One Piece: Is Blackbeard Underestimated?

Blackbeard has always been a mysterious character in the story of One Piece. Often choosing to stay in the background to enact his main plan, little is known about Blackbeard, save for his goal; to become his own version of the Pirate King. However, outside of his goal, things like Blackbeard’s primary plan, origin, and the true extent of his abilities are still missing from the story, leaving fans in the dark about One Piece’s potential main antagonist.

However, due to the mysterious nature of the character, it seems that Blackbeard is being underestimated in many different ways. Overall, it seems both the characters in the story of One Piece and the fans in the community don’t see Blackbeard as nearly as much of a threat as they should. This begs the question; does Blackbeard deserve to be underestimated, or is this all part of his main plan?

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Blackbeard Seems Weaker Than Most Main Villains In One Piece

He Uses Cowardly Tactics And Takes Extra Pain From Attacks

Blackbeard, throughout the story of One Piece, has always exhibited a few qualities that make him seem far weaker than he is. Firstly, Blackbeard, with the power of One Piece’s Dark-Dark Fruit, feels pain more intensely than the average person, often rolling in agony at the slightest attack. Additionally, Blackbeard tends to rely heavily on his crew, rarely fighting without them. Due to these factors, Blackbeard can seem much weaker than he is, despite having some impressive feats, like killing Whitebeard or defeating Ace.

However, from an audience’s perspective, Blackbeard can feel even more underwhelming based on how these feats are portrayed. Most of his fights, including his victory against the Whitebeard Pirate, Ace, happened offscreen, preventing fans from understanding the full extent of his abilities. Additionally, many of his other accomplishments, like killing Whitebeard, are set up to be sneak attacks that catch an already weak opponent off guard. Outside of this, there are many times on screen throughout One Piece where the audience sees Blackbeard in pain or cowering away from a strong opponent, making him easy to underestimate.

His Durability Is Much Higher Than Fans Give Him Credit For

• Many Fans View Blackbeard As Weak Due To His Tactics
• Blackbeard May Actually Be One Of The Strongest Characters Currently

This has led many members of the community to disregard the One Piece villain, Blackbeard, in terms of his current strength. Overall, based on his lack of feats, his reliance on his crew in combat, and his susceptibility to pain, many fans have considered him to be a weak character who focuses more on plans rather than raw combat. While this may be true to an extent, many aspects of Blackbeard’s character prove he is much more powerful than many fans expect.

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Firstly, although Blackbeard feels pain more intensely, he also seems to be extremely durable overall. Although most attacks leave him rolling in agony, rarely have these attacks seemed to physically hurt the mysterious One Piece character, Blackbeard, or take him out of combat for too long. Plus, it seems Blackbeard is dealing with these very powerful, and in turn extremely painful to him, attacks, and shaking them off rather quickly. Although it’s hard to tell, compared to many other characters in One Piece, being able to shake off Ace’s attack with increased pain is extremely impressive.

Blackbeard May Be Saving His Plan For The End Of One Piece

For Now, It Won’t Feel Like He’s Doing Much

At the same time, while Blackbeard has been planning for a large part of the series, it feels like the character isn’t doing much. It seems Blackbeard wishes to fly under the radar, saving the reveal of his plan for the end of One Piece’s Final Saga. Although this is a good idea for the character, in the eyes of fans, it can make it feel like Blackbeard is doing nothing in the series, leading to more fans underestimating Blackbeard’s relevance in the FInal Saga.

In the end, although he may seem weak, Blackbeard will likely be one of the strongest One Piece characters by the end of the Final Saga. Additionally, though he seems to be doing very little to make his goal of becoming the Pirate King a reality, it seems he is saving his main plan for the end of the series. Hopefully, sometime soon, Blackbeard will show off the true extent of his abilities, so fans will stop underestimating one of One Piece’s best villains.