5 Reasons Why Haki Ruined One Piece in The Final Saga

The One Piece series has always been praised because of the innovative fight scenes. Each Devil Fruit added a unique touch to the fights, and battles were usually won through smart thinking instead of raw strength alone.

Haki was introduced to make the power system more balanced, especially against Logia users. However, in the Final Saga, the role that Haki plays is considered excessive by many viewers. Instead of adding to the fights, Haki now seems to dominate them, making some of One Piece‘s best qualities fade into the background.

1 Haki Has Made Most Devil Fruits Feel Less Important

One of the biggest reasons One Piece became so popular was its Devil Fruits. Whether it was Luffy stretching like rubber, Law controlling space with the Ope Ope no Mi, or Doflamingo turning strings into deadly weapons, every power felt different. You never knew what crazy ability Oda would come up with next.

That excitement doesn’t hit the same anymore. During the Wano arc, Kaido even says that “Haki transcends all” while talking about Gol D. Roger. By the time Luffy defeats Kaido in Chapter 1049, his Advanced Conqueror’s Haki matters just as much as Gear 5. These days, fans often care more about how strong someone’s Haki is than what Devil Fruit they have.

However, in the most recent One Piece episode, Scopper Gaban, who was a part of Roger’s crew at the time, appeared in the Elbaf Saga, and his strongest power is his Haki instead of any Devil Fruit powers. In fact, his Haki is enough for him to receive the recognition of both the Giants and Straw Hats, just as Roger and Rayleigh did. Thus, Gaban reminds the fans once more that Haki warriors were always preferred by Oda.

2 Every Major Fight Now Ends Up Being a Haki Contest

Earlier fights felt like puzzles. Luffy beat Crocodile by using water in Alabasta. He defeated Enel because rubber naturally countered lightning in Skypiea. Even the battle against Lucci in Enies Lobby mixed power with clever ideas and pure determination.

The biggest fights in the Final Saga don’t have that same feeling. Luffy vs. Kaido, Garp’s attack on Hachinosu during Egghead, and Shanks one-shotting Kid with Divine Departure all come down to overwhelming Haki. The action is still amazing, but the winner often feels decided by who has better Haki instead of who fights smarter.

3 Advanced Haki Is Slowly Replacing Creative Combat

When Oda introduced Advanced Observation and Advanced Armament Haki, it felt fresh. Future Sight made battles more exciting, and internal destruction Haki finally gave Luffy a way to damage Kaido‘s nearly indestructible body.

The problem is that stronger Haki now solves almost every problem. In older arcs, Luffy had to figure out an enemy’s weakness before winning. Now, the answer is often learning a stronger version of Haki. That change has made some fights feel less creative than classics like Alabasta, Skypiea, and Enies Lobby.

4 Haki Has Made Power Scaling More Confusing Than Ever

Power scaling has always been a huge topic among One Piece fans. But Haki has made those debates even harder because there is no clear way to measure it.

Take characters like Shanks, Roger, Garp, Whitebeard, and some of the Admirals. Most of their greatest moments are explained through Haki, but Oda rarely tells us exactly how much stronger one person’s Haki is than another’s. That leaves fans guessing, which is why power-scaling debates have become more confusing than ever.

Apart from that, Egghead shocked fans by revealing that Joy Boy’s Haki had remained sealed inside Emet’s giant knot for centuries before being unleashed. That burst of Haki was powerful enough to affect even the Five Elders, showing that Haki can remain relevant and powerful even after so many years. These moments raise exciting questions, but they also make power scaling much harder.

5 The Final Saga Treats Haki Like the Answer to Everything

At first, Haki was meant to fill a gap. It let fighters hit Logia users and gave strong pirates another way to grow without replacing Devil Fruits.

At this point, it seems that Haki is able to do anything. It can withstand powerful attacks, cause damage to opponents by using unbelievable defensive skills, protect from special moves, and determine the outcome of a fight between two of the best fighters. This looks amazing, but this also decreases the uniqueness of Devil Fruits. A series that was once known for its wild and unpredictable powers now often comes back to the same answer: stronger Haki.

During the Elbaf conflict in the One Piece manga, Luffy’s clashes with Imu are driven as much by Haki as by Gear 5. Despite Gear 5 being the most ridiculously powerful Devil Fruit in the series, the battle repeatedly emphasizes Haki-coated attacks and Haki clashes. It reinforces the idea that even the Sun God’s powers aren’t enough without top-tier Haki.

Series Title	One Piece
Manga Author	Eiichiro Oda
Anime Rating (MAL) – as of July 17, 2026	8.73 / 10
Manga Rating (MAL) – as of July 17, 2026	9.21 / 10

Now the big question: If the Final Saga keeps putting Haki above everything else, could it take away some of the creativity that made the series so unforgettable? What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

One Piece anime is currently available to watch on Crunchyroll.