As a good battle shonen should, One Piece has a variety of iconic fights that are complemented by some flashy and exciting finishing moves. A staple of any anime fight, the idea of the finishing move fuses both brutal power and explicit branding to create some of the most exciting and recognizable attacks ever seen in fiction.
In One Piece‘s world, Devil Fruits, Haki, martial arts, robotic enhancements, and some very loose interpretations of physics all contribute to One Piece‘s own, colorful gallery of finishing moves. And while rating each one’s power and effectiveness is a large discussion within its own right, it’s also really fun just looking at which finishing moves are just the coolest and most memorable.
10 Gatling
Monkey D. Luffy’s Gum-Gum Gatling doesn’t have the awe-inspiring, simplistic appeal of a one-hit attack; but what it lacks in brevity, it more than makes up for with raw, visceral spectacle. The Gum-Gum Gatling isn’t often used as Luffy’s finishing move, but it is the stopping point for a couple of his best fights and most action-packed episodes of One Piece.
At the end of his iconic battle with Sir Crocodile, Luffy didn’t just invent a new move to defeat a Warlord. He just summoned all of his strength and just kept punching until Crocodile was through the ceiling. The same thing happens in his legendary bout with Rob Lucci when Luffy refused to go down and unleashed a flash barrage to send Lucci flying.
9 Hell Memories
Hell Memories is the upgraded version of Sanji’s Diable Jiambe, a kick attack that uses high-speed friction and passionate intensity to burn Sanji’s opponents at extreme temperatures. Seeing Diable Jiambe for the first time against Jabra was one of the great spectacles of the Enies Lobby Arc. It captured the imagination by teasing just how fast and good at kicking Sanji really is.
Hell Memories is a more advanced version that uses Sanji’s own trauma from training to create a kick that envelops his opponent’s entire body in flames. It’s a flashy and ridiculous move that does a great job of capturing the imagination and getting people to love Sanji even more.
8 Three-Sword Style Secret Skill: Billion-Fold World Trichiliochosm
Roronoa Zoro’s strongest attack to date and one of the most ridiculously named attacks in anime (and most rewatchable scenes in One Piece), the billion-fold world trichiliochosm is the epitome of samurai slashes. Anime and Japanese movies are famous for their special brand of swordplay that idolizes attacks faster than the eye can see but powerful enough to create clean cuts through bodies, doors, and, in Zoro’s case, a guy made out of an entire country.
This move is the result of Zoro summoning all of his strength and haki and focusing it into a singular point between all three of his swords and slashing so hard that he can practically cut through an entire city.
7 Meteor Volcano
Meteor Volcano isn’t exactly coined as Akainu’s finishing move in the anime, but it is in some of the video games. It’s also easily his most jaw-dropping attack. While the rest of his move set just has Sakazuki create a large, molten fist, meteor volcano sends a barrage of blazing fists into the air, only to have them arch back down like hellish rain.
This attack created one of the most frightening scenes during the Paramount War where pirates had to scramble as lava fell down upon them and the ground beneath their feet evaporated. This is the One Piece version of the Omaha Beach scene from Saving Private Ryan, and it solidified Akainu, ironically, as one of the coldest figures in the Marines.
6 Great Fire Commandment: Flame Emperor
While Sanji and Akainu have some pretty hot moves of their own, no one in the series has as much burning blood as the ex-Captain of the Spade Pirates and Whitebeard’s 2nd Division, Portgas D. Ace. Ace’s Flame-Flame Fruit wasn’t exactly the most original, anime power out there, but Ace did use it in a variety of interesting ways, such as his signature Fire Fist, his fireflies attack, and his Flame Commandments.
His most powerful move of all simulates the look and intensity of an entire sun that, if launched at anyone else besides Blackbeard, could wipe out nearly any enemy in the One Piece world.
5 Poisonous Giant Soldier: Hell’s Judgement
Magellan was the transitionary villain of the Marineford Saga who guarded the dark cells of Impel Down. With his Venom-Venom Fruit, Magellan did so much more than just coat himself in poison. He created venomous bubbles, noxious gas, and even a terrifying hydra that he could swim through.
His best attack of all transforms him into a giant, devilish soldier made of his strongest venom. Besides the horrifying aesthetics, Hell’s Judgement creates a venom so strong that it can infect even the stone walls and floors of Impel Down, allowing Magellan to wreak, harsh justice literally wherever he steps.
4 Ursus Shock
Ursus Shock isn’t the shiniest move or the most complex one, but it does a better job than most at quieting a scene with pure intensity. With his Paw-Paw Fruit, Bartholomew Kuma is able to reflect what seems to be everything and anything at the speed of light. This includes Perona’s Hollow-Hollow ghosts and somehow the concept of pain.
His most iconic attack with the Paw-Paw Fruit involves Kuma constantly reflecting air particles between his hands and condensing large quantities of them into a single, paw-shaped bubble. This bubble is essentially a bomb that can unleash destructive amounts of air pressure that can wipe out armies or even a continent-moving giant.
3 Lion Majesty: Earth Coiling
Shiki the Golden Lion is a semi-canon character who rivaled Gol D. Roger during One Piece‘s old pirate era and ran amok as the main villain of the movie, One Piece: Strong World. With his Float-Float Fruit, Shiki is able to levitate and seemingly manipulate anything he touches, allowing him to fly, move entire ships by himself, and even hold up his entire, captive country in the sky.
However, Shiki’s Devil Fruit really stretches the meaning of floating when he uses it to manipulate the ground to create torrents of solid rock. With Lion Majesty, Shiki is able to create a giant, lion head that can crush his opponent, and Lion Majesty: Earth Coiling is essentially a tsunami version of that.
2 Nine-Sword Style: Asura
While Zoro has grown considerably stronger since his adventures on Enies Lobby, he has yet to really capture people’s imaginations the same way that he did when, for seemingly no reason at all, he grew two heads, seven extra arms, and six swords – quite the One Piece plot twist!
A manifestation of Zoro’s aura, his Nine-Sword Style: Asura move allows Zoro to create the illusion of a multi-limbed god of war as well as triple the output of his attacks. There’s not much more that actually explains this move, especially since he rarely uses it, but it’s super cool nonetheless.
1 King Kong Gun
Luffy has thrown some pretty iconic punches over the years. His first Gum-Gum Pistol against a Sea King is a series signature, his first “fight” with Bellamy was incredible, and his cathartic punch against a Celestial Dragon on Sabaody Archipelago is one of One Piece‘s most rewatchable moments.
However, his best and strongest punch to date has to be the ultimate culmination of both his Haki training and Gear transformations. King Kong Gun requires Luffy to transform into the already, overpowered Bound Man. However, in this state, Luffy can continue to blow air into his arm, essentially fusing Gear Fourth with Gear Third, allowing him to deliver a punch that can split an entire island.