For more than twenty years, One Piece has stood at the top of the shonen anime mountain because the series tells a beautifully detailed and emotional story that centers around Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates. Luffy’s dream is to become the new Pirate King, and in order to do that, he needs to reach the island of Laugh Tale and acquire the One Piece treasure.
Gol D. Roger is the only person to be universally considered the Pirate King, and he earned the title after reaching Laugh Tale. An entire generation of pirates has gone out to take the title for themselves. There are a few pirates who are worthy of becoming the next Pirate King, like Luffy and Shanks, but there are others who are definitely not worthy.
10 Doflamingo Donquixote
To this day, many fans consider Doflamingo to be the best villain in One Piece, but that does not mean he deserves to be the next Pirate King. He is the captain of the Donquixote Pirates, and prior to becoming a Warlord of the Sea, he had amassed a bounty of 340 million Berries.
Doflamingo ruled the Kingdom of Dressrosa like a tyrant for a decade, and if he were to acquire the One Piece and become Pirate King, he would undoubtedly treat the rest of the world the same way, especially since his goal is to destroy the world that the World Nobles rule over.
9 Crocodile
Crocodile is a former Warlord, and he served as the main villain of the Alabasta Saga. His current bounty stands at just over 1.9 billion Berries, and he founded Cross Guild with Dracule Mihawk. Their organization places bounties on Marines.
At one point, Crocodile dreamed about becoming Pirate King like Luffy, but that all changed when he decided power was more important. He intentionally tried to plunge Alabasta into a civil war so that he could come to power, and he wanted the ancient weapon Pluton which was said to be hidden in the Kingdom. He did not care how many people needed to die for this to happen.
8 Arlong
Arlong wanted to conquer East Blue, and he was Luffy’s first real test. He was part of the Sun Pirates, and after being freed from Impel Down, he created his own crew. His viciousness earned him a 20 million Berry bounty.
Arlong considers humans inferior and has no problem killing them. He killed Nami’s adopted mother right in front of her and then forced her to draw maps for him. He also made her steal money so she could pay for her village’s freedom, but Arlong had no intention of fulfilling the deal. Someone that cruel does not deserve to be Pirate King.
7 Hody Jones
Hody Jones was inspired by Arlong, which is why he created the New Fish-Man Pirates. He despised humans and wished to create a world where fish-men ruled as the superior race. Hody may have not had a bounty, but he did plan to attack the World Government with an army of 100,000.
Luffy was able to beat him, but during their final battle, Hody attempted to destroy Fish-Man Island because he would have rather seen his people dead than coexist with humans. Roger never thought this way, making Hody unworthy of his legacy.
6 Don Krieg
Don Kreig is the admiral of the Krieg Pirates, and he rose to infamy in East Blue, where he amassed a 17 million Berry bounty. He took his fleet into the Grand Line, where they were decimated by Mihawk, and as a result, he attempted to make the Baratie his new ship.
Kreig is cruel, dishonest, and arrogant, and does not care about his crew. The only reason he has a crew is because he knows he cannot sail alone, and he rules over them with fear. Roger loved his crew and treated them with respect, which is one of the reasons why he was the perfect Pirate King.
5 Big Mom
Big Mom was once part of the Rocks Pirates, which means that she fought against the Roger Pirates. She has been a pirate since she was a child, she can manipulate souls, and she can use all forms of Haki, including advanced Conqueror’s Haki. Over the decades, she put together a bounty of over 4.3 billion.
As a yonko, Big Mom ruled her own territory, and she would force her citizens to give her some of their lifespans. If she were to become Pirate King, she would force everyone to do the same, which would potentially make her a tyrant for centuries.
4 Queen
Queen is a scientist who serves as one of the Beast Pirates’ All-Stars, and his bounty stands at 1.3 billion. As a Yonko Commander, Queen is one of the strongest active pirates, which means that he could easily form his own crew and attempt to claim the title of Pirate King for himself.
What makes Queen a terrible candidate, however, is the fact that he is too egotistical and sadistic. He does not think highly of his lowest-ranking crew members and had no problem infecting them with a fatal virus, which is something no Pirate King should ever do.
3 Kaido
Kaido is the captain of the Beast Pirates, and he is known as the strongest creature in the world. He holds one of the highest bounties in the series at 4.6 billion Berries, and he was once part of the Rocks Pirates like Big Mom and Whitebeard.
Kaido has ruled over Wano for years, and the people have suffered greatly because of it. He’s bored with the current world and wishes to cause a major war. Becoming Pirate King would give him the prestige to start this war. As King, Roger wanted freedom, not war and violence.
2 Marshall D. Teach
Marshall D. Teach is the Admiral of the Blackbeard Pirates, and he became a Yonko shortly after killing Whitebeard at Marineford. He possesses both the Dark-Dark Fruit and Tremor-Tremor Fruit, which are two of the most powerful Devil Fruits in existence
Teach wishes to become Pirate King because he lusts for power, and he is willing to do as many cruel acts as possible in order to obtain that power, including killing his own crewmates. Whitebeard himself stated that Teach cannot live up to Roger’s legacy.
1 Buggy The Clown
Buggy is now a Yonko as well as the president of Cross Guild, and he got these titles shortly after getting his Warlord title revoked by the World Government. By all accounts, Buggy should be one of the strongest characters in One Piece, but in reality, he is just extremely lucky.
Buggy is actually quite weak, and despite having an ego, he is a coward who is always being saved by others. It is true that like Shanks, Buggy was once part of Rogers’ crew, but unlike Shanks, he is nowhere near strong enough to earn the title of Pirate King.