The Five Elders may stand above the Yonko in power in One Piece.
One Piece is currently in the Final Saga and here, the strongest of the characters in the entire series have now gathered. Fans are enjoying the many battles that they have received in the Final Saga so far, but the best of them is yet to come. Among the many powerful characters that Oda has made an important part of the Final Saga, the Gorosei are certainly up there as well.
These powerful elders are known to be some of the most incredible fighters that the fans have seen in the entire story. Recently, fans got a proper demonstration of what they are capable of in the Egghead Island Arc, and now, it is clear for everyone to see that they are among the elites of the world. That said, when compared to the Yonko, opinions might split. However, Oda might have just hinted at them being stronger than the Emperors of the world.
The Strength Of the Yonko
The Yonko have consistently been among the strongest individuals in One Piece. Over the years, fans have seen their tremendous strength time and again, especially in the post-timeskip of the series, where the vast majority of the story revolves around the Four Emperors of the Sea. Most of the Yonko have powerful Devil Fruits at their disposal. For instance, former Yonko of the Sea, Whitebeard, had the power to destroy the entire world with his Gura Gura no Mi. Similarly, Kaido possessed the Mythical Zoan Azure Dragon fruit that gave him incredible durability and monstrous power.
Big Mom had the power to manipulate the souls. And of course, the new Yonko of the sea, Blackbeard, has the power of two Devil Fruits, both of which are known to be the strongest in their own class. These are some of the strongest abilities that the fans have seen in One Piece, and clearly, they belong to the Yonko.
Of course, the Yonko are much more than just their Devil Fruits. Haki is a very important aspect of the One Piece power system, especially in the post-timeskip, and fans have seen quite a lot of this incredible power coming into play time and again in the story. All the Yonko have incredible control over Haki, and it is also quite clear to the fans that all their Haki types have been advanced to the next level. For instance, in the case of Kaido, fans knew that he possessed monstrously powerful Haki of all three types, and the same can be said for Big Mom. Shanks, who doesn’t have a Devil Fruit, possesses Haki which is considered to be on an entirely different level. These powers, when put together, make the Yonio extremely overpowered.
The Strength Of The Gorosei
As has been established already, powerful Devil Fruit abilities and incredible Haki are at the center of the strength of the Yonko. The same can be said for the Five Elders and fans have already seen them holding tremendous power up their sleeve. When it comes to the strength of the Five Elders, what appears to be their primary source of strength is their Yokai-like powers. The Five Elders have Yokai transformations, and they appear to be somewhat different from what Devil Fruits have been shown to be in the series. These Yokai transformations are incredible. They are based on mythological legends, which means that they are similar to Mythical Zoan powers.
Fans have seen quite a lot of these Yokai on Egghead Island. Saint Saturn is known to possess the power of the Gyuki Yokai, Saint Shepherd Jupiter has the power of the Sandworm, Saint Marcus Mars has the power of the Itsumade, sent Topman Warcury has the power of the Fengxi, and Ethanbaron V. Nujsuro holds the power of the Bakotsu All these Yokai are tremendously powerful and ate comparable to the Devil Fruits of the Yonko that the fans have seen in the story so far.
While these powers are incredible, the Gorosei Elders have much more than just that. The Gorosei also have monstrously powerful Haki, and this has already been confirmed in the Egghead Island arc. On multiple instances, fans have seen characters hyping up the Haki of the Five Elders.
This was seen when the likes of Zoro and Lucci commented on monstrously powerful Haki coming from the Fabriophase. When Jinbe saw Marcus Mars up close, he indirectly compared his Haki to Shanks, since he used the same terminology to refer to the monstrous Haki of these two individuals. Warcury showcased his Conqueror’s Haki against Luffy, and it was certainly a proper match for him. All these things just go to show that the Five Elders have monstrously powerful Haki that is comparable to that of the Yonko, if not stronger.
Are The Gorosei Above Yonko Level?
Based on both their Yokai abilities and the level of their Haki, it can safely be said that the Five Elders are on the same level as the Yonko of the One Piece world. They have consistently garnered praise from many individuals in One Piece world, and they have abilities to show for it. Of course, fighting against Luffy does make them look goofy at times, however, it must be remembered that these individuals are up against the Sun God, who possesses boundless creativity when he fights.
Even when Luffy was fighting against Kaido, fans got to see him make a joke out of him, by turning him into a skipping rope or punching him straight through the face, among other things. That certainly does not mean that the Five Elders are not overpowered.
Something that sets them apart from the Yonko, however, is the fact that they seem to possess immortality. Fans know that the Yonko, no matter how powerful, can be damaged and eventually defeated. The same cannot be said for the Five Elders, at least not yet. They seem to possess a completely new level of power that has never been seen before in the story and this is, of course, the power of immortality. The Five Elders cannot die, and this is something that Luffy had a first-hand experience of.
Even when he launched powerful attacks at them, they simply kept coming back, and this immortality of theirs is what makes them truly dangerous. This one power essentially puts them even above the Yonko in terms of battle powers, since they cannot tire and they cannot die. On Egghead, while Luffy was able to overpower them somewhat, it was clear for the fans to see that while Luffy would eventually tire and run out of Gear 5, the Five Elders would simply keep coming back, which is, once again, proof of the fact that they are strong enough to beat a Yonko.
In these powerful elders, Oda might just have introduced a completely new level of power that Luffy now has to reach, and it will be incredibly interesting for the fans to see how the Straw Hat Pirates deal with these threats later down the line.