A play is one of the handful of anime that have a time skip. In A play, the time jump occurred after the end of the Summit War. Luffy was seriously injured mentally and physically, and when he came to his senses, he realized he had to delay gathering his crew. So he went back to Marineford with Rayleigh and Jimbei, and he had a tattoo on his arm, which said “3D2Y”.
The “3D” part was crossed out, indicating that the crew would reunite after 2 years instead of 3 days. The two-year time jump allowed the Straw Hats to go from strength to strength. This also applies to other characters, who improved by leaps and bounds after the time skip.
8 Monkey D. Luffy
It was pretty obvious that Luffy would have improved a lot after the time skip. When he saw Ace being killed in front of his eyes, Luffy realized that he was too weak and needed to get stronger. During the two years, Luffy trained with Rayleigh, and he discovered Haki and its applications.
Luffy’s training prepared him for the New World and he was able to fight against much stronger opponents. Besides his physical growth, Luffy has also developed as a character.
seven Koby
Koby was introduced very early in the series, but since then has had limited appearances. As a Marine, Koby was involved in the Summit War, where he was again quite easily defeated by Luffy. During the war, Koby awakened Observation Haki, which allowed him to sense all the dying people around him.
After the time skip, Koby’s physical strength improved. At one point he was involved in the Rocky Port Incident, which made him famous among the Marines. Koby is also part of SWORD, a secret group whose plans are unknown, suggesting that he is now much more reliable.
6 Trafalgar Law
His appearance during the Sabaody Archipelago arc turned a lot of heads. With his cool personality and incredible devil fruit, Law became an instant hit with fans. When he met the Straw Hats at Punk Hazard, Law offered Luffy the chance to create an alliance.
Law was unquestionably a good character before the time jump, but he’s become even more impressive since Law formed an alliance with Luffy. By creating an alliance with Luffy, Law became much more involved in the series. He fought several fights and the biggest test of his strength came during the Land of Wa arc, when he was able to defeat Big Mom with the help of Eustass Kid.
5 Chopper
Chopper is neglected by his enemies because of his appearance. Even the world government doesn’t treat him as a threat, and they put a bounty of 100 berries on him. However, Chopper is very powerful, and his medical expertise has played a key role in aiding the Straw Hats on several occasions.
In the Zou arc, Chopper created Caesar’s poison gas antidote, which was used by Jack against the Minks. The antidote helped Sanji and company. to save the Minks from extinction. After the time skip, Chopper also developed better control over his Devil Fruit, allowing him to fight his opponents longer.
4 Child of Eustas
Eustass Kid played an extremely important role in the Wano Country arc. Kid is very serious about his goal of being the Pirate King and anyone who dares to mock his dream ends up dead. Like Luffy, Kid is very ambitious and always looking for a challenge.
Prior to the start of the Wano Country arc, Kid’s greatest feat was injuring a Sweet Commander, which isn’t spectacular considering Luffy defeated two of them. However, Kid shone brightly in Wa Land as he battled Big Mom. Kid teamed up with Law and together they were able to defeat the Yonko.
3 Don Quixote Doflamingo
The character of Doflamingo was rather mysterious before the Dressrosa arc. He made a few appearances before the time-skip, but they didn’t reveal much about Doflamingo’s character and powers. It was Doflamingo that became much more interesting after the time skip.
He introduced the Ito Ito no Mi, which allowed him to create and control strings at will. During the Dressrosa arc, her dark side finally came out and fans got to experience her evil charisma. Even after being defeated by Luffy, Doflamingo continued to make appearances, which definitely made him a better character.
2 Jimbei
Jimbei officially joined the Straw Hat Pirates in Wano. Jimbei was one of the most important figures in the Summit War arc, where he allied himself with Luffy and co. to save Ace. Ever since the Straw Hats entered the New World, Jimbei has been heavily involved in various arcs.
He played a crucial role in the Fish-Man Island arc, the Whole Cake Island arc, and the Wano Country arc. In the Fish-Man Island arc, he broke the barrier of racism and effectively started a new era. When the Straw Hats arrived at Whole Cake Island, Jimbei used his strength to help the Straw Hats escape from Big Mom’s territory, then in the Land of Wa arc, Jimbei defeated Who’s Who, l one of the Tobi Roppo.
1 small trolley
Buggy deserves a lot of credit for his accomplishments after the time skip. Although he didn’t improve massively in terms of strength, Buggy managed to trick the world into thinking he was a massive threat.
He managed to earn the Shichibukai title, which allowed him to expand his influence in the Underworld. Buggy has run his business successfully, and he’s been involved with some of the biggest names in the world and just recently Buggy was named one of the two Yonkos.