Being a warlord doesn’t indicate a level of strength but rather a level of notoriety. Strength in One Piece is not simply determined by one’s devil fruit or experience but also by the strength of one’s will and determination to follow one’s dreams. This means that the strength of the warlords varies greatly, from characters the Straw Hat’s defeated before even entering the Grand Line to Yonko-level foes that have ruled the seas for decades.

Before the program was abolished, the Warlords of the Sea were fearsome Pirates sanctioned to help keep the world balanced. After allying with the World Government, the bounties of Pirates who’d earned the title were frozen. However, after the heinous crimes of Warlords Crocodile and Doflamingo, the entire Warlord system was disbanded by Marine Fleet Admiral Fujitora. After losing the Warlord titles, the Marines once again hunted each of the Pirates who held the title, and some of these pirates were a bigger hassle than others to overcome.

11Buggy The Genius Jester

Introduced in manga chapter #9, anime episode #4

Buggy the Clown was once a young member of the Roger Pirates alongside future Yonko Redhair Shanks. Despite his early friendship with several One Piece powerhouses, Buggy does not even come close to the same level of power as Shanks and his overwhelming haki. In fact, Buggy is defeated by Luffy in Orange Town way back in the East Blue saga.

Since then, Buggy has likely gotten stronger, but throughout the series, he’s shown to luck his way into his achievements, such as his warlord and now Yonko position, which he obtained consistently by being the right person in the wrong place. Despite his devil fruit’s potential, Buggy has been and remains a comic relief character.

10Gecko Moria, The Man Who Controls The Shadows

Introduced in manga chapter #449, anime episode #343

When readers meet Gecko Moria during the Thriller Bark arc, he is past his prime. Once, Moria was said to be a rival to One Piece‘s Strongest Creature, Kaido. But after having his crew wiped out, Moria lost his resolve and began to cultivate a crew of zombies that the Straw Hats face at Thriller Bark.

Moria’s fruit has some strong abilities, but it is a very situational power that requires shadows in order to work. This means that if a fight happened during the day, Moria would already be at a significant disadvantage. Bearing in mind that Moria’s power can be completely nullified by a speed blitz like when he was attacked by Donquixote Doflamingo, a fast opponent would spell trouble for Moria.

9Sir Crocodile, Desert King And Leader Of Assassins

Introduced in manga chapter # 126, anime episode #76

Crocodile is the antagonist of the Alabasta Saga. Crocodile’s narrative follows Gecko Moria’s, of an older generation of pirates who ventured into the New World only to be crushed by one of the Yonko. In his younger days, Crocodile’s crew was crushed by Whitebeard in his prime, causing him to retreat into the Paradise section of the Grand Line and lose his ambitions to claim the One Piece and become the Pirate King.

Crocodile having forsaken his dream puts him at a disadvantage. Though having even survived against someone as powerful as prime Whitebeard shows that Crocodile was stronger in his younger years, he grew complacent during his scheming to take over Alabasta and did not train to attain a level of strength that would let them compete with some of their fellow warlords. Still, helping create The Cross Guild with Buggy and Mihawk will likely lead his character to unexpected places.

8Edward Weevil, One Of The Series Most Powerful Mysteries

Introduced in manga chapter #802, anime episode #751

Edward Weevil is the alleged son of Whitebeard, and while his intelligence leaves much to be desired, he makes up for it in raw strength. As a result of his naive nature, Weevil’s mother, Miss Bakkin, manipulates him, ultimately seeking to destroy the former Whitebeard pirates and secure Whitebeard’s treasure. Weevil becomes a Warlord of the Sea during the One Piece series time skip.

It’s unclear if Weevil is legitimately Whitebeard’s son; there is also the possibility that he is a failed clone of the former Yonko.

Weevil is mostly an unknown quantity, having not encountered the Straw Hats yet, but he single-handedly destroyed 16 of Whitebeard’s allied crews. This feat is doubtlessly impressive, but its true scale is unquantifiable because the strength of the crews that Weevil fought is currently unknown. As a consequence of his mostly unknown nature, it can only be said that Weevil is at least strong enough to hold his own with some of his fellow warlords. However, after the Warlords were abolished, Weevil took it upon himself to defend Whitebeard’s hometown and destroy countless marines in the process until Admiral Ryokugyu proved to be a real threat, defeating and capturing him.

7Luffy’s 2nd Biggest Fan And Pirate Empress Boa Hancock

Introduced in manga chapter #516, anime episode #409

Boa Hancock is the empress of Amazon Lily, an island that is home to the Kuja Tribe, a tribe of all-female fighters. Hancock wields the Love-Love Fruit, which allows her to make her opponents fall in love with her and even turn them to stone if she desires. It affects the user regardless of their gender, and even works on the World Government’s powerful Pacifista cyborgs.

Hancock makes a hilarious entrance into One Piece‘s story by kicking adorable animals who were in her way.

Hancock’s fruit also has some limitations. The target must have lustful or loving thoughts in order for it to work. As such, her fruit did not work on Luffy, and others such as Mihawk and Crocodile have been shown to resist it. Hancock also has been shown to easily destroy Pacifistas with her incredible brute strength, who are all based on Kuma, her fellow warlord.

6Bartholomew Kuma’s Emotional Backstory Is One Of The Series Best

Introduced in manga chapter #233, anime episode #151

Bartholomew Kuma is not only one of the warlords but also a former member of the Revolutionary Army and a close friend to Luffy’s father, Monkey D. Dragon. Born with a strong Buccaneer body, Kuma was used to create a Pacifista army and was cybernetically altered by the World Government in a deal to save his daughter’s life. What separates him from the other Pacifistas is the Paw-Paw Fruit, which he used to single-handedly defeat (and save the lives of) the pre-time skip Straw Hat crew at Sabaody Archipelago.

Kuma’s Fruit is frighteningly powerful and versatile, with many of his attacks being light-speed by his own admission. The Paw-Paw fruit can warp Kuma and anyone he touches to a location within range that he has visited in the past. Kuma is also likely to have the will to resist Hancock’s Love-Love Fruit since he can resist his cyborg programming during his fights with the Straw Hats and spare them when he is supposed to capture or kill them. His entire backstory and character arc come full circle in the Egghead Island arc with One Piece‘s most tearful reunion. After learning the full context of Kuma’s life, he is easily one of the series’ most tragic and best-written characters.

5Jimbei, Knight Of The Sea And Straw Hat Helmsmen

Introduced in manga chapter #528, anime episode #430

Jimbei is the newest and one of the strongest members of the Straw Hats, and he is a master of Fish-Man Karate, which he has used to square off against powerful opponents like Big Mom and one of Kaido’s strongest subordinates, Who’s-Who. His impressive control over water also was pivotal in saving the lives of everyone on Onigashima when it was nearly destroyed by Orochi’s hateful flames.

Jimbei can use his Fish-Man Karate to control water, creating massive tidal waves such as Vagabond Drill, which he used to knock back Big Mom during the Straw Hat’s escape from Whole Cake Island. After their fight, both appeared in Wano sometime later, seemingly unharmed, which speaks to Jimbei’s abilities, putting him somewhere near the Yonko level. His wide range of abilities, peerless ability as a helmsman, and mastery of armament haki make Jimbei one of the strongest Warlords and an extremely valuable ally for Luffy.

4The Heavenly Demon, Donquixote Doflamingo

Introduced in manga chapter #233, anime episode 151

Donquixote Doflamingo is the main antagonist of the Dressrosa arc and has the String-String Fruit, which allows him to create incredibly sharp strings he can use to cut opponents, control weaker foes, stitch up his own wounds, and even create string clones of himself. Doflamingo can also use the strings for mobility, allowing him to swing around by attaching them to buildings and even clouds. He’s regarded as one of One Piece‘s most manipulative and charismatic villains, whom much of the fanbase loves to hate.

Doflamingo’s family was once part of the vile Celestial Dragons until his father moved his family from Marijoa. Something that angered the future Warlord so much that he murdered his own father.

His awakening also allows him to increase the strength of his attacks and defenses by weaponizing the environment. Doflamingo surviving a punch that shattered the island of Dressrosa shows that he has insane durability, even when fatigued from a long fight. However, Doflamingo held his own against Luffy’s Gear Fourth but was ultimately overpowered by the transformation, a stronger version of which could not even make Big Mom or Kaido flinch.

3Surgeon of Death, Trafalgar D. Water Law

Introduced in manga chapter #498, anime episode #392

Trafalgar D. Water Law is a man with as many names as abilities at his disposal. Law’s devil fruit, the Op-Op Fruit (or Operation Fruit) is one of the most complicated in the entire series. Law is able to create a large sphere around him where he can control the fabric of space inside, allowing him to teleport or even switch enemy’s body parts and even their personalities. This wide toolkit makes Law a very powerful and versatile fighter, though, and has allowed Law to tangle with some of One Piece‘s best Devil Fruits users, like Doflamingo and Big Mom.

Law became a Warlord of the Sea during One Piece‘s time skip, but the title was revoked after he allied with the Straw Hats to take down Doflamingo.

Law also recently displayed that he has awakened his devil fruit, allowing him to imbue his overpowered ability onto weapons and other objects, changing their properties to his desire. Using this ability, along with some teamwork with Eustass Kidd, was enough for him to take out Big Mom. Law stands just outside of the Yonko level of power, and that puts him well above many of his fellow Warlords.

2Dracule Mihawk, The World’s Greatest Swordsman

Dracule Mihawk, mentor to Zoro and rival of Red-Haired Shanks, is the most powerful swordsman in the world. That title alone put Mihawk in the top tier of fighters in One Piece. Mihawk was introduced very early in the series and was a harsh preview of the level of strength that Luffy, Zoro, and the other Straw Hats would eventually need to reach before the stories end. The Warlord’s entrance remains one of the most memorable after he decimated Don Krieg’s fleet due to boredom, then destroyed Zoro in a one-sided battle with cold-blooded lines like “Frog in the well…Know how big the world is.”

The full extent of Shanks’ power has yet to be shown. Still, his Conqueror and Observation Haki demonstrations easily rank with fellow Yonko’s like Big Mom and Kaido, who are strong enough to reshape landmasses with their attacks. Shanks also dissuaded Kaido from interfering in the war at Marineford so he could be considered relative to Kaido. Mihawk is above Shanks because he holds the title of the strongest swordsman in the world, placing him comfortably in the Yonko tier.

1Luffy’s Dark Counterpart, Marshall D. Teach, aka Blackbeard

Introduced in manga chapter #223, anime episode 146

Blackbeard is a former member of Whitebeard’s crew and was awarded the role of Warlord after defeating Ace, setting the heartbreaking Marineford arc into motion. However, he was not a Warlord for long because he freed many dangerous inmates from Impel Down’s deepest level. Now, his abilities and deeds have earned Teach the title of Yonko. After becoming the only One Piece character to be able to wield multiple Devil Fruits, the fearsome and some say most powerful Dark-Dark and Tremor-Tremor Fruits, his deeds and abilities have literally shaken the Pirate world.

Blackbeard’s Darkness abilities allow him to sap other Devil Fruit users’ powers and even give them to others.

Blackbeard gave Shanks the scar over his eye, causing the Red-Haired Yonko to warn Whitebeard about Blackbeard’s intentions before the war at Marineford, showing that even before he obtained two powerful Devil Fruits, he was tough in his own right. Blackbeard is also shaping up to be one of Luffy’s final foes who has grown in power and influence congruently with the Straw Hat’s throughout One Piece‘s storyline. From a narrative perspective, Luffy and Blackbeard are polar opposites who seem destined to clash in what might be One Piece‘s final battle.