I knew the Egghead Island arc would shake up our power scaling, but I did not expect the community to completely fracture over the Five Elders. Based on 6 rankers who submitted their lists this week, the battle over the [Strongest One Piece Characters](https://ranklist.io/list/strongest-one-piece-characters) has turned into an absolute civil war. The community is deeply divided on how to treat these immortal old men, and the data shows we are nowhere near a consensus.
The biggest point of contention by far is St. Figarland Garling. Some people are ready to put him right at the top of the food chain, while others are holding back until we see him do more than look menacing in flashback panels. It makes sense why he is the most disputed character on the list. He has the hype of the Holy Land behind him, but hype is a dangerous currency in this fandom. He lands all over the place depending on who you ask, sometimes edging out established legends, and other times settling comfortably into the bottom half of the top tier.
Then we have the Elders themselves, and this is where the rankings get chaotic. St. Shepherd Ju Peter and St. Topman Warcury are causing massive headaches for voters. Warcury showed off some of the most ridiculous durability we have ever seen, literally hurting Luffy's hand when Luffy tried to punch him. Yet, rankers cannot agree on whether that defense makes him stronger than his peers, or if he is simply hard to kill. Ju Peter, who spent a lot of time getting chopped up and regenerating, is also causing a massive split.
The division continues with St. Marcus Mars and St. Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro. Nusjuro got some of the coolest action panels in recent memory, slicing up Pacifistas with ease, which naturally caused some recency bias to push him ahead of the others. Mars, with his giant bird form, also split the community. Some rankers put them well above the other Elders, while others kept them bundled together.
My theory is that we are looking at two different yardsticks for power here. One group of fans ranks characters based on raw offensive output, while another group is prioritizing hax and durability. Until Eiichiro Oda explains how to actually bypass their regeneration, these five are going to keep throwing our lists into total chaos.
If you think you have a better grasp on where the Elders belong compared to the Yonko and the Admirals, you should probably put your money where your mouth is. Head over to the [Strongest One Piece Characters ranking](https://ranklist.io/list/strongest-one-piece-characters) and see if you can bring some order to this mess. Disagree? Rank it yourself.