The World Government and their Marines hunt pirates in the famous anime series, One Piece. The government issues a bounty on pirates’ capture or killing when the Marines fail to catch them. The bounty placed on the individuals states the award to whomever can apprehend or kill that person. The amount of bounty listed on the paper is in direct proportion to the perceived threat level of the criminal, basically the greater the threat, the bigger the bounty. In the eyes of the pirates, a bounty is a sign of strength. In fact, Luffy expressed a profound level of enthusiam when issued his first bounty. While Sanji actually showed disappointment because his bounty poster failed to identify him properly.

In this article, we are going to review the top 7 highest known bounties placed on the pirates in the One Piece universe. 

Monkey D. Luffy, 1.5 billion Berries

Luffy is an infamous member of the Worst Generation who has caused chaos throughout the world. He has developed a following large enough to be considered the fifth Emperor of the Sea. In terms of strength, he is a force to be reckoned with. He may seem a little out of power at times but it is his drive and determination that manages to overcome whatever obstacle is thrown his way. For instance, he managed to defeat Charlotte Katakuri despite being weaker, slower, and inferior in regards to Haki and having a devil fruit that is outmatched by Katakuri’s own. After each arc where he defeated countless high level villains, Luffy’s bounty has grown tremendously from merely 30,000,000 all the way to 1,500,000,000.

Marshal D. Teach, 2.24+ billion Berries

Marshal D. Teach aka Blackbeard is another member of the Worst Generation, who quite possibly may become the final antagonist of the series. He is one of the Emperors and former Warlord of the Sea. Teach engineered the escape of the level six prisoners of Impel Down. He gave the killing blow to the strongest man in the world and proceeded to become the first person in the series wielding two Devil Fruit powers. One of Blackbeard’s Devil Fruit, Yami Yami no Mi, is considered to be the evilest fruit in the world while the other fruit Gura Gura no Mi has the power to destroy the world. Blackbeard has also managed to gather a might legion held by his ten titanic captains. Furthermore, former Marine Admiral is working under the infamous Blackbeard. 

Redhead Shanks, 4.04+ billion Berries

Luffy’s mentor and the former member of the Roger Pirates, Shanks, is a mysterious living legend in the One Piece universe. He demonstrated his incredible power which caused the sky to split open during his clash with Whitebeard. Shanks is the first figure to appear on this list who is not a Devil Fruit user. Nothing is off-limits for this fiery redhead as he is a man who can casually stroll into the holy land of Mariejois to have a chat with Gorosei – one of the most infamous pirates in the series. He once stepped onto a battlefield between two of the greatest and influential factions One Piece world has ever seen and calmly state that he is here to end the war. There is something about Shanks that demands respect – all that is well reflected in his bounty. 

Charlotte Linlin, 4.38+ billion Berries

Charlotte Linlin, known as Big Mom and a member of the elite group of Yonkos, commands fear like no other in the world. She was born strangely strong to the point that she was capable of combating and killing giants at the tender age of five. In the One Piece world, there is very little that can equal Big Mom’s physical prowess as she is nearly invincible due to her natural state. She has mastered all three types of Haki, and on top of that, she acquired one of the most alarming devil fruits within the entire series, Soru Soru no Mi. Her Paramecia type devil fruits allow her to manipulate the souls of others as well as themselves. She can suck the lifespan off of mortals and absorb them for herself. Linlin’s true element of fear comes from the fact she very commonly erupts into hunger tantrums and uses her established power to wreak havoc and indiscriminately kill until she receives her desired food. 

Kaido, 4.61+ billion Berries

Kaido is probably the only one who can match the sheer physicality of Charlotte Linlin. Recently in the manga, we received firsthand evidence of their power in contrast to one another, resulting in a stalemate and another sky splitting moment. Kaido has been deemed as a threat to the world mainly because he is an essentially ‘un-killable’ creature. During his life as a pirate, he has been defeated seven times and captured eighteen times, where he has been subjected to torture and sentenced to death forty times, but no methods of execution produced even a scratch on Kaido. His durability is so extreme that Kaido can jump off a sky island and land 10,000 meters later onto the ground and emerge with only a mere headache. He can turn into a giant dragon and defeat gear fourth Luffy with a single strike. Kaido is exceptionally powerful and disturbingly volatile, possessing the power to fulfill his desire, which is to plunge the entire world into war.

Edward Newgate, 5.04+ billion Berries

Also known as Whitebeard, Edward Newgate is considered to be the strongest man in the One Piece world. We have not even seen Whitebeard in his prime and yet during the Marineford Arc, at the age of 72, he had the most dangerous presence in the Paramount War despite his poor health. Paramount war featured Marine Admirals and Warlords of the sea, and yet Whitebeard was able to defeat all of them and made a specific example of then Admiral Akainu. His devil fruit was also Gura Gura no Mi. Even he overcame 267 sword wounds, 152 bullets, 46 cannonballs, a laser beam to the chest, and a magma fist blowing off a third of his head at an old age. Whitebeard passed away standing tall without a single wound or scar on his back. 

Gol D. Roger, 5.56+ billion Berries

Gol D. Roger aka Gold roger was the former Pirate King of the One Piece world. Roger was the captain of the only known crew to set foot on Raftel, resulting in him becoming the Pirate King. A feat so impressive that it is believed impossible to achieve by the vast majority of the world. However, to get there, Roger made several enemies, including the Hero of the Marines, Monkey D. Garp. Garp was quite possibly the most powerful marine to ever exist, and even he was unable to capture Roger despite having him cornered on many occasions. Rogers exploits do not end there as he also simultaneously made enemies with Kaido, Whitebeard, and Big Mom as they were part of the same crew at the time. To defeat them, Rogers teamed up with Garp. His most infamous action in this world was his death; a matter that sparked the Great Age of Piracy and the long-standing race to become the next Pirate King.