One Piece: 5 characters who Trafalgar Law can defeat (& 5 he can't) (2024)

Every One Piece fan knows Trafalgar Law, the captain of Heart Pirates. He is one of the Eleven Supernovas of the Worst Generation and a former Warlord. Law has been an ally of the Strawhats since the Punk Hazard Arc, but he parted ways with them after the Wano Arc.

Law earned himself the moniker of "Surgeon of Death" thanks to his tactical skills and the power of his Ope-Ope Fruit, which allows him to manipulate and control anything within his power range. After the time skip, Law overwhelmed Smoker and Vergo and was able to injure Doflamingo. However, he ended up being outclassed by the latter.

During the Wano Arc, Law achieved the Awakening of his Devil Fruit abilities. After the fight on Onigashima's rooftop, he teamed up with Kid to fight Big Mom. Taking advantage of the numerical superiority, Law and Kid were able to deal her significant damage. Eventually, their combined attacks were successful in defeating the Yonko.

Follow this thread to find out five characters Law can definitely beat and five more that he would most likely lose against.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to Chapter 1063 and reflects the writer's personal views.

Jozu and 4 other One Piece characters who Law can certainly beat

5) Jozu

Jozu is a former member of the Whitebeard Pirates. Most One Piece fans consider him to be the third strongest member of the crew, below Newgate and Marco, and possibly above Ace and Vista. After the crew's final defeat against the Blackbeard Pirates, Jozu's current condition and whereabouts are still unknown.

Being able to lift and throw an iceberg, Jozu has incredible physical strength. He can transform his body into diamonds thanks to the powers of the Twinkle-Twinkle Fruit. This ability allowed him to block a slash from the World's Strongest Swordsman, Dracule Mihawk. During the Paramount War, he fought against Admiral Aokiji, but ended up getting defeated and even losing his right arm.

Jozu is a strong fighter, but he can't hope to win a fight against Law, after the latter's recent improvements. Thanks to the powers of the Ope-Ope Fruit, the Supernova can use attacks that ignore the opponent's durability. Hence, even a diamond body would be useless. The fight would most likely end with Law using his Amputate to cut Jozu in half, just like he did against Vergo.

4) Sanji

Sanji is the cook of the Strawhat Pirates. He only uses his legs to fight and usually challenges the third-strongest combatant from the enemy's side. He is a smart individual, but when in the presence of women, he immediately loses all his coolness. Sanji's best traits as a fighter are his Observation Haki and the speed and strength of his kicks.

After awakening the genetic enhancements typical of his family, the Vinsmoke, Sanji increased his physical capabilities and unlocked the Ifrit Jambe, an upgraded version of his previous Diable Jambe. This improvement allowed Sanji to overwhelm Queen, the third strongest member of the Beasts Pirates.

Law is a tough pirate who would be able to endure most of Sanji's kicks. Thus, Sanji would need to use his Ifrit Jambe to injure him for real. However, he can only maintain that technique for a brief amount of time before tiring himself. His genetically enhanced body is also useless against Law's Ope-Ope techniques. The "Surgeon of Death" would win this fight with little trouble.

3) Marco

Marco is a very experienced pirate. He is the former Number Two of the Whitebeard Pirates and Edward Newgate's former right-hand man. Marco ate the Mythological Zoan of the Phoenix, which allows him to transform into the legendary flying creature. This increases his mobility and physical strength, gifting him incredible healing powers.

As long as he has enough stamina, Marco can immediately regenerate any injury he suffers. This ability allowed him to block attacks from Kizaru, Big Mom, King, and Kaido. With his speed and agility, the Whitebeard underling would be able to dodge some of Law's attacks and strike him. However, he lacks the attack power to hurt him significantly.

Even Marco can't endure several hits from Law's Awakening attacks that damaged Big Mom. However, the "Surgeon of Death" was able to land those attacks, thanks to the numerical advantage over an opponent who had his back turned. A 1v1 battle against a competent fighter would be different. Law would likely defeat him, but it would be a tough fight.

2) King

King is the Number Two of the Beasts Pirates. He is Kaido's right-hand man and his strongest and most loyal subordinate. King can shield himself with his pteranodon wings, which are durable enough to block attacks that previously cut Kaido's tough body. He is the last survivor of the Lunarians, a race whose members were considered gods capable of surviving everything.

His Lunarian powers allow him to endure every kind of injury without receiving any kind of damage or trading some of his durability to boost his speed. He can also create and control fire to perform destructive attacks. King earned himself the moniker of "Wildfire" thanks to his flames, which are akin to magma. In the One Piece world, it is much stronger than normal fire.

With his tactical skills and swift reflexes, Law should be able to understand how King's Lunarian abilities work. Using his best attacks, he should be able to fatally strike him. However, this would be a very difficult fight. King is very fast and can fight at any range, hence he would significantly pressure the former. The latter would need to push his Awakening techniques to win.

1) Yamato

Born as Kaido's daughter, Yamato developed a sincere admiration for Oden, to the point of identifying herself with him. When Luffy and the others attacked Onigashima to defeat Kaido and overthrow his domination, she allied with them. During the raid, Yamato was able to clash against her father.

Yamato ate a Mythological Zoan Devil Fruit, which allowed her to transform into a divine wolf, enhancing her physical abilities and manipulating ice. She has been shown to possess a strong Armament Haki. She also displayed the very rare Conqueror Haki and is one of the very few people who are able to use this ability at its advanced stage.

Law can manage to pull out a win against Yamato, but it would only be after an extremely difficult battle. To be honest, a fight between them could go either way.

Yamato's powerful Haki would allow her to block most of his opponent's attacks and significantly injure him. Moreover, the former wouldn't find all the easy openings he had in the 2v1 fight with Big Mom. He would be pushed to his limits.

Zoro and 4 other One Piece characters who Law would lose against

5) Roronoa Zoro

"Pirate Hunter" Roronoa Zoro is Luffy's right-hand man. One Piece's author, Eiichiro Oda, officially confirmed that Zoro is the second strongest individual in the Strawhats Pirates and the factual vice-captain of the crew. He is a master swordsman who aims to become the strongest in the world, surpassing even Dracule Mihawk.

Zoro can perform deadly cuts with his swords coated in Armament Haki and Conqueror Haki, unleashing immense attack power. He was able to block a combined attack from the two Emperors and injure Kaido, leaving him with a scar. After unlocking the all-powerful Advanced Conqueror's Haki, Zoro outclassed and defeated King, Kaido's right-hand man.

Law's Devil Fruit powers make him very dangerous, but it would be difficult to land his attacks on Zoro, who is a much better swordsman and possesses a superior level of Haki. This would allow him to block the former's Ope-Ope techniques. A fight between the two Supernovas would be thrilling, but the latter should be the winner.

4) Monkey D. Luffy

Monkey D. Luffy is the founder and captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. His goal is to find the One Piece and become the King of Pirates. He has faced every sort of challenge throughout the entire One Piece series. After defeating Kaido in a fierce battle, he achieved the status of Emperor. However, he received the same bounty as Law and Kid, which doesn't make much sense.

From any point of view, Luffy is on an entirely different level than them. His previous bounty was more than three times higher than theirs. He leads a far stronger crew, with members such as Zoro, who are more than a match for Kid and Law themselves.

The captain also beat Kaido in a 1v1 fight, while they needed the advantage in numbers plus further external involvement to defeat Big Mom.

Luffy recently obtained the Awakening of his Mythological Zoan Devil Fruit, the Human-Human, Model: Nika, a stage called Gear Five that enhances all his physical capabilities and grants him unbelievable powers. He can use the advanced versions of Observation, Armament, and even Conqueror Haki. Law is a very powerful pirate, but the straw hat is just too strong for him.

3) Kaido

Kaido is the captain of the Beasts Pirates and a former Yonko. He was a ruthless man who made Wano his territory, driving back Oden and the Red Scabbards who tried to stop him. Excelling in toughness, endurance, stamina, speed, and strength, Kaido's physical prowess is supreme. As a result, he was considered to be the World's Strongest Creature.

Kaido is one of the very few people able to use the Advanced Conqueror Haki, an all-powerful game-changing ability. He can transform into a giant dragon or into a dragon and human hybrid. The Yonko proved himself to be one of the strongest One Piece characters, single-handedly dominating characters such as Yamato, Zoro, and Luffy. He lost only after the straw hat gained the Awakening of the Nika-Nika Fruit.

Law needed to team up with Kid to defeat Big Mom, who is not as strong as Kaido. Even with the advantage in numbers, their attacks weren't enough to defeat her. She lost because she was falling into the void, and some bombs dropped on her, putting her down for good. Given that, the Heart Pirates' captain isn't strong enough to win a 1v1 battle against Kaido.

2) Shanks

Shanks is the captain of the Red Hair Pirates. He is one of the Yonko, the four great pirates who lead the New World. The Red Hair has a world-renowned rivalry with Dracule Mihawk, the World's Strongest Swordsman. Even Whitebeard acknowledged their clashes as legendary battles that shook the entire Grand Line.

Shanks is a powerful swordsman and Haki master who can even use the rare Conqueror Haki. Even after losing one arm, his strength remains exceptional, enough to match Whitebeard in a clash and block a punch from Admiral Akainu. He is so strong that his presence is enough to intimidate Admiral Ryokugyu.

In most One Piece fans' opinion, Shanks is stronger than Big Mom, an opponent that Law needed Kid's help to fight. As a result, Law would be completely outclassed if he was to fight Shanks in a 1v1 battle. The Red Hair possesses an incredibly powerful Haki, which would allow him to negate Law's Devil Fruit techniques and overwhelm him.

1) Dracule Mihawk

Holding the title of the World's Strongest Swordsman and being a man who is as strong as Shanks, if not even stronger than him, the former Warlord Dracule Mihawk is clearly one of the most powerful One Piece characters. Despite deliberately appearing as an executive of the organization, he is the co-founder of Cross Guild.

If Mihawk wanted, he could have become a Yonko. However, he is not interested in that, preferring to live peacefully without being too much in the spotlight. As the strongest swordsman in the One Piece world, he possesses outstanding agility and physical strength. His mastery of swordsmanship and Armament Haki appears to be unparalleled.

Law would not last long against a fighter of Mihawk's caliber. The World's Strongest Swordsman would be able to see through Law's attacks and counter them with his own sword techniques. After a few exchanges of blows, Mihawk would just blitz Law and use his Black Blade Yoru to cut through him, without leaving him with any chance.

Final thoughts

Trafalgar Law mastered the Ope-Ope Fruit, one of the most versatile and useful Devil Fruits in the entire One Piece world. Anybody under the Ope-Ope's sphere of influence becomes his patient on the operating table. Moreover, his tactical skills allow him to exploit his abilities in the best possible way.

Thus, fighting against Law is extremely dangerous and risky. The only individuals who can stand up to him and defeat him are the ones who possess a particularly strong and developed Haki, such as the all-powerful Advanced Color of Conqueror's, allowing them to block his techniques.

Law is also much stronger in team fights than in one-vs-one battles. With his target distracted by his comrades, it is easy for the "Surgeon of Death" to strike him with his Devil Fruit powers. Instead, if he is facing an opponent who is skilled enough to react to his attacks, it's very hard for him to land them successfully. An example of this is the Heart Pirates' captain's brutal loss against Doflamingo.

Aiming to discover the true meaning of the Will of D., Law is a major threat to the World Government. He recently parted ways with the Straw hats upon the conclusion of their mission; their alliance officially disbanded. With that said, One Piece fans can't wait to see him in action again.