Pirates have long been a part of the way of life in the One Piece world. The oldest known group of pirates mentioned were the ones under Dorry and Brogy from more than 100 years ago. However, despite pirates existing back then, none of them were known to be noteworthy enough to shake the world.
More than 40 years ago, Rocks Pirates were extremely prominent and defined an era that lasted until Gol D. Roger’s rise to prominence as the Pirate King.
Not much is known about Rocks, especially among those who grew up after their time. They seem to have been powerful, given their prominence prior to Roger’s time and the fact that Garp could not imagine what the Marines would do if they came back into power. Garp is connected to them in some way, with Hina suggesting that he got the distinction of “Hero of the Marines” from dealing with them.
Then all that changed with the arrival of the great pirate Gol D. Roger (and others like Edward Newgate and Shiki). Roger set about to do what no one had done before – conquer the Grand Line. He succeeded and in doing so made his way to Raftel and left behind something somewhere in the world, his most prized possession, One Piece. Roger brought about an air of romance about being a pirate and upon his death his final words sent others to sea to become a pirate. Things would never be the same again.
Let’s take a look at the 5 Strongest Pirate Captains from the Old Generation:
#DON CHINJAO
Don Chinjao is a former pirate, the leader of the Chinjao Family, and the former 12th leader of the Happo Navy. In his golden age, when he was still a pirate, he had a bounty of over 500,000,000 Berries. He was also able to survive an encounter with the famous Marine, Vice Admiral Garp, enforcing a good deal of power.
Chinjao was an extremely powerful master of Hasshoken in his prime. He is highly proficient in Busoshoku Haki and has also shown the ability to use Haoshoku Haki.
#CHARLOTTE LINLIN “BIG MOM”
Big Mom, is the captain of the Big Mom Pirates and the only female member of the Yonko.
Big Mom has immense superhuman physical strength and tremendous superhuman durability due to her extremely tough skin. Mother Carmel believed she had the potential to become an Admiral or Fleet Admiral of the Marines.
Big Mom can utilize and has shown mastery over two types of Haki: Busoshoku Haki and Haoshoku Haki.
Big Mom has acquired the powers of the Soru Soru no Mi a powerful Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that allows her to manifest the soul of whomever she touches into an ethereal substance. She can put harvested souls into non-living things in order to give them life or into animals in order to give them human abilities. Those creatures are named Homies. She can use fragments of her own soul to create Special Homies (Zeus, Prometheus and Napoleon) that are far more powerful than ones created with other people’s souls.
#SHIKI THE LION
Shiki the Golden Lion is the admiral of the Golden Lion Pirates and the first prisoner ever to escape from Impel Down.
Alongside Roger and Whitebeard, Shiki is one of the most powerful pirates of his generation. He has tremendous physical strength supplemented with his supreme sword skills, allowing him to slay an army of Marines at Marineford, and it took the combined efforts of both Garp and Sengoku to subdue him with the conclusion of their fight leaving half of Marineford destroyed.
Shiki ate the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi, a Paramecia type Devil Fruit which allows him to make surrounding non-living matter levitate once he has come in contact with it.
When attacking, Shiki uses the surrounding environment against his enemies, shaping earth or snow into giant lion heads and launching them towards his foes, or even making water float to drown his opponents in it. As stated, his powers are unable to be used on any living matter other than himself, meaning he cannot touch another person, animal, or plant and make them levitate.
#EDWARD NEWGATE “WHITEBEARD”
Whitebeard was the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates and was known as “The Strongest Man in the World” and “The Man closest to One Piece” after Gol D. Roger’s death. He was a member of the Yonko that ruled over the New World until his death during the Battle of Marineford.
Whitebeard was one of the few people to have mastered all three kinds of Haki.
He ate the Gura Gura no Mi, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that made him a “Quake Man” and which was considered the strongest Devil Fruit within the Paramecia class. According to Sengoku, Whitebeard had the power to destroy the world.
With the power of this Devil Fruit, Whitebeard could create powerful shockwaves by shattering the air like glass. These shock waves then would be redirected into the ground, resulting in earthquakes and, if under the seafloor, tsunamis. He could create these shockwaves in the air, rendering airborne attacks ineffective. Whitebeard’s powers also allowed him to create a quake bubble around his hand or bisento to increase the power of his physical attacks, as well as manipulate the air with his hands to tilt the environment around him.
#GOL D. ROGER
Gol D. Roger was a legendary pirate who was known as the Pirate King, captain of the Roger Pirates, and owner of the legendary treasure known as “One Piece”.
Roger was hailed as the most powerful pirate of all time. His fighting power was nearly unstoppable.
Only two people are known to have ever matched Roger in battle: Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp, who possesses immense strength even in old age and cornered him multiple times before his surrender, and his rival Edward “Whitebeard” Newgate, who held the power of the Gura Gura no Mi and was called the “Strongest Man in the World” after Roger’s death. Examples of his strength include fighting on equal ground with Shiki, who commanded the largest pirate fleet of the time, and single-handedly defeating the armies of several countries.
He also had immense endurance and vitality even when he was ravaged by an incurable disease. With Crocus’s medical skills, he managed to conquer the Grand Line.
