This article contains spoilers from One Piece's Elbaf Arc.
In the world of One Piece, the Yonko are considered to be the strongest, generally speaking. They're the most elite pirates who have come into existence in the recent era. To put it simply, the Yonko are the Emperors of the seas who rule the New World, the second and more dangerous half of the Grand Line, like absolute Kings.
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Their influence and authority are absolute and hardly anyone can challenge them. It can also be said that the Yonko are the ones closest to the One Piece, given that they actively hunt for Poneglyphs are especially powerful. While the Yonko seem like an invincible class of pirates, the truth is, there is another class even higher.
The Yonko Reign Supreme As The Strongest Class Of Pirates Right Now
- The Yonko Are The Kings Of New World
- They Are Stronger Than Marine Admirals
When it comes to the Yonko, fans know they they are almost impossible to beat. They're the four strongest pirates, often considered to be the strongest in the world as well. The first set of Yonko that fans saw in One Piece before the timeskip was composed of Whitebeard, Big Mom, Shanks, and Kaido. During the Paramount War, Whitebeard perished and he was replaced by Blackbeard. Similarly, Big Mom and Kaido fell during the Wano Country Arc. Right now, only Shanks remains from the original Yonko group.
They rule the New World like Kings. The Government calls them the Yonko of the Sea. — Garp
More importantly, the Yonko were replaced by other pirates, and now, Buggy, Luffy, Blackbeard, and Shanks make up their ranks.
The Pirate King Stands Above The Yonko
Oda Has Already Shown A Few Pirate King Level Characters
While the Pirate King is truly an elite class and usually the strongest in the One Piece world, certain pirates can be considered even stronger. For example, there are the Pirate King Level individuals who rivaled Roger directly. Rocks D. Xebec was said to be Roger's biggest adversary and he was most certainly above the average Yonko level. Similarly, there is also Whitebeard. Although he was a Yonko himself, Whitebeard was truly head and shoulders above the rest, and he held the power to destroy the world. Similarly, Joy Boy is yet another confirmed pirate to be monstrously strong.
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Only Haki can conquer all such obstacles! — Kaido
A Few Pirate King Level Candidates
Oda has already introduced the Pirate King class, and only a handful have the skill to reach this level. Even Luffy, the main character, isn't there just yet and would need more time and training.
Undoubtedly, there will be more Pirate King Level characters in One Piece. Two such choices are of Shanks and Blackbeard. Shanks is the successor of Roger, so he's bound to be around a similar level. Meanwhile, Blackbeard carries the will of Rocks, so surpassing the average Yonko shouldn't even be hard for him. Of course, at the end of the day, only time can tell, but it looks like this age of pirates is destined to be far stronger than what came before.
One Piece Chapter 1156 will be out this week. As usual, One Piece is going to drop on Sunday. In Japan, One Piece drops at 12AM JST on Monday. However, the vast majority of international readers will see the chapter available on August 3. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1156 is August 3, 2025. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus.
- 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.
- 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
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
