One Piece’s Greatest Swordsman Is Overrated 

This article contains spoilers from One Piece’s Final Saga.

Key Takeaways

• Mihawk’s true strength remains unknown, leading to overrated assumptions by fans
• Mihawk is powerful, but not on the level of the world’s strongest like Whitebeard or Roger
• Mihawk’s bounty and behavior indicate his strength is second to Shanks, with no comparison to legends like Garp or Whitebeard.

The strongest Swordsman in One Piece, Dracule Mihawk, is quite a powerful individual and fans know him to hold tremendous power. Having been introduced in the Baratie Arc, Mihawk has made quite an impression on the fans over the years.

His showings of strength have been limited, but it is safe to say that they are, undoubtedly, impressive, to say the least. That said, Mihawk’s true strength has not been revealed by Oda, which has led to many ideas floating among the fans as to how strong he truly is. It is almost absurd to imagine that Mihawk might be overrated as a swordsman. However, it is quite clear based on how certain fans perceive him that he is truly believed to be much greater than he actually is.

Mihawk Is A Mighty Powerful Fighter

• Mihawk is the world’s greatest swordsman
• Mihawk’s full power remains unknown

It goes without saying that Dracule Mihawk is very powerful. Fans know him to be the mightiest Swordsman in the One Piece World, and this was made clear to the fans upon his initial introduction. When Mihawk first showed up in the Baratie arc, Zoro made it clear that this person was the strongest Swordsman in the world and that his strength was impeccable. At the time, Zoro underestimated how strong Mihawk truly was and thought he could defeat him. When the two ended up fighting, Zoro was humbled quite quickly and was made to realize that the gulf and strength between him and the greatest swordsman in the world was way too big. Mihawk refrained from using his true strength in the battle against Zoro because if he had done that, it is highly likely that Zoro would have died.

Sorry, Red Hair. This power knows no restraint. – Mihawk

Fans expected to see Mihawk’s true strength at some point later down the line. For instance, when the Paramount War kick-started, Mihawk’s strength was put on display once again, only this time, against the Whitebeard Pirates, and some other fighters who were present in the Marine HQ. Sadly, once again, Mihawk did not show his true strength. After the timeskip, Mihawk has largely been on the sidelines, that is, until fans finally got to see the dissolution of the Shichibukai system and the establishment of the Cross Guild. Oda finally put a bounty on Mihawk’s head and it was revealed to be 3.590 billion berries. This bounty is absolutely massive and just goes to show how mighty a swordsman Mihawk truly is. His bounty puts into perspective his power level and what kind of a threat he poses to the World Government. But, at the same time, it is also a clear indication of the fact that Mihawk is not anywhere close to being the strongest in One Piece.

The Gulf That Separates Mihawk And The Other Greats

Mihawk Isn’t On The Level Of The World’s Strongest

Questions about Mihawk’s strength will always continue to flow in. Fans don’t know how strong he truly is, but Oda has implied his ceiling on many occasions. Despite that, many fans often go on to overrate Mihawk. Simply because Mihawk holds the title of the greatest Swordsman, fans take to believe that Mihawk is stronger than all the current Emperors, and at the same time, some even go as far as to assuming that he’s stronger than the legends of the One Piece world, such as Roger, Garp, and Whitebeard.

Undoubtedly, Mihawk is strong and there is no denying that fact. He is a mighty fighter in the same league as the current Emperors of the One Piece world. But, Mihawk is far from the strongest and there is absolutely no comparison between him and the historical monsters of the world. Fans also like to compare Mihawk to Shanks often, and this is largely due to the rivalry they once shared. Of course, Mihawk is the man who holds the title of the mightiest Swordsman, but that certainly doesn’t mean that he is stronger than Shanks.

I simply want to measure the distance between that man and us. – Mihawk

For one, fans know that Shanks and Mihawk engaged in not just one duel but countless ones. Shanks also says that Mihawk wants to settle the score with him. This clearly implies that whatever rivalry they had was left unsettled because Shanks lost his arm. This is a clear indication of the fact that Shanks had never lost even a single duel with Mihawk. Clearly, the idea is that Mihawk was already the strongest Swordsman in the world when these two characters fought. Furthermore, fans also know the Shanks was not a Yonko when they fought and far from his prime. Shanks only ended up becoming a Yonko 4 years prior to the beginning of One Piece, which is proof of the fact that he only continued to grow stronger after.

Now, that is not to say that Mihawk couldn’t have done the same, and there is absolutely no debating the fact that Shanks and Mihawk will be close in terms of strength. However, for one to claim that Mihawk is stronger than the likes of Roger and Whitebeard is total absurdity. Whitebeard, the man known as the strongest in the world, is directly compared to an Ancient Weapon. Whitebeard holds the power to destroy the entire world. In the Paramount War, Mihawk himself openly exclaims that he wants to measure the gulf between Whitebeard and himself. Upon attempting to test Whitebeard, Mihawk was stopped by Whitebeard’s Commander, Jozu, who didn’t even flinch.

The case of Mihawk’s comparison to Roger is even more absurd. Just because Roger carried a sword long ago doesn’t make Mihawk stronger than him. There are countless characters in One Piece who have swords but are not swordsmen. They simply use their tools to channel their various abilities. They are far more than just measly swordsmen. Characters like Mr. 1 have openly exclaimed that they are far more than just swordsmen, as has King, who fought Zoro in Wano. Shanks channels his Haki through his sword and fants know that he has multiple ways of using it, be it from a long distance, sword strikes, or blasts of Haki. Similarly, Roger had multiple ways to utilize his powers, and he was openly exclaimed to be the strongest, going as far as tying a battle with Whitebeard despite being tremendously sick.

Furthermore, when the Cross Guild was established, and Buggy made it clear that he wanted to rival the other Yonko for the One Piece, Mihawk was intimidated by the Cross Guild wanting to pick up fights with the other Emperor crews, such as the Red Hair Pirates, the Straw Hat Pirates, and the Blackbeard Pirates.

Furthermore, while bounties are not a perfect indication of strength, Mihawk’s bounty of 3.590 billion berries is far less than that of Shanks. Now, some might argue that this is because Shanks is an emperor and Mihawk is an underling. However, that has little to do with it, because the truth of the matter is that Mihawk is a very notorious individual who hunts down Marines actively while Shanks is more of a pacifist who doesn’t do the Navy much harm.

Furthermore, Mihawk is affiliated with the Cross Guild, who, as has been made clear recently, are hunting down Marines by putting bounties on their heads. This makes them a direct enemy to the World Government and highly infamous. Shanks, on the other hand, does no such thing. Despite everything, Shanks’s bounty is far higher.

Mihawk is second to Shanks and always has been, and there’s absolutely no comparison to be made between him, and the likes of Garp, Roger, and Whitebeard. When Mihawk does go on to show his strength, he will be defeated by Zoro and, similarly, Luffy will have triumphed over Shanks. The balance of power will still remain and it is clear that Shanks will still be superior to Mihawk in his own way, just as Luffy will always be superior to Zoro.