RELATED: Scariest One Piece Characters

Most of these characters rely on their physical and devil fruit abilities to get the better of their opponents. Such characters never fail to capture the attention of the fans, but sometimes physical strength alone isn’t enough to win a fight or get out of a tricky situation. In such cases, the smartness of a character comes into play. Needless to say, there are many knowledgeable characters in One Piece, but not all of them are smart.

10 Monkey D. Dragon

Monkey D. Dragon is the leader of the Revolutionary Army. He founded the Revolutionary Army many years ago in an attempt to overthrow the World Government, and he has successfully managed to help several nations to free themselves.

Dragon is a very smart person as he managed to create an organization so powerful that it can oppose the World Government. He has managed to stay out of their grasp, and his previous base, Baltigo would have remained hidden if Burgess had not led Blackbeard to the location.

9 Sengoku

Sengoku is one of the Navy’s veterans, and he served them for a very long time. Years prior to One Piece’s storyline, Sengoku managed to get promoted to the position of Fleet Admiral, which gave him absolute authority over the Marines.

Sengoku led the Marines to a very important victory over the Whitebeard Pirates, and it wouldn’t have been possible without his planning. He lured the Whitebeard Pirates and even created quakeproof walls to nullify Whitebeard’s power. Seeing that the Whitebeard Pirates managed to put up a great fight, Sengoku even tried to move up the time of execution.

8 Trafalgar Law

Trafalgar Law is the captain of the Heart Pirates and one of the members of the Worst Generation. After the time skip, Law formed an alliance with the Straw Hat Pirates. The main purpose of the alliance was to take down Donquixote Doflamingo.

RELATED:One Piece: Pirates With The Most Road Poneglyphs

Law was aware that Doflamingo wouldn’t be an easy target, so he crafted a brilliant plan to ensure his fellow Shichibukai’s downfall. He helped to destroy the factory on Punk Hazard, and then he backed up Luffy in his bid to defeat Doflamingo. With Doflamingo gone, Kaido was unable to buy more devil fruits for his crew. This effectively started the downfall of the Emperor.

7 Sanji

Sanji is a very intelligent character, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to call him the smartest Straw Hat Pirate. He is a culinary genius, who knows about all kinds of ingredients and their benefits. Sanji’s intelligence can also be seen in and out of fights.

During the Alabasta arc, Sanji managed to fool Crocodile, which gave him enough time to save the Straw Hats. He destroyed the machinery of the Ark Maxim, slowing down Enel and giving Luffy ample time to defeat the villain. While everyone was busy fighting at Enies Lobby, Sanji cleverly altered the mechanism of the Gates of Justice so that the crew could escape. These are just a few examples of Sanji’s smartness.

6 Nami

According to Oda, Nami has the highest IQ within the Straw Hat crew. She is unquestionably very skilled at cartography and navigation. Both these things require an immense understanding of the wind, sea, and several other things.

On various occasions, Nami’s quick thinking has helped the crew to get out of tricky situations. While traveling to Whole Cake Island with Luffy and co., she was able to figure out that the homies were scared of Big Mom’s Vivre Card. She also used her Clima-Tact to drench Cracker’s biscuits, making them soft for Luffy to eat.

5 Crocodile

Crocodile was the main antagonist of the Alabasta arc. He formulated an incredible plan to get rid of Nefertari Cobra and the rest of the royal family. Crocodile created the Baroque Works and used the organization to sow discontent among the people of Alabasta.

RELATED: One Piece: The Strongest Busoshoku Haki Users, Ranked

The best thing about Crocodile’s plan was that he didn’t even have to use his Shichibukai status to pull the strings. Crocodile’s intellect also enabled him to create the Cross Guild. In order to counter the threat of the Marines, Crocodile started to put bounties on their heads. He even managed to convince Dracule Mihawk to join.

4 Doflamingo

Doflamingo is one of the greatest anime villains. He managed to win over many fans with his evil charisma. After being driven out of Marijoa, Doflamingo vowed to seek revenge against the Celestial Dragons. He used the information that he had gained the blackmail them into giving him the position of a Shichibukai.

Doflamingo carefully executed his plan to take over the country of Dressrosa by using his devil fruit. The power of his devil fruit enabled him to control King Riku and the others into attacking the common people who believed that the king had gone mad. In order to trick the commoners, Doflamingo intervened and stopped Riku from killing the civilians. Once he became the king, Doflamingo used Sugar’s power to quell any usurpers.

3 Blackbeard

Many people believe that Blackbeard will be Luffy’s last opponent, and he has exhibited many signs of being the final boss. So far, Blackbeard has eloquently planned his every move, and he has worked his way around any possible hiccups. He bided his time when he was a crew member of the Whitebeard Pirates. But, as soon as Thatch got his hands on the Yami Yami no Mi, Blackbeard wasted no time in murdering him and stealing the fruit.

Then Blackbeard sought out Luffy as he wanted to turn him in to the Marines in exchange for a place in the Shichibukai. Ace attempted to derail Blackbeard’s plan, but the latter proved to be extremely powerful. After handing Ace to the Marines, Blackbeard got what he wanted and used his new status to invade Impel Down and free the prisoners. All these things prove that he is a very smart individual.

2 Vinsmoke Judge

Many years ago, Vinsmoke Judge used to be a part of MADS, an illegal scientific group. Vegapunk and Judge were researching the Lineage Factor, which would allow them to understand how life is created.

Even after the team disbanded, Judge continued his research and he eventually managed to use the Lineage Factor to create superhumans and clones. Judge also created raid suits for his family that increased their battle prowess even further.

1 Vegapunk

Vegapunk is undoubtedly the most intelligent person in the series. While his intelligence has not been tested in the midst of a battle, it is safe to assume that a person who is considered to be at least 500 years ahead of any other person would have no problem using it in battle. Vegapunk has even created several bodies to help him to get his work done faster and they essentially make him immortal.

MORE: One Piece: All Known Members of SWORD