One Piece: How strong is Koby now? Explored

One Piece episode 1122, the latest installment of the anime before the six-month break that will last until April 2025, highlighted Koby’s impressive power in all its glory. A kind-hearted Marine officer, Koby is an old acquaintance of Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro from the beginning of the One Piece series. Since then, he has worked his way up.

He joined the Navy with dreams of becoming an Admiral and began training under the tutelage of Monkey D. Garp. With the help of Luffy’s exuberant grandfather, Koby and his friend Helmeppo grew up into valiant Marine officers. When the Blackbeard Pirates kidnaped Koby, Garp attacked the crew’s lair to rescue his beloved pupil.

In a heroic effort worthy of his “Marine Hero” moniker, Garp single-handedly took on several prominent members of the Blackbeard Pirates, including Shiryu and former Admiral Kuzan “Aokiji.” When push came to shove, Koby played a pivotal role, overcoming his fears and insecurities to emerge as a true hero. Now that One Piece episode 1122 has shown Koby’s true strength, it’s interesting to assess how powerful he is now.

With his current power, Koby is a match for many Yonko Commanders in One Piece

Koby’s big moment in One Piece

Koby with Garp, Prince Grus, and Helmeppo (Image via Toei Animation)

One Piece episode 1122 featured the conclusion of the battle on Hachinosu, adapting the content already shown in the manga in chapter 1088. Even though old age had diminished his might, Monkey D. Garp still had the upper hand over Kuzan and the others.

The tables turned when Shiryu used Koby as bait to wound Garp. Shiryu’s Armament Haki-amped sword pierced right through Garp’s body, leaving the old Marine with a nasty wound. Significantly weakened by the injury, Garp was only able to equalize Kuzan in their subsequent clash.

Garp thus decided to put the safety of Koby and the other young officers of SWORD ahead of his own life. As Pizarro used his Devil Fruit ability to merge with Hachinosu, creating a gigantic rock limb to attack the Navy ship carrying away the fugitives, Garp ordered Koby and the others to leave him behind.

Koby's Honesty Impact in the One Piece anime (Image via Toei Animation)

The old Marine then outmaneuvered Kuzan and jumped to Hachinosu’s giant skull-shaped rock, only to strike it with a tremendous punch. Imbued with Armament and Conqueror’s Haki, the blow was powerful enough to split the enormous rock into two halves, severely damaging Pizarro.

Enraged, Pizarro sought revenge by targeting the Navy ship. This is when Koby stepped in. The young Marine coated his hand in Haki to perform a technique called “Honesty Impact.” Koby’s punch unleashed an insane amount of Haki towards Pizarro’s stone arm, crushing it completely.

Proud of his disciple, Garp laughed and cried as he watched the scene. As the Navy ship with Koby and the others sailed away from Hachinosu, the injured old Marine fended off Kuzan, Shiryu, and the others until they eventually overwhelmed him.

Koby’s current strength analyzed

Koby's Honesty Impact as seen in the manga (Image via Shueisha)

Koby started out as a total weakling with less physical prowess and mental fortitude than the average human. Nevertheless, he managed to become a powerful fighter within just three years. This is the result of his talent, hard work, and Garp’s teachings.

Koby's formal rank is Captain, but that doesn’t reflect his fighting skills, which are much higher. Koby is only ranked as a Captain because he is part of SWORD, a secret unit whose members no longer receive promotions because they cease being Marine officers from a formal point of view.

For his combat power, Koby would deserve to be a Vice Admiral. In fact, his skills would make him one of the strongest Vice Admirals ever seen. Garp himself recognized him as the future of the Navy, which says everything about Koby’s potential. Nowadays, Koby is a Rokushiki master with remarkable physical capabilities and above-average Haki powers.

Some Advanced Conqueror Haki users, as seen in the manga (Image via Shueisha)

He was able to block the Kuja Tribe’s Armament Haki-enhanced arrows with his bare hands. He was also able to avoid getting petrified by Boa Hancock’s Love-Love Fruit, while Blackbeard Pirates officers Catarina Devon and Vasco Shot, as well as Vice Admiral Yamakaji, were immediately defeated.

The pinnacle of Koby’s fighting skills is Honesty Impact, a technique that combines his physical strength with Armament Haki. Koby can use an advanced form of the Color of Armament as he can project his Haki forward to generate a devastating shockwave.

Unlike in the cases of confirmed Advanced Conqueror’s Haki users such as Garp, Luffy, Zoro, Shanks, and Kaido, the One Piece manga doesn't show a thick black lightning trail coming from the target of Koby's attack. This suggests that Koby just uses Armament Haki and hasn’t yet developed the advanced form of the Color of Conqueror.

Dressrosa Luffy's Kong Gun (Image via Shueisha)

The One Piece anime adapted the scene differently since Toei Animation is known for taking artistic liberties with the transposition, sacrificing consistency for a more visually stunning effect. These include the addition of colored auras and energy trails that were absent in Eiichiro Oda’s original manga.

Nevertheless, Koby’s Honesty Impact was strong enough to destroy Avalo Pizarro’s gigantic stone limb. This makes Koby’s power output comparable to Dressrosa Arc Zoro's with Billion-Fold World Trichiliocosm or Dressrosa Arc Luffy with Kong Gun.

Pizarro’s stone arm that Koby smashed is similar to Pica’s enormous stone golem that Zoro cut into slices or to the area that Luffy destroyed after punching Doflamingo. However, Honesty Impact is Koby’s peak power. He looked winded after using it, while Luffy and Zoro could perform those moves again.

Dressrosa Zoro's Trichiliocosm (Image via Shueisha)

Moreover, Dressrosa Arc Luffy still has King Kong Gun and the Snakeman form in store. Likewise, Dressrosa Arc Zoro has the post-time skip version of Asura. They also possess remarkable speed and endurance, while Koby lacks feats in these areas.

Koby can move exceptionally fast, even underwater. He was also able to deflect a torpedo with his bare hands after sensing it. But post-time skip Sanji could move very fast underwater just as well, and post-time skip Zoro even blitzed a powerful Fish-Man — further boosted by a huge amount of Energy Steroids — despite fighting him underwater.

Despite his Observation Haki skills and Rokushiki-enhanced speed, Koby could not sense Shiryu. He was helpless against Shiryu and needed Garp to save him from the evil swordsman. This shows that Koby still has a way to go.

Koby needed Garp to save him from Shiryu (Image via Toei Animation)

With his current feats, Koby can defeat average Commander-level fighters such as Jack, Perospero, Smoothie, Cracker, etc. The strongest characters that Koby can potentially defeat are probably Queen or Jozu. Granted, that’s assuming that Koby’s Honesty Impact is strong enough to knock Queen down or break Jozu’s diamond.

Koby’s maximum power output is impressive, but he still needs to improve his other capabilities to become a more effective fighter overall. That said, his potential is astonishing. As Garp’s beloved disciple and second coming, Koby will become even stronger in the future. He is bound to develop Advanced Conqueror’s Haki sooner or later, especially as he aims to challenge Luffy.

Koby’s unbelievable glow-up in One Piece

Koby's training (Image via Toei Animation)

From the timid cabin boy bullied on Alvida’s ship, Koby has become a world-famous hero through sheer determination and hard work. Inspired by Luffy and Zoro to follow his dreams no matter what, he found an extraordinary mentor in Garp. Under Garp's tutelage, Koby and Helmeppo went from being weaklings to being strong enough to use Rokushiki in just a few weeks of training.

Koby underwent the same training that Garp once put Kuzan “Aokiji” through to achieve his exceptional strength. He went even further, training every night after his standard practice. Koby has improved so much simply because he worked harder than anyone else.

Granted, Koby is not quite at Garp’s level. In fact, Koby is far from Garp’s current strength as an old man, let alone the level that Garp reached in his prime. When he was younger, Luffy’s grandfather was strong enough to fight on par with Gol D. Roger. Even as a 78-year-old, Garp could overpower Kuzan, a former Admiral.

Garp is proud of Koby (Image via Toei Animation)

Still, Koby is set up to be the Garp of the next generation. Koby will shine as the future of the Navy in both role and combat power. That’s why Garp went to Hachinosu to rescue Koby and even sacrificed himself to force his disciple to unleash his true potential. One Piece chapter 1088 was titled The Last Lesson, which is a tribute to Koby and Garp’s beautiful student-teacher bond.

Despite being strong enough to achieve the Admiral rank, Garp has always refused the promotion, not wanting to work directly for the Celestial Dragons. As it’s well known, Koby’s dream is to become an Admiral.

In One Piece's final saga, the vicious Celestial Dragons are destined to be wiped out. Therefore, Koby will be able to become an Admiral without being their watchdog. In this sense, it may be said that Koby will even surpass Garp’s legend.

One Piece: How strong is Koby now? Explored

With his current power, Koby is a match for many Yonko Commanders in One Piece

Koby’s big moment in One Piece

Koby’s current strength analyzed

Koby’s unbelievable glow-up in One Piece

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