Highlights
- The Admirals in One Piece are among the strongest characters in the series, ranking just below the Yonko.
- Oda has clarified their power level in the final saga, showing that while they are formidable, they are not as strong as the Yonko.
- Instances in the story, such as Shanks easily intimidating an Admiral and Luffy holding his own against an Admiral in battle, support the notion that the Admirals are a tier below the Yonko in terms of strength.
One Piece is in the final saga right now, which means that the strongest in the series are now gathering and taking part in some high-octane battles. For the longest time, Oda has avoided using Admirals in his fights as it is highly likely that he intended for them to be among the final opponents for the Straw Hat Pirates in the series. However, now that One Piece is in the final phase, it is time for these powerful Admirals to make their move.
At the same time, fans have always had debates about how strong the Admirals are. Some believe them to be as strong as the Yonko while others believe the Admirals to be below that. Thankfully, Oda has finally clarified how strong they truly are in the final saga of One Piece and it is clearly something very interesting.
Who Are The Admirals?
When it comes to the powerful characters of the One Piece world, the Admirals certainly rank among the very best. Essentially, the Admirals are the strongest fighters of the Navy directly after the Fleet Admiral, at least in most cases. The Admirals are also some of the highest authorities within the Marines. The only position above them is the Fleet Admiral and this means that the authority they possess cannot be challenged by anyone else. They also have the power to invoke a Buster Call and that just goes to show what military might they hold. However, it is not for the military might that they are feared in the One Piece world.
The Admirals are truly feared for the powerhouses they are. Before the timeskip of One Piece, fans got a proper look at how strong these characters are. Throughout the Paramount War, the Admirals put on quite a show in the fight against some of the strongest pirates present on the island. At the time, the Admirals were made up of Kuzan, Borsalino, and Sakazuki. All three of these characters proved their might in the Paramount War and emerged from the battle barely carrying any injuries. This, naturally, made the fans wonder as to how strong they truly were and sparked debates that the Admirals were actually as strong as the Yonko. However, Oda has finally clarified that now in more ways than one and it is evident that they have a specific power level in the world of One Piece now.
The Bounties Of The Admirals
One of the most interesting things that puts into perspective the power level of Admirals in the One Piece world is the bounties that have been issued for these individuals. Thanks to the creation of the Cross Guild following the abolition of the Warlord system, the Marines have bounties on them, just like the Pirates. There is essentially no difference between these two now and bounty hunters can go after either. If they hunt down pirates, they can turn them over to the Navy and receive great rewards. At the same time, if they hunt down Marines, they can turn them over to the Cross Guild and receive great rewards for that as well. The bounties for the Marines have not been fully revealed. However, for the Admirals, Oda made it clear that each one of them has a Three Crown Bounty on their heads. A single Crown amounts to a billion berries and that means Three Crowns amount to 3 billion barriers, which is very high.
This bounty is somewhat similar to what the new Yonko have received in One Piece. Luffy recently received a 3 billion battery bounty after defeating Kaido. At the same time, Buggy was given a 3.189 billion beri bounty recently following the abolition of the Shichibukai system. This only goes to show that the Admirals are close to the Yonko. However, fans must remember that three out of the four Yonko have a higher bounty than that of the Admirals. Luffy was given a 3 billion bounty simply because the war was believed to be one fought by the Worst Generation against the Yonko. Essentially, both Kid and Law also received 3 billion battery bounties, however, fans know that they are nowhere near Luffy’s level and the Admirals are much stronger than them as well.
Evidently, Luffy deserves a bounty that is much higher than those two and, when taking just the bounties into consideration, the Admirals are a step below the Yonko.
The Admirals Vs The Yonko
When it comes to the power level of the Admirals and the Yonko, Oda has defined them in two particular instances in the Final Saga One Piece. The first instance happened shortly before the final saga began. In the land of Wano, Admiral Green Bull wanted to attack Luffy in order to take his head back to Sakazuki. He was stopped by the Akazaya Nine, however, when they proved to not be enough, Shanks was the one who stepped in and put the fear of God in the Admiral. In fact, Shanks managed to do this from miles away and it was clear to see that the Admiral did not want to pick up a fight with him.
This is a clear sign of portrayal from Oda and goes to show that the Admirals are not as strong as the Yonko. If that wasn’t enough, Green Bull himself goes on to confirm that Kaido was a big deterrent in Wano Country and he was the only reason why the Navy was not attacking this land. Green Bull also goes on to say that if Kaido had been there, he would never have attacked this land in the first place, which is proof that he did not believe himself to be strong enough to take down Kaido.
If this wasn’t proof enough, then, fans got to see another Admiral in battle in the final saga of One Piece. On Egghead Island, Luffy engaged Kizaru in battle and did great against him. When he tapped into the power of Gear 5, it was clear to see that Luffy had Kizaru on the ropes. In fact, Kizaru completely wanted to avoid combat with him because he wanted to focus on his mission of killing Vegapunk. Fighting against Luffy, he would not get very far. Even though he tried his best to avoid fighting against Luffy, he could not defeat him in combat.
In the end, it was Luffy who knocked him down with a powerful punch right to the head and put him in a state where he could not even stand up and forced Saturn to jump into battle instead. Of course, this knocked Luffy out of his Gear 5 as well, however, compared to Kizaru, Luffy did not go into the battle completely fresh. Luffy spent the previous night fighting against Rob Lucci in Gear 5 and fans already know that this form takes a toll on his body.
That wasn’t all, as Luffy then had to fight for the entire night against the Seraphim in front of him and that certainly drained his power as well. Furthermore, Luffy has not hit his peak as a Yonko just yet. Gear 5 is still very new to his body and he needs time to adjust to it. If he can defeat an Admiral before even fully mastering Gear 5, then it is proof enough that stronger Yonko, such as Shanks or even Blackbeard can dismantle an Admiral with rather ease. Essentially, this is confirmation from Oda that the Admirals are not as strong as the Yonko and a tier below. This doesn’t mean the Admirals are weak. They are certainly among the strongest characters in the One Piece world, however, they are not as strong as the strongest pirates on the seas.
One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1098, is set to be November 12, 2023.
