Oda Reveals How He Makes His Villains Stronger

One Piece is well and truly underway, and fans are eagerly waiting for the author to dive deeper into the Final Saga and take on bigger adventures than ever before.

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It is safe to say that the story is absolutely impeccable as it is right now, and with Oda edging closer to the end with each passing chapter, it is no surprise to know that every hanging plot thread is now being tied up. Interestingly enough, this also means that some old One Piece characters show up once again, including the many villains. Oda has previously spoken about his villains in the story, and clearly shown his love for having them return stronger than ever before.

Oda’s Early One Piece Villains

• Oda’s Early Villains Were Weak
• Some Of Them Have Returned

The villains in One Piece are quite easily underrated, but that’s only expected, given that this is an absolutely massive world with billions of exciting elements to look at. In the East Blue, for instance, Oda introduced quite a few exciting villains, but by today’s standards, they’re no special. The likes of Don Krieg or Arlong are not comparable to the villains of the magnitude of Kaido, among others. Even into the Grand Line, some villains that Oda introduced, although absolutely menacing, are considered to be weak by many. Sir Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, went head to head against Luffy and lost the battle. Enel, who followed shortly after him, was also not able to live up to the power that Luffy showed. Rob Lucci, who Luffy fought as the main antagonist of the Water 7 Saga, was also quite strong back then, but by the post timeskip standards, he wasn’t all that impressive.

It can be said that some of the villains that Oda introduced in his story came too early, sad as that may be. These were some brilliant characters who could’ve made absolutely sensational overpowered villains later down the line. But since they were up against Luffy quite early into the story, they had to be dealt with in one way or another. Crocodile is a prime example of this. Having been to the New World and being feared all over the world, Crocodile felt like someone who was introduced too early in the story. With the level of power that he possessed, there was absolutely no way he should’ve lost to Luffy the way he did.

This can also be said for Enel, in a way, and it can be said for a few others as well. Fans often talk about certain villains being weak and disappointing, and Oda clearly takes notice of it. In the past, Oda has addressed this himself I’m very interesting ways within the story.

How Oda Makes Weak Villains Stronger

Oda Loves To Bring Back Villains Stronger

If there’s one thing that Oda absolutely loves, it is to bring relevant villains and have them play even bigger roles later down the line in One Piece. But, when fans talk about certain villains being weak, Oda doesn’t quite appreciate that the villains are being downplayed. Because of that, he chooses to reintroduce them when the time comes and make them many times stronger than before.

Clearly, this is something that Oda follows to this day, and there are quite a few examples to notice as well. For instance, Sir Crocodile, who is perhaps, one character that everyone regrets was introduced so early, was beaten by Luffy during the Arabasta arc. He was soon imprisoned by the Navy in Impel Down. However, years after, Crocodile appeared once again, specifically when Luffy broke into Impel Down and set a lot of prisoners free. Crocodile collaborated with Luffy, and it was clear to see that he’d gotten far stronger than before. He could keep up with Luffy’s Gear 2, and a powerful Fishman such as Jinbe.

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That certainly isn’t all. In the Paramount War, Crocodile took on even Doflamingo in combat and matched him evenly. He clashed with Dracule Mihawk and held him back easily, and he even managed to stop Akainu, allowing Luffy to live. Crocodile was fighting just about everyone in the Paramount War, and what’s amazing is the fact that he was able to hold his own against every single one of them. Now, in the New World, Crocodile is a member of the Cross Guild and a pirate with a 1.965 billion bounty. He’s gotten even stronger and is easily among the strongest Yonko commanders.

Something similar happened to Lucci as well. He was introduced to the fans as a CP9 agent when he was beaten by Luffy. But, in the post timeskip of the story, Lucci was far stronger. He even showed his amazing awakening, and in doing so, managed to hold his own against Luffy. Undoubtedly, Lucci was a completely different beast when he returned after the timeskip and he remains relevant to this day.

Will More Old Villains Return In One Piece?

It Is Very Likely That Old One Piece Characters Will Come Back

Just like Crocodile and Lucci, more characters are bound to return in One Piece at some point. Fans know for a fact that Enel could have a major role laid out for him and that he could end up playing a massive role in the Final Saga, especially since he’s on the moon right now. Once he does return, he’s going to be much stronger than ever before. Fans should expect him to have other forms of Haki and show his true potential in combat.

Along with him, Gecko Moria could also play a major role in the Final Saga. Oda is clearly planning something in regards to him, given that he was imprisoned by Blackbeard and has now been freed. When Moria does return to play a big role, fans should expect him to be stronger.

Similarly, even characters who were introduced long ago, such as Gin, could potentially make their return in the story, as can characters who were introduced as villains much recently, such as Doflamingo. All of these characters can play a major role and they will do it being stronger than ever before. All fans need to do is sit back patiently and wait for the story to move forward.

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 apps. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1140, is set to be February 23, 2025.

One Piece

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

Directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

• 

  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

• 

  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)