With 1000s of anime episodes and manga chapters, it is not surprising that there are many undoubtedly strong characters in One Piece. Many characters have been introduced to the show’s avid watchers and readers over its 25 years of running time.
One Piece, like many other shounen anime, also has a particular skill set that is unique only to that world. In this case, it’s haki.
What Exactly Is Haki?
For those still in the earlier episodes of the series, the term ‘haki’ may be foreign. The One Piece Wiki defines haki as a mysterious power that allows the user to utilize their own spiritual energy for various purposes. For some of the characters who are able to fully control their haki, it can even be used to sense other people’s spiritual energy. This gives them the power to predict their opponent’s moves, and it gives Haki users a protective coating or barrier of spiritual energy, and, in very special cases, it also renders its users the ability to overpower the will of others.
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Haki is first seen during Skypeia. Though it was not emphasized, nor given a name, the first Haki user ever in the One Piece Saga is Skypeia’s manipulative and jealous god, Eneru or Enel. During Luffy’s fight with Enel, he was amused that the self-proclaimed god was able to predict Luffy’s next moves even though he was seconds away from executing it. This left Luffy and his crew shocked as they have never seen such power before.
Ever since the Skypeia fight, we haven’t really seen much development and knowledge with regards to how haki works and who uses it, until Marineford. During Marineford, Luffy was able to accidentally utilize his Conqueror’s Haki as he got desperate to save ace from the marines. When he accidentally activated his haki, higher members of the marines like the fleet admiral Sengoku, were shocked to see what he was capable of doing.
When Did Luffy First Use Haki?
As what had been mentioned above, Luffy first used his Haki during the Marineford arc. While he was trying to climb up the platform where Ace was, Luffy had to get many marine soldiers out of his way. Because of his sudden burst of anger and frustration, he accidentally activated his conqueror’s haki which left everyone in severe and utter shock. However, this accidental euphoria gave him easier access to the platform where his dear brother was being held captured.
After the events of Marineford, Luffy decides to train to become stronger. This triggered a time skip in the series. During the timeskip, the Monster Trio (Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji) of the straw hats train their Haki while also honing their individual skills.
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Luffy trained with the Pirate King’s second-in-command, the infamous swordsman of the Roger Pirates, Silver Rayleigh. He taught Luffy ways to use his Haki like how Enel predicted his moves, but more. When Rayleigh found out that Luffy can also use a rare type of Haki, he took his time teaching Luffy how to use it to predict his opponent’s next move, but more importantly, to inflict a certain degree of damage on them even if he did not touch anything or anyone. This is the power of the Supreme King or the Conqueror’s Haki.
When the straw hats met at Sabaody after the timeskip, we see Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji already able to utilize their own types of Haki, but later on, in the Land of Wano, we find out that Zoro is also born with the spirit of a conqueror, therefore, allowing him to utilize the Haki of the Supreme King.
What Is the Conqueror’s Haki?
The Haki of the Supreme King / Supreme King Haki / Conqueror’s Haki is a type of Haki that is only seen in extremely powerful individuals like the four emperors, the seven shichibukais (seven warlords), and the crew of the pirate King, Gol D. Roger.
It is an inherent ability. To be able to utilize The Haki of the Supreme King, you had to be born with it. It cannot be learned, nor can it be acquired later on in life. For this reason, when someone in the One Piece world is able to use the haki of the supreme king, it is certain that that person is a mighty opponent.
The Haki of the Supreme King is known for allowing its well-trained user to assert their willpower over others. This extreme spirit and inert strength knock out weaker ones in the process. The ones who are not able to take in the power of the haki possessed by the supreme king do not recover enough to fight again.
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Who Are the Strongest Users of the Haki of the Supreme King?
This far in the anime and the series, there have only been a certain number of Supreme King Haki users that have been revealed. Most of them have big names they live up to in the One Piece world. In no particular order, these are the 10 strongest known users of the Haki of the Supreme King in One Piece so far:
Monkey D. Luffy – Monkey D. Luffy is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. He is one of the strongest people in the New World. His victory in Wano and over Kaido granted him a spot at being an emperor of the sea. He leads a fleet of 5,600 men and has 9 generals under his name. His current bounty stands at 3,000,000,000 Berries.
Boa Hancock – Boa Hancock is the Queen of the Amazon Lily, the island of only girls, and is the current captain of the Kuja Pirates. She was introduced as the most beautiful woman in the world (rightfully so), and she is also known for being smitten with the captain of the strawhat pirates, Monkey D. Luffy.
Silvers Rayleigh – Silvers Rayleigh is the second-in-command on the Oro Jackson He was the vice-captain of the Pirate King’s crew and is a known swordsman.
Sengoku – Sengoku is the former fleet admiral before Akainu. He was the one to lead the marineford war, and was also the one responsible for the execution of the Pirate King.
Kozuki Oden – Kozuki Oden is the former shogun of wano. He was known for being an exemplary samurai and was determined to shake off the chains that tied him to the closed land where he lived in and see the world. He played a big part in leading the Roger pirates to the final Island.
Kaido – Kaido was one of the former emperors of the sea. He was recently defeated by Luffy in Wano.
Big Mom – Big Mom is also one of the former emperors. She governs Wholecake Island, a country that is quite literally made of sweets. She was also the one who forced Sanji to marry her daughter, Pudding, but luckily the strawhats came right on time.
Shanks – the most mysterious captain of the series, red-haired shanks is also known for his extremely strong haki that everyone on Whitebeard’s ship that was not able to handle his mere presence passed out.
Whitebeard – Whitebeard is also one of the former emperors. He led a great era of pirates and he led a great fleet, all of whom went to marineford to save Ace.
Gol D. Roger – the Notorious pirate king. He was the first, and only person to date, to travel around the world.
One Piece is far from over, and though Eiichiro Oda has announced that the manga is entering into its final saga, we are certain that there will be more characters who will be introduced in the future parts of the manga who are able to wield the legendary Haki of the Supreme King.
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