This list contains spoilers up to the Wano arc
One of the most important golden rules that all pirates in One Piece will always try to adhere to along their journey is to avoid the Yonko at all costs. After all, these ferocious beasts are known for possessing an overwhelming level of power, meaning the majority of people who decide to take them on will inevitably only end up being humiliated for their efforts. In fact, as a way to emphasize just how absurdly strong these individuals truly are in combat, Oda has included several moments throughout the One Piece story that showcase a strong character being cut down to size by a Yonko pirate.
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Admittedly, the Yonko may not seem as terrifying these days as they once did at the beginning of the story, but regardless, they still stand as the most dangerous pirates in the One Piece world, even if some of them are on the older side. These are the most well-known occasions where a character, for one reason or another, decided it was a good idea to challenge a Yonko in a duel, only to be utterly humiliated by the end of the battle.
Luffy Is Cut Down To Size By Kaido
The Straw Hat Captain Bit Off Way More Than He Could Chew
- Episode: 915
By the time Luffy had arrived in the land of Wano, he had already taken down his fair share of Warlords and Marines, and had even managed to defeat a Yonko commander in the previous story arc. Therefore, it seemed as though the lucky protagonist might have actually gained enough power to take on the un-killable beast known as Kaido, prompting him to charge head first into the Yonko not long after he lands on the island of samurai.
Though Luffy did manage to get a few hits in on Kaido while he was in his dragon form, this was admittedly only because Kaido was black-out drunk after coming off one of his regular heavy drinking sessions. Once he sobered up, all it took was a single Thunder Bagua attack to knock Luffy out of Gear 4, leaving him unconscious and resulting in him being locked away in Udon Prison. This would actually be one of several occasions where Luffy was embarrassed by Kaido, as while he did manage to finally overcome him in the end thanks to his Devil Fruit, getting to that point was far from easy.
Big Mom Toys Around With Brook
The Yonko Desperately Wanted To Make The Soul King Her Own Personal Pet
- Episode: 818
Despite being clearly outmatched by his opponent, there was a moment in the Whole Cake Island arc where Brook decided to stand up against the giant Yonko known as Big Mom in a desperate attempt to save his friends, primarily Sanji. Though Brook has been shown to be more than capable of holding his own in a fight, he's never exactly been considered one of the stronger members of the Straw Hat crew, but despite knowing that, Brook still found a few creative ways to try and deal damage to Big Mom during this intense clash.
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For example, he was able to manipulate Big Mom's Homies by interacting with their souls thanks to his music, though, unfortunately for him, it wouldn't be enough to turn the tide of the battle. In fact, Big Mom was simply toying with Brook for the entire fight in an attempt to protect his skeletal body from becoming too damaged, since she wanted to make him her own personal pet. As a result, every attack Brook threw out was simply batted away by Big Mom's Haki, and even when he did manage to catch her by surprise, Napoleon and Zeus were always there to fend him off.
Shanks Shuts Down Green Bull With Overwhelming Haki
Even The Admirals Shudder In Fear At The Sight Of Shanks
- Episode: 1082
Despite technically being introduced back in the Reverie, the true identity of Admiral Greenbull wasn't officially revealed until near the very end of the Wano story arc. However, while his Wood Woods Devil Fruit definitely makes him a formidable opponent for any pirate to take on in battle, his flashy debut would be cut short by Shanks who, despite watching the Admiral from afar on his ship, was still able to shut him down by firing a powerful bolt of Conqueror's Haki in his direction.
In fact, this would prove to be so powerful that it forced Greenbull to surrender, with him admitting that he had no intentions of taking on the Red Hair Pirates while in his current condition. The fact that Shanks was able to immobilize an Admiral without even making physical contact with them just goes to show how much of a monster this guy truly is.
Shanks Obliterates Kid And His Rail Gun
Maybe Taking Aim At The Red-Haired Pirates Wasn't Such A Bright Idea After All
- Episode: 1112
Ever since Shanks sliced off Kid's left arm, the dangerous pirate captain has been eager to get revenge on the Yonko who humiliated him during the timeskip. After Kid successfully managed to take down Big Mom with a little help from Law, his Yonko Hunting would continue, as he then decided to aim his brand-new railgun at none other than Shanks and his entire crew.
As Shanks quickly realized by tapping into his Observation Haki, had Kid been able to pull the trigger, he would have obliterated the entire ship and everyone on it. Not a captain who was willing to lose his entire crew to a good-for-nothing punk, Shanks leaps into the air and lunges himself straight towards Kid, where he then unleashes one of the most explosive attacks ever seen in the series, Divine Departure. By slicing his railgun in two and blowing Kid into the sea, Shanks effectively removed Kid from the race to reach the One Piece treasure, teaching him a valuable lesson about why it's best and not to mess with a Yonko.
Blackbeard Uses His Two Devil Fruits To Obliterate Law
Not Even Law Can Stand A Chance Against A Man With Two Devastating Devil Fruits
- Episode: 1093
It's long been established that a single person can only consume a single Devil Fruit, since if they try to eat anymore, their body will break down and explode due to the overwhelming power. Blackbeard, however, is the exception, and he's used this to his advantage to acquire two of the most powerful fruits in the series, which he was more than happy to test out when facing off against Law after the latter had disembarked from Wano.
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Considering Law had already awoken his own Devil Fruit, the Ope Ope no Mi, he was at least able to put up a decent fight against Blackbeard by unleashing powerful attacks like his signature Shock Wille. In the end though, Blackbeard was able to use a combination of Earth-shattering punches and the power of darkness itself to overwhelm Law, to the point where he almost managed to kill him if Bepo hadn't jumped in to rescue his captain. Law may have been pretty confident going into this battle, but he would end up suffering one of the most miserable defeats seen in the series.
Whitebeard Spooks Akainu
The Future Fleet Admiral Could Barely Keep Up With Whitebeard
- Episode: 484
Akainu is known for being a very serious, stern and stoic Marine whose only mission in life is to exterminate as many pirates as possible, but the one man who has ever been able to inflict true fear into the eyes of the future Fleet Admiral was Whitebeard. In the final stages of the Marineford War, Whitebeard, despite being full of sword slashes and bullet holes, was able to deal a staggering amount of damage to Akainu, who could barely even keep up with the world's strongest man, despite him being on his last legs.
While it's still impressive for anyone to survive even a single punch from Whitebeard, it definitely wasn't a great look for Akainu to be seen being thrown around and flung into a hole in the floor by the man who he despises so much. Still, Akainu certainly isn't the first person that Whitebeard has embarrassed in battle, as the man has a laundry list of opponents that he has humiliated throughout his long and celebrated journey across the seas.
Luffy Turns Kaido Into A Cartoon
The True Power Of Nika Is Unrivaled, As Kaido Came To Find Out First-Hand
- Episode: 1071
Because Kaido has been considered unkillable, it's understandable why he would be fully confident in his ability to take down any pirate or Marine who dares to stand up to him, but things would end up going horribly wrong for the gigantic beast once Luffy awakened Gear 5. By harnessing the power of the Sun God Nika, Luffy was able to essentially turn everything around him, including his opponent Kaido, into one big goofy cartoon, granting Luffy god-like powers where he was able to fling Kaido around like a toy, and even use his body as a jumprope.
As someone who is supposed to be the ferocious tyrant of Wano, being humiliated in such a way by a pirate that he had already beaten down numerous times wasn't a position Kaido ever wanted to be in. The truth is though, Gear Five is simply just that strong, and it was the tool that Luffy desperately needed to defeat Kaido once and for all, though it does need to be said that the way Luffy defeated him ended up putting a pretty humiliating stain on Kaido's reputation.
- 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
- Writers
- Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
- Franchise(s)
- One Piece
- Creator(s)
- Eiichiro Oda
