The One Piece world has seen the rise and fall of quite a lot of powerful pirates over the years. With every step towards their goal, these pirates gain a lot of notoriety and, consequently, gain higher bounties. Sometimes it's from committing atrocious acts, and other times is just from offending the World Government in some impactful way. And, there are actually quite a few Pirates in One Piecewhose bounty is still completely unknown altogether.
While One Piece legends, such as Gol D. Roger and Whitebeard, were in a league of their own and had massive bounties on their heads that have never been surpassed, the current generation isn't that far behind either thanks to groups like the Worst Generation or the remnants of the last age such as the Kaido or Big Mom Pirates. With that in mind, let's go over some of the highest bounties currently seen within the active Pirates in the Grand Line.
Updated December 18, 2021 by Jacob Buchalter: It's been a bit of time since this piece was first released, and a lot has happened in One Piece, even if they're somehow still in the Wano Arc. Characters have had massive developments, ancient races have seemingly resurfaced, and a whole new metric was added to the Haki power scale.
So, with that in mind, let's take another look through the highest bounties in the New World of One Piece, talk a bit about who these famous Pirates are, and what they did to get such an absurd bounty amount.
14 Sabo: 602,000,000 Berries
Who would expect Sabo to be at the bottom of this list? The guy is literally overflowing with notable connections and accomplishments, such as:
- He's the third sworn brother of Monkey D. Luffy.
- The de-facto number two of the Revolutionary Army, who are in direct conflict with the World Government.
- He was originally from a noble house that eventually became royalty.
- He was trained by Monkey D. Dragon himself in the art of Ryusoken.
- And finally, he's the honored wielder of the Flame Flame Logia Devil Fruit, held previously by Portgas D. Ace.
The only reason he’s at the bottom of this list, despite being such a fearsome and accomplished person, is because the majority of the people above him raised their bounties by committing atrocities, while Sabo fights for freedom against the Marines. Plus, it's not like the World Government wants to admit that a powerful organization like the Revolutionary Army is opposing them, or that they're full of powerful people, so they tend to downplay any bounties from the RA.
13 Charlotte Perospero: 700,000,000 Berries
Whereas Charlotte Katakuri and Charlotte Cracker, two of the Three Sweet Commanders for the Big Mom Pirates, both very clearly look and act the part of seasoned fighters, Charlotte Perospero does not. But, surprisingly, this pale and scrawny-looking guy is quite the powerhouse. In fact, all things considered, he’s basically the unofficial fourth Sweet Commander, as he seems to hold as much authority as any one of them and is relatively comparable in raw strength.
Ability-wise, Perospero is a Devil Fruit user who relies on their DF power, the Lick-Lick Fruit (a Candy Paramecia DF), a bit too much, and that can work to his detriment. But, considering that his candy essentially lets him create anything he wants at absurd speeds, it’s understandable that he would rely on this power so much. Still, the reason for his bounty being so high, other than the fact that he's part of the Big Mom crew, is that Perospero loves to gloat and torture his victims, which usually leads to a higher bounty if any survivors manage to tell the tale.
12 Charlotte Cracker: 860,000,000 Berries
Charlotte Cracker, unlike Perospero, is an actual member of the Three Sweet Commanders. He's also the Minister of Biscuits in Totto Land, and one of the family’s best fighters, in general. In fact, the only reason he was even tasked with fighting Straw Hat Luffy in the first place was that Big Mom was confident that Cracker would win.
And, quite honestly, Charlotte Cracker was one of the toughest opponents Luffy had faced in the New World up to this point. His absurdly powerful Armament Haki, his deceptive tricks, his world-renowned sword Pretzel (though not of Supreme quality), and the power of his Biscuit Biscuit Paramecia Fruit all served well to hold Luffy back for quite a long time, but it wasn’t enough to beat him or his seemingly endless appetite.
And, obviously, his bounty is so high primarily because he's in the upper echelons of Big Mom's crew, but also because he has a reputation for being unbreakable, though the man on his wanted poster turned out to be one of the many Biscuit Soldiers that Cracker creates and hides within.
11 Charlotte Smoothie: 932,000,000 Berries
Charlotte Smoothie, once again, is another one of the Sweet Commanders of the Big Mom Pirates. She is an incredibly strong fighter, as her high rank under Big Mom indicates, however, she still hasn't been able to show off the full extent of her abilities or fighting prowess. Still, from the minor amount fans have seen, it's clear that Smoothie is quite capable.
Like most of the Big Mom crew, Smoothie possesses a Devil Fruit, called the Wring-Wring Fruit, giving her the power to "wring" the juice out of anything. Clearly, this is where her name comes from. She doesn't have quite as clear of a reason as to why her bounty is so high outside of her Big Mom connections, but, considering how brutal it looks when Smoothie uses her DF on something living, it's easy to infer where it comes from.
10 Jack The Drought: 1,000,000,000 Berries
The first All-Star of the Beasts Pirates on this list, Jack the Drought is a monstrously powerful pirate and he has a bounty to show for it. He was the first pirate with a billion berri bounty introduced to the fans, which is a big milestone. Jack holds the Ancient Zoan Type Eleph-Eleph Fruit, Model: Mammoth, which makes him difficult to take down.
Devil Fruits, especially Zoan-type ones, already massively elevate the power a person naturally has, but Jack is a special case. Jack the Drought is a rare Fish-Man DF user, like Vander Decken, which means that the absurd natural strength of a Fish-Man is multiplied by his Mammoth powers as well.
Jak is best known for being able to fight Inuarashi and Nekomamushi on an equal footing for 5 days without resting, and on top of that, managed to survive being hit by the walking island of Zou itself. His bounty is primarily due to the heartless and cruel rampages he goes on while working for Kaido, as seen when he resorted to poisoning the entirety of Zou without a second thought.
9 Charlotte Katakuri: 1,057,000,000 Berries
Charlotte Katakuri is the strongest Sweet Commander of the Big Mom Pirates, meaning that he's second only to Big Mom herself when it comes to strength, and even then they're different types of fighters, so it's hard to compare. He's known to be the backbone of the pirate crew, was beloved by everyone, and, until recently, had a reputation of being invincible in battle.
Katakuri possesses all the Haki types but what makes him special is his Observation Haki mastery. Katakuri has trained it to a degree where he can see slightly ahead into the future, letting him react to all scenarios before they even happen. That, coupled with his absurdly overpowered Mochi-Mochi special-Paramecia Devil Fruit, makes him more than worthy of his bounty amount.
8 Queen The Plague: 1,320,000,000 Berries
Moving on to a perfect example of one of the "twisted" reasons for a person having a shockingly high bounty, it's Queen the Plague! Another All-Star of the Beasts Pirates, Queen the Plague is one of Kaido's three right-hand men. Just like Jack the Drought and King The Wildfire, Queen possesses tremendous strength, which stems from his Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit.
Queen possesses the Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model: Brachiosaurus, which allows him to turn into the said creature and its hybrid when he wishes. But, the real terror of Queen comes from his shockingly high intellectual skill. Queen has modified his own body in a variety of ways to allow him to fight similar to the Vinsmokes of Germa, making him something even more than human (surprisingly, something that he and Sanji both share).
And, on top of that, he experiments with different infectious viruses as a hobby and tests them all the time on innocent people both in and out of the Beast Pirate crew, which is what led to both his nickname and high bounty amount.
7 Marco The Phoenix: 1,374,000,000 Berries
Marco The Phoenix was Whitebeard's right-hand man at one point and after the action-packed Paramount War, he became the Captain of the remnants of Whitebeard's crew. Marco possesses the power of the Mythical Zoan DF the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Phoenix, and it allows him to transform into a fiery Phoenix at will. While Ancient Zoans are a class above regular Zoan DFs, Mythical Zoans tend to be even in a class above that, as they usually grant the user some magical ability related to their mythical beast, and for Marco, it's damage-negation and healing.
Thanks to his fruit, Marco can heal any damage done to him within a matter of seconds, which makes him nigh-invincible in battle as long as he maintains his stamina. As Whitebeard's right-hand man, Marco has certainly earned his high bounty in every way possible by being an exemplary example of an iconic pirate that represents freedom and romance.
6 King The Wildfire: 1,390,000,000 Berries
Moving on to the top of the All-Stars of the Beasts Pirates, it’s King, AKA King the Wildfire. This character is standing at the peak of all Kaido’s crew and is still constantly unveiling new information about himself as well. For example, in his current bout with Zoro, fans just found out that King is a Lunarian, a long-thought extinct race of people who used to dwell on top of the Red Line before Mary Geoise was ever built.
Like all Lunarians, King can create, control, and manipulate fire to a high degree. He also has absurd stamina and resistances to all types of damage, only made even more fearsome by his Armament Haki and Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit, the Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Pteranodon Model. To put it simply, King has comparable if not higher natural strength than a Fish-Man, has an extra magical ability like a Mythical Zoan Fruit user, and also has his Ancient-Zoan DF. He's one of the most fearsome characters in One Piece to date, and everyone is gnawing at the bit to see how his fight with Zoro ends.
5 Monkey D. Luffy: 1,500,000,000 Berries
The Straw Hat Pirates' captain, Monkey D. Luffy, the main character of the series, is now the Fifth Emperor of The New World. Over the years, he's made quite a name for himself by constantly taking on opponents way above him and bulldozing through anyone who stands in his way. This, of course, is primarily possible because Luffy possesses the power of the Gum-Gum Paramecia Devil Fruit, but, at a certain point, that wasn't enough anymore. So, over the course of two years, Luffy mastered all three forms of Haki and has most recently even learned how to imbue his body with Conqueror's Haki that can finally cause real damage to the immortal being that is Kaido.
As far as his bounty is concerned, fans have been there every step of the way to see what caused its massive growth. Luffy is constantly doing things in direct opposition of the World Government, is always unveiling some new "ability" no one expected him to come up with, and has a laundry list of connections to the biggest names in the world. So, it's no wonder that it only took a few years for Luffy's name and bounty to reach the same relative heights as his idol, Shanks.
4 Marshall D. Teach: 2,247,600,000 Berries
Marshall D. Teach, better known as Blackbeard, was the newest Warlord of the New World until Luffy came along. He acquired this position during the two-year time skip after defeating the Whitebeard Pirates remnants, all while the Straw Hat Crew was training to take on the second half of the Grand Line. Teach is incredibly powerful, will do anything if it gives him even a slightly higher chance of achieving his goals, and has some long-running mystery or ability regarding his body that still hasn't quite been expanded upon. And, on top of all that, Blackbeard is the only known person alive to wield two Devil Fruits at once, that being his own Darkness-Darkness Logia and Whitebeards Rumble-Rumble Paramecia.
These two DFs allow Blackbeard to suck in, compress, and then blast away anything he so chooses, even entire cities. And if that wasn't bad enough, Blackbeard is incomprehensibly evil, which is why his Bounty has grown at an even faster pace than Luffy's.
3 Red-Haired Shanks: 4,048,900,000 Berries
The man responsible for putting Luffy on the pirate path, Shanks is yet another Warlord of the New World and a man known by everyone for his good heart and unshakable ideals. He is a former member of the Roger Pirates and after Roger's death, he created his own crew, known as the Red Hair Pirates, that is capable of stopping a war between the Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates on their own, just by merely showing up.
Shanks became a Warlord six years before the current storyline and for him to have such a bounty means he's plenty powerful. Although he still likely doesn't have a Devil Fruit and is missing an arm, Shanks is more than powerful enough to warrant the Bounty placed on his head.
2 Charlotte Linlin: 4,388,000,000 Berries
The strongest woman (so far) in the One Piece world, Charlotte Linlin is also a Warlord of the New World. She was formerly under Rocks D. Xebec's pirate flag along with Whitebeard and Kaido until Rocks died and the crew went their separate ways. Only then did Linlin set off on her grand objective of creating a country where people of all races can eat at the same table, which is where the Big Mom Pirates come in.
Linlin possesses tremendous power on her own as she seemingly has more natural strength and durability than a Giant, but is somehow apparently purely human. On top of that, Big Mom also has her Soul-Soul Paramecia Devil Fruit, which allows her to steal parts (or all) of someone's soul and imbue herself with it or any random object.
But, what is probably the scariest thing about Linlin is just how unhinged she is. Big Mom is known for having fits of rage if she gets hungry enough that is so violent that she could destroy her entire kingdom. Due to her long-standing career as a pirate, her previous crew, and her many years as a Warlord of the New World, it is clear why Big Mom is so high on the list of bounties.
1 The King Of Beasts, Kaido: 4,611,100,000 Berries
Finally, this list reaches the peak of the currently-active Pirates in One Piece. The King of Beasts, Kaido is the strongest pirate seen so far and he has the highest known active bounty known to date. Like Big Mom, Kaido once sailed on Rocks D. Xebec's ship. After the God Valley Incident, he set out to create his own crew and amassed some very powerful pirates with the simple mantra of "pure strength" as their core.
Kaido has earned the reputation of being the strongest man on land, sea, and air. He has unimaginable durability, so much so that anyone who manages to give him even the smallest scar then becomes world-renowned. As far as strength is concerned, there's likely no one alive who could beat Kaido in an arm-wrestling match either. But, it's unclear as of yet if this is mostly due to the special effects of his Mythical Zoan Fruit, the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Seiryu, or just his hard work.
Regardless, Kaido is powerful enough to take over the country of Wano from the most powerful Samurai in the world, and hold it for years. He's also fearsome enough that even the World Government doesn't involve themselves with him and has mastered Conqueror's Haki to such an extent that he is likely the current (living) foremost expert on it.