The shounen anime One Piece features the adventures of the protagonist Luffy and his pirating crew as he goes on a journey to become the Pirate King and find the treasure of One Piece. Becoming the Pirate King is a long and arduous task, and it means different things to different people.
In the One Piece series, to Luffy, becoming the Pirate King is becoming the person with the most freedom on the seas. This is no small feat as sufficient strength is needed to truly become 'free'. Here is a list of characters who could become the Pirate King, whether it be for supremacy, world domination, riches, or recognition.
9 Monkey D. Dragon
As the son of the marine hero Garp, leader of the revolutionary army, and father of the newly established emperor of the sea Mugiwara no Luffy, Dragon is a man of significant influence. With great power at his command, Dragon is a highly wanted man and a considerable threat to the World Government.
As the most wanted criminal in the world and the leader of the revolutionaries, Dragon is by no means weak. His influence spreads across various countries as he disrupts the World Government’s plans from the shadows. Despite much being unknown about Dragon, his deep hate for the World Government is plain for everyone to see. With great power and influence at his command, becoming the Pirate King is not out of place, even though he is not a pirate.
8 Trafalgar D. Law
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As a rival to Luffy, Law has good potential to be among the individuals on this list. Like Luffy, Law is one of the members of the Worst generation and strives to become the Pirate King. To testify to his strength, he and Kid are responsible for bringing down the mighty and former emperor of the sea, Big Mom.
After awakening his paramecia devil fruit, the Op Op fruit, Law has exponentially grown in power, making him a major contender for the Pirate King position. Most fans also consider his devil fruit one of the more broken devil fruits in the series, as its full utilization could grant immortality, but at what cost, they wonder.
7 Eustass Captain Kid
Like Law and Luffy, Kid is a member of the Worst Generation and a strong contender for the Pirate King position. In fact, Kid had a higher bounty than Luffy when the Worst Generation members converged at the Saboady Archipelago. With immense grit and his magnetism powers from the Magnet Magnet devil fruit, Kid is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with.
Like Law, Kid played a significant role in the battle against the former emperor of the sea, Big Mom. Furthermore, Kid awakened his devil fruit powers during the battle and has grown more potent than ever. With a bounty of 3 billion berries, Kid is undoubtedly a part of the major contenders for the Pirate King position.
6 Charlotte Linlin
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A former emperor of the sea and a mighty one at that. With her extremely durable body, strong haki, and soul-soul devil fruit, Big mom is one of the most powerful characters in the series.
Being an emperor of the sea is a testament to one’s strength; furthermore, it comes with immense influence over the pirating world of One Piece. Big mom had a plethora of resources at her disposal with various poneglyphs, making the Pirate King position something she could contend over. If her influence alone proved insufficient to vie for supremacy, her strength more than speaks volumes of how much of a threat she represents to other pirates and the World Government.
5 Marshall D. Teach
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As the only possessor of two devil fruits in the entire series, Blackbeard is quite special. He possesses two fruits of incredible power namely the Dark Dark devil fruit and the Tremor Tremor devil fruit.
Blackbeard is one of the series's significant antagonists, actively vying for the position of Pirate King. As a major rival of Luffy, his chances are pretty good. Although the limits of Blackbeard’s strength are unknown, he is competent, as he was able to leave a lasting scar on Shanks. Additionally, Blackbeard becoming an emperor of the sea after Whitebeard’s death, shortly after becoming a Warlord also speaks volumes of his strength and capabilities.
4 Kaido
This monstrosity is popularly known as the 'Strongest Creature In The World', and he deserves the title. Kaido of the 100 Beasts is a former emperor of the sea like Big Mom and has immense power and influence over the pirating world. Many have tried to kill Kaido, including himself, but have never succeeded, which shows just how powerful and durable he is.
With the mythical Zoan Fish Fish fruit model Azure Dragon, Kaido’s natural physique is boosted, leaving only a few capable of tearing through his defenses. As the highest bounty of any living pirate, the threat Kaido is to the World Government is nothing short of immense. Becoming the Pirate King would have only been a matter of time, as few characters could stand up to this beast. This is further boosted by the saying, “in a one-on-one fight, always bet on Kaido.”
3 Rocks D. Xebec
Despite very little known about him, Rocks is one of the most potent characters showcased in the One Piece anime. His strength was so great that the Marine hero Garp and Gol D. Roger had to combine strengths to defeat him. To further testify to his strength, major characters such as Big Mom, Kaido, Whitebeard, and Shiki were all part of his crew.
Being the captain of characters who later became emperors of the sea is nothing short of impressive, and that is what Rocks did. If Garp and Roger did not combine strengths to defeat this horror, his chances of becoming the Pirate King were quite good.
2 Shanks
Becoming an emperor of the sea with haki alone and with no devil fruit is something only Akagami no Shanks (red-haired Shanks) has achieved. Shanks can be considered Luffy’s mentor as he is why he (Luffy) decided to become a pirate.
Shanks is one of the more likely characters to become the Pirate King. Despite his mysteriousness and laid-back personality, Shanks is dangerously powerful with lots of influence as he ended the Marineford war with a simple request. This shows just how much the World Government respects this man. Additionally, as a former Pirate King’s crew member, the knowledge Shanks possesses about the world is by no means trivial.
1 Edward Newgate
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As a possessor of the extra rare and mighty conqueror's haki, Whitebeard was one of the series' leading characters before his death. He also possessed the powerful Tremor Tremor devil fruit, which allowed him to create powerful quakes and shockwaves.
Becoming the Pirate King would have been easy for Whitebeard after Gol D. Roger’s death if that was what he wanted, as he was the undisputed number one at the time. He was proclaimed the 'World’s Strongest Man', and he proved to be even in his old age as it took the complete might of the marines to put a stop to his rampage.