Updated through the Egghead Arc
This is it — the final part of our countdown, and our strongest characters ranked 1-10 breakdown of who truly sits at the top of the One Piece world.
One Piece has already published over 115 volumes and sold more than 600 million copies worldwide, with over 1,500 named characters having appeared across its run. Every single one of them has a past, and many are written with enough depth that they could carry an entire story of their own. Strength isn’t everything in this series, but it’s hard not to wonder who’s actually the strongest.
One Piece is genuinely one of my favorite manga of all time, and it’s not just about the characters. The overall plot and world-building are incredible on their own, but what really gets me is the art. Oda draws with such a wide range of angles and perspectives, sweeping wide shots, extreme low angles, backgrounds rendered in insane detail, in a way you don’t see as often in manga that lean more on close-up character shots panel after panel. I’ve read a huge amount of Shonen Jump over the years, Dragon Ball included, and One Piece still sits at the very top for me. That’s exactly why I wanted to start this ranking series with it. Here’s our ranking through the Egghead Arc.
This first installment counts down the very top of the list, #10 through #1.
#10 — Shiki
At his peak, Shiki fought Roger and Whitebeard on equal footing, and he was a member of the Rocks Pirates before that crew’s fall. Even in old age, he sent Luffy flying with a single punch and split the sea with a sword strike. His Fuwa Fuwa no Mi lets him lift entire islands and warships into the air, and he fights with a pair of named blades built into his prosthetic leg. His willpower matches his physical gifts too, he once carved off his own leg to escape Impel Down, and waited twenty patient years to set his plans in motion.
#9 — Sakazuki (Akainu)
Now the Fleet Admiral of the Marines, Sakazuki’s Magu Magu no Mi lets him burn through nearly anything in his path, he was the one who drove a magma-fueled fist through Ace at Marineford. He operates under a philosophy of “absolute justice,” pursuing his duty with a single-minded intensity that occasionally tips into ruthlessness. Between his Devil Fruit’s raw destructive power and his willingness to use it without hesitation, he’s one of the most dangerous authority figures in the entire series.
#8 — Kaido
Known as the “Strongest Creature in the World,” Kaido’s body can shrug off nearly any attack, and his Uo Uo no Mi lets him transform into a fire-breathing Azure Dragon. He’s survived being tortured, hanged, beheaded, and impaled more times than anyone can count, and attempting suicide never worked either. Luffy needed multiple defeats and a full awakening as Nika before finally overcoming him, which places Kaido above Luffy here, the eventual win owed as much to allies and awakening as to a straightforward gap in power.
#7 — Marshall D. Teach (Blackbeard)
Blackbeard is the only known person in the One Piece world to possess two Devil Fruit powers: the Yami Yami no Mi (Dark-Dark Fruit) and the Gura Gura no Mi (Tremor-Tremor Fruit). The Yami Yami no Mi alone gives him the ability to nullify other Devil Fruit powers and pull enemies into a gravity well of darkness, while the Gura Gura no Mi is widely considered the most destructive Paramecia-type fruit in existence. Holding both fruits simultaneously, something that was thought to kill anyone who tried, sets him up as arguably Luffy’s ultimate rival going forward, even if it’s not yet confirmed whether he’ll be a final antagonist.
#6 — Dracule Mihawk
The undisputed World’s Strongest Swordsman, Mihawk fights so far above most opponents that he rarely needs to draw his full attention in battle. He has little interest in status or reputation, which is part of why his combat appearances are relatively rare, but on the occasions he does cut loose, from destroying entire ships on a whim to his time among the Warlords, his sheer swordsmanship places him near the very top of the cast.
#5 — Shanks
Shanks’s Conqueror’s Haki alone is enough to level entire fleets, and he’s shown he can trade blows with Whitebeard-tier opponents. He’s also one of the very few people who can casually intimidate an Emperor-level rival with nothing but presence. Placed above Mihawk here for his broader combat resume as a reigning Emperor, someone who commands total loyalty from his crew while still carrying himself with the easygoing charm that makes him one of the most beloved figures in the story.
#4 — Edward Newgate (Whitebeard)
The man once called the “Strongest Man in the World” ruled the seas for decades after Roger’s death, holding his own against Roger himself back in the day. He wielded the Gura Gura no Mi before Blackbeard took it from him, a fruit capable of triggering earthquakes and tsunamis on a devastating scale. Even fighting through old age and illness at Marineford, he tore through the battlefield to protect his sons, and his death marked the true end of an era.
#3 — Rocks D. Xebec
Rocks died decades before the current story begins, so his in-the-flesh strength is still largely a mystery. What isn’t a mystery is the caliber of pirate he commanded: his crew included future Emperors and legends in their own right, Whitebeard, Big Mom, Kaido, and Shiki all sailed under his flag before the crew was broken up at God Valley by a joint Garp-and-Roger effort. Taking down Rocks essentially became the founding legend of Garp’s career, which says everything about how dangerous he was considered at his peak.
#2 — Gol D. Roger
The Pirate King is a close second, and not just because of the title. Roger’s true strength lies in something harder to quantify than raw power: he had luck itself on his side. From surviving a fatal illness long enough to reach Laugh Tale, to assembling one of the most talented crews in history, to walking away from encounters that should have ended him, everything broke in Roger’s favor throughout his life. In a series where Haki, willpower, and destiny are treated as real forces, that kind of luck is itself a form of strength, arguably the rarest and most decisive one in the entire story.
#1 — Im
Im rules from above even the Five Elders, the world’s supposed highest visible authority, and can apparently erase entire nations on a whim. Since the Egghead Arc, Im has appeared more frequently and only grown more ominous, with an origin and power set that remain almost entirely undefined. That mix of near-total political power and unknown, possibly reality-warping ability is exactly why Im tops this list, and why many suspect Im could end up being the story’s final antagonist.
Im takes the top spot for me, at least as things stand right now. As for Roger, he’s already gone at this point in the story, so when I think about his strength, I’m not just thinking about raw combat ability. There’s also the element of luck that always seemed to follow him, and I think that counts for something too.
From around this point in the list, willpower and overall resolve start to matter just as much as raw ability. Take Mihawk, for example, we still haven’t really seen his backstory, so it’s hard to say whether he’s someone who fights for another person or a cause, or whether he’s simply obsessed with strength for its own sake. What he’s actually fighting for is still a mystery, and in a series like One Piece, that matters a lot. He’s unquestionably the World’s Greatest Swordsman, technique-wise, but when I compare that resolve against someone like Shanks, Shanks comes out ahead for me, which is why I placed him where I did.
There are a lot of characters worth arguing over in this top 10, and I’m sure everyone’s going to have their own opinion here, but this is where I’ve landed for now. Looking back at the full Top 40, I’m happy with how it came together overall. As the story keeps moving forward, I’m hoping to see more of our own Straw Hat crew start climbing into this top 10.
Final Verdict: Strongest Characters Ranked 1-10
That’s our strongest characters ranked 1-10 — Whitebeard, Shanks, Kaido, and the rest of the names that define power in this world. Missed the earlier parts? Go back to #11-20, #21-30, or #31-40.
New to the series? Start from Volume 1 and see how it all began.