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.
One Piece Chapter 1179 Officially Unveiled Nerona Imu In Elbaf
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.
One Piece Is Set To Unveil The True Powers Of Burn Scar, Dragon, And Shanks After Elbaf
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.
“We are heading to “that island,” which only the Pirate King was ever able to reach!!? The Man with the Burn Scar will also appear. Characters who never had the chance to meet will finally encounter each other. Those two will meet, and those two will meet as well.” — Oda reveals Burn Scar’s role after Elbaf, Jump Festa 2026
Finally, there is red-haired Shanks. Shanks is not a new character, and he was actually introduced on July 18, 1997, in One Piece Chapter 1. That said, the vast majority of his powers are still unknown. One Piece chapter 1079, which was officially released on March 27, 2023, in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #17, gave us only a glimpse of Shanks’s power as he demolished the Kid Pirates in combat. After Elbaf, the focus will be on the Red-Haired Emperor, and his strength will truly shine like never before.
Next One Piece Arc Will Take Us To Laugh Tale
As far as the next arc of One Piece goes, Eiichiro Oda has already made it quite clear that he intends to take us to the island where only the Pirate King has stepped foot previously. As far as we know, there are only two such islands that exist in the world of One Piece. One of them is Laugh Tale, which has only been reached by two individuals in the story: Joy Boy and Roger. However, there is another island that only Roger set foot on, and this place is Lodestar. Lodestar was first mentioned in One Piece Chapter 966 and has since not been mentioned in the story. It is the island that lies at the end of the Grand Line and also where Roger and his crew found out about the importance of Poneglyphs.
“It all started 13 years ago, when we landed at the destination of the final Log Pose, where no one had ever reached before…a place called Lodestar Island! But when we disembarked, giddy at what we might find…we realized that it was not the final Island!” — Gol D. Roger explains Lodestar, One Piece Chapter #966
As things stand, it is increasingly likely that this is the island where Luffy and the crew are headed next, and it also directly ties into Burn Scar. We are eagerly waiting to see how these chapters build up to some of the biggest battles that are currently being fought in the One Piece world and how they reveal the strength of these legendary characters.
All the new One Piece manga chapters by Eiichiro Oda, published in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump, are available to read via Manga Plus and Viz Media.