Highlights
- Franky’s battles in One Piece showcase his crazy cyborg abilities and highlight the creativity of the series.
- Despite being interrupted and short, Franky’s battles still leave an impact in memorable arcs like Water 7 and Enies Lobby.
- Franky’s battles after the time skip demonstrate his immense power and mix impressive displays with hilarious moments.
One of One Piece’s biggest strengths is its huge array of colorful characters. The Straw Hat Pirate crew alone is already comprised of 10 different people, and each one of them has their own skills, powers, and abilities that often result in some amazing and creative battles against enemies.
When fans are discussing battles in One Piece, they usually point to popular characters like Luffy, Zoro, or Sanji. But the other members of the crew have also been involved in amazing fights, and Franky is no exception. The shipwright of the Straw Hat Pirates has starred in some of the most epic and fantastic individual battles in the series, which goes to show how truly hectic One Piece can be.
7 Franky Vs. Monkey D. Luffy
Water 7 Arc
It’s fascinating how Franky is one of the few Straw Hats who actually started out as an antagonist and slowly turned into an ally before joining the crew. After Luffy and his crewmates destroy the Franky House in order to take revenge for Usopp’s beating, the cyborg wants to fight their captain in return. This leads to their initial battle.
This fight’s main purpose is to show off Franky’s crazy cyborg abilities since this is the very first time the audience is truly introduced to the character. As fun as it was, this meant this battle was just goofy and forgettable with no real stakes to it. It was also disappointingly brief, as they were interrupted by the members of the Galley-La Company.
6 Franky Vs. Nero
Enies Lobby Arc
It’s easy to forget that during the raid on Enies Lobby, Franky was the only person who defeated not one but two different members of CP9. The first one he fought was their newest recruit, Nero. This was a special event since it was the first time audiences could see Franky fighting as one of the good guys.
Witnessing Franky’s cyborg powers clashing against Nero’s Rokushiki techniques was really entertaining. This fight also introduced Franky Centaur, one of his goofiest and most hilarious abilities in the series. The main issue is that their battle is way too short, and it doesn’t stick out as much in a huge arc that is packed with so many memorable moments.
5 Franky Vs. Ikaros Much
Fish-Man Island Arc
None of the battles that the Straw Hat Pirates had against the New Fish-Man Pirates were meant to be fair or challenging since their purpose was to show the audience how much the crew had grown after the time skip. Franky is a perfect example of this, seeing as he has a brand new mechanical body and a powerful new robot: General Franky.
The giant squid fish-man named Ikaros Much was the victim of Franky’s amazing new arsenal, as he really took a beating from all of his weapons, especially the Radical Beam he managed to replicate from the Pacificistas. Despite the fact that Franky didn’t have any real issues fighting Ikaros Much, it encapsulated how most of his battles would go from that point onward. It was a goofy concept, but it had an epic conclusion.
4 Franky Vs. Fukurou
Enies Lobby Arc
Nero was just a mere distraction in comparison to Franky’s next real opponent from CP9, Fukurou. Series author Eiichiro Oda loves to create funny characters and then make them face each other. In this case, this resulted in some of the most hilarious scenes in One Piece, like when Chopper swapped Franky’s beverages and altered his personality in the middle of this intense battle.
But, when things got serious, Franky really showed that he was worthy of being a future member of the Straw Hat Pirates. Despite Fukurou’s strong Rokushiki techniques and his advantage while fighting in the air, the cyborg managed to use his wits to trick and defeat him in one of the most satisfying moments in the entire arc.
3 Franky Vs. Sasaki
Wano Arc
This was one of those huge arcs in One Piece in which almost every member of the crew had to face at least one of the members of the fearsome Beasts Pirates. In Franky’s case, he had to fight Sasaki, a member of the Tobiroppo. Since he ate a powerful Zoan Devil Fruit that made him turn into a Triceratops, this is a colossal battle between a dinosaur and a giant robot, and it did not disappoint.
The fight between General Franky and Sasaki in his Triceratops form showed how creative Eiichiro Oda can be. It featured a lot of hilarious moments that never took away from the intensity of the situation. The fact that Sasaki can spin his frills in order to fly like a helicopter is already a goofy gag in and of itself. Sadly, like many other Franky battles, this one suffers from being just way too short, and it left fans of the cyborg wanting more.
2 Franky Vs. Baby 5 & Buffalo
Punk Hazard Arc
As was previously mentioned, the Straw Hats were immensely powerful after the time skip, and they didn’t really struggle during the first half of the New World. So, when Franky had to protect the Thousand Sunny from Baby 5 and Buffalo of the Donquixote family, it was pretty much a game for him because he was way above their league.
Once again, this is an instance of Franky mixing impressiveness with hilarity, as he was playing with the two enemies with no effort, culminating with his signature “Iron Pirate” song and the hilarious boomerang mix-up. The most amusing part of this encounter is that Franky didn’t really know who Baby 5 and Buffalo were; he just did his job efficiently and without any major issues.
1 Franky Vs. Senor Pink
Dressrosa Arc
There’s an argument to be made that maybe Franky was too reliant on General Franky after the time skip. So it was a clever idea for Eiichiro Oda to make him face a powerful pirate without the help of his brand-new robot, relying only on his main body and the abilities within it. And he didn’t even use most of his weapons since he was mainly fighting with his bare fists and raw strength. The battle between Franky and Senor Pink was not only his best battle, but it was also one of the most memorable moments in all of One Piece. What started as a hard-boiled encounter between two strong guys who were just trying to outdo each other, ended in a truly touching moment.
With the help of his Sui Sui no Mi, Senor Pink truly gave Franky a rough time, but he managed to come out on top and end it all with a Franky Boxing attack. When the cyborg heard about Russian, Senor Pink’s deceased wife, he noticed how truly similar they were. And when Franky finally landed the final blow, he told him they would meet again so they could talk about her over a drink, becoming sworn brothers in the process.
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