This article contains spoilers from One Piece’s Final Saga.
When it comes to the world of One Piece, fans know very well that the Yonko are by far the strongest among the mortals. Imu aside, who has now been confirmed to be the ultimate villain of One Piece and quite easily the strongest character, the Yonko have consistently been among the strongest in the story, and that most certainly won't change anytime soon in the Final Saga either.
9 Strongest Pirates That Aren't Yonko in One Piece, Ranked
The Yonko are powerful, but they aren't the only strong pirates in One Piece.
Among the Yonko, fans have seen a shakeup of sorts immediately after the Wano Arc. Before Wano, the Yonko were made up of Kaido, Big Mom, Shanks, and Blackbeard. After Wano, new Yonko have emerged, and the others have fallen. Kaido and Big Mom were replaced by Luffy and Buggy, and the current Yonko are essentially made up of Luffy, Shanks, Buggy, and Blackbeard. While it goes without saying that all Yonko are powerful, not all of them are equally as strong. Buggy, for example, is quite easily the weakest of the bunch at the moment. Now, Oda seems to have confirmed the strongest of the Yonko as well, and that's none other than Shanks.
The Yonko Are The Strongest Monsters On The Seas
- Four Kings Who Fight For The One Piece
- Their Powers Even Scare The Navy
To understand who truly is the strongest of the Yonko, one first needs to grasp the concept of the Yonko in the first place. The Yonko are the foremost elite pirates that rule the New World like Kings. They are pirates that have their own territories and massive influence over large regions, commonly spanning across multiple countries. The Yonko hold immense strength, and with it comes immense notoriety. They have the highest bounties in the world of One Piece, and at the same time, they use this influence to protect various countries.
The Yonko also have massive alliances because in the New World, there are only two ways to survive:
- To fight the Yonko and end up replacing them or being crushed
- To ally with the Yonko by forging alliances
The Yonko essentially form a large enough group to oppose even the World Government. Their strength is such that even the Government does not dare to oppose them, aside from special circumstances, and not even an Admiral is directly allowed to intercept a Yonko aside from when especially requested by the likes of the Fleet Admiral or the higher-ups, such as the Five Elders.
This is the power to overwhelm, also called the Color of the Supreme King Haki. Most people who have made a name for themselves in the world possess this power. Though you can control the Color of the Supreme King, you can't train it to be stronger directly. It is the embodiment of the spirit of the user. It only grows stronger if the user itself grows stronger. — Silvers Rayleigh explaining Conqueror's Haki to Luffy
Quite clearly, the Yonko are monstrous threats in the world of One Piece. When it comes to the strength of the Yonko, fans are well aware of what makes them special. Either the Yonko have legendary Devil Fruits, such as Kaido with his dragon Devil Fruit and Big Mom with her soul-manipulating Devil Fruit, or they have incredibly powerful Haki. In either case, the Yonko have above-average Haki, with immense control over Supreme King Haki as well.
All Yonko are powerful, but there is one that stands above them all, especially when taking into consideration the recent reveals made by Oda in the Elbaf arc, and that is Shanks.
Shanks Is Officially The Strongest Yonko
Based on the recent reveals in the Elbaf arc concerning Shanks, it is quite clear for the fans to see that he is easily the strongest of the Four Emperors.
To truly understand Shanks' strength, one needs to look at the Elbaf flashback where the power of Rocks D. Xebec was officially revealed by Oda. Fans know that Rocks D. Xebec was a legend so strong that he could easily kill an Admiral. He was Roger's fiercest adversary and his power was, at one point, even greater than that of Roger.
Later down the line, Roger most likely went on to equal Rocks or possibly even surpass him, but fans know that they were relative.
I won't say that's not fair, Navy man. But raiding the worn-out new green leaves that changed the era of piracy forever? Don't you think you're doing too much? Are you that afraid of the new era? - Shanks
Rocks was not the only one who stood on top of the era. Fans know that Harald was just as strong as him and a rival of his. Rocks D. Xebec and Harald fought on multiple occasions, and Oda made it quite clear for the fans to see that they were evenly matched. In the end, however, Harald went on to surpass Rocks and this was after he received the Deep Sea Covenant from Imu. This gave him immense superhuman strength and, on top of that, it also granted him immortality.
Eiichiro Oda Sets Up The Death Of The Strongest Character In The World In One Piece
The strongest character's death is already set in stone in One Piece.
In One Piece Chapter 1170, fans saw a character so strong that he was able to defeat even Harald, despite gaining such monstrous powers. This character is none other than his own son, Loki. Loki ended up taming Ragnir and earning its recognition in chapter 1170 shortly afterwards. Loki also went on to eat the legendary Devil Fruit of Elbaf, the power of which is such that even Harald was not able to stand up to him in combat. This very same Loki was eventually defeated by Shanks eight years after the events of the Aurust Castle in Elbaf.
In other words, Loki is so strong that he could rival or even beat Rocks D. Xebec in his prime. This means Loki is stronger than Harald and Rocks, and now Shanks is even stronger than the likes of Loki. Quite clearly, this makes Shanks one of the strongest pirates, possibly even above the level of Gol D. Roger, and overall, the strongest individual in all of One Piece aside from Void Century figures. This also makes Shanks the strongest of the Four Emperors.
Shanks Has Powers Fans Haven’t Seen Yet
The truth is that fans have not seen Shanks' full powers yet. Many fans might wonder as to why Shanks doesn't hold the title of the strongest in the world if he was this powerful all along. The truth is that Shanks never revealed his true powers to anyone. Shanks is someone who only moved truly once he saw Nika return to the world.
His job from Roger was to make sure that Nika returned, and this is quite clear based on his actions, such as stealing the Gomu Gomu no Mi and staying in the East Blue for over a year looking for the next user of this Devil Fruit. Shanks even sacrificed his arm for this, and throughout his life, he has only wanted to carry on the legacy of Captain Roger, whom he considered his very own father.
Shanks was not interested in moving at the time and the only thing he cared about was maintaining the balance until Nika came along. Now that Nika has come, Shanks has started to truly move, and he will unleash his true powers that fans have not even seen very soon.
Eiichiro Oda's One Piece focuses on the journey of Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates as they sail the seas to lay claim to the grand treasure known as the One Piece. The manga is currently in its Final Saga. One Piece will be featured in this week's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1170 is January 4, 2026. In Japan, One Piece drops at 12AM JST on Monday, which is 11:00 AM EST, or 8:00 AM PT. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus and the Shonen Jump apps. Doing so will ensure that fans always support the author.