Is Luffy a Fifth Emperor of the Sea in One Piece?

The pirate world of Oda’s One Piece has, recently, been shaken when a big change happened within one of the major groups in the franchise – Yonko, also known as the Four Emperors. The Four Emperors have been known for years and we all knew when Blackbeard replaced Whitebeard as an Emperor, but what about Luffy. Is he the adjacent “Fifth Emperor”, or is he something completely different? In this article, we are going to answer that question for you.

Monkey D. Luffy is currently one of the Four Emperors, so he is not the “Fifth Emperor”. Before the defeat of Kaidou and Big Mom, Luffy was labeled by the press as the “Fifth Emperor” but he was never officially considered to be an Emperor while Kaido and Big Mom were still among them. The title of the “Fifth Emperor” was thus simply a press title and was not official.

In the rest of this article, we are going to tell you what happened to Luffy and how he is related to the Yonko, i.e., how the title of the “Fifth Emperor” is associated with him. Also, you’re going to find out about Luffy’s current powers and abilities, which is going to answer the question of whether he’s powerful enough to be a Yonko or not. Spoilers ahead!

Was Luffy ever the “Fifth Emperor”?

Now that we know that Monkey D. Luffy is currently one of the Four Emperors, i.e., a Yonko, we don’t actually have to explain much about this other title. The number of Emperors seems to be fixed and there have always been four and there are four at this moment. We are going to reveal more details about them in the next section, but let us just explain why Luffy was called the “Fifth Emperor” and what that actually means.

After the events of the Whole Cake Island Arc, the World Economy News Paper wrote about Luffy as a pirate close to the Four Emperors and gave him the title of the “Fifth Emperor”. Now, as we have said, there have always been Four Emperors and there are Four Emperors now, but Luffy was the most powerful Pirate not to be a member and that is why the press gave him the title. He wasn’t a Yonko, but he was on their level and he definitely deserved to be among them. This, he has proven in Wano Country, as you’ll be able to read below.

The title of the “Fifth Emperor” was an unofficial one, given to Luffy by the media. It never changed the fact that there are only Four Emperors nor did anyone consider Luffy to be an Emperor up until the events in Wano Country. Now that we have explained all of this, we can proceed with telling you how Luffy actually became an Emperor.

Is Monkey D. Luffy a Yonko?

We don’t want to give you unnecessary details on the Four Emperors you already know; we’re just going to restate that, at the beginning of the Wano Country arc, the Four Emperors were made up by Shanks, Blackbeard, Kaidou, and Big Mom. At the end of the arc, these names are going to change.

Luffy observes in Wano Country the negative effects of the country’s dual rule by Kaido and the Shogun Kurozumi Orochi. Soon after Jack is introduced, Kaido appears as an enormous Eastern-style dragon with a deadly breath. While inebriated, the Emperor invites Shutenmaru to join his group.

The Straw Hat Pirates and their allies were lodging in the rubble of Oden Castle, which was savagely destroyed by Luffy using his breath. In retaliation, Luffy makes an effort to vanquish the beast by forcing it back into human form. However, despite the strength of Gear 4, he was unable to harm the Emperor, who neutralized him with a powerful strike from his club. However, Kaido is aware of Luffy’s strength and tenacity and decides to imprison the Straw Hat in an effort to break his spirit and convince him to join his crew.

As she had stated over the phone, Big Mom makes her way to Wano Country. Furious, Kaido orders his troops to block the Empress and her crew from stepping off the ship, but they are unsuccessful. It took King till the very last second to step in and force them back with a strong blow, which caused the boat to crash off the top of the waterfall and sent Big Mom plummeting to the ocean floor.

The Empress awakens on a beach in Kuri with amnesia. She is carried to the village of Okobore by Chopper, Tama, Kiku, and Momonosuke, where Tsuru and the other residents look after her and provide her the meager nourishment they have: a simple red bean soup. Unfortunately, she doesn’t think that’s sufficient.

Chopper and his companions take advantage of her hunger by leading her to Udon, the prison where Monkey D. Luffy is housed, and claiming that there is soup there. They were unaware that this deception was actually genuine and that the red bean soup made famous by the Queen existed in Udon. Even with amnesia, Big Mom just needs two hits to defeat Kaido’s ally despite Queen’s best efforts to preserve her meal.

Then, Big Mom learns to her horror that Luffy ate all of the red bean soup from the previous evening. She strikes the Straw Hat Pirate and Hyogoro out of frustration at not being able to carry it back to the village and give it to everyone as a token of appreciation for the townspeople’s kindness. Big Mom, who is being pursued, ransacks the Udon prison before being violently struck in the head as a result of Queen’s deception.

When she was going to attack a Queen who was immobilized, she passes out just as she regains her recollection at that point. This is exploited by Kaidou’s men, who give her several potent tranquilizers before tying her up with numerous chains made of sea granite and escorting her to Onigashima, the lair of Kaido and his gang.

The entire island is then shaken as Kaido and Big Mom engage in a fight to the death. After a brief truce, the two then resolve to combine their crews to conquer the entire planet.

However, word of their cooperation also prompts Marco and Izo of the Whitebeard Pirates to go with Nekomamushi to Wano Country to support the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance. Marco also prevents the Big Mom Pirates from going to Onigashima by throwing them down the waterfall on their second attempt.

The Alliance of Ninjas, Pirates, Minks, and Samurai defeats the two Emperors Big Mom and Kaidou during the Raid in Onigashima, establishing Monkey D. Luffy and Buggy the Clown as the new rulers of the world.