The One Piece universe is known for its charismatic leaders, both in the pirate and World Government spheres. Some have helped to uplift the people around them, while others aggressively seek to plunge the world into darkness.
Regardless of motive, there are a handful of leaders that are so incompetent that they struggle to use the resources at their disposal properly and squander the respect they receive. Things could have been different if they had led their followers more intelligently.
10 Luffy Doesn't Consider The Danger He Puts His Crew In
Luffy's charisma is a fantastic asset. Oftentimes, he will blunder his way into receiving the support of others, as seen through his role in the samurai/mink alliance and the formation of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet.
However, he's also extremely reckless when entering conflicts with potential threats. For example, he called out Big Mom at Fish-Man Island despite being unable to contend with her at the time. Luffy's callous disregard for peril is his greatest weakness.
9 Gecko Moria Is Too Shortstaffed To Run His Massive Crew
When directly involved in a conflict, Gecko Moria fares decently enough. He used his devil fruit to unlock Oars' true potential, nearly wiping out all Straw Hats at once. However, most of Moria's crew are undead and require his direct supervision.
Without it, they're aimless and may even fight among themselves as Sanji and Zoro's shadows did, resulting in their mutual demise. Considering that Moria only has a handful of human crewmates, it's impossible for him to keep track of his entire army and provide them with the guidance they desperately need.
8 Hody Jones Didn't Know How To Capitalize On Anti-Human Sentiment Properly
Hody Jones managed to send his message through the assassination of Queen Otohime. He proved such a charismatic public figure that his army grew to 100,000 capable fighters. While Hody overthrew Neptune's palace and captured him, he failed to inspire through anything aside from fear.
Often, the villain used his henchmen as human shields and forced them to take body-destroying energy steroids. Even if Hody managed to defeat Luffy and his crew, the New Fish-Man pirate movement would collapse almost immediately after reaching the surface due to his general shortsightedness.
7 Gan Fall Lost Everything To Eneru
Gan Fall was the former leader of Skypiea. Despite being revered by its denizens, he was completely powerless to protect them and ultimately got forced out.
He made no attempts to connect with others during his exile, ironically reaching out to Luffy and his crew instead. Meanwhile, his most devoted followers had been either killed or turned into slaves in order to build Eneru's monstrous arc. In the end, Eneru proved a better leader than Gan Fall for his ability to keep order in Skypiea and mobilize his gigantic army of loyal cultists.
6 Orochi's Paranoia Made Him A Joke To His Followers
After Oden's demise, Orochi became shogun of Wano. There were a number of flaws in his reign, namely the fact that most of the country immediately fell into a famine.
In addition to being loathed by a considerable swathe of the populace, Orochi is not even respected by his own followers. They speak disparagingly behind his back about his rampant paranoia, one that was founded on the alleged return of the samurai he replaced.
5 Charloss Was Weak, Demanding, & Oblivious
Charloss is perhaps the most infamous Celestial Dragon for his bizarre combination of weakness and imperious sense of entitlement. He treats everyone as if they're far beneath him despite his own abundant flaws.
Having never been forced to struggle for his goals, Charloss does not know how to lead the marines properly. He failed to capture the Straw Hats with Kizaru and didn't even investigate Zoro's "death" after shooting at him. Should Charloss lose the insurmountable resources of the World Government, he'd be a complete joke at the mercy of others.
4 Ax-Hand Morgan's Reign Was Uneventful & Short-Lived
"Ax-Hand" Morgan was the first marine that Luffy faced. Brutish and cruel, he threatened his own town to capture Zoro and forced his own marines to erect a great statue in his likeness. Luffy defeated him with relative ease, liberating both the swordsmen and the townsfolk.
Instead of resenting the pirate for his actions, the marines took their own leader into custody. Although Luffy was thanked for his heroism, he still couldn't stay in the town due to the laws enacted by the World Government.
3 King Riku Was Robbed Blind By Doflamingo
King Riku was the disgraced leader of Dressrosa. Although the country was once poor but happy, Doflamingo transformed it into the foothold of his criminal empire. Riku completely embarrassed himself to lose the respect of his subjects.
Not only did he cave in to Doflamingo's intimidation rather than request help from the World Government, but he also didn't tell his subjects that he was being controlled while being forced to kill them. As a result, the people of Dressrosa had an understandable animosity for their former king and welcomed Doflamingo with open arms.
2 Spandam Lost Enies Lobby To A Small Band Of Pirates
Achieving his rank through nepotism, Spandam cost the World Government the entirety of Enies Lobby. Not only did he fail to escort Robin or Franky through the gates of justice, but he also misappropriated the terrible power of the buster call.
While Spandam was successful in some of his schemes, such as framing Franky for a naval attack on Water Seven, he was a horrendous leader who blamed his failures on the CP9 agents. Spandam's shortcomings are especially appalling when considering how weak Luffy and his crew were at the time of his defeat.
1 Big Mom's Gluttony Puts Her Own Children At Risk
Big Mom embodies everything wrong with a leader. She is depraved, petty, and relatively unintelligent. For example, she drained the soul of one of her own children when they attempted to talk her down from a rampage.
The Emperor's gluttony is particularly problematic for her subjects since they never know when she might destroy their homes arbitrarily. While Whole Cake Island is still relatively well organized, it's almost entirely on account of Big Mom's children, rather than anything that she has personally done to procure law and order.