Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece begins with the execution of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, following which the Great Pirate Era kicks off. During this age, Luffy, One Piece’s protagonist, sets out to sea to become the Pirate King.

Over the years, Luffy has become an extremely powerful pirate who ranks among this world’s strongest fighters, however, he’s had to face countless villains to grow to this level. While a lot of the villains weren’t all that capable, some of them are worthy of being called the strongest in the story.

Updated May 7, 2022, by Rei Penber: One Piece is quite a long-running series with close to 1,050 chapters now having been published, and so it’s no surprise that it is made up of quite a lot of arcs. Consequently, there’s no dearth of major villains in the series and while not all of them are compelling, most are great enough to catch the fans’ attention. With this in mind, this list has been updated to include more of the most powerful One Piece major villains.

14 Don Krieg

Don Krieg was one of the strongest characters that Luffy faced in the East Blue arc. He proclaimed himself to be the strongest on the sea and actually managed to give Luffy quite a challenge. Krieg had powerful weapons all over his body which he used in a failed attempt to take Luffy down.

As with most early villains, he wasn’t as strong as the ones who came after him. Krieg’s usage of dirty tactics in battle gave him quite an edge, however, and he didn’t shy away from using any tactics for victory, showing that he’s a pirate through and through.

13 Arlong

Arlong was the main antagonist of One Piece’s Arlong Park arc. Being a Fishman, he was born ten times as strong as a human. Arlong’s power was great enough to destroy an entire town with ease, as seen when he ruled over Cocoyashi village.

Arlong proved to be quite a challenge for Luffy. However, his control over the Fishman Karate was very poor. Nonetheless, Arlong was strong enough to crush strong pirates such as Zoro and Sanji without much trouble.

12 Orochi

Orochi is a major villain in One Piece’s ongoing Wano Country arc. First mentioned during the Zou arc, Orochi was introduced to the fans in Wano where his goal to drive the country into the dirt was revealed.

While he is certainly one of the vilest villains One Piece has produced, he isn’t all that powerful. Orochi has a Mythical Zoan Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Yamata no Orochi which allows him to transform into an eight-headed serpent. He does have eight lives, but other than that he’s quite weak.

11 Gecko Moria

Gecko Moria was the main antagonist of One Piece’s Thriller Bark arc. Being one of the Shichibukai, Moria was quite powerful. His strength earned him a bounty of 320 million before it was finally frozen. Moria is a user of the Kage Kage no Mi, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that allows him to manipulate shadows at will.

During the Thriller Bark arc, Moria showed enough power to control Oars. What’s more, Luffy had to use Gear Second and Gear Third together to take him down.

10 Crocodile

Just like Moria, Crocodile was one of the Shichibukai. He was the main antagonist of the Alabasta arc, where he defeated Luffy twice in combat. To overcome Crocodile, Luffy had to rely on a lot of luck and surpass his limits. Crocodile’s usage of the Suna Suna no Mi made him incredibly powerful.

Being a Logia-type user, few could match up to him in combat. After his escape from Impel Down, Crocodile appears to have gotten much stronger than he was during the Alabasta arc.

9 Hody Jones

Hody Jones served as the main villain of the Fishman Island arc. As an accumulation of hatred, Hody was quite a great villain that Oda expanded upon in terrific fashion, however, he wasn’t all that strong.

As a Fishman, Hody’s skill wasn’t all that great either. He had to rely on steroids to make himself strong and, even then, he wasn’t able to match Luffy in combat. Eventually, Hody was beaten rather easily by the Straw Hat captain. Despite his weakness, however, he left quite a mark on the overall story and established himself as a great villain.

8 Rob Lucci

The strongest of the CP9, Rob Lucci was the main antagonist of the Enies Lobby arc. As expected, he was Luffy’s opponent during the storyline. With a Doriki of over 4000, Lucci was much stronger than Luffy.

Lucci’s usage of the Rokushiki was incredible, which was evident from the fact that he could use the Rokuogan. Despite having learned Gear Second and Gear Third, Luffy struggled to defeat Lucci. Had Usopp not helped him, Luffy would certainly have lost the fight against him.

7 Enel

Enel appeared during One Piece’s Skypiea arc as the main antagonist. With the power of the Logia-type Goro Goro no Mi, Enel became incredibly powerful. He completely destroyed Birka with its power and six years later, planned to do the same to Skypiea.

Enel’s strength was enough to completely defeat several powerful fighters at once such as Zoro, Wyper, Robin, and Gan Fall. It took Luffy all he had to defeat Enel in combat.

6 Magellan

Magellan was the main antagonist of One Piece’s Impel Down arc. Being the warden of the world’s greatest prison, he was quite powerful and put Luffy in a near-death state when the two fought. Magellan has the powers of the Doku Doku no Mi and with this fruit, he can produce poisons of many kinds and manipulate them accordingly to his will.

He even took out all of the Blackbeard Pirates on his own during the Impel Down arc, which just goes to show how skilled he truly was. Despite all the prisoners joining forces to take him down, they had no option but to run from him and make an escape from Impel Down.

5 Doflamingo

Doflamingo was the King of Dressrosa and the main villain of the island’s arc in One Piece. After the timeskip, Doflamingo was the first pirate to give Luffy a run for his money. With the power of the Ito Ito no Mi, Doflamingo could control strings at will. Doflamingo could also use all three Haki types, making him quite a unique pirate.

To defeat him, Luffy had to tap into the power of Gear Fourth twice, highlighting just how powerful of an opponent Doflamingo was.

4 Akainu

Akainu is one of the biggest villains in One Piece, and he stood in Luffy’s path for the first time during the Marineford arc. He used the power of the Magu Magu no Mi to try and kill Luffy twice but failed. Akainu has since then become the Fleet Admiral of the Marines, meaning he’s much stronger than before.

Akainu is one of the very few people capable of fighting the Yonko, which goes to show that he is one of the strongest villains in One Piece.

3 Blackbeard

One of the Yonko, Blackbeard is an extremely powerful pirate who wields two Devil Fruits, the Gura Gura no Mi and the Yami Yami no Mi. Over the years, he’s become extremely powerful and his influence continues to grow in One Piece’s world.

Blackbeard was responsible for Ace’s death and even killed Whitebeard. He is one of the few people who rival Luffy to become the Pirate King and would use any method necessary to get his hands on the One Piece.

2 Big Mom

Charlotte Linlin, also known by the name of Big Mom, is one of the Yonko of the One Piece world. She appeared as the main antagonist of the Whole Cake Island arc and has continued to be a thorn in Luffy’s path ever since. Big Mom possesses the power of the Soru Soru no Mi and the skill to use all three Haki types.

Over the years, Big Mom has acquired a bounty of 4,388,000,000 berries, which goes to show how powerful she truly is. Without a doubt, Big Mom is one of the most powerful villains in One Piece.

1 Kaido

One of the Yonko just like Big Mom, Kaido is the captain of the Beasts Pirates. He possesses the highest known active bounty in the story, at 4,611,100,000 berries. Kaido is known as the strongest creature alive and he has currently taken over Wano Country.

Kaido also possesses the power of the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu, which has turned him into an eastern dragon. Furthermore, he can also use all three Haki types. Kaido has already defeated Luffy twice and proven himself to be the strongest in the world.