Ranking All Of Luffy's Major Fights in One Piece

Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’ll be ranking all of Luffy’s major fights in “One Piece.”

For this list, we’ll be going through all, or at least most of, the significant fights Luffy participates in during the anime and manga “One Piece.”

If there’s a Luffy fight you rate as high as he can stretch, by all means, please tell us your favorites in the comments! Because they’re all awesome!

The obnoxious king of Drum Island, Wapol’s powers let him become what he eats. Although this makes for some amusing transformations, his actual battle with Luffy is pretty ho-hum as far as arc villains go. It’s still great seeing Luffy give him the “Team Rocket” treatment by launching him off the island though.

A supposedly brilliant pirate who poses as a butler, Kuro’s only ambition is to lead a quiet life. However, this cat still has claws and his speed is no joke either. Ruthlessly cutting down everyone in his path, even his own former crew, Luffy manages to catch him and ring his bell.

Buggy is a “side-splittingly” funny buffoon of a pirate and Luffy’s first opponent with a Devil Fruit power The duo’s shared history with Shanks, and opposing views on him as well as treasure, make them natural enemies. Luffy may send Buggy flying easily, but we’re glad he isn’t gone for good.

Possessing a versatile wax Devil Fruit ability and a sadistic streak, Mr. 3 is easy to hate in his fight against Luffy. With his friends’ lives on the line, Luffy busts through the smug Baroque Works agents’ walls, mech suits, and body doubles to knock the lift out of Mr. 3’s numerical hairdo – and a few teeth, while he’s at it!

Kuzan, better known as Aokiji, was a Marine Admiral and is one of the strongest characters Luffy has ever faced. Despite Luffy going all out in their brief encounter, Aokiji freezes him solid with little effort. If not for Aokijii’s sense of honor, Luffy could easily have died facing him.

A commander and son of Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors, Cracker gives Luffy one of his longest battles, wearing him down for almost half a day! Unfortunately for him, his biscuit soldiers are only food for the future Pirate King – making him bigger and more elastic!

Upon meeting again in Impel Down, Luffy realizes the mysterious man he met is Blackbeard, the pirate who captured his brother and led to his planned execution. Their exchange of blows is brief, but intense. While Luffy is convinced to let it go, these two are fated to clash again.

With his awful family threatening everyone he cares about, Luffy’s crewmate Sanji believes he has no choice but to throw in with them and the Big Mom Pirates. His attempts to drive Luffy away through force are met with a stubborn refusal to fight back from Luffy. Sanji may walk away, but Luffy won.

This mad scientist may have goofy expressions, but Caesar is so despicable, Luffy is ready to punch his face in after several attempts to capture him. The gasbag captures Luffy himself briefly, but upon escaping, Luffy proceeds to put some dents in Caesar’s face he won’t soon forget!

Moria is a massive master of shadows and zombies, but by taking in 1000 shadows, he gets even bigger. With everyone’s lives at risk should the sun rise, Luffy takes things up “several Gears” and hits the Warlord so hard he spits out the shadows. Overall, the fight feels like a video game boss battle.

Quite possibly the silliest fight in the series, Foxy is a lowdown trickster, whose slowdown powers, traps, and numerous flimsy disguises have Luffy on the defensive more often than you’d think. But, thanks to a little “reflection,” and the power of his ridiculous afro wig, Luffy emerges victorious in this contest of captains.

A giant zombie animated by Moria using Luffy’s own shadow, Oars proves a tough challenge to overcome. However, when Luffy swallows shadows of other people, his transformation into a hulking “nightmare Luffy” lets him toss Oars around like a rag doll. The transformation doesn’t last long, but the beatdown is still great while it lasts.

Hody Jones isn’t the most exciting of “One Piece” villains, even if he is a prejudiced Fish-Man terrorist trying to destroy Fish-Man Island. He’s basically a punching bag for Luffy to show how strong he’s become after 2 years of training. Thankfully, it’s still fun to watch Luffy fight in an underwater setting and drop awesome attacks like “Red Hawk!”

This former revolutionary and Warlord may not have malevolent intentions when he causes each of the Straw Hat crew to disappear, but that doesn’t make it any less terrifying or traumatic while it’s happening. Luffy’s futile attempts to fight Kuma may not have as much action as most other fights, but no one can deny the impact of the fight’s outcome.

After previously belittling Luffy and his dreams, Bellamy tries to fight him in earnest when Luffy demands satisfaction (and gold) for his friends. While Bellamy uses his spring powers in a show of force, Luffy takes him down with a single, satisfying punch. It’s not always the length of the fight – but the impact.

Luffy’s attempt to rescue his brother Ace from the great prison Impel Down sees the young pirate face a plethora of foes, both returning and new. The most formidable of these is Magellan, the prison’s warden. Confronted by Magellan in Impel Down’s fiery fourth level, Luffy refuses to back down, despite the warnings from his allies. Magellan’s poisonous powers make their caution well warranted! Although Luffy is brave and determined enough to hit Magellan, even if it gives him a potentially lethal dose of poison, he’s still overwhelmed. Given the flames around them and how close Luffy comes to dying, he really goes through hell in this fight.

He may be retired from piracy, but Don Chinjao is still “old man strong!” Once a rival of Luffy’s grandfather Garp, Chinjao maintains a serious grudge against the whole family for Garp literally punching his head in. His clash with the Straw Hat captain in a colosseum catches everyone off guard, as their powerful Conqueror’s Haki clashes and knocks out every other competitor in the ring. Arguably Luffy’s first decent fight in the New World, this battle is surprisingly epic. It also has quite the finisher, in which Luffy repeats his grandpa’s feat and inadvertently fixes Chinjao’s head – and destroys the arena.

One of the Seven Warlords, Crocodile is a ruthless, cunning pirate with an intricate plan to take over Alabasta Kingdom by manipulating a rebellion. In order to buy his friends time to stop it, Luffy stays behind to fight Crocodile in the desert. Unimpressed by Luffy’s spirit, Crocodile gives him three minutes. Luffy is completely unable to even damage Crocodile, since his ability lets him become and manipulate sand. Although Luffy’s creativity and tenacity are great (and occasionally funny), Crocodile not only defeats him, but also impales him and leaves him for dead – buried alive. While there were opponents Luffy couldn’t beat before this, this is the first time he loses outright, and it’s positively chilling.

Given that Enel he’s made of lightning and can sense everything around him, it’s no wonder he became the god of a sky island. Throughout this whole arc, Enel is completely untouchable by even the strongest characters. Enter Luffy – a rubber man. Besides causing Enel to make the funniest face of all time, Luffy also gives Enel his first real fight. Even though Enel can predict his moves to a certain extent, Luffy’s bottomless creativity is enough to get more hits in. Although the long-lobed wannabe deity takes him out of the fight for a while, Luffy lugs a golden ball up a beanstalk to save Skypiea and ring Enel’s bell – literally and figuratively.

Luffy may lose to Crocodile in their first match, but he’s not down for good. After swooping in to save Princess Vivi, Luffy challenges Crocodile again, but this time he’s able to actually hit the Warlord after discovering his weakness – water. Seeing Luffy smack the smug expression off Crocodile’s face is very satisfying. Also, his patently ridiculous strategies, like swallowing an entire barrel of water, make it a hilarious fight as well. Unfortunately, a side effect, or maybe awakening, of Crocodile’s power allows him to absorb moisture, allowing him to once again emerge victorious.

Once the mightiest pirate in East Blue, Krieg is defeated by one of the Warlords, but not humbled. Pitted against Luffy on the ruins of his former flagship, what follows is one of the most underrated fights in “One Piece.” Not only is Krieg a delightfully hateworthy villain with a ton of tricks and weapons up his sleeves, but the fight also acts as a microcosm of what makes Luffy such a great protagonist. His single-minded determination to achieve his goals, no matter the odds or the risk to himself is on full display here. Seeing Luffy charge through Krieg’s spikes, explosive battle spear, poison gas, nets, and “unbreakable” armor reminds us why he’s the only man fit to become the Pirate King.

In some fights, everyone loses. After he and Luffy have a falling out over abandoning their unfixable ship, the Going Merry, Usopp challenges his captain to a duel over the beloved vessel. He may be cowardly and far weaker than Luffy, but Usopp puts up a decent fight, thanks to his numerous tricks, traps, and gadgets. Unfortunately, Luffy only really needs to hit his crewmate once to defeat him. And even then, he decides to let Usopp take the Merry. While it may not be Luffy’s most challenging battle physically, it’s undoubtedly his most difficult one emotionally.

The War at Marineford between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines plus the Warlords is one of the most titanic events in the series’ history. Naturally, Luffy finds himself smackdab in the middle of it, with the goal of saving Ace. There are so many great battles he has along the way that choosing just one is impossible! He has a rematch with Smoker! He flattens a giant with an oversized punch! He escapes Mihawk, the world’s greatest swordsman, nearly unscathed! Not to mention his confrontation with all 3 of the Marine Admirals! The whole war is a smorgasbord of fantastic encounters, and Luffy’s part in it is superb.

Arguably the first time Luffy fights in earnest against one of the Four Emperors, this fight left everyone shook! After Kaido apparently destroys the place where Luffy’s friends are, all thoughts of keeping a low profile go out the window. Leaping into action, Luffy proceeds to pummel Kaido to the ground and throws every one of his most powerful attacks at the draconian pirate. Shockingly, Kaido is not only uninjured by Luffy fighting at full strength, but his only successful attack against Luffy knocks him out in one hit! Luffy has lost before to foes, but few thought he’d lose this badly, particularly after how strong he’s become. When these two do clash again, it’ll raise the bar on hype…or at least “the roof.”

A member of CP9, Blueno confronts Luffy on a rooftop when Luffy arrives to rescue his crewmate Robin. While Luffy had previously had difficulty with the assassin group’s techniques that give them iron bodies and superhuman speed, he illustrates that he can keep up with Blueno, even if his bizarre door-creating powers give him difficulty. While Blueno is a mid-tier opponent, this fight gets elevated to another level when Luffy reveals his new technique – Gear Second. By using his rubber body to pump his blood faster, Luffy can move at blinding speed and thoroughly wrecks Blueno! The sense of speed and the awesome hits make this fight a blast to watch.

For over a decade, Arlong and his fishmen pirate crew terrorize Nami and her village. But once Luffy learns Nami is suffering, he’s ready to flatten Arlong immediately, despite having no idea who he is. The fight is an excellent showcase of how much Luffy’s friends, especially Nami, mean to him. The goofy pirate is the perfect balance between comedy and seriousness here, on the one hand busting out creative moves that put the hurt on Arlong, while also finding time to wear his opponent’s teeth. In turn, Arlong is a completely despicable and intimidating villain. So it’s especially rewarding to see Luffy stomp him through a building!

Doflamingo is one of “One Piece”’s greatest villains and his fight with Luffy is suitably spectacular. The Warlord not only has a broken Devil Fruit power (strings, go figure!), but he’s also Luffy’s match when it comes to Haki. Thankfully, Luffy chooses this battle to debut his new form – Gear Fourth! Doffy may laugh it off at first, but that King Kong Gun is no joke! The fight has a little bit of everything – time sensitivity, great power reveals, and an overwhelming villain. There are a few pacing issues though, which holds it back a little for us. But if this, or any of the next few entries, is your #1, we can’t argue with you.

The third time's the charm! Following his second defeat, Luffy rehydrates and pursues Crocodile into a tomb. Here he battles the sand croc using his own bloody fists to bypass Crocodile’s powers. Both combatants are at their most desperate, with Crocodile even busting out poison to deal with the persistent younger pirate. At last though, Luffy unleashes a veritable storm of punches that drives Crocodile up through the ground, accompanied by symphony music – just to make it that much more epic! The battle is intense, the stakes are sky high, and it’s the culmination of a beloved saga.

A merciless government assassin, Rob Lucci pushes Luffy like few opponents ever have. With Robin on the cusp of rescue and his friends all counting on him, Luffy pulls out all the stops for this fight, using Gear Second, as well as revealing Gear Third for the first time, just to keep up with Lucci. This is a fight of brutal blows and impressive speed, that has Luffy knocking on death’s door and which concludes with Luffy unleashing a cry of Jet Gatling that you can feel in your very soul!

The odds are stacked heavily against Luffy here. Not only does Big Mom’s toughest son see the future, but his Devil Fruit powers are also like Luffy’s and arguably better. Luffy rises to his opponent’s level during the fight, attaining a new Gear Fourth form and glimpsing what comes next with his Haki. In addition, Katakuri himself grows to become a better, more honorable man through exchanging blows with Luffy. And that’s classic Luffy – improving everyone around him, even his enemies.Other Luffy fights have new form reveals, high stakes, and great choreography. But Luffy vs Katakuri perfected these elements.