Ranking One Piece Pirate Crews is not an easy feat. If you’re a fan, then you know exactly what difficulty I am talking about. There are so many factors to be considered. Sure, haki and devil fruit powers are one thing, but I believe even the owner of the strongest devil fruit power cannot be called the strongest if he didn’t win.
Big Mom and Kaido were perhaps the strongest ones of them all, but they lost. Does this still make them the strongest? In terms of powers and abilities, YH SURE! But in terms of mental capabilities, strategies, NOT SO MUCH!!!
The following ranking list is based on 4 factors for each One Piece pirate crew. And we are not including pirates like Shiki from the One Piece movies.
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Where they stand in terms of intellect, cunning, and strategy. [20 points]
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Overall Haki levels. [25 points]
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Overall devil fruit powers. [20 points]
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Past wins and losses. [10 points]
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Reputation and bounties. [10 points]
Let’s begin our ranking battle of the One Piece active pirate crews.
The Strongest Active Pirate Crews in One Piece Seas
Blackbeard Pirates
The strongest pirate crew in the seas of One Piece is none other than Teach and his lackeys. I know you might be surprised but stay with me. Blackbeard may appear as a coward with no plan, but behind the shadows, he is the most cunning man in the entire series. This crew is the real definition of pirates (as they should be).
The overall known bounty of the Blackbeard Pirates is over 5 billion. But we all know that the threat level of the crew is far more than that, and the new bounties are yet to be released. I am sure they will be the highest bounty pirate crew very soon. As they approach the ancient weapons and Road Poneglyphs, they are sure to shock the entire One Piece world very soon.
The only thing they lack is the loyalty factor, and all of them are opportunists and cunning. They have their own secret agendas, and fear is the only thing that holds them together.
Blackbered pirates are numeorus. I will list only the known and notorious members here. They include:
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Marshall D. Teach / Blackbeard (captain)
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Van Augur
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Laffitte
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Jesus Burgess
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Sanjuan Wolf
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Shiryu
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Catarina Devon
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Pizarro
They are always after devil fruits, and somehow Blackbeard has discovered a method to steal the devil fruit powers of others, making him the only known person in the series with two devil fruits. My scoring here is based on similar facts. If you disagree, please leave a comment.
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Intellect, cunning, and strategy. [20 points]
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Overall Haki levels. [15 points]
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Overall devil fruit powers. [20 points]
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Past wins and losses. [10 points]
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Reputation and bounties. [10 points]
Total Score = 75/85
To Read More About Blackbeard Pirates Click Here.
Red Hair Pirates
Clearly the strongest pirate crew in One Piece, but I ranked them second because not much is known about them. Although, we get a small dose of information every now and then. Shanks alone is worth over 4 billion and has the ability to stop a world war just by showing up.
Red Hair Pirates have brains and brawn, making them the only crew which the navy is afraid of. They never step in their way unless it is extremely important. Also, they are the only old Emperor of the Sea crew remaining after the defeats of the Whitebeard Pirates, Big Mom Pirates, and Beast Pirates.
Not everything is known about the Red Hairs, so I cannot list all their members. The known members of the Red Hair Pirates are:
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Shanks (captain)
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Benn Beckman
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Yasopp
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Lucky Roux
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Rockstar
They are haki freaks, and whether some members hold devil fruit powers or not is yet to be revealed. In my personal judgment, they score:
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Intellect, cunning, and strategy. [15 points]
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Overall Haki levels. [25 points]
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Overall devil fruit powers. [10 points]
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Past wins and losses. [10 points]
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Reputation and bounties. [10 points]
Total Score = 70/85
Straw Hat Pirates
We all know that Straw Hats are going to be the number one pirate crew in One Piece. From humble beginnings to over 8 billion collective bounty, they have risen very fast. As the main crew of the series, we have a lot of information about them, so I will try to do justice here.
Read more about Luffy’s powers and abilities by clicking here.
They are a band of good-hearted pirates with their own honorable goals. Luffy wants to be the King of Pirates. He doesn’t have any wicked ambition or greed. He is a pure soul who wishes to eat meat (as much as he wants), fool around, visit places, and be free.
Similarly, Zoro wants to be the strongest swordsman in the world and he is getting there very fast. Also, he wants to drink and cut. Usopp wants to be the brave warrior of the sea but so far, bravery is a stranger to him. Nami wishes to chart all the seas, Sanji wishes to find the All Blue, Brook needs to remember his past mates and sing songs. Chopper wishes to have real friends and excel as the best doctor. Similarly, the brains of the team Nico Robin wants to find the answers about One Piece, and Jinbe found his real team after a long time.
- Monkey D. Luffy (Captain)
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Roronoa Zoro
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Nami
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Usopp
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Sanji
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Tony Tony Chopper
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Nico Robin
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Franky
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Brook
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Jinbe
They have their flaws which are quickly covered by helping each other. In short, they are the last crew you want to mess with in the Grand Line. I am sure they will play the main role in the last World War – which, according to Oda, will be so scaled and big that Marineford will look like a walk in the park.
Here is my honest opinion about their powers and abilities. If you disagree, please feel free to leave a comment below.
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Intellect, cunning, and strategy. [15/20 points]
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Overall Haki levels. [20/25 points]
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Overall devil fruit powers. [19/20 points]
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Past wins and losses. [8/10 points]
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Reputation and bounties. [7/10 points]
Total Score = 69/85
Cross Guild
Although they don’t call themselves a pirate crew, they deserve a mention. Led by the Genius Jester (accidentally), Cross Guild is no short of infamous and includes some of the most powerful characters in the series. The presence of Mihawk, the real strongest swordsman in the world, alone is enough to shake the halls of the World Government. And then there’s Crocodile, another definition of an ambitious pirate.
It is the only pirate group that goes by the title of “guild” instead of “pirates.” Also, their threat level is on a whole other level because they are issuing their own bounties. Except there are also marines on their hit list with their bounties. How genius is that?
The known members of Cross Guild are only a few, but their numbers are no less than the Straw Hats’ Grand Fleet. Perhaps even higher. I believe more defeated and ambitious pirates will join them as the anime or manga progresses. And don’t forget the luck—or bad luck—of Buggy. Who knows, he might actually be a genius!!! 😀
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Buggy
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Crocodile
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Dracule Mihawk
The high scoring of Cross Guild is mainly due to their current threat level to marines and the World Government. If you disagree, please leave a comment below.
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Intellect, cunning, and strategy. [15/20 points]
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Overall Haki levels. [18/25 points]
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Overall devil fruit powers. [15/20 points]
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Past wins and losses. [5/10 points]
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Reputation and bounties. [10/10 points]
Total Score = 68/85
The Kuja Pirates
Boa Hancock’s crew is not a pushover. As a past Warlord of the Sea, she held a prominent position among pirates. Her devil fruit powers make her a unique character with powers to stun enemies like Medusa. She was a slave at first but later gained her position as a sole leader of the Amazons and later founded the Kuja Pirates to secure her no-man’s island and position.
The higher ranking of Kuja Pirates is also due to their numbers and their ability to inject haki into their arrows and weapons. They can really mess up their enemies. Among One Piece pirate crews, they are the only all-female pirate crew. Also, they have the ability to avoid Sea Kings without using the latest World Government tech (influenced by sea prism stones).
The known members are only a few, but we all know that they are quite great in numbers. I mean, a whole island is filled with their potential candidates.
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Boa Hancock (captain)
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Boa Sandersonia
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Boa Marigold
Lastly, I might have put them lower on the list, but a lot of known pirate crews are defeated, thus losing their high positions, advantages, powers, numbers, and influence. Also, being an ally of the Straw Hats is also a perk that puts them higher in the rankings of the most powerful active pirate crews in One Piece.
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Intellect, cunning, and strategy. [15/20 points]
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Overall Haki levels. [22/25 points]
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Overall devil fruit powers. [15/20 points]
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Past wins and losses. [7/10 points]
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Reputation and bounties. [5/10 points]
Total Score = 64/85
The Kid Pirates
They deserve good attention and perhaps could have ranked higher if not for their recent defeat by Shanks — they lose points. Other than the Straw Hats, they are the only crew with two members who have bounties higher than a billion. Still, they have quite a few capable members who are loyal to their hotheaded captain.
They are not a pirtae crew with hundreds of members. Still, there are 31 of them. I am only including the more known Kid Pirates. They are:
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Eustass Kid (captain)
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Killer
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Heat
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Wire
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Gig
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Dive
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UK
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Pomp
They are not very intelligent; otherwise, they could have gotten the Kuja’s place. Anger is power, but without brains, it only leads to more suffering and self-loss. Their Haki levels are quite well-developed, especially Kid’s and Killer’s. Also, the devil fruit of Kid is on a whole other level than most common pirates’.
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Intellect, cunning, and strategy. [10/20 points]
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Overall Haki levels. [20/25 points]
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Overall devil fruit powers. [17/20 points]
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Past wins and losses. [5/10 points]
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Reputation and bounties. [6/10 points]
Total Score = 58/85
Heart Pirates
Seriously, they should be called Law Pirates because he is the only threat among them. The rest of them are like little penguins. They played a crucial role in the defeat of Kaido and Big Mom in the Wano arc. Kid and Law together faced Big Mom and gave her perhaps the last fight of her life.
Like Strawhats they don’t have a lot of crew members but still there are 21 of them. The known members of Heart Pirates are:
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Trafalgar D. Water Law
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Bepo
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Ikkaku
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Clione
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Penguin
The following points take into account their threat level, bounty, cunning, haki, wins/losses, and repute. I also took into account the submarine nature of their ship, which is a one-of-a-kind ship like the Thousand Sunny. The high reputation points of the Heart Pirates are based on three factors. First, the devil fruit of Law which is the ultimate dream of the World Government; second, they are among the Worst Generation; and third, the recent event in Wano and their quick rise among ranks. If they had not been defeated recently by the Blackbeard Pirates, the ranking of the Heart Pirates could have been much higher.
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Intellect, cunning, and strategy. [17/20 points]
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Overall Haki levels. [10/25 points]
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Overall devil fruit powers. [17/20 points]
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Past wins and losses. [5/10 points]
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Reputation and bounties. [9/10 points]
Total Score = 56/85
Fire Tank Pirates
I love the power of the Castle-Castle fruit, plus Capone Bege (the captain) gives the mafia vibes like he is a godfather-type of character. They are another group of pirates from the Worst Generation. Their planning is always long-term, and their mafia-styled piracy is way too entertaining.
The known members of the Fire Tank Pirates are quite a few, but their loyalty is no joke. Although they might run away due to huge threats like Big Mom going mad, otherwise they are a good crew with a real castle.
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Capone Bege (captain)
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Vito
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Gotti
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Charlotte Chiffon
Bege is a strategist and a cunning fellow who thinks long-term. He even married the daughter of Big Mom to increase his influence among pirates. Under-the-table deals, taking care of enemies with less effort — he is a mafia boss.
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Intellect, cunning, and strategy. [17/20 points]
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Overall Haki levels. [12/25 points]
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Overall devil fruit powers. [14/20 points]
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Past wins and losses. [5/10 points]
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Reputation and bounties. [3/10 points]
Total Score = 51/85
Whitebeard Pirates [Post Marineford]
If I was ranking the old Whitebeard Pirates before Marineford, this list would have another top contender. But presently, all the past legends in Whitebeard’s crew have scattered without a real leader.
After the death of Whitebeard and Ace, the only known members worth mentioning are not a lot. After the death of their father figure who actually treated them like a father, most of them went their separate ways. But I still think they will come back in the final arc — of course supporting Luffy as Whitebeard directed them before his death.
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Marco
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Jozu
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Thatch
The following scoring is based on the individual powers, influence, and threat level of the remaining Whitebeard Pirates. Let me know what you think about it.
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Intellect, cunning, and strategy. [5/15 points]
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Overall Haki levels. [10/25 points]
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Overall devil fruit powers. [10/10 points]
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Past wins and losses. [7/10 points]
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Reputation and bounties. [7/10 points]
Total Score = 39/85
Beast Pirates [Post Wano]
After the defeat of Kaido, they are in shambles. So, naturally, they don’t count as a real threat. But top dogs like King and Queen are still forces that hold a say in the pirate world of One Piece. Although, they were utterly defeated very recently again.
The known members that remain as Beast Pirates are not many after Wano and the re-establishment of the country. But those we know of are:
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Jack
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Queen
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King
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Black Maria
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Scratchmen Apoo
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Basil Hawkins
I don’t know if they will decide to get together and form a group, but so far we don’t see that happening. So, the following score is based on individual merits and in the hope that they will re-assemble the Beast Pirates.
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Intellect, cunning, and strategy. [5/15 points]
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Overall Haki levels. [15/25 points]
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Overall devil fruit powers. [14/20 points]
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Past wins and losses. [6/10 points]
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Reputation and bounties. [5/10 points]
Total Score = 45/85
Big Mom Pirates [Post Wano]
The children of Big Mom have the most unique powers and abilities due to their devil fruit traits. In fact, most of their powers revolve around edibles like Smoothie, Cracker, Oven, and Snack. The fight between Charlotte Katakuri vs. Luffy is one of the best in the anime.
The known alive members of the Big Mom Pirates are in a huge number. When Big Mom came to Wano following the Straw Hats, the Sweet Commanders other than Katakuri followed. Along with other main pirate commanders like Perospero and Daifuku.
Just like Beast, Whitebeard, and the Donquixote Family, I will rank them lower due to the absence of a central command and power. Unless they try to make a new crew like Cross Guild, they will be ranked lower because only their individual strengths will count.
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Intellect, cunning, and strategy. [5/20 points]
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Overall Haki levels. [12/25 points]
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Overall devil fruit powers. [15/20 points]
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Past wins and losses. [4/10 points]
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Reputation and bounties. [5/10 points]
Total Score = 41/85
To read about One Piece most powerful characters, Click Here!
My Thoughts on Active One Piece Pirate Crews
As a die-hard fan of the One Piece world, I feel that the pirate powers have weakened a lot after Wano. Unless Oda reveals some real powerful folks among pirates soon, the pirates will weaken steadily. When I see big shots like Big Mom, Kaido, and Whitebeard defeated, the new Emperors of the Sea don’t have that kind of grip or charisma.
Red Hairs are still yet to be seen and I hope they bring some real excitement soon during Elbaf. I don’t want to spoil your fun, but the appearance of Norse mythology along with Loki and other giants is a huge plus in the excitement game.
So, who is the real power of the seas in One Piece at present? As per my understanding — Red Hairs, Blackbeard, Marines, and of course the Straw Hats are the main players. Along with World Government mysterious forces headed by Imu. Dragon is still sleeping; I think he’ll only shock during the last war.
Who do you think is the best active pirate crew in One Piece now? Let me know in the comments or email. Thanks for the read!
To read about top One Piece Wanted Posters Click Here!
And here Yeagerists Explain all 79 One Piece Top Crews!
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