One Piece ends the Straw Hat era with the introduction of the final villain.

After a two-year time skip, the Straw Hat Pirates began to stand out in the New World. one piece And established their dominance. Currently, they stand as one of the Yonko factions, along with the Red Hair Pirates, Blackbeard Pirates, and Cross Guild. The Straw Hat Pirates eliminated all threats standing in their way and defeated the Yonko gang, such as the Beast Pirates. Certainly in these turbulent times, the Straw Hats are almost unrivaled. Lake Elbaf one piece It's changing everything. especially Episode 1180like Luffy and his gang face an existential threat from the presence of Nero and Imu.The king of the entire world and the most powerful being Oda wrote about in this story. This essentially ended their incredible era of dominance following their return after a two-year timeskip.

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15 years later, Oda officially upgrades Luffy's Haki in Elbaf.

After slowly building up Luffy's Haki, Eiichiro Oda gives Luffy the rarest Haki upgrade previously used by Roger, Oden, and Garp.

Why Luffy's era of rule is over

Image courtesy of Toei Animation

The Straw Hat Pirates defined the current era as their era. Upon returning from Timekip, the Straw Hats showed that Pacifista was no longer a threat to them. On Fishman Island, they held a strong check and defeated the New Fishman Pirates, and later on in Dressrosa, they even brought down the Doflamingo Empire. In the Wano Kingdom, he fought against the forces of the Yonko and completely destroyed them, and in Egghead, he survived the largest naval operation since Ohara and escaped intact.

Currently, the Straw Hat Pirates are on a hot streak and have not failed to take on some of the biggest forces that exist in the world of One Piece. But here in Elbaf, things are about to change, especially with Saint Nero and Imu descending on Warland straight from the Morizoa Shrine. At the end of One Piece Chapter 1179, Castle Nerona Imu landed in Elbaf, specifically Aurst Castle. Immediately thereafter, Imu used the power of the Akuma no Mi, or Devil Fruit, to transform into his demon form.

The fruit of Imu is the strongest fruit that exists in the world of One Piece, and it also grants tremendous power. With that power, Imu was able to defeat Joy Boy, meaning that this ability is far beyond the comprehension of the likes of Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates at this point. In other words, Luffy now faces his biggest challenge yet. Full dress. Given that Imu is the final villain, this fight is bound to end badly for him, ending his and his crew's dominance of the seas for the first time in years.

The epic impact of Nerona Imu's arrival at Elbaph

The appearance of Nerona Imu means that the final villain of the entire series is in Elbaph. However, the most important thing to note here is that One Piece is not in its final version at this point. The story is certainly at its end, but the Great War has not yet begun and the true, deep secrets surrounding Imu have yet to be revealed.

This means that the final villain has made an early appearance in Elbaph to deal with Luffy's threat, which certainly won't end well for the series' protagonist. There is absolutely no chance of Imu falling here. That said, if anyone had to be defeated, it would be none other than Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates. importance of Imu's arrival at Elbaf shakes the very foundation of the Straw Hat Pirates. And it marks the end of their dominance in the New World, inflicting their first defeat since the Sabaody Archipelago.

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3 Yonko level female characters from One Piece

There are many strong female characters in One Piece, but only a few of them are at the Yonko level.

Measuring the importance of the Straw Hat Pirates' defeat

The Straw Hat Pirates are defeated. In the Elbaph Arc, this isn't necessarily a bad thing in the long run. It may be difficult for fans to see their beloved Straw Hat Pirates defeated here, but it's also an important part of the overall story. Only by facing setbacks can the true strength of your crew be strengthened.

It should be remembered that the greatest increase in power that the Straw Hats gained occurred after they were destroyed and separated by Bartholomew Kuma. After two years of time travel, the crew returned stronger than ever and were able to conquer the New World. They have now reached a very high level and have become the Yonko crew. However, this level alone is not enough to take on the full power of the world government and overthrow its king, Neo or Imu. To reach this level, the Straw Hats must become stronger, and the lesson that Imu is trying to teach the Straw Hats is very important.

How will the crew come back stronger for the final war?

The Straw Hats are already very strong now, but after their defeat at Elbaf appears imminent, they will become even stronger than before. The level the Straw Hat Pirates need to reach to defeat Immu will be similar to that of Joyboy and his pirate crew. On a side note, Egghead gave fans an idea of ​​how strong Joy Boy really is. His Haki was the greatest in all of One Piece, making him one of the strongest characters, if not outright strong. Luffy hasn't reached that level yet, and neither have the Straw Hat Pirates. In fact, some of Luffy's minions are incredibly overpowered in terms of overall power, and that needs to change.

Lack of power is precisely what this final issue of One Piece will solve for Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates. After their return following this defeat, they will be reborn with a power comparable to that of the world government elite. With this incredible power, Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates will surely crush any challenge they face in the Great War and free the world from the clutches of the government. Along the way, Eiichiro Oda will narrate some of the biggest and most exciting battles in all of One Piece and deliver the chaotic arc that all fans are eagerly awaiting.

One Piece Chapter 1180 will be available to read on Manga Plus on April 19, 2026 at 11 AM EST.

one piece

release date

October 20, 1999

network

Fuji TV

move

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Ito, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudo, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yuji Endo, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Sato

author

Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shoji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda.

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  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

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  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)