BODY: The Straw Hat captain still rules the seas — and the ballot box. On August 23, the final results of the "2nd ONE PIECE Character World Popularity Poll: WORLD TOP 100 (WT100)" were announced during day two of ONE PIECE DAY '26, held over August 22 and 23 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba. Monkey D. Luffy claimed the top spot once again, securing back-to-back victories across the franchise's two global fan votes.
The WT100 is exactly what the name suggests: a worldwide tally rather than a Japan-only affair, reflecting how thoroughly Eiichiro Oda's pirate saga has saturated global pop culture since its 1997 debut. The organizers revealed the top 30 characters at the event, with fan-favorite crewmates, rivals, and antagonists jockeying for position beneath Luffy's now-familiar No. 1 ranking.
This marks the second edition of the poll, following the original 2021 vote that drew millions of ballots from more than 190 countries and regions. That first contest also crowned Luffy, cementing the protagonist's status as the fandom's undisputed heart even in a series celebrated for its enormous, beloved supporting cast.
ONE PIECE DAY has become the franchise's signature annual summer showcase, a two-day gathering where Toei Animation, Shueisha, and Oda's team roll out anime news, stage events, and announcements for the sprawling multimedia empire. Dropping the poll results here guarantees maximum buzz among the diehards who make the pilgrimage to Makuhari.
The insider take
From Tokyo, the ritual quality of these polls is the real story. ONE PIECE fan votes double as marketing engines — every character who cracks the top 30 becomes a candidate for new merchandise, figure lines, and spotlight arcs, so studios and retailers watch the rankings as closely as fans do. With the anime's "Egghead" and beyond arcs pushing newer faces into the spotlight and the live-action series widening the Western audience, expect this edition's standings to quietly shape which characters get the plastic-and-plush treatment through 2027.
Originally reported by コミックナタリー - 最新ニュース (Japanese).