This list contains spoilers up to the Elbaph arc of One Piece
While it would be easy to assume that a One Piece character who may have once been absurdly powerful would eventually become weak and feeble in their old age, not every legend has followed this trend. In fact, despite being some of the strongest pirates and marines around when they were a lot younger, there are several characters who, if anything, seem to be more ferocious and dangerous than ever before in the current story, even though they should probably be fully retired by now.
One Piece Characters Who Lived Up To The Hype
Living up to the hype is no easy task, but these One Piece characters managed to do it.
This can make these specific individuals very unpredictable, since there's no telling what devastating attacks and techniques they will be able to throw out in the middle of a chaotic battle. As Luffy and the Straw Hats have come to realize first-hand on numerous occasions, when someone might seem a little tired and slow on the surface, it can simply act as a disguise to obscure the overwhelming power that lies underneath, which is especially the case for these One Piece legends listed below.
Garp
Despite His Age, Garp Is Still More Than Capable Of Flattening An Entire Island With A Single Punch
- First Appearance: Episode 313
- Devil Fruit: N/A
Back in his heyday, Garp was an absolute monster, being the only marine who was strong enough to not only duke it out with Gol D. Roger, but also the absurdly powerful pirate known as Rocks. His actions at God Valley would earn him the title of Hero of the Marines, and while Garp may enjoy spending most of his time these days lazing around and eating potato chips, that doesn't mean that he's retired for good. In fact, despite being a lot older than most of the marines, Garp has proven on numerous occasions that he can still pack one hell of a punch if he's forced into a fight.
The most recent example of this is when Garp summoned one of the most explosive attacks seen in the series so far, Galaxy Impact, to decimate an entire island with just a single punch. Despite never agreeing to become an Admiral, this certainly doesn't mean that Garp isn't still worthy of being considered a powerful marine, since he is undoubtedly still one of their most reliable assets when it comes to taking down powerful pirates.
Kaido
The Intimidating Yonko Only Got Stronger With Age
- First Appearance: Episode 739
- Devil Fruit: Fish Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon
As someone who was once a member of the infamous Rocks pirate crew, it would be easy to assume that Kaido would decide to settle down and enjoy the rest of his life in peace after they disbanded, considering he had already been on a grand pirate journey. In stark contrast, the Yonko instead went on to create his own makeshift army by taking over the island of Wano and turning it into a giant weapons factory. Because he's able to transform into a menacing Azure Dragon at will, nobody even stood a chance of standing up to Kaido to try and free the country, allowing him to reign terror over Wano for many years.
One Piece: 6 Characters Luffy Will Surpass In Elbaf
Luffy will overtake these One Piece characters for good in Elbaf.
By the time Luffy confronts Kaido, the latter is already an older man who has clearly become very disillusioned with the world around him. Despite that, though, he was still able to defeat Luffy with a single Thunder Bagua, showing the captain that he still had a very long way to go to reach the power level of a legend like himself. While Luffy was eventually able to topple Kaido, he was only able to do so after unleashing the hidden power of his Devil Fruit, but getting to that point was certainly far from easy.
Whitebeard
The Strongest Man Alive Kept That Title Until His Passing
- First Appearance: Episode 485
- Devil Fruit: Tremor Tremor Fruit
Just like with Kaido, Whitebeard also decided to start up his own crew after Rocks was defeated at God Valley. When fans actually get to see Whitebeard for the first time in the main story, it's made clear that the strongest man alive is actually very ill, and probably closer to death than any of his crewmates realized. Most people in such a dire state wouldn't fare all that well going up against even a single marine battleship, but since this is Whitebeard we're talking about, he took it upon himself to partake in a gigantic war against all the marines, just to try and save one of his crewmates.
During the chaotic battle, Whitebeard was able to use his Devil Fruit to create massive earthquakes to throw the marines off-guard, putting his devastating strength on full display for all to see. At the same time, he also received hundreds of bullet holes and sword slashes all across his body, yet still managed to remain standing despite it all. Whitebeard is a character who just goes to show that you can never judge someone from One Piece by their cover, since while he may have looked sick, he still had more than enough energy left in the tank to shake the marines and the World Government to their core.
Big Mom
She May Have Let Herself Go A Little, But Big Mom Is Still Feared Across The World
- First Appearance: Episode 571
- Devil Fruit: Soul Soul Fruit
Most characters in One Piece will at least look somewhat identical to how they appeared when they were younger, but Big Mom is an exception. While she's always been abnormally big in stature, Big Mom looked like an entirely different person when she was still riding aboard Rocks' ship, and, of course, to even be considered a part of that infamous crew, she also had to be incredibly strong. As someone with an insatiable appetite, though, it seems as though Big Mom let her obsession with food get the better of her once she becomes an older woman, as in the main story, she's a lot larger than she appears in the flashbacks.
That isn't to suggest that she's gotten any slower though, as Big Mom is deceiving fast on her feet, especially when the hunger pain starts to take control of her body. As someone who has also mastered Armament Haki and is capable of creating an entire army of Homies to help her in battle, it wouldn't take long before the Straw Hats realized that this old hag was still just as, if not more feared than she was when she was a youngster.
Sengoku
The Old Fleet Admiral Caused Plenty Of Carnage During The Marineford War
- First Appearance: Episode 151
- Devil Fruit: Human Human Fruit, Model: Buddha
Despite having been the Fleet Admiral of the marines for many years, it was clear during the Marineford War that Sengoku was only a year or two away from being fully retired. Because of this, it would have made sense if he simply sat back and watched the action unfold from the sidelines, due to being a little too old for battle, but as with most of the older generation seen in the series, Sengoku instead decided to get involved, and to say that he made an impact would be putting it lightly.
One Piece: 39 Strongest Characters In The Series
These are the strongest characters to sail the seas of the One Piece world.
Thanks to his Zoan Devil Fruit, Sengoku can turn into a giant golden Buddha whose punches are so devastating that they can eliminate entire swarms of pirates with a single attack. On the other hand, he was also physically strong enough to hold down an enraged Garp who was desperate to try and attack Akainu, which is certainly no easy feat considering the character in question.
Rayleigh
Roger's Right-Hand Man Hasn't Missed A Beat
- First Appearance: Episode 397
- Devil Fruit: N/A
Gol D. Roger may have been executed before the main story even begins, but his right-hand man, Silvers Rayleigh, is still alive and kicking. Even though he might spend most of his time drinking away at Shakky's Bar, Rayleigh has made it clear to Luffy why the marines are still so afraid to confront him, since he's still undoubtedly one of the strongest pirates in the world, even though his days of journeying across the gast open seas are far behind him.
After all, Rayleigh was the one who taught Luffy how to utilize his Haki during the timeskip, and he's even able to go toe-to-toe with extremely powerful characters, such as Kizaru. Clearly, the Dark King hasn't lost his luster, and though he may only appear every now and again in the story, it's become evident why so many people desperately try to avoid getting on his bad side.
Scopper Gaban
Despite Being Hidden Away For Many Years, Gaban Is Back, And He's Still Just As Powerful As Ever
- First Appearance: Episode 523
- Devil Fruit: N/A
Though Rayleigh may be the most well-known member of Rogers' crew, another immensely powerful Pirate who was also close friends with the Pirate King was Scopper Gabon. However, due to not being seen in the story for literally hundreds of episodes and chapters, it was easy for fans to forget about Gabon entirely, which is why it took so many people aback when he randomly showed up in the Elbaph arc.
Just like Rogers' other right-hand man, Gabon is still a lethal powerhouse, and to be honest, he seems to be a lot stronger than many fans predicted he would be. Gabon was able to deal significant damage to the Holy Knights due to his infused Conqueror's Haki, and considering the Holy Knights are being set up as some of the most powerful enemies that have ever appeared in the story, this is far from an easy feat. The axe-wielding pirate may no longer be in his prime, but if his recent appearances are anything to go by, he is still just as powerful as he was when he sailed alongside the Pirate King all those years ago.
- 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
