Eiichiro Oda repeatedly stated that Wano will be the best arc to grace us since the beginning of One Pieceーeven better than Marineford. Wano aside, just the fact that Marineford became the go-to arc to assess the performance of other story arcs is a testimony to its greatness. But of course, some might argue otherwise even though Marineford’s position as the #1 arc was solidified many moons ago.
With that said, here is a glaring aspect that heavily contributed to the whopping success of the Summit War Sagaーthe characters. More particularly, the antagonistic characters who were featured in the arcs that made up the Summit War Saga. Without the efforts of these villains in question, may not have been as great as it was.
10 Hannyabal
Ambition is not reserved for pirates alone. In fact, many World Government officials showcased some overwhelming ambition that would put most pirates to shame.
Hannyabal is such a man. For the longest time, he, the previous vice warden of Impel Down, had his eye on the top seat. He resorted to many low-handed and otherwise shameful tactics to secure said position. Eventually, he got the position he desired, but at the expense of every last ounce of integrity he had.
9 Jesus Burgess
Whenever the Blackbeard Crew is mentioned, Jesus Burgess is almost certainly to come to mind. He is one of the original members of the crew and one of Blackbeard's most loyal subordinates.
During both the Impel Down arc and the Marineford Arc, Burgess was always a step behind his captain. He was directly involved in each and every outrageous deed executed by Blackbeard. And for that, he certainly does deserve a mention.
8 Shiryu
Shiryu of the rain made his initial debut in Impel Down as a level 6 prisoner. Later down the arc, he was freed by Blackbeard under the condition of joining the latter's gang of ruffians.
Amongst the Blackbeard crew, Shiryu is easily one of the most intriguing. He is always accompanied by an air of mystery that separates him from the common ragtag. Shiryu's merits during the saga were more or less equal to Burgess'.
7 Magellan
Magellan is one of One Piece's most underappreciated characters. He has all the qualifications to make it to the major league of characters, yet the One Piece narrative is being inconsiderate about him. Heck! Even fans tend to forget about this poison demon every now and then.
Magellan also happens to be one of the few 'area bosses' who Luffy was incapable of defeating. The two were at different levels at the time of the encounter.
6 Bartholomew Kuma
One more character who is criminally underrated by the community is Bartholomew "Tyrant" Kuma. This guy owns one of the series' most broken devil fruit as well as one of the most versatile, and that's not an overstatement.
So far, Kuma has been but a tool used by the narrative whenever it sees fit. He has so much potential, yet he only appears when it's overly convenient or to trigger a plot transition.
5 Aokiji
Although he was practically fighting the enemy of the Navy, Aokiji managed to remain cool throughout the entire ordeal; both literally and figuratively. He inflicted some significant damage to Whitebeard and his forces, yet his position as the coolest marine remained unshakable.
But with all said and done, the fact of the matter remains that Aokiji was a villain. Not in a sense of wishing harm to the world, but in the sense of antagonizing the ‘good guys’ squad.
4 Kizaru
Kizaru not only had a prominent role during the Marineford war, but he also was the main culprit behind the Sabaody pseudo-massacre that took place a few days prior to the war. For a self-proclaimed lazy fellow, Kizaru surely is busy.
Solely based on his actions back in Sabaody, Kizaru deserves way much more villain points than Aokiji.
3 Sengoku
The criminal mastermindーor rather, justice mastermindーbehind the war merits more than a simple mention. He previously gave the call to many operations that are considered inhumane, even by One Piece standards. And for that reason, he is villainy as a villain could get.
While this reasoning might seem rather simple in ignoring the political motives behind said inhumane actions; no justification can paint Sengoku in a better light.
2 Blackbeard
From Impel Down to Marineford; Blackbeard wreaked havoc as no other villain has done before. For one thing, the war and all that followed were sequenced accordingly to Blackbeard’s deep schemes. And with that regard, even the likes of Kaido and Big Mom can not compete with the newly throned Yonko.
Due to his actions in both Impel Down and Marineford, Blackbeard could be considered as one of the major villains in this war saga.
1 Akainu
Just the simple fact that he is the murderer of Ace is enough to garner Akainu the top place in this list.
Besides that, Akainu's rage-fueled absolute justice is severely lacking in morality. Even fellow Marine with a remotely conflicting sense of justice met their ends by the hands of Sakazuki.
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