One Piece is a Shounen series acclaimed for its long list of memorable and well defined characters. Just looking at the series' vast array of character designs and shapes is enough to let one know that Eiichiro Oda isn't gonna make it easy for anyone to forget this series. For a world as grand as this, it is also a major responsibility for its conspirators and antagonists to make an impression.

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And while the series does do a great job of making its villains especially noticeable in both aesthetics and character, much of that doesn't exactly pay off within that person's overall effect on and place in the world. In critique of characters that really came out as bigger deals than they really were, here's a list of some of One Piece's most overrated scoundrels.

10 Wapol

wpaol of tin in one piece

This guy has been getting way too many chances. He first appeared as the king that shouldn't have been within the Drum Island Arc. He came to power and abused that to protect himself, literally hording doctors of all things. After pirates raid his kingdom, he decides to seclude himself to his castle.

Really, nothing about this guy is saying a lot about how much a big deal he is or should've been, yet recent events have perhaps made him one of the most important characters moving forward which is really Oda just throwing a bone to a character he might've liked more than the fans did.

9 Caesar Clown

Caesar Clown holding both arms out as snow falls around him

Caesar Clown can be a delightful character in parts. While he was with the Straw Hat crew, he had an interesting rapport with everyone and even carried a long history that had immediate effects to the storyline. His own story, however, was a little inflated for the kind of guy he was.

The Punk Hazard Arc was everyone's first introduction to the New World, and it certainly enticed with a lot: having one of the most visually distinct islands, a secret laboratory with a variety of cooky experiments, and even a budding relationship with Trafalgar Law. However, a lot of the tension and drama of these elements kind of fall flat to an antagonist who's kind of too weak to actually back it up and too annoying to at least create an interesting dialogue with it.

8 Don Krieg

Don Krieg grinning in One Piece.

A lot of characters in the East Blue were built up with so much hype that one would think that there would be major pay offs and rivalries within the future. There wasn't. One of the biggest disappointments out there was perhaps Commodore Don Krieg, a traitor to the Marine ranks who amassed a massive pirate crew and whose own artillery decks out his own personal armor.

He had a lot going on for him in terms of nefariousness and power yet much of that was just used to scale and be overwhelmed by the actual forces of the Grand Line, something that was easily illustrated by his entire crew being toyed with by Hawkeye Mihawk.

7 Spandam

Oda really does like making some of the weakest, most sniveling people some of the most dangerous characters within his world. Spandam in particular is a Marine who somehow rose through the ranks of Cipher Pol to become the main director of one of their most elite branches.

Not only is he in charge of some of the world's most dangerous super soldiers, but he literally carries this little button that can summon unilateral, Marine mayhem within a couple of minutes. Despite all of that, this guy was a major pushover who was just meant to create an easy payoff with his own pain. Seriously, though, how did this guy become the head of CP9?

6 Mr. 3

Mr. 3 Galdino One Piece

Mr. 3's level of overrated-ness is even apparent in his codename. Gifted with the title of "Mr. 3" among Crocodiel's Baroque Works, Galdino was thought to be one of the most powerful and dangerous bounty hunters around. However, by Crocodile's own admission, Mr. 3 was only gifted his title due to his own intelligence and tenacity.

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According to Crocodile, in terms of strength and physical talents, even the bumbling likes of Mr. 4 could take him down. A man whose own intelligence doesn't even justify his high placement, Mr. 3 was quite a man to disappoint.

5 Captain Kuro

Perhaps the most hyped pre-Arlong villain during the East Blue Arc, it really seemed like Captain Kuro's infamy should've splintered across the East Blue and especially the Grand Line. He had a devilish mind capable of conspiring some of the most devious plots known to man and an insane quickness and strength to make him more of a force of nature than just a human.

However, as time would tell, not only would the tale of Captain Kuro stop, like almost immediately, but his feats of speed would easily become surpassed later on in the series.

4 Sir Crocodile

Sir Crocodile was really built up as this huge, final boss threat early on in the series. When it was revealed that the Straw Hats' first major threat when entering the Grand Line was a member of the Seven Warlords launching this entire conspiracy to takeover a country, it really seemed like the series was being expedited to its endgame, which really might've been the plan early on.

However, Crocodile would not only be defeated by Luffy but also offhandedly revealed as perhaps the weakest, least wanted (in terms of bounty) among all the Warlords. It really was more like Luffy defeated the "first" Warlord instead of just a Warlord. Doesn't really seem as dangerous

3 Arlong

Arlong and his subordinates chuckling during One Piece's Arlong Park arc

Arlong and his 20,000,000 beli bounty really seemed like he was one of the biggest deals in the pirate world. As a member that had to kicked out of the ranks of one of the Seven Warlords, it seemed like the series' introduction to the fishmen should've been a monster among monsters.

However, not only would his feats of strength be quickly overtaken within the ensuing arcs, but his own bounty, the so-called highest in the East Blue, would laughably reveal how weak the East Blue appeared to the rest of the world, as it would immediately be dwarfed by all ensuing threats.

2 "Silver Fox" Foxy

Davy Back Fights

Fox was the series' introduction to the illustrious Davy Back Fight, a riveting competition between pirates that gambles with the membership of each captain's crew. Foxy himself has accumulated not only one of the largest pirate crews ever seen in the series, but they are also some of the most diverse, organized, and loyal to their newfound captain.

One would think that such love and respect would've been earned through genuine talent and strength. However, it wasn't. It was earned through cheats and conniving trickery within the Davy Back Fight. The man himself is kind of one of the most disappointing captains out there whose own final fight was more remembered as a comedic bout than an actual epic clash.

1 Buggy the Clown

Buggy The Clown laughing

Reaching the end of this list, Buggy the Clown is one of the most overrated pirates in the world in more ways than one. When he first premiered, he was set up as this infamous crew equipped with this disaster level technology. The man himself would be revealed to not only be an ex-shipmate of Shanks but also an old swabby of Gol D. Roger himself.

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With all of that in mind, it's kind of disappointing to see the kind of man he actually became. Surviving mostly due to his overly-convenient Devil Fruit, Buggy has gotten by through mostly pure luck. He is literally overrated as any acclaim he's received is through pure circumstance, circumstance that somehow gives him a pirate crew full of some of the Grand Line's most dangerous as well as Warlord status. If anything, Buggy is proof that not everyone from the Roger Pirates was exactly a treasure.

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