All 7 characters who beat Luffy in one piece ranked

Monkey D. Luffy is the main character One pieceand so it's no wonder he's fought many battles over the years. As is the case with most shonen series, Luffy has won most of his matches while gaining a few power-ups, but even though he has become powerful, he still has a few notches in his loss column. Most of these losses came at the hands of strong characters.

Luffy suffered a few losses before the timeskip, which is understandable considering he hadn't awakened his Devil Fruit or mastered Haki yet. Luffy lost against formidable pirates, powerful marines and deadly agents of the world government. Most of these losses occurred because Luffy was completely overwhelmed by the power of his opponent's Devil Fruit.

7

Higuma

Image via Toei Animation

Chronologically, she was Higuma One piecethe first villain. He amassed a bounty of 8 million berries while leading a group of bandits that were active in the mountains of Dawn Island, Luffy's home island. When he was 7, Luffy watched as Higuma taunted and threatened Shanks, who, unbeknownst to everyone, already had one One piecethe highest non-Yonko rewards at the time.

A few days later, Luffy insulted Higuma and had the bandit beat him up. He was ready to kill Luffy on the spot while pinning him with his leg, but Shanks and his crew intervened in time. With his henchmen taken out, Higuma was able to kidnap Luffy, who had already eaten his Devil Fruit. Luckily, Shanks saved him. It's true that Higuma is technically the weakest person Luffy has faced, and it's also true that Luffy was just a kid when they met, but Higuma still technically beat him.

6

Smoker

Smoker is now a naval vice admiral in command of the G-5 base in the New World, but when Luffy first fought him he was a marine captain in charge of Loguetown. Smoker is one of the strongest Haki users in the Marines, but only learned to use Haki during the timeskip. However, he didn't need Haki to defeat Luffy in Loguetown as his Plume-Plume Fruit was more than enough. He has the power to create, control and turn into smoke at any time. Luffy couldn't even use Haki in Loguetown, meaning all of his attacks simply went through Smoker's body.

Smoker easily overpowered Luffy and pinned him to the ground. If Monkey D. Dragon hadn't physically stopped Smoker, Luffy would have been knocked out and taken into custody. When Smoker and Luffy clashed at Marineford, Smoker took him down again. He used his Seastone spiked club to pin Luffy to the ground while canceling his rubber abilities. The only reason Luffy escaped is because Boa Hancock kicked Smoker away.

5

Magellan

Magellan was the head warden of Impel Down, the vast underwater prison of the world government. Many of the world's most dangerous criminals and pirates were kept in Impel Down, and for the most part Magellan kept them all at bay, making him quite powerful. Luffy had to face Magellan when he infiltrated Impel Down to save Ace. Magellan is one of the strongest poison users in the shonen anime, as he ate the Venom-Venom fruit, a Paramecia-type devil fruit that allows him to create and control various types of poisons.

Luffy tried to fight Magellan with Gear 2, but Magellan countered by releasing a poisonous mist into the air before covering his body with a highly corrosive poison. Eventually, Luffy damaged his hands, lost his hearing, and dealt with blurry vision. Deciding to end the fight, Magellan hit Luffy with a hydra made of liquid poison. Luffy was instantly knocked out by this attack, leaving his entire body covered in poison. If Bon Clay hadn't brought Luffy to Emporio Ivankov, who injected him with special healing hormones, Luffy's body would have dissolved within 24 hours.

4

Rob Lucci

Image via Toei Animation

Rob Lucci is the world government's most skilled assassin. He has mastered all of Cipher Pol's superhuman martial arts techniques and has the power of the Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Leopard, which is one of the new Awakened Devil Fruits shown in the Final Saga. With it, Lucci can transform into a leopard or a leopard-human hybrid. He has also mastered Armament Haki, making all his piercing and slashing attacks more dangerous.

The final battle between Luffy and Lucci was one of the highlights of the Enies Lobby Arc, but it wasn't the first time they fought each other. When Lucci revealed his identity in Water 7, Luffy tried to stop him, but Lucci stabbed him in the chest with a Finger Pistol hybrid attack. The blow sent Luffy reeling and Lucci grabbed him by the face and flung him through the wall into the city below. Seconds later, Lucci sent Zoro flying through the city with a single kick.

3

Kuzan

Image via Toei Animation

Kuzan, otherwise known as Aokiji, is now one of the ten titan captains of the Blackbeard Pirates, but when the Straw Hats first met him, he was a naval admiral. Due to his former rank, Kuzan is one of them One piece's strengthens characters. He has powerful Haki as well as the Ice-Ice Fruit, one of the strongest Final Saga-type Logia Devil Fruits. It gives him complete control over the ice. Intangibility doesn't benefit him as ice is a solid, but his body can reform quickly even when broken into pieces.

Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji attacked Kuzan on the Long Ring Long Land to protect Robin, but they were all easily repulsed, leaving Luffy to deal with a frozen arm. He tried to attack Kuzan again after rescuing Robin, who was frozen, but Kuzan encased him in ice within seconds, ending the fight immediately. It's a good thing Kuzan didn't want to actually kill Luffy because he could have easily broken his body. Instead, he left the island peacefully.

2

Crocodile

Crocodile was the main villain of the Arabasta saga and the first sea warrior that Luffy fought. He was the first person to defeat Luffy twice, and he did it without Haki. The crocodile ate the Sand-Sand Fruit, which gives him the power to create, manipulate, and turn into sand. When they first fought, all of Luffy's attacks were ineffective as they traveled through the Crocodile's intangible body. When he was done with Luffy, he stabbed him in the chest with a hook. This was one of the most humiliating losses One piece.

Instead of killing Luffy outright, Crocodile threw him into the quicksand and left. Fortunately, Robin appeared and pulled Luffy out. Their second fight wasn't as one sided as Luffy realized he could counter Crocodile's Devil Fruit with a liquid. The crocodile may have taken a hit, but he overpowered Luffy in the end. He grabbed Luffy by the neck and drained all the moisture from his body, leaving him in a mummified state near death. The only reason Luffy survived is because Crocodile let him die and some water miraculously landed on him.

1

Kaido

Image via Toei Animation

Kaido is one of the most powerful pirates in history. His body had natural superhuman resistance, and he is one of the few people in the world who can use all three types of Haki, as well as their advanced applications. He ate a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit that allows him to transform into a massive azure dragon that can destroy a mountain with a single blast of fire. Realistically, Kaido was one of the few Devil Fruit users who could rival Gol D. Roger.

Kaido defeated Luffy three times, but the first fight was pretty one-sided as Kaido took him down with one Thunder Bagua attack. Kaido's Haki-infused war club slammed into Gear 4 Luffy, knocking him out instantly. Instead of ending Luffy, Kaido had him taken to Udon Prison. Their second one-on-one fight was on Onigashima and was more even as Luffy had unlocked the advanced Conqueror's Haki. This means that Kaido defeated Luffy and sent him into the sea, where he only survived because Law's submarine found him. Kaido then defeated him a third time when their clash was interrupted by Officer CP0. Kaido struck Luffy with his war club, seemingly killing him. Ironically, this defeat was the catalyst for Luffy's Gear 5 Awakening.

Release date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imayomura, Yashiôhiro Mayuū Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

Writers

Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda

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  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

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  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)