The 8 Most Powerful Villain Groups, Ranked

With nearly three decades of serialization, One piece became an extremely long-running series, and throughout its existence, the series has done incredibly well in introducing multiple groups of villains, each with their own purpose, led by some compelling villains. That being said, not all of these rogue factions are created equal. Some of them are so powerful that they strike terror into the hearts of even the strongest, including the likes of the Straw Hat Pirates, and can be quite a challenge for them. These include groups that have already been defeated, such as the Beast Pirates, or groups that remain to be properly fought, including the Five Elders.

Related

One Piece: 6 Void Century Devil Fruit Users

The Void Century was a mysterious time period with some of the most powerful Devil Fruits ever.

CP0

• Supervisor: Rob Lucci

• Jurisdiction: World Government

Before the timeskip, the straw pirates battled CP9. Now, after more than ten years, all members of CP9 have returned under a new label, called The CP0. They debuted during Whole Cake Island with Stussy and were involved again in the Wano Country Arc. They most recently starred in Egghead, which saw the return of Rob Lucci and Kaku. With their Devil Fruits now awakened, they were a force to be reckoned with. Even Zoro couldn't completely defeat Lucci. They are definitely strong, but still not the strongest in One Piece.

Guild of the Cross

• Leader: Buggy

• Affiliation: Pirates

Emergence cross guild was a shock to many fans. Formerly a weak pirate with a fearless crew, Buggy received a major upgrade when the likes of Mihawk and Sir Crocodile teamed up with him after the Shichibukai disbanded.

The Cross Guild emerges as the main antagonistic force and causes quite a ruckus in the world of One Piece. The Straw Hat Pirates may have to face them one way or another at some point in the story, as Mihawk eventually has to face Zoro.

Holy Knights

• Leader: Garling Figarland

• Jurisdiction: World Government

In the Final Saga of One piecea new main group of villains was introduced by Oda and this group is known as holy knights. They consist of some of the World Government's strongest fighters with the power of immortality and regeneration. The Holy Knights operate under Imu's control and are led by Garling Figarland. They are captained by Shamrock Figarland and their notable members currently include Manmayer Gunko, Shepherd Sommers, Rimoshifu Killingham and Satchels Maffey.

All the holy knights seem to have some kind of devil fruit ability, and on top of that they also get the Deep Sea Covenant from Imu which gives them a number of abilities. They are definitely one of the strongest groups around and will be a major force to face in the current Elbaf arc.

Big Mom Pirates

• Leader: Big Mom (previously), Katakuri (assumed)

• Affiliation: Pirates

Big Mom Pirates they were a fearsome force that the straw pirates had to face during the Yonko saga. The Big Mom Pirate crew is led by Charlotte Linlin, and her strongest henchmen include the Sweet Commanders, consisting of Snack, Smoothie, Cracker, and the strongest of the group, Katakuri.

Luffy had an incredible fight against Katakuri in the Whole Cake Island arc. Big Mom and her crew were confronted again in Wano, where their leader had fallen. The Big Mom Pirates currently still exist in some capacity, with Katakuri presumably taking over.

Related

One Piece: Every Yonko's Strongest Attack, Ranked

Yonko are the strongest pirates in the One Piece world and here are their strongest attacks.

Beast Pirates

• Leader: Kaido

• Affiliation: Pirates

Beast Pirates they were the last enemy group to face the straw pirates in One Piece's Yonko Saga, and stood as the main villains in the Wano arc. The Beast Pirates is led by the strongest creature, Yonko Kaido, and his best henchmen consist of the All Stars and Tobiroppo. Kaido himself was quite a task and Luffy had to awaken Gear 5 to defeat him.

The Queen and King were also formidable fighters who gave Zoro and Sanji quite a bit of trouble during this arc. However, the Beast Pirates were completely destroyed after the events of Onigashima, with Kaido presumed dead and the rest of his crew captured.

Blackbeard Pirates

• Leader: Blackbeard

• Affiliation: Pirates

Blackbeard Pirates they are set to be one of the biggest enemy groups ever One piece. They were first mentioned during Drum Island, but it was in the Jay arc that fans officially met them. The crew only expanded during the Summit War Saga, with infiltration leading to the escape of many dangerous villains from Impel Down.

At the helm of the Blackbeard crew is Marshall D. Teach, the biggest threat with two legendary Devil Fruits: Gura Gura no Mi and Yami Yami no Mi. His most powerful henchmen include Kuzan and Shiryu of the Rain.

Marines

Image by Toei Animation

• Leader: Akainu

• Jurisdiction: World Government

Marines from One piece the world forms quite a strong antagonistic group. They are massive and diverse organizations. In general, the biggest threat from among them are admirals.

Before the timeskip, the three main admirals were Akainu, Kizaru, and Aokiji; however, after the timeskip and Kuzan's defection, Akainu became the fleet admiral and the new three main members became Kizaru, Ryokugyu, and Fujitora. Marines are quite a force to be reckoned with, with Admirals being a powerful group of enemies to face in the Final Saga.

Five elders

• Leader: Imu

• Jurisdiction: Word Government

Of all the groups of villains in One pieceseem to be the most dangerous five elders. The Five Elders are the most powerful fighters in the entire government, working under Ima, consisting of several ancient and powerful warriors. The Five Elders are granted Yokai powers through their Abyssal Pact with Imu.

This contract also grants them immortality and infinite regeneration. Fans saw their potential in Egghead, and it only grew in strength with the new addition of Garling Figarland after the death of Saturn. This group will face horror.

One Piece is available to stream on Crunchyroll.

One piece

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)