The Elbaf giants are not just big warriors. They are the closest thing One Piece has to gods walking the earth, and the arc unfolding right now is proving it in ways most fans are only starting to process.
Here at Shonen Vortex, we have been tracking the Elbaf build-up since Usopp’s tearful goodbye to Dorry and Brogy back in the Little Garden arc, and what is landing in 2026 is the payoff of nearly 25 years of setup. This is not a recap. This is the breakdown of who truly stands at the top of the Elbaf hierarchy, what their power means for the endgame, and why the giant you are sleeping on changes everything.
The fandom is split right now on Loki and whether Shanks is the real power broker in Elbaf. We are settling it here, with receipts.
Table of Contents
- What Are the Elbaf Giants?
- The Elbaf Power Hierarchy Ranked
- Loki: The One Above All in Elbaf
- Shanks and the Elbaf Connection
- Why Usopp Is the Key to All of This
- FAQs: Elbaf Giants Answered
- Final Verdict
What Are the Elbaf Giants in One Piece?
The Elbaf giants are the warrior race native to Elbaf, the famed island of giants in the New World, widely considered the strongest nation in the One Piece world. They are not just physically larger than humans. Their combat culture, lifespans, and Haki potential operate on a completely different scale.
Here is what sets the Elbaf giants apart from every other force in One Piece:
- Giants live for centuries, accumulating battle experience no human crew can match
- Their physical strength dwarfs even Yonko-level fighters in raw output
- Elbaf operates on a strict warrior code: honor, strength, and tribal loyalty above all
- The strongest giants are believed to wield Conqueror’s Haki as a birthright
- Elbaf’s army has never been fully deployed. That alone should terrify you
- Giants have a documented history tied directly to the Void Century (Chapter 1066 hints)
- Their spiritual connection to Norse mythology runs deeper than aesthetics
As shown in the Little Garden arc (Chapters 115 to 129) and confirmed across recent chapters, Elbaf is not just a location. It is a geopolitical superpower that has simply chosen to stay out of the World Government’s wars. Until now.
The Elbaf Power Hierarchy Ranked
Re-watching the recent Elbaf episodes and reading the raws this week, the detail most people skip is how clearly Oda has structured the Elbaf giant hierarchy. This is not flat. There are tiers, and they matter for the arc’s endgame.
| Rank | Giant | Role | Power Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loki | Imprisoned King | Catastrophic |
| 2 | Dorry & Brogy | Legendary Warriors | Yonko Crew-tier |
| 3 | Harald (Loki’s Father) | Former King | Commander-tier |
| 4 | Giant Warrior Pirates | Elite Guard | Vice Admiral-tier |
| 5 | Standard Elbaf Warriors | Army | High-Tier New World |
Dorry and Brogy were confirmed in Episode 1158 to be on a level that shook Elbaf’s entire warrior establishment. Their return is not nostalgia. Oda is using them as a measuring stick for what true Elbaf strength looks like at its ceiling, before revealing what sits above even them.
And what sits above them is locked in a cage.
Loki: The One Above All in Elbaf
This is the section manga readers have been waiting for.
Loki is the imprisoned prince of Elbaf, and every clue Oda has dropped about him points to one conclusion: he is not simply a villain. He is the most powerful living giant, and his imprisonment is the political fault line the entire arc is built around.
What we know about Loki from recent chapters:
- He was sealed away by his own father, which means Elbaf’s king feared his own blood
- His name directly references Loki from Norse mythology, the agent of Ragnarok, the one who breaks the cycle
- His release is being treated with the same weight as a Yonko going rogue
- The World Government’s interest in keeping Loki imprisoned suggests he is a threat to them specifically, not just to Elbaf
Here is the take the rest of the internet is not making: Loki is imprisoned because he knows something about the Void Century. The giants pre-date the World Government. Elbaf was never conquered. If any civilization kept records that survived, it was them. Loki’s rage is not random. It is directed.
The mistake most power scalers make is treating Loki as a straightforward antagonist. He is closer to a sealed weapon that both sides want to control.
If this is true, then his release triggers a three-way collision between the Straw Hats, the World Government, and whatever Loki actually wants, and that collision is the Elbaf arc’s real endgame.
Manga readers will fight us on this, but the evidence is sitting in plain sight.
Shanks and the Elbaf Connection
Shanks and Elbaf have been linked since Chapter 434, when it was revealed he spent time with the Giant Warrior Pirates as a child. That detail was not flavor text.
Shanks is not just an ally of Elbaf. He is arguably its most important non-giant stakeholder. He was raised in its culture, trained alongside its warriors, and his Shamrock connection to his twin Doppelman feeds directly into the question of what Shanks actually represents in the world’s power structure.
The current Elbaf arc is the first time we are seeing Shanks operate in his home political territory. His strength here is not just physical. It is institutional. He has favors, alliances, and knowledge about Elbaf’s secrets that no other Yonko holds.
Right now, the fandom is split on whether Shanks is working with or against Loki’s potential release. His track record suggests he plays a longer game than anyone gives him credit for. And the One Piece power system is built so that Haki mastery, not size, decides the actual ceiling. Shanks clearing Elbaf warriors with Conqueror’s Haki alone is not a coincidence. It is a reminder of who holds real authority there.
Why Usopp Is the Key to All of This
After tracking the Usopp-Elbaf debate across the fandom since the Dressrosa arc, here is what holds up: Usopp’s entire arc was always pointing at Elbaf, and the payoff is more painful than most fans expected.
Usopp wanted to be a brave warrior of the sea. Elbaf is the home of the bravest warriors in existence. The geometry was always there.
But Elbaf may complete Usopp in the worst way possible. The giants value honesty and courage above all. Usopp built his entire identity on lies. The arc is not going to simply hand him a power-up and a gold medal. It is going to force him to reckon with who he actually is versus who he claimed to be for years.
That is not a happy resolution. That is growth that costs something.
Trending across X this week, the debate about whether Usopp actually unlocks Conqueror’s Haki in Elbaf is heating up. The evidence for it is real. The giant lineage factor, the Sogeking alter ego, and the connection to Noland all stack. But Oda has never given Usopp an easy win when a hard one teaches more.
As of May 2026, the Elbaf arc secrets continue to unfold in ways that suggest we are in the first half of a very long story. The episode count for Elbaf is going to surprise people.
But here is the real question: is Usopp’s Elbaf moment going to be a triumph, or the most bittersweet payoff in One Piece history?
FAQs: Elbaf Giants Answered
- Who is the strongest giant in Elbaf?
Based on current evidence through the Elbaf arc, Loki is the strongest living giant in Elbaf by a significant margin. He was imprisoned precisely because his own father could not control him. Dorry and Brogy are legendary, but they are explicitly framed as warriors who exist below whatever Loki represents. His full power has not been shown yet. - Is Loki a villain in One Piece?
Loki is framed as dangerous, but villain is an oversimplification. His imprisonment was politically motivated, and the World Government’s involvement suggests he is a threat to their power specifically. Whether he is an enemy or an unlikely ally to Luffy depends entirely on what his true goal is, which Oda has not fully revealed as of this writing. - Why does Usopp’s story connect to Elbaf?
Elbaf was foreshadowed as Usopp’s defining arc since Chapter 116. The giants from Little Garden, Dorry and Brogy, formed a bond with Usopp that changed their 100-year duel. Elbaf is the homeland of everything Usopp claimed to aspire to. His resolution there, for better or worse, closes the most personal thread in his entire journey. - How strong is Shanks compared to Elbaf giants?
Shanks is almost certainly stronger than any individual Elbaf giant in a direct combat scenario, based on his Conqueror’s Haki, his zero power-up track record (he never relied on Devil Fruits), and his ability to intimidate characters who dwarf him physically. The Blackbeard Haki analysis is a useful comparison point for how Haki mastery scales against raw power in the current meta. - Is the Elbaf arc connected to the Void Century?
Almost certainly yes. The giants predate the World Government, and Elbaf was never colonized. If any civilization kept Void Century records outside Ohara, Elbaf is the most logical candidate. Imu’s identity and the final villain setup may trace directly back to what the giants know, which explains the World Government’s longstanding interest in keeping Elbaf isolated.
Final Verdict
The Elbaf giants are not a side attraction. They are One Piece’s longest-running promise finally cashing the check.
Loki sits above everyone in that hierarchy, not just in raw strength but in narrative weight. Shanks ties the arc to the larger endgame. And Usopp carries the emotional core that will make this arc hit harder than most people are prepared for.
The Yonko rankings shift after Elbaf. The power map of the world changes. And the Void Century’s final secrets may have been living in a giant’s prison cell this whole time.
One Piece is building toward something enormous, and Elbaf is where the fuse gets lit.
Where does Loki rank fo
