Top 30 Strongest One Piece Characters

All right so there was recently a 13+ hour stream about the top 30 strongest One Piece characters but no matter how many lists I saw, I didn’t see one that really lined up. They all seemed to fumble the beginning, middle, or end if you ask me. So I figured I’d jump in and just throw my list out there. Keep in mind a few things though. First, I am ranking all of the characters as they are right now so not getting into end of series power ups and such. This is also only including characters who are alive or probably alive. Unless you are confirmed dead then you can be in this list. Also unlike the battles where you have to have feats, I’m going by portrayal and feats in this one. So now lets just dive in here!

30. Sengoku

Sengoku just barely makes the list but I think he works as a solid gatekeeper. His Buddha ability is really quite solid and as a big government fighter he does have a ton of haki. He isn’t fast though so most of the fighters above him would be able to easily exploit that and take him down.

29. Queen

Queen is super durable but a lack of speed is what keeps him fairly low on this list as well. You just can’t hope to succeed too much without a great deal of speed and it’s even the reason why he ended up losing the fight. When you’re getting blitzed on all sides then it is already too late to mount much of a comeback.

28. Shiryu

Shiryu’s sword skills are good and of course he has invisibility too. When you add both of those things together then it is going to be difficult for any opponent to really keep him on the defensive. I need to see more out of him to raise the guy further on the list but I do think that the guy is very promising as a fighter.

27. Raleigh

Raleigh is old and past his prime so he’s lower than he would normally be but the guy was still able to scare Blackbeard. I think that has to count for something. His sword skills also wouldn’t have deteriorated over the years even if his speed did. So this may be a bit of a low spot for him but it’s one that he would be able to defend very well.

26. Garp

Garp is the strongest out of the old man trio without a doubt. He still has a lot of power within his punches and could destroy anyone under him. Speed is what slows him down here as it does for so many other fighters. I don’t think he would be an easy victory for most of the guys above him but they would still conquer the guy.

25. Marco

Marco has incredible healing abilities and fire usage but he’s lacking KO power. The guy can just never put any of his opponents down and that will cost him in the end. You have to be able to put your opponents down or ultimately you will be the one getting pushed back. That’s something I hope to see him improve on in the future.

24. Kid

Kid is clearly meant to be one of the strongest fighters but I just haven’t seen it yet. His metal powers are just way too limited in scope though. He will have a hard time landing blows on any of the stronger fighters or really hurting them to be honest since most of them surpassed metal a long time ago. This is what is going to give him a really hard time.

23. Fujitora

Fujitora may be an admiral but he’s much lower than any of the others. He seems to have more trouble with all of his opponents than he should. Perhaps being blind takes more out of him than he would actually care to admit but he would need a really good powerup to go further up the list.

22. Doflamingo

Doflamingo may be a lower rank than Queen within Kaido’s army but he is certainly more powerful if you ask me. His strings could not be cut by almost the whole One Piece cast in Dressrosa and he was able to last long enough to outlast Luffy’s Gear 4. This guy was an absolute beast in battle.

21. S Hawk

As we near the top 20, S. Hawk is the next gatekeeper. This guy has only just appeared but he already had Blackbeard on the defensive and looked really impressive in his early scenes. I see a ton of potential behind the guy and hopefully he lasts long enough to show us what he can really do. If he gets even one on screen fight I can see him going further up.

20. Dragon

Dragon has yet to do much of anything and is pure hype. Mainly the issue here is that I’m not really sure if he will end up being much of a fighter. He may just be a tactician in the end and I’d say it’s already hinted that Sabo is more powerful. Dragon could surprise me but we’re deep into the story so I have reservations and he could even drop lower.

19. Imu

Then we have Imu who is like the reverse Dragon. He has no feats either although there was one lightning strike which may have been his. I’m very 50/50 on if he will be able to fight or not but if he can fight then this is the minimum on where he should be. I’d love to see him as the final boss in a Kaguya type role but we’ll see if that is in the cards or not for the future.

18. Ulti

Next up is Ulti who was always the best member of the group in Wano. She nearly defeated Luffy straight up and even got back up after a fight with Big Mom. Because the rest of her group was not that impressive I think it lowered her stocks a bit but she was definitely an opponent to be feared without a doubt.

17. Blackbeard

Blackbeard is this low because of his lack of speed. Also he seems to be nervous in every fight that he was in. The guy keeps getting stronger by stealing devil fruits so I could see him doing more of that in the future. That said, right now there are still a number of opponents who would very quickly take him down for the count.

16. Sabo

Sabo is a fire expert who seems to have a lot of potential. I’ve been less impressed with him than most but it is still fair to say that he’s a top fighter. His dragon claw has really dealt a whole lot of damage to his opponents as well. If he just had a slightly stronger variation of that then he could go further up but as it is we’re approaching the halfway point anyway.

15. Lucci

Lucci got a huge boost with his awakening as otherwise I wouldn’t have even put him on the list. With it he was able to hold his own against Gear 5 Luffy so you have to give him a whole lot of props there. His speed and power were already really good so this was finally enough for me to justify moving him up close to the top 10. It was a really impressive showing.

14. Kizaru

Since Kizaru can move at the speed of light he is really high up here. That said, the fighters above him can counter that well enough and keep it moving. It doesn’t help that Kizaru never seems to get a whole lot of respect by his opponents who beat him up anyway. Maybe he will surprise me in the next few chapters if we actually get to see him fight though.

13. Aokiji

Aokiji was able to stalemate Akainu for a while which is a huge feat. It’s safe to say that he should be able to defeat any admiral aside from Akainu. His ice mastery is super impressive and it seems like he may end up being one of the final bosses of the series which will also be a very good look for him.

12. Akainu

Akainu really needs to show me something soon but as the fleet admiral I do think that he should be able to be a top fighter. Fire powers are always really good after all and you don’t get to be the top boss without a whole lot of abilities at your disposal. This is why I have him all the way up here even if his speed could be a little better. Haki + Logia abilities should be a really busted combo.

11. Law

Law may be lacing in physical ability but his devil fruit is so handy that it won’t matter as much as you would expect. He can stab right through his opponents and that would be the end of them. He can teleport thanks to Room and so his range and overall attack power is just absolutely insane. He won’t be taking any Ls below this spot.

10. King

King may not be a Yonkou but he certainly fights like one and would be in my list for the top 10. His sheer durability and power make him too much of a threat not to make it. He is effectively invincible while in his fire mode and the only way for any character to hold their own was for him to scale it back. I do think this invincibility has a limit which the top 9 could crack but he is still tough to stop.

9. Big Mom

Big Mom may have earned the nickname of Big Meme due to being rather unimpressive relative to her station in Wano but at the same time she is still a very powerful fighter. I would expect that she can still defeat anyone under her because of her sheer durability and power. Lacking in speed just won’t be enough to sideline her.

8. Katakuri

Katakuri over Big Mom? Yes I’d definitely say that he has earned it. Big Mom is powerful and she is a huge pirate with dominating strength but she won’t be stopping Katakuri here. He has the edge in speed and seems to have kept up with his training based on Film Red. It’s still tough to see very many fighters passing him in overall stats which is why he will stay up here.

7. Sanji

Sanji may still be behind Zoro in the rankings but he has really proven himself during Wano. His speed and power are still really impressive and I could see him surpassing Yamato at some point. I don’t think we’ve fully seen everything that Sanji can do just yet and in a final battle onslaught I’d like to see him be included with the main cast next time instead of remaining on the side.

6. Yamato

While nobody seems to take Yamato being able to hold off Kaido as seriously as they should, she did still stalemate his hybrid form for some time. That’s not a small feat and she is the most underrated fighter in the series. I definitely see her keeping a spot in the top 10 even when the series has ended. That’s just how powerful she is.

5. Shanks

The Shanks pick scares me a bit because as the series goes on I keep thinking that he might get bumped off screen. If that happens then expect him to sink a whole lot but right now I want to believe in the hype. He has the best haki feat in the whole verse so if he can just build off of that then we should be all set.

4. Zoro

Might be a hot take here but he’s rather close to Luffy in terms of stats. Now that he has awakened his haki abilities there is almost nobody who can catch him. He has been step in step with Luffy for most of the series and that gap has closed up once again. Make no mistake, Luffy would beat Zoro but there are few others who could.

3. Luffy

Part of what helps Luffy is that I don’t think he will get any more power ups in the series. I think he has already reached his pinnacle of strength and can defeat just about anyone right now. I always see him ranked rather low in these lists but he has proven himself time and time again. There’s just no way that Gear 5 is going down to anyone who is not one of the top 2 without some big circumstances in the background.

2. Kaido

Kaido took on pretty much the entire One Piece cast and still nearly won the fight in the end. It’s hard to see just about anyone surpassing him in the end. I just don’t think it’s going to happen and the anime made him even more impressive. This guy is absolutely not someone to underestimate at this point and if he ever returns then the rest of the cast is doomed.

1. Mihawk

Finally in first is Mihawk. There’s not a whole lot more that needs to be said about this guy. He is the world’s strongest swordsman, even more talented than Shanks. His abilities continue to grow further and further so right now I don’t see anyone stopping him. His raw stats are just way too crazy at this point in time but of course part of the trickyness in being so mysterious is that there is always a chance he could turn out to be a dud. Hopefully that is not the case but he seems like the most balanced fighter at the top.

So that’s a wrap! We’ll see if things change in the future but right here right now this is how I’d stack things up. The series has quite a huge cast so it took some time to get this all set but I’d say it came out really great.

Yami Sukehiro vs Yamato



Suggested by Sonic This is definitely a pretty close fight. Both fighters are near the top of their respective universes and for good reason. They have power, speed, and a ton of abilities to choose from. Ultimately what gives the edge here is Yami’s speed is a bit greater and his sword can cut through just about anything so blocking is not an option for Yamato. That would have been her best bet to try and counter him but ultimately it just won’t be enough this time. Yami is too strong. Yami Sukehiro wins.

Yamato vs Yamato (Megaton)



Yamato from Megaton has a cool robot and he can actually fight rather well in his human form. It’s no exaggeration to say that he’s one of the more competent human kids out there. Still, he’s not quite ready to be dealing with Yamato from One Piece yet. Her abilities were enough to take on a Yonkou and she has an evolved state. With her speed speed and power this fight will be quick. Yamato wins.

Boa Hancock vs Yamato



Suggested by DMG Boa Hancock is strong enough to have been one of the pirates acknowledged by the world government. She should not be underestimated but Yamato was able to stalemate a Yonkou for a significant amount of time. There are few fighters in the entire verse who could have pulled that off. For this reason I do not think that Boa would stand much of a chance here. Yamato is stronger and I dare say that she is faster as well. This does not leave Boa a whole lot of options and her stone ability won’t be doing anything here. Boa would need a significant powerup to stand a chance. Yamato wins.

Yamato vs Luffy


Yamato is a very powerful One Piece character but a very strong case can be made for Luffy being stronger still. His speed and abilities all appear to be greater than that of Yamato’s. In addition, Luffy’s devil fruit ability is just way too versatile to be beaten. He can shift gears at will and while I see this as an extremely close battle right now, it will probably become far less so as the years go on. Luffy will continue to get stronger. Luffy wins.

Yamato will be Luffy’s strongest Strawhat if she joins


The saga of One Piece to Clover to One Piece editorials is now at an end with this one at least on the One Piece side. Get ready for one more Black Clover piece and after that I don’t know which editorials will come up next but I’ll think of something. At least once I get the reviews a bit lower. So Yamato is a brand new One Piece character. I suppose the term should be used loosely since she’s probably been in the story for about a year or two at this point but she has only just had her first serious fight where she was on the losing side. Yamato has been stomping everyone with the exception of Luffy prior to this.

So is the title clickbait? No, I’d say Yamato has firmly placed herself as being more powerful than Zoro and Sanji. I don’t doubt that they will catch her by the end of the series but right now she is considerably more powerful and the strongest Strawhat next to Luffy. She isn’t quite as powerful as he is but that man’s the future pirate king so it makes sense. It goes without saying that this editorial will feature content from the current saga in Wano so proceed with caution. I won’t be spoiling specific battle outcomes or anything like that, just attack damage so I don’t consider this one to be a big spoiler like my other editorials but it’s still a fair warning in case you want to enter Wano completely unawares.

So right now I see many say that Yamato is still weaker than Sanji and Zoro as well as this being necessary since the “Monster Trio” as they are referred to has been a concept since the beginning of One Piece. Among the Strawhats , Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji have always been the strongest and in that order. It’s never been the case that this order could be shattered. One thing fans point to in order to show that Oda conscientiously keeps this balance is how Jinbei was introduced to the crew early on but decided not to join for another arc or two. 

This way by the time he had joined, there was enough time for Sanji to surpass him. (I would argue Zoro was already ahead) So in this way the Monster Trio was untouched when Jinbei joined. He came in as the 4th strongest fighter and will sink to 5th if Yamato joins. The reason why this is important is because if Yamato joins it will certainly be at the end of the arc which is seemingly already in the climax. There isn’t time for Sanji and Zoro to surpass her or at the very least it is incredibly unlikely given how well she has performed thus far. While her joining then crew isn’t a certainty, there are a lot of things pointing to it like upcoming promotional images showing her as a Strawhat, toys where she is with the crew, her appearing in the big 1000 anniversary special as a featured character with the other Strawhats, etc. 

Now, maybe Carrot will be the one to join…..but probably not. So if we all assume that Yamato has been joining, then a lot of people are saying that she absolutely has to be weaker. I disagree both on the count of her being weaker but also that it would be bad to destroy the monster trio. The trio was in existence for 100+ volumes. That’s an incredible run and I don’t think that it is bad they were surpassed. Surely it had to happen at some point so why not now right? I don’t think the trio is something I’ve even thought about as a concept almost at all while reading the series to be honest.

Now usually I am in the camp where I’d say that Yamato joined the series way too late. I’d be saying how she would ruin the dynamic and all but this time I’m not on that side. Why? Because she’s a much better character than most of the Strawhats. I’ve never liked Brook after all. I find Franky to be a little boring and while Jinbei isn’t bad, I feel like there isn’t much to him. Chopper isn’t really my style and Sanji would be really great if not for how he is always flirting and getting wrecked by every villainess he fights. Yamato is automatically the best Strawhat aside from Luffy and Zoro. The rest just don’t compete so instead of ruining the dynamic she may end up enhancing it. Her whole Oden gimmick should be interesting with how the other characters bounce off of it although in don’t see that surviving past this arc anyway so it may not matter.

Now let me get into why I believe Yamato is stronger than Sanji and Zoro. Sanji is a lot easier so let’s go with him. In Wano he got to fight Page One, seemingly one of the weakest fighters on the island. Sanji did really well and styled on him so points there. Then he fought a girl and you know how those fights go since Sanji refuses to fight back. Sanji didn’t even get invited to the famous Roof Piece event to fight with Kaido and has been stuck on the sidelines fighting the lower ranked King and Queen, not doing so well until Zoro showed up. Sanji hasn’t shown me anything to suggest that he would last more than a moment against Kaido before being promptly steamrolled.

Then you have Zoro. While he is more powerful than Sanji which makes it tougher to surpass him in that sense, he has fought against Kaido which makes for a great direct comparison. Skipping through the details to the end, Zoro was able to land one really good slash on Kaido and almost landed another blow but it missed. Zoro has the raw strength needed to injure Kaido which is extremely impressive. If he has some allies around to buy time and distract Kaido then he really has a decent shot at pulling out the win here at any time. The issue is that one on one he isn’t going to be seeing those openings.

Zoro won’t have time to charge up some kind of super attack, he will need to get in there up close in order to secure the victory. So we don’t see anything that says he could fight Kaido one on one. It’s just not happening. Now let’s talk about Yamato. Keep in mind that she was chained up for years prior to the start of this arc and so she has seemingly never gotten to fight with her devil fruit before. She has to learn as she goes and will keep getting stronger. We are not talking about potential here but raw ability so let’s shift gears for a minute. Yamato took down one of Kaido’s top warriors with a single blow but you could make the case that as a sneak attack it didn’t count. Yamato was stalemating Luffy when he was trying to defeat her and she was not fighting back. 

Well, Luffy may have been tired and he was definitely not going out right? That’s fair so then let’s just jump to the Kaido stuff because that’s the only thing that will give us the clear answer here. Well, Yamato was stalemating 1 on 1 a Hybrid mode Kaido. So this is something to really keep in mind here. Those Zoro feats? We were talking regular Kaido at that point. Yamato is performing better against a Kaido who is in a much more powerful form. As far as I’m concerned that’s pretty much a game over moment for any chance or Yamato being weaker. Sure, she was ultimately getting overpowered but unless you think Zoro would have beaten Kaido one on one then that’s moot anyway. The strongest case for Zoro being more powerful than Yamato is if he’s just that much faster and given that Yamato speed blitzed Ulti, I think that would be a very difficult case to make. While the anime tends to drag things out for dramatic effect, you can see the speed in the clip below. Even by the end of the fight larer on with Kaido Yamato was able to use a new special move and didn’t even lose before the fight was interrupted.
https://gfycat.com/sneakyhilariousarieltoucan
So that rests my case or at least what I would consider to be the mainly spoiler free version. I could go into more detail with using specific scenes but I encourage you to check out the manga battles first hand. This is a bit of a smaller editorial than some of my others but that’s because this is really just to answer a quick question.

Is Yamato the strongest Strawhat comrade if she were to join? Well the answer is yes, none of Luffy’s teammates can hope to defeat her at this point in the story. They are going to need some kind of power up in a future arc in order to close the gap. Yamato is not unbeatable, there’s a really good chance hat she will be surpassed by the end but make no mistake, the others will have to surpass her. They aren’t on the level right now.

Yamato vs Tsumugi



Tsumugi returns but is she ready to fight the warrior who even surpassed the lead performers? Yamato’s skill with a club is considerable and while Tsumugi does have some good speed moments of her own, they aren’t quite on the same level. She won’t be able to keep up with Yamato for long. Yamato is also more skilled so at the end of the day that is game over for Tsumugi. Yamato wins.