One Piece's Elbaf arc has officially introduced the strongest character in the entire series to us through Nerona Imu, who first made his descent into the land of the Giants in Chapter 1179 on April 5, 2026, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #19. Since then, Imu has asserted his dominance in every battle that he has been in, and showcased why he is the absolute strongest character in One Piece. Chapter 1191, which was released on August 23, 2026, saw Nerona Imu unleash even greater strength by taking on a new form stemming from the Akuma no Mi's powers.
While Imu is quite clearly the strongest character in One Piece, there are other powerful characters after him that Oda is introducing in the story following the events of Elbaf. They include the likes of Monkey D. Dragon, Burn Scar, and the Red-Haired Emperor, Shanks.
Nerona Imu's descent on Elbaf happened in One Piece Chapter 1179, which was officially released on April 5, 2026, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #19. In this manga chapter, Imu took it upon himself to eliminate the threat of Nidhoggr and Nika from Elbaf once and for all. Since then, a massive battle has unfolded in the country, and quite clearly, the King of the World has been absolutely dominant. Imu first took on the threat of Zoro, Sanji, and Hajrudin and defeated all of them soundly in battle. Then Imu went up against Loki, and while the Accursed Prince put up quite a good fight, he too was defeated officially in One Piece Chapter 1187. Finally, Monkey D. Luffy versus Imu began shortly afterwards, and in just a single chapter, the former was defeated as well. Imu then fought against the Left Arm of the Pirate King, Scopper Gaban. Needless to say, Scopper Gaban was defeated, but it must be said that he put in the best performance of any character that Imu fought in Elbaf and dealt the most damage to him as well.
"Of course I know that thou art not Joy Boy! Joy Boy was not this weak!!" — Imu defeats Luffy, One Piece Chapter #1188
Regardless, Nerona Imu is now even stronger than ever before, as he showcased a new transformation in One Piece Chapter 1191, which was officially released on August 23, 2026, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #39. All things considered, Nerona Imu is quite clearly the strongest character in One Piece as of right now, but in the future, there are three main powerful characters that we are incredibly excited to see finally revealed.
After the events of the Elbaf arc, Eiichiro Oda will once again focus on the side characters in the world of One Piece and, in doing so, reveal some of the most important characters to us. The first character that we are most eagerly waiting to see the power of is the leader of the Revolutionary Army, Monkey D. Dragon. Dragon's powers have been a mystery ever since One Piece Chapter 100, which was officially released on August 9, 1999, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Double Issue #37-38. Dragon most certainly has a Devil Fruit ability up his sleeve, but we do not know what this fruit is just yet. At the same time, Dragon also has powerful Haki of all three types, and we are eagerly waiting to see how well he utilizes this ability. Given that he has already launched his attack against the World Government, he is sure to be at the forefront of the next battles, and Oda will finally show us his full strength.
Alongside Dragon, Burn Scar will also finally be revealed to us after Elbaf, and this was confirmed by Eiichiro Oda himself on December 21, 2025, at Jump Fester 2026. Oda made a very interesting comment that confirmed to us that Burn Scar was going to appear in the manga soon. Eiichiro Oda laid out his plans to finish the Elbaf arc in 2026, and he stated that immediately after, we will finally see who Burn Scar really is.
This person is said to be incredibly powerful and capable of causing whirlpools that sink any pirate ship that dares to come close. At the same time, it is this person who holds access to the last Road Poneglyph that can take one to the Final Island, Laugh Tale. Given that Burn Scar was confirmed by Oda to be a primary focus after Elbaf, his legendary power will be revealed to us shortly, likely in 2027.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://gamerant.com/one-piece-strongest-legends-after-nerona-imu/
