Monkey D. Luffy, the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates has been on a long journey to find the One Piece treasure and become the King of the Pirates. Throughout his journey, Luffy has encountered countless enemies who have proved to be a hindrance in his journey and Luffy had to go through a lot to defeat these enemies.
Many of these villains that Luffy had fought have been way out of his league and demolished Luffy to the point where he had to train again, become stronger, and then fight them again. These villains are the literal powerhouses of the series and they had the chance to kill the Straw Hats Captain, but they didn’t.
Although it can be deemed as plot armor, killing in One Piece rarely happens, and thus it gives the chance for Luffy to learn a new ability or figure out the weakness of the antagonist and use it to defeat them. But this doesn’t change the fact that they had the opportunity to kill the protagonist. There have been ten such powerhouses who could have killed Luffy in their first fight.
1. Smoker
Smoker is a Navy vice admiral and commander of the G-5 Marine base. Upon his initial introduction, he was a captain in Loguetown, where his task was to apprehend Luffy. He is one of Luffy’s regular opponents and also one of the first most difficult fights Luffy had faced. This is because he was the first Logia-type user that Luffy encountered and Luffy had no idea how to defeat him.
Smoker was the first official Naval authority that went after Luffy in Loguetown and he even captured Luffy. He had the chance to kill him, but Luffy’s father, Monkey D. Dragon, saved him. Since then, Smoker made it his mission to capture Luffy.
2. Crocodile
Crocodile was once the president of the secretive criminal organization Baroque Works and he was the main antagonist of the Alabasta saga. Crocodile had one of the strongest Devil Fruit powers before the time skip and in their first fight, Luffy didn’t even get the chance to figure out how to defeat the Warlord.
He is among the most enduring and significant main enemies in the story, having been the first to destroy Luffy twice in a row. Crocodile also had the chance to kill Luffy, but he didn’t, and finally during their second fight, Luffy figured out the weakness of Crocodile’s Suna Suna no Mi’s power and ultimately beat the antagonist.
3. Aokiji
Aokiji is the captain of the Tenth Ship and one of the Ten Titanic Captains of the Blackbeard Pirates. Before joining Blackbeard’s crew, he worked as a Marine Admiral. Aokiji was one of the strongest characters Luffy and his crew encountered before the time skip. Luffy met Aokiji for the first time during the Water 7 arc.
Aokiji was so strong that he not only defeated Luffy, but the entire Straw Hat crew, and if he wanted he could have easily killed them. But he only wanted to check their growth and how strong they have become. Luffy never actually fought Aokiji since then, except in the Marineford arc, but Luffy is now strong enough to actually defeat him.
4. Rob Lucci
Rob Lucci is a Cipher Pol agent for the World Government as well as a masked CP0 agent. Lucci is also one of the Straw Hat Pirates’ frequent adversaries. Lucci developed a personal vendetta against the Straw Hats’ Captain Luffy, as he not only defeated him but also got him dismissed from CP9.
The two fought fiercely in Enies Lobby tower, and eventually, Luffy won, but before that, Lucci was able to easily defeat Luffy and apprehend Nico Robin. He had the chance to kill the Straw Hat’s Captain, but he didn’t, and later on, Luffy was able to adapt to his abilities using the Gear 2 form and eventually defeat him.
5. Gecko Moria
“Gecko Moria,” who resides on Thriller Bark, the biggest ship in the world, is the captain of the Thriller Bark Pirates and a former member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Although Moria used a sneak attack on Luffy to capture him and steal his shadow, if at that time the two characters had fought one-on-one, Moria would have easily killed him.
Later on, Luffy manages to escape and become strong enough to defeat the villain and get his and his crew’s shadow back, but he has to go through a lot of pain and suffering to do so. Moria and Luffy’s fight is also considered one of the best fights in One Piece’s pre-time-skip era.
6. Kizaru
Kizaru is a Marine Admiral who can shoot laser beams, blind his opponents, and move, travel, and execute kicks faster than the speed of light, among other things. Just like Aokiji, Kizaru was also one of the strongest adversaries Luffy faced before the time skip. Kizaru was sent to capture or kill Luffy and all the other pirates on Sabaody because Luffy punched a Celestial dragon.
Kizaru was so out of the league for Luffy that during the Sabaody Archipelago arc, Aokiji destroyed almost every pirate present on the island and was about to kill every Straw Hat Pirate, but they were saved by Kuma and Rayleigh. Later on, Luffy became so strong that Kizaru couldn’t even hurt him during the Egghead Arc.
7. Magellan
Magellan is Impel Down’s deputy warden. He was once the chief warden, but after failing to prevent the jail’s sole mass breakout, he was replaced by Hannyabal. Magellan is one of the most underrated characters of One Piece. He was the primary antagonist during the Impel Down arc and the first time Luffy fought him, he couldn’t even land a proper punch to hurt Magellan.
Magellan was so strong that he not only almost killed Luffy but he even defeated the Blackbeard Pirates with just one move. If Ivankov and Bon Kurei hadn’t helped Luffy in Impel Down, he would have died from the poison that Magellan attacked him with.
8. Akainu
Akainu is the current Fleet Admiral of the Marines, following the former Fleet Admiral, Sengoku. Akainu was one of the main antagonists during the Marineford arc and although he couldn’t kill Luffy, if he had fought him during the battle, Akainu would have destroyed Luffy.
When Luffy was able to free Ace and both of them were running away from Marineford, Akainu did get the chance to kill Luffy but he was saved by his brother. If Ace hadn’t intervened, the series would have lost its protagonist at the hands of Akainu.
9. Charlotte Katakuri
Charlotte Katakuri is the Charlotte family’s second son and third child. Katakuri was the strongest opponent Luffy faced during the Whole Cake Island arc. Not only did he have strong Devil Fruit abilities, but his Haki was also stronger than Luffy.
When Luffy was fighting Katakuri, his future sight observation haki became a big problem for Luffy as he was able to figure out every attack that Luffy was going to use on him. Eventually, Luffy was able to figure it out and defeat the villain but many fans believe that Katakuri let Luffy defeat him, and if he wanted to, he could have killed Luffy.
10. Kaido
Kaido, known as the Strongest Creature in the world, is the Captain of the Beast Pirates and was once one of the Four Emperors who ruled over the New World. In the anime series One Piece, Kaido is arguably the most formidable foe Luffy has seen. Kaido not only beat Luffy once or twice, but three times overall.
Luffy had to go through a lot of training in the prison and gain a new ability to fight Kaido but even that was not enough to defeat the strongest creature in the One Piece world. During the battle of Onigashima, Kaido could have easily killed Luffy multiple times, but Luffy was able to unlock the Gear 5 mode that helped him defeat the former Emperor of the Sea.
You can watch One Piece on Crunchyroll.
