The world timeline of the One Piece world is as extensive as the duration of this manga: it starts more than five thousand years before Monkey D. Luffy’s story even begins, and it’s filled to the brim with important historical events that have helped elevate the impeccable world-building of this series.
Naturally, fans often divide the One Piece timeline into eight different eras based on the most important events. Some of the strongest characters in the series have lived through some of these eras and even left their marks during them, but, of course, each one has a specific person who can be considered the absolute strongest in the world at that precise moment. As a result, the following eight One Piece characters can be considered the most powerful figures of their respective eras.
Nika
The Previous Two Worlds
- Debut: Chapter 1018 (Manga) Episode 1040 (Anime)
This era was very recently revealed in the One Piece manga, and its mere existence has already blown the minds of countless readers and theory-crafters. According to an ancient religious text from Elbaf known as the Harley, two previous versions of the world existed before the current timeline started, and they were populated by mysterious elemental gods.
The script of the Harley was intentionally left ambiguous by Eiichiro Oda, but one thing is sure: the most powerful being that lived during this mysterious era was none other than the Sun God himself, Nika. Not only is he a prominent part of the legend, but his legacy has carried over to the third (and current) world, to the point that many people still worship him as a god and a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit has spawned in his image. With his carefree attitude and over-the-top rubber-based powers, Nika was definitely strong enough to defeat any fearsome gods or monsters that lived in the previous two worlds.
Zunesha
Before The Void Century
- Debut: Chapter 802 (Manga) Episode 751 (Anime)
The Void Century is arguably the most important era in the One Piece timeline, but not much is currently known about the events that transpired before it. This obscure period is often referred to as “Before the Void Century,” and one of the few pieces of information about it that has been revealed is that this is the era in which Zunesha was born.
A thousand years before the start of the story, a massive Naitamie-Norida elephant named Zunesha was born. The details of his past and his childhood are still shrouded in mystery, but he went on to become one of Joy Boy’s closest allies and grew so big that his back became the nation of Zou, where the Mink Tribe resides, so there’s no doubt that he became very strong at some point in his thousand-year-long lifespan.
Joy Boy
Void Century
- Debut: Chapter 628 (Manga) Episode 548 (Anime)
As previously stated, the Void Century is the most important era in the One Piece timeline, as the events that took place in it shaped everything in the world that came after it. However, as its name implies, this part of history was intentionally erased by the World Government and the series’ plot revolves around unveiling the many mysteries of this specific era, meaning that fans currently don’t know much about it.
One of the very few details about the Void Century that they are aware of is the appearance of the first pirate in history: Joy Boy. He was a highly influential figure (even if the World Government wants to hide his existence), he was allied with powerful entities like Emet and Zunesha, and he ate the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, which gave him the incredible rubber-based abilities of the eponymous Sun God. Yes, Joy Boy was eventually defeated during the Great War, but it's worth pointing out that it took the combined power of twenty different kingdoms to do so, not to mention that he also managed to preserve the Ancient Weapons and hid his overwhelmingly potent Conqueror's Haki inside Emet.
Oars
After The Void Century
- Debut: Chapter 456 (Manga) Episode 350 (Anime)
The world One Piece fans are familiar with slowly began taking its shape during this era, shortly after the end of the Void Century. This is when many important historical events take place, including the tragic story of Mont Blanc Noland and Kalgara and the births of many famous giants, like Dorry, Broggy, Kashii, Oimo, Saul and more.
But the most interesting part of this era was the life and death of Oars the Continent-Puller, an ancient giant who rose to infamy during this time. In the span of 159 years, he used his immense strength to take control of entire countries and islands and eventually became a living legend whose name terrified anyone who heard it. However, he died of frostbite when he arrived in the Land of Ice, and his corpse was stolen by Gecko Moria hundreds of years later.
Rocks D. Xebec
Before The God Valley Incident
- Debut: Chapter 957 (Manga) Episode 958 (Anime)
The God Valley Incident is yet another important historical event that reshaped the entire One Piece world, so naturally, the era that transpired right before it is full of many different pirates, marines and God's Knights that would eventually reunite on that island on that fateful day. The careers of numerous strong pirates — like Gol D. Roger or Whitebeard — began during this era, but there’s no denying that Rocks D. Xebec was the absolute strongest one on the planet at that point.
After all, he was the captain of the Rocks Pirates, who went on to be known as the strongest pirate crew in history, not to mention that he was a skilled swordsman who was capable of using Conqueror’s Haki. Rocks was so incredibly powerful that he effortlessly killed an admiral and became one of the few people in history that was able to infiltrate Pangea Castle, break into the Room of Flowers, and discover the existence of Imu.
Edward Newgate (Whitebeard)
After The God Valley Incident
- Debut: Chapter 234 (Manga) Episode 151 (Anime)
The God Valley Incident resulted in the sudden defeat of Rocks D. Xebec at the hands of Monkey D. Garp and Gol D. Roger, who went on to be known as the Hero of the Marines and the Pirate King respectively. But, while they were both definitely extremely strong fighters, it was one of Rocks’ ex-crewmates who earned the title of “Strongest Man in the World” during this era, and his name was Edward Newgate (AKA Whitebeard).
Shortly after the Rock Pirates disbanded, Whitebeard formed the Whitebeard Pirates and began recruiting powerful and skilled pirates, whom he treated like his own family. As the captain of his own crew, he became even stronger than ever before as he fought by combining the three types of Haki with his potent Devil Fruit, the Gura Gura no Mi. On top of all that, Whitebeard’s incredible physique and raw strength allowed him to tank multiple direct attacks from other powerful figures like Roger or Oden. It should be no surprise that he and his crew were feared around the world for many years, until the day he died.
Kaido
The Great Pirate Era (Pre-Timeskip)
- Debut: Chapter 795 (Manga) Episode 736 (Anime)
Gol D. Roger’s execution is the single most important historical event in all of One Piece, as the reveal of his legendary treasure, the One Piece, single-handedly kickstarted the Golden Age of Piracy (AKA The Great Pirate Era). Naturally, thousands of powerful and ruthless pirates rose to infamy during this long era but, as Whitebeard slowly lost some of his strength due to his old age, one of his former Rocks Pirates crewmates took the title of strongest creature in the world from him.
Kaido is one of the most powerful characters in One Piece, and he gained most of his power during this era: he had immense physical strength, a durable body, mastery over all forms of Haki and one of the most overpowered Devil Fruits, the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu, which allowed him to turn into a giant Azure Dragon at will. And if all that wasn’t enough, he also commanded a massive pirate crew with countless skilled combatants that ate Devil Fruits (both real and artificial) and possessed political power over the country of Wano. There’s a reason it eventually took the combined efforts of sixteen different people to take down this beast.
Imu
Current Era (Post-Timeskip)
- Debut: Chapter 906 (Manga) Episode 885 (Anime)
Imu, the hidden supreme ruler of the One Piece world, is said to have lived for thousands of years, so it could be argued that they were the most powerful character of every single era in the timeline. However, not only would that be extremely boring and repetitive, but they only showcased their incredible powers in recent chapters that take place after the two-year timeskip, so it’s unknown if they had them in other eras.
After all, this is a world in which Kaido and Big Mom were defeated, but other powerful entities still live on, like Monkey D. Luffy, Blackbeard, Shanks, or The Five Elders, and yet Imu is (literally) sitting at the top for a very good reason. They seem to have control over the Five Elders and God’s Knights (and are responsible for their immortality), they can transform into a massive unknown creature that can pierce through their targets with a sharp pointy tail, and they can even possess people and turn into literal demons with a technique known as Domi Reversi. Imu is undoubtedly the most powerful person currently living in the One Piece world and the most likely candidate for the final villain of this story.
One Piece
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
