Monkey D. Luffy acquired his biggest power-up in One Piece's Wano Country Arc when he successfully tapped into the Awakening of his Devil Fruit in his battle against Kaido. Immediately upon facing death, Luffy was able to tap into the true power of the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, which was revealed to be a legendary Devil Fruit with immense powers.
Having successfully awakened his Devil Fruit, Luffy went on to use a transformation called Gear 5, which made him the Sun God Nika, also called the Warrior of Liberation. With Gear 5, Luffy gains the power of boundless imagination, along with the most free-wheeling combat in the world. That said, Luffy is still not the strongest One Piece character. These characters would still beat Gear 5 Luffy.
Shanks
- Affiliation: Red Hair Pirates
- Devil Fruit: N/A
- Haki: Conqueror's, Armament, Observation
Among the many characters that Luffy has yet to surpass is the Captain of the Red Hair Pirates, Yonko Shanks. Shanks was the protege of the late Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, and now, he stands at the top of the One Piece wall as one of the very strongest.
Shanks is the Yonko with the highest bounty and the most experience, and what makes him stand out among many of One Piece's top tiers is his superior Haki. Shanks has proven he is the greatest Haki user currently alive in the One Piece world. His Haki is so strong that it was directly compared to Joy Boy’s in the Egghead arc. On top of having powerful Haki that can take out 3 billion berry pirates in a single blow, he also has other advanced abilities, such as Observation Killing. Luffy will eventually surpass Shanks, but that time has yet to arrive.
Imu
- Affiliation: World Government
- Devil Fruit: Unknown
- Haki: Conqueror's, Armament, Observation
At the moment, Saint Imu Nerona is the strongest character in the One Piece world, and they stand on top as the secret sovereign of the world. Imu was first introduced in the Reverie Arc and has since been a looming figure in One Piece. Now in Elbaf, Oda has displayed some of Imu's terrifying powers, which are enough to see him rank over Luffy.
Imu was revealed to possess demonic and mage-like abilities. With their mysterious devil fruit, Imu can force individuals into demonic slave contracts. Imu was even able to turn the likes of Rocks D. Xebec into a demon slave with his Domi Reversi. Imu is also immortal and has monstrously powerful Haki. Undoubtedly, Luffy is outmatched by Imu at the moment, and he is a character that will only be surpassed at the very end of One Piece, when Luffy's Haki and Devil Fruit control reaches its absolute peak.
Loki
- Affiliation: Elbaf
- Devil Fruit: Unnamed Legendary Fruit of Elbaf
- Haki: Conqueror's, Armament, Observation
Loki is the Accursed Prince of Elbaf and a monstrously powerful individual. He's been hyped up for a while, and it is clear to see why. In the Elbaf flashback, Loki's strength was showcased when he became the first character ever to be able to completely kill an immortal individual that had a Covenant with Imu.
What makes Loki exceptionally strong is his Haki, and more importantly, his Devil Fruit. Loki possesses the legendary Devil Fruit of Elbaf and on top of that, when wielding Ragnir, he is on a whole other level. Luffy will probably surpass Loki by the end of Elbaf, but at the moment, Loki is the stronger one out of the two. Luffy must first improve his Haki before even hoping to defeat Loki.
Monkey D. Dragon
- Affiliation: Revolutionary Army
- Devil Fruit: Unknown
- Haki: Conqueror's (Implied), Armament, Observation
Monkey D. Dragon is Luffy's own father. So far in One Piece, Monkey D. Dragon's abilities remain a huge mystery. Oda has yet to reveal the full extent of Dragon's abilities, but simply through the narrative, it is clear that he is incredibly powerful and probably one of the very strongest in the One Piece world.
Monkey D. Dragon will definitely be one of the best Haki users in this series. Furthermore, Oda has already dropped a major hint about Dragon's Devil Fruit all the way back in Logue Town. Dragon is able to summon lightning, rain, and control the winds. With such abilities, it is fair to assume that Dragon has a weather-related Devil Fruit, and that alone would make him incredibly overpowered. As the Final Saga continues, Dragon will face some big challenges. Given his position at the helm of the Revolutionary Army, Dragon is bound to be stronger than Luffy right now. That said, Luffy should surpass him by the end of the series.
Five Elders
- Affiliation: World Government
- Devil Fruit: Yokai Powers
- Haki: Conqueror's, Armament, Observation
Luffy and the Five Elders have already faced off in the Final Saga during the Egghead arc. On Egghead Island, Saturn summoned all the Elders to stop the broadcasting of Vegapunk's message. Luffy was not exactly struggling against the Five Elders; but he was quickly overpowered due to the Five Elders possessing immortality on top of their Yokai abilities.
While Luffy could hold his own for a while, he would eventually run out of time with Gear 5 and be taken down by the Five Elders easily. Before he can face them again, Luffy will have to master his Conqueror's Haki to a new level, which would then allow him to slow down their regeneration and even incapacitate them. For now, however, Luffy would lose to them even with the power of Gear 5, as was the case in Egghead.
Blackbeard
- Affiliation: Blackbeard Pirates
- Devil Fruit: Yami Yami no Mi, Gura Gura no Mi
- Haki: Armament, Observation
Blackbeard is, undoubtedly, one of the most important characters in the entirety of One Piece. Regardless of whether he is the final antagonist or not, Blackbeard will definitely act as a major obstacle for Luffy in the Final Saga. At the moment, Blackbeard definitely has the edge over Luffy. He possesses not one but two overpowered Devil Fruits, those being the Gura Gura no Mi and the Yami Yami no Mi. With those Devil Fruits, Blackbeard could even cancel out Luffy's Gear 5 and take him down.
To defeat Blackbeard, Luffy will have to go beyond Gear 5 and instead, learn to take his Haki to the next level. By the end of One Piece, Luffy and Blackbeard should be neck and neck in power, with Luffy hopefully surpassing him. At the moment, however, even Gear 5 won't be able to take down this monster.
- 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
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
