One Piece, written and drawn by Eiichiro Oda, is the best-selling manga of all time, and it’s not hard to see why it’s become such a success. The series and its ongoing anime adaptation follow the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates on their quest to find the Pirate King’s treasure, in an epic tale of dreams, adventure, and thrilling battles.
But of course, no manga can have cool fights without some cool villains, andOne Piecehas one of the most iconic rogues’ galleries inthe entire battle shonen genre.There’s the cunning criminal mastermind Crocodile, the sadistic usurper king Doflamingo, the childish tyrant Big Mom, and the warmongering powerhouse Kaido. But with so many beloved villains running amok in the world ofOne Piece, there’s one question that’s been on fans’ minds for years — who will be the final villain of the series?
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Thearc-based structure of the serieswith the Straw Hats constantly moving from island to island preventsOne Piecefrom having many recurring villains, but there are still a handful of overarching antagonists who have cast a shadow over the series for a long time, and could easily claim the role of the manga’s one true big bad.
One such villain is Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, better known as Akainu — the head of the Marines, whose ruthless devotion to “Absolute Justice” has driven him to commit countless atrocities in the name of law and order. As the leader of the World Government’s military, Akainu is one of the most influential villains in the series, andhis deadly lava powersgive him the strength to back up his authority. Not only that, but he’s directly responsible for major tragedies in the lives of two Straw Hats — he took part in the massacre of Nico Robin’s homeland of Ohara, and most infamously, killed Luffy’s brother Ace.
However, while Akainu is sure to be a major player in the endgame ofOne Piece, he’s unlikely to be the true main villain of the series. While the Fleet Admiralis a massive threat,he’s still ultimately a servant of the World Government. And though Akainu has butted heads with his superiors, there’s been no indication that he has any intention of rebelling against them. As powerful as Akainu is, he’s still ultimately a pawn in a much larger system.
So what about a villain who seeks to overthrow that system — one who’s just as responsible as Akainu for the hardship Luffy’s endured? That villain is of course Marshall D. Teach, aka Blackbeard. Blackbeard has loomed large overOne Piecefor most of its existence, being mentioned as early as the Drum Island arc, and he’s only become a bigger deal since. During his meteoric rise to power, Blackbeard masterminded the events of the Summit War in Marineford, capturing Ace for the World Government and watching the Whitebeard Pirates and Marines clash over his fate. Then, after Whitebeard had been weakened by his injuries in battle, Teach swooped in, killed Whitebeard, and stolehis Tremor-Tremor Fruit powerthrough still-unknown means.
While Blackbeard has been lying low since the timeskip, his new status as one of the Four Emperors makes him one of the most powerful pirates in the world. But what really sets him up as a likely candidate for the series’ main villain is the way he serves as a dark reflection of Luffy. Unlike most antagonists inOne Piece, Teach is a firm believer that the power of dreams can change the world, and he shares Luffy’s jovial, boisterous personality andclose-knit pirate crew.
Unlike Luffy, however, Blackbeard is selfish, manipulative, and power-hungry, typically relying on underhanded methods to gain supremacy. And while Luffy aspires to be like the Pirate King, Gold Roger, it’s been heavily implied that Blackbeard is the self-styled successor of Roger’s nemesis Rocks D. Xebec, a ruthless pirate with ambitions of becoming the “king of the world.” If Blackbeard shares that ambition, there’s no question that he’ll be one of the greatest foes the Straw Hats will ever face.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Blackbeard will turn out to be the main villain of the series, or even the final one.In any other show,being the hero’s thematic foil and the mastermind behind their biggest personal tragedy would make any bad guy the unquestioned main antagonist. But inOne Piece, fans have already seen a villain with even more influence and thematic weight than Blackbeard, even if they don’t know much about him.
The biggest surprise of the brief Reverie arc was the revelation that the World Government — originally thought to be controlled by the corrupt aristocrats known as the Celestial Dragons — has a single king, whose existence is hidden to all but the highest-ranking nobles, the Five Elders. That king, currently known only as Imu (or Im in some fan translations), isstill shrouded in mystery,but much can be inferred about him through the events and themes of the series.
The World Government, though benevolent at first glance, is ruthless and authoritarian in its pursuit of order. The Marines, as well as the assassin organization Cipher Pol 9, exist as agents of the World Government’s justice, killing anyone who those in power deem a threat. As such, it can be reasonably assumed that Imu is driven by a desire to maintain peacethroughout the entire world,but his methods of doing so are cruel and controlling. This, more than anything, makes him the ultimate antithesis of Luffy.
The story ofOne Piecehas always been one about the conflict between two extremes — dreams and freedom vs. fear and control. Since the beginning,Luffy has been the ultimate idealist,a bold and determined dreamer who longs to be the freest man on the sea. He doesn’t care about power, but he despises anyone who abuses their authority to trample the freedom of others. And sure enough, many of the Straw Hats’ greatest foes have been tyrannical rulers who use fear to keep the people in line: the Marines, Arlong, Enel, Doflamingo, Big Mom, Kaido, the list goes on. Wherever Luffy goes, he topples unjust authority and brings hope to the oppressed.
Throughout recent arcs ofOne Piece, more and more mentions have been made of the “dawn of the world” — the end of an era of darkness, and the start of a new age of light. Many believe thatthe Straw Hats are that light,destined to restore hope to a world ruled by fear. If that’s truly the end goal ofOne Piece, then the natural candidate for Luffy’s ultimate enemy is Imu, the king of the world who rules from the shadows. But of course, it’s not impossible that Blackbeard could once again swoop in and steal the show, becoming Luffy’s final opponent in the war for the fate of the world.
It’s never easy to tell what Oda will do next, but no matter where he takes this story, it’s sure to be an incredible journey — one filled with some of the most memorable villains in anime and manga history.
