Eiichiro Oda's One Piece begins with the execution of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, following which the Great Pirate Era kicks off. During this age, Luffy, One Piece's protagonist, sets out to sea to become the Pirate King.
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Over the years, Luffy has become an extremely powerful pirate who ranks among this world's strongest fighters, however, he's had to face countless villains to grow to this level. While a lot of the villains weren't all that capable, some of them are worthy of being called the strongest in the story.
Updated on October 31, 2024, by Rei Penber: One Piece has introduced fans to some of the most brilliant villains in fiction over the years. Oda is a master of writing compelling characters, be they heroes or villains. When it comes to the latter, Oda has certainly done justice to them over the years and, recently, in Wano, one of the greatest villains, Kaido finally fell. Of course, the story has progressed in many ways since then, and Oda has introduced some of the most intimidating and powerful villains ever since. While this list already goes over the vast majority of the major One Piece villains, it has now been updated to include those from the final saga.
28 Captain Kuro
Major Arc: Syrup Village
Captain Kuro was one of the major villains in the East Blue Saga of One Piece. He played the role of the major antagonist of the Syrup Village arc, where he stood in the way of Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates. Captain Kuro was eventually fought by Luffy and taken down.
He wasn't all that strong and certainly not the strongest in the East Blue Saga. To his strength, he had his incredible Pussy Foot Maneuver and, at the same time, sharp claws which he could slice opponents with. Nonetheless, Luffy adapted to his strengths quickly and defeated him.
27 Don Krieg
Major Arc: Baratie
Don Krieg was one of the strongest characters that Luffy faced in the East Blue arc. He proclaimed himself to be the strongest on the sea and actually managed to give Luffy quite a challenge. Krieg had powerful weapons all over his body which he used in a failed attempt to take Luffy down.
As with most early villains, he wasn't as strong as the ones who came after him. Krieg's usage of dirty tactics in battle gave him quite an edge, however, and he didn't shy away from using any tactics for victory, showing that he's a pirate through and through.
26 Arlong
Major Arc: Arlong Park
Arlong was the main antagonist of One Piece's Arlong Park arc. Being a Fishman, he was born ten times as strong as a human. Arlong's power was great enough to destroy an entire town with ease, as seen when he ruled over Cocoyashi village.
Arlong proved to be quite a challenge for Luffy. However, his control over the Fishman Karate was very poor. Nonetheless, Arlong was strong enough to crush strong pirates such as Zoro and Sanji without much trouble.
25 Orochi
Major Arc: Wano
Orochi is a major villain in One Piece's ongoing Wano Country arc. First mentioned during the Zou arc, Orochi was introduced to the fans in Wano where his goal to drive the country into the dirt was revealed.
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While he is certainly one of the vilest villains One Piece has produced, he isn't all that powerful. Orochi has a Mythical Zoan Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Yamata no Orochi which allows him to transform into an eight-headed serpent. He does have eight lives, but other than that he's quite weak.
24 Buggy
Major Arc: Orange Town
Buggy was yet another powerful villain that fans saw in the East Blue Saga. He was the main antagonist of the Orange Town arc and the first Devil Fruit user other than Luffy that fans saw. His Devil Fruit made him quite an interesting villain and, ever since Orange Town, he has continued to play his role as a villain across many other arcs as well.
Buggy is certainly not the strongest of pirates, however, he is one who has found quite a lot of fame. He is currently among the Four Emperors of the Sea and is likely to have strengthened quite a lot.
23 Gecko Moria
Major Arc: Thriller Bark
Gecko Moria was the main antagonist of One Piece's Thriller Bark arc. Being one of the Shichibukai, Moria was quite powerful. His strength earned him a bounty of 320 million before it was finally frozen. Moria is a user of the Kage Kage no Mi, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that allows him to manipulate shadows at will.
During the Thriller Bark arc, Moria showed enough power to control Oars. What's more, Luffy had to use Gear Second and Gear Third together to take him down.
22 Vergo
Major Arc: Punk Hazard
Vergo was one of the members of the Donquixote Pirates and certainly Doflamingo's closest aide. He was incredibly powerful and, even though he did not have any Devil Fruit ability, his Haki was known to be very impressive.
He was able to take on Smoker in combat and that in itself is quite impressive. He was also able to take on Law in combat, however, only when he did not have access to his own heart. Vergo was strong, however, in the end, he was taken down in a single shot by Trafalgar Law.
21 Hody Jones
Major Arc: Fishman Island
Hody Jones served as the main villain of the Fishman Island arc. As an accumulation of hatred, Hody was quite a great villain that Oda expanded upon in terrific fashion, however, he wasn't all that strong.
As a Fishman, Hody's skill wasn't all that great either. He had to rely on steroids to make himself strong and, even then, he wasn't able to match Luffy in combat. Eventually, Hody was beaten rather easily by the Straw Hat captain. Despite his weakness, however, he left quite a mark on the overall story and established himself as a great villain.
20 Caesar Clown
Major Arc: Punk Hazard
Caesar Clown was the main antagonist of the Punk Hazard arc. Punk Hazard was the first island Luffy and his crew set foot on in the New World. There, Caesar was revealed to be carrying out experiments of gigantification on children. At the same time, it was also revealed that he was manufacturing SAD and Smile Devil Fruits for Doflamingo, who was supplying them to Kaido, one of the Four Emperors of the Sea.
Caesar was a small villain in the grand scheme of things, however, during the arc, he was certainly a major villain. He stood in Luffy's path and ended up getting absolutely crushed by him. He also posed quite a challenge and tested Luffy's skills in the New World. Fans got to see his growth in quite some fashion and, for that reason, Caesar certainly served the role of a great villain.
19 Enel
Major Arc: Skypia
Enel appeared during One Piece's Skypiea arc as the main antagonist. With the power of the Logia-type Goro Goro no Mi, Enel became incredibly powerful. He completely destroyed Birka with its power and six years later, planned to do the same to Skypiea.
Enel's strength was enough to completely defeat several powerful fighters at once such as Zoro, Wyper, Robin, and Gan Fall. It took Luffy all he had to defeat Enel in combat.