One Piece is famous for its great world-building and detailed storyline. Its character development, abilities, and fight scenes rank high in anime. Fans are constantly introduced to characters with varying abilities and personalities. Furthermore, every One Piece arc ensures the introduction of different characters, mysteries, and the ever-present dream of getting closer to the final treasure: the One Piece.
When new characters are introduced, most fans of the series tend to compare their strength and abilities with the older characters in the show. New characters often serve as obstacles in the way of the Straw Hats progressing on their adventures. As a result, later in the future, when the Straw Hats progress to surmount those obstacles, some of these characters tend to reappear weaker than initially portrayed.
6 Perona
Fans were introduced to Perona in the Thriller Bark arc. During this time, she was a member of the Thriller Bark Pirates under the captainship of Gecko Moria. With her Hollow-Hollow devil fruit, she can create hollows that spread negativity once they pass through a person.
This negative hollow ability can affect any individual, irrespective of their strength. This fact is seen when she makes Zoro, who is way stronger than her, fall to his knees when he experiences the negativity from the hollow. Her devil fruit offers both range and flexibility, as she can create a lot of hollows that easily allow attacks to pass through them. With this power, she could attack anyone and make them lose their will to fight, from warlords to admirals. Unfortunately, she has been a side character traveling around with Mihawk, the world's greatest swordsman.
5 Izo
As a former member and Commander of the Whitebeard pirates, Izo was introduced in the series in the Marineford arc (also known as the Paramount War). In his introduction, alongside other commanders of the Whitebeard pirates, he was portrayed as ‘strong’ alongside the other commanders. Most fans believe that before a character can assume the position of Commander, they would have to be pretty strong.
With his adept sniping skills, he became the 16th commander of the Whitebeard pirates and helped try to save Ace in the Paramount War. Some fans believe his reintroduction in the Wano arc was underwhelming as he was portrayed to be weaker than initially presented. He was put on the same strength level as some other members of the Nine Red Scabbards during the quest to avenge Oden.
4 Smoker
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In the first introduction of Smoker in the One Piece series, he was portrayed to have the strength expected of a navy captain. Smoker, at first, could easily fight and defeat Luffy with his Smoke-Smoke devil fruit and sea stone weapon, as was seen in Loguetown.
However, after the two-year time skip, his strength became a source of fan debate. In the Punk Hazard arc, he lost to Law and Vergo, who came extremely close to killing him. Based on the series’ direction, some fans are convinced that if Luffy were to come up against him, Smoker would be handed a bad defeat.
3 Denjiro
Another member of the Nine Red Scabbards, Denjiro, was introduced in the Wano arc. Initially, he was depicted as one of the close henchmen and bodyguards of the then Shogun of Wano, Orochi. He was initially portrayed as a highly-skilled swordsman that Zoro even recognized as ‘strong’ when they clashed swords during an attempted attack on Orochi.
Denjiro’s strength was also apparent when he sliced one of Kaido’s ships into two with just a single sword slash. Unfortunately, during the Onigashima raid, he was put on the same level as the other members of the Red Scabbards, which in turn contradicted the very strength he was portrayed to possess.
2 Big Mom
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She is one of the former Yonkos of the sea, pivotal in ensuring the world’s balance. Yonko’s are generally seen as extremely strong and influential individuals whose strength threatens the world’s safety if they were to go on a rampage. The first appearance of Big Mom in the series left a lasting impression on most fans. Her presence was threatening enough to depict her strength even though fans had not seen her in battle.
In the Whole Cake Island arc, even when she went on a rampage and was unconscious for most of the arc, she could still send frightening attacks at the Straw Hats with the help of her devil fruit, the Soul-Soul fruit; they (the crew) barely escaped them each time. However, in the Wano arc, her strength was presented in a subpar manner, causing most fans to conclude she is the weakest Yonko. Additionally, some fans believe her strength was watered down in that arc as a sacrifice to build the series' storyline.
1 Crocodile
Formerly known as ‘Mr.0’ and a Warlord of the sea, Crocodile’s strength is one not to be messed with. Empowered by the Sand Sand fruit, a logia-type devil fruit, he is invincible against physical attacks uncoated with liquid and haki. Crocodile was introduced in the Arabasta arc as one of the main enemies Luffy and crew had to defeat. During this arc, he defeats Luffy three times, almost killing him. It was until the nearly fourth time that Luffy found a way to defeat him with the help of liquid (specifically, blood).
Crocodile is a character who was notably compared to Jinbei and Ace in Impel Down. However, besides the fact he was initially presented as a strong character that Luffy struggled to defeat, some fans believe their fight was not an accurate depiction of Crocodile’s strength. He had different opportunities to kill Luffy; however, he ended up losing that battle to a character that had not even unlocked haki at the time.