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One Piece villains are some of the best to have ever existed. Let’s talk about some strong ones and some weak ones.
In the world of One Piece, just as some people can be called good, the actions of others make them bad. While the general understanding of the word “pirate” might make you think that some characters like Luffy and Trafalgar are evil, that is not usually the case. There are a lot of times when we see pirates help people, and sometimes, they steal and destroy.
Generally, from the way the anime is portrayed, it is the World Government that is “evil.” But in reality, not all pirates and not all Navy soldiers are bad. At times, it’s the pirates that are bad, and sometimes, it is the Navy. This article takes a look at five One Piece villains who were difficult to defeat and five who were too easy to put down.
Difficult To Defeat
1. Kaido
Easily the strongest One Piece villain so far, Kaido was popularly called the Strongest Creature in the World. This Yonko ruled the country of Wano with an iron grip fuelled with fear. Kaido was the captain of the Beast Pirates, one of the largest pirate groups in the show. He had a bounty of 4,611,100,000 berries, which is the highest third bounty shown in the show. This shows how much the World Government acknowledged him as a threat.
In the Wano arc, Luffy and his crew had an elaborate plan to take Kaido out. They needed help from pirates like Trafalgar Law and Eustass Kidd, Samurais, and Minks. All these were necessary to defeat Kaido and his crew. His crew was packed with a lot of powerful characters like King and Queen, who had bounties in the same range as Luffy’s of 1,500,000,000 berries.
The actual fight against Kaido was intense. Using his devil fruit and Haki, he was able to take on multiple hits and keep on fighting like nothing happened. In the fight, he knocked Luffy out cold a couple of times and killed him at a point. Luffy had to attain a new form (Gear Fifth) in order to be able to match up with Kaido’s overwhelming strength. Ultimately, he was defeated, and peace was restored to the Land of Wano.
2. Doflamingo
Doffy was as powerful as he was smart. He was a scary One Piece villain because he did not just beat his enemies physically; he often broke them mentally too so they would not come back to retaliate. Doflamingo was a former Celestial Dragon filled with hate for the world. He combined his cunningness and his String-String Fruit abilities to take over Dressrosa by controlling them like marionettes.
The Dressrosa arc was one of the best arcs in the show for a lot of reasons. The way Doflamingo dealt with every obstacle Luffy and Law placed in front of him was impressive. Law came back to get revenge for Corazon (Doffy’s brother). Luffy was already in an alliance with Law, so they were working together. Doflamingo had already defeated Trafalgar Law and had his gaze set on Luffy.
Doflamingo did not come out of his fight with Law without a scratch. He had already received a lot of damage to his internal organs and had used up quite a bit of stamina too. Impressively, Doflamingo stitched himself with his strings and kept fighting. Luffy really struggled against Doflamingo for a very long time. He had to hide at a point to replenish his Haki after using Gear Fourth against Doffy. An injured Doflamingo managed to awaken his devil fruit and went in for a final attack, but it was not enough to match King Kong Gun, and he lost.
3. Katakuri
Charlotte Katakuri, the man whose back has never touched the ground, is the son of Charlotte Linlin (Big Mom) and one of her Sweet Commanders. Katakuri has a lot of things about him that make him one of the strongest in the Big Mom Pirates. From his Mochi-Mochi devil fruit to his mastery of Observation Haki, Katakuri was awesome. He was one of the One Piece villains that made Luffy surpass his limit.
In the Whole Cake Island arc, Luffy and his crew infiltrated Whole Cake to rescue Sanji but got sidetracked into defeating Big Mom. They had a whole plan laid out, and when it was time to run away, Katakuri stood in their way. In a bid to save his crew, Luffy took him to the Mirror World (the ability of one of Big Mom’s daughters, Brulee).
Everything the Gum-Gum Fruit could do, Katakuri’s Mochi-Mochi Fruit could do better. Katakuri had a stronger Armament Haki, more experience as a fighter, and Future Sight due to his Observation Haki. In their first round, he defeated Luffy, outclassing him in everything. But when Luffy saw Katakuri’s face, Katakuri lost his cool because he was insecure about his face. Luffy was determined to protect his crew and used the fight as an opportunity to improve and also attain Future Sight. In the final exchange, Katakuri was overpowered by Luffy’s King Cobra attack.
4. Gecko Moria and Oars
The Thriller Bark arc was an odd arc in its appearance. The scenery was dark and gloomy, which is not something that One Piece shows a lot. But in this place, we are introduced to Gecko Moria, one of the former Warlords of the sea. Gecko Moria is not your typical One Piece villain. As a Warlord, Gecko Moria was free to do as he wanted as long as he obeyed the Navy when called on.
Gecko Moria has the ability to steal shadows from people. Anyone who has had their shadow stolen cannot step into the sunlight, or else they die. He has been trying to revive Oars, one of the strongest Giants ever to join his army. In the arc, Gecko Moria managed to take Luffy’s shadow and put it into Oars. The terrifying character that was born from this was a Giant with very high pain tolerance and durability with the erratic fighting sense of Luffy.
The Straw Hats pulled off one of the best combination attacks the show has seen till now. They gave it their all even though they were already injured to take down the colossal giant, which they did. After defeating Oars, Gecko Moria shows up and activates his ultimate technique to beat the Straw Hats. At this point, everyone is tired as they have fought through the night. Over the course of his fight with the Straw Hats, Gecko Moria loses control of all the shadows, and they return to their respective owners just in time for the rising of the sun.
5. Rob Lucci
Long before the proper explanation of Haki that Oda presented post-time skip, there was Rob Lucci. He was a CP9 agent with the Neko Neko no Mi, Model: Leopard devil fruit, trained in the Six Powers martial arts. When he was at CP9, he was their leader and strongest agent in CP9 history with a power level of 4,000 Doriki (unit of measurement for CP9).
His first appearance was in the Water 7 arc when he came to recover the blueprints for Pluton (an ancient weapon) from Iceburg, the inheritor of the blueprint. Lucci worked undercover as a shipwright for the Galley-La Company to gain information on the location of the blueprints. Fast forward to Enies Lobby when Nico Robin is about to be executed, and the Straw Hats pull up to save her.
The Luffy vs Lucci battle was a very important one for Luffy to win. If he lost, it meant that Robin was going to die. Lucci was fast, strong, smart, and resourceful, and with his leopard transformation, he was holding Luffy down. Luffy had to use his newly revealed Gear Second to keep up with him. The fight went on for a long time with Lucci beating Luffy and vice versa until the final strike. At this point in the fight, Luffy had technically lost, and his body had almost given up. His sheer determination to save Robin pushed him beyond his limits and delivered a desperate Jet Gatling, making him the winner of that fight. Rob Lucci was the first One Piece villain to make Luffy exert himself this much.
Easy To Defeat
1. Bellamy
Bellamy the Hyena was the captain of the Bellamy Pirates and was working for Doflamingo, a man he looked up to since he was a child. And since Doflamingo allowed him to fly his Jolly Roger, he became proud as a result. Coupled with the fact that he had the highest bounty in Mock Town to the best of his knowledge, he was arrogant and too confident in himself.
Bellamy did not buy into the idea of lofty dreams like finding the One Piece and becoming King of the Pirates. And one of the things he also did not buy into was the existence of Sky Island. Later, he heard that Mont Blanc Cricket had some gold from the island of Jaya and he came to steal them. Rather than just steal them, he beat Cricket and his two surrogate sons, Masira and Shojou.
What made Bellamy’s defeat so much better was the buildup. Aside from the building up of speed to charge at Luffy, he had insulted his dreams earlier. He mocked people who had dreams and the existence of Sky Island. He had attacked Luffy and Zoro physically also at the bar. But beating and stealing from his friends was the peak of it. As Bellamy wound up speed by bouncing off buildings with his Spring-Spring Fruit and charged at Luffy, he ended it in one punch. Bellamy did fit the description of a One Piece villain in his ruthlessness but not power.
2. Hody Jones
Hody Jones and his crew of New Fish-Man Pirates were the first main antagonists after the time skip. Hody was a former officer working under Jinbei on Fishman Island. He hated humans to his core. Hody also preached negatively about humans destroying the work of the late Queen Otohime. For someone who had never been wronged by humans, Hody’s hate was too much.
Hody particularly hates Luffy and the Straw Hats for defeating Arlong. To Hody, what Arlong did in Arlong Park and Nami’s hometown, Cocoyasi Village, was justified. When news of Luffy’s arrival reached him, he was happy at the opportunity to get his revenge. There were these Energy Steroids that Hody and his crew used to munch on, which increased their strength sizeably. Then there was the fact that the fight was happening on his home turf. Hody was set up to be a challenge for Luffy and the Straw Hats.
The actual fight itself was too one-sided. Zoro first thrashed him when they were underwater trying to escape to a place where there was air. Then later, Luffy showed him the difference in their power level by beating him up. In both fights, Hody had taken the drugs, and the effects had already started kicking in, which just shows that Hody was not a strong One Piece villain. Aside from Hody, his crew members lost to the Straw Hats, showing that they were completely on another level.
3. Axe-Hand Morgan
Captain “Axe-Hand” Morgan embodied everything wrong with unchecked authority – a bullying Marine who terrorized Shells Town with his literal iron fist and outrageous demands. He was the first decorated official of the Marine that was introduced to us. His introduction as a One Piece villain served an important purpose in showing what the power structure in One Piece can be like.
This was Luffy’s first fight in the show against a World Government official. It was a hype moment, as it was a very important fight that would set the tone for the rest of the show. Luffy broke into the compound where Zoro was awaiting his execution, and Luffy invited him to join his crew. The fight happened because Morgan was abusing his power and hurting innocent people. Luffy, Zoro, and Coby decided to stand up to him and put an end to his tyranny.
The fight itself was quite short. Morgan just looked scary to people who are not fighters. His huge stature with his axe hand makes for an intimidating character. Luffy defeated Morgan with a single punch, showing how weak he was compared to even a rookie Luffy.
4. Wapol
The former king of the Drum Kingdom represented everything wrong with selfish leadership. He abandoned his people in their time of need, and when he returned, he demanded their obedience. For a villain, Wapol was not a very scary-looking character. His devil fruit, Munch-Munch Fruit allowed him to eat almost anything and transform his body to that. As a result, his face looked kind of weird, but in the world of One Piece, it could be called normal.
Luffy encountered Wapol when he was searching for a doctor to treat Nami as she was sick. In the Drum Kingdom, he found Dr. Kureha and Chopper, who treated Nami. Coincidentally, Wapol returns to claim the throne. Unfortunately, the castle is where Nami and the Straw Hats were, as Dr. Kureha had started living there. Wapol arrives with his crew and attacks the castle.
The fight was sort of comedic in the way Wapol went around eating things like cannons and his crew members. He ate himself at a point when he got stuck in the staircase. Luffy finally catches up to him at the top of the castle, where he delivers a blow packed with the emotions of the citizens of the Drum Kingdom, Chopper, and the memory of Dr. Hiriluk. The punch sent Wapol flying into the distance, and this concludes the Drum Kingdom arc.
5. Don Krieg
This tall, purple-gray-haired man was referred to at the beginning of the show as the Strongest Pirate in the East Blue. Don Krieg was the captain of the Krieg Pirates with a fleet of over fifty ships. He did not get this fleet by winning them over but by deceit and using underhanded tricks.
He returned from the Grand Line after losing to Dracule Mihawk to claim the Baratie as his new ship. The Baratie is a floating restaurant led by Zeff where Sanji spent the bulk of his childhood. Luffy has arrived earlier and was trying to recruit Sanji into joining his crew. Initially, Don Krieg said he only wanted food but after eating, he revealed his plan to take the Baratie from Zeff.
This fight was kind of philosophical, where Luffy’s determination and hard work went against Krieg’s trickery and technological advantage. Unfortunately for Krieg, despite all his steel armor, poison gas bombs, and hidden blades, he still lost to Luffy. Luffy broke his prized armor and showed that Krieg’s reputation was all a lie. In all honesty, Don Krieg was one of the most underwhelming One Piece villains.
Conclusion
These fights show us that in One Piece true villains are not just physically strong; they have skill and determination similar to our heroes to fulfil their goal. Meanwhile, the easily defeated foes often rely on reputation, weapons, or dirty tricks instead of developing their own abilities.
From Kaido’s nearly unstoppable power to Bellamy’s quick knockout, these One Piece villains have set Luffy and the Straw Hats to be a dominating force. These fights prepare them for the ever-greater challenges that lie ahead on their journey to find the One Piece and change the world.
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