One Piece has seen the rise of countless pirates over different generations, ranging from the times of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger to Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy's generation of pirates, in particular, are said to include some of the worst known pirates in history, hence the name 'Worst Generation.'
However, the generation before Luffy wasn't half bad either. It included some of the most powerful rookies out there, most of who went on to make a great name for themselves, rising either to the position of the Shichibukai, or ascending to the throne of the Yonko. Here are the strongest known rookies of the previous generation in One Piece.
10 Buggy
Buggy served as an apprentice on Oro Jackson, the ship of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. During Roger's execution, Buggy was present at Logue Town and from there, he went on to form his own crew, the Buggy Pirates.
Although Buggy isn't all that powerful, his influence is rather impressive. Buggy even served as a Shichibukai for quite a while and started 'Buggy's Delivery'. Right now, Buggy is fighting the Marines, alongside his group, who have all come to capture him for good.
9 Crocodile
Famed as 'Sir Crocodile', Crocodile went on to make a great name for himself gradually after setting out to sea. Like Buggy, Crocodile witnessed Roger's execution and was inspired to make name for himself. At some point, he even fought against Whitebeard, which didn't end well, most probably.
Nonetheless, Crocodile is a powerful pirate who ate the Logia type Suna Suna no Mi, allowing him to create, control and manipulate sand at will. He served as one of the Warlords right until he was defeated by Monkey D. Luffy at Alabasta. Right now, he's somewhere in the New World but what he is up to isn't known.
8 Moria
Gecko Moria was one of the most flamboyant pirates from the previous generation who set out to sea to conquer everything. Although Moria was weak when he fought against Luffy, things were quite different in the past as he didn't rely on zombies to do his work for him.
In fact, Moria is known to have fought against Yonko Kaido for days and nights on an equal footing in the past. Although he did lose, the fact that he matched Kaido for days is rather astonishing. Unfortunately, his strength went downhill after Kaido massacred his entire crew.
7 Doflamingo
Donquixote Doflamingo was one of the very few pirates of his generation with royal blood. Evidently, he was one of the former Celestial Dragons and his knowledge served him quite well over the years.
Strength-wise, Doflamingo is quite powerful, thanks to his exceptional usage of the Ito Ito no Mi, a Paramecia type of Devil Fruit that allows him to create and control strings. Furthermore, Doflamingo is also a user of all three Haki types, however, his usage with each of them is pretty basic. He went on to become a Shichibukai after having his bounty of 320 million berries frozen.
6 Boa Hancock
Hancock was on the Kuja ship during the beginning of the Great Pirate Era and only went on to achieve greatness in the future. She rose to the role of captain of the crew and even became the Empress of Amazon Lily.
Just after one voyage, a bounty of 80 million berries was placed on her head, which is massive, given that Luffy's first bounty was just 30 million berries. Hancock ate the Mero Mero no Mi at some point, allowing her to turn people to stone, especially those who lust after her, and along with that, she's also a very capable user of all three Haki types.
5 Marco
Dubbed as 'The Phoenix', Marco is one of the very few pirates from this generation who wasn't a Pirate Captain, at least not initially. Nonetheless, he was quite ferocious, capable of fighting against veteran Roger Pirates members before he was even 20!
What's more, Marco ate the Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Phoenix, a Mythical Zoan type of Devil Fruit allowing him to transform into a Phoenix. His Haki, along with his ability to heal from any injury makes him a near-invincible pirate. He became Whitebeard's right-hand man, and after the death of his captain, he rose to the rank of the Captain of the Whitebeard Pirates.
4 Katakuri
Charlotte Katakuri, just like Marco, is one of the very few pirates from this generation who weren't captains. Katakuri was born on Rocks' ship, most likely. At a very young age, he established himself as one of the strongest pirates.
It is said that Katakuri walked right after he was born and his back has only ever touched the ground in a fight once, against Monkey D. Luffy. Katakuri ate the Mochi Mochi no Mi at the age of 5 and trained in all three Haki types. He rose to the rank of Big Mom's right-hand man. What the future holds for him isn't known yet.
3 Mihawk
The current 'World's Strongest Swordsman', Dracule Mihawk was from the same generation as Buggy and the others. He too, like many others on this list, witnessed the death of Gol D. Roger.
Mihawk has fought many strong swordsmen over the years, even clashing against Shanks on a few occasions. Their fight was described to be 'legendary' by Whitebeard himself. At some point, Mihawk gained tremendous fame and notoriety, and in the process, he became one of the Shichibukai. His status as a Shichibukai was revoked recently, which means that we'll likely see more of him in the future.
2 Shanks
Also known as 'Red-haired', Shanks is one of the most prominent pirates in the current era of One Piece. He served as an apprentice on Gol D. Roger's ship, along with Buggy, and then went on to form his own crew.
Six years before the current timeline in the story, Shanks rose to the position of 'Yonko'. Since then, he's managed to gather a bounty of over 4 billion berries, which just goes to show how infamous a pirate he really is. His powers haven't been revealed yet, but they're likely just as good as any other Yonko we've seen in One Piece.
1 Kaido
Topping the list is none other than the man known as 'The Strongest Creature in the World', Hundred Beasts Kaido. Although his generation isn't exactly the same as that of Shanks and the rest, he isn't from Roger, Big Mom, and Whitebeard's generation either.
Although Kaido was on Rocks' ship, just like Whitebeard and Big Mom, he was just an apprentice. Quite sometime after that, Kaido started attaining more power and gathered a massive crew, all thanks to his strength. He took over Wano Country 20 years ago, and at an unspecified time, became one of the Yonko.