Top 8 Best Rivalries in One Piece
8 – TRAFALGAR D. WATER LAW vs DONQUIXOTE DOFLAMINGO
Law used to be a subordinate of Doflamingo’s. Law and Doflamingo got along quite well, as Doflamingo viewed him as his little brother.
Law later discovered how little Doflamingo actually cares for him and, after the latter revealed to Corazon that he intends to “educate” Law to die for him via brainwashing through the Ope Ope no Mi’s immortality operation, coupled with Doflamingo murdering Corazon, who saved Law’s life by giving him his Devil Fruit to cure his illness, Law defected from Doflamingo, swearing to avenge Corazon’s death.
After the betrayal, Doflamingo wanted Law to die in a terrible manner that he would regret ever being born. The two would already be eternal enemies towards each other due to Law’s nature as a “D.” and Doflamingo’s status as a former World Noble, something Corazon was already aware of.
7 – MARSHALL D. TEACH “BLACKBEARD” vs SHANKS
Shanks has a watchful eye out for Teach. Although exact events are unknown, Shanks previously admitted to Whitebeard that his facial scar came from a direct attack from Teach. Shanks himself seems to know the potential danger Blackbeard represents is greater than that of anyone else.
Even at Marineford, Shanks addressed Teach in a tense manner, and he only seems to regard Teach as a significant threat compared to the Marines or the Whitebeard Pirates and their New World subordinate crews.
Having already proclaimed “his” era is beginning, unveiling the new members of his crew and demonstrating control over two Devil Fruits, Teach said he had achieved his goal for the time being, while also knowing he was not ready to face the Yonko.
6 – AKAINU vs KUZAN
Kuzan detests Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, because the latter follows a policy of “Absolute Justice”. This disgust dates back many years, as during the time when both were still vice admirals, Sakazuki killed innocent Ohara civilians to ensure that none of the archaeologists escaped the Buster Call, causing Kuzan to call him a fool. After Sengoku resigned, Admiral Aokiji was strongly opposed against Admiral Akainu becoming fleet admiral and fought him for the position, even though Kuzan himself originally had little interest in it. They battled for 10 days, but Kuzan was defeated and he resigned from the Marines rather than serve under Sakazuki.
5 – SHIKI vs GOL D. ROGER
Shiki is one of the many Pirates whose utmost respect had been gained by Roger. In fact, during their youth, the two Pirates flew into several skirmishes against each other due to their separate ideals (Shiki wanted to control it all, while Roger simply wanted to remain free), but in their last battle, Shiki was shown to be willing to treat the past as letting bygones be bygones, if Roger would just agree to form an alliance with him, and was even ready to work together with the Pirate King for his grand dream of conquest, offering to have the known world as spoils.
When Roger was “captured” by Marines, Shiki angrily invaded Marineford, saying that he should have killed him himself, and when in Impel Down, he thought of his old rival, showing sadness because of all the new rookies wanting to invade the Grand Line, and veterans like Roger dying.
4 – SHANKS vs DRACULE MIHAWK
In the past, Mihawk was a rival to one of the most powerful pirates in the world, Shanks.Their battles were said to shake the whole of the Grand Line and Mihawk often sought Shanks out for duels. After Shanks lost his arm twelve years ago, Mihawk ceased seeking him out for duels. At some point, he earned the title of “World’s Greatest Swordsman” and joined the ranks of the Shichibukai.
Mihawk retains a neutral, though somewhat friendly relationship with Shanks, and is able to track him down if the need arises. He and Shanks do manage to get along, regardless of the fact that the two are opposites in personalities.
3 – EDWARD NEWGATE “WHITEBEARD” vs GOL D. ROGER
Gol D. Roger was the first man to conquer the Grand Line. Being the Pirate King and all, he made a lot of enemies. One of them was Whitebeard, who was said to be one of the few who could match Roger in a fight.
Despite having been rivals with Gol D. Roger, Whitebeard held much respect for him. Not long before his death, Roger met with Whitebeard on an island to have what seemed to be an entirely cordial drinking session, with Roger even offering to give the location of Laugh Tale to Whitebeard, and when Whitebeard asked Roger about the Will of D., Roger willingly told him about it. Upon learning that Ace was his rival’s son, Whitebeard did not see his bloodline as an inconvenience, and even tried to inspire Ace to respect Roger as his father.
2 – GOL D. ROGER vs MONKEY D. GARP
As a Marine, Garp attempted to kill Roger several times. A s such, they have a long history against each other with the exception to the Rocks Pirates. However, when Roger was about to be executed, after turning himself in due to his terminal illness, he made a final request to Garp. He asked Garp to take care of his unborn child, as he did not deserve to be condemned as a criminal because of his father’s crimes.
Due to their countless clashes, Roger came to see Garp as much of a friend as the rest of his crew. Garp too seemed to have some form of respect for him as he not only protected Ace but showed signs of disappointment from Ace’s decision to disregard Roger as being his father. He also told Dadan that although he is a Marine, he could never come to hate Roger.
1 – ROCKS D. XEBEC vs GOL D. ROGER
Rocks D. Xebec was the captain of the Rocks Pirates, a legendary pirate crew that sailed the seas 38 years before the current storyline. They were considered to be the most powerful pirate crew of their time.
Rocks D. Xebec appeared to be an incredibly vicious and ambitious man, his dream was to become the King of the World and he attacked many locations and left mass destruction in his wake to assert his dominance.
He was also considered to be the most formidable rival of the Pirate King Gol D. Roger, even more so than his subordinate Whitebeard would come to be; it took both Roger and Monkey D. Garp to finally kill Rocks D. Xebec.
