Top 10 Times One Piece Characters Showed Their True Power

Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the top 10 times “One Piece” characters showcased their power.

For this list, we’ll be looking at the scenes from “One Piece” that most illustrate the strength of a character. Since most of these involve plot points, there will be spoilers ahead.

If there’s a “One Piece” feat we didn’t feature, let us know your favorites in the comments!

After spending 2 years apart, the Straw Hat crew members reunite. However, Luffy is embroiled in some wannabes’ attempts to trade on their reputations. When the Marines attack, they bring Pacifistas, hulking cyborgs that it took the entire crew working together before the time skip to defeat just one! When targeted, Luffy easily dodges its laser blasts and proceeds to destroy it with a single Haki-enhanced Jet Pistol to the head! Not only is it a spectacular illustration of just how much stronger Luffy became in 2 years, but it’s also a callback to when Luffy set out on the first part of his journey. Back then, he defeated the sea monster that took Shanks’ arm with one Pistol. Quite the upgrade, huh?

Initially, everyone cautions restraint when the Straw Hats arrive in Wano Country. After all, the place is all but ruled by one of the Four Emperors, Kaido. But, when the draconic pirate seemingly obliterates a castle Luffy’s friends are inside, he won’t let that stand. Leaping into action, Luffy pummels Kaido with everything he has. His strongest forms, his most powerful attacks - he unleashes everything on Kaido. Then, Kaido gets up and counterattacks with only one mighty hit from his mace, knocking the hero out faster than he can say “I will be the Pirate King.” We knew Kaido was strong before this, but the sheer power of being able to take down Luffy after all his training and improvement still blows our collective minds!

The Marine Admirals are among the strongest characters in all of “One Piece.” Their titanic abilities are well-evident in nearly every scene they’re in. One of their most epic moments happens offscreen though. Jinbe tells the Straw Hats about a duel that took place between two of them during the time skip. Akainu and Aokiji each couldn’t stand to let the other become the next Fleet Admiral, so they dueled for 10 days, with Akainu emerging victorious. Cue the next story arc, where the Straw Hats go to a mysterious island Punk Hazard. Half of it is always on fire, while the other is a frozen wasteland. It’s eventually revealed that this was where the Admirals’ fought! They’re so powerful, they permanently changed the weather!

Enel is so broken, that the people he terrorizes/rules over call him God. Well, it’s more an honorary title up in the Sky Islands, but Enel backs up the power of the moniker. After launching his flying ark, Enel creates huge thunder clouds capable of raining massive lightning strikes on his foes and “subjects.” However, even these pale in comparison to his strongest technique. This massive ball of lightning gets dropped on Angel Island, and completely obliterates it! Granted, most of it was made of solid clouds, but it’s still arguably the most destructive demonstration of power thus far in the whole series!

Trafalgar D. Water Law is a certified badass. His Devil Fruit powers let him manipulate everything inside the circle he creates. However, strong enough Haki can stop it from working. So, when Vergo is set to give Law a beating covered in Armament Haki, it’s concerning. However, after Vergo charges at him, Luffy’s ally bisects him with his sword like he was nothing. Law delivers a speech to Doflamingo on speaker…snail…about how he has upset the peace, ushering in a new age for his generation to tear down the old. And as we pull back, we see that he cut through not just the lab, but also the entire mountain the lab is inside! Law didn’t just break a gear - he broke an entire clock!

Kozuki Oden has many incredible feats to his name. The larger-than-life samurai lived an amazing life. But it’s his death that still has the people of Wano talking to this day. Captured by Kaido and sentenced to be boiled alive like his namesake food by the Emperor and the false shogun Orochi, Oden makes a bargain. Whichever members of his retinue survives after 1 hour will be set free. Oden not only survives the boiling torment for the allotted hour, he does so while holding his 9 rather large followers over his head to protect them! And ultimately, after saving it isn’t the heat that extinguishes Oden’s fire, but Kaido’s bullet. A legendary end indeed!

At Fishman Island, the Straw Hats aid Jinbe in fighting the New Fishman Pirates, a radical group attempting a coup, with an army of 100 thousand to back them up. While the Straw Hats are outnumbered 10 thousand to 1, quality counts over quantity. When the enemy captain, Hody Jones, declares that he’ll continue his conquest and become pirate king, Luffy walks forward calmly and proceeds to release a burst of Conqueror’s Haki. The wave of intimidation makes half of the attacking army pass out! Not only is it a badass moment that has everyone picking their jaws up off the ground, it further cements that Luffy has what it takes to be the Pirate King.

Roronoa Zoro is one of the only Straw Hats that can conceivably claim to equal Luffy’s level of strength. The swordsman joins his captain in the rooftop battle with their fellow members of the Worst Generation against Big Mom and Kaido. While “Roof Piece” is chock full of hype moments, one of the biggest attacks occurs when the two Emperors deliver a combo move together. The resulting blast is massive and leaves the Worst Generation scrambling. But then, Zoro steps in - and blocks it! Granted, it’s only for a few seconds, but being able to hold off the power of 2 Emperors simultaneously is a phenomenal feat of strength on Zoro’s part!

The battle at Marineford offers plenty of opportunities for the Emperor Edward Newgate, a.k.a. Whitebeard, to showcase why he’s considered the strongest man in the world. But his most awe-inspiring moment occurs when he fights Vice Admiral John Giant. After easily repelling the giant’s massive sword, Whitebeard drops his weapon and grabs the air and pulls! His quake powers put the vice admiral off balance - as well as everyone else on the island. All of Marineford, as well as the surrounding seas, becomes off kilter and reshaped by Whitebeard’s astounding abilities. In this moment, Whitebeard shows us that the peak of power in “One Piece” is on a scale that’s positively awe-inspiring!

Conqueror’s Haki is a potent force. So, when 2 users of the Color of the Supreme King collide, the effects are…dramatic, to say the least. The handful of times when a pair of the 4 Emperors and/or the late Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, have clashed with one another, the force of the blow has been enough for a rift to open in the clouds above them! So many anime feature powerful hits that feel like they split the very heavens. “One Piece” took that feeling and made it literal! There’s no more dramatic showcase for the series' strongest characters than this recurring, epic event.