Key Takeaways
- Post-time skip One Piece villains are major antagonists with compelling personalities and development.
- Doflamingo stands out as the best post-time skip villain with his cruel charisma and interesting backstory.
- Each villain, even the disliked Hody Jones, contributes to the unique and diverse experience of One Piece.
Ranking villains in One Piece is a nearly impossible task. Even when breaking them down into smaller groups, like pre-time skip villains and post-time skip villains, choosing just one of the series’ amazing antagonists is something that can’t be done. When it comes down to it, choosing the “best” villain is entirely subjective, meaning that no matter what someone picks, they have the right answer.
As far as post-time skip villains in One Piece are concerned, although there aren’t nearly as many as pre-time skip, all of them, except one, make for amazing additions to the series. Unlike pre-time skip villains, most post-time skip villains have been in the series for hundreds of episodes, each with major amounts of screen time and development. Due to this, in many ways, post-time skip villains are some of the most beloved characters in all of One Piece. Now, it’s time to decide which post-time skip, pre-Final Saga villain is the best.
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Post-Time Skip Has Some Amazing Villains
Astonishing Antagonists Aplenty
For consideration of the best villain in post-time skip One Piece, the villains need to be major antagonists of their arcs. This means characters like the Navy Admiral Fujitora on Dressrosa, or Big Mom in both Whole Cake Island and Wano will not be considered. Additionally, these characters are those that had a major clash with Luffy at the end of the arc as well. Finally, only canon characters will be considered as well, though the One Piece movies do have some amazing villains that deserve recognition.
But pirates will betray you. When they know they’ll lose, they will abandon you and sail away! – Kaido
The characters up for consideration are Hody Jones from Fishman Island, Caesar Clown from Punk Hazard, Doffy from Dressrosa, Katakuri from Whole Cake Island, and finally Kaido from Wano. Although this are far fewer villains than pre-time skip One Piece, overall, they provide stronger competition than any other villain in One Piece. With both strength and compelling personalities, some of these villains are considered to be the best characters that One Piece has to offer.
No Post-Time Skip One Piece Villain Is Bad
Except For Maybe Hody Jones
That is, except for One Piece’s Hody Jones, an almost universally hated major antagonist. While the history of Fishman Island that led to Hody Jones’ hatred of humans was interesting, the character himself is extremely one-note and boring. Edging him out slightly is Caesar Clown from One Piece’s Punk Hazard Arc, who despite being a much better character, had a very uninteresting fight against Luffy at the end of the arc. Additionally, most of Caesar’s development came after the arc while he was a reluctant ally to the Straw Hats.
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Next out, despite both being amazing One Piece characters, would have to be Kaido and Katakuri. Kaido has an interesting character, though his personality and motivation as a villain aren’t as good as the other options on this list. As for the Big Mom Pirate, Katakuri, while arguably being one of the best characters in all of One Piece, isn’t nearly hateable enough to be the best villain.
Doffy is the Ideal One Piece Villain
A Perfect Fight For Luffy
As many would probably agree, although the competition is stiff, the best post-time skip villain in One Piece would have to be Donquixote Doflamingo. Being arguably the evilest character in all of One Piece instantly makes Doffy a classic adversary for Luffy to face. With an interesting backstory that doesn’t let the audience sympathize with the monster, Doffy was, and still is, one of the most interesting villains in One Piece, long after Dressrosa is over. Oozing with a cruel charisma, malice, and a small amount of love for his crew, Doffy is arguably one of the best-made villains in recent anime history.
Those who stand at the top determine what’s wrong and what’s right! This very place is neutral ground! Justice will prevail, you say? But of course it will! Whoever wins this war becomes justice! – Doflamingo
In the end, each of the villains mentioned, even Hody, has their own merits that make them interesting antagonists for their arcs. Without any one of them, the story of One Piece would be an entirely different experience. Although many would consider Doffy to be the best antagonist among them, each villain probably has at least one viewer who believes they are the best in the One Piece community. Plenty of fans out there might even consider Hody Jones to be the pinnacle of villainy in One Piece.
