Summary
One Piecehas numerousmajor villains. Many are pirates who seek to bend the world to their will; others are ostensibly on the side of the law, but use it to abuse the less privileged. Regardless of how exactly they identify themselves, these characters are most commonly antagonistic figures, who either are or have been in direct opposition to theStraw Hat Pirates, the protagonists of the series, or are destined to be a major enemy they face in the future.
This list will focus onthe worst crimes of the most significant villains inOne Piece. For simplicity’s sake, the list will limit itself to one or two villains per saga, with a few noteworthy exceptions.
Buggy
Wiped Out Orange Town
Despite not having been a serious antagonist since the East Blue Saga,Buggyhas remained a fixture in the series. He continues to fall upward, having most recently stumbled into the leadership position ofCross Guild, a marine-hunting mercenary organization. With Buggy being outranked in terms of power by many of his own subordinates and potential enemies alike, it is tempting to think of him as harmless.
However, his earlier characterization may paint a more honest picture of how he is when he thinks he has actual power. The Buggy Pirates are shown taking over Orange Town, ironically, a town founded by refugees from a previous pirate attack. Buggy is shown attempting to destroy the town out of spite and seize its valuables for himself. It is only the timely intervention of an early incarnation of the Straw Hat Pirates that leads to his defeat.
While Buggy has never “reformed” in any manner, he has become a bit more pragmatic on the Grand Line. He forged a successful alliance with Monkey D. Luffy to escape Impel Down, which resulted in a major boost to his reputation, and many previously incarcerated criminals pledged their loyalty to him afterward. What seems to moderate him the most is the knowledge of how weak he actually is when compared to how strong his subordinates seem to think he is. His earlier appearance in the series may be a look at how Buggy could behave as an Emperor, if he ever ends up believing his own hype.
Dracule Mihawk
Massacred A Pirate Fleet
Dracule Mihawkis a pirate who appears to take greater pleasure in swordfighting than in piracy. He is reputed as the strongest swordsman in the world, and set up as an antagonist forRoronoa Zoro, who wishes to claim that title for himself. Mihawk seems to be a thrill-seeker, though he will debase himself by fighting pirates below his level to kill time.
He wiped out the majority of the Krieg Pirates, a massive fleet numbering around 5,000 at its peak. However, Mihawk effortlessly decimated 49 of their 50 ships, whittling the crew down to the 100 members in the flagship. Although Mihawk is not one to suffer fools or weakness, he seemingly will not attack those who lack the intent to attack in return. While the extent of his carnage is still frightening, his choice of target is notable, as it hints that his bloodthirst is rooted less in sadism, but more in the joy of combat.
He may have even wiped out larger numbers in the past. He was recruited to be a Shichibukai, primarily to stop him from killing marines, and was one of the few to largely follow their rules. After being let loose alongside the other members, he co-founded Cross Guild alongside Crocodile.
Arlong
Extorted Cocoyasi Village For Several Years
Arlongis a Fish-Man supremacist who views humans as inferior and seeks to marginalize them, a reflection of the suffering his people have felt at their hands. He forcibly extorted the humans of Cocoyasi Village and ended up killing Bell-mère, Nami, and Nojiko’s adoptive mother, for disrespecting him and refusing to pay for her own life. This marked the beginning of Arlong’s foothold in the East Blue, where he would later establish Arlong Park.
He ended up recruitingNamiinto his crew, valuing her cartography skills, and promising he would free Cocoyasi Village if Nami paid him 100,000,000 belly. However, Arlong also utilized dirty tricks beyond the initial protection racket, paying off corrupt marines by having them confiscate Nami’s savings. This makes it clear that Arlong never intended to free her or the village. The consequences of his time in East Blue led Nami’s future crewmate (and Arlong’s former captain), Jinbe, to apologize for seeking to have him pardoned.
Crocodile
Operation Utopia
Crocodileis a pirate who has grown jaded with the dreams and romanticism associated with the golden age of piracy. He now seeks power rather than treasures of legend. One of his most blatant power grabs was the attempted coup in Alabasta to install himself as its new ruler. Codenamed Operation Utopia, this plan consisted of multiple parts.
First, Crocodile gained good press with the citizens of Alabasta, who considered him a hero until he was exposed. Then he used Dance Powder to manufacture a drought throughout most of Alabasta, while giving the capital city a surplus of rainfall. This powder was planted to implicate Nefetari Cobra, the country’s then ruler, as responsible. Subsequently, they used the powers of Mr. 2 Bon Clay to impersonate Cobra, ordering a massacre of civilians to cover up the discovery of his alleged Dance Powder usage. This led to growing support for a rebellion, which started a civil war. Crocodile also planted a bomb in the city in an attempt to kill everyone, and tried to make use of his subordinates in Baroque Works to kill Nefetari Vivi, Cobra’s daughter, who infiltrated the organization.
The many real and attempted deaths involved in this power grab make it perhaps the worst of Crocodile’s crimes, as it encompasses the majority of his other known crimes within the narrative. He has since co-founded Cross Guild with Dracule Mihawk, yet Buggy was installed as the figurehead after certain miscommunications.
Enel
Destroyed His Homeland
Enelantagonized all three of the Sky Island Races. He forcibly took over Skypiea, effectively positioning himself as an uncontested “god.” This also resulted in him taking over the “Upper Yard”, an area which was formerly part of Jaya, angering Shandians who were already in centuries-long conflict with Skypieans over the territory. Despite his fascistic efforts to usurp control from both groups, Enel’s worst crime has been kept largely offscreen.
Enel is said to have destroyed Birka, his homeland, upon gaining the Goro Goro no Mi. He had procured a number of followers, known as God’s Army, who thus far make up the majority of explicitly identified Birkans in the series, though others, such as Urouge, are speculated to be Birkan as well. It is unclear why he sought to destroy it rather than merely subjugate it, like Skypiea, but it is a testament to his own brutality nonetheless. Enel’s god complex is such that he doesn’t even care about his own people, much less anyone else. He has since settled on the moon, the former homeland of all Sky Island races, and contended himself with the alien pirates present there. Now he rules over a number of automatons who aided him in his journey.
Rob Lucci
The Island Raid
Rob Lucciis one of the top agents of theWorld Government, previously affiliated with Cipher Pol 9. He has trained hard ever since his childhood to become a ruthless fighter. He attempted an ultimately failed effort to procure the blueprints for Pluton, one of the Ancient Weapons, by going undercover, alongside three of his fellow agents in Water 7. His failure to obtain Pluton and defeat the Straw Hat Pirates led to his dismissal, along with that of the majority of his unit, with his leader, Spandam, pinning the mission’s failure on the collective. Since exposing a plot by Spandam and his father to take over the government, Lucci has been added to Cipher Pol Aigis Zero, alongside his former colleagues, with Spandam now acting as his subordinate.
Lucci’s most savage known action, however, came roughly 17 years before the main story. A mere teenager, Lucci was dispatched to deal with a kingdom’s hostage crisis, where a pirate captain held 500 soldiers hostage and demanded to be made king in exchange for their release. Lucci negated the hostage crisis by killing every single soldier himself. He then proceeded to kill the pirate crew and brought back the captain’s head to prove it. This very same confrontation left him with the scars present on his back today, which were the result of being shot at by the crew.
Spandam
Attempted A Coup Against the World Government, Twice
Spandamwas the former chief of Cipher Pol 9. How hateable he is and how weak he is are in a constant duel to come out on top as his most defining character trait. What he lacks in physical strength, he makes up for in terms of authority, with nepotism seemingly being the source of most of his power. Most of Spandam’s machinations stem from his desire to seize control of the World Government. He first attempted to do this with Ancient Weapons, convincing the Five Elders to amend the policy against not retrieving them.
As the chief of Cipher Pol 5, he antagonized Tom, the shipwright who mentored Franky and Iceburg, by using Franky’s battleships to attack a judicial ship, and using this as a pretense to attempt to seize Tom’s plans. Though he failed in this regard, he set in motion the efforts that led to Tom’s execution. Spandam orchestrated the failed Cipher Pol 9 campaign in Water 7, as well as accidentally activating the Buster Call, which resulted in a huge marine presence around Enies Lobby, and ultimately failed in keeping Franky, Robin, or the blueprints to Pluton secured, foiling his first attempt to strong-arm the government.
He was promoted to chief of Cipher Pol Aigis 0 during the timeskip, but ended up being demoted after his involvement in a second coup attempt, this time alongside his powerful father, Spandine, figures within the criminal underworld, and Level 6 prisoner from Impel Down, who were exposed by his former team. While his destruction is limited by just how weak he actually is, his dangerous ambitions caused unwarranted suffering for the Straw Hat Pirates.
Gecko Moria
Mass Shadow Theft
Gecko Moriais a washed-up pirate, whose strength rests in his powerful Kage Kage no Mi. This ability allowed him to steal the shadows of others, installing them into corpses and creating zombies. The original owner of each shadow will fall into a coma and vaporize if sunlight touches them without hitting their shadow. Seeing that Moria had hundreds of zombies at the height of his power, this means he has effectively forced an equal number of people into a near-death state. Although he had an incentive to keep them alive, as his zombies would cease to be if the shadow holders died, he also had a similar incentive to prevent them from regaining their shadows, and is shown not to care when some of his victims are vaporized by the sun.
Moria is shown to care very strongly when his own crewmates are killed, being pushed to his current state as a result of Kaido massacring his entire previous crew. Even in the present, when the Blackbeard Pirates killed Absalom, Moira refused to align with them out of loyalty to one of his last living crewmates. Yet despite this empathy for those under him, Moria seems to care little if he risks the lives of anyone else in the process.
Magellan
Oversaw Numerous Brutal Acts As Warden
Magellanis a character who is literally toxic to the touch. He was formerly the warden ofImpel Down, the sea-based prison where the World Government dispatches its most notorious criminals. It is unclear how much he directly shaped the prison’s policies, but it is clear that he, at the very least, upheld the various forms of punishment to which different prisoners were subjected.
Each floor in Impel Down has its own form of punishment. The first floor, Crimson Hell, forces its prisoners to navigate through various blade-shaped trees and needle-shaped grass while evading guards and poison-spitting spiders. This is the level for the least problematic prisoners. Other punishments include being chased by wild beasts, forced starvation, being burnt or frozen alive, and finally, a holding cell for a life or death sentence.
It is known that Magellan himself, however, does moderate brutality to a certain extent. He put the former head jailer, Shiryu, on death row due to his excessive brutality towards inmates. Magellan was demoted not for any punishments he handed out, but for his failure to properly handle a breakout organized by Luffy. He remains a celebrated figure as the prison’s Vice Warden.
Sakazuki
Involvement In The Ohara Incident
Sakazukiwas a marine admiral promoted to the rank of fleet admiral after defeating the other candidate, Kuzan, who subsequently defected from the Marines. Cipher Pol agent Spandine initiated the event that would come to be known as the Ohara Incident. He did this by raising awareness of the scholars on Ohara who were attempting to study the poneglyphs and, consequently, the Void Century, which is forbidden by law. Sakazuki and Kuzan were among the vice admirals contacted to deal with Ohara.
Sakazuki, then a vice admiral, ordered his men to fire on fleeing civilian ships, in case a scholar snuck aboard. This cemented Sakazuki as a figure who shows little care, if any, for innocents caught in the crossfire of his attacks. Kuzan grew to hate him and the absolute justice policies he followed because of that day. Sakazuki’s promotion to fleet admiral can only mean more innocents will get caught up in the carnage he insists will kill pirates.
