One Piece Just Confirmed Luffy’s Strongest Mentor Yet

One Piece‘s manga continues to dive deeper into its narrative, and with the series’ apparent main villain, Imu, finally descending to the battlefield and taking action, it is unveiling new layers of the story. Even before Imu’s arrival, it had become clear that the enemies the Straw Hats now face are beyond their current level, as even leaving a scratch on the Gods Knights proved to be a challenge. This implied that the Straw Hats, especially the core members, still have room to grow, and the series is developing them not through isolated training, but by introducing the perfect mentor.

Ever since his introduction in the Elbaph arc, Scopper Gaban has been positioned as a powerful mentor. His first encounter involved testing whether Luffy and Zoro could handle Loki’s release, and as the narrative progressed, Gaban also shared the crucial knowledge that only Conqueror’s Haki can truly affect the Gods Knights and even Imu. On top of that, in the latest chapter, as Luffy was on the verge of death, Gaban arrived just in time to stop Imu and save him while imparting a lesson about what it truly means to become the King of the Pirates. With such moments, Gaban has emerged as Luffy’s strongest mentor, and there are many reasons that support this.

The Pirate King’s Left Hand Is Luffy’s Strongest Mentor

Luffy is not a character known for having many mentors, as he primarily adapts and learns through his own experiences. That said, he has still had a few important mentors throughout his life and has continued to learn from others whenever the opportunity arose. One of his most influential mentors is undoubtedly Monkey D. Garp, who shaped much of Luffy’s personality through his own upbringing, with much of Luffy’s behavior reflecting Garp’s influence. While some fans may argue that Shanks is also a mentor, he is better described as the idol who inspired Luffy to begin his journey toward becoming the Pirate King.

If there was one person who truly served as Luffy’s mentor and gave him his first major step forward, it was Rayleigh. After first appearing at Sabaody and following the tragic events of Marineford, the Pirate King’s right-hand man spent a year and a half training Luffy to master Haki. This alone makes Rayleigh arguably Luffy’s most vital mentor. However, when it comes to strength, Gaban challenges both Garp and Rayleigh, ultimately standing as an even stronger individual. Like them, he has built a legendary reputation of his own and has demonstrated mastery over multiple weapons. What further strengthens this point is that he has been introduced much later in the narrative.

Series like One Piece typically reserve their most powerful and important characters for the final stages of the story, and since Gaban is now mentoring Luffy and his crew on how to face the monsters who could become the series’ final villains, he is structurally positioned as the strongest among Luffy’s mentors. Gaban has already demonstrated this by rendering the Gods Knights powerless while simultaneously fighting Imu and protecting Luffy, a feat no other character has achieved so far. As a result, Gaban stands as Luffy’s strongest mentor in One Piece as of now.

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