One Piece: The Main Characters, Ranked By Intelligence

One Piece‘s Wano arc is reaching its climax with Big Mom’s defeat, Kaido beating Luffy, and Joy Boy’s possible return. The Straw Hat Pirates, together with their allies, are currently facing the crew of two of the Four Emperors, the Beast Pirates, and Big Mom Pirates. With brawns possibly not being enough, will their brains be able to make up for the lack of strength?

As the emperors are stronger than them, they would need to gather as many allies as possible and be intelligent to think of a way to defeat them. This would also be the case for their next enemies, as they may need to fight adversaries that would stop them and/or compete with them in reaching Laugh Tale and obtaining One Piece.

10 Monkey D. Luffy

Being the series’ protagonist and captain of the Straw Hats doesn’t signify that he is really intelligent. Luffy is rash, forgetful, does not know basic skills (such as cooking or drawing), and usually ruins a plan, which can get frustrating.

Nonetheless, Luffy isn’t totally stupid. He can think of tactics like using a mirror to reflect Foxy’s Noro Noro Beam attack, making clones of himself using Charlotte Brulee’s ability to confuse Big Mom, and passing on a message only his crewmates can understand. He also avoids unnecessary fights and inspires others, which are some of the reasons people like Luffy. While extremely occasional, he has an intelligent side to him.

9 Roronoa Zoro

Like his captain, Zoro isn’t really intelligent. He’s terrible at directions, even getting lost in their own ship, and prefers to just cut his way through. After all, he spent most of his life improving his sword and becoming the strongest swordsman.

At the very least, Zoro is a little smarter than his captain. He knows how to calculate a little, (such as correctly answering Luffy’s “108 x 2” question), has made a plan to defeat Pica, and has correctly guessed that Baroque Works lured them into a trap. He was also able to discover a way to defeat King, a powerful member of the Lunarians, an extinct race. He took advantage of the Lunarian race’s weakness and won, showcasing his wits and intelligence in battles.

8 Brook

Brook is the musician of the crew and the oldest Straw Hat. He is skilled in using swords, playing various instruments, singing, and can use his devil fruit abilities creatively. He also made himself be a globally known musician in a span of two years.

While Brook may not be book smart like Robin and Franky, he has several moments in which he uses his intelligence to get out of dangerous situations. This includes placing a Red Poneglyph copy inside his skull, hypnotizing enemies with music, and tricking Giolla into turning his weapon back to normal. His intelligence helped them make progress in obtaining clues in reaching Laugh Tale.

7 Usopp

Usopp is often seen as cowardly, frequently complaining, and running away, avoiding fights if possible. This is due to his insecurity about being among the weaker members of his crew. This has led him to come up with innovative and smart tactics to achieve his goals and beat his opponents.

Usopp is closer to being creative than being book smart. He both invented and improvised Nami’s weather-producing weapon, the Clima-Tact. Despite being among the weaker Straw Hats, his intelligence has allowed him to defeat stronger opponents, such as Sugar and Miss Merry Christmas. His tactics involve deception and psychological attacks, which usually work. Even when his tactics are dirty and cowardly, he was still successful in defeating opponents.

6 Sanji

Sanji is an extremely skilled cook, who was self-taught since childhood.  Sanji can determine the quality of elements involved in a cooked meal in a short time, correctly guess the ingredients of the wedding cake cooked by Streusen just by its fragrance, and cook it again a lot faster than originally. He can also tell a person’s true intentions, such as with Kinemon and Viola.

His cooking skills are acknowledged by several chefs around the world. His intelligence in this craft allowed him to calm down the rampaging Big Mom, and if not for his pride as a chef, would have certainly given them the chance to finish off Big Mom while she was eating. He was basically the one who stopped Big Mom from chasing the Straw Hats herself.

5 Jinbe

Jinbe is smarter than people may think. He is a master tactician, able to deduce Magellan’s strategies when escaping Impel down, which was known as an inescapable prison. He is also perceptive, able to correctly guess that Big Mom’s Roulette is rigged and he would lose his life or lifespan had he spun it.

Where Jinbe’s intelligence excels is his helmsman skills and knowledge of the ocean. He can control a ship like his own body, as demonstrated when he rode the Thousand Sunny within the ‘Green Room’ of Big Mom’s gigantic wave homie. According to a member of Big Mom Pirates, Jinbe knows the torrents like the back of his hand. Jinbe’s ability greatly helped them in escaping Big Mom’s crew and territory. His skill would definitely be useful in controlling their ship in the dangerous seas in the New World.

4 Nami

Nami is the 3rd smartest character in East Blue, according to Oda. She is a skilled navigator, a talented cartographer, and an excellent thief. She can create maps and predict the weather intelligently, which made pirates like Arlong and Shiki (in the movie) impressed by her. She can also steal from multiple people at once without them noticing.

She is also an expert in handling money. She is a skilled negotiator, sometimes a money-launderer, and knows the true value of treasures. She can manipulate, trick, and scare people to obtain information for herself and the crew. Her skills justify her position as the 3rd smartest in East Blue.

3 Tony Tony Chopper

Despite being a reindeer, Chopper is more intelligent than most humans. He was able to create a device to have 7 forms in his Zoan devil fruit instead of 3. He is also tactical, being able to find out how Gedatsu’s weapon, the Swamp Cloud Burger works.

Where Chopper shines is his expertise as a doctor. Having been taught by Dr. Kureha and went training in Torino Kingdom for two years, he is knowledgeable in making medicine from regular plants found everywhere. With the help of others, he treated an injured elephant the size of a country, and make a cure for Queen’s Mummy virus quickly, despite being affected by it. Chopper is skillful enough to cure virtually every disease and injury in a short time, which is extremely helpful as they constantly get injuries from battling enemies.

2 Franky

Franky is a skilled shipwright of the Straw Hats, and one of the creators of the Thousand Sunny. He added several features and technology into the ship that was unavailable with the Going Merry, their former ship. He made a ship that is a lot better, stronger, and more versatile than the Going Merry.

Franky was able to copy several inventions of the smartest scientist, Dr. Vegapunk, and incorporate some of them into himself. He never got captured while in Vegapunk’s lab for two years, despite not having any stealth skills. His intelligence would allow him to do more if he had more time studying Vegapunk’s creations.

1 Nico Robin

The smartest among the main characters is undoubtedly Robin. Aside from being literally one of a kind (the only one alive who can read Poneglyphs), she also has wide knowledge about world history and events. She was also the smartest kid in Ohara, her hometown.

After Robin’s hometown was destroyed by the marines when she was 8, she joined several organizations and pirate crews for decades, most notably Crocodile’s Baroque Works, which she all escaped from. Her irreplaceable knowledge is coveted by both Big Mom and Cipher Pol, as they have ensured to capture her alive. Without her, there is no hope for the Straw Hats or anyone in reaching Laugh Tale.