This article contains spoilers for the One Piece manga.
The Yonko are the four most elite pirates in the One Piece world, considered to be at the top of the Great Pirate Era and the ones directly in contention for the One Piece in the New World. Over the years, they've had tremendous influence on the story, and they've shown great strength as well.
One Piece: 8 Characters Sanji Will Surpass At The End Of The Series
Sanji is strong, but he will reach a whole new level at the end of One Piece and surpass these characters.
However, while they are definitely strong, there are characters who far surpass the Yonko title. Some Yonko themselves, like Whitebeard and Shanks, stand out from the average group, and there are also other characters who have never held the Yonko title, but are above their level, such as Rocks and Roger.
Rocks D. Xebec
The Captain of the Rocks Pirates
Rocks D. Xebec was a legend in the One Piece world around 40 or so years ago. He was so strong that multiple pirates that served under him became Yonko in the future, including Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido. Xebec’s feats easily put him beyond Yonko level. He defeated an Admiral of the Navy effortlessly and killed him. He even beat an immortal army and the Holy Knight, Figarland Garling. Xebec even fought Imu, but ended up losing.
Gol D. Roger
The Pirate King
Roger conquered the Grand Line and became Pirate King — an achievement that required him to have tremendous power. Just like Rocks, Roger relied primarily on Haki in combat. In fact, Roger was around the same level of strength as Rocks, if not higher. As the Pirate King, he was truly on a different level. Compared to your average Yonko, Roger was certainly stronger. He only got stronger after the events of the God Valley Incident.
Whitebeard
The World’s Strongest Man
Once part of the Rocks Pirates, Whitebeard is better known to be the leader of the Whitebeard Pirates and later served as a Yonko. While Whitebeard himself was a Yonko, he was clearly portrayed to be a level above the rest. He was on par with the Pirate King and many considered him to be the man closest to the One Piece after the death of Gol D. Roger.
Shanks
The Red Haired Yonko
A current Yonko, Shanks has no Devil Fruit and relies solely on Haki in combat. Shanks became an Emperor around 6 years ago in One Piece, and since then, he's only gotten more famous.
His Haki is so strong that it’s compared to Joy Boy’s, making him the strongest Haki user alive and the true successor to Roger. Right now, Shanks might just be the strongest pirate in the world.
Imu
The Secret Sovereign of the World
Imu is the secret ruler of the world in One Piece, and a character who has ruled from the shadows for around 800 years now. His powers far surpass any Yonko. Fans weren't quite sure how strong Imu would be, but in God Valley, Imu endured attacks from five Yonko-level characters and came out unscathed. Based on everything seen so far, Imu is on a different level altogether.
One Piece: 8 New Haki Users After The Elbaf Arc
These One Piece characters are in dire need of haki, and they might unlock it after Elbaf.
Garp
The Hero of the Marines
Known as the Hero of the Marines, Garp was Roger’s biggest rival in the Navy and a character who was often compared to him in strength. He is known to have cornered the Pirate King on many occasions in the past.
In God Valley, Garp drove away Whitebeard, Kaido, and Big Mom and even fought Imu. In the present timeline, Garp destroyed the Blackbeard Pirates alone despite his old age.
Joy Boy
The Second Nika
Known to be a mysterious figure from the Void Century, Joy Boy was born in the Ancient Kingdom and he fought the alliance of 20 Kings in a battle that ravaged the world.
Fans know little of him, but he's very strong, far above the level of an average Yonko. His Haki once forced the Five Elders to retreat to Marijoa and even scared Imu.
Davy D. Jones
The Ancestor of Xebec and Blackbeard
The legend of Davy Jones was first mentioned in the Long Ring Long Land arc of One Piece, but Oda shed more light on him in the most recent Elbaf arc. Davy Jones existed during the Void Century as one of the thorns in Imu's side. He was a legendary pirate who even Imu was wary of. Davy D. Jones is the ancestor of both Rocks D. Xebec and Blackbeard, and he most certainly possessed tremendous strength.
- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga's popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
