Well before the introduction of Emperors, Five Elders, or Holy Knights as among One Piece’s most powerful representatives of various factions, the old group to beat were the Warlords of the series. Functioning as the manga and anime franchise’s stand-in for the historical privateers of the real world, Warlords were a designation for special, elite pirates authorized by the World Government, their bounties frozen with them able to do much of what they pleased.
The Warlords were introduced carefully as a mixture of occasional nemeses, eventual allies, and one particularly fun love interest, with their group only ever comprised of seven members at a time. One of the Three Great Powers helping maintain peace alongside the World Government’s Marine Headquarters and the Four Emperors (or Yonko) the Warlords’ most volatile members and their actions soon made their existence untenable, the Government soon reinstating their massive individual bounties. As any One Piece fan already knows, despite them typically being seen as beneath the Yonko in status, this hasn’t stopped them from showing incredible power, achieving incredible feats, or outright overtaking a Yonko position, whether by power or by circumstance.
12
Buggy
Introduced in manga chapter #9, anime episode #4
Buggy the Clown was once a young member of the Roger Pirates alongside future Yonko Redhair Shanks. Despite his early friendship with several One Piece powerhouses, Buggy does not even come close to the same level of power as Shanks and his overwhelming haki. In fact, Buggy is defeated by Luffy in Orange Town way back in the East Blue saga.
Since then, Buggy has likely gotten stronger, but throughout the series, he’s shown to luck his way into his achievements, such as his warlord and now Yonko position, which he obtained consistently by being the right person in the wrong place. Despite his devil fruit’s potential, Buggy has been and remains a comic relief character.
11
Gecko Moria
Introduced in manga chapter #449, anime episode #343
When readers meet Gecko Moria during the Thriller Bark arc, he is past his prime. Once, Moria was said to be a rival to One Piece‘s Strongest Creature, Kaido. But after having his crew wiped out, Moria lost his resolve and began to cultivate a crew of zombies that the Straw Hats face at Thriller Bark.
Moria’s fruit has some strong abilities, but it is a very situational power that requires shadows in order to work. This means that if a fight happened during the day, Moria would already be at a significant disadvantage. Bearing in mind that Moria’s power can be completely nullified by a speed blitz like when he was attacked by Donquixote Doflamingo, a fast opponent would spell trouble for Moria.
10
Edward Weevil
Introduced in manga chapter #802, anime episode #751
Edward Weevil is the alleged son of Whitebeard, and while his intelligence leaves much to be desired, he makes up for it in raw strength. As a result of his naive nature, Weevil’s mother, Miss Bakkin, manipulates him, ultimately seeking to destroy the former Whitebeard pirates and secure Whitebeard’s treasure. Weevil becomes a Warlord of the Sea during the One Piece series time skip.
It’s unclear if Weevil is legitimately Whitebeard’s son; there is also the possibility that he is a failed clone of the former Yonko.
Weevil is mostly an unknown quantity, having not encountered the Straw Hats yet, but he single-handedly destroyed 16 of Whitebeard’s allied crews. This feat is doubtlessly impressive, but its true scale is unquantifiable because the strength of the crews that Weevil fought is currently unknown. As a consequence of his mostly unknown nature, it can only be said that Weevil is at least strong enough to hold his own with some of his fellow warlords. However, after the Warlords were abolished, Weevil took it upon himself to defend Whitebeard’s hometown and destroy countless marines in the process until Admiral Ryokugyu proved to be a real threat, defeating and capturing him.
9
Sir Crocodile
Introduced in manga chapter # 126, anime episode #76
Crocodile is the antagonist of the Alabasta Saga. Crocodile’s narrative follows Gecko Moria’s, of an older generation of pirates who ventured into the New World only to be crushed by one of the Yonko. In his younger days, Crocodile’s crew was crushed by Whitebeard in his prime, causing him to retreat into the Paradise section of the Grand Line and lose his ambitions to claim the One Piece and become the Pirate King.
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Crocodile having forsaken his dream puts him at a disadvantage. Though having even survived against someone as powerful as prime Whitebeard shows that Crocodile was stronger in his younger years, he grew complacent during his scheming to take over Alabasta and did not train to attain a level of strength that would let them compete with some of their fellow warlords. Still, helping create The Cross Guild with Buggy and Mihawk will likely lead his character to unexpected places.
8
Boa Hancock
Introduced in manga chapter #516, anime episode #409
Boa Hancock is the empress of Amazon Lily, an island that is home to the Kuja Tribe, a tribe of all-female fighters. Hancock wields the Love-Love Fruit, which allows her to make her opponents fall in love with her and even turn them to stone if she desires. It affects the user regardless of their gender, and even works on the World Government’s powerful Pacifista cyborgs.
Hancock makes a hilarious entrance into One Piece‘s story by kicking adorable animals who were in her way.
Hancock’s fruit also has some limitations. The target must have lustful or loving thoughts in order for it to work. As such, her fruit did not work on Luffy, and others such as Mihawk and Crocodile have been shown to resist it. Hancock also has been shown to easily destroy Pacifistas with her incredible brute strength, who are all based on Kuma, her fellow warlord.
7
Hanafuda
Mentioned in manga volume #109 SBS & anime episode #1134
While not not seen in the present-day at any point in One Piece, Hanafuda aka the “King of Lizards” enjoyed a position of prominence among Kaido’s crew and as one of the few pirates to challenge the Yonko. Defeated by none other than Portgas D. Ace before unceremoniously being killed off, Hanafuda’s left behind two impressively powerful Beasts Pirates as his offspring, Ulti and Page One.
The nuances around Hanafuda’s particular position among the Warlords pantheon should be taken with a grain of salt, as he had little in the way of scaling by feats, but fighting Kaido and living to tell the tale is an astonishing feat for sure. Eventually stripped of his title, Hanafuda was sadly killed by unnamed pirates, marking an end to his potential while lining up the successor who’d take on his position, Bartholomew Kuma.
6
Bartholomew Kuma
Introduced in manga chapter #233, anime episode #151
Kuma is not only one of the warlords but also a former member of the Revolutionary Army and a close friend to Luffy’s father, Monkey D. Dragon. Born with a strong Buccaneer body, Kuma was used to create a Pacifista army and was cybernetically altered by the World Government in a deal to save his daughter’s life. What separates him from the other Pacifistas is the Paw-Paw Fruit, which he used to single-handedly defeat (and save the lives of) the pre-time skip Straw Hat crew at Sabaody Archipelago.
Kuma’s Fruit is frighteningly powerful and versatile, with many of his attacks being light-speed by his own admission. The Paw-Paw fruit can warp Kuma and anyone he touches to a location within range that he has visited in the past. Kuma is also likely to have the will to resist Hancock’s Love-Love Fruit since he can resist his cyborg programming during his fights with the Straw Hats and spare them when he is supposed to capture or kill them. His entire backstory and character arc come full circle in the Egghead Island arc with One Piece‘s most tearful reunion. After learning the full context of Kuma’s life, he is easily one of the series’ most tragic and best-written characters.
5
Jinbe, Knight Of The Sea And Straw Hat Helmsmen
Introduced in manga chapter #528, anime episode #430
Jinbe is the newest and one of the strongest members of the Straw Hats, and he is a master of Fish-Man Karate, which he has used to square off against powerful opponents like Big Mom and one of Kaido’s strongest subordinates, Who’s-Who. His impressive control over water also was pivotal in saving the lives of everyone on Onigashima when it was nearly destroyed by Orochi’s hateful flames.
Jinbe can use his Fish-Man Karate to control water, creating massive tidal waves such as Vagabond Drill, which he used to knock back Big Mom during the Straw Hat’s escape from Whole Cake Island. After their fight, both appeared in Wano sometime later, seemingly unharmed, which speaks to Jinbe’s abilities, putting him somewhere near the Yonko level. His wide range of abilities, peerless ability as a helmsman, and mastery of armament haki make Jinbe one of the strongest Warlords and an extremely valuable ally for Luffy.
4
Donquixote Doflamingo
Introduced in manga chapter #233, anime episode 151
Donquixote Doflamingo is the main antagonist of the Dressrosa arc and has the String-String Fruit, which allows him to create incredibly sharp strings he can use to cut opponents, control weaker foes, stitch up his own wounds, and even create string clones of himself. Doflamingo can also use the strings for mobility, allowing him to swing around by attaching them to buildings and even clouds. He’s regarded as one of One Piece‘s most manipulative and charismatic villains, whom much of the fanbase loves to hate.
Doflamingo’s family was once part of the vile Celestial Dragons until his father moved his family from Marijoa. Something that angered the future Warlord so much that he murdered his own father.
His awakening also allows him to increase the strength of his attacks and defenses by weaponizing the environment. Doflamingo surviving a punch that shattered the island of Dressrosa shows that he has insane durability, even when fatigued from a long fight. However, Doflamingo held his own against Luffy’s Gear Fourth but was ultimately overpowered by the transformation, a stronger version of which could not even make Big Mom or Kaido flinch.
3
Trafalgar D. Water Law
Introduced in manga chapter #498, anime episode #392
Trafalgar D. Water Law is a man with as many names as abilities at his disposal. Law’s devil fruit, the Op-Op Fruit (or Operation Fruit) is one of the most complicated in the entire series. Law is able to create a large sphere around him where he can control the fabric of space inside, allowing him to teleport or even switch enemy’s body parts and even their personalities. This wide toolkit makes Law a very powerful and versatile fighter, though, and has allowed Law to tangle with some of One Piece‘s best Devil Fruits users, like Doflamingo and Big Mom.
Law became a Warlord of the Sea during One Piece‘s time skip, but the title was revoked after he allied with the Straw Hats to take down Doflamingo.
Law also recently displayed that he has awakened his devil fruit, allowing him to imbue his overpowered ability onto weapons and other objects, changing their properties to his desire. Using this ability, along with some teamwork with Eustass Kidd, was enough for him to take out Big Mom. Law stands just outside of the Yonko level of power, and that puts him well above many of his fellow Warlords.
