Battle-shonen is a subgenre that heavily centers itself around the premise of fighting. And at the foremost of this subgenre stands One Piece - the undisputed king of Shonen. Moreover, in order to produce entertaining and engaging battles, a similarly engaging and interesting opposing side of villains is required.
One Piece is a series that is infested with greatly written villains. From the get-go of the series, the quality has always been on the rise with only a few downward spikes every now and then. More often than not, these One Piece villains win the fans' love rather than their dislike - that's how interesting they can be. Here's a ranked list of the most fan-favorite One Piece villains, according to MAL.
10 Borsalino/Kizaru (400+ Favorites)
Kizaru is a character who won the fans' favor through his unfettered and otherwise lazy demeanor. Despite nearly wiping out the Straw Hats and being a central reason to their 2-year long separation, fans still don't hold a grudge.
As a veteran Marine Admiral, Kizaru is unquestionably one of the series' strongest individuals. He ate the Pica Pica no Mi, a logia-type devil fruit that granted him the properties of light-- a greatly overpowered devil fruit.
9 Blackbeard (420+ Favorites)
There are very few characters in One Piece that can compete with Blackbeard in terms of villainy. This man is so bad that he is considered a villain by other villains. Murder, deceit, betrayal, theft...etc there exists no atrocious deed that is beyond Blackbeard's non-existent code of honor.
But what's so impressive about Blackbeard isn't just villainy, it's his scheming. For decades, he laid low and hid under the grand shadow of Whitebeard. He devised plans in silence waiting for his perfect opportunity to strike - and strike he did.
8 Smoker (440+ Favorites)
Fundamentally, Smoker is not actually a bad guy. But because our good guys are essentially bad guys, he has to be the bad guy. He went after the Straw Hats before, and he sure will continue doing so.
Smoker also happens to be one of the most underrated characters; mostly due to the events of Punk Hazard. Those who underestimate his capabilities tend to forget how swiftly he climbed the Marine Ladder. He is a solid candidate for the next-gen Admiral position.
7 Kuzan/Aokiji (470+ Favorites)
In every sense of the word, Kuzan used to be the most chill Marine officer in the series. And in spite of his chill, he was one of the most compassionate and warm-hearted.
Following the timeskip, however, Kuzan "defected" from the Marines and is currently operating as an outlaw. There are many theories brushing his possibilities of being undercover, but these can be overruled due to Sakazuki's genuine anger regarding the alleged betrayal.
6 Buggy (490+ Favorites)
Buggy, or Buggy D. Clown as addressed by the community, is a previous Shichibukai who has sailed alongside the Pirate King himself back in the golden days of piracy. He is also the president of the Buggy Delivery organization, one of the most iconic mercenary services in the New World.
With that out of the way, Buggy’s current fate lies in the unknown. With the disbandment of the Shichibukai system, it’s unknown whether he’ll be able to keep up his farce.
5 Bon Clay/Mr.2 (600+ Favorites)
Mr.2 or Bon Clay is a rare case of "bad guy gone good" in One Piece. He was first introduced as a supporting antagonist in the Alabasta saga. But after the fall of the Baroque Works organization, he was captured by the Marines and imprisoned in Impel Down.
After reuniting with Luffy, the two set aside their previous conflicts and became good friends. Bon Clay became a fan-favorite after he risked his life - multiple times - in order to save Luffy.
4 Crocodile (780+ Favorites)
Crocodile also made a comeback alongside his lieutenant, Daz Bones, in Impel Down. The two participated in the summit war and left for the New World right after.
Crocodile was always a dear character to the One Piece fandom. In all likelihood, with or without assisting Luffy, he would’ve still made it to this list.
3 Perona (1,120+ Favorites)
Perona beating those of Bon Clay and Crocodile in terms of fans’ love is rather surprising if anything. She debuted in the Thriller Bark arc as Moria’s subordinate. And subsequent to Moria’s defeat, she was blasted off to Kuraigana Island by Kuma where she met Zoro and Mihawk.
Perona never gave off a "bad guy" vibe. Even when she was with Moria, she was more of comic relief rather than a full-fledged antagonist.
2 Doflamingo (4,090+ Favorites)
If there was a bad-guy scale in One Piece, then Doflamingo would most certainly come out at the very top. Unlike most villains who choose evil in order to achieve their ambitions and gain glory; Doflamingo is only in it to produce as much chaos as possible. His first and foremost goal is to bring about the destruction of the world - the purest kind of evil.
1 Karakuri (7,370+ Favorites)
Lastly, there’s Katakuri; the head sweet commander under Big Mom and an all-time certified badass. His demeanor, strength, and foresight are all amongst the highest in the One Piece world.
Although Katakuri is not completely perfect as his siblings praise him, he is not far from it. Fans are patiently awaiting his comeback; regardless if it is as friend or foe.