One Piece's The Elbaf arc has been incredibly exciting for the Straw Hat Pirates as they keep getting one big power-up after another. As a Yonko crew, Luffy's Slam Hat Pirates were slightly underwhelmed, but Elbaf's new upgrades ensured they would take it to the next level and even compete with Shanks' crew. At this particular point in One piece Story, Shanks's Red Hair Pirates are the strongest Yonko crew, but with the new powers that Luffy and the crew gained in Elbaf, they come out of this arc stronger than ever and even above the overall power level of Shanks' deadly pirate crew.
3 female Yonko level characters in one piece
One Piece has a lot of powerful female characters, but only a handful of them are Yonko level.
How Elbaf Arc Gives New Power to Straw Hats
The Elbaf arc was absolutely massive for all the members of the Straw Hat Pirates considering it is the first major arc in the final One Piece saga. It always gave a big boost to all the members of the Straw Hat Pirates. The Monster Trio was already on the receiving end of some incredible powers, but now Oda made sure not to exclude the other members of the Straw Pirates.
Recently, in One Piece Chapter 1176, Oda made sure to give Franky an absolutely massive boost in terms of power with Vegapunk's Omni-Drain Converters giving him access to the Super Vega Cole, raising his overall power to a whole new level. Oda also ensured that the top three Straw Hat Pirates, the Monster Trio, would continue to improve their overall control over their Haki. At the same time, there are people like Usopp who are sure to get a massive upgrade in this arc and take their overall abilities to the next level. Then the likes of Robin and Jinbe will also gain something when they face the monstrous force of the World Government, and like Brook and Chopper have already shown significant improvement and will face the Domi Reversi army and the MMA projections.
Why the New Elbaf Powers will make the crew stronger than the Red Hair Pirates
When the Straw Pirates became the Yonko crew, it was abundantly clear that they weren't the strongest yet. It made sense narratively, because if Oda made them the strongest right from the start, it would have killed all the tension of the final saga. They have now progressed to the point where they can stand on par with the Red Hair Pirates. Mastering Luffy's Conqueror's Haki will be on a whole new level after Elbaf and Sanji and Zoro will both learn to master Conqueror's Haki. They have already defeated the likes of the Yonko Commanders, so these two individuals will be competing against the likes of the Admirals. This alone makes the Straw Hat Pirates a huge threat to the likes of the Red Hair Pirates.
I will create a crew that surpasses yours! — Luffy to Shanks, One Piece Chapter 1
One Piece: Luffy's Strongest Power Ups Ranked (Gear 5 Not #1)
Luffy has received many amazing upgrades in One Piece over the years, but Gear 5 isn't the strongest of them all.
-
Franky and Jinbe, along with Robin, will be strong enough to compete with the elite commanders of any Yonko crew, and this is also a massive boost to their overall abilities. Usopp and Nami will certainly be strong enough to take on an average Yonko officer like Tobiroppo in Beast Pirates or the elite officers in Red Hair Pirates. Same goes for Brook and Chopper. Comparing the Straw Hat Pirates to the Red Hair Pirates, it's abundantly clear that the gap between them has shrunk massively. In fact, if the Straw Hats were to face the Red Hair Pirates after Elbaf, it's highly likely that they would go on to win because of all the massive forces they have on their side.
-
How Luffy's crew gets even stronger in the Final Saga
The fact is that Luffy's straw pirates will not stop growing on the Elbaf Arc. They still have a lot of potential to fulfill and after Elbaf comes a great war that will engulf the entire world. This war will give the Straw Hat Pirates the opportunity to become even stronger and even far surpass the Red Hair Pirates and reach a level closer to Joy Boy and his pirate crew.
Luffy's Straw Hats face off against the Saint Knights and the Five Elders. In the end, he even trades blows with the likes of Imu, and all of these things combine to ensure that the Straw Hat Pirates continue their growth in the Final Saga of One Piece. They will reach great heights and even surpass the likes of Roger Pirates who were the pinnacle of piracy in the modern era.
The full force of the Straw Hat Pirates
The Straw Hat Pirates are outmatched by the Whitebeard Pirates, Rocks Pirates, and Roger Pirates at full strength. They will also most likely surpass the pirate crew of Joy Boy, who was the first in the history of the One Piece world to sail the seas as a pirate. It should be kept in mind that Luffy eventually takes down Ima and completely frees the world, establishing a New World Order. Any pirate crew that succeeds will undoubtedly be the strongest ever.
One Piece Chapter 1177 will be available to read on Manga Plus on March 22, 2026.
- 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
-
Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
-
Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
