
The Egghead arc completely changed the conversation around power in One Piece. Gear 5 looked unstoppable when it first appeared, but Luffy quickly found himself facing enemies unlike anything he had dealt with before. The Five Elders not only matched him head-on, but repeatedly recovered from attacks that would have finished almost anyone else. Above even them stands Imu, the mysterious ruler of the world whose abilities remain largely unknown but already appear to be on an entirely different level.
With One Piece entering its final stretch with a new genre, Luffy needs to reach the level needed to surpass the strongest figures. If the Straw Hats captain really wants to become the Pirate King at the end of the line, he still has a massive power gap to close.
5
Dracule Mihawk
Despite his minimal appearance throughout the series, Mihawk’s reputation alone has kept him near the top of every strength discussion for years. As the World’s Strongest Swordsman and carrying one of the highest bounties in One Piece of 3.59 billion berries on his head, Mihawk is recognized as one of the greatest threats on the seas. Wielding Yoru, one of the legendary Supreme Grade blades, Mihawk has repeatedly shown just how effortless his swordsmanship can be, from splitting the frozen tsunami at Marineford to casually testing Whitebeard from across the battlefield.
Even though Oda is still holding back the full extent of Mihawk’s current power, his legendary reputation speaks volumes. Long before Shanks became an Emperor, the two were famous for legendary duels that echoed across the Grand Line. Even today, Mihawk remains the benchmark every swordsman is chasing, with Zoro’s ultimate dream built around surpassing him.
That alone makes Mihawk a difficult matchup for Luffy. Throughout the series, blunt attacks have rarely been enough to stop Luffy, but cutting attacks have always been a different story, regardless of the form he is using. Even Kaido pointed out that Gear 5 does not make Luffy immune to slashing damage. On top of that, Gear 5 comes with a heavy stamina cost, while Mihawk has always fought with remarkable patience and precision. The second Luffy deflates and runs out of energy, the world’s strongest swordsman would have the perfect opening to finish the fight with a single, devastating slash.
4
Blackbeard
Marshall D. Teach is one of the few characters who becomes more dangerous every time he appears. As the only known person to wield two Devil Fruits at once, Blackbeard has built an arsenal unlike anyone else in One Piece. Even though Oda rarely shows his biggest battles on the page, the results speak for themselves. From defeating Ace and pushing Whitebeard to his limits at Marineford to taking down Trafalgar Law at Winner Island, Teach has quietly collected some of the series’ biggest victories.
What makes Teach especially dangerous for Luffy is that his powers are almost perfectly designed to counter Gear 5. The Yami Yami no Mi allows Blackbeard to nullify Devil Fruit abilities through physical contact, meaning Luffy can lose his greatest advantage the moment Teach gets his hands on him. That becomes even more terrifying when paired with the Gura Gura no Mi, whose devastating shockwaves can level entire areas with a single attack.
Even Shanks has repeatedly treated Blackbeard as a threat that cannot be underestimated. That alone says plenty about the kind of opponent Teach is. Luffy has overcome impossible odds throughout his journey, but Blackbeard presents a challenge unlike any he has faced before. Until Luffy finds a way around the Yami Yami no Mi’s ability to shut down his Devil Fruit, Teach will remain one of the few pirates with a genuine advantage over him.
3
Loki
Loki’s battle with Imu gives the clearest look yet at where the Accursed Prince stands in One Piece‘s power hierarchy. Losing to the King of the World is hardly a knock against anyone, but the fact that Loki could trade blows and keep fighting against such an overwhelming opponent instantly put him in a different class. The Elbaph prince walked away from that clash looking like one of the toughest fighters introduced in the Final Saga.
A huge part of that comes from his terrifying arsenal. Between the Mythical Zoan Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Nidhoggr, the sentient weapon Ragnir, and his devastating Niflheim ice attacks, Loki has answers for almost every situation. His attacks hit with incredible force, but it’s his toughness that arguably stands out even more. Throughout the battle, he continued fighting despite taking blows that would have put most characters out of action.
That durability is what makes Loki such a dangerous opponent. While Luffy was knocked unconscious after taking a direct hit from Imu, Loki kept getting back up and continued trading blows. Even after spending years chained in the Elbaph Underworld, there was no sign that his strength or combat instincts had faded. If the story ever leads to a serious fight between the Straw Hats captain and Loki, Luffy would most likely struggle to outlast his monstrous endurance.
2
Shanks
For more than two decades, One Piece kept Shanks’ true strength almost entirely off the page. The Final Saga has finally started changing that, revealing why the Red-Haired Emperor commands so much respect across the New World. Raised aboard Gol D. Roger’s ship and later becoming one of the Four Emperors, Shanks has steadily backed up every bit of the legendary reputation that surrounded him from the very beginning.
Wielding what is undeniably one of the strongest, if not the absolute strongest, Haki in the entire verse, Shanks effortlessly wiped out Eustass Kid and the Kid Pirates with a single Divine Departure. But his most impressive feats did not come in the present day. The Elbaph arc revealed that six years earlier, Shanks canonically defeated and captured Loki out at sea, bringing the Accursed Prince back to Elbaph and locking him away in the Underworld.
That revelation carries even more weight after seeing what Loki is capable of in the Final Saga. Despite facing Imu, Loki endured a fight that few characters could have survived, making Shanks’ earlier victory look even more remarkable in hindsight. As Oda continues peeling back the layers surrounding the Red-Haired Emperor, it becomes increasingly clear why Luffy has always looked up to him, and why surpassing Shanks remains one of the biggest milestones on the road to becoming Pirate King.
1
Saint Nerona Imu
The Elbaph arc has finally put on a terrifying display of just how incredibly powerful the King of the World really is. The moment Imu arrived on the island, an overwhelming burst of Supreme King Haki spread across Elbaph, knocking out some of the strongest warriors around. Even Loki, the Accursed Prince of Elbaph, and one of the arc’s strongest warriors with his Mythical Zoan powers and Ragnir, looked completely overwhelmed by Imu’s presence alone.
Oda did not leave much room for debate once the fighting began. Rather than pushing Luffy into a long back-and-forth battle, Imu dominated the encounter from start to finish. Wielding the legendary weapons of the original 19 Kings, the mysterious ruler repeatedly pierced Luffy before pinning him to a tree with the Sea God Sword, showing just how wide the gap between them still is.
As powerful as Gear 5 and Luffy’s Supreme King Haki have become, they were nowhere near enough to challenge Imu head-on. The fight served as a reminder that the Final Saga’s ultimate obstacle is not finding Laugh Tale, but reaching the level needed to defeat the ruler who has quietly stood above the whole world for centuries. Right now, Imu sits alone at the top of One Piece‘s power hierarchy.
- First Film
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One Piece: The Movie
- Cast
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Kazuya Nakai, Akemi Okamura, Kappei Yamaguchi, Hiroaki Hirata, Ikue Ôtani, Yuriko Yamaguchi
- Created by
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Eiichiro Oda
- Character(s)
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Monkey D. Luffy, Roronora Zoro, Nami (One Piece), Nico Robin, Usopp (One Piece), Vinsmoke Sanji, Tony Tony Chopper, Franky (One Piece), Jimbei (One Piece)
Created by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece is a multimedia franchise that began as a manga series and follows the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates as led by Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy, an enthusiastic pirate with a thirst for adventure, is afflicted by a mysterious curse that gives him various powers he uses to protect himself and his friends. The manga eventually gave way to the anime series, with the two being some of history’s longest-running anime and manga series. Along with over fifty video games made over the years, the series entered the live-action world with Netflix’s 2023 adaptation.