After more than 25 years of storytelling, One Piece seems to be on its final voyage that will lead to its epic conclusion as teased by Eiichiro Oda himself. But right now, the story is still at a stage where the protagonist of the saga, Monkey D. Luffy, needs to get stronger and stronger to face the final threat that has been tormenting the world of One Piece for centuries. Although he has awakened Gear 5 and sharpened up his Haki to an advanced level, he still has miles to go if he wants to be the King of the Pirates.

Here are 5 characters that are still more powerful than the hero of One Piece.

As the World Government's top authority reveals the full extent of his abilities in the ongoing manga chapters, it is becoming quite clear why Saint Nerona Imu has been touted as the final boss of the One Piece saga. The God Valley flashback demonstrated Imu's ability to take control of another person's body no matter how strong they are, and the Elbaph arc is currently demonstrating their terrifying power in combat.

Imu, who has the Devil's Fruit, uses the Akuma no Mi to their advantage, turning adversaries into allies and immortalizing his henchmen. He also makes excellent use of the special Omen ability. For background, Zoro and Sanji were rendered inoperable by a single Omen blast. They are currently battling the combined forces of Gear 5 Luffy and a fully powered Loki and still seem to be winning. 

For a long time in One Piece, Shanks, or Figarland Shanks, was used as a parameter for power and might and as a benchmark for Luffy to cross. But this changed with the introduction of characters like Imu and Joyboy. Still, Shanks is one of the most powerful characters in the verse and way ahead of even Gear 5 Luffy. 

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The Kid Pirates' captain dared to use all of his strength against the Red-Haired Grand Fleet. Eustass Kid had awakened his Devil Fruit, assisted in defeating Big Mom, and earned a bounty of three billion, but Shanks still took him down in one fell swoop, a remarkable feat even if faith was on his side. This was Shanks' greatest on-screen accomplishment. Additionally, he single-handedly took down Loki behind the scenes - a character suggested to be on par with Gear 5 Luffy right now. 

Since their first meeting in the Jaya arc, Marchal D Teach aka Blackbeard and Luffy have been presented as the polar opposites of each other, kind of like the Yin and Yang. Luffy's light is supposed to go up against Blackbeard's darkness in the final arc, as preordained by Eiichiro Oda. But they are not on the same power level completely. 

While Blackbeard has been mostly shown as this conniving, calculative coward who flees whenever he sees a strong opponent, he appears to be hiding a great power in addition to two ridiculously destructive Devil Fruits. Plus, his being Rocks D Xebec's son further bolsters the belief that he is indeed concealing his true strength for the final act.

Luffy’s aloof father, Monkey D Dragon, is the biggest tease of the One Piece verse. Whenever fans think that they might get a glimpse of even a fraction of Dragon’s mysterious powers, Eiichiro Oda disappoints them by keeping him largely out of action. However, this only means that Oda is cooking something far more devastating with the Leader of the Revolutionary Army, as he has now become more enigmatic than Imu, who can now be seen in action at least.

The only things hyping Dragon up in the story are his lineage being a member of the formidable Monkey family, which also has Monkey D Garp and Monkey D Luffy, and his title of being the Worst Criminal in History given to him by the Marines. It will be an absurd plot twist if Monkey D. Dragon did not turn out to be among the most powerful One Piece characters by the time he eventually joins the battle, even if he has not yet demonstrated his real strength. 

Fleet Admiral is the highest rank in One Piece's Marines. In the series' mythology, the characters who have previously held this title - Sengoku and Kong, for example - are regarded as legendary warriors, but Akainu (real name Sakazuki), the current Fleet Admiral, is a formidable character and a potential final opponent for Luffy. As a fervent supporter of absolute justice, Admiral Akainu believes that the pirates that prowl the Grand Line represent all that is wrong with the world. 

Driven by his hatred of pirates, Akainu has shown himself to be one of One Piece's most formidable fighters, and he has some of the most potent offensive weapons in the series because of his extremely lethal Mag-Mag Fruit. Few characters have more demonstrable feats of strength than the Marines' current top dog following his victory against Kuzan during the series' timeskip. The creator of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, once revealed that if Akainu were the protagonist, the story would end within a year. 

Luffy seems to have some of the most dangerous and intimidating characters to surpass in order to become the most powerful in the story. Of course, this would take some intense training and battle experiences, and judging by how the manga is progressing, Luffy is set to gain some major power upgrades to face the ultimate final boss of the saga. This means that One Piece has a significant ground to cover before finally coming to an end.

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Who do you think is the ultimate final boss among these characters? Do let us know.