One Piece: Who Are Yonkos Explained

The world of One Piece is filled with pirates who sail through the seas. many are weak, some are strong, and only a few are super strong!

In chapter 96 of the manga, we were introduced to the “Yonko”, the strongest pirates! But, what does this term actually mean? Let’s take a look!

One Piece: Yonkos Explained

The word “Yonko” means “Four Emperors” in the literal sense. The term was first coined by Monkey D. Garp.

Here, the four emperors refer to four pirates who are stronger than anybody else in the sea and have conquered it all!

This is the biggest title a pirate could achieve, apart from the King of Pirates, of course!

Generally, Yonkos are extremely strong, have amazing devil fruit powers, elite Haki abilities, and a lot of battle strength and intelligence. However, there are exceptions.

For example, Shanks doesn’t have a devil fruit and Buggy D. Clown became a Yonko by mistake! Originally, Sir Crocodile and Dracule Mihawk were supposed to head the Cross Guild.

However, his crew mistook him for the leader!

The four emperors are also regarded as one of the Three Great Powers alongside the Marines and the Seven Warlords of the Sea, who were replaced by the Special Science Group (SSG).

We fans were first introduced to the term when Luffy inquired about Shanks during the Post Ennies Lobby arc.

Here, Garp mentions that Shanks rose up to the power of the great pirates and together, they are considered as the four emperors of the world.

We then saw the silhouettes of the four emperors: Kaido, Big Mom, Whitebeard, and Shanks.

Now, only Shanks remains as Yonko from the original bunch as the others have been defeated.

The current Yonkos are:

• Shanks
• Blackbeard
• Big Mom
• Buggy D. Clown
• Monkey D. Luffy

If you want to read an in-depth explanation of each and every Yonko, click here to learn about them in detail!